Otto

No.

Sunday, went over to Leavenworth: Started at Castle Rock, did Smut. Finally something other than that damn Fault! Then did Brass Balls. Wanted to lead that ever since following Adrian the Mad Romanian up it, two decades ago. My partner wanted to lead something, so he did Jello Tower, South Face. I still wanted to get a workout so I did Damnation Crack. The second part of the program was to do the climb at the Special Spot, so much discussed here, the Javelin. But there were so many cars parked there we just moved on through! We went up to Secret Dome, where I did two fun slab pitches with great related names: Bulemic Bulges, and Anorexic Edges. Saturday: Watched Real Madrid win the Spanish league, drank beer.

Thanks for the cool and instructive photo, Bill S., makes the technique clear. This could be used on most pitches, as there is usually some rope left over. Sometimes, however, it's a stretch just getting to the belay...

avitrip, I found the link in the previous page of this thread to be really interesting - labeled: gunks.com cordelette discussion Its URL is: http://www.gunks.com/ubbthreads7/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/27851/page/1#Post27851

Same, here, ken. Cordelettes are fast, easy, and multi-purpose. And I am one of the old persons...!

And also Rollercoaster Chimney. I recall some offwidth technique at the top of it.

Woo hoo, I love it, canadug. Thanks for saying it. That goes for all popular crags, not just Squish. It's a very annoying distraction to hear a whining, yapping dog stuck down at the base while you're trying to figure out some hard move at your limits. I don't see how dog owners can do it if they know this.

So, the raptor nesting closure is over, right?

I can see all of the photos without scrolling when I set the resolution to 1280 wide on an 18" monitor. Thanks for the nice shots of all that lovely granite.

This is a review of the new Ratagonia catalog. It is very nice. Photo by Dean Fidelman

OK so the thread about "What inspires you" didn't go anywhere. How about this as a twist? Check your junk mail for the new Ratagonia catalog. See Steph Davis on the Cookie Cliff, page 22, for some stoke. I could scan and post, but that would be copyright infringement.

Good question, Waterguy. Inspiration comes unexpectedly from anywhere. I was recently flipping through a climbing rag from the '80s and now I'm totally stoked to go to the Needles, in the Sierras. Orange and yellow lichen on vertical granite planes just gets me off. Planning for September, yaaahhhh!

Double Chin, 5.6, I believe. It's been quite a while, all I really remember was two chins and how fun they were!

It's good to see that again, thanks chucK! That was some fun clambering down those huge huecos. I know I kept looking for slings to rap from, but didn't mind not finding any here...

Right you are, I was indeed in the wrong spot. Thanks!

I tried your suggestion, it doesn't work - the system gives a message saying the two addresses don't match. Then, if I make them both with the "(at)" tactic, it gives a message saying the addresses are formatted incorrectly. Maybe it's an IE thing, or a Google Toolbar thing...

Sheepshead Dome at Cochise Stronghold?

I've belayed chucK up the RPM start. Quite a few years ago now. Nice work, man!

Nah, Crack of Doom is 5.8+. See Carlstad/Brooks, 1976.

That must have been a lot of fun, good job on it! It's a fine route, indeed, for a mellow aid day. I like the laid-back style of the TR, too. I think it is misleading to folks to say you needs hooks on this route, though. I climbed it years ago with no hooks or camhooks, hammerless, and it went fine. I think a lot of people see a requirement for hooks as a break-point in the decision to to a route or not, myself included. So, your gear list might act to keep the traffic down on the route. Anyway, it sure looks like fun, thanks for the good photos.

Climb: Juno Tower-Clean Break Date of Climb: 9/24/2006 Trip Report: I had a cold on Friday while packing for our planned two days to climb Clean Break. I usually feel weak and miserable with a cold, so I almost called it off. Fortunately, I kept on and excoriated the bug by clean living and hard climbing, dehydration and lack of sleep - everything the doctors don't recommend. By Sunday night I was almost symptom-free and bashing through the dense trees next to Silver Star creek... We planned a two day trip, fixing the first two strenuous pitches the first day. It all went as planned, except for the three hours we spent chipping snow off the nearby patch to melt on our tiny, underpowered stove. Thanks to Bryan for the notes; we followed them but skipped the "wild 10a hand crack" at the top. Sorry to say neither of us brought a camera, no pics. Afterwards, Jake pointed out that in the first seven pitches, five of them have 5.10 climbing. None of it is sustained, except the famous first pitch, which is mostly good hand jams. On Saturday afternoon, I wasn't sure I'd have the energy, so he performed the hand stylings. We climbed to the top of pitch 3 and fixed, since that takes you back above the first belay so the ropes will be in line. We were both a bit exhausted on the descent, and Jake took a horifying fall in the sharp talus field just below the bivy site. I looked back to see him do a cartwheel totally out of control. Amazingly, the only damage was a small cut on his eyebrow. We then messed up the descent to the creek by not traversing the hillside far enough, and cliffed out. Two short rappels got us past that, before dark. Another great climb in the Cascades to finish out the season. Gear Notes: No need for a #4 cam. Approach Notes: If going back down Silver Star creek, descend the hillside the same way you went up it.

Thanks for the explanation, mattp! Hey, I looked for you at 3 O'Clock Rock on Sunday. I figure I'll run into you there someday. I'm trying to climb every pitch there within my range...

At the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, why is an administrator wasting our time with this? It contains no information. It appears to be nothing but an inside joke.

Gin Ricky

When I was there we humped our loads up to the hut on 7/30 in a snowstorm in which some poor souls' tent was blown off Applebea Dome, and lost. They posted a note later asking if anyone had seen their tent...