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Better yet click here

They were assisting an injured climber?

Yeah thanks for the pic Darryl. Last time I was up there (last year) there was obvious scrubbing/cleaning activity up in the area of those cracks. The tree left of center in the picture had had all it's lower branches nicely trimmed away, which transformed it from nasty prickly obstacle, to comfortable bomber anchor/handhold.

Sounds like maybe Tatoosh is the cleanest climb on the lower wall now! Go get it kids!

If you're pushing the 5.8 limit, Squamish (via the current guide) is a good place to do so. This thread might have a bit of what you're after.

More than you probably want to know about "Tatoosh". A climb at Index Lower Wall that is near and dear to me. Tatoosh (a la Cummins, guide, "Free at Last" in others) is a fun route. It's not pristine and clean like many other lines at Index, but it's not near as horrible as forrest or the Cramer guide would have you believe. The first pitchlet is alright. Exiting the "chimney" onto a grass hummock is good alpine training . It can be avoided via the first (10a) half of Thin Fingers. The second part up to the big ledge system is great fun. Bouldery move into a ramp with finger crack, then into a squeeze chimney. Oh, I forgot, if you don't like squeeze chimneys then maybe this climb isn't for you. The dirt ramp that Free at Last shares with Narrow Arrow standard is not fun, but there are variations to the left that could be cleaned (but that might piss people off on Thin Fingers) that would help it. Someday... Above that there are some cool steep corners. Some slightly dirty, some clean. Straight up is pretty hard 10a (turning a roof on the right into an offwidth), or you can do a variation out right that's about 5.8 (hand crack to hand traverse). Both variations are capped with a sketchy lieback on a rounded corner . There has been some cleaning done on the upper part apparently by someone working on a harder route above. However the last ramp still has a bit dirt to deal with. Once at the "top" you can rap down off a large tree to the top of Sloe Children with a single 60m (barely, don't try it with 58 m rope). Bring some slingage. It's not like this anchor gets beefed up as often as some. Can be done in three 60m pitches, but breaking into a few more might be recommended. Anyway, a way to get in some pseudo alpine (i.e. "steep n dirty") for the 9+/10- leader. It's never crowded .

Talking with a climber about hexes or tri-cams is similar to talking politics or religion. It's a charged topic that can easily lead to an, shall we say, overenthusiastic exchange of beliefs. It's unfortunate that you came out of there feeling the guy was condescending, but it is a sensitive area you were treading upon .

Date: 7/7/5 Place: Index Town Wall Climbed at Index yesterday. One pitch we climbed was Gorilla My Dreams. The climb is virtually all lieback. Just past the undercling section (3rd bolt?) my foot skated and I went flying. Went upside down. Was looking down past my feet up at the sky through the trees. Seemed to fall quite a ways (20 feet?). Braced myself for head cracking on the rock (I was wearing a helmet). No crack came. Hit nothing. Fairly soft/quick jolt to a stop. Hanging inverted. Phew! Didn't even get my nuts scrunched in my notorious Alpine Bod Harness (maybe upside down falls are good sometimes!). Figured out where the good foothold was and finished the pitch. Gear Notes: All bolts. However, a #4 Camalot can be used to bypass or protect the clip specified as difficult in various guidebooks. A #3 Camalot will work too, though a little lower, before the first bolt. Also one could use a .5 or .75 or #5 to supplement the bolts near the top. Probably not a good climb to try leading with a Soloist. Approach Notes: Gorilla My Dreams is on the Winky Dink Cliff which can be reach by hiking up from the top of the Great Northern Slab, or hiking over (left) from the top of Princely Ambitions. You can access the Middle Wall via the top of Gorilla My Dreams.

Or maybe it isn't. Not every boulder needs to be climbed.

Oregon...uh huh, OK. One time I, uh, err, this ....friend, uh... yeah, this crazy friend of mine, well he got really drunk this one time and ....

You could go that way I guess, but 1) for some reason, I think that road is no longer accessible (I could be wrong). 2) the now standard approach (through Headlee Pass via Sunrise Mine Road) is pretty quick, in the ~2 hour range. It does look beautiful down there though.

The Lizard (Index)

If fretting about this climb, do not focus on the rockclimbing on the ridge. The crux is the couloir. Well, unless you're like some experienced steep snow/iceclimber who has never climbed rock before. I repeat, THE CRUX IS THE COULOIR!

Did you break a tool?

agreed

Right thanks! Sounds useful to know, for a rescue situation. I know you're not disagreeing with me here. I'm just going to restate... In a toproping situation the risk of inadvertent fuckup is way more likely than sling failure due to insufficient strength. Best to focus on doubling up the system instead of getting all crazy about knot strength.

I don't know what you mean by a "wrap-three-pull- two", but it sounds like it might not be a redundant system. IF the tree is really good. I agree you don't need an independent anchor point. However, there is still the reasonable possibility that a newbie or experienced climber could make a mistake with respect to locking a biner or tieing a sling. Thus, I think it would be a very good rule of thumb to set up two independent sling/biner combos around the tree.

Are you guys following this Dept. of Veteran's Affairs fiasco? Seems like they're/we're facing a billion $ shortfall because, get this, they estimated need for veterans' use of medical services on pre-war 2002 service levels . Now what do you think the reasoning was behind this idiotic assumption? a) complete utter stupidity? b) arrogant attempt at a transparent accounting trick? c) complete disregard for our Veterans? d) genuine administration belief that we would suffer no casualties (think Pat Robertson revelation)? (also see a)) Seattle Times story Fairweather, Thanks for your reasonable post. I agree that the real work is trying to figure out what to do now that we've really stepped in it. How much more benefit of the doubt can you give these bozos to get us out of this problem? They've been continually making it worse. The VA thing is just one more bit of evidence that they're clueless about what's going on. They said during the election that, "you don't change horses in the middle of the stream". To that I reply, "you sure as hell do if the horse is heading toward a waterfall".

Prussik Peak is the obvious, quick answer but you probably already have that one on your list (tons of other stuff near there, Witches Tower being one). For a bit more adventure you could check out Norht Face of Chimney Rock. Approach via Dutch Miller Gap trail (via the notorious, soon to be gated, Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road). Camp up near the Overcoat Glacier. Overcoat Peak could also be bagged from up there. Boston Basin (West Ridge Forbidden, Sharkfin Tower, Mt. Torment). N Ridge Foggy Peak and E Wilman's Spire via Glacier Basin. Sawhorse Tower and Columbia Peak via Twin Lakes.

They were pretty much the only news org that was carrying the "Downing Street Memo" before the public made a bunch of noise about it. But what did you think of Bush's speech Peter? Do you think he actually talked about a plan for Iraq, or do you think his people just lied and said he would so they could get prime-time network coverage?

It's obviously signs of an increasingly desperate insurgency (who hate freedom).

Very sneaky! You know they won't reach the summit.

I bet he'd give you his email or phone number if you asked real nicely

Ummm....Mt. Hood maybe?