pope

An old mountaineer and math teacher, Mr. Moe, advised our high school's hiking club. He taught us how to kick steps and use an ice axe.....but I was just a kid with no money and no idea of how to get started (I worked on a bean farm near Othello in 1984 and came home with $80, hopped on a bus to Seattle and bought a pair of Boreal Fire rock shoes from the Swallow's Nest). No money, no transportation....but I did have a library card. The Beckey guides and Challenge of the North Cascades were never on the library shelf because I checked them out for weeks, months probably. Those B&W photos of Mt. Stuart and Chimney Rock were my cocaine. Freedom of the Hills was my Bible. In 1985 I enrolled in the Mountaineer's basic climbing class. I missed Prom because of a mandatory snow-cave field trip, and I learned some basics that would round out my climbing skill set (like the hip belay, with which I stopped my friend Mike after falling 150 feet on Guye Peak). I finally knew just enough to give Mt. Stuart a shot. I was never very interested in history, but when Beckey taught a Cascade History class in the early 1990's, my girlfriend and I attended night school at GRCC. For weeks he lectured about miners, trappers, railroads and military expeditions, never looking at his notes. During the last ten minutes of the last lecture, he summarized the conquest of the 3 or 4 highest peaks, not once mentioning his own achievements. Fred Beckey was obsessed with climbing mountains, but his scholarly knowledge of the Cascades can't be overstated. He loved the Cascades, and I remember him liking my girlfriend.

Stunning photography! Enjoyed your post.

And when are you finally going to say something interesting? Boring people like you helped this website fade into oblivion. Sport climbers like you helped me decide climbing has evolved into something equivalent to table tennis. Go ahead, bolt the shite out of Castle Rock and have a blast wrecking it some more. Don't forget to vote green.

Maybe I'm unclear on Canary's history. Yes, pitch 2 protects with one or more bolts which were drilled on the ascent. Drilling on the lead makes it a climb, any other kind of drilling makes for something not in the tradition of most climbs established at Castle Rock. That some old gear gets replaced doesn't bother me. And I don't see the relevance of mentioning Canary can be climbed w/o bolts. I'm sure somebody has down-climbed it without a rope. The point is, the first party to climb it, back when it was a pretty futuristic, bold route, placed a couple of bolts while in ascent mode. How can we be satisfied with a lower standard of adventure today than what was expected 40 or 50 years ago?

"We had initially hoped it would go without bolts, and for the creative leader with the right rack, it could. We installed the bolts to encourage more traffic to try it." The last traditional crag in Leavenworth now features a bolted route which, in the opinion of the route's author, could be climbed without bolts. Apparently, creativity and the "right rack" are required. But because routes on Castle need more traffic..... Jeesh. Don't forget to vote green.

Sold (to a guy I know who will put them to good use).

Ooops. Please move to yard sale.

Unscratched, never placed. Stronger than equivalent sized stoppers, suitable for protecting free climbs (smaller sizes are rated for aid climbing). MEC apparently still sells these and wants $15 Canadian. Similar HB Offsets are on ebay for $22 each. I have two #4, one #3, one #2 RP brass nuts and one #2 HB Offset. Again, not new but never used. Asking $8 each or buy the set of five for $35. Prices are firm.

Spectacular and rowdy! Glad you finally got to do this.

"Not climbing, in an alpine sense...." It seemed closer to climbing than what I witnessed out at Exit 38 recently. Tell Greg I have his wooly blanket.

Tom, I suggest you buy your friend a helmet and tell him to test every hold. Bolts at the Brass Balls belay would not have added one ounce of safety to your friend's ascent to Logger's Ledge. Instead, bolts would have provided a means by which your friend could escape passage through some 4th-class terrain which every rock climber should know how safely to ascend. And please remove the anchor you constructed so that somebody doesn't have to clean up your trash.

Telemarker...it was fascinating to read about all the routes for which you didn't have to wait in line. Time well spent. For years, Castle Rock was practically the last place in Leavenworth where fixed anchors didn't dominate the belay anchors and protection schemes. With few exceptions, to climb at Castle meant finding security using the gear you carried and the cracks available. Generations of climbers enjoyed this rewarding experience. Adding an anchor to Brass Balls or Jello Tower may offer convenience, but it's not worth the price. As Webster points out, additional bolts promote additional bolts. It won't be long before bolts are added to protect Damnation's wide cracks. Many here will comment they don't have a problem with this. Well I do. Before some of you who call yourself "locals" likely remember, the outside corner left of Saints was bolted, offering 40 or 50 feet of obnoxious sport climbing. The "route" ended at a sport anchor 5 feet below the Saints/Angel belay ledge. A Wenatchee resident and I removed this nonsense while one of the most prolific Leavenworth locals of all time kept us hydrated. The belay on Brass Balls is so perfect. No matter what's left on your rack, you can find superb anchorage in that crack. The new bolts allow climbers to descend and thereby avoid climbing to Loggers Ledge. Is that convenience really worth completely changing the nature of this experience? If you think the benefits of this change are worth the cost, you clearly do not care about rock climbing. What you advocate is some kind of engineered, artificial experience. Shame on you for not desiring something better. Finally, I'm curious about the guys who consider themselves "Leavenworth locals". Reading through the comments in this thread, I get the impression they assume they have authority over decisions made on land owned by the public, just because they live in a Bavarian theme park which happens to be located in the vicinity. I'm furthermore curious to know why anybody would take some kind of dish-washing job in Leavenworth to support their passion for climbing. If it were Yosemite I could understand.....

You want more crowds/traffic at Castle Rock? Just bolt it to a point where it is completely unnecessary to bring a rack of nuts (yes...there is a dual meaning here). But I see you are already working on this. That anchor on Brass Balls is ridiculous but everybody chimes in with support. And then Mr. Webster nearly apologizes for questioning bolts next to cracks on Castle Rock. You guys can go to Hell. Anybody want to buy my rack before there is no place remaining to use it?

Just wait....MattP will disclose the name, address and social security number. Standard practice around here.

Didja really shoot those white-tailed deer in the Sky Valley? [img:left]http://www.rcnw.net/forums/uploads/gallery_1_4_218596.jpg[/img]