Drederek

The swallows in black velvet canyon dive bomb bugs. When they pull up it sounds like a didgeredoo (?) They go from about 100 mph to 5 mph in about 20 feet. Its unnerving the first few times it happens 5-10 feet away from you!

We did beckey route and regular on concord. The snow patch under the east face was bigger than I thought it might be (we scoped it from the pass) but it doesn't look too bad. I don't think you'd need a tool to get up it. Maybe a hundred feet. Don't have any idea what it would be like to get from the snow onto the rock, probably a nasty moat. Tried Freedom rider a couple of years ago. We crawled under the patch and it was almost as big as it is now. Sorry I can't help more, enjoy!

Did not see it on July 8. If you left it in the gully the f@#$%^& goats probably kicked it down. D

An excellent choice. The only real snow we saw in the middle of june was descending the regular route. There were some fixed slings to batman down from the nose. If the weather is good you shouldn't need pro or a rope. If its socked in I would take some. D

Don't think LA is 11b anymore. When someone replaced the old buttonhead the footholds got "cleaned" also. It looked like an Arthur Murray dance lesson the last time I was on it. The pitch below that is the best one anyway. D

Anybody tried walking toward white slabs and rapping down that way? D

Zeke's? Are you kidding? Or did I catch them on a bad night? The Pa Burger at Ruckers in Packwood gets my vote. D

Don't know if there is anything in print but Mccleary cliffs are located on Lake Cushman. Turn left at the T past the state park towards staircase. After passing the Mt Rose trailhead look for a turnout on the lake side that is an abandoned loop of road with a boulder or pile of dirt blocking it. Directly below this is a 40' slab with three routes all 5.9ish (bolts). Cross the street and find a little trail. Go up 100' to "X" crag. You'll know it if you see it. A bunch of bolts on top. Long slings or rope helpful in setting up an anchor. Diagonally up and left the obvious ramp 5.3(gear). Diagonally up and right 5.10 (bolts). Up the right edge solid 5.10 (2 bolts runout but easy finish. From the top of the flake way left 5.8 slab (TR) and maybe some easy 5.11 moves right of that (TR). Wander right a bit theres a small open book with a little roof (gear?)5.9? Wander left from X crag and find the plaque wall (bronze plaque) 5.10 bolts and gear. Back down to road 200' towards staircase a large maple hides a couple more pitches. Up and left 5.7, straight up 5.10+ (one move) to a ledge. If those anchors are gone 3rd class or short 5.8 finger crack to a sturdy Madrona tree. The last time I climbed there the moss was really thick. Enjoy! D.

Found that site a few months ago when looking for info on Snake Dyke on the web. Out of about 20,000 sites a good half dozen were related to climbing! Many, many more were about girls wearing all kinds of stuff. D

As long as they are only rated PG-13 I'll keep wearing them. D

Well you are right about most of your post. I don't mind admitting what we did was stupid and that we were lucky. We left for the summit at 5 AM from 9500 feet. The highest camp we passed on the way down was about 10500 feet and off to the west. We were at the summit at 2:30. We passed under the icefall about 5:30. We definitely should have started earlier as the heavy snow really slowed us down. We should have turned back when it was apparent we were going to be so late getting back. It kinda sounds like you had your trip ruined by the way you felt you needed to sound off to me. Seek counseling. D

Summited via the Kautz on wednesday the 20th. My first time. Conditions seemed generally pretty good except that it was too warm. There was a slab avalanche on the turtle and the crossing under the icefall dropped a huge serac just after we passed under it on the way back down. I think if the freezing level is below 10K it should be fine. Lots of crevasses on the Nisqually and above 12K but most not very big yet. D.

Yes I have a pair of lucky shorts. I was wearing them on Freedom Rider when my partner took a leaderfall, snapped off the top of a 6 inch thick flake which fell about 80 feet before hitting my hip and ripping a big chunk out of the shorts as I was unable to move much in a hanging belay. I thought I broke my hip but it was fine after a couple of days. The thing that saved me was the rock hit right on my Petzl Jump harness. We bailed and came back a month later and bagged that sucker. I also ripped a piece out of the back of the LS t-shirt arm I was wearing (same incident) but I never thought it might be lucky. Oh yeah the shorts were air jordans my wife got me from goodwill! D

The first set of cams I bought were Metolius TCU's. Love em. Don't like the FCU's or smaller camalots because they are hard to orient downward in shallow placements. I guess I like cams that fit into round holes !?!?!? Aliens seem to fit that criteria but I haven't used them very often. Have to go with the #3 and up camalots. Most of the stuff in between seems OK. None of these things feel as good as a bomber hex or large stopper. D

Viktor please don't become like our "friendly campground hosts". And keep doin what ter doin cuz you're doin it good. D

If its the slabby climb I remember climbing 5 years ago it seemed pretty reasonable. I noticed Hyperhound got harder with time and the access log washing out. A little dirt can grease a shallow scoop although a 3 star climb should get enuf traffic to keep it clean. D

How to define the "best"? The most prolific? The most skilled at a particular type of climbing? The most well-rounded? (climber, not breasts or bottoms) The most vocal? The highest profile? The most scared who fires it anyway? The most humble? The ones who do the climbs that are beyond us? Someone who knows when to back off or someone who doesn't? I would admire anyone pushing themselves to a higher standard. Be it 5.7 or K2. As soon as you think you're the best or better than anyone two more people that you don't know about have passed you by. Are you the best climber you can be? D

I hope whoever dropped this picket didn't/doesn't need it till I can get it back to them. I found it wednesday on the way down from Camp Muir. Email me at dersan40@hotmail.com if its yours. D

Yeah I did the ScottP at Index on the grassy knoll coming down Swim. My partner was already down and started to pull the rope when we looked at each other and I grabbed the slings as he grabbed my arm. Thanks, Dave. Be careful when you're tired! D

Top ten reasons sportclimbers should stay away from Outer space: 10. Can't hear car stereo from crag. 9. Walking so far makes your leg muscles heavy. 8. Third-class descents. 7. No bathrooms. 6. Ticks. 5. Its tough to tie off chickenheads with quickdraws. 4. If its not overhanging its just another slab. 3. Like, whats with the helmets, Dude? 2. Fourthclass scrambling. And the number one reason for sportclimbers not to do Outer Space: They might like it!

Once upon a time we had a little gym in Olympia. It was a great place to get hooked up with other climbers. They tore down the building to make Capitol Lake round and the owners were unable to find another location. Thank God we at least got a round lake out of the deal. Well I think its round I haven't been able to get down to the water for three or four years as they have a chainlink fence up around it. I guess this is way off the track but thanks for listening. D

So how about Hyperspace? Is the 10d chimney protectable? I was trying to scope it out from Maryjane dihedral but couldn't see much. I guess I'll go have a looksee but it would be nice to know beforehand. D

So how about Hyperspace? Is the 10d chimney protectable? I was trying to scope it out from Maryjane dihedral but couldn't see much. I guess I'll go have a looksee but it would be nice to know beforehand. D

Thanks to everyone who posted. This is the best Topic I've read since I registered. I have seen many differing viewpoints on a topic I am most interested in as well as some great personal histories. As someone who enjoys the WWF more than pro sports - this is what I log on for. Bolts are a dilemma for me. I don't believe I would be as good a climber today if I hadn't been clipping bolts since I began climbing. It was a great way to increase my skills. As I got better and started seeking more challenge I started putting together a rack and leading trad and mixed routes. The last few years I have been trying to do mostly multipitch but to stay in shape I hit the sportclimbing areas. And there are some sportclimbs I really like. I see it as two different sides of a coin, or better faces of a polygon. Some climbs should be trad and some should be rad. The dilemma is when my perception of how a climb should go differs from that of whoever put the route up. I am not the boldest climber out there but I've led some R and X pitches that made me think why in the hell didn't they pound one lousy bolt in so a guy wouldn't die here? So I vow not to do pitches like that. I don't feel bad for clipping the bolts on Mary jane dihedral. I did feel cheated on Condormorphine even though I skipped some bolts and ran the crux pitches together. I guess the people putting climbs up/retrobolting have a lot of things to consider when they provide us with a climb. Some way to preserve diversity seems necessary, My way or the highway is a dead end. D

Common outdoor ethics? Educate me, please.