Wallstein

Rumor has it that he couldn't do my route Dark Side of Liberty so he had to settle with doing some long moderates instead.

Good job Alex and Andy! Having been up there numerous times over the years (most recently this august) I think the pin scar that takes the famous red c3 has really improved. I remember it being pretty finicky 10 years ago and now it seems like it will take any cam of the appropriate size. Glad to hear you guys figured out the correct belay stances and didn't stop at the two bolts near the end of pitch 5. I should probably just remove the old bolt so there is just one there, which would force people to keep going to the good stance in the corner. It is also possible to easily link pitches 2 & 3. I hadn't done it that way till this summer and not really sure why not? Bummed I missed you guys up there. It was a really lonely August on that wall...

I never got around to writing a trip report on Cascade Climbers for my new route, Slave to Liberty, on Liberty Bell from this past summer. It takes a line just to the right of Liberty Crack and to the left of Thin Red Line. It goes at 5.13- with 7 of the pitches being new and 1 pitch being an FFA. I did put the route on Mountain Project though. Info can be found here; Slave to Liberty

We went out to the Gorge again today and did some scoping. Hoping to squeeze in Crown Jewel before it turned into a river again. Unfortunately that has already happened. We continued east a bit and noticed a good looking flow that wasn't running with water. It was on the cliff just to the left of the Rat Cave. Pretty sure it is called the Slippery Dolphin in the guide book and rarely forms. We were extremely surprised to find completely dry but plastic ice. The whole feature is still really well bonded to the wall and doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. We thought it was around grade 4+ or so on the left and maybe 5 on the right but the ice was so sticky that it all felt pretty easy.

We did the first 3 on Friday and also got bombed by a bit of stuff. There are some pretty big death-cicles hanging around the top. The 3rd pitch was pretty wet and the 4th looked really wet unfortunately. Thought about going back with a super early start on Saturday but the wind forecast scared me off. And our car got broken into at the trailhead. My girlfriend started getting charge notifications on her phone when we were on the 2nd pitch. The fucking tweakers went to Macdonalds and Wallmart! Who the hell goes there when someone else is buying!

All good advice in this thread. I'm in the petzl rocpec camp. I used the pika early on and hated it. Also used the hurricane and didn't love it. Also used high speed steel bits and could never figure out the "twice" as fast thing. I found the bits to bind way more and slow me down. Finding a hammer that fits you is also important. I've tried the original A5, the new D5, the Mcdevitt, and a petzl one but I've always returned to my original BD wall hammer. I've got small hands and short arms and the smaller nature of the BD hammer fits me perfectly. I also don't swing super hard, I'm am more of a gentle driller and find my sds bits don't chip nearly as fast this way. The one piece of advice that I never see mentioned in threads like this is to use Loctite or any of the available thread lockers.. Since the torque is so much lower on Stainless steel bolts the nut has a tendency to loosen up a lot. I can't tell you how many newish SS bolts I've come across that have loose nuts or the nut and hanger are completely gone. If there is a sling on the bolt the wind will the blow the sling back and forth and eventually loosen the nut right off. Seen this in Patagonia many times and around crags of the PNW. And regarding the blow tube or pump. I don't actually believe it is necessary. When I started bolting I always used one but I forgot the tube enough times that I just used the bit to twist all of the dust out out. After awhile I just stopped bringing a tube. Not sure of my exact count but I know I have for sure placed over 300 bolts by hand and have never once gotten a spinner. Then I've had partners using the exact setup as me and they used a blow tube and they got spinners. I think it has more to do with drilling technique and precision than dust in the whole. The only asterisk to this is if you are drilling on a horizontal surface and the dust doesn't naturally want to work it's way out. That would be a good time for a blow tube.

Pink! Dude that is a great old photo. I actually came across our ZM slides not that long ago. What a trip eh? Still look back at those days and think how crazy we were. It's no wonder that I've got so much grey hair these days! And that is the jacket that got skunked! Remember rolling into Vegas afterwards and still smelling like skunk?

I am almost inspired enough to go out there and try it some day! Good job guys!

I'd be interested in the Rockies book.

PM sent on the ledge

EDIT: I found a pair. Thanks! I'm looking for a some Silvretta bindings that will preferably take a smaller boot though I could also possibly be interested in large ones to modify. email works best. mikeylikesrocks@gmail.com

Thanks John! Sounds like SJ got in touch with you.

I'm looking for a room, small condo, apartment or ADU in Portland to share with my girlfriend. She works at OHSU and needs to be fairly close or have easy access to the 5 or 405. It will mostly be her at the place as I live near Smith and travel a lot. Anyone have any room or ideas? We need to be out of our condo in downtown at the end of the month and haven't found a great option yet. We come with perks. I've got a great place just down the road from Smith Rock that you'd be welcome to crash at. I can also offer some pretty good discounts on Patagonia gear. And if you happen to break a bone my girlfriend should be able to fix it for you! You can email me at mikeylikesrocks@gmail.com if you have any leads. thanks.

check out the Patagonia Nano Air Vest. not sure if it is in season right now though. I've been using one for awhile now and it works great for me layered over a cap 4 weight piece.

I wish I could make it. Trevor can be entertaining.