miker

So how do we recognize each other? From the scars on the hands or do we wear our harnesses..... and I do mean "climbing" harness not that leather thing hanging over your bed. I am easy to spot, 6foot2 with eyes of blue. See ya'll sixish. Mike

OK all, the pictures from my Tuolomne Climbing trip are posted at this site. Fairview Dome, Golfer's and West Crack pictures. Very cool. I do so love digital cameras. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1598138&a=13521701&f=0

1500 ft of 5.11? hmmmm I have climbed 5.11 moves, but mayhaps that is a bit beyond my level in terms of sustained hardness. Definitely a long-term goal though. How aidable is the route? 5.9 C1? Thanks for the info everyone. miike

So, has anybody heard of this long bolted rock climb. I have driven by and seen Mt. Baring, but I was recently told that there is a complete route for ~3000 ft on rock. Does anybody know if this is true? Rating? Grade? Topo with pretty pic of every bush and handhold? Condition of rock? (No need to go into the relative comparison of good vs bad rock as that is in another thread. Just curious as I like the long routes. Mike

I'll throw in another vote for Flying Pig, but Ballard would be ok and probably a bit more central for some peoples. Is the Old Town Alehouse decent? i.e.-do they have good dark beerses? mike

Thanks to all who recommended I go for Fairview. We had an excellent day, took about 8 hours, but we were a bit slow and stopped for lunch on Crescent ledge. An excellent climb and I even did all of the 5.9 variations like the roof. A wonderful, clean climb with great protection and sweet cracks. Also checked off a few other classics -Golfer's Route-short but fun -West Crack on Daff Dome-Actually felt harder than Fairview, due to the sustained nature and cold while waiting for team in front of us at the first belay point. That's what we get for doing the popular route on Saturday. I will have pictures available to view on the internet some day soon. Mike

I vote for the Flying Pig brewery in downtown Everett for the northern location. They have some excellent brews, big place and good food too. I wish I could make the Tacoma run, but that is a bit too far to drive without a climb at the end. 8) Mike

Guinness is the best-on tap preferred, but otherwise from the can, the bottle is to bitter. Black Butte Porter also good Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout I find myself going into any bar/restaurant asking two questions 1-What is the darkest beer you have?(When they say miller I leave or have a water) 2-What is the hottest thing you got? The beer doesn't help with the real hot food so you keep drinking more. Note: Truly hot food means you can't really taste the beer, thus the light mexican beers you see in general, I don't know what Canada's excuse is. And when I am too gummed up with dirt etc to drink a dark beer I go for a honey mead or a cider to cut the gumminess and still get launched on the sweet candy.

Thanks All, Now maybe I will have to look at fairview some more. That way I will have 2 of the 50 "classics" under my belt. Royal Arches being the only other. Mike 'climbin soon' R

But nothing can quite beat an old In & Out Burger from down south. Not PNW, but still good. I also third the vote for Gustav's, sitting up on the deck, with a beer and a burger as you watch the sun set over the hills and poke all of your bruises and scrapes...ahhh the good things in life... [This message has been edited by mikereddig (edited 06-27-2001).]

Hey All, I am going to be in Tuolomne Meadows from July 11th-14th and wanted to see if anyone can help me find the good stuff. I lead 5.9 trad, but I know that Yosemite can be a little harder in ratings then the Pacific NW. I want to climb some long easy ones, 5.7-5.9 with minimum runout. I have the standard list from supertopos.com. The current plan is West Crack on Daff Dome and then maybe Darth Vader's revenge for a challenge or off to Stately Pleasure Dome for various Easy climbs. The big question is, where should I climb if the lines are too long? Which are the hidden classics? We even thought about Fairview Dome's Regular Route, but talking to a friend who has done it, I think the sustained crack might be a bit much for me at this stage in my climbing. Is it a true crack climb or are there still the various knobs and places to allows for face/crack climbing? Anyway, extra excited and ready to go, any help would be greatly appreciated. Mike R

I did not mind the drumming so much, it was the ^#*^%holes on Saturday night from the radiohead concert at the gorge. Loud music and woohooing until 2 or 3 in the morning. But we tried to be loud in the morning, clanging gear and generally trying to induce hangover headaches. We also saw the helicopter and it looked like it dropped somebody off over by Fugs wall, but we were not sure, then it headed off. We think it might have been an exercise of some sort, but who can say. mike

Thanks, I will remember that for next time, we of course just took up the one 60m rope because we assumed we would be coming sraight back down. We did look over at the next anchors, but were pretty sure we wouldn't make it to the ground on our one rope. Now what is the best way to replace bolts with minimum impact to the rock, but still provide a rock solid(pardon the pun) rap station? Do you drill out the screw, or something similar, seems like that would make for a weaker bolt unless you bring in bigger, badder screws. anyway live and learn, but first live

Pope, Speaking about rap anchors all the way up Outer Space, there are some brand spanking new looking anchors down the left side of the climb all the way to 2 tree ledge which are spaced for single rope rapelling. Of course from 2 tree ledge you hang off a thin little root and hope the tree is strong. Maybe you want to go up and finish that line all the way to the ground, or not??? Now I personally appreciated the rap stations as I did not know what the descent gullies were like, but esthetically these big silver eyesores definitely detracted from the "lines" of the rock. IMHO mike

OK, so I lead Princely Ambitions yesterday and the first pitch was a ton of fun. We went ahead and did the second pitch although it was dirty as the topo mentioned. But the bolts at the top were...well we had the vocabulary discussion in another thread, but...manky, hinky, crappy, scary, pick your term. We backed ourselves up with a small tree just in case. Now the question is who likes to replace bolts, I personally do not have the know-how/gear to do so. That brings up a bigger philosophical question that gets thrown around here a bit, putting up new bolts, replacing bolts and even chopping bolts when in a bad mood. Who's responsibility/life's dream is to make life safer at Index? And if no one wants to fix it, then just stick to the first pitch of Princely, that's where all the fun stuff is anyway. mike

COORS??? I assume you would be forcing that down the throat of the transgressor as no self-respecting climber should drink that swill, especially not in the Pacific-Northwest with the plethora (that means a lot) of fine local brews. I'm a porter/stout man myself (but I am hoping to lose a few more pounds) I say we take him/her up to the middle of a nice big slab somewhere and coat his hands and feet in Vaseline and let him make his own way down. ------------------

"BOMBER" As in this pro is bomber or that is a bomber hold, i.e.-bombproof.

So I finally got out to Snow Creek Wall on Sunday and made it up Outer Space. Tons of fun, the crux was easier for me than the cracks up higher, but that is my issue. My only complaint was that someone seems to have stolen all the porn on Library Ledge, I mean that was the main reason I went up there. I did bring along a couple of my favorite beaver books to add to the pile, so I left those, but still I am very disappointed. I had the extra kleenex ready and everything. Oh yeah if anyone finds an ATC on a locking biner at the bottom of the wall that is mine, dropped from about the 6th pitch when I did not clip it properly to my harness. You can go ahead and use it if you want to trust it. ;( See Ya'll on the wall P.S.-Where can I campout up in Squamish without having to pay or reserve a month in advance? I'm cheap ya know.

Went on my first (outside) climb of the year yesterday. And now for my first post to these boards. So my friend Ole is up from Cali for a rally race and wants to go out for a day on the rock. Left Everett about 7am, hit Kristall's for a big egg-white omelette to power me through the day. Still snow on the ground, but as soon as we start moving we start losing layers. As Ole is recovering from surgery and I haven't been out on real rock since JTree in december I figure we start on the Fault(5.6) and see how we feel. Zip up that like it wasn't even there. Little mossy, but dry. So we feel good and jump onto Catapult(5.8). I start good and get up to the slight overhang and place a piece underneath and then get halfway over it and drop a nice Hex into the slot, but as I pull up the rope I find myself flying for a 20 foot whipper. I had not realized how cold it was in the crack and my fingertips are numb so I don't feel them peeling off. Bruised my foot, but the adrenaline means I don't feel that until the drive home later that night. So I stick my hands into my armpits and hang there for a few and then pop back up over the crux and clip my rope in properly this time. The rest of the climb is sweet with nice flakes and a little ladder in a corner. So now we are up on Logger's Ledge and looking for the next challenge. I am leaning towards the Saint(5.8+) or maybe the Canary(5.8)(did the first pitch last year and loved it). But we finally decide to try Diretissima(5.8). Now it starts to get a wee bit crowded up there. Two other climbers have just jumped on Saber(5.4) and are working their way up to the first ledge. So looking a the sketch I start up a really cruxxy start and finally with my back against one side and my feet up on the other I get myself up on the wall. Now I am thinking to myself that felt a lot harder than a 5.8, but anyhoo lets get up this wall before the rain hits, so I slide on up this crack with a little overhang, again feeling a little harder than 5.8 and nothing bomber for protection. Then I come out on the first little mini-ledge with the guys on Saber just to my right and I see this face in front of me with nothing to help me out. I am asking Ole to check the book as I wander back and forth looking for any "obvious line" when I feel the first drops of rain and decide to bail. I rap off a rusty bolt and we head on out. Turns out as I look through my various books that I am climbing something between Diretissima and Saber which is not rated or listed in the books, but it had some neat moves so I will have to go back soon and try to figure out where that little project should go. Well that is it for my miniature epic with a litle 5.8 action, don't get to excited, but we will have to up the ante as the year warms up and I shake the rust off. See everyone on the rocks Mike Reddig "If they do add an extra hour of Daylight Savings Time I can put in 8 hours of work, leave work at 2, hit Index or Exit 38 by 3 and put in a full 8 hours of climbing, is this heaven?" "No man, this is Washington, but a lot of people make that mistake." ------------------