plexus

What are you doing this weekend Wazzu, wanna tackle it....oh opps, I should tell you, I've never climbed ice before.....

There is a lot of new route talk on this site. Just because a number of people spraying around, "This is the next classic", doesn't mean ppl aren't posting. I can think of at least two dozen new routes (rock, alpine & ice) that I remember being mentioned on this site in the past two years, everything from the kick-ass Pickets traverse, to new wall at Exit 38, to Dru's line on border peak. Hell I've even mentioned a small little line in the southern Twin Sisters Range. Just because it's not every day (it's January for chirssakes) that new beta gets out there, don't mean there aren't any explorers out on these sites. Will also has a point, a number of people don't advertise their plum lines just because of the crowds that will then congragate to them. You always see TRs about Triple Couloirs, Chair Peak, Prussik Peak, Cutthroat Peak (all worthy of trips). But can you tell me the last time you saw anybody talk about Corteo, Magic, Torment or Bonanza? And I know that at least on three of them from first hand, there are some fun climbs.

Mount Erie. I have spent more time there than any other climbing spot. There is quite a bit there that most people don't know about. You could spend a whole weekend on just the Main Wall and never climb the same route twice. My fav used to be Squamish, that was until the border crossing became a test of patience and bladder control.

CBS, what if mad cows foam at the mouth?

MaryLou, Chainsaws and other such mechanical construction devices (bulldozers, etc.) are allowed only when a district manager applies for a waiver in such case. That is another layer of red tape that the local district managers must go through that bogs down the system. Example: Work recently down on the Elbow Lake trail by Mt Baker required such a waiver when it entered Wilderness Area. That waiver took over a year to process and get approved. Because of all the muck that is required to do such acts, stagnant USFS Recreation/Conservation budgets, and Nepa and Sepa forms, a manager will take significant time to weigh the benefit/cost ratio. I have a great deal of experience reporting about such topics. And I can say that 99% of the USFS employees at the district level I have worked with in the past are top-notch people that are dedicated to their work. The problem with the USFS is not at the local level, as a USFS engineer once put it to me off-record "There are too many generals and not enough indians." Bug put it correctly when stating it is the executive branch that ultimately dictates such policies. And the people that are making the greatest decisions are the farthest away. As far as the Alpental situation, this is on the same level as Mt Baker Ski Area's backcountry policy from a few years back. It is on territory leased by Alpental and the return trail is a convienence for it's clientele. The biggest problem is the parking situation. There is definite need for a Sno-Park in the area. But given the state budget snafu, I don't think that is something that is going to happen in the near future. Be polite and contact the people given above and voice your concern. Constructive opinions are the only way some sort of beneficial solution will come about.

Wow, that was a cool post there Stonehead. History only repeats itself. Beware the Ides of March!!!

Doctorb stirring the pot. What's next Canadian brew better than Washington/Oregon's microbrews? Canadian women are easier? My dad is cooler than your dad?

El Potrero Chico

When did you migrate from N. Korea to China Harry Pi? And how did they let you slip across the border? Last I read, they were shoving all N. Koreans back.

No, no, no!!! Not the return of the giant squid, the clogger of toilets everywhere!!!

Opps, I forgot... Falcons=aid. Beck your post cracked me up. Don't forget the beer climbing helmet must be Packer green and gold!!

Climbing during season closures (flacon nesting, bat nesting, religous beliefs) and using the a falcon stuffed into an OW as pro.

Like what DPS just said. We went climbing yesterday in the Flatirons. I wore my thin glove liners, had a pair of my mid-weight OR fleece gloves and had my leather belay gloves. Wore the liners all the time, even to climb in, had the OR fleece gloves on while hiking or stopping and use the leather belay gloves when, well, you can figure that out. I've always been hesitant to belay somebody/rappel with fleece gloves on, I always throw on some leathers. Couldn't the friction burn through the gloves? Or am I being paranoid.

How long did it take for you to get out of the hole Paul? The picture of Sauk in my gallery, on that trip we crossed through some clear cut, sunk through a hole and it took me about five minutes to get out. In your second picture, you should get up Gee Point. There is some fun climbing there. Once you reach the ruins of an old shelter, keep going straight instead of following the trail uphill, there was a nice chimney that is mid-fifth class. In the honor of Beckey, the description goes "cross over talus and steep heather (a bitch when wet) and head for the obvious chimney. One pitch, small rack with hexes 9-12. Also there is a wall up at Cumberland Pass on the north side of the Finney Creek rd that has some nice runout 5.9s.

Dude!! That's exactly how I took my SATs and ACTs!!! How did you guess? I remember coming out of high school, I got accepted to Northwestern, Kansas, Illinois, CU and offered a partial scholarship to SW Missouri, yet I wasn't qualified for WWU ...such high level of learning up there. I wound up transfering to WWU and I hated that school . Didn't learn a god-damn thing except how to mtn bike on Galbraith.

Saw it last night on the IMAX here in Denver. Cool!! The eagles and mumakil were two of my highlights. Some small nitpicks: I wanted to see Pippin kill a troll!! I wanted to see Rangers!! And gosh darnit, I wanted to see the Pukels!!! So would you call the stairs up to Shelob's lair Class 3 or 4?

I want to see some pictures of this hedge. I know what you're talking about, I've hit some stuff like that screwing around on the MTn Loop Hwy a couple years ago and over off of the Bacon Creek Rd (can't remember the name of the peak) this past winter. Fought for about 15 minutes, then decided a longer detour was more favorable

So that's how that snag got to be there on Snag Buttress at Mount Erie. Dallas put a sling around it years ago and it choked it to death . Seriously, I've heard of that before. If it's just one rap, I just throw the rope around the tree. If you're expecting it to be strong enough to be your anchor, it'll be fine with the rope around it. And I've yet to get sap or pitch on any of my climbing ropes....my snowpants are another story after scooting my ass across some precariously thin logs over icy streams and rivers Why is it air under my heels is OK but I lose my balance crossing over raging water?!

I know this is going to sound callous, but I'll say it anyways. Lots of recent snow + mountains = avalanches. If you're going to play in the mountains outside of a ski area's boundaries (or even in them), you take the risk. It is YOUR responsibility to assess the conditions and to be armed with the knowledge to do that. I have been hit with a spring avalanche. I knew that day things were sliding off all over the place. I was able to roll out of the slide coming down the chute without any major damage. Was I going to blame the avy center because it said moderate danger that day. Hell no!! Enough with holding people's hands out in the mountains. We have more tools and resources at our beconing nowdays than ever before. That doesn't mean you can skip a field test, scoping out your line before your climb/descent and seeing if you're going to get squished. I have turned back many a peaks (including a couple of times less than 10 minutes from the summit) because the snowpack was just waiting to trigger and we were that catalyst. Sometimes you play on the side of caution as I usually do and every once in a while you pull that hair out of your ass, push it and a ceremonial brew to the mountains gods for not swallowing you up that day. Posting daily avy conditions is leading to a new level of liability for the FS as well as taking up manpower to do that, manpower I would like to see conserved to rebuild some of those roads that were washed out next spring.

Here's what I found on Camp USA's Web site: http://www.camp-usa.com/tricamnotice.aspx

Dude, did you see him climbing down in the Emyn Muil head down. Don't think that stoor needs any pro...Great shot though

I was just waiting for Dru to sing the praises of the tri-cam . Yes, MEC is a little bit more of a drive now, like two long days worth. Found them at Mountain Miser, and also some good access info for the South Platte. CBS, I thought about writing an ode to pinky, but yours did more justice than I could have scribed. Also my new home crag is in Golden and all basalt. I found the two tri-cams I have were the easiest to place. The cracks are smooth and slightly irregular, making slotting a nut a little more time consuming. But the cracks ate up the tri-cams like nobody's business . Also I'm going to email Camp. If there are questions about their security, then I don't think it's a wise gift for my better half. Her stocking stuffer breaking on a lead fall I think could lead to an anullment, and she's way prettier than me and I finally got her leading trad to swap some leads with me, so that ain't a good thing. It's equal training. She leads gear, I started doing the dishes.

So after going to four climbing stores, I finally was able to track down the infamous pinky, the .5 tri-cam nobody can do without. It's a stocking stuffer for my wife, ever since last spring when she finally did her first trad lead (without me no less), she has been raving about tri-cams and we need a whole rack of them and nothing else and yadda, yadda, yadda. So what's the deal with nobody carrying tri-cams any longer? REI only has the big behemoth ones (as opposed to those little behemoth ones ) and several stores didn't carry them at all. But you can find Metolious cams at your friggin neighborhood Wal-Mart.

It is a great route, takes gear well (standard rack suited us fine). Unfortunately I had the pack on the chimney pitch, which made chimneying not an option for me and my belayer seriously I think has ADHD (we had two-ways and he forgot to turn his on), so stopping and removing the pack really wasn't an option. Felt like strenuous 10 for me on that chimney section.

I second that idea about OG. Also Krack Rock is a good place to practice. Never anybody there when I go past or climb there.