Matt_Anderson

Shit, is someone else using better lures in my fishing hole? "not that i condone such actions but its kind of funny, "MOMMY there is 20 feet runout to the next bolt, we go home now!" Have the fish gone fishin? "So is Swim at Index upper walls considered a sport route?"

Actually, Si and 38 have far bettter rock than the crap at index or squamish. The granite might be solid, but the only way to get any decent moves on it is to put them there. At least with 38 and Si, the trad climbing is safe because the cracks are bolted.

Re: climbs left out: Vanishing Point on the Dolomite Tower on the N face of Baring. The approach is a grunt, but the business ascends the vertical and overhanging arete that divides the two faces of the tower. The position is fantastic, the rock is some of the best I've ever had on an alpine route. It's not in the books because it is recent and Burdo doesn't feel like he's finished "prepping the route/rappel route." Burdo intends to put out the information for general consumption on it next season. Also, the moves on the crux of the Independence Route on Liberty Bell are some of the most fun I've ever been on in an alpine setting. Beware the first .11 pitch - a long fall at the crux (unless the psychological pro holds). Finally, it is not particularly alpine, but Davis-Holland/Lovin Arms finish at Index is one of the best multipitch climbs in the state.

Never trust one of anything Granted, helmets are useful, but I would have titled this thread "Never trust one of anything", not "Helmets". It shouldn't just be a matter of hindsight, this is the only "law" (as opposed to safety factor) I teach friends when they are learning to climb and (imho) far more effective than a helmet at preventing fall related injuries (Whether to wear a helmet due to rockfall danger, of course, is a diffent question that should be decided based on a balance of: your risk aversion level, the comfort of one's helmet, what's above you, and whether or not you're trying to attract members of the opposite sex . . .) Aside from rockfall danger, if you combine this rule with an awareness of the factors that could lead to you getting flipped upside down I'd choose I'd chose two pieces to stop a ground1 fall over one piece and a helmet everytime. I see people ignoring this rule or ignorant of this rule all the time. It seems that the quality of climbing gear available and the number of times that people take falls on such gear allows confidence in the unbreakability of gear to dampen the self-preserving queasiness people should get anytime there is only one thing keeping them off the ground. Case in point: A sport climber clips into a single draw while hanging from the anchors and threading the rope. S/He feels comfortable because there is almost no chance of a well placed, quality bolt or the draw breaking. The danger is from stupid user error, not the gear breaking. I will make exceptions to this rule when I'm climbing below my limit. At least then, arguably, my body is the second "thing" that I am using. In the scenario that was the subject of this thread,its not totally clear to me whether he cratered or the rope caught him two feet above the ground. Either way, the scenario supports the never trust one of anything maxim more than the helmet maxim. If the rope cought him, it worked, obviating the need for a helmet. If he cratered, the climber fell twice allready and knew that his climbing ability wasn't going to keep him off the deck. He decided to trust a single unidirectional (apparently a tug upward or outwards from his hand dislodged the piece) anchor. Because there was no redundancey in his system, he cratered. Either way, he didn't land on his head. The lesson to be learned is never trust one of anything, not wear a helmet. (just the rantings of a climber trying to rationalize his aversion to helmets . . .)

People come up with their list of top climbs, and they get to glaciers that they have been on or slogs they've done, I get bored pretty quick. I don't say that to be condescending, its not that I'm a great climber. Its just that when I think about slogging that I've done, I can't come up with more than half-a-dozen that I've done. I like sloggin' sometimes, It's a good workout and it gets me to some pretty places. I just don't store the names of the routes or features. It doesn't seem very important to me. Anybody else feel that way or is it just me?

Sweet Bouldering in the upper enchantments near Asgaard Pass. Incredibly scenic. We've got some photos with the climber, an erratic boulder, a goat, dragontail on the left. Rember routes @ V0 to V5. Matt

The weather at Squamish looks shitty, so my partner and I are thinking about Beacon Rock. We've never been there and all I've got is Washington Rock. How much does Washington Rock miss? Should we check out a different guide and if so, which one? I heard about this really steep section (past vertical?) with a few cracks, but don't really see that in the guide. Does it exist? Are there any areas that are still closed for falcons? Has the face that WR talks about that was closed, but may open sometime, (the Northeast face, I think?) opened for climbing. If so what to check out? Where's the best camping? Any recomendations that aren't in the book? We're mainly hoping for .11's and low .12's. Matt

Does anybody know? If not, where's the best place for beta? matt

Saw the Gi Gi used down at Yosemite a few years ago, always wanted to try it, never got around to it. Bought the Reverso a few weeks ago, used it on two routes in the past few weeks, one 18 pitches, one 11. Each time, the person belaying the leader used a gri gri, and the leader used the reverso when belaying the second. It rocks. Its great. I loved it. It's light, easy to use and takes about half the effort out of belaying the second (granted, not a huge amount of effort in the first place, but still appreciated when pumped.). I used it on a couple of single line rappels, one of them on a 9.4 mm rope. It wasn't great for that: almost impossible to lock off with one hand because of to little friction (and I was cleaning, so that sucked). Throwing an extra biner through it probably would have helped a bit. Pretty much everything I've used it on was just off vertical or steeper, so I don't know how it performs on slabs. Only belayed one climber at a time. I'm happy I have it, don't know why a gi gi would be better. matt

Freeway, up at Squamish. There were FIVE parties on it (and we were the first - poor other guys, I don't climb so fast . . .) The were a number of seaps on the pitches below the cab overhang. Dry above. We did the Express Lanes finish. Rather run out. Not what I was looking for. If anyone decides to do it, be aware that you've got ankle breaker and/or reaaaally long fall potential on 5.10 climbing. I bitched and moaned, but the pitches below made it all worthwhile. Not a bad pitch on the route(run outs aside . . .). The two hard pitches were AWESOME. matt

Hey, last November, I was climbing Dances with Beagles down at Red Rocks and got some great pictures of the party below us. We walked off before they were down and one of the party yelled down his name and number. I wrote it down wrong, or something and have never been able to get a hold of them. Does the following description ring a bell for anyone? Two people in the party. One was a guy named Vince. He came from Squamish and said he had a house in the Smoke Bluffs. He was in his late twenties, early thirties, had dark hair, led .10s quite quickly. The other was a lady, looked a bit younger, also had dark hair. They said they were on a month long road trip (or longer). Here's a picture of the two: http://community.webshots.com/photo/11351098/11500847kBhQXxtcXf Anyway, if this rings a bell for anyone, forward this email to one of them or let me know of a good way to get a hold of them. Thanks matt matt.anderson@metrokc.gov

Sandbag #1: Pitch 5 of Swim on Upper Town Wall. I've tried it two different days and never even got up the thing, let alone getting it clean. Stopped at bolt number 3 on try one. I know other people who have tried, it, all strong climbers, stopped at the same bolt. It's just barely less than vertical to vertical. Bolt three involves (as I recall) a sick reach and/or mantle. One of my prouder achievements (sadly . . . ) is that on the second try I got two bolts further than anyone else I know. At bolt five, it's the same angle, but you are hanging out on dime edges. Literally no bigger than the edge of a quarter - hands and feet. I would guess that once someone figures out the technique, it probably doesn't take any more strength than what it is rated, but I sure couldn't do it. Of course the upshot of this post is that I'll find out how many people got further than me and there goes any sense of achievement, I'll probably have to head back up . . . Sandbag #2: The "fourth class ledges" above the pocket glacier approaching Slesse's Toe bypass. (At least when wet.) Sandbag #3:The short steep section on Giant's Tears (Not sure of the name - It's the other climb listed in Selected Cascade Climbs on the Green Gian Buttress beside's Dreamer). I followed that one and couldn't even pull the moves. Hmmmm . . . These are all less than vertical to slightly less than vertical. Wonder if there's a connection . . . Matt

I was on Stuart on Saturday and Sunday. It seems to me that you have to traverse to do the hard pitches, so I was suprised to hear that others thought it'd be easy to drop a rope down. I'll take a look in the next couple of days and see if the topo refreshes my memory. Regarding water, there is snow just above the ledge marked "gigantic bivy" on the topo. It'll be there for a week or two more. There's running water at the start of the bypass variation. The descent is arduous and dry, save water. The Gigantic Bivy ledge is definitely the most comfortable on the route and I highly recommend trying to sleep there, if possible. Also, the pocket glacier is still there and actively calving. After traversing rock above the pocket glacier for a while, we had to do a sprint in front of an upper portion of the glacier, which did not seem possible to traverse above. Thirty minutes up the bypass variation, a VW bus sized block calved and scraped our path. step lightly.

Hey, planning on bivying at the south col of Early Winter's Spire before doing a route on the south east face. I'd like to know how far it is to the nearest water so I can avoid schleppin with water in the pack. Specifically: How far to Blue lake? Are there snow patches' near the col? If so, is there runnoff from the patches so I can just iodine the water or do I need to bring a stove to melt it? Thanks matt

Went through about two -threee years of torture, my fingers would split, nail beds split, hang nails, etc. This last year, my hands finally returned to normal. None of the doctors I saw said it was eczema, so yours is likely a bit different, but here's what seemed to help me: First thing is make sure you drink enough, have some fat in your diet, etc. The best lotion I found is "Eucerin Dry-Skin Therapy Plus Alhpa Hydroxy Lotion" (there are other Eucerin products). I tried a bunch of others, some prescirbed, but I think this is the best because 1) it does help your skin heal fast 2) the Alpha Hydroxy strips off the extra calouses that will catch/crack and cause extra abrasions/pain and 3) It doesn't soften your skin so much that climbing will screw with your hands in the future. Dunking your hands in cold/ice water for five minutes after climbing also speeds blood flow and reduces swelling. Don't wash your hands unless you have to! Soap, showers, constant washing dries out your hands. When it was real bad, I showered and did dishes with rubber gloves on. Solvent and aluminum oxide also aggravate your skin, so wear gloves for chores involving them and for gear sorting (You'll get shit for this one . . . ) Make sure that your hands are not coated with loation or still soft from water, etc when you go climbing. They are more likely to get torn up, which destroys the protective coating, which extends healing time, yadda, yadda, yadda . . . Good luck Matt

I am heading up to do Slesse this weekend and have been recently reminded of my inadequacies in the finding trails/not making an epic of descents and approaches department. Any beta on the descent and approach for Slesse would be appreciated, we don't intend to bypass the lower section. Also, because its so late in the season, we are not expecting to find and snow/water very high on the route. Are we wrong? Matt

We bivied. Veeery long day the first day. Got to the bivy near M&M ledge around midnight on the first night. I'd probably do it the same way, but my partner said if he ever did it again, he'd just rap off after the aid. He thought hauling our pig over the last few pitches was the crux of the route (then again, he's 5'10" and only 135 pounds).

re: danielpatricksmith's comment. whoops. re: thin red line. I don't know about "usually", but the route goes at least almost completely clean at a very reasonable level. We had a good assortment of hooks (I remember a pecker hand placed being particularly useful), some micro nuts and a free climbing rack and the route only required three hammer placements: One was mine and could've been eliminated, but I'd just fallen and was way sketched. The other two I didn't make, but my partner's only prior aid experience was Town Crier, so there's a good chance he wouldn't make it today. Using the limited iron definitely didn't make the climb any harder than the rating in the book - it seemed a bit easier than we expected, actually. Sincerely, Your Rock Star (autograph's available on request)

Pitons? No Way! It goes very clean. I climbed it eight years ago, about a year after I started climbing (so I certainly wasn't that good) with a double set of cams, a double set of black diamond stoppers, one sky hook, and a 3, 4, and a 5 RP (someone told me that I needed the last four items so I went out and bought them.) I think the hook was used one time on the pitch after the lip (or was it just the end of the lip pitch? . . . age is killin my memory) There is no reason to pull out the hammer on that climb. As I recall, fixed gear was minimal, except for the rotten block and the lip. Saving resources is not just about chopping bolts. It's about doing routes clean whenever possible. (and Liberty Crack is easy C2) The info on the snow is correct. I climbed the independence routes about three weeks ago and it was inconsequential. Re: belay seat, haul bag, etc . . . If LC is not an in-a-day climb for you, fix the first few pitches, sleep at the car/bottom and throw a light pack on the second. Hauling towards the top of that mountain sucks.

I use and own both the aliens (a complet set up to large fingers) and Metolius (only a couple, but I've used friend's units alot). I have not yet used the Black Diamonds. The Alien's definitely place better than almost anything else in the small sizes. I love 'em. The downside to the aliens is that, at least in part because of the flexible stem, they seem to show the wear more than the metolius cams. They also seem to need more cleaning/lubing to keep working smoothly. Even with maintenance, the aliens have lost some of the smooth action they started out with. That said, I have used them for about eight years, I fall on my gear most times I go out, and I have yet to retire one. The Metolius tcu's are bomber. My one gripe with Metolius is that, although I don't know what the numbers are, in real world terms, they seem to have less of an expansion range. This seems more noticeable in the larger cams, than the smaller cams. Despite the single stem, it doesn't seem like the Black Diamond's would offer the great placement that the aliens do (In large part because their stem isn't very flexible.). That said, I can't wait to get the two mircro camalot's with double axles. If my rack was stolen and I was buying only one set, I'd buy Aliens, maybe with double Axled Camalot's replacuing the larger one's (The fantastic "placeability" of the aliens is most pronounced in the smaller sizes). If I was getting doubles, I'd get a full set of aliens for the first set. The second set would include the double cammed BD's for the larger units. It's a tough call for the smaller cams of the second set. It's hard to go wrong. I do know that I own two O aliens (the blue one's) and often place both of them on a single pitch. I'd be lost without two blue aliens. Matt

Don't use 00's as aid pieces and free climbing protection? Whatever. I place them (and ball nuts and copper steels [down to about a #4, sometimes a #3), for that matter) all the time. They have all held numerous falls. Would I rather have a fat #1 camalot? Of course, but when cracks get hard and interesting, it's generally because they are thin, and you don't get #1 camalot placements. The few times that one of those placements have popped out, I knew the placements were marginal and, while I hoped they would hold, I didn't climb further than was safe for a fall onto the last placement. The trick, of course is getting to learn the difference between a good and bad placement and living to tell about it. Sorry to hear about the ankle, Gerg, it sure is hard to push off and avoid a ledge when a weighted piece unexpectedly blows. Good luck getting back at it. Matt

Ive rapped multipitch retreats on a ten mil and a seven mil. Not to much of a pain. I just made sure that the knot butted up against the rings/biner/whatever in a way that counteracted the differential speed thing. The non-rapping partner kept an eye on the knot (if he's the second one down) or held onto the seven mil (if he's the first one down.) I always thought that there was a small risk that the knot could jam into the rings b/c of the differential speed, but that cluster never occurred. If you prefer climbing on a fat rope, go for it. The system also allows the second to free a pitch at his limit w/o the extra weight of a pack b/c the leader can haul a light pack on the hard pitches if you choose (That, and the weight savings are the only reason I choose this system over doubles). matt

Anybody know how to get information on what is closed and when the closures will lift for routes on the Chief at Squamish? I want to get on Freeway next weekend. If that's closed, then maybe over on some of the long stuff on the Northern Walls/Sheriff's Badge (Daily Planet Northern Lights, etc.)

I was planning to go up and go do something on the East Face of Liberty Bell/Early Winters Spires this weekend. Trick is, I don't Ski, and would love to go as light and fast as possible. (Especially if I have to thike out the back side after Liberty Bell). The reference to knee deep powder looked like a wake up call. Any input on what the conditions will be for a snow shoer/person in boots. I was hoping for consolidated snow/a frozen crust in the early morning that would allow a speedy ascent to the rock. . . I also don't want the only way to get back down the blue lake trail to be post holing for miles late at night . . . Thanks