Drederek

Well I am saddened but not surprised by the railroads's action. They said stay off the tracks or we'll close it. Some idiots kept getting on the tracks so they closed it. Some idiots kept climbing so they made it unclimbable. Its some idiots that are to blame, not the railroad.

Did Penguins in bondage survive? I need a rematch there someday.

People will be there most arriving after 5. Unfortunately I'll be camping at the beach trying to talk the wife into (OK begging) packing up and hitting the rocks somewhere. Um ... the salt air is corroding your new van dear, we better head for the hills. Or maybe "TSUNAMI!!! Forget the tent lets get to high ground!"

How could anyone nicknamed choss dog not like mt washington? Have to add Right Wing on the Squaw to the list although a gas powered weedwacker and flamethrower would do wonders for it.

Silver Falls is actually east of Salem off highway 20 or 22. Very kid friendly as I recall gradeschool field trips there.

Leeches not too bad this year?

When i was young i thought we would be pillaging the universe by now. Blowing a hole in an asteroid is a pretty lame start. Those JPL geeks need to think big and go blow those suckers where they live!

I too scored three out of four in my youth. When I walked up to a cliff I didn't look around I jumped. Thank God I always hit the water! Now that I am older I still feel the pull but am able to somewhat mitigate the risks. I'll stop and consider the consequences. And channel that energy into climbing. Who knows when you'll start up a route that turns ugly and really tests you?

Seems like metolius or someone came out with colored chalk so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of, er, cc.commers and you know what? Noone bought it so it seems.... drum roll please.... Very few give a rats ass if its all over the rocks! Personally I think it ruins an onsite for me when hard to spot holds are ticked but I'm not gonna breakdown and buy a gun to shoot someone for being an inconsiderate slob. Hmm guess I'm with you on this one Jo.

It would be important to me to convince you I was sorry and that I had fucked up. You never know what day you're going to climb with someone for the first of many times. I've confronted people on safety issues before and haven't seen a nonchalant response but that doesn't mean the guy didn't care, just that you were unable to tell. I can't figure out how the rope could jump out of biner on a TR without the biners bouncing up and down (which shouldn't happen) whether its a locker or not. Was the rope twisty as you ascended? Antway when the voice inside said it wasn't safe you listened and thats a good thing.

Obviously he's a bot!

Tuesday afternoon seemed pretty hot in the Icicle so the wife and I decided to hit the Karma crags to get some relief. The trail started out nice but deteriorated to a faint animal track about halfway up to the first crag. As we could see the crag we pressed on, lured by the well shaded face above us. We picked up the trail traversing left and then back right to the crag with only one large tree to detour around. The belay area seemed pretty standard for one of these out of the way spots and the somewhat steep line of Instant Karma looked good. 7 bolts later I was at the anchor on a nice flat ledge enjoying the view of midnite rock across Tumwater canyon. Even scruffy I think its a two star climb. A wide variety of moves including liebacking, underclinging and sidepulling with some balancey stuff on great footholds made it worth the somewhat brushy hike. Then we thought we'd go up Karmathon. (sound of faroff thunder) "It's not so bad" I said as I soloed up the first 10 feet. "I'm sure the moss isn't growing where the holds are" (I was lieing) "looks like good pro higher up" (marginal I now believe) "This pillar looks solid" (I didn't pull up on it and it wiggled when I stood on it) But the holds kept coming and I did step off route about halfway up to put a bomber #4 camalot in a different crack (about two slings off route) Slammed a #1 Met tcu (bodyweight i'm sure) under a block and came face to face with a downed tree between me and the anchor. A few tentative tugs confirmed that it wasn't bomber (LOL) and that I'd better hurdle it on my dash to the finish. Clipped the anchor seconds later and travered over the IK anchors, retrieved the sling and bail biner I'd added to that faded sling then "fixed up" the anchor. The bolts were bomber. On rappel I decided some of the gear I got in wasn't that bad. Oh and the wife didn't want to follow. Loose rock, dirt and debris make Karmathon at least a one skull route but a lot of scrubbing and a crowbar could make it worthwhile. We didn't check out any other climbs as we were ready to swim. In summary: Its abit scruffy. IK = great. K = a bomb. Cool on a hot day after 1 or so. Good swimming hole at the parking lot.

People dying sell newspapers. Whackos spouting off do as well. Soon, a two-headed cow in Mt Vernon will take this issue's space in the paper. People seem to remember the negative crap even after its been debunked (see polical campaigns). The paper has no interest in the issue or they would write a fact-based story. So they'll probably edit someone's letter to make them sound like just as big a whacko as the first guy. That will sell more papers!

Well I always try to get back up to speed too soon and just end up elongating the healing process. That said I've always eventually healed up. I try to do nothing that hurts it but I'll do stuff and if it doesn't hurt any worse the next few days I'll keep doing a little. I'm sure this is no help to you at all but you are not alone and you will get better.

There's a nice little squeeze right of apron strings on the grand wall at squish. Something called yosemite crack up there as well. The last 12 feet of the splitpillar can be squeezed but its too much fun as a layback. p3? of regular route at careno crags (11worth) is 8" for a fair bit. Another at the right end of domestic dome. A cool looking one on mastadon dome at leav. Heard something about a chimney on top of mt jeff but have no clue if its true. The hollow flake pitch on the Salathe is almost as wide as my chest is deep. Epinephrine has a few places you can squeeze at red rocks(vegas) and theres a variation to it thats a beautiful flaring 6 to 20" chimney (pitch 4 or 5) I wanted to try the dolphin at josh but didn't make it over this year. Hex marks the poot was 6-7" for 12 feet. None of this close to Ptown but in my experience these things can be found all over the place if you look hard enough or not too closely to the guidebook .

Sweet!

Climbed there once late 90's. Very solid and decently rated. If I lived nearer to Portland I'd go there at least once a month. I think its south or southeast facing so it must be climbable yearround. Around 100 routes. A cliff worthy of a little effort by anyone who climbs rock IMAO

You coming out tomorrow, Off?

Thats Bowling for Furniture, 5.11b. Tr'd the lower crux a few years back and it felt like 5.11 on a hot day. The upper moves looked harder to me.

If you must know how the last bit of Inca Road is done at 5.9 pm me. I'll not be responsible for ruining someones onsight of it.

Ego is the biggest threat to climbing. We will always be able to climb. There are threats to our ability to climb the stuff the way we want to. And that way is slightly different for all of us. I tend to believe the people who see things the way I do as being right and others being wrong. Alas , the others probably feel the same way. Its easy to imply that those who disagree with us are evil rapers of all that is right and good but if they feel the same way about us we will continue to fight and never achieve a solution. Divide and conquer is an ancient military axiom - we are just dividing ourselves when we say bad things about other user groups. We're all pretty much stuck here on this planet together so do what you can to make it better. Thanks, I feel better now.

P4 of centrefold 10d. Sword 10b v3. P2 Timpitchewus 11b. Magic light 11a. Hemp Liberation 10d. P2 sunblessed 10a. South face jello tower 8. Psychopath 11a. Imperial Imposter 11a/b. Inca road 9.

I've never seen anyone climbing on it but there are pick marks in it. Unlike ice it has a very uniform consistency so it may be worth a go or two to get a rhythym going. Plenty of real ice a couple hours away on Rainier.

Yeah I wondered about the crack above the second belay and why it wasn't part of the route. Sounds like it was fun.

Climbed this route about 6-7 years ago. P1 a loose nasty 5.7 gully - give this pitch to your partner. P2 a little manky, wandering 5.8 with a harder move on it with some decent pro but not alot. about 61 meters to the anchor out on the arete. P3 a fine stemming corner up to crack on face. Rock goes bad if you stay in the corner too long. A couple more nice pitches sets you on a wide ledge about 50 feet from LC. We traversed straight over and finished straight up LC. Easily done in a day by a party that can handle hard 5.10 climbing. The rock quality is poor at times but its nice not to have to carry up (and down) the aid gear and extra rope.