TimL

Granted this is just my opinion, but a FFA yo-yoing is not valid. I would consider having the gear in place and clipping it on the way up better than yo-yo style. Consider Heinous Climb at Smith. I could clip all the bolts past the crux, come down and climb through everything on TR then clip the last bolt. Frankly, most of it is a TR rehearsal. In reality, I don't care how most people do their business, but to claim a FFA on something you did not do willingly thrusts yourself into the limelight. When you put yourself in that limeliht, then all is fair game, including your style.

This discussion is interesting. If the above story is true about Todd S, then it really sounds like he did not free the route. IMHO - If he did TR 90 feet of the route, then stepped to the right and finished on the 10c of GZ, he did not do the FFA route. There are many things that can happen on the last 15 "easy" feet. I know that I've been stymied on the last 15 feet of easy climbing on harder routes. City Park is an obvious line. It starts at the top of the bolt ladder and goes all the way to the chains. Stepping to the right is a variation. Climbng the first 90 feet on TR is not leading the route. I would say leading the route with gear in place is more aceptable then this. Given the rise in climbing standards, I would say the FFA is valid with the leader starting with the crack above the bolts and finishing on the direct line at the anchors, placing gear. Pretty simple. If Skinner or anybody else has yet to do this, then this is still an open project. It would be great to get his first hand account on exactly how he did it. It he really did free the route, then he should not have a problem in coming out and saying how he climbed it. Another question, has he ever written an account or a story about this climb or is all the information second hand? Things seem a little weird here.

You might ty Wallstein and Rumr. I heard rumors about both of them giving mighty efforts. I tried to tr it today, but after the first 15 feet of the crack, it got way too hard.

After flying in last night and seeing that there is not much snow, I'm kind of up in the air about climbing conditions in the Cascades. I've never seen a snow year this bad. So after all of this sun, what are the conditions like? Was thinking about going on a day climb tomorrow to stretch the legs, but I'm not sure what to go for. Given the conditons, anyone have some suggestions? I was thinking about Chair Peak or Whitehorse, but the lack of snow in the Sno Pass area looks terrible. Also, what are the avy conditions like in general terms? Thanks!

Anyone know what is the best guidebook for the area? I've seen several. Also, are there any good free routes around the area? Granted I know Moonlight Buttress is free, but I was thinking of things of little easier.

Sweet! Hope to see you there!

Are there any good free bivy spots in or around Zion. I heard the campground sucks and is expensive. We might be there around the end of March to the beginning of April.

Not counting Squishy, wonder what would be the hardest aid pitch in the NW? Something on one of the North Norweigan Buttresses on Index, Dolemite Tower, something on the Upper Town Wall or something on the Diamond on Bear Mountain? I dunno. But it is an interesting question. Excluding Squishy, is there even an A5 pitch in the NW?

Just be careful with Ironhorse. I've seen many people both free and aid zipper pieces on that route after not placing a directional piece at the bottom. Granted I've only done it once on aid, but I think its a spicer aid route then free.

10% is a really good short aid route that can introduce you to cam hooking and thin nutting.

A very well written and insightful article. I bumped into Brian for the first time a couple years ago on the Ptarmigan Traverse. Hopefully his recovery will be quick and he will be able to return to the mountains soon.

Nevertheless, thanks for sharing the story and the pictures. It was a great read and the pictures are inspiring!

Funny thing about this place. I've had some extremely good customer service experiences, then I've had some bad ones as well. Although I will say that when we ordered a really expensive tent and it came in damaged, they solved the problem quickly and handled everything very well and were freindly to boot!

I only wish I couldn't feel the abrasion. There have been several times that I have felt the blood trickle down my leg and especially ankle only to know that I still had 10 meters left. I guess it comes to a point in which you have to just grin and bear.

The last pitch of Narrow Arrow at Index is a short, full on OW. Bring something bigger than a 4 to protect it!

I've walked past this route. Looks really nice, but really, really dirty with a tree growing out of it. Bet it would be a fine route if someone wanted a cleaning project.

yeah there are sooooo many 5000 to 7500m peaks there! guess i'm just not a mountain dork. thanks for pointing that out

What about Baffin Island or Greenland?

Thanks for the relpys. I've received the info in which I was looking for.

I bet there is more stuff around the Enchantments adn Stuart, you might just have to look at it in a different light?

I'm told he's living in Spain and since I'll be shortly taking an "extended" trip to the area, I wanted to see if I could obtain some information. If you have any means of contacting him then please PM me. Thanks, Tim

Nice climb. Gets morning sun. If I remember correctly, 3 pitches. You could maybe run pitches together but with the middle pitch there would be a lot of rope drag. Bring cams to 3 or 3.5 I believe as it might get wider at the top. The decent is off the backside of the Smith Rock Group that faces the main highway and you only need one 60 meter rope. From the end of the route, scramble up to some huge chains. Its pretty easy.

I'm not sure if the name has been released yet, but a group of us including Eric started climbing and bouldering in the summer way back in the day at Marymoore Park. I can always remeber running into Eric at Marymoore and around Redmond. Although I was never close to him, I remeber him to be a very positive, upbeat and nice person. It is a shame that he left us at such a young age. Condolences to his family. RIP Eric

i agree with rumr. there is a bolt where you need it and they are weell spaced, but the climbing is solid. amazing route.

Thanks for the replys and the information! It is very useful. MM - We were climbing in Bancroft. Pretty much everything was in. Rollorcoaster and the climbs above. Hidden Gully and Amazing Glaze. I climbed Dirty Harry and it was around M5 WI4-. It was about 8 meters of rock and ice to get to the ice. Fun climb.