Otto

That's just the way the new Vertical World gym in Seattle is gonna be - separate weights and stretching areas, separate kiddies area, a lounge area... I took a tour of it last Friday, it is gonna be nice. Open next month, perhaps.

During the summer of this year we put aside other interests and got up on Wild West circus ride of Oso Rodeo whenever the weather was good. I believe I did ten separate trips up there, of various lengths, and spent 14 nights on the wall. Liberty Mountain rep Carl Pelletier at the top of the crux seventh pitch. He had just done the Black Overhang mantleshelf, on first try, a move which had me intimidated all summer. John Medosch after removing an off-route piton anchor which had gained us access to the U-Shaped Bowl above pitch 12. We lift a glass for Francis McGrody who cleaned the finger crack on pitch 11 and the start moves in Otto's Grotto. He hauled gear and ropes, always with good humor. After a good three days of work on pitches 14 and 15 with Yale Lewis, our 4-day plan was cut short by rain. Here Alex Enger and I rap off in the fog. His foam roll had fallen off and came to rest on these helpful steps. On summit day, Jimbo Shokes at his anchor ready to belay the final pitch. And David doing what he does so well, assessing the next one, making it go. Thanks for finding the line, move after move, keeping to the good clean rock, creating memorable pitches along the way. photos by David Whitelaw, John Medosch, Yale Lewis and Bill Enger

"Die marke mit den drie reimen" I recall that on the box my good soccer shoes came in back in junior high school. Those shoes were so cool back then.

Those Bandit wine boxes are excellent. We've been enjoying the Pinot Grigio to the utmost!

Thanks for the excellent report, Sid. I'm glad you guys were having a good time on it. As Jimbo says, we saw you from nearby. Your story was told with humility, but it looked like you cruised the Exit Groove really fast! The Balcony really is comfortable for three. David and I went up there with Zack, who used a lower level at first. But the odd slope and the separation got to him, so the journeyman mason laid in a fine terrace just above mine. Also, David and jmclimber and I had some good nights up there. Congratulations on pulling through a long climb on some hot days! And thank you for the fine pics, too.

Thanks for the good TR. That last picture is lovely. Nice work!

What makes your heart race in the wilderness? Walking up to a steaming fresh pile of bear poo! There it is, right in the middle of the trail, bear scat! Makes you think about timing, and luck. Bear sign! Let's see some reminders that we're not on top of the food chain! Post up! On the trail to Slab Daddy, Squire Creek Wall

Mmmm, Repulsive 69 is a great idea, very nice TR. Thanks for posting it. I may have done a few that qualify. I understand the requirement for total exclusion from "selected climbs" books, natch. Also, I would guess, no "stars" in any route descriptions. Do you have some more specific definitions?

Hey that's great, way adventurous in early season. Cool inventive routing around the snow patches. Nice work!

"The Quin Konehead Pre-Memorial Route", shown in Brooks and Whitelaw, "A Climbers Guide to Washington Rock", 1982

Yes, I believe it was called originally, "The Quin Conehead Pre-Memorial Route". I'm at work, without my old guidebooks, going by memory...

Thanks for taking all the shots, Raoul! My bike is making some new noises now. And the slow leak in front; it's time for some bike attention for both of us!

Trip: Three O'Clock Rock - The Kone Date: 6/4/2011 Trip Report: Over the last five years or so I had somehow become intimidated by the route at Three O'Clock Rock called The Kone. Maybe it was hearing the story of the FA grounding out and breaking his ankle. Or perhaps the close-up inspections from 'Til Broad Daylight made me think I couldn't do that. I got on it once last year with chucK, and it started to rain so we bailed. It all added up to a long time thinking about The Kone. The first pitch has good pro The crux has a good edge I didn't know about, back in the intimidated days Angling sharply left on good knobs The bicyle is now essential to the approach, for me. It's two miles to this washout, then two more to the trailhead. It took up 40 min. up to the trailhead, and 20 min. on the way down. The new stream crossing should get easier as summer comes along It was a cloudless day and nobody else was there. A perfect start to another good year in Darrington. Photos by Clive. Gear Notes: Use Rattle & Slime Approach Notes: I tried it on my road bike, only damage was a flat front tube. Lusting after a cyclocross bike.

Dogs are always welcomed by other dog owners. If you're happy with that population sample, you have your answer.

Every area is dog friendly as long as you ignore the existence of other climbers.

I climbed a 5.6 route called Double Chin there that was like that - in two places!

Trip: Zion - Gentleman's Agreement Date: 4/27/2011 Trip Report: Climb: Zion, Gentleman's Agreement, attempt Date of Climb: 4/27/2011 Trip Report: I was never interested in Zion Nat'l Park until I stopped in with my wife on our tour of the Southwest last year. Eyes popping, I vowed to return soon and climb one of those big sand walls. DavidW had mentioned Gentleman's Agreement in passing, how he'd wanted to climb it for ten years now. So Judy and I drove up to the end of the road and looked at it. Nice. I took a shot which stood on the mantel in my living room through the Winter, waiting for me to commit. Commit we did, in late Winter, plane seats were found, gear was borrowed and a road trip was born. A perfect plan with Significant Others was sealed, visions of one or two nights in a portaledge lifted spirits through the miserable Seattle Spring of 2011. Then my wife got a job and bailed, no big deal, Jan was still psyched to go. Dave is a lucky man, she even hauled water for us on the approach. It rained the first two days we were there, perfectly allowing us to gear up, buy food and get organized. Two trips up the wall with all the gear. No real need to trim down, we wanted to be comfortable and have a good time. Strangely, I forgot to fill the flask with the Makers but we had a pint of good Tequila. Still, the pig was around 65 lbs. The route is on the left Mary, the left of the three peaks in the Sun. Route is up the sun/shade margin, first dihedral. I took a series of shots landscape mode, from bottom to top slightly overlapping, in ten shots, but the top ones are fuzzy dammit, sorry. It was gonna be cool. Anyway, here's a couple of the first pitch, all we did. David wasn't feeling up to it so we bailed. Later we did Ashtar Command as a consolation. It was fun, but not like topping out on a big wall. Nobody guarantees success every time, that's just mountaineering. Oh dear, succumbing to trite aphorism. Blast. Gear Notes: We went big. Three #6, three #5, three #4 Camalots. Double of everything else. Approach Notes: An hour and a half up, each time.

Gunnslinger is under that snow patch below the summit of Gunn Peak. Fun route.

Glad you enjoyed it! I was out elsewhere in Darrington that day. It was a beautiful day to climb, if you could stay in the dry sections.

This past Wednesday, Yale and I took the day off and got the last scrap of dry weather and ran up Revolver one more time. On the way we replaced the chains on the first three anchors, the ones I rebolted earlier, and equalized the lengths. Thanks for the good years of service with those chains, hanman, we appreciate them and the effort you put in to remove the tat and put them in. I had received a length of thicker chain, thanks to Yale, and didn't want to clutter up my garage with it! Top of the "approach pitch" anchor and chain donor Top of first pitch anchor Top of second pitch anchor I'm glad to say I finally got to the top of this route. The fifth pitch was a thrill, I almost slid off the first crux when one hand slipped out of the curved (wet) edge at the second bolt. With the superior friction on this cool day I was able to get past where I backed off last time, at the third bolt. My bail biner was gone - someone can enjoy that new Trango beauty. Booty. Humph. At the third crux I had to take some tension - the traverse. The factor of doubt (do you really drop down here?) was too much and I had to stretch over on tension. Next time I will glide it with the foolish confidence of the paramour. There will be more in this log, perhaps next year, as I counted one more 5/16" buttonhead on each of the pitches 2, 3, 4 and 5. It will be a day of joy for the besotted. For now, flushed with victory, I had to get some more so we went over to do The Kone. But a third of the way up the first pitch, around Three O'Clock, it began to rain. I bailed off a trash biner this time, so have at it, you scavengers, and know there are many reasons to leave something behind.

Thanks for the stoke, JS, I'll get up there one of these days.

Very nice, looks great, thanks for the TR and pictures!

Wow, he's festooned with cameras! Foot cam, check. Head cam, check. Stuck out on a stick above his head cam, check. Wild!

Thanks for the beautiful pictures. I really like the one of "Prophet going to sleep" - gorgeous. Cheers!

Too many quick cuts for my taste. But thanks for posting it.