The FIFTY

[Supermoon]

^^ I know he started a while ago, how many does he have left?

His blog says 30, but I don’t know how caught up it is

[Hart Gremlin]

The sufferfest team is back together!!!

Although there is plenty of stoke brewing on Youtube, I thought I would bring it over here too. Keep your calendar clear for 12/29...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXhDHQah18

[m17504]

Mt. St. Elias, Mira Face, Second Ascent, and First Ski Descent of Mountain. In late April, the Colorado team of Doug Byerly, Lome Glick, Andy Ward, and I were flown to 7,000 feet on the Columbus Icefield at the base of Mt. St. Elias. Despite much chiding from our legendary bush pilot, Paul Claus, about our freeheel gear (don’t expect to visit Alaska with tele skis and get respect from anyone), it was our intention to climb the peak and make the first ski descent. Our plan was to ascend via a much-neglected, north-facing 1916 surveyers’ route on the west end of St. Elias and establish camp at their high point of 13,500 feet. We would then finish the climb via a steep, 1000-meter headwall on the south face that had seen only one previous ascent (we dubbed the impressive headwall “The Mira Face” after Czechoslovakian first ascensionist Miroslav Smid, killed climbing in Yosemite just a few months after summiting St. Elias in 1995), and follow a two-mile long ridge to the summit.
Between bad weather days, hazardous glacier terrain, and an earthquake that triggered massive avalanches and serac fall, we finally found ourselves drinking, playing cards, and slandering each other for many days in our moldy tent at high camp. We threw an offering of herbs and chocolate to the winds and asked Mother Mountain to please let us pass.
After a necessary descent for more food and fuel, we were back at high camp the morning of May 8, which dawned clear and calm. We cramponed for six hours up 45-to 50-degree snow and ice to the long, broad west ridge, which leads to the 18,008-foot summit. We summited, exhausted and with wooden toes. Concerned about our feet, our stay was brief and we anxiously clipped on the boards.
From the summit, bulletproof sastrugi on the ridge required pumpy, gorilla-stance survival turns. Drained from the altitude, I had doubts about skiing the Mira Face with its icy, 55- degree entrance, huge exposure and tight choke through a cliff band halfway down. But after a few hundred feet of intense turns, the snow sweetened to a soft suncrust, the angle relaxed, and we carved turns, grinning in the evening sun, all the way home.
James Bracken"

20 years ago on old tele gear. Not a go-pro or a facebook in sight...

[uglymoney]

Enjoyed this week's Blister. Talking about Alex skiing down Whitney. So scary to watch. Thinking how I am a better skier than him...which is amazing to even contemplate.

That got me thinking about something else. How terrible a climber I am. I feel like my appreciation for Free Solo is really limited by my lack of detailed understanding of what he is doing. Like my wife is a way better climber than me and the movie just blew her away, she has watched it a dozen times. I know just enough to know that the punchlines are going over my head so I feel like I'm missing out on the grit of the movie. I'd enjoy it more if I'd never climbed and felt like I could relate because I would have no idea how hard it is.

As always, great work.

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[goldenboy]

I feel like my appreciation for Free Solo is really limited by my lack of detailed understanding of what he is doing.

That's probably even more pronounced for The Alpinist. If you haven't seen it, watch it. But I bet a lot of people have no idea how far out there that stuff he was doing was.

[davjr96]

I forgot who said it, but the quote was something like "People who have no idea how to climb thing Honnold is insane, people who have some idea how to climb think he's got it, and people who know exactly what he is doing think he's insane." Same might kinda be true for the fifty project

[half-fast]

His blog says 30, but I don’t know how caught up it is

numbered on youtube, last one was 35/50

[TG]

20 years ago on old tele gear. Not a go-pro or a facebook in sight...[/FONT]

so Cody is skiing lines based on a book describing previously skied lines, and you're just now noticing that Cody's lines aren't first descents? good job.


where's your cut&paste from?
seems like the first descenders had no problem re-counting their efforts and achievements using the publishing technology available at the time.

[BFD]

so Cody is skiing lines based on a book describing previously skied lines, and you're just now noticing that Cody's lines aren't first descents? good job.


where's your cut&paste from?
seems like the first descenders had no problem re-counting their efforts and achievements using the publishing technology available at the time.

c&p is from american alpine journal.

[Ørion]

c&p is from american alpine journal.

I think you forgot to switch accounts

[m17504]

My apologies, TG.
I viewed the preview for Codys episode and had a flashback a late night bivy in Argentina when James B. mentioned very casual the he once ski St. Elias. The preview of Codys trip made me remember that and research the posted that offended you.
Apologies again for posting the reference of the objective by the old guys.
Pretty rad to try something like that ever.
Cheers from Girdwood

[thefrush]

^^ I very much enjoyed reading that account and felt it's relevance to be obvious. Thanks for sharing! I'm excited to see how things went for Cody and crew.

[Peruvian]

Almost gave me a heart attack at 13:53 there, Alka.

[TahoeJ]

That first turn at the top didn't look all that fun... but the lower section certainly did. And yeah, I thought you were going to eat shit big time at 13:53. Nice recovery.

[Alkasquawlik]

That first turn at the top didn't look all that fun... but the lower section certainly did. And yeah, I thought you were going to eat shit big time at 13:53. Nice recovery.

Yeah the top and bottom were sketchy for two entirely different reasons. Frozen punch crust turns on 55 degree entrance was sucky...hence why the others got on rope. The bottom was probably the sketchiest thing I did on snow all year, just way too carried away with the fun we were having and ripping fast in good snow only to hit frozen debris had my thinking about my tech bindings, lower limbs and the long walk outta there. A tomahawk there would've been a bad thing. One of my better recoveries ever.

[OrangeCSkier]

That shoe string rappel tho! Jim have to convince you to take the shoe string?

[alpinevibes]

Yeah the top and bottom were sketchy for two entirely different reasons. Frozen punch crust turns on 55 degree entrance was sucky...hence why the others got on rope. The bottom was probably the sketchiest thing I did on snow all year, just way too carried away with the fun we were having and ripping fast in good snow only to hit frozen debris had my thinking about my tech bindings, lower limbs and the long walk outta there. A tomahawk there would've been a bad thing. One of my better recoveries ever.

At 13:53 my sphincter reacted!

Nice save, great line and super crew. Any plans to knock off anything big with the two of them in the future?

[Alkasquawlik]

That shoe string rappel tho! Jim have to convince you to take the shoe string?

It was the opposite actually. It's 5.6mm Sterling tech cord that Mark Smiley turned me on to. It's pretty much a rap line only and I wouldn't use it for anything else. Oh and gotta be super careful on the rocks, one little nick and bye bye.

[Dantheman]

It was the opposite actually. It's 5.6mm Sterling tech cord that Mark Smiley turned me on to. It's pretty much a rap line only and I wouldn't use it for anything else. Oh and gotta be super careful on the rocks, one little nick and bye bye.

Did you ever get your kidney function checked out?

[Shred Baron]

It was the opposite actually. It's 5.6mm Sterling tech cord that Mark Smiley turned me on to. It's pretty much a rap line only and I wouldn't use it for anything else. Oh and gotta be super careful on the rocks, one little nick and bye bye.

How did you manage to get enough friction on something so small? Super munter, or is there a belay/rappel device that works?


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[~mikey b]

spicy

[MakersTeleMark]

It can be a natural, zesty enterprise.

[North]

How did you manage to get enough friction on something so small? Super munter, or is there a belay/rappel device that works?

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To my eye nothing special, Mammut Nordwand Alpine w/hollowblock below. Cord looks like Sterling 5.4 VT-X.

[Shred Baron]

To my eye nothing special, Mammut Nordwand Alpine w/hollowblock below. Cord looks like Sterling 5.4 VT-X.

I guess rewatching it would have been a good place to start, seeing as there’s a pretty good shot at his setup. I don’t know much about climbing gear, but wonder how much friction you really get with a tiny chord on a single line.





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[rod9301]

I've tried a 5mm cord with a super munter and there's plenty of friction for rappelling safely and hanging.

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