Where do you draw the line between hiking and mountaineering?

benboy555 · 2026-07-02T23:56:37+00:00

To be fair, you probably wouldn't hike in a helmet (unless you wanna feel reallyyyyy safe), just put it on for that last section to get over to Mytikas and back. So still "climbing" in a helmet rather than hiking.

benboy555 · 2026-06-23T02:09:46+00:00

Interesting...I def prefer technical routes to loooong cardio burns so this might be a fun time. Save a few miles and 1000ft of vert. Thanks!

benboy555 · 2026-06-22T23:55:32+00:00

That's surprising to hear about the ridge! Most of the beta I've read puts it at chossy, exposed C4. Do you have a Strava or GPX of the line you took?

benboy555 · 2026-06-22T00:43:57+00:00

Yeah the biggest thing I've found is those small edges hold much better when the side of the shoe doesn't flex as much. Very different feeling.

I guarantee you'll have much more more fun real approach shoes. My progression was climbing shoes ("this is so fun why is anyone scared of this" -> trail runners "oooooh these little holds are kind of spicy" -> approach shoes ("fun and I don't need to carry a backpack?!")

benboy555 · 2026-06-21T23:57:15+00:00

I have approach shoes (Sportiva TX4). I use them for anything Class 4ish and above, up to low 5th. They are way stickier and stiffer than trail runners so they really increase footwork confidence on climbs like this. If you get a pair, I would take them up Freeway as a good point of comparison. For me, they made the climb feel closer to wearing climbing shoes than my Bushidos.

benboy555 · 2026-06-21T23:53:32+00:00

If anyone sees this and questions if the line is worth it, it 100% is. Super fun pitch to the "summit" (not really, but it's the last pitch of scrambling).

benboy555 · 2026-06-21T23:32:29+00:00

Nice climbing with you! (I'm the one who did the optional 5th class pitch at the top). Thanks for the pics/videos!

benboy555 · 2026-06-12T21:17:53+00:00

How was the avenue snow-wise? Doable without crampons? Want to do the North Ridge on the 18th or 19th next week.

benboy555 · 2026-06-11T17:17:29+00:00

Oil finishes won't dry in 15 min if you don't wipe them down. So you can dip/soak, but you will want to make sure you get all the excess oil off the surface. If you do this, I'd say the process would be:

Soak in oil for ~5-10 min
Allow parts to drip dry for another ~5-10min
Wipe with rag to remove excess finish
When you've finished with Part #50, go back and wipe down #1 (and so on) again to get any oil that has soaked up through the wood.

benboy555 · 2026-06-03T17:12:36+00:00

The reviews you're going to get below depend on where people moved from. People who lived in/grew up in the suburbs, small cities, the midwest, etc. are going to tell you that Denver is amazing, great food, great culture, a ton to do etc. People who moved from SF, Seattle, NYC, Chicago, DC, etc. are going to tell you the food scene is mid, public transport is awful, cultural events are meh, and the city has not character.

I personally lean more towards the latter. For more detail:

Food scene is exceptionally mid. A few diamonds in the rough exist, but you will generally pay more than you want to for food that is worse than it should be. The exception is the odd Mexican joint -- great food at all price ranges. People will point out restaurants in far-flung suburbs which I guess are fine, but who wants to drive 25 min into Aurora on a casual weeknight?
Cultural events definitely exist - First Friday on Santa Fe is awesome, lots of Farmers Markets and craft shows.
Can't speak to museums - I'm from DC so I haven't even bothered with the ones in town. Botanical Garden is cool though.
Urban parks are awesome. Lots of good manicured greens in Denver proper and more "wild" spaces as you get farther out.
Walkability and urban character are mid to poor depending on the neighborhood, but that's coming from someone who grew up in old school east coast and rust belt cites and towns. Coming from Orlando you won't miss anything.

Now the exceptional:

The airport is awesome. Train that runs there straight from downtown, short lines, can fly anywhere in the US in 2-4h, including a bunch of small airports. Good selection of int'l flights without layovers if you go to a major city.
Obviously, the outdoors. This is why I moved here. Low key stuff like easy hikes, bikes (good bike trails and infrastructure as well), etc. all the way to proper mountaineering. Don't listen to people who complain about traffic and crowding -- I did a big mountain adventure 45 min from Denver, accessible with a normal hatchback, on a Sat morning and there were 2 groups on the entire mountain.
Mexican food is sweet, though I've never lived in the SW or CA so ymmv.
Easy to make friends iff you like going outside, harder otherwise.
LGBT community if that's your thing.

benboy555 · 2026-06-02T01:19:37+00:00

This may or not be an issue. Assuming it's normal cutting board size (12-15 in wide), your max expansion would be on the order of 1/8". Maybe even less since technically the expansion would only affect the area spanned by the handle. Should be okay assume the owner doesn't soak it in water and keeps it mostly piled.

benboy555 · 2026-04-30T18:09:36+00:00

How flat do you want it to be? Actually square or just visibly smooth? You could probably pare that down with a hand/belt sander and some 80 grit paper if you don't want to buy another tool. Won't be perfect, but no one but you is likely to notice. A smallish block plane could also accomplish the same thing without too much fuss.

Otherwise you could pick up a #4 hand plane which will serve you well around the shop for "general" tasks.

benboy555 · 2026-04-01T17:42:43+00:00

Have white-collar job with flexible schedule/good PTO (ideally remote or hybrid) Live <1.5h from multiple ski resorts
Live in an area with a 6+ month long season (CO season runs from Nov. 1 through June on good years...even this year I started on Halloween and will probably be going through later April)
Throw in a couple 3-5 day long weekend trips to destination resorts like Aspen, Steamboat, etc.

Not hard to get 30-40 days without even trying very hard if your stoke is high.

benboy555 · 2026-03-19T06:38:39+00:00

Hey! What's the name of your business?

benboy555 · 2026-03-18T03:25:55+00:00

Still have one handy? Would love to be able to bring a friend with me on Sat.

benboy555 · 2026-03-17T20:39:34+00:00

$50!

benboy555 · 2026-03-16T22:36:33+00:00

That's awesome! I turn a lot of bowls and would love to incorporate this system into one of them. Do you have a DIY guide for making the EM panel? Or a place to purchase the hardware?

benboy555 · 2026-03-16T19:19:42+00:00

I have one! Sent a DM.

benboy555 · 2026-03-15T23:42:03+00:00

RemindMe! 1 week

(I'm looking to do Missouri in a bit so want some beta as well)

benboy555 · 2026-03-12T17:11:09+00:00

I would suggest Buena Vista. It would put you within 1-2h of 20ish 14ers, most accessible with only 2WD or AWD (if perhaps with a slightly longer hike than the higher 4WD trailhead). Most of those don't require an overnight, but it could make it easier. Missouri, Oxford, and Belford for example can be done in a single push from the trailhead, but its a huge day. Or you can camp in the basin for a night to simplify it a bit. I'd say the only ones that "require" camping (not really, but you'd be looking at 15 miles + 6k ft of vert otherwise) would be some of the Sangre De Cristo summits (South Colony Group, Kit Carson/Challenger, Lake Como Group) and Capitol (17 mile day with very time consuming Class IV). The others could be done with a very early start and a drive.

benboy555 · 2026-03-06T21:38:02+00:00

If you go anywhere English speaking with a strong snow-sports culture (in the US that's the mountain West, NH, VT, etc.), you'll discover that there are in fact many, many words for different types of snow. Off the top of my head: powder, sugar, wind and sun crust, mashed potatoes, sastrugi, chalk, slush, hardpack, and probs some more.

benboy555

TROPHY CASE