NEWS
4 April, 2003

6 May, 2003 Shoot, I've been working my ass off for six nights so far (I'm an RN), and I am ready for a break (two more nights to go). [You see, kids, if you become a nurse, your employer will try to kill you. Remember that!] Is it gonna be the mountains, or the crags? There are two folks, Barry & Shannon, who are ready to learn. I think that's my next calling. Stay tuned. 1 May, 2003 Called Seattle Manufacturing Corporation looking for a replacement to my poor old Himalayan axe. The spike came loose on my last trip, and the axe is nearly 20 years old. So I retired it. Well, for the mountains, I believe it is the best. So I talked to Steph at S.M.C., and she said she was boxing up a brand-spanking-new 60-cm Himalayan ice axe for me, in anticipation of my forthcoming personal cheque. Thanks, Stephanie, & SMC!! 29 April, 2003 Went out to Vedauwoo again with Squeak to purposely seek out 'warm-up' routes. Big difference between the locals and the visitors. But it's like that everywhere, isn't it? "I need to lead the crux on Ed's this Spring," Greg said. "That was my lead last year, right?" I asked, correctly so. There were two other parties at Walts Wall that afternoon, so we yacked with Party #2, which consisted of a fella and Ms. Pam, the Montana Aid Climber. Now, I gotta say, I've never before met a woman who liked aid climbing, let alone one who had given herself a head injury aid climbing. So Greg and I were both just a little bit enchanted (that's as good as it gets, folks)to be chit-chatting with Ms. Pam. "Wow, man, would you be here if your wife got bonked aid climbing?" "Only if she was leading, man.." So anyhow, I led the first half of "Edward's Crack," and Greg led the official crux, which was exactly what he came there for. Then the weather turned frigid, so we headed home, and y'know, I had a great time, because it was all so modest and unassuming. Nothing to prove. It was a good time. Period. 28 April, 2003 Jeb called me to go to the glen, or atleast that was the only place outside of warmer places I could talk him into going to. So we met at the Nautilius, and headed to the Friday the 13th "Annex" since it is pretty well-protected from the wind. there were three guys there TRing the first pitch of "Friday the 13th," and a threesome climbing "Vulture." So Jeb and I went for "Middle Parallel Space," which I remembered as a mellow 5.9 offwidth to a bunch of 5.7 stuff. Well! Jeb backed off first, and I backed off about a body-length higher. That was that. We wound up hiking around to the north side (where there is much snow and dampness) all the way around to the bestest of the old guys' early season warm-ups, one of which is "Stinkzig." Well, that first pitch also kicked Jeb's ass, but y'know, it's early yet (Hint: set your pro and back off. Face left until you're past the squeeze, then stem). Well, Jeb's gonna be doing some mountaineering in the Zirkels, a fine-looking range that you can see from Cheyenne on a clear day. Lotsa undiscovered territory there, you oughta check it out. Just head to Saratoga/Encampment, Wyoming, and keep heading south... (you'll have to buy Bob Ormes' "Guide to the Colorado Mountains" book to help you out, plus explore the area a bit, but it's adventure climbing. Well worth the time investment, y'know). 13-14 April, 2003 Steve and I headed into the Longs Peak area, just a few weeks after the big avalanche that destroyed the 70-80 year old stone patrol cabin below Chasm Lake. We planned to bivvy at the Boulderfield then climb the north Face of Long's peak the following day. Fine. Steve, having spent a few nights in Denver (he lives in Houston, 55 feet above sea level), went quite well to our destination at 13,000 feet until about 12,000. That's when he hit his wall. Now don't underestimate the boy, he is a real animal. He regularly bikes 18 miles, he participates in the Navy Seals' Physical Training program... so he's a real animal, compared to me (well, I guess I'm kinda like an animal, something like a tapeworm, actually). I hit my wall, and always have, at 10,000 feet: that's when my sinuses, my bowels, my bladder all cut loose. After that I'm fine. Now, the hike to the Boulderfield, it's a killer, all you have to do is stick with it. Well, the wind came up that night and we didn't get a wink of sleep, not to mention the ominous fracture lines on Long's North Face. We headed back down, 14 miles wiser... 15 April, 2003 Sloggin' into the Fletcher Group, we started up the southern flank of Atlantic Peak. Somewhere around 12,500, we pounded our trekking poles through a foot of windslab, into about four feet of depth hoar. Needless to say, we scrapped that ascent and saved the day learning to snowboard at Copper Mountain instead.Coulda been alot worse for us... 29 April, 2003 I didn't get out much last month. I did go slogging into RMNP with Stacy, but that's about it. I took my two young boys (7 & 8 years old) over to Rodeo Rock at Vedauwoo and we tested their new Trango Jr harnesses. After a few times hanging on the toprope, they got used to the exposure and had a great time. The next day we went sledding at Happy Jack. Ooh... Eli's first run he plowed into a toddler (ouch! Flight of the starfish...) while Taylor smacked into a tree on his first run. Other than that, it was a good day as well, once we got tuned in to the best place to sled (wide and treeless). Sometimes, my mind is centered around climbing alot more than my activity is. 1 March, 2003 On the first day of March, Stacy Bender and I slogged into RMNP, where we intended to climb the Northwest Face route of Thatchtop. the 2-hour approach (as per several guidebooks) turned into an epic 5-hour sight-seeing tour, and that was just the hike in! Hint: It helps if Gnorga takes his skins. One of the local guys we met on the trail told us that the mountains had been hammered with fifty inches of snow in the previous several days. No wonder we had to swim everywhere we went up there! Come back sometime, maybe March will be a better month. 14 February, 2003 Then Pat Parmenter died on Valentine's Day after a short but very intense illness. I'm working on an obit to post on my website here, and I believe Steve Bechtel is doing something for the two main U.S. climbing magazines, Climbing, and Rock & Ice. So many climbers will feel the effects of his passing: his wife and climbing partner, Deb; his daughter, Angie. He was at work on a new guidebook to Fremont Canyon when he took ill, and he didn't have a chance to finish it. However, some of his many protege's and partners in Casper will take up the task of completion. 1 February, 2003 February was a hell of a month, starting with the Space Shuttle Columbia's disintegration on the 1st. That was a national tragedy as well as a personal one for me, since I am a "space baby" of the 1960's. --- Ben back