texplorer

Wow, I used to solo limpdick all the time. That is sad that the top is gone. That makes the route probably a two move route now.

My regards to the family. It is always sad when one of our kind is lost to the mountains. I think we have almost all been guilty of cutting corners and risking things from time to time. The older I get the more I scrutinize my own risks. Each climber has to weight the risks for themselves, I think that assessment is a big part of the appeal to climbing. Therefore I will seldom critize experienced climber's choices. Again, I give my sorrow to the family and I hope that they will remember this man for his adventurous spirit and character.

I'm going to guess its Mt Stuart.

The smoke wasn't that bad over the 4th weekend. Temps weren't too bad either. Not too many climbers around though, so go with a partner if possible.

Check out this page for more details. http://www.mountainproject.com/v/oregon/the_columns/105790259

This is dangerous! This would be a good "pic a caption" thread starter Pink. My contributions would be: Women of Seattle: A 12 Month Calender Donna Topstep seeks hunky climberboy to take her up the Toof.

Yes sobo there are always other people to think about in your life. I don't think most soloers are out to tempt death simply for the sake of it. It is really more about living life. Of course we could all play more "safe" sports like golf or tennis or whatever and save our families the risk. Isn't it funny no one ever talks about race car drivers, semi-truckers, or football players in these terms even though they are more "dangerous" than climbing. I think I even heard the getting life insurance for a vacation to go fly fishing is more expensive than for climbing. The truth of the matter for me is that if I am not doing something that makes me feel like I am learning and progressing as an individual I am not a happy camper. So yes, I could give up soloing, climbing, and all the other "dangerous" things I do but my wife and future kids/family/etc would probably wish I was dead because of the discontentment that life would bring me. It is not always soloing up some route that I do this. I have been in a pretty intense school the last few years and have been really challenged intellectually in this way. On the other hand I have also gotten into FA's which is an entirely new way to expand yourself mentally on even moderate terrain while on a rope. Safety is a relative term. My boldest solos are probably way safer than many of my first trad leads. In the end I think the individual has to decide what makes life worth living. I accept and have no problem with those that choose to solo or not to solo but I think we should leave that up to the individual as long as they are knowledgeable of what they are doing and aware of the consequences.

Nice job. It's a shame they didn't leave some of the old dowel ladder pitches. Maybe a bolt every 30ft or so would have been fine but whatever. Great job getting up the capitan.

Face it, soloing is cool. It looks cool in the mags, people that are around think your cool (and insane- but in a cool way), and you feel like a bad-ass after pulling it off. Maybe its only cool like smoking in the movies is cool or being the godfather is cool but we all love soloists. So what if it is irresponsible, inconsiderate, and obnoxious. It is also inspiring, pure, and makes you dream of what could be. So yea, I solo. I don't talk about it much anymore however. It seems you always get heat from some holier-than-thou type. And yes the "old,bold" quote always comes up. I don't solo on a regular basis but sometimes a crack is so asthetic and calls to you. To be honest I probably do way more dangerous stuff on a rope now than whilst soloing. Back in the NW I used to so the SE corner at Beacon, many of the climbs at the Columns in Eugene, and even some stuff at smith. Although I am not a huge fan of Dean Potter, I like his quote,"When my hand is in a crack, I'm on belay." I mostly do cracks now as they are my favorite type of climbing and probably what I'm best at. Probably my most impressive solo was an onsight of the Zip up in squamish but I have done stuff harder than that. I really like the mental level soloing requires and how you can tap into an awareness and control of yourself that is hard to experience any other way... . and of course there's the badass component too. . . and of course the chicks, don't forget the chicks. Solo in Red Rocks (chicks are just out of picture down in the bushes

Wow, I remember my unsuccessful 3-4 attempts on Yocum. You guys are in a different league. I remember looking up at the Black Spider thnking that it looks insane. Makes me envious I don't still live up there.

nice pic fqw

Well, I've been away from the NW for awhile and several of you have been curious as to what I'm up to. I've been in FA city (aka red rocks). You could do FA's here every weekend for the rest of your life and still not get em all. Pretty good routes can be found too. Not alot like the moss filled things you have to dig out in the forest up in the NW alot of times. Anyway, alot of these are in the new RR guidebook (which is awesome) by Handren. Others have gone up more recently. In any case I'll post a few pics of the routes and probably a few FA reports as I get time. Right Canola Crack 5.7 Seppuku 5.11 600ft Seppuku - top of first pitch OW negative (Seppuku is the S crack to the left) The Shamrock Roof on Celtic Cracks 5.10b 1000ft Topping out on the Minotaur 5.9X 1200ft Tier of the Setting Sun 5.10 1400ft

The chinese are just get rid of their own version of the "indian problem" that our country dealt with 130 years ago.

Great to see Tim and Donnie still gettin out.

My bad, not the east butt.

To me moderate is below 5.11, below A3, below WI5, below V2 I've limited my list to multi-pitch routes which I have done BC -Grand Wall -Exasperator -Diedre -NE butt of Slesse WA -Dreamer -Outer Space -Stanley/Burgner on Prussik -West butt of Stuart OR -Zebra Zion -West Face to Pioneer route on Monkey Face -Young Warriors -Gandolf's Grip UT -Kor Ingols on Castleton -JahMan on Sis Superior -Lighting bolt cracks on N. 6 shooter -Ancient Art -Finger of Fate on the Titan -Spaceshot -Moonlight Buttresss NV -Epinepherine -Eagle Dance -Frogland -Resolution Arete -Rock Warrior -Dream of Wild Turkeys -Sour Mash -Triassic Sands -Night Crawler -Birdhunter Buttress -Crimson Chrysalis -Johnny Vegas to Solar Slab -Celtic Cracks CA -Regular NW face of Half Dome -East Butt of Middle Cathedral -NE butt of Higher Cathedral -East Butt of El Cap -Snakedike -Stecke Salathe -Braille Book -The Nose of El Cap -Salathe Route of El Cap -3rd Pillar of Dana -Royal Arches -Serenity Crack to Sons of Yesterday I am sure there are a few I missed but that is a good start

Karsten's "secret" Yosemite beta 1 Camping -DO NOT CAMP IN YOUR CAR, if you do, don't come out no matter what a ranger yells or how much he bangs on your car. -Under El Cap or in the forest up near the Awahanee are good places since you can park nearby. -DO NOT LEAVE FOOD IN YOUR CAR, the bears will get it. I have seen alot of cars peeled open like a can of sardines. In addition if a Ranger finds your car like this you'll get a ticket on top your car repairs. -Use bear boxes at "camp 5" in the parking lot in front of the mountain shop at curry village or the new ones below el cap -Showers - the ones at the housekeeping camp (really a campground) or the ones up in the cabins behind curry village are easy. Just walk in like you know what you are doing. -Food - knowing someone working there is always a benefit as they get reduced rates. You can also claim you left your card back in your cabin and try to get the reduced rate. -If your a true dirtbag, hanging out at the cafeteria at the lodge is a good place to score some breakfast from a touron who gets up after their eyes were bigger than their stomachs. -Don't forget free coffee in Camp 4 on sunday mornings during spring/summer

Damn, looks like your still crankin em out. The first time I met Joe, he and Stoney were ticking off all the classics in Zion. I was just learning to aid and each day I would come back after dark and get beta on how to jug/aid/climb better on the big walls. Of course they had gotten in hours before me and were already up to trouble shooting antbeds with my BB gun or the like. I look fondly back on those days. Great TR and a quite productive trip.

Ok Chris, I have lived in Portland and Eugene. First, Smith Rock is more like 3 hours from Eugene and it is spectacular. I second all the comments about the trad climbing there. You will be hardpressed to find a better single pitch trad destination than the gorge at Smith. There is plenty of sport and trad at Smith to keep you busy for 3-4 years of school in Eugene. Smith also stays dry since it is on the "desert" side of the mountains. The problem is that there is not alot of other great places near Eugene and those that are closer are wet alot of the year. As mentioned there are the columns right in town but they are pretty limited. I ended up soloing all of them except the .11 there. The Calahans are ok but they are closely bolted sport. Flagstone is about an 1.5 hours away and is pretty fun sport - recent routes however have spoiled the area with overbolted 5.3's (no joke) There are a few other places less traveled and "secret" - Wolf Rock, Moolack, The Menagerie that are about 1.5-2.5 hours away. Check out the Mountainproject.com for info on some of these places. The others you'll have to find a local to take you. Overall I would give Eugene the town and scene an A+++. Its a cool place with pretty cool people and you can get around town anywhere on a bike. As far as the climbing goes I would say it gets a B-. It's pretty dismall from Oct to June unless you make the trip over the mouuntains to Smith. I think the top climbing Universities would be in Boulder, Flagstaff, Salt Lake, Sacramento, Vegas or Montana. These are my opinions after having lived there and by no means are definative. Hope this helps

Ah, great to see one of those old cavey posts. I miss his sarcasm. I guess that canadian exchange rate is reverse now too.

Interesting indeed.

They haven't changed a thing on the aliens in forever (except the heads). I have tried out a few of the first master cams in production a month or so back. As a long time alien fan I will say I was actually impressed. The master cams are so similar to aliens its probably some sort of copyright infringement (not that the pot-smokers at CCH would ever realize that). The short story is that the max cams are a good alternative to aliens. They are still not quite as versatile but then again you aren't wondering if it was a 1 or a 4 bong-hit day at the factory. If your even more of a gear junkie take a look at my buddy's extremely detailed review at RC.com

Here's your topo

If you are asking questions about glacier travel this might not be the right route to start on in the cascades. I am not saying you don't have the abilities but this route has killed more than a few people. Just be careful up there and don't overestimate your abilities.

The new Handren guide has nice color pics and the topos I have found to be pretty spot on. Red rocks is a hard place to write a guide for because it is so vast and such different kinds of climbing. He uses alot of pics to show where routes go and has many new routes that Roxanna missed. Roxanna's guide was really pretty much a copy of the swain guide with a few updates for new routes. I think she probably started the project and then realized how much work it was going to be. I am sure at some point she had to start slapping stuff together and of course mistakes happened. Unfortunately for her she will be remembered as the person that wrote the crappy guidebook and not for wonderful climbing accomplishments. Jerry started on his guide years before Roxanna and finished years afterwards. As you will see his product was definately a labor or love.