Marty

For sure, definately worth a visit.

Oh yeah and I forgot. I've done all the routes anyway so chop away. Since you all have such big brassy balls and are such alpine legends and don't need bolt hangers please send all chopped hardware to: Marty Bland 12 W. Sprague Spokane, WA. 99201

Prying all the bolts off the faces at Dishman is a great idea. They completely detract from the graffitti and garbage at the base, and the giant, concrete, water tower at the top. It also sucks now cause I just show up after work with a handful of draws and climb. I miss those days of hiking to the top, and finding that special tree or rock to drape 30 ft of webbing over the edge for my toprope set up. What? You ask why I was toproping and not leading up the oh soo difficult 5.11 routes? That's because some great strongman from the past had top roped the piss out of the route that I was trying, then put a bolt or two where they thought that they might fall, and then free climbed the route, leaving the rest of us with loads of sketchy entry level routes(by the way what were you guys thinking with those substandard 1 inch long bolts you used back then? You could kill someone you know. Or is that your purpose in climbing?). Oh and 5.11 was hard for me about 10 years ago when I started climbing. These days I'll bet I could scare the shit out of you ego tyrants of the past if I chose to bolt routes like you did. You guys should get over it. There isn't even 5.13 at Dishman (Did you know there might be 5.15b routes out there now?). Its a begginers crag and good place to learn to lead(Minnehaha should get fixed as well). The cracks are still there so you can put all the gear you want in them (arent there really only 4 gear climbs at Dishman anyhow?)and then clip the chains at the top and come down to do another route. And Pindude, if you're who I think you are, rather than heading out to Dishman to chop bolts you should head out and start trying to lead all the routes clean cause I belive your fitness level would only get you up a couple of the lines out there anyhow. A little more climbing and a little less chopping and you might find Eye Of the Tiger isn't out of your reach at this point. I didn't bolt the rock on the wall either and it is ugly. However, I found myself pulling on it when I climbed the route. More climbing less chopping.

The bolted routes that exist I didn't bolt. I took my bolts and hangers and left. I know the routes you are talking of but dont know who bolted them. Also I belive that the majority of the climbing in Thailand is on limestone which is most often loads harder and more stable than the conglomerate at Manressa Grotto. I like the bouldering there but there are greener pastures near by. (for instance metaline is only half hour up the road)

Bouldered, climbed and tried to bolt routes but bailed out on it. The rock is great to boulder on and there are several great problems but it seems to be too soft to hold mechanical bolts. Maybe glue ins would work?

The hardest stuff done is all over that 2mile or so of hillside at Tum Tum and not Mclelan. Johnny and I hiked all over McLelan on day and found really only vertical problems. The boulders are steeper on the Tum Tum side for some reason so they have got more play. Arden Pete's been bouldering a lot at Mclelan latley so maybe he has found some harder stuff. Bring some brushes and stuff and you'll find all sorts of stuff to boulder. And I don't really know the names of the TumTum formations so Deception doesn't really help me out. Sorry.

1. Sport Routes-- The hardest redpointed are still Tyler Derdan @13d and Motley Crux at 13d. Since most anything over 13a has only been repeated once or twice around here (with the exception of the routes at Deep Creek) consolidation at the higher grades has not in my opinion been achieved. Johnny Goicachea (I still can't spell his last name) is the only one to repeat Tyler Derdan and he figures it to be 13d solid. Motley Crux is still awaiting a repeat. Johnny didn't do that one probably because its long and pumpy with a little pump crux at the top. Johnny's a great boulderer but not as good at endurance climbing. I tried to repeat the route a year ago for fitness but never did. It could be harder than 13d but there's no one to compare notes with yet. The third hardest route is Big Papa Pump given 13c in the Pit at Deep Creek. It actually took Johnny more tries to do this one than Tyler Derdan and its like a V7 with a rest to a V8 and the chains. Nobody else has had any luck with it and it has been attempted by some contenders. As for projects that could be climbed and that are for sure 14a, there are a few of those. The project to the left of Walk the Plank at Marcus has to be in that range. There is a variation on Tyler Derdan that finishes on 12GA Pump that is at least 14a. With a little work and this and that the Arena and Pend orille Village Crag could host several high end routes but they need to be cleaned, Bolted, and then sent by people with the drive to do routes that hard. I'm trying a project now that I would say is 14b that is to the left of Motley at the Pit. And of course the summer area of Riggins Idaho holds multiple 14a's. Some have actually been sent even. The stone is here but how many 14's can a guy clean, bolt, and climb a year? I'd be psyched if I just completed the projects that were laying around out here. 2. Bouler Problems-- Johnny G. and Cole Allen (who has the most dubious record of B.S. ascents) have established or been on all the hard boulder problems (Bouldering is only training for climbing) in the area. Levitation V11 is the coolest hard problem that I've seen out of Johnny. It's at Banks Lake and is a huge dyno off bad hands and feet. There's some 10's and 11's and higher at Tum Tum but giving directions is too hard. Minnehaha has Revolution at v10 which has actually been repeated several times. I still think that the best bouldering can be found on the end of a rope at one of the limestone crags or Deep Creek. The attention deficit don't think so though. 3. Trad Routes-- Naked Man 12a at Deep Creek has been done on gear. I wouldn't recommend this but I don't know of any harder trad routes. Dane knows more than I do about this but the hardest route at Chimney that I have been on was to the right of Greystoke. I was on a toprope but there's a thin crack/flake to the right that looks like it is fragile for the 1st 10ft (say you fell on your cam and it broke the flake/crak) but is actually a very good pitch. It seemed to be about 12a or so I thought. Dane if you read this I should send you a copy of Randalls out of print topo and you could draw in the routes that he doesnt have in there?

Si Senor

I read it so Ill try to remember to post this info but Ive been having some troble with my site that will take some time to fix. Work and climbing come before website.

Dihedral. So damn good that it's polished now. It's also a great study in natural selection. There's always someone that gets about half way up it in their street shoes. If you've been on it before you'll know that's a bummer place to start asking yourself questions.

The Spokane area really does not hold that many quality routes in the 5.10 and below range. Minne has a few, Dishman has a couple and Post Falls probably the most. Rocks of Sharon could have a bunch more but there's a lack of development. Same thing with some of the limestone crags around. Deep Creek is to chossy at the lower angles. However, Banks Lake does have a bunch and could host a lot more but someone has to do a lot of cleaning and bolting, etc.

I know that I'll get B.S. called on me for this since I bolted the route but Death Match 2000 is the best line at Post Falls. It starts to the left of Jude 24 over a small roof, then diagonals right to a set of chains 7ft. right of the Death Fall chains. It's super pumpy and doesn't let up till you clip the chains but all the holds are big. No tedious little granite moves. The Death Fall wall has a lot of the best routes at Post Falls.

Dane here's a bunch of questions I have about routes in Spokane. 1. According to Bob Loomis whom I've spoke to personally about this, he claims that Kim Momb bouldered what we now call Smokey on Fire, way back when. I belive that he may have if he started 2/3 the way down(V6), but if you start all the way at the bottom, just left of Alfred Hitchcock Presents it is about V8 and would have been grades harder than anything that Bob has in his guide at the time. Its loads harder than Hair of the Dog(12c/d), Synchronicity(12d)or To have And Two Holds V7(Stone crusade by John Sherman puts 2 have and 2 holds at V8 but thats B.s.). That means of course this was the most difficult piece of rock climbed around here at the time but it was either done after Bob put his guide out or not at all. Do you know about this route? 2. Hair of the Dog. Why did the bolts get chopped? 3. Synchronicity. A hold has now since broke of the right side at the beginning but I've done it on TR. The reason that I have never led it successfully is that the only place to get some pro in, your hand is in there. Did anyone actually get a redpoint style ascent on this route? 4. The thin crack 10ft left of Greystoke on Chimney. Someone said you guys may have done it in the past. If so what the name grade and how many more routes are there than are on Randalls topo in his book? 5. Are you living around Spokane now cause if so you could just draw in all the routes on chimney that aren't in Randalls topo. 6. Did Loomis list all of the hardest routes in his guide or are there some that didn't get mentioned like Smokey on fire?

Fun Roof. Excellent gear and super exposure. Wish it was a lot longer.

For 12's, Slave Labor is the best line and probably my favorite at the crag. A little bouldery but then sustained which seems to be rare for granite climbing. For the 11's I think that they are all pretty good but Rock 106 and Touch of Grey stand out. All the routes are bolted well at Dishman now so if you dont like one you can thread the anchors and go to the next one. Sorry Dane, no more 50 footers unless you skip a bunch of clips.

Is this Jens Holsten who used to live in Spokane and go to Whitworth?

Matt, Didn't you buy an Inland NW. Rockclimbs book? It has all the routes (with the exception of the ones at the Golf course) that are even near clean and all are bolted. The cracks and trad climbing could be good but at the moment the are nothing but moss and dirt fests. Also, Banks Lake is hotter than hell in the summer so bring the spf30. Also watch the Poison Ivy. I've never been there past March but some canadian friends told me the stuff is thick. Rattlesnakes can be an issue as well. Good luck.

Check out www.inlandnwclimb.homestead.com/inlandnwclimb.html for photos and guide book information for the craggy (and more arid) Eastside of Washington State. And remember, Jeff Smoot doesn't know Jack. web page

Szyjakowski- "its not the books that bring the hoards; its the bolts...look at any climbing area in general...before bolts, no crowds...after bolts, crowds....just like smith" This is incorrect: I'ts the EASY bolted lines that bring crowds. You'll rarely wait in line at Smith for anthing that's 5.11 or harder. Except for a couple warm up routes and overly raved about 5.12's.

I usually sport climb and am a bit heavier than your average climber so ropes usually only last me about a season if I'm a weekend warrior or 3 months if I climb every day. The Lanex 60m 10.5 I got last year is still going but is a bit shorter than when new (From cutting out overworn sheath sections). The sheath slides around a bit and the handling qualities have deteriorated but this is a solid rope. I belive it is also spun in the Mammut factory. So: Durability- A++ Handling- c Price-A+

A few suggestions for retrofitting Vantage: Use stainless steel "U" type bolts and glue them in. It will be very difficult to hacksaw (and time consuming so you might catch the culprit) through two half inch bars on rappel. Also, (if the rock quality is not too poor) put the anchors below the top of the crag so it's not as easy to rappel in to do these dirty deeds. And the mother earth B.S. is getting soo old. Climbers account for such a small amount of impact in comparison to other earth "user groups".

Thanks Caveman and MattP.

www.inlandnwclimb.homestead.com/inlandnwclimb.html Photos (No snow just bolt clpping + bouldering) and happenings from the east side of the Pacific Northwest. Also random climbing (Again, no snow)photos from all over the world.[ 02-03-2002: Message edited by: Marty ]

D.M., That was probably me. I've only been bouldering around here in the winter so I haven't been to Leavenworth yet. Everyone I talk with say the problems are excellent so I'll be trying to visit this spring if I'm not too busy clipping bolts somewhere. Also, you have to check out these Entiat boulders. I heard them described as house sized, in a pine forrest, with nice flat landings. Get a hold of me when you get back and if the limestone hasn't stopped seaping yet, I can at least tour you around at Banks.

D.M., I sport climb most of the time but the other part of the time I boulder so I haven't been to all the areas yet nor can I confirm all the numbers. Here's some of the harder stuff I know of.Banks Lake:V9 behind the golf ball boulderV7 Green eggs and Ham boulderv8/9 Green eggs and ham boulderV6/7 Northrop canyonV9 Dyno Northrop canyonV10/11 Dyno (one of the most impressive problems I've seen)Northrop canyonV7 northrop canyonBy no means has all the bouldering been discovered here. The rock quality and problems are not as good as Leavenworth but its sunny and can be nice on winter days while Leavenworth is buried in snow.Minnehaha which is a greasy little graffittied crag in the middle of Spokane has a couple despartes:v7 To have and to hold (Mentioned as v8 in John Shermans Stone crusade. Good problem)v7/13a Penis pencilman ( you cold boulder it with a lot of crash pads but it's bolted)v8 smokey on fire (brilliant problemv9/10 Revolution- Painfull and hardThere's still a couple difficult lines left but they havent been done yet. Minnehaha is most likely tapped out for problems.Mclaughlin Canyon just north of Omak:v11 Arete on the free standing boulder at the top of the hill.There's supposed to be a new place in Entiat that's on private land so I'ts all hush hush at the moment. Apparently the photos look excellent. Johnny Goichea has done all the 9's, 10's, and 11's with only a repeat of Revolution. He's done some stuff at Leavenworth that is also meant to be hard but I haven't made it out there to see it or feel it. We just spent a few weeks in Bishop where he was dispatching V10 within an hour so his grades are probably good. I have yet to boulder at a place as good as Heuco or Bishop but if I do, I'll most likely spend less time hanging on the end of a rope. But for now, the best bouldering that I've done here is on the end of a rope. There's a couple pictures of McLaughlin and Banks on my website. Type www.inlandnwclimb.homestead.com/inlandnwclimb.html and you can check them out.Oh, and when you do come back to washington, you should contact me so I can go check out these places you know of.