mattp

Slop - If you are worried about the flakes, the offenders are the one he's trying to clear in the photo, one slightly less prominent about 5 feet above, and the one visible directly above him. If you know about it, you can keep your rope out of them but it is tricky and it requires using very long slings or skippin pro altogether in the area where he is now, avoiding pro where he starts up again until you can place a very long runner up high, and keeping the belay rope tight after he gets onto the face above. I have't actually tried this, but I bet it would be most efficient just to stop and belay at the base of the blue crack, and then to bypass the hanging station above and set a second belay near where the climber is shown in this photo.

The new kiosk and the installation crew at the Three O'Clock Rock trailhead:

Fox is right - a few small cams and some small nuts will come in handy. After pitch "14" (your count may vary), head right on grassy rampy terrain for maybe a half ropelength, maybe a little more, and start climbing straiht up again. We've been through this before, and last time I said there was a bush there somebody else insisted there wasn't and then ChucK chimed in that he saw a bush because he straddled it. Anyway, move a bit right and head upward again, heading for a fairly prominent crack/corner system in the headwall above. (From the top of pitch 14, you look up and you can see what appears to be the summit up and left, or a shoulder up and right; the route goes to that shoulder.) Plan on downclimbing in the area of that traverse on the descent. Consider bailing on your plans and doing something else if there are parties ahead of you. The route follows a rockfall funnel and there is plenty of loose rock. You'll need two ropes for the rappels.

I don't know what conditions Forrest et all found, but I can tell you that when I did this, in dry conditions, we were very glad we did. We wore rock shoes, and it was really quit easy -- and neither of us do a lot of downclimbing or anything but, compared to the alternative - carrying camping equipment over the top of the mountain and maybe climbing in hiking boots or sneakers because you are trying to "go light" - I am quite certain we climbed up and back down the route faster and more enjoyably than we would have if we had climbed up it and descended to the basin on the other side. With packs and especially if you climb in some kind of hiking boots, you'll almost certainly do a LOT more belaying and it will involve more work. If there is snow on the route, you probably won't be climbing in rock shoes and you probably will be belaying quite a bit of it anyway, so in these conditions the up and down approach may not be quite as good. My bet is that if Forrest et al climbed it any time recently, they found quite a bit of snow on the route. It has been cold and wet for a couple of months now. I'm sure that right now it is not near as friendly as when I did it late-summer.

Squamish Roc Trip 2005 Planning is well under way for Squamish Roc Trip 2005, a promotional, community building, and fundraising event on June 24 th – 26 th . The event's lead sponsors are Petzl and Arc'Teryx, and net proceeds will be divided between the Access Society and a Squamish-area initiative that benefits the climbing community, perhaps at the Stawamus Chief. Other sponsors include Prana, EntrePrise, Climbing, New England Ropes, La Sportiva, Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Company (Brew Pub), Valhalla Pure Outfitters (Squamish), the Ministries of Forests and of Water, Land & Air Protection, District of Squamish, Squamish Rock Guides, the Edge Climbing Centre, On Sight Equipment, and others. The Roc Trip will include lots of activities: Friday 24th: - Adopt-a-Crag (Stawamus Chief), with free post-event social for volunteers. - Trade fair at Squamish Station mall, including dyno competition. - Registration - Social and speaker (Brew Pub). Saturday 25th: - Invitational sport climbing competition at the Big Show (Chek) and the Grand Wall boulders, featuring 20 of the best rock athletes from Canada, the U.S. and Europe. - Open sport climbing competition, also at Chek (Conroy Creek FSR). - Portable climbing wall at Squamish Station. - Technique clinics. - Huge Evening Party. Sunday 26th: - Open bouldering competition (Stawamus Chief – Grand Wall boulders). - Portable climbing wall at Squamish Station. - Technique clinics. - Post-event Party and awards. Details are still being finalized, and will be published as soon as possible, both to the Access Society website and those of Petzl ( www.petzl.com/roctrip.bc ) and Arc'Teryx ( www.arcteryx.com ). The number of entrants in the competitions will be limited, so register early. For information about accommodation and amenities, try the District of Squamish at www.squamish.ca , or the Chamber of Commerce at www.squamishchamber.com . The Access Society is helping with planning, organization, and promotion for the Roc Trip, and providing volunteers to help run the various events, and make it all a success. There'll be lots of benefits from being a volunteer, including free admission to events, booty, and being in the centre of the Roc Trip. If you can help, send a note to squamish(at)access-society.ca. Keep June 24 th – 26 th free on your calendar!

I don't think it is all that much shorter from Stehekin, especially if you plan to downclimb the route as we did. It is a fairly casual route, all in all, and you can avoid any carry-over nonsense. Stash your hiking boots and ice axe where you get onto the rock and climb with a light daypack. (This assumes you are comfortable down-climbing 4th class rock. If you are, you'll do no more than a couple of rappels.)

signpost.

The hubcaps are stolen every time we put them up. Either somebody's selling them to the recycler or maybe they think a mangled hubcap is trash.

7:30 or after....

I have a rope for you to use on the next girlsclimb if one of you ladies wants to show up at the PubClub at the Nickerson tonight.

I have just about always just pulled them off and I don't ever remember having one leave it's jaws behind. I just do as suggested, grab ahold of the little sucker and start pulling. One day last Spring I got 13 ticks at Tieton.

"The Nickerson Street Saloon is located at the south end of the Fremont Bridge just west of lake union. Established in 1995 the Saloon is a true "neighborhood joint". We feature 14 micros on tap as well as a full bar, with room for diners of all ages the Saloon is a great place for a quick drink after the game, a relaxed dinner on the patio,.. "

A guy was killed when he dove from the cliffs into a pool there. His name was posted there some years back -- I can't remember if it was on the cross or what.

We have had remarkably little vandalism of any kind in the Clear Creek valley. I don't know why, but the existing sign is not all shot up and I've never heard of anybody having their car broken into. I once saw a couple who had a teddy bear hung in a tree at the campsite, and the wife would poke it with a stick and jump back so her husband could shoot at the moving target, but overall we have not seen the kind of shenanigans you might expect for such a valley and nobody much bothers to drive more than a mile up the road to drop off their old refrigerator. At the parking area and along the trail, climbers are probably the biggest source of trash. The goat count is a cool project that I hope climbers will support. Over the last couple decades, the mountain goat population has drastically fallen in and around Darrington, and apparently there is no clear answer why. I used to see them up at the start of Dreamer from time to time, but I have not seen them for years. The tribal biologist is asking climbers to report sightings.

Fair enough, Larry, but consider this: I can see two reasons why someone might want the level of detail that CBS offered: (1) they are going to try a climb that is more technical or in some other fashion more serious than they have done before, or (2) they are going to be guiding or leading a group of climbers on a climb they have not done before. In both cases, you might not need that kind of information but many people believe it is just common sense to get all the information available. My bet is that if you were going to go climb, say, the Pacific Ocean Wall, you'd take along a fully detailed topo (or two) and you'd have a complete gear list and you'd want to know how long the pitches were and how good the anchors are in advance. Also, if you were going to guide a group on something that was perhaps within your level of competence but not something you view as completely trivial, I bet you'd ask your buddies for information along the lines of what CBS provided. Or at least you probably should. Your comments about over-analyzing things, and about how detailed route descriptions can sometimes get in the way are valid. But as your last post hints, there are other ways to look at this, equally valid. (Also, I didn't see him stating that the move was 5.9, but that some have said they thought this. As it is a slab move in the middle of a climb otherwise providing good holds, I can see someone feeling that way about it.)

If Icegirl is there, I'll have a rope for her, too.

If it is beneath you to talk about how to manage a route like the West Ridge, simply start your own thread about what a badass you are.

If somebody wants to replace those bolts on Silent Running, I'd go along to help out. Maybe this Saturday, after digging post holes for the new Kiosk?

The West Ridge of Prusik Peak is moderate and very enjoyable climb and you won't even set foot on snow at that time of year. With flexibility about the permits, you can probably get a "walk in" permit to camp somewhere up there nearby if you start on a weekday.

Nickerson works for me.

I'm not down on that guide (quite the opposite, in fact), but I would say that those pages will do little more than get you lost at this point. "The old classics" are mostly not as they were shown, both because of inaccuracies in the original guidebook as well as because the routes have changed through subsuequent redevelopment and, in some cases, massive rockfall. Even the approach information in that old guide will quickly help you get lost. It'd be a good idea, perhaps, to set them up with some more modern information.

If you go to my site, you'll find a link with David Whitelaw's email address. Darrington Rock Climbing

Watch for a good weather window when it hasn't significantly snowed for six or eight weekds. Make your climb on an itinerary that is just a day after the typical weekend one, and take ski poles with small or no baskets to probe the edges of any crevasses you may encounter.

Is that some kind of shorthand for methamphetamine?

To tie a comfortable harness with fixed leg loops the way that Toast describes, it takes a heck of a lot more then 8 feet. We used to use 20' pieces of 1" tubular for this purpose many years ago and -- you know what? - the fancy harness I bought from a trendy Seattle climbing shop isn't any more comfortable or safer than the old-fashioned hand-tied rig. It just has a couple more features (the gear loops and a belay loop).