TimL

Metloius, Aliens & BD cams seem to all work really well. I think its a matter of personal preference. With so many good brands out there, it is hard to go wrong. The only brand that I have grown to dislike are Trango cams. They seem to get stuck any and everywhere.

Work........Ha Ha Ha..... Not for the last 4 months. With the lurking fear of a job in the near future, if anybody is up for climbing, email me Lucky14956@aol.com! When I do work its in Advertising/Marketing.

Fallen on 00 and 0 many times while aiding and free climbing. They hold when placed right. I wouldn't consider them a C2 placement. Granted they are not the easiest to place and test due to their small size. Greg, sorry to hear about your injury. Get better soon!

The bolting of DDD was a total lame act. I am in favor of chopping the bolts on DDD and on the 10b tope-rope next to Dogleg Crack but first consider if the damage to the rock can be repaired or covered up in any way so that a super obvious scar won't always be present?

The crazy shit thats going on in Leavenworth these days. I've heard of more bolts being placed in the Icicle than any other time. Maybe information is becoming more public because of this website? Who knows? Bolting rap stations on Outer Space? What is next, shooting a line of bolts spaced 2 feet a part up ROTC. If the point is to make a "safer" route, than maybe whoever bolted the stations should hang up their harness and take up knitting. One of the nice things about Outer Space is that it serves as an intro to other harder and more remote mountain routes. The lessons learned on routes like OS are important. What, the worst that can happen is you make a bad decision and go up high and get rained off. So you might have to leave some gear? But you will for sure learn how to get off something when retreat in the only option. What happened to adventure, self reliance and the freedom of venturing into the unknown? This spray only leads to one thing. Time to stop cranking on the computer and go out climbing!

Cheers to many more fun climbs this summer and hopefully the 20 mile wet rainy death marches are all done with!

Mike, If I remember correctly, you can traverse right from the top of Princely Ambitions p2 to the rap anchor on Dr. Sniff and the Tuna Boaters. I believe you can get to the ground with one rap with 2 60 meter ropes. You can also scramble up and right of Princely and rap of the Breakfeast of Champions/Rogers Corner Anchors. If you rap off BOC you will need two 60 meter ropes. The wall is overhanging enough that is it extremly difficult to swing to the tree rap anchors at the top of Rogers Corner p2. One rope, although it is close, is not enough with rope stretch to get you to the chain anchors on top of p1 of Rogers Corner. One the topic of bolt replacement at Index. While climbing at Index I've come across several bolts that look like you don't even want to break wind around them let alone put your full body weight on them. (Star Drive- ins anybody!) I know the store Climb On in Squamish has a jar for people to donate change for bolt replacement. Maybe one of the shops around here would be into starting one for Index? [This message has been edited by TimL (edited 06-22-2001).]

Some of the most inspiring pictures of seen are of Peter Croft climbing hard crack routes solo. But that is Peter's game. It is sad to hear of anyone biting it while climbing, whether solo or not.

If your looking for a good, hard free route check the University Wall in Squamish. It goes at 12a and I am sure it is not closed.

Has anyone been up to Washington Pass lately? If so, did the Liberty Bell Group look like it was climable? Also, did anyone get a glimpse at Burgandy Spire. Did the North Face look like it was in condition yet. I'm sure the 2 large ledges still contain at least large patches of snow, but that probably to be expected. Thanks for any and all beta.

Funny, I was getting ready to post something about the U Wall myself. How are the anchors on the climb? New or rusty 1/4 funk. I have the same Squamish guide and it seemed rather vague on the approach. Also, do you rap the route? Any info will be appreciated.

Has anyone caught a glimpse of the North Ridge of Stuart or have any conditions beta on what the rock routes on Dragontail (Serp Arete)? Is there much snow on the routes? Thanks for any and all beta!

OK - Its time to add my 2 cents into this soap opera drama of a website. Just got back from Leavenworth. 2 things I noticed: 1.) DDD goes on gear - no doubt about it. It sounds like several people have had the nerve to do it in style. 2. The route next to Dogleg crack has been a top rope problem for as long as I can remember. Also, it goes on gear as well. I did it yesterday on gear. To the bolters, if you want to bolt something find a new crackless area and bolt it. Use creativity and find and area does not already have established lines. Then you can spray about it on this site and everyone will go to it. A win/win situation. Climbing is not safe. Adding bolts to a route to bring it down to your skill level or level of acceptable risk is as one famous climber put it " a crime of the impossible". Tim Lawrence

Viktor, Thanks for the time and effort of putting together a new guide. The old book has provided many days of good cascadian fun. As a comment for everyone, a little bit of ambiguity makes life interesting. Half of the fun in climbing in Washington is the adventure/epic of finding the start of the route. I don't think you intiated this thread as an "ask Viktor forum", but I have a question that nobody seems to know the answer. Are their any established routes on Upper or Middle Eightmile Buttress. If so, do you have information about them or do you know anyone that has information. Thanks, Tim Lawrence Lucky14956@aol.com

I'm looking into picking up a large capacity haul bag for an upcoming trip. Does anyone out there have beta on what brands/models of haul bags to shoot for or to stay away from. Any and all information will help. Thanks

Is the road open to the Stuart Lake trailhead or is it still gated at the Icicle? If the road is open, do you need a 4x4 to get very far up it?

I've taken many pairs of rock shoes to Ramutas and have been happy with every re-sole. As a matter of fact, I took a pair of rock shoes in last week on Wednesday and they were repaired and ready to go on Friday afternoon. I climbed in them last weekend and the shoes felt perfect.

Metolius and BD will re-sling and re-wire your cams for $8.00 per cam including shipping back to you. All you have to do is call the company and get a RA # and send it to them. I sent 2 cams to Metolius and received them back in about a month and they were just about brand new. Good luck!

Erik - Speaking of epics, how was the last couple days at Vantage. I bet the scenery wasn't as nice as Sunday! I heard they are starting to plow Highway 20. The Becky-Leen route should be in soon!

Erik - Speaking of epics, how was the last couple days at Vantage. I bet the scenery wasn't as nice as Sunday! I heard they are starting to plow Highway 20. The Becky-Leen route should be in soon!

Thanks everyone for replying. Ron - I've heard many great things about your route on Condor Buttress. Honestly, I think we are all talking about 2 different areas. The place that I am talking about is, I believe, the upper tiers of 8-Mile Buttress. The lines that I saw were crack routes. The most notable feature that I can remember is a rather large dihedral in the middle of the formation that you could see plainly from the top of the lower 8-Mile Buttress. Either way, in the next month I will be up there checking it out. If I find some good stuff, I'll post it!

Has anyone been on Whitehorse this winter?

This past fall I was climbing around on lower 8-Mile buttress and happened to notice from a ways what looked like an assortment on interesting rock climbs on the middle and upper 8-Mile Buttress. I checked in the Leavenworth guide book by Kramar and only received the following brief description: "The middle and upper buttress have many routes climbed over the years and would require extensive research to document. This may never happen but will likely to remain as it always has been, an adventuring area." Has anyone been up there or have any beta about this adventuring area? Not that I want to take away from the adventure, but a little background info in addition to Kramar's brief description would be awesome.

Its the worst sort of torture imaginable. Especially when there is dry Index granite out there waiting to be climbed. I think I'm starting to feel sick. By Thursday I probably won't be able to climb out of bed...

While climbing at the lower town wall I watched a couple of huge avalanches pour out from the Norweign Buttresses on Sunday. A fun route in stable snow conditions would be to traverse from Mt. Persis to the main Index Peak and then maybe down through Serene Lake or just back down the way you came. When I was on Persis last year the connecting ridge system didn't look to bad. I believe I might have several slides of the route. Have fun.