featheredfriends

This is the big one where we start the progressive sale on our skis, boots and bindings. Also, all ski outerwear will be on sale in addition to some footwear and gear! And we promise to not lecture you if you wanted to pound a ski into a crack at Index and clip off to it

Royal Robbins, one of America's leading climbing figures of hte Golden Age of Yosemite climbing, continues to inspirs us with his bold vision of what makes for truly great climbing and inspired living. Just released is Robbins' second book in his My Life autobiographical series: Fail Falling

Join Steve "Crusher" Bartlett on a tour of the spectacular, colorful climbs of the Colorado Plateau. The only thing better than succeeding on a great climb is to discover that said climb finishes atop a tiny summit, far in the sky.The desert of southern Utah and the Four Corners area holds hundreds of such wild summits, none easy to attain, many attainable only by difficult, seldom-ascended routes. Steve Bartlett has enjoyed 25 years of climbing these towers and has stood on top of over thirty previously unclimbed formations. For this show he presents highlights from these climbs.

For those that have considered traveling to Nepal, this presentation will focus on our experiences volunteering with The Mountain Fund and trekking in Nepal, including insights on the rich Nepali culture as well as hardships they currently face.

Somewhere? It's always been this way, but not in the way you describe it. We see all manner of customers come into the shop, from the original poster, to very experienced climbers buying pins for their bail out kit, to guys wanting a rope and harness to clean their gutters. We hear it all, and if something raises a red flag ("I'm gonna just tie this rope to an exhaust vent on my steeply pitched roof and hang over the edge to clean my gutter") it would be simply irresponsible for us to not say anything. Absolutely. Correct there, too. I was replying as a guy who cares about this place in a manner more appropriate for around a campfire. My apologies. Actually I don't wonder why, I have a pretty good idea. But that's a WHOLE other thread. Here I completely disagree with you. The customer is sometimes wrong. It's how you find a way to resolve the conflict that separates a good, sustainable business from a bad one. For example we won't take used climbing gear back no matter how right a customer thinks they are. And an even faster way for a business to go under is having the management throw their employees under the bus. Harder than you might suggest Dane, I see it all the time. Good on you for taking new climbers under your wing, but that's getting to be more and more of an exception rather than the rule. There are lots of climbers out there that are learning from books and the internet rather than having a good mentor to show them the how's and why's of climbing. Raindawg, for example, happened to be the first guy to show me how to use a belay device and was the one who took me on many of my first climbs. For that I'll always be grateful. In the absence of that kind of apprenticeship, who/what is left to steer a new generation of climbers? Urban Climber Magazine? The dudes behind the desk at the gym? Angry, politically loaded comments at cc.com? Arrogant shop guys? It's a tough question for sure. Anyways...no one ever wins on the internet. I just wanted to share our side of the story. Thanks to everyone who supports us - we try our best every day. Somedays we fall short, some days we do good work, but at the end of it all we just wanna be in the mountains like everyone else.

"Fair enuf" NOT! Behind-the counter-boy's job is to sell you climbing crap, not to interrogate you as to how you intend to use it. If he's got a problem with it, he shouldn't be selling it in the first place. Pitons, eh? But I wonder if he'd question you if you bought a fist-full of bolt hangers? Or one of them one-piece goose-down Everest suits? Lame! Lame, I say, again. "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" I just wanted to say I love talking about the same thing 6 1/2 years later, with the same guys. Ahhh...the good old days

Ha...you're totally right David. Should've been more clear and said, "There aren't many places within a short drive of Seattle where you can climb on clean granite. Just Index and Renton."

I guess, since we started in 1972, we have a few years under our belts of not being (what he said above). Sweet! Unfortunately I was just in Europe where climbing gear was usually 30-50% higher in cost than in the U.S., but if you sneak a climbing trip in with it and eat Ramen for dinner it might be able to break even. Good times.

Interesting timing for this post. We had a staff meeting this morning and many of us were huddled around a monitor reading this thread. Mark: as I heard it from the guy you talked to, and the rest of the staff who were present, your initial questions about pitons were answered by one of our most experienced and well traveled staff members. He explained the difference between Lost Arrows, knifeblades, angles, RURPs, etc. It got sticky when the discussion turned into good places to practice aid climbing as a beginner at Index. As you've seen from some of the responses, nailing a route that's been climbed clean isn't necessarily a good choice, and it might be wise to build a foundation from placing your own gear. There were a couple of things that came into play here (and we take both pretty seriously): 1) A business that needs to sell things in order to keep the lights on 2) A part of the climbing community, that by default, has us seeing and talking to many other folks who share our love for the mountains. There aren't very many places around here to climb, and each location has its own set of ethics. As climbers, we respect those ethics and do as much as we can to make sure the tradition is passed down from generation to generation in order to preserve the original personality of that area. Index, especially with the latest effort to save it from being turned into a rock quarry, has a long history of climber generated fervor and there is no end to the number of stories coming from that wall trying to protect its identity (ask Todd Skinner). In fact, knowing Index, if you went to the lower town wall with a hammer on the wrong day you may need it to fight your way back to the car! (just kidding...kinda - ha ha) Did you get unsolicited advise from a Feathered Friends employee? Probably. Did you get one from a longtime and regular area climber? Most definitely. We care about the places we spend our free time, and the climbing community is a self-policing one. We fully realize we sell the things that are at the center of the fiercely debated topics of nailing and bolting. You can argue whether or not we should care as a business...but I guess it's because, as regular users also, we're a little protective of our local crags and sometimes that might come across a little harsh. If the alternative were to staff the store with folks who weren't end-users and didn't care about the places you go, I think I would go with the harshness. I'm trying to keep this from sounding preachy and grumbly, but I hope this helps you understand where we come from, and we're sorry that it had to come to another internet showdown. If you're ever down this way again we'd love to show you anything else you need to check out. If you have any questions or would like to discuss it further feel free to give us a call Eddie Espinosa 206.292.2210 And for Raindawg: It's not just pins we're talking about either; if a kid wanted to buy a bunch of bolts to protect runouts at Darrington, or stick one next to Classic Crack you better believe we'd say something.

Back in it's original form, Rep Night returns for one night next Tuesday, November 16th. Manufacturer Reps will be setting up tables on our floor and will be available to answer any question you might have about the latest and greatest climbing and skiing gear they're displaying. See you there!

See everyone tonight!

Join Chad and Dylan next Wednesday at Feathered Friends for a special night of stories and images from their last adventure. With the help of the Mugs Stump Award and the Lyman Spitzer Grant from the American Alpine Club, Chad and Dylan have pushed the line of exploration deeper into this great range.

TTT - this will be a good one tonight

A ten-thousand foot new route on Alaska's Mt. Foraker, climbed in single-push style with Bjørn-Eivind Årtun

Take a journey into Wyoming’s undiscovered landscape with one of the nomads of our time. Few are as dedicated to ice-climbing exploration as Aaron Mulkey, who s spent the last decade systematically searching the canyons of northern Wyoming for untapped ice lines. This photographic adventure takes you into the landscape that lies beyond the eyes. Mulkey has pushed the limits of exploration in search of untouched watery treasurers deep within Wyoming’s toughest mountain terrain.He has spent many fruitless days trudging in his boots, hunting vast swaths of land and isolated canyons for ice that may not exist. But the occasional gems he uncovers fuel his determination. See the collective treasures he has uncovered and some of the incredible classic ice lines that fall from the cliffs of North Americas largest valley of ice.

Alaska Ski Mountaineering Presentation by Joe Stock Joe Stock, an IFMGA mountain guide from Anchorage, Alaska will be showing photos and telling stories from his recent ski expeditions. In 2009 he skied from the summit of Mount Chamberlin, the highest mountain in the Alaskan Arctic and the 700-mile long Brooks Range. This year Joe and friends made a 100-mile long crossing of the high and glaciated Wrangell Mountains, a trip plagued by crevasses, avalanches and the unknown. He’ll also show photos of steep skiing in the Western Chugach with Seattle friends. Visit Joe’s website at www.stockalpine.com

Oh...and did I mention we're getting rid of a bunch of our rental gear? And all remaining skis from last year are getting the big chop in price, too!

Labor Day Sale Hey All, I put a few of the noteworthy things up here. And like usual, there'll be a ton more in the store!

I'm putting the list of the good stuff we have on sale on this page in the next couple of day, but know that we'll have the following on sale: - all of our summer climbing clothing - most of our approach shoes - La Sportiva Nepals and Baruntses - a bunch of climbing gear For the out of town folks, I'll try and get as much stuff up on www.featheredfriendsretail.com as possible.

The Jolly Roger AK Expedition, First Ascent on Mt. Bradley FREE ADMISSION! RAFFLE PRIZES TO BE WON! Graham Zimmerman and Mark Allen will be presenting a multimedia show on their parallel progressions as climbers and how this took them to Alaska where they made the first ascent of Vitalogy (AKGr5, M6+, WI5, 5.9R, A1). Come grab a beer and enjoy photos, videos, words and music from the beautiful Ruth Gorge of Alaska. The raffle will support the Khumbu Climbing School with great prizes from Outdoor Research, Julbo, Black Diamond and more! Graham Zimmerman - www.gzimmerman.blogspot.com Mark Allen - www.alpinelines.blogspot.com

Hey All - sorry for being a bit tardy with the info this year. After talking with some of the key folks involved with the planning, we decided that it will be a Fall event this year. We had to move locations from Leavenworth simply because we were getting a bit big for the Bridge Creek Campground. More than likely we'll be over at Vantage pending our discussion with the land manager there. Stay tuned for more info. I'll be posting here, on Twitter and on our Facebook page. Cheers, Eddie

Just got our order. Nice work Viktor Get yer copy before we run out!

Ha - don't even worry about it. That's the deal: your opinion counts just as much as everyone else's. At the end of the day it's your jacket that you have to wear. It's lucky for consumers that there are so many good choices out there. Some with permanent hoods...some with double zippers...etc.

We should just make down booties. Just kidding!