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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Oct 26, 2011 - 02:09pm PT
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eKat, this pic is for you, from the 2010 Woodson Shindig. Elcapinyoazz has had a thing for ball cupping for quite awhile methinks.
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Oct 26, 2011 - 03:42pm PT
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This thread is classic supertopo. I am glad PTchongochongo posted up the link to Plaidman's blog and trip report. It was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The phone calls to friends about the topo was hilarious. Our misadventures make the best stories.
Anybody remember a collection of stories called, "Adventures with the Doctor"?
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Oct 26, 2011 - 04:10pm PT
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I really must note though that given that he is called Plaidman, I don't see much plaid. What's up with that?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 26, 2011 - 04:20pm PT
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Possibly Simon knows something about what sort of underwear the kilt-wearers have under their kilts. He need not share.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Oct 26, 2011 - 04:26pm PT
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True, if that's where he wears his plaid, I don't want to see it.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Oct 26, 2011 - 04:55pm PT
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Oct 26, 2011 - 04:58pm PT
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Hey Anders,
That is a pretty good story that you linked to.
"Adventures with the Doctor" was a book I loaned out and never got back from who knows. It was a collection of stories from a Scottish journal, I think. Fiction. There is the old old school Doctor, the young hotshot "Apprentice" and the narrator. I can't find any reference to it via google. I got it from the Robbin's Mt. Shop in the 1980's
In one story the heroes want to climb some minor hill in the winter but get into a white out and dig a snow cave. One wakes up in the middle of the night to piss and sees an odd glow on the horizon. He stares and can't figure it out till he realizes it is a snow plow about to run them over. They have dug the cave on a highway.
Their next attempt is more successful. They get to the summit and build a nice warm igloo. In the morning with good weather a group of Boy Scouts make the ascent and all rush to the very highest point, which is the top of the igloo. It collapses and the occupants have to be rescued and evacuated by the boy scouts.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Oct 26, 2011 - 05:20pm PT
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The hat is green when in color. It's a Scot heritage thing.
There's some out of control nose hairs going all down the chin, eh?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 26, 2011 - 05:23pm PT
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A ha! You must mean those witty short stories by G.J.F. Dutton - "Nothing So Simple As Climbing" and "The Ridiculous Mountains". Featuring a character called "the Doctor". IIRC, Dutton was the editor of the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal. The characters in his stories sometimes wear kilts.
ps One of the books is even endorsed by a "Tammy" Knight.
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Ottawa Doug
Social climber
Ottawa, Canada
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Oct 26, 2011 - 06:12pm PT
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I'm thinking of getting in touch with Plaidman to see if we can nail the same route next year and maybe spend a couple of nights on the ledge drinking wine. After all, taking your time on a wall is what it's all about.
: )
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Plaidman
Trad climber
South Slope of Mt. Tabor, Portland, Oregon, USA
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Oct 26, 2011 - 09:49pm PT
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I can claim the clans Keith, MacDonald, and McCoy (sept of MacKay).
Here is a pic of my plaid piton hammer. You just can't buy em like that from the store. I had to paint it myself. It is the ancient MacDonald tartan.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Oct 26, 2011 - 11:00pm PT
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Nothing wrong with that hammer that beating the sh#t out of it won't fix:-)
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Plaidman
Trad climber
South Slope of Mt. Tabor, Portland, Oregon, USA
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Oct 26, 2011 - 11:35pm PT
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You should see my hammer after St. Peter's Dome. I really worked it. I banged so many pins my partner said he dreamed with the sound of pitons being driven all night long. I laughed my ass off. By the way I love that dog of yours Couchmaster. Funniest damn dog ever.
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cleo
Social climber
Berkeley, CA
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:17am PT
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Plaidman you sound like a fun guy. Thanks for sharing and having a large sense of humor about yourself! Totally enjoyed the TR, and although I didn't epic quite like you on Snake Dike, we didn't have to wait 3.5 hours and climb in the dark either.
Oh and... Did you really call YOSAR, or were you just kidding about that? FUNNY either way!
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Oct 27, 2011 - 03:10am PT
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Plaidman entered the arena older, hassled, heavy, weak, ignorant of the ways, and operating purely on 110% enthusiasm. Most folks like him give it a couple of goes and you never see them again. And, as elcapyoazz (and Not-Quite-Chongo) rightfully point out, they sometimes end up maimed or dead or with maimed or dead partners. So yeah, he's gotten off to a bit of a frightening and elongated start - but against all sanity, prudence, common sense, and long-shot odds he's still at it after a couple of years.
He just keeps coming back from wrong turn after wrong turn, beatdown after beatdown, gumby move after gumby move, and taking way too long on pitch after pitch. I've only been a casual observer and never climbed with him, but he's undeniably still alive, still standing, and will be going out to climb something tomorrow. As Studly said, he's slowly been getting in shape, getting on more committing routes, sorting sh#t out, and even speeding up the pitches a couple of ticks each third go.
Hell, he may seem an inexorable slow-motion epic now, but sh#t, your watch wouldn't have been willing to keep time on him in the beginning, and there was some hushed concern about whether our slugs and attack moss weren't going to pose a credible threat if he moved any slower. Overall it's been like watching a season of 'Biggest Loser' where it's hard to see the progress if you see it intermittently - but once it's over they've all somehow miraculously transformed. In the end there's clear evidence of steady progress and continued survival. How? "I don't know...it's a miracle..."
Is the jury still out on the Plaid? From the standpoint of can he follow it all the way through to getting in good enough shape to be a solid free climber? Sure. From the standpoint of a guy breaking free and cutting loose from of a world of middle-age sh#t to live and have fun? No question, the verdict is guilty as charged.
Will he yet kill himself? Main a partner? Have PTPP crab past him on a wall? Need a YOSAR intervention? Do the S.E. Corner in less time then it takes Hans and Alex to do the Nose? Or onsight Astroman with Studly? Only by staying tuned to 'As the Kilt blows' will you know...
[ Note: This message is not approved by his Plaidness. In fact, we don't even get along, but WTF, climbing is as climbing does, and the Plaid does... ]
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Oct 27, 2011 - 02:22pm PT
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MH, thank you so much for reminding me of G.J.F. Dutton - "Nothing So Simple As Climbing" and "The Ridiculous Mountains". I could not remember the name of the book or the author and I really miss that book. And it seems it fits perfectly with Plaidman's heritage!
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
The Illuminati -- S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Division
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Oct 27, 2011 - 05:26pm PT
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Seamstress:
I love trip reports by mere mortals, little epics where the nerves are frazzled, hyperventilation occurs, but no real bodily harm happened. I love people who are serious about their fun. Plaidman's exploits have tempted me to try some of the classic cascade choss lines, and fun has been served up in large portions.
It isn't all about 5.15's.
Word.
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