rr666

Cheers to the pioneer. It is a sad day for the climbing community.

Just curious, but did your friend pay $400 for a 200 ft piece of cord??

Mission impossible 2. I can't believe no one has mentioned this one yet. Tom Cruise is the best Hollywood climber around!!

What do all you trad climbers out there use for your cordellettes? (i am sure that is spelled wrong!) Last time I bought 8mm cord and was unhappy at how fat it was. I think i meant to get 6, but I must have been drunk that day... Anybody use 5mm? 4mm? How small is too small for some serious trad and aid climbing? Thanks,

Thanks all, I think I may just wing it and hope for the best. Looks like it will be doable, if I can handle getting a bit wet here and there!! Worse comes to worse, I will climb at lower town wall.

Anybody been out to Index recently? Just wondering if the weather is going to hold enough and the rock will be dry enough to hop on either Green Dragon or Town Crier as a good warm up for this year.

My good friend and climbing partner always took his dog there, until one weekend the Rangers went out on patrol and were giving anyone and everyone a ticket for having their dogs beyond the trails. Asking the ranger for some clarification, he basically said that dogs are ok on the leash on all park trails close to the roads, such as the real hidden valley trail. Dogs are not allowed at all in the designated wilderness areas, which is pretty much everything else. Been back many a time with dogs and just stayed far enough away from the roads that it has not been an issue. So you can take your dog, and make sure that when you get out of your car, that no rangers are around and you should be fine. But if smokey is watchin' and feelin' mean, you may end up with a ticket... Hope this helps..

Wow, onto page 5 of this group. Who would have thought... My two cents: Any large group of newbies is going to be annoying no matter where they are, be it the mounties, NOLS, outward bound, and i am sure there are a bunch of others out there. I appreciate that they do try to teach safe climbing, but do agree they take everything a bit too far considering everything has to be there way. They should realize that people are just out to have a good time, and not be anal about everything. I don't have too much experience with them, but do with other hordes of guided newbies. And they all think they own the place. When are they all going to learn, that they are really no better than everybody else, and have no more right than you and I. Lets just climb and have a good time, and hope we miss their classes. Check their website if you are worried about having a run in with them. and climb elsewhere.

I also agree that having a dog at a crag is a priviledge. I think people just need to be responsible and realize that they are not the sh&t and own the place and realize that there are going to be other people and dogs at the crags. I have two dogs and try to take them to the crag with me when I am going sport climbing. I do keep them on their leashes but I understand how annoying they can be. If the crag is going to be crowded, like lets say Smith, I leave them home. No matter how friendly your dog can be, if there is a mangy mutt, mangy climber, or just too many people around, the dog will go bonkers. Something or someone will antagonize them eventually and cause a problem. Feel free to take your dog to the crags, just be responsible and remember that it is a priviledge, and many people around probably would prefer if your dog was not there.

Hit Little Si yesterday and played in the Rain!! Belaying was miserable, but had a good time on Aborigine, the one to the left of it, and hung and pulled up on the draws quite a bit working my way up Chronic... Boy that one is tough, got a long way to go before i can even think about getting that one clean.. But thankfully the cliff overhangs enough that the rock was nice and dry, just an occasional slimy hold.

I have not met Krakauer, so I am not one to say how he is personally, all I have to base him on is his public personality. And most of what it is, is Krakauer-centric. So I do not know if it is his job as a journalist to talk about himself. If it is, he is doing a great job. Also, I do not see anything wrong with someone making a buck writing about climbing or anything else. It is not wrong to want some cash to buy stuff. If i was talented enough to write and make money, I probably would. But if the writing comes across as egotistical, I am not going to read it. I agree with Holly, Into the Wild was a tough book to read. I was very into the story, but found that the book jumped around quite a bit and was hard to follow after awhile. It really did not flow. Yes, it could be because of lack of information, because no one really knew what happened... After about half of the book, I just started skimming, catching the interesting parts and skipping the rest.

I don't know why you call Kraukauer a damn good writer. I do agree, he is not a bad writer, but is far from being damn good. The reason I am not fond of him is his ego. In his Everest retelling he consistently wrote as if he knew more than the guides, and was the stud of the group. Yes hind-sight is 20-20, but don't write like you knew it at the time. Most of the other stuff I see from him always show him as the hero, know-it-all. That sh*t jsut annoys me. Now some of his new stuff may be different, I haven't read much of his stuff recently, but I am defintely not going to go out of my way to read it either...

That is just so sick. I think I am going to crawl into my hole and never climb again, because I am never going to be crankin on the Petit bro's hangboard by Enterprise and send sick 5.17's. Oh wait, I don't care. I just enjoy climbing, be it 5.5, 5.9 or 5.11, trad, sport, aid, alpine. And I don't talk like a wannabe fool (at least I don't think so). Me

See: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001050.html

Anyone hear how the winter is supposed to be this year? Are we looking at a wet winter to make up for our drought, or is the drought going to continue? Also, other than Vantage, are there any good places around here for winter rock?

One more vote for a 60m. Nowadays they are very handy and very necessary in some areas. I don't know how i ever lived with my 50m rope. So many routes will either require 2 50m ropes to rap, or a single 60m, and even some require a pair of 60s, plus they come in handy to join rappels, pitches, etc. For the type of craggin it sounds like you are going to be doing, go for the 11mm. It will take all of the abuse for a lot longer than a smaller rope. Cheers, Me

rollerblading has to be the most extreme sport around dudes, the chance for death and injury lies around every unsuspecting pedestrian you pass...

Can't make it out to the Ropeup this weekend, but I am free on Sunday if anyone else is around to climb. Index, Exit 32/38, Darrington, elsewhere, Stone Gardens... Sport 5.11, Trad 5.10, Bouldering, Aid, Alpine, open for anything, any grade.

Climbed Davis-Holland and Lovin' Arms yesterday. What a great climb. Also, talk about surreal, throughout the climb we could usually only see a couple hundred feet, sometimes as little as fifty with all the fog. Only saw the town once from the wall. It was great, never too hot, and never too cold.

Anybody out there lookin' for a partner to climb this Sunday? I am open for pretty much anything from sport (5.11) to trad (5.10) to aid (A2) to alpine (newbie). Ratings are what I can lead and I am looking for someone of about the same skill level...

Ahhhh, the Northwest, so many choices. Thanks for the options, now the hard part to choose which one.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for a nice day alpine climb for this weekend? Lookin for some easy rock (up to 5.7 or 5.8), with not too much snow to worry about. I just want to get out and enjoy the Cascades and not think about work at all. Any suggestions welcome, Me

Just thought I'd put my two cents in as well. I do not think that anyone has a right to place bolts (on public property). Fortunately for climbers (especially sport), we do have the privilage of placing bolts. Unlike a right, privilages can be taken away. If climbers as a whole group do not step up to our responsibilities of taking care of our land. None of us will be able to climb any more, let alone place bolts. I climb trad, clip bolts, boulder, and aid. It is all good. But in the end, it all must be done responsibly. I am for placing a line of bolts up a nice unprotectable face to create a climb, but am against grid bolting. Compare it to trails, (that is what bolting is doing, creating a trail up a rock). Is building a hiking trail in the wilderness taking something away from nature and permanently damaging it? Yes it is, but without it, people would not enjoy the beauties of nature. But we would not like to see a whole grid of trails through a forest? I am sure most of us would say no. Let's be responsible and take care of the rock ourselves before someone else takes over. Lets not bolt cracks, and lets not grid bolt. Safety is great, but not every square inch of rock should be climb.

Jman - I agree with your point about trails growing back, but let me extend a bit further, how about urban sprawl? We are constantly pushing our "trails" (roads) into the wilderness. I guess that I am just sick of everyone complaining about climbers ruining the wild when everyone else is doing just the same. I don't mean to generalize, but everywhere you go subdivisions are going up in places that used to be treed, garbage is left strewn everywhere. It is just ugly what we, as humans, are doing. Too many people take what we have for granted and treat is as they will. I agree, there will be irreversible change, and as you said, respect needs to be shown. I just wish that we, as climbers, can join together and set an example for others to help protect what we have.

Anybody ever actually use the Rock Empire Rock & Roll? Is their quality as low as their price? Otherwise, I vote for Metolius TCU's up to #4. Smooth, tough, easy to use. Never used aliens. I also have BD's, but I like others, dont like their triggers