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"Because it's there."

babygrrl_702 said:
Incredible.

I came, I saw, I conquored..

a 5.8 overhang.. :nana:
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awesome job on the overhang!

the pic is O'malley Peak, a walk-up just above town.....
 
Peregrinator said:
Ooh! Ooh! 999! Post one more time in my thread!

One of those jokes that starts off like you shouldn't tell Mom, and then finishes with Mom not getting it.
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Damn! I just saw this.

Now I feel all melancholy...like I could have given you my virginity but missed out.
 
Collette said:
Damn! I just saw this.

Now I feel all melancholy...like I could have given you my virginity but missed out.
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Aw, heck, I missed the first ascent. I'll have to go for the second in better style....
 
Peregrinator said:
There are many different systems used to rate the difficulty of a particular climbing "route." The system most commonly heard used in the states is called the "Yosemite Decimal System:"

Flat ground is considered Class 1
Easy Uphill: Class 2
Steeper, like a mountain trail: Class 3
Challenging, a fall is possible and would be dangerous, but very unlikely; ropes are only very occasionally used: Class 4
Technical terrain requiring rope to be safe from dangerous or deadly falls: Class 5.

Class 5 terrain is further subdivided into what was originally intended to be decimals; 5.1 being extraordinarily easy. 5.4-7, roughly, is considered intermediate, and 5.9 gets you into the realm of experts. The system was rendered inacurate because originally it was thought that no one would be eble to climb harder than 5.9 without employing direct aid (see earlier post in this thread). However, advances in technique and equipment, most notably the climbing shoe with its special sticky rubber, allowed people to push the limits, and some way of describing "harder than 5.9 but not so hard as to require direct aid" was needed. Climbers, being brilliant mathmaticians, simply extended the scale to 5.10, 5.11. 5.12, etc, pronounced "five ten," "five eleven," and "five twelve." Further division was required, so the first four letters of the alphabet are used as well above 5.9, such as 5.12A, meaning, 5.12, but at the easy end of 5.12. 5.12D is almost 5.13. These shades and grades are agreed upon after a few people climb the route; there are some climbs about which the grade is still disagreed. The hardest climbs in teh world now are 5.15A or so, again, pending confirmation by consensus. Since only a handful of climbers in the world can climb that hard, consensus can be difficult to arrive at.

Class 6 terrain is direct aid; no one has yet been able to climb the whole thing without pulling on man-added stuff to make upward progress. Aid climbs are classified into A1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and sometimes A6, with each increasing grade indicating increasingly "sketchy" gear. An A3 climb has "placements" which hold body weight only; if you were to fall, that placement would fail, and you would have to rely on the next piece to catch you. A5, true insanity, involves the whole system having body-weight only placements. Complete system failure and plunging doom is possible.

Here's a climber on "Moby Grape," a classic 5.8 on Cannon Cliff in New Hampshire, not far from where the Old Man Of The Mountain fell off recently:

http://web.mit.edu/jfitzpat/www/moby-grape.jpg

This is a classic 5.9, "They Died Laughing," on Cathedral Ledge in my beloved Mt Washington Valley, NH:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/RockClimbing1HOCJune2004054.jpg

This is a classic 5.6 known as "High Exposure," in the Shawangunks of New York, a relatively easy climb that's caused many a heart to leap into many a throat:

http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos/20/2027.jpg

Here's a classic really hard route, "Spinx Crack," which is rated 5.13:

http://www.defendersoftheplanet.org/Images/RockClimbing/SphinxCoverShot.jpg

Another view of Sphinx, showing how it overhangs:

http://www.climbingwashington.com/archives/images/archive59.jpg
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Quoting for BeBe and the latenight crew.
 
BeBe81 said:
Wow, okay. Thanks, Pergy! :kiss:

I never understood, but have been enlightened.
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You are more then welcome, dear. I see the pic of High Ex disappeared. I gotta edit that post I guess.
 
So, a mellow weekend climbing trip out to gorgeous Smith Rock State Park, the birthplace of sport climbing in the US. Lady P and I arrived in the evening and ate a hasty dinner, had a few beers and some Makers Mark, and hit the tent for a much-needed sleep. I was feeling a little tapped and she had a stressful week, so we slept in and brewed up in the morning, neither of us feeling super aggro. Eventually, we decided to just hike; the idea of climbing was kinda threatening, and I, in particular, was feeling weak and tired and just...off. So instead, we spent a wondrous day hiking up and over and around the mesa, stopping at the top to eat kippered salmon and a really great cheddar cheese, some tamari smoked almonds, and watch the ravens swoop and play and a couple of golden eagles soaring way, way above us. On the way down, we stopped to watch some folks climbing on Monkey Face, a bizarre rock column that really does look like it has a monkey's head on the top. We spent the evening reading and relaxing--didn't feel like cooking, so we went into town for Mexican food--and meeting a few of the other folks who were hanging around the cooking area. An early evening and we snuggled into our zipped-together sleeping bags and nodded off to the smell of sage and the fresh desert breeze.

We got up early this morning and ate a quick breakfast, had some coffee, packed everything and drove over to the North Rim to do some toproping. We had forgotten our guidebook, so we just threw a toprope on a likely-looking climb and got after it. And got swatted by a steeply overhanging crack, but we had fun. After we both admitted defeat, we moved a few feet to another route and played in another crack, which overhung less and was achievable. Lady P didn't fare so well; it was a little reachy (she's 5'4") and she's just learning crack technique. I took a couple false starts, worked out the sequence, and pulled through. It had a couple of sweet, slammer handjams and was more cerebral than physical, once I figured it out. Success was badly needed; I'd been feeling lame lately, and this was just what I needed, to boost my confidence in my ability again.

Pics will follow...soon as I d/l them...coming up.
 
The pics are breathtaking, hon! I'm so glad that you and Lady P had a wonderful time together.

Didn't know you were a Maker's drinker. I have easy access so I'll have to bring you two a gift basket of their products in Oct.
 
The only raven pic where it looks like more than a little black dot:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/232_3271.jpg

Lady P's butt disappearing into a hollowed out boulder:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/232_3278.jpg

Stopping to boulder a little while hiking:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/232_3297.jpg

Monkey Face from the far side, looking like it deserves its name:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/smith/232_3289.jpg

And my other dream house:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/smith/232_3290.jpg
 
Collette said:
The pics are breathtaking, hon! I'm so glad that you and Lady P had a wonderful time together.

Didn't know you were a Maker's drinker. I have easy access so I'll have to bring you two a gift basket of their products in Oct.
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Thanks! It was a great weekend. Lady P is a big Makers fan. I'm a whiskey slut. But a gift basket would be more then welcome.

Jeez...are you like, the perfect woman?
 
I'd like to get back into climbing. Not sure I"m up to it though. Maybe in a year or so after I work out more and get into better shape. Of course, that also means that the ol' RA will have to stay at bay too though.

Here's one where I used to work that I always wanted to climb. While working at the mine I couldn't due to constraints placed on us by the Forest Service and the Mining company.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/curious2c/My%20Home/workpicsdave013.jpg

I was able to fly around it once and on the back side there is a nice chimney that looked perfect for a 'free ascent'.
 
Peregrinator said:
Sweet pic, Curious. Does the one you wanted to climb have a name?

What's RA?
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It has a name but I'm not sure what it is. The geologist I worked with was going to tell me, but he got transferred before he could and then I left there.


RA...Rheumatoid Arthritis I have a pretty tough form of it, hence my move to Nevada.
 
curious2c said:
It has a name but I'm not sure what it is. The geologist I worked with was going to tell me, but he got transferred before he could and then I left there.


RA...Rheumatoid Arthritis I have a pretty tough form of it, hence my move to Nevada.
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Google Earth, man! It's the ballz for finding out stuff like that.

Oh, right, ouch. I wonder though, if you couldn't still have fun with a little moderate climbing...
 
Peregrinator said:
Google Earth, man! It's the ballz for finding out stuff like that.

Oh, right, ouch. I wonder though, if you couldn't still have fun with a little moderate climbing...
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Actually, my move here has produced great things so far. The heat and dryness put it into remission I'm thinking. I feel twenty years younger (man that dates me.) and If I weren't already married I'd be moving on 'that perfect woman' above. *whew*


I am starting to work out, and the more I do, the better it is supposed to be for me. If things go right I could feasibly be back in shape and able to climb someday soon. I do have days that aren't so good yet, but they are getting easier and easier. The doctor was correct in that moving to hot and dry would help tremendously. Now, if only my wife could come around and start liking it here...
 
curious2c said:
Actually, my move here has produced great things so far. The heat and dryness put it into remission I'm thinking. I feel twenty years younger (man that dates me.) and If I weren't already married I'd be moving on 'that perfect woman' above. *whew*


I am starting to work out, and the more I do, the better it is supposed to be for me. If things go right I could feasibly be back in shape and able to climb someday soon. I do have days that aren't so good yet, but they are getting easier and easier. The doctor was correct in that moving to hot and dry would help tremendously. Now, if only my wife could come around and start liking it here...
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She's something else, huh? Hmmm...maybe time for an appreciation thread...

Well, cool on the health, not so cool on the wife. Are you actually in Vegas, or just nearby? Seems to me Vegas could be a tough sell to an Alaskan.
 
Peregrinator said:
She's something else, huh? Hmmm...maybe time for an appreciation thread...

Well, cool on the health, not so cool on the wife. Are you actually in Vegas, or just nearby? Seems to me Vegas could be a tough sell to an Alaskan.
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It is a change, that's for sure. I live off the strip a ways. It's...different.

I miss Alaska, and I would be there if the ol' bod could stand it. *sigh*


There's some good places to climb near here though, so I will look into them.
 
Gorgeous photos, Perg. A point in Portland's favor, certainly.

Though no rent or utilities until April pretty much makes Seattle a slam dunk... :D
 
curious2c said:
It is a change, that's for sure. I live off the strip a ways. It's...different.

I miss Alaska, and I would be there if the ol' bod could stand it. *sigh*


There's some good places to climb near here though, so I will look into them.
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Well, thank god you're not right there in the circus.

Lady P misses AK, too, and my brief visit was a serious appetizer.

ETA: Yeah, Red Rocks is right there. I've heard it's wonderful.
 
SheRemembers said:
Gorgeous photos, Perg. A point in Portland's favor, certainly.

Though no rent or utilities until April pretty much makes Seattle a slam dunk... :D
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Yup. Smith is three hours away.

That's hard to beat. Who's seducing you like that?
 
Peregrinator said:
Yup. Smith is three hours away.

That's hard to beat. Who's seducing you like that?
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A friend. She starts grad school at UW in September. Friends of her family have a house in Seattle, but are teaching in China until April. That should give me a good eight months to see how things go there. I would always have the option to leave, not being locked into a lease or anything...

I'll apply at Stumptown when I breeze through PDX on my way north and see what happens. I think PDX would be more my vibe, but is also very seductive to not have to pay rent and all...
 
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