Uncle_Tricky

You refer to your set of quickdraws as "my rack."

I like the daisy and clove-hitched rope combo because both are easily adjustable for length AND it gives you redundancy in your connection to the anchor. Sure, the rope is enough--but I like the redundancy because it's all too easy to accidently unclip the wrong person at the belay if you're both tied into just the rope. I've seen it happen more than once where the leader who's ready to climb the next pitch accidently unclips the belayer from the anchor instead of themselves. Takes two seconds. Two points of connection to the anchor--especially when one is a uniquely colored daisy--eliminates this easy way to die. While it might be unnecessary, having two redundant, adjustable connections to the anchor is nice. Redundancy when it comes to anchors it good. Am I being redundant enough yet? [ 05-23-2002, 11:14 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Thanks for the write-up. Nice work and great pics!

Yeah, thanks to the good samaritan who strung the cable for the stream crossing, and cheers to LUCKY for replacing the worn-thru steel link (that I thot was gonna drop me in the drink)! The traverse is about 50 yards upstream from where the old bridge used to be. Leather gloves advised, as the cable is frayed and really sharp in places. We used the cable to get over to the columns (slow, somewhat strenuous, but dry), but decided to forge the stream on the way back (quick and easy, but wet). The best place to cross the river is about 100 yards upstream of the cable where the river widens and flattens out. A couple weeks ago it was barely shin deep at that crossing... Oh yeah, and the highlight of my columns holiday (har har) was blowing that last mantle move on Orange Sunshine and taking a 20+ footer onto a blue micro cam...Fun! Fun! I have a history of being thwarted by this climb, but I'll be back! [ 05-20-2002, 12:16 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

quote: RBW wrote: Free for All is a great line. Either bring some big gear for the lower part or be prepared to solo a long ways. Or, just bring some runners and girth hitch the tunnels created where the wide crack pinches off...

Regarding the twisting question: The problem is often caused by bad belay/rap technique. Many people hold the free end(s) of the rope at a 90 degree angle to the slots in their ATC, which introduces a bunch of twists as you feed rope through the device. Whether you are belaying or rapping, make sure to feed the rope through your ATC parallel with the slots. And as Freeclimb mentions, rapping your rope while feeding it correctly through your ATC will iron out any twists... [ 05-18-2002, 05:39 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

A couple years ago I was climbing with a Vertical World employee on Careno Crag. I was leading, she was belaying me with a Gri-Gri. I'd never used or been belayed with a Gri-Gri before, so I was a little skeptical. I fell near the top of a pitch, only a couple feet above my last gear. Expecting to be caught immediately, I didn't say "falling!" But I kept falling and falling until I finally yelled "hey!" (or maybe it was "shit!") and only then did I jerk to a stop--some 20 or 25 feet below my high point. Not a huge fall, but when you're only expecting a 5 footer, it's enough to give you a good adrenalin rush as you wonder "when am I going to stop?" I'm not sure, as I haven't used one of the devices myself, but I guess she wasn't paying attention and had the lever locked open??? [ 05-17-2002, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

The road is passable by car til about 2 miles before the three o'clock rock trailhead, where there's still maybe 1.5 feet of snow on the road in a few shady sections. Before that there are some piles of avy debris to negotiate, but I watched the Dukes of Hazard when I was a kid, so these were no problem. The hike up to three o clock is snow-free until you get to the open rocky area below the slabs. Snow and avy junk cover the entire length of the first pitches of many climbs, including Total Soul and Silent Running. The bottom of the rock is really dirty from the dirt in the melting avy debris, but once you get up a bit, the rock is dry and clean and nice. Enjoy!

North of the town of Mitchell there's a hamlet called Twickenham on the John Day river. Some interesting rock and cliffs along the river. Most of its pretty junky, but there's some places to set up a toprope along the canyon cliffs. A mix of volcanic and sedimentary stuff. I just played around on some rock along the river maybe 5-10 miles downriver of the bridge crossing: put on an old pair of climbing shoes, go swimming, then boulder up as high as you want onto the cliffs along the river and jump off into the deep pools. Much fun. There's some neat narrow slot canyons cut into sedimentary rock in places. Lots of cool fossil beds in the area. [ 05-16-2002, 08:26 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Nope. Just don't pull a Roscoe P. Coltrane driving manuever and you should be fine...

Topic: Gym Climbing Ethics ----------------------- Oxymoron: A rhetorical figure in which an epigrammatic effect is created by the conjunction of incongruous or contradictory terms. Examples: airline food * sanitary landfill * Amtrak schedule * cheerleading scholarship * comfortably dressed * educational television * french deodorant* instant classic * non-alcoholic beer * climbing gym ethics * [ 05-16-2002, 06:04 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Oops--posted this info on another thread, but guess I'll put it here. As of this week, the road is passable by car til about 2 miles before the three o'clock rock trailhead, where there's still maybe 1.5 feet of snow on the road in a few shady sections. Before that there are some piles of avy debris to negotiate, but I watched the Dukes of Hazard when I was a kid, so these were no problem. The hike up to three o clock is snow-free until you get to the open rocky area below the slabs. Snow and avy junk cover the entire length of the first pitch of many climbs, including Total Soul and Silent Running. The bottom of the rock is really dirty from the dirt and mud left behind by the melting avy debris, but once you get up a bit, the rock is dry and clean and nice.

Now that's some funny shit! (pun intended)

Pass is open. I posted this info on another thread: North Cascades Hwy opened on Tuesday morning (5/7). Came over that way from the dry side tonight (5/9). Not as much snow up there as I expected. Aside from places where there is 30-40 foot deep road cuts through avy debris, there's maybe 6-7 feet max snowpack along the highway at Rainy and Washington passes. Liberty Bell, the Spires, etc. were heavily plastered with snow. Some joker has been messing with the signs along the highway, taping out key letters. For example, you can now visit "Easy ass Trailhead" or stay at "Colon Creek Campground.

Not sure if someone else posted this info on another thread, but the North Cascades Hwy opened on Tuesday morning (5/7). Came over that way from the dry side tonight. Not as much snow up there as I expected. Aside from places where there is 30-40 foot deep road cuts through avy debris, there's maybe 6-7 feet max snowpack along the highway at Rainy and Washington passes. Liberty Bell, the Spires, etc. were heavily plastered with snow. Some joker has been messing with the signs along the highway, taping out key letters. For example, you can now visit "Easy ass Trailhead" or stay at "Colon Creek Campground. Stay tuned for a full TR of an eventful few days, including whippers at the Tieton, a freezing night spend huddled under the hand dryer at a Pacific Pride gas station with a roll of TP for a pillow, and running waterfall climbing on Goat Wall... [ 05-10-2002, 12:36 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Well, this isn't really a Darwin story, cause the guy survived. But then again, it wouldn't have been nearly as funny if he'd died. And yes, its true--I witnessed it! I was living with some friends in Walla Walla, one of which was trying to sell his motorcycle. The first person who responded to the ad was a 17 year old kid, who showed up with his dad. Jason showed them the bike and gave them the sales pitch. The kid wanted to give the bike a test ride around the block. Jason: "You've ridden a motorcycle before haven't you?" Kid: "Oh yeah!" Dad: Shrugs his consent. The kid mounted up, pulled on the helmet, and revved the engine. He popped the clutch and smoked down the street. Half a block away, our street ended in a T intersection. The kid had the acceleration thing down, but no steering or braking skills. He blew right through the T at maybe 30 miles an hour and slammed into the front left quarter panel of the Cadillac parked on the other side of the street. He flew over the handlebars, executed a perfect front-flip-swan-dive over the hood of the Caddy, over the sidewalk and landed flat on his back in the middle of our neighbor's lawn. We ran down the block to see if he was OK. By the time we got there, he'd already staggered to his feet, shaken up, but totally unhurt. The motorcycle had merged with the Caddy, the front wheel bent all the way back under the gas tank. The Dad, seeing his son was OK, walked up to his kid, and put his arm around shoulders. With classic deadpan comedic timing, he said: "Well son, looks like you just bought yourself a motocycle!" [ 05-04-2002, 11:55 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Spent a couple days climbing in the burnt over area on the N. side of the Icicle last week. At JY crag, it appeared that the fire had swept down over the rock like an avalanche. All the uphill sides of the trees had been charred to 5 or 6 feet high, but many survived, including some of the douglas maples that provide welcome shade at the bottom. Someone was kind enough to replace the crispy, melted slings at the anchors. Unfortunatly they used neon orange webbing as a replacement, and simply tossed the burnt old slings into the bushes. (yes, I packed em out) The next day my friend M and I decided to check out Condor Buttress. After taking a bad head-first lead fall a couple years ago, she was ready to get back on the sharp end. The walk up passed through a variety of burn zones. In some places, the fire had crowned out and everything was torched. There were large holes in the ground where the fire had burned down into the root systems of big old trees, leaving nothing but a black crater where the tree used to be. In many places, the smaller granite boulders along the trail appeared to have split open from the heat of the fire, revealing clean, white, freshly-cleaved surfaces. Interesting phenomenon. In others spots, the fire burned less intensely and some of the trees have survived. Everywhere there were signs of new life. Morels, Avalanche Lilies, Chocolate Lilies, Blue Bells, Ballhead Waterleaf, Lupine, Fringe Cup and Rock Rose were some of the species currently blooming in the burnt areas. The route itself was entertaining, with the 5th pitch being particularly fun. As others have noted, it would still be plenty safe and more exciting with many fewer bolts. Still, it was a good confidence builder for M, who got her first leads in a long while on well-protected pitches of 5.4, 5.6, and 5.8. I took the 5.9 and 5.10 pitches. Halfway through the 6th pitch, the raindrops started falling, so we rapped off and headed to town for a beerverage. Tick count: a measly 1 [ 05-05-2002, 01:48 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

WATER YEAR PERCENT OF AVERAGE BY WATERSHED (as of April, 2002) Spokane ................. 124 Colville-Pend Oreille ... 119 Okanogan-Methow.......... 108 Wenatchee-Chelan ........ 111 Upper Yakima ............ 111 Lower Yakima .............108 Walla Walla ............. 102 Lower Snake ............. 112 Cowlitz-Lewis ........... 110 White-Green-Puyallup .... 104 Central Puget Sound...... 115 North Puget Sound........ 117 Olympic Peninsula........ 119 For lots more detailed info, go HERE and for even more info, go HERE [ 04-28-2002, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

I do most of my shopping over at VintagePimp.com The leather bell bottoms provide great abrasion resistance for those long slab slides.... [ 04-27-2002, 09:41 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Hey fellow freaks, drop me a mail if you ever have any midweek days free (Mon-Thurs) and want to go climbing this spring/summer. Interested in anything from cragging (index, darrington, l-worth, tieton) to longer alpine rock routes. It would be great to find folks who'd like to do some of the following: west face n. early winters spire nw corner N.E.W.S east butt. S.E.W.S. wine spires stuff mary jane dihedral (smoke em if you got em) A bunch of stuff at darrington bunch of stuff at Squish ???? other ideas ???? I'd also be interested in checking out the City of Rocks at some point. Thanks! [ 04-28-2002, 05:53 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Scene: A hot day in the Utah desert. A young crewcut feller is free soloing up a free standing desert tower. He stems up a vertical chimney with parallel walls for many hundreds of feet, then moves onto the face. The face becomes steeply overhanging--perhaps 5.12 with loose rotten sandstone. He dynos to a bucket. The hold breaks away, and falls into the void. His feet cut loose, but he manages to snag a quarter inch edge, just in time to avoid plunging to his death. Hanging by two fingers, his feet swinging wildly over empty space, he almost loses it. Concentrating his will, he gets his feet back on the steeply overhanging rotten sandstone, and continues on. Finally, he pulls a tough mantle onto the summit, sweat stinging his eyes. A divine blue tornado of fire comes down from the heavens and envelops him. He emerges transformed: clad in military dress uniform, he's now one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines! That which did not kill him has made him stronger, prouder, and more noble. He stares out, steely gaze hardened from facing death and wonders "why am I standing on top of a desert tower in the middle of July in a scratchy wool uniform?" And more pressingly, "how the fuck am I going to get down with no damn rope???" ------- Ah, this is but one of the many current advertisements running with climbing as the theme. Others include Old Spice Xtreem Sport Deodorant (make sure you're smelling sweet for those climbing betties on long alpine ascents!) And of course the Ford "No Boundries" commercial featuring some grizzled old guys on a big wall, shouting back and forth, wondering who brought the caribiners. Hanging below their portaledge is a tricked out SUV. I'm sure I'm missing others... So my question is, are we climbers just so xtremely kewl that we move produkt, or is this a clear sign of the impending apocalypse? [ 04-28-2002, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

As of last fall, I was surprised to find two new bolts installed basically alongside two old bolts on the second pitch of Canary. I'm not sure how many bolts the FAs put in, but I was surprised to find what appeared to be a sloppy upgrade job (not pulling the bolts you're replacing) on such a classic. [ 04-27-2002, 02:20 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Hmmm. 2.5 feet of snow on the road, and 25 foot deep piles of avy debris? Sounds like a waiting a few weeks might be advisable, especially since my monster truck is in the shop right now... [ 04-22-2002, 10:21 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

Hey Bronco, wondering how big the downed logs are? I'm thinking about bringing the chainsaw along next week. Also, how much (depth/width/composition)avy debris is across the road? Would it be possible to clear a passable path with a couple people hours of labor? Thanks!

Question: Is access to the top of Z-crack easy for setting up top rope? Answer: yes, you can scramble up a short chimney to the right. [ 04-21-2002, 02:08 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]