TimL

Hey SL - I've been going in between Toronto and Seattle for the past six months or so. In my humble opinion, Toronto is a really nice city in which to live, but an asshole for climbing. If you get posted to Toronto, prepare for longer drives to get to decent climbing areas. The Adirondaks are 6-7 hours away. The Gunks, which are amazing, are 7-8 hours away. Cannon Cliff and Cathedral Ledge are about 9-10 hours away. The Red River Gorge in Kentucky is about 8-10 hours aways. In winter there is some ice climbing around in the 1-4 hour driving range with alot of the popular East Coast climbing destinations from 6-10 hours away. Specifically around Toronto, there are Limestone crags, Mt Nemo, Kelso & Milton in the 1-2 hour driving range. These crags are OK and offer a variety of limestone trad routes and harder bolted sport climbs. By far the best place in the general area is the the Lions Head vicinity. Amazing limestone pocket pulling with a cool ambiance down on Lake Ontario. By far the best place I've been to in the area. If you really like climbing and being outdoors, leave your job and find another in Vancouver. The only reason tha tI can stand it here is I know I'll be leaving the area for good at the beginning of the year. Toronto also has 3-4 climbing gyms. I've only been to one and its OK. Let me knowif you need any more beta. Tim

RIP Rodchester

I've donew the route a couple of times, and the upper pitches are always the ass kicker and I think are harder than the "crux" psychopath pitch. As Alex mentioned, P1 above PP is a very nice 5.9/10a pitch. P2 is a very nice and a little dirty 10c corner of Iconoclast. P3 can be done in several ways but starts from a bolt anchor, makes a leftward change from one corner system to the next, then goes further left to a headwall sort of thing. This is the place that has always confused me. You have two optoins: hard 5.11ish face climbing on the right or an easier dirty corner with iffy pro on the left. I'm not sure what the exact way is, but I've always face climbed on the right. After that pitch you can set up a belay by a tree, which is the only obvious belay spot. The next pitch is the Pressure Chamber pitch and is a fairly long pitch. It starts off with sustained 5.10 climbing up finger and thin hand cracks to a chimeny that spits you out below the final overhang which is rated 10d, but felt much harder. Pull the overhang in whatever style you can muster and belay above from a hanging belay. The next pitch is a 5.10-, very dirty pitch to the top or you can set up an intermediate belay. Very good a sustained climb. Have fun!

I agree to doing a couple of easier routes to get used to the rock and pro. The climbing is very different and protection is mostly good, but you can´t get a piece whenever you want, and typically there are longer run outs. I use a lot of small to medium cams. You won´t need much bigger than a yellow camalot. red and pink tri cams are the shizzle for the gunks.

Get the Gunks Select book by Dick Williams. Really, its hard to not find a good route at the gunks. the crux is waiting in line. Just about all the routes at the trapps are amazing. Must do routes are Madame G and High Exposure. Have fun.

Does it really matter which route it happened on? I´m glad nobody died. Hope both guy recover soon. To me the matter is about personal responsibility. Unfortunately, this cat paid the price for his actions. Wearing a helmet is neither wrong or right and judging people on if they wear a helmet or not is just plain stupid.

Hey Richard - I climbed Senseless Thoughts of Paronia on the Upper Index Town Wall a couple years ago. I heard you are living in Spain right now. I am in Madrid right now and have a couple questions about climbing in the area and in the Picos De Europa. Shoot me an email at Lucky14956 at aol.com. Tim

I know of at least one party that climbed the route on SEWS if not a couple more.

Since I have not climbed in the Cascades for the past couple of months, I have no idea of the conditions. but A couple that fall alpine ice climbs that come to mind are NE Face of Eldo (easy), NF of Observation Rock (easy solo), NF of Shuksan, Roman Headwall on Baker, Price glacier on Shuksan. I´ll be back in the Cascades around the end of September to mid October and seriously interested in getting out into the mountians to do some of these climbs if anyone is interested.

I've had no problems with all my pairs. How long do you expect a pair of socks to last? For regular use, a year is a fairly long time for a pair of socks to last.

Sweet! Thanks Specialed!

I'll be traveling to Spain in a week and will have some free time to rock climb. I was wondering if anyone has information about climbing in Spain. I am primarily looking for locations around Madrid. Also, I am also looking to see if anyone has information on the Picos De Europa. Primarily, easier routes up the Naranjo De Bulnes. Thanks for any and all beta.

I friggin luv the Gunks

On what I would consider my short-term tour of East Coast crags, I just visited the Dacks last weeks. I would reccomend going to Pok-O-Moonshine. Its much like the Lower Index Town Wall and offers a variety of good crack routes at about the same rating difficulty as Index. For 5.8 trad, I would say climb The Sting and Gamesmanship. Both are awesome 5.8's. If you keep going down the trail to the climbers right from Gamesmanship, there are a number of bolted 5.10 face climbs. There is a good campground right below the cliff that will enable a five minute walk to the climbs in the morning. I also climbed at the Spiders Web which was really good. Much better than Pok-O. The only thing about Spiders web is there are only a couple quality, 5.8's and 5.9s. Most of the cracks are hard 5.10 or in the 5.11 range. I'd reccomend Mr. Rogers 5.8 and Esthesia 5.9+. If you really want a good crag, I'd say make the drive to the Gunks. I just came back from there this past weekend and I think it, besides Index, is one of the best single crags I've ever visited. Have fun. I might actuallyt be in the Adirondacks next weekend for the Walface.

Hey Rat...when did Yosemite become part of Europe? I know plenty of routes that have fixed lines on the approches and descents. West Face of Leaning Tower ring a bell? GregW...really, no offense, but WA Pass is just another rock climbing crag right off the road.

gear to 3 maybe 3.5 for the fist crack leading to chimney, then small TCUs. Wasn't it rated 5.8 in the older 11worth guidebook? I've always thought it was a super good 5.8! Awesome route, its one I try to do a least once a year.

So who named the Girth Pillar and why

The ironic, obvious quote that I've heard many times "That climb was easy except for the crux."

I guess the way I see it, climbing is a first come first serve basis. If you want a route that bad, then get there earlier. In regards to beginners, we all started at one point, have a little friggin understanding rather then bitching on the internet about something. A $10 chain is worth less then someones life. As for places to take people, everything is open, although there are some areas better suited for beginners. And whats with this assumption that everyone started climbing in the gym!

the bigger question is the condition of the east ledges descent.

Yes, I did see potential

Nope, just off route. Our stupid mistake.

Just a couple notes on Chianti Spire: - I'd consider this climb to be a good wide crack climb. It has some of the most sustained wide crack climibng I've done in the Cascades. Super good shizzle. - We stated directly under the corner in a wide crack with loose blocks in it that eventually pulled a small roof on cool face holds. Good protection. Felt like 5.9/10a. - The eight inch crack will take a Metolius Yellow and Blue cam on the inside after the #4 tips out. Go left side in and climb face holds and ninja style offwidth technique. Little heady, but not very hard. - With 60 meter ropes we combined pitches 2 and 3 with about a meter to spare. - On the headwall offwidth pitch, there is a crack about 3 feet right of the OW, that will accept smaller gear. - When rapping, rap from the summit block to the headwall rap station. From there rap down past the station on top of pitch four, blind 5.8 reach around corner, directly down to a single bolt and slung flake. From there two more rapes will bring you to the glacier. Note, only the upper raps follow the climbing route. The last couple go straight down to the glacier. In early season leave an ice axe at the base of the rap route or bring shoes because the raps leave you a couple hundred feet away from your pack and a little steep snow to climb in rock shoes.

Scholar with a Dollar 10c - Lower 8 Mile Buttress The Nose 10d - Castle Rock MF Overhang 10c - Castle Rock Easter Overhang 10c - Midnight Rock Z Crack 10c - Alphabet Rock Iconoclast 10c - Snow Creek Wall Debs Crack 10d - Debs Crack All super good routes for the grade. I think there is some good climbs at Pearly Gates, but I don't know the names or grades off the top of my head. Have fun.

Thinking about heading out into the mountains on Thursday if the weather is ok. Interested in climbing Clean Break, Colchuck Balenced Rock West Face, Baker North Ridge or maybe Slesse as day routes. I'll lead all crux pitches if not the entire route. Looking for a partner that can move fast in the mountains. PM me if interested. BobbyPeru? Alex?