Wallstein

I'm assuming it was a stainless bolt which appear to have problems keeping the nut tight. Possibly due to the lower torque requirements. I've put in a few hundred in the last few years and just started using a bit of blue Loc-tite. I've started seeing loose hangers all over the place and they are almost all stainless. surprising people haven't made using loc-tite standard practice, it should be.

Sounds like a great trip! My lady, Kate Rutherford, was one of the first ascentionist on Southern Crossing. She wanted me to come on the trip but I had prior commitments. Bummed I wasn't there. Looks like a good route.

I climb at Smith/Index/Yosemite all the time and do lots of the trade routes. The problem with leaving biners is definitely the engrained cheapness (and lack of understanding) of so many climbers. They see a leaver biner and start drooling... If the general climbing public could just get use to fixed biners at anchors, their advantages and how to correctly use them, the problem would be solved. This is what has happened on many of the climbs harder than 5.11 at smith.

yes, obviously you wouldn't want to just slap two biners directly to the hangers and call it good. Either the Fixe setup with rings then a biner or bigger climbing rated quicklinks then biners.

check out the spyderco ladybug with a serrated blade (http://goo.gl/2eEM8). cuts ropes and webbing well and will do a ok job of butchering the salami and cheese. Easy to drop in the pocket or zipper pouch on a big chalk bag. I usually tie a piece of 4mm cord on mine so i can clip it in when needed (like in the alpine with gloves on) I can't really see a problem with leaving a quicklink at an anchor but leaving them on lead bolts can be pretty annoying especially if the climbing is hard. A quicklink can make it harder to get a biner into the hanger and then it also prevents the biner from sitting well. If you need to lower or rappel off a single bolt just leave a biner instead, especially if all you have is cheap small hardware store grade quicklinks. If you find yourself leaving to many biners all over the place you are probably climbing things that are out of your current ability. I wish everyone would just leave biners at every anchor that is going to be used for lowering or rappelling. Thats what I've started doing on routes I establish. Be fewer accidents due to lowering/rappelling communication if this is how things were done.

Faq'ing awesome TR! Hope to share a belay with you someday just for the entertainment!

you might get a lot more interest on Supertopo.com There are some bolting freaks over there and I think if you want even close to what you are asking its going to take someone that is a drill/hammer connoisseur.

I've used the new Encapsil on a couple of climbs already, well truth be told I actually haven't been able wear it but my partners have. That is one of the problems with being a photographer for Patagonia, my partners get to wear all the new cool fancy stuff. Firstly if you just ignore the Enapsil down fill in the jacket and just look at the jacket design you will notice Patagonia has gone to great lengths to look at every detail and every seam to make sure it is done right. The new cuffs at first look weird but after talking with partners about them they are extremely happy with how they work. The jacket is a lot easier to take off and putt on while wearing large gloves than any other jacket I've seen. The hood actually fits well with a helmet and well without one. The overall cut of the jacket is also improved compared with something like the DAS. Its hard for me to really comment on the waterproofness of the Encapsil down. The first jacket I got to use didn't have production quality down in it and it never got wet. On the last climb I used it on it was also dry out so again it was pretty hard to tell any difference. What I am even more excited about than the waterproofness of the down is the 1000 fill loft. And I think this is probably a conservative measurement of the down. It us unbelievable how warm the jacket is for its weight and packed volume. Just a couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of climbing Cerro Torre and making all of the rappels at night. We we were a team of three so there was lots of standing around at the belay with Kate my partner. She had the Encpasil parka (518grams) on and I had a Hooded Hi-Loft down sweater plus an Ultra Light hooded sweater (total of 705grams) and well I completely froze my ass off. My teeth chattered all night long and Kate was barely complaining about being cold. I know that isn't a scientific test but it was pretty obvious she had the WAY better setup then me. Above pic is Josh Wharton on the Greenwood-Locke on Mt. Temple Kate Rutherford on the West Face of Cerro Torre ---Full Disclosure--- I work for Patagonia so take my review with a grain of salt...

So so awesome! Way to go Drew! Rudy, you guys gonna be around smith second half of march? I think I'll be there for a couple weeks.

I'm sure the rope is fine but its understandable that you are questioning the age of the rope. I'd suggest just contacting Bluewater directly if you have any questions regarding the safety and shelf life of one their ropes. They will have the definitive answers. Hopefully you at least got the rope on sale.

Way to go guys! I did that route awhile ago and thought it was a blast. I'll be down there in two weeks. Maybe see ya around town.

Thanks for all the kind words. I don't think that I'm underrated.. its just that I'm real short like RuMR so I'm hard to see. For a slightly more complete take on the whole project check a post on Patagonia's Blog HERE! And believe it or not, the route has already seen two attempts! First by Tommy Caldwell and Jonathan Siegrest. They literally got on it the day after I came down. Only problem was I still had all my fixed rope on it so I had to jug back up 1800'ft and pull it out of their way. Totally worth the effort to watch those guys climb it. And definitely an honor to have that team up there trying it. Tommy was able to send all the crux pitches after a few tries but Jonathan couldn't figure out the last crux in the dark. So they opted to go down before completing the final few pitches. Then a day later (yesterday) Honnold went up and gave it a go. He cruised up the lower bit managing to onsight the first 5.13 pitch. He took a couple falls on the next pitch but managed it 2nd go. The final 5.13 crux pitch which I dubbed "the Index pitch" gave him some trouble and took him 3 tries. Gotta say that put a smile on my face. He has a habit of either onsighting or free soloing most peoples projects... Without a doubt Index has been one of the best training grounds imaginable. It has taught me how to figure out cryptic sequences and the ability to stand on nothing. Its the definition of granite trickery! It probably also helps that this is my 17th year of climbing in Yosemite.

The weather can obviously be sporadic down there. I've climbed in 160g primalot insulation layers on some days and have not even brought an insulation layer on other (that is very very very rare...) I'd bring as many options as you can fit in your bag. As far as boots go again, it depends on weather and route selections. I've climbed rock routes without even bringing boots. just went with a good approach shoe. The sportiva Ganda guides are pretty popular down there. Most of the climbing i've done I've had Sportiva Trango S. Those have gotten me up Fitz a couple times. If you plan on icy/mixed stuff the Trango Extreme's seem to be pretty good bet on the Fitzroy side. If you going for stuff on the Torre's a lot of people wear a Batura style boot. Crampons, again lots of different ones getting used. I've actually spent more time in aluminium pons than anything else. Its either those or something like Sabertooths. Mono's don't seem that popular there or needed. Best setup in Sabertooth fronts mixed with Neve backs. When you fly into Calafate try and get a bus right from the aiport to Chalten. This saves time and money. The transfer to Calafate is expensive as well as lodging there. best to get Chalten as quick as possible. you want to get reservations for the bus ticket from the aiport before you fly down. google around and you will figure it out. If you can find a LAN flight all the way down on one that is the best bet. You shouldn't get charged for your bags twice that way. If you fly to BA then change airlines to Aerlineas Argentina they might nail you with baggage fees. Its gone both ways for me. Avoid the females at the check in counter... the dudes always seem more chill. Lodging is really hard in Chalten. Almost impossible to line something up before hand. There is a hostel that caters to climbers but you can show up and figure that out. Lots of people still camp. Picking up partners there seems to happening more and more. Might be harder depending on your experience level. But if you are good with people, make friends easily and have solid alpine skill you should be ok.

Well lets just say my partner had more of an epic than me. I think he just got off the crutches. I only bruised my ribs catching the whipper.

You find a couple of my biners up there from failed attempt/epic from a month ago?

Way to go guys! Looks great.

check out this check out this thread on supertaco. shows a modified gri-gri. I haven't heard this trick mentioned which I think is pretty key if you are doing any free climbing. I attach a Wild Country ropeman to my gear loop that hold the break strand. this allows me to keep the right amount of slack in the loop to make clipping easy. This isn't really a big deal when aid climbing but for free climbing its really important. I've been able to lead hard 5.11 with this rig and it works pretty well.

I did all the pitches maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I remember maybe placing a pin on p2. Thought it was kinda funky but I didn't really have a full rack for aid trickery. I free climbed all most all of it. The big corner pitch has been done clean but I nailed a few LA's. I was looking at if for the free potential and wanted a few really good pieces in place. bring lots of small offsets nuts. Pitch 4 wasn't so bad, but again I was free climbing a lot. don't remember if I placed any pins though. Doubt I used any sawed angles as I haven't owned any in a long time. not much help....

I looked at it and thats about all. I don't want to say it contrived but it's not the line of least resistance. If you follow the corner 8 ft higher there is an obvious finger bucket rail that leads to the arete (the 11b way). Never been one to make things artificially harder. That being said it does look cool and kinda hard.

I was jealous of you guys in the shade! The rock was so damn hot. Conditions should be perfect the next couple days to go up there with high's in the low 60's... You should go up there. Also look at Good Girls like Bad boys. Really good.

Yep I've been using that system pretty much since mini-traxions came out. Probably somewhere close to a couple hundred days of use on them (maybe even more). Usually the weight of the rope is enough to make it feed fine. If there isn't much rope hanging I'll put a pair of shoes or water bottle on it. Will work on a dynamic rope but I usually use a medium stretch static. The sterling safety-pro is a good choice. Decently burly sheath with enough stretch to make the fall soft enough.

Trip: Index - Upper Town Wall - Technicians of the Sacred Date: 8/14/2012 Trip Report: Every time that I come home it feels like its been to long and I don't spent enough time in my native state of Washington. I just spent the last month in Ten Sleep, WY pumping up my ego at what maybe the softest crag in the country. No better way to have an ego re-adjustment than heading straight to the Upper Town Wall and continue working on a multi year project of trying to tick the whole cliff. Thankfully I've had pretty good success in the last few summers up there and have managed to tick 8 different free routes. Even with that much experience there was still one route that I feared more than the rest, Technicians of the Sacred. Like most long free routes on the Upper Wall there is more hearsay and rumors than actual reports of anyone climbing them. A few that I've heard for Technician are "bad bolts, impossible if you are short, and unrepeated." Never one to listen to other people's conjecture I had to see for myself. As with many of the other routes I've done on the wall I opted to do my first mission solo and from the top down, especially given the rumors of bad bolts and the lack of traffic. Though I was actually surprised at how clean the upper pitches look, maybe it was cause it was way steeper than I expected. Nothing like a good dangle rapping over the 11b or 12c arete pitch up high! These are two of the best climbing partners I've ever had. They are always ready, they never get tired or lazy, and I never have to belay them. What more can you ask for? It appears no has been to this anchor in awhile. And I think I may of actually been the one who left the faded cordalette here years ago while working on freeing Golden Arch. The blue stuff looked really old. This view never gets old for me. After one solo mission on the upper pitches, I recruited Kevin Kewl to take a lead lap. We opted to skip the first pitch which is the crux and just did the remaining 4, which break down at 11b, 12a, 11b, 11b (mostly accurate in the classic Index sandbag sorta way). Kevin put on a good show and managed a no falls ascent. I fell once on the 12a after not executing my beta correctly. The upper two 11b pitches were some of the best I've ever done at Index and not what you'd normally find on the UTW. Big holds, above the head heal hooks, and technical stemming. Absolutely stellar climbing! Now that I knew I could do the upper pitches and was feeling a little bit better on the granite I came back alone and put some work in on the first pitch which is the crux 12b. Anybody who has been to the Upper Wall has seen it. It's a striking black and white streaked open corner that sits almost directly above where the trail spits you out. This pitch in particular has been through the rumor mill a few times. I've heard of multiple solid 5.13 climbers getting shut down on it. But being able to climb 5.13 anywhere else has almost nothing to do with being able to climb 5.12b at Index. It takes more than power or endurance to figure out a pitch like this. Often it comes down to creativity and an acute understanding of the subtleties of Index granite. I couldn't think of a more fitting name than Technicians of the Sacred to describe it. Though on my first burn I felt more like a technician of the irreverent than the sacred. I got straight up school'd. If I couldn't hold onto a hold I'd just try and grab it harder, if I couldn't reach a hold I'd try and crank farther, but mostly if I couldn't do a move I'd just slump into my harness and watch my ego slowly deflate to a more appropriate size. I had neither the respect nor the creativity required. I didn't even reach the anchors. Maybe the rumors were actually true this time? But if I've learnt one thing from all the climbing I've done over the years is the first burn is just that, Its the first and not the last. And to go right along with that I've also learnt that I will surely send it on my last go if I try enough times... I came back a couple days later with fresher tips, better shoes, and slightly more aligned ego. Which made a hint of a difference, I actually made it to the anchor after an hour and half of proper punishing. But the granite revealed a few more of its secrets which I met with a more respected and inspired approach. With little expectations I managed to do it with one hang next go. If nothing else I am persistent. I'd been in Washington for 6 days and had spent 3 on Technicians. MIght as well make it 4 out of 7... This time I enrolled my occasional "boss man" Fitz Cahall (of the kick-ass dirtbagdiaries.com check it out!) The plan this time was to go for it from the ground but still approaching it as another beta mission. My self given chances of sending where somewhere close zero. Confidence was high! With highs approaching the low 80's climbing in the sun would mean certain death. We opted for the 5pm start once the climb went into the shade. It was so warm at the base that we could barely sit on the rocks. At least their was no need for a warm up... I laced up my nearly brand new TC pros (which maybe considered cheating) and ventured upward doing my best to execute every move correctly. What I lacked in technicians ability and confidence I made up for with primal screams of stoke. Somehow it managed to work. I made it through the brutal 4 bolt crux to the rest ledge. I was maybe a tad bit more than slightly shocked. Yes, that was a double thumbs up send! The 5pm start didn't leave much light left for the rest of the climbing and didn't leave anytime for falling which thankfully I didn't do. But It still got dark up there. Par for the course. A technician of the sacred? Maybe. Maybe not. A technician of persistance and stoke? More likely. --- And a final note. The bolts are good, it doesn't matter if you are short, and its been repeated.

check out the Hilti TE-C3X Hammer drill bits. They will greatly increase your hand drilling speed. They don't work great if you are reusing 1/4" holes but if they are fresh holes these are the way to go. They retail for around $40 but you can find ones on ebay for around $5. They might be knock offs but I've had good luck with them. Here's an ebay link to them: http://r.ebay.com/GAzWFu

Just got these and they were to small. Can't return them. Brand new in box. Size 38.5 / 6.5 They run at least a half size smaller than most sportiva shoes. Retail for $115. I'd take 60$ plus shipping. Link to Sportiva site

Bought these this spring for $165 and never worn them. They are men's size Small. Pretty burly alpine glove with leather palm and removable liner. I'd take $90 for them plus shipping. link to MHW site: Medusa glove