Charlie

I thing Manastash ridge will be a better option. Ill start fixing lines next week and establish basecamp- then hopefully we can send it in one push. Im feeling strong so Im gonna opt for no suplimentary oxygen. Please inform mountainzone. com of our intentions.

pressure breath, rest step, eat a little, drink a little

Earlier this spring, a friend and I went to vantage during the week after class (which we often did since we live 1/2 hour away) There was only one other party in the whole place. Next thing you know they came over to the powerhouse and jumped on the route right next to us which shares some of the holds! They were from seattle so Im assuming they took comfort in that situation because they were used to climbing in the gym? There are 100's of routes at vantage but people do this all the time! Luckily Leavenworth has melted out so I wont have to deal with that place till next winter. The worst part about climbing at vantage is not the poor rock quality or the lack of variety in the routes- its the people that go there.

V.P. is one of the aliens. If he were abducted, we would never see another alien again- they'd figure he was an average earthling and write earth off as a planet of crazy derilicts.

Ive used the method for rapping many times: when I take one of the ellensburg honeys climbing; I stick them with the gri gri and Im not about to let them lower me. Then when I get down I tie thier knot for them, attach the chalk bag, and double back thier harness- easy way to cop a feel. Ive never had a problem. For some reason they never go with me again...? [This message has been edited by Charlie (edited 04-24-2001).]

Ive finally read this posting all the way through and dispite the trashing and chest pounding (and downright insanity) I have to say I agree, Washington Pass is no place for sport route development. It seems that is the consensus among everyone on this site. A while back, a friend and I discovered the loose pillar at Vantage. I felt it appropriate to ask you guys your opinion before we tried to tip it because it would change one of the routes and the appearence of the area, and Im fairly new to climbing and was unaware of the standard practice in that situation. I think people should ask the opinion of other climbers in thier area before they start drilling. I was at Castle rock yesterday and saw the new line of bolts next to Angel. I had always just figured it was an old aid line but, I looked in the book and saw it was a preexisting route: Dans daring...(11a) a double x rated trad line. That must of taken a lot of balls! To sport bolt that line is total disrespect for that Daring Dan and his accomplishment. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it sucked. Castle rock is like a museum of rock climbing in Washington- just look in the guidebook at by WHO, and WHEN most of the routes where put up. You can still see a lot of the original pitons on the routes. Go to smith if you want to sport climb! [This message has been edited by Charlie (edited 04-20-2001).]

Sorry, this isnt a contraversial post,I just want some good old fashioned climbing beta. Have any of you guys done Galaxy(5.9) on snow creek wall? Is it sustained 5.9? Is there good pro? Where's the crux? Are there splitter cracks? What size? Is it worth doing? Also, has anyone been up to Ingalls lake? Is the road clear yet? Do you know anyone who has skied/snowboarded down the Cascadian coulier on Stuart? Is it a go?

Its a done deal! We tipped the bitch on sunday. This was the trundle of a lifetime. Free soloing king of the ruins would not be as great an acomplishment at vantage as tipping that pillar. James (a.k.a. Jameserous, a.k.a. captain defecto) rapped down from above and kicked it for about an hour till the giant fell. The sound was incredible, it filled the canyon with a great cloud of dust.... To all the gym climbers up above on the sunshine wall: sorry for the distraction, hope we didn't ruin your redpoints!

Just wanted to add, my description of passing the knot is probably not the textbook method, just the way I did it. The important thing is to clip a bite of rope from below before you do any thing, that way youre covered no matter how bad you screw it up.

I did this route last summer, Bad ass! To pass the knot on the rappel, I used 2 a.t.c.'s. When I got towards the knot, I tied in short, Clipped a jummar with aider attached to the rope and stood on it. Clip the rope below the knot into the second a.t.c. and walk down the aider till you weight the rope and continue the rappel. Your rappel point is a tree toward the rim. There will be no slings on it. The first pitch starts with 10d pinscars and then into the "fistcrack". Its a total sandbag- Unless you specialize in overhanging offwidth. I used aliens in the pinscars And #3 and #4 cams on the offwidth- I actually french freed it so I had to leapfrog, bring all the big cams you can get. The rest of the route is easy aid, lots of 3/8 bolts without hangers- I just slipped nuts over the bolt heads. Have fun, get ready for some butt wrenching exposure!

I dont know if this is a product of last weeks earthquake or just part of climbing at vantage- there is a very large free standing pillar at the M&M wall, just to the right of cold cut combo. It has always looked kind of sketchy but now, if you so much as fart on it, it is going to fall over. I was belaying my partner on it yesterday when he leaned on it - the whole thing moved! This thing is like 20' tall. We promptly bailed. The gap is much larger now than in the pic in the guidebook. Did it shift from the quake? We are considering rapping down from above and tipping it over before someone gets killed. What is the best call in this situation?

Off of canyon rd, take a right(west)on umptaneum rd. Proceed forever. Eventually There will be a pulloff on your left with a small sign that says umptaneum fall trail. The trail will be well packed as it sees a lot of traffic(hikers) The approach is about a mile with very little elevation gain.

Umptaneum falls just outside of ellensburg is very in. It is only about 30' high and has a bomber tree above for toproping. By setting directionals, we were able to climb about 6 routes of varying steepness.