texplorer

On a related note, does anyone know where I can get a swager and materials that will fix my alien size trigger wires?

I couldn't look up the link posted to the AAC but frankly who cares. By the time your that accomplished, seasoned and well known do you really need an award to recognize you? I mean I like hearing stories about Fred and all but he is one of a kind. Our society is so anxious to make heroes and "legends" of of our sports, government, and hobbies. There are many great climbers in the NW that have been climbing for years and done many impressive things. Do we really think they need more recognition? If they are worthy enough to match up with the likes of Mr. Beckey then they should be well known enough already. I think a more appropriate award would be for each year's greatest accomplishments in the NW. I would go to see and hear people talk about that and I think that an awards event like that would inspire and motivate the next generation.

I know it can be done faster than that.

This is a snaffle.

Last week I was cleaning a new route and had a single line TR set up with several long webbing slings to some trees. The next morning I came out and jugged my line to find one of the anchors gnawed half way through. I could read the headlines now, "Death by Snaffle."

Ivan and all, I pleed with all of you not to nail. I agree with Mark that many of these old nail-up lines are now in the realm of freeness. If you really need to nail or learn to nail like me then there are some better less traveled options for this very close to beacon. Even Opdike can give you some more suitable places to nail. Thanks, Tex

I got a bumper sticker from trango that says, "My best vacation is your worst nightmar" My other fav, "If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk"

So what is supposedly wrong with them?

I don't know about "cranking" the SE corner but yea it is a fun climb. I am not sure but the rock starting the third pitch seemed to be different (like something broke off). Yes, there really was a dead falcon on the SE corner traverse. Oh, watch out for a semi loose rock topping out the first pitch.

I got there about 7:30 on opening day and saw several parties but noone was as dumb as my girlfriend and myself to start the SE corner with 1 hour of daylight left. The rock was relatively clean except for a dead falcon I lobbed off. Didn't get to check much else out as it was dark for most of the route. maybe I'll be able to get one day this weekend.

Was at the pearly gates Sunday, - we were the only ones there. We had fun until it rained on us.

Unleavened worth. Did the classic midway and saber until we got burned off and hit the river. Did you lose a brown tri-cam on this route? Because its now on my booty rack. That evening after towing two logs off the road we went up to punk rock and did a fun, thin, offset crack that ends in about 30 feet of #4 camalot size goodness. Sunday went up to the pearly gates. Climbed a few good cracks before getting rained out. A good weekend with the girlfriend and highlander.

Damn Beacon is a good chunk of rock! Hope to see some of you there this summer.

How do you know that it is a good placement without the new "rangefinder" dots to guide you?

BEACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A good idea but don't they already have a similar design to yours out. You wear "spikeless" shoes and then instead of strapping on your soles they have strap on spike plates. So you can wear your lightweight shoes and carry very light spiked soles.

Good TR and pics I would add that probably any fall up high on the rocks would result in a line of descent off of the Elliot.

Last I heard Jake was up to something with Eamonn McNeely and Evo. Those are some pretty hardcore guys to be hanging with. Maybe he can post some more TR's when he returns to the NW

That 5.8 on the chicken has got to be one of my favorite climbs of the grade ever.

Nice TR Nolse, Sorry you had to endure the constant evil spirited spray ( good spirited spray is ok) Anyway, I was wondering what made this climb one of your favorites in the cascades. From what I read it looks like just 3 pitches of sort of clean climbing. What, in your opinion, makes this route so good?

Ok, I followed this post until your last reply Bug. What the ...

What about the # of posts to actual content ratio? Dru 20000/1

Climb: El Cap-Mescalito Date of Climb: 7/13/2004 Trip Report: Over the 4th weekend Bigwaller and I climbed the most popular and classic moderately hard aid route on El Cap. June 27 -Arrive in the Valley Sunday morning. Jake eyes El Cap for the first time. That afternoon we haul loads and begin to fix 4 pitches. On the 4th pitch Jake starts up but I notice him waver and blink as if he is dizzy only 25 feet off the belay. The heat and lack of water have taken its toll on him already so I take the sharp end and fly up as fast as I can trying to beat the darkness. I barely do and reach the anchor just as darkness closes in. Upon rapping down at dusk he tells me that this is as far off the deck as he has ever been. His attitude was still good though and we were both still optimistic. June 28 - Jake's father treats us to a big breakfast at the cafeteria. A few hours later we are jugging our lines. We toss one rope and then commit to the 26 pitch route. With over 8 pitches of C3 and only 4 pitches of C1 or easier the route is sustained and steep. Even the first day I was able to haul our bags by myself despite 14 gallons of water and food for a week. The route went pretty flawless except for a couple of days when I got the "dropsies" Yes, I started to get scared after a few offset nuts magically unclipped themselves, I got my first cam stuck (ever) and then I really f'ed up by dropping a #3 camalot. This made it the costliest trip I have ever done. Luckily, the rest of the route went smoother and we managed to hang onto the rest of our gear. Late on the fifth day on the wall at about pitch 15 I was just one move from a bolt and then the anchor. I was relieved this pitch was almost over as it had entailed lots of hooking and clipping of many manky pieces. Unfortunetely, there were two fixed RURPs both without wires or cordage to clip to. I tried hooking several times and took some nice static falls onto a copperhead. After my face and hand scraped the wall I decided that I was done. I had Jake lower me to the belay and we camped for the night. The next morning I ascended and used our fly-pole to stick clip the bolt just 1.5 feet away while topstepping. A few days later we got to the Bismark ledge. It was quite a sweet outlook. We also found a small tupperware box hanging from the belay with a glass pipe, lighter, and a small vile of an oregano-looking substance. We fixed the bismark pitch which required about 10 feet of laybacking up an OW above a #5 camalot. Normally I would try to thrutch up the thing but by this point I was tired enough and gave into the supposed .10a layback moves. The next morning Jake got a good taste of what el cap can do to you. He must have had alot of fun on a certain pitch because he decided to stay on it for over 5 hours. I hid from the sun under the haulbag while Jake had his mini epic. Luckily we still made it to pitch 23 and a sloping ledge. The next day we topped out and both remarked how weird it was to stand on level ground and be out of the harness. We spent the next 3 days sitting around the valley, avoiding the tool, and searching for booty. Overall, a stellar route!!! Long, sustained but doable. We did the route clean (except for my little stick clip). It was Jake's first time up El Cap and my 4th. We had a blast, what did you do for the 4th? Gear Notes: Double set of hybrid aliens were key to the "cleanliness" of the ascent.

You eugenians are drunks

I will vouch for will. He is utterly sketchy on lead, has been known to climb on booty gear, and remove bolts on lead.