Friday, January 31, 2014

Mt Fairweather and Portaledge

I'm continuing to go through my old slides. Here's a photo of John examining plane wreckage on Mt Blackburn when we climbed it in August of 1982. This plane was scattered for quite a distance on the glacier at the foot of a 2-3,000 foot icefall. It was a little eerie because this was just where we were starting the technical part of the climb.

Here I am with Michelle today at VEM on my new portaledge. It's very comfy.



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

My New Porta Ledge

Just set up my new porta ledge in my yard. It's still a little too cold for using overnight on the wall, but I'm ready when the weather warms.



Sunday, January 19, 2014

Another High Tech Clothing Day - With Big Hair To Boot

First time I climbed Devils Tower - July 1977 - I did it with 2 friends and my younger brother. We had big hair and lots of cotton; I'll bet our high tech clothing cost us about $12.50 each.
Ha, I say to you high tech clothing peeps; get real, get cotton. If it was good enough for the ancient Egyptians, it's good enough for you.
The fellow on the far left - Jeff - had climbed in Yosemite many times, including several ascents of El Cap. The next year, he and his climbing partners were killed on El Cap. They became (somewhat) famous because the technique they use to attach to anchors - which was the standard technique at that time - caused them to fall when one of the bolted anchors let loose. After that accident, the recommended way to clip into anchors, was changed.


Friday, January 17, 2014

High Tech Clothing For Climbing

Here is a photo of me and some friends climbing the Grand Teton in 1975. Notice my jaunty and fashionable porkpie hat in the first photo and our high tech clothing - sweat pants, jeans, tennis shoes. (In fact, my friend climbed the entire mountain in a pair of Tretorn tennis shoes.) That's old school.

This is our summit shot. 


Thursday, January 16, 2014

Kickin' It Old School in Yosemite

I am starting to scan my old slides and came across these from a trip to Yosemite in August of 1980 (I think.) It was 100 degrees in the Valley when we were there. Here is Johnnie Mac relaxing after a multi-pitch climb.




Here is our complete gear rack for an easy multi-pitch. Pretty cool, huh? None of those nasty and expensive cams!


And here was a band member of the Grateful Dead; nope, that's Johnnie Mac. Look at his clothing - all high tech fabrics like a white cotton T shirt and the latest in climbing shoes - EBs. (The socks were so we wouldn't rip the heck out of our ankles climbing cracks.)


Ice Climbing Homer's and Franklin

Wednesday afternoon we had an ice festival at Franklin; there were 12 people climbing. Here's a shot of Pete pulling the icicle. We had a few more climbers initiated into the Monkey Death Jump.

Thursday, 5 of us climbed at Homer's - maybe my favorite place because it's a slot canyon and it's got some delicate verglas climbing on a sloping wall. The indomitable Lisa showed up and Johnnie Mac made a rare cameo





Thursday, January 9, 2014

Sunday, January 5, 2014

BroMance In The Mountains

 A guy can get pretty close to other guys on a climbing trip. I call this video from our recent Joshua Tree trip, "Bro-Mance in the Mountains."


Bro-Mance in the Mountains from rgsletten on Vimeo.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Joshua Tree Jan 2014

Marianna, Richie, Joey, Billy and I just finished three days climbing in J Tree. (As the cognoscenti say.) A boulderer's paradise. A slab climber's mecca. We had perfect weather - highs in the 60s and sun. It reminds me of Black Hills climbing a lot - runout, friction, foot and balance intensive. Here's a 3 minute recap.

Joshua Tree

A teaser of our trip to Joshua Tree.


Joshua Tree Day 2 Jan 2014 from rgsletten on Vimeo.