Retrosaurus

As of Monday: The Cable is still in. The top is somewhat thin and hollow. H202 is in but looking thinner and ratty. Just north of H202 , the climb with no first pitch and no name is still there and the upper tiers look fat from the road. The Emerald is in. Zenith is in and spectacular, but the crux pillar is somewhat thin and fragile. There are a lot of pillars that looked to be in good climbing shape, although most of them top out in shrubs. I did not get a look at the Punchbowl area. Guiness is in although toping out is difficult to do safely. This week has been cold only at night, so I'm sure the climbs have suffered some. But there should still be some fun climbing to be had there. If I was going to climb there I would make sure to start climbing early, to take advantage of cooler temps, esp on climbs with threatening ice above. [This message has been edited by Retrosaurus (edited 02-21-2001).]

I guess I need to apologise for the tone of my comment. Just a sarcastic sense of humor that I can't seem to overcome. But there is more than a grain of truth there. I own a soloist device and have used it. I have friends that use them a lot. It now sits in my closet, still in factory condition. (Ridiculously cheap offers will be seriously considered.)It has serious limitations; but decking out can be eliminated simply by tying a back up knot, which is equivalent to tying off short. Also anyone 100' off the deck on a rope without being tied directly to it, has the survival instincts of a lemming. Sorry, there I go again. But it is true. Rope soloing takes a lot fussing with the system for it to be effective as a self belay. For me it took the fun out of climbing. It is difficult enough to place screws on vertical ice that I would not consider, fussing with a rope solo system. I have nothing against soloing, I do it way too much. But if you are going to solo, you have a responsibility to do it properly. If you are free climbing you need to be very good at down climbing. If you are using a rope solo system, you need to use it properly. With a soloist, this means back up knots, among other things depending on the situation. Most of the procedures are in the manufacturer's literature provided with the device.

Climbed Zenith at Banks Lake today. It is the climb misnamed as Absent Minded Professor on page 98 of Selected Climbs in the Cascades: vol 2 . Climbed in two very long pitches with a 60 meter rope. A shorter rope would not have reached the belay. The first half of the first pitch was solid hooking up steep blobs with some fun overhanging moves for 100'. Solid screws somewhat difficult to find. The pillar above here is much narrower than pictured and chandeliered. The final 15' of the pillar had that clear look of fragile young ice and ended with a small overhang before the angle eased. 30' of WI 3 leads to the belay. The ice on the second pitch was phenomenal. I usually need to go to the Canadian Rockies for solid blue vertical plastic pillars like this. The second pitch is also over 50m, although this would not be a problem, as the final 70' of the route is WI 2. You can walk off right on the entablature ledge, which gets very narrow for one section. As Allan was following the second pitch we got shelled when a 15' section of the tube 8' in diameter released from 200' above. It landed on the top of the climb, 50' to my left and pulverized on impact. Allan got pummelled pretty hard by the ice avalanche, but did not fall and was not injured. This is a serious threat on several climbs in the Columbia Basin in warm temps, esp. later in the day, and even at low temps if sun reaches the threatening ice. (never take the word of a white punk on dope)

From climbingwashington.com/routeinfo: "Some controversy about Cunning Stunt (5.10d) ***, a popular climb in The Country area. This route was recently retrobolted with permission of the first-ascent party, but nevertheless was chopped last summer. After retrobolting and cleaning, the route became very popular; it may still be led on gear without the bolts. Hopefully this won't degenerate into a bolt war. (11/16/2000)"

Oven roasting bags.Thinner, lighter, more durable, more waterproof and cheaper. Keeps your footwear insulation drier on multi-day cold weather trips. Foot care as mentioned by Rob is very important. Your feet need to dry out overnight. You can spend the money on comercial VBL socks, but they won't work as well. [This message has been edited by Retrosaurus (edited 02-17-2001).]

Had a good day on hard ice at Banks yesterday. We climbed what I believe has been called "The Emerald" and locals have been calling "Pillsbury Pillar" (cuz us doughboys can still get up it). Just south of mile marker 13 and behind a guardrail is a small pond and large pull-off on the east side of the road. Park here and traverse slopes north above the pond into a coulee hidden above the road. You can't miss the fat ice climb. A 20' WI3 step leads to a large shelf and a 100' pitch of steep ice, the first 50' of which is dead vertical. Soloed the step and lead a WI5 line up the left, then the center of the falls. Continuously steep and interesting. Placed seven screws on the pitch. Score one for Pop'n'Fresh. Then we top-roped "The Cable." It could be lead, but not by this doughboy. A relentless 150' of dead vertical and overhanging climbing. Twist locks, drop knees, what a treat. This is a long season for the basin. There is still a lot of good ice out there. Just don't fall out of your tools. Get scared; have fun; don't die. [This message has been edited by Retrosaurus (edited 02-16-2001).] [This message has been edited by Retrosaurus (edited 02-16-2001).]

A Crystal Mountain man fell while attempting to rope-solo H202 at Banks Lake; crawled to his car; found by passing motorist; Central Washington Hospital, Wenatchee; critical condition.

Try Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee. I hear that the victim is there. If he is not in a coma, you can probably speak to him on the phone.

Colin, Negative, on that guess. And further query to my sources indicate that this had been climbed back in the ?70s? by J.Y.,former rock jedi of Leavenworth fame. It is a splendid route on the Entiat River Road, and the name that I had chosen was "What DO Ardenvoirs Eat?" Please respect the property rights of private homes along the road in relation to parking and crossing to get to the climb. Get scared, don't die, Have fun. Ardenvoirs eat at the cafe in Ardenvoir. I hear it's excellent.

Saturday, 2/10/1, I did what I believe to be a first ascent. From mile marker 24 on ****** River road you can see a striking free-standing column of ice across the river on the hillside. We crossed the river on thin ice and beat it up the hillside to the climb. We should have stuck closer to the right margin of the actual stream course. (These things are so often painfully obvious on the descent.)The new growth timber as thick as the hair on a dog's back. We felt like ants crossing a lawn. The fresh snow on the trees made sure that we were thoroughly soaked before getting to the climb. But even blowing the approach as we did, it only took an hour to get to the base of the route. The first pitch was ~125'; about a third of which was cauliflower cone that was crusted with 2" of snow and then shice. The rest of the pitch was up a vertical tube of ice. We could hear the water running inside and for the last 15' of climbing, We could actually see the water running on the inside of the clear tube. At the top of the pitch a 5" diameter fir is growing out of the left side of the cleft, that now has a blue sling on it. I only got really, really, REALLY SCARED!! once. And had to resort to hooking my left tool over the pick of my right to scamm a few moments to recover a scrap of coordination. About 200' beyond the first pitch, we found a 2nd pitch of WI 2-3, depending on which side you climb it; short yellowish pillars on the left and longer, wider slabby ice on the right. We soloed the pillars on very friendly plastic ice, and rapped from a small fir. We got real scared and didn't even died. What could be more fun? Oh, the name of the route: What DO A********'s Eat? WI 5. I'd tell y'all where it is, but there is other obvious ice in the area. Maybe after I climb it on Thursday? Besides, it's a little out of the way for coasties. Any guesses? Get scared, don't die, have fun! [This message has been edited by Retrosaurus (edited 02-12-2001).]

I agree that lexan shovels are a joke and contend that the Voile is also. I bent mine on the very first trip that I used it on. The only way that I'll use a steel hardware store scoop shovel, is if my partner will carry it. What I did was to make my own. You go to the farm supply store and buy a #12 aluminum grain scoop with a "D"handle, cut the handle down as far as you can and remount the "D" handle as close to the aluminum scoop as you can and then cut down the scoop to about 13" in diameter, carefully rounding off all of the corners and removing burrs with a file. This little jewel moves snow like no tomorrow, is nearly as light as the Voile and has durability only approached by steel scoop shovels. I have used mine for years and would not think of going in to the winter back country with anything less. But hey, if you'd rather pay 3x as much for a disposable shovel, have at 'er. Mitch