fern

it's been pretty dry overall. might be some wet here and there in the usual places, but mostly climbable. you should go do sunblessed or other solarium thingy ... enlightened.

I suspect you will find in the Bugs that with the possible exception of very rarely travelled or completely new routes, that there are few lines that require rappells of longer than 30m (i.e. a single 70m lead line will do great). The rap-routes on the major spires are well fitted, even for 25m raps in some cases. Personally I would rather carry the weight in the form of sacrificial tat and leave-behind nuts/pins to fill in the occasional missing station. You can use these as part of the rack while climbing, whereas carrying a tag line has limited second purpose.

I am so looking forward to this.

Kluane Lake Research Station Andy Williams flies a Helio-Courier to the icefields from the Yukon side.

the skinny tag really starts to hurt your hands to pull after multiple rap pulls too. ON ROCK!: w/ a 70m lead line, and a competent partner, I think that the fastest overall (up and down) is going to be doing 35m raps, maybe simulrapping lower-angle stuff, but dialing your team rap skills. There is so much clusterfaffidge involved in managing long ropes I think you quickly start to lose the advantage of more vert-loss per rappel in a time sense. HOWEVER I have destroyed a 70m BEAL rope by simulrapping ... so I hope you don't buy a BEAL on LONG alpine ice routes, then having 2 times a long rope is worth it for time savings on the rappel since management is much easier.

I am posting this for a friend: It's a long document, but probably worth a read since it was written about 10 yrs ago and not updated.

sanding drywall then flying to bermuda.

Deciding to ski roped on a glacier is (as with all things in the mountains) situation dependent with many variables. A dogmatic adherence to a single safety protocol means you might miss considering other hazards (eg. need for speedy travel past looming seracs might suggest unroping) However I would hazard a guess that in this case, nobody except the SAR crew actually even HAD a rope to get her out. Carrying a reepschnur could be a good idea sometimes, and not as bulky as a full on rope.

I will bring my sexy self.

thats too bad. Eating disorders are a real concern for some of us who struggle. i am still working on it. I agree. that's why I hesitated and asked. someone else made the move though. Best of luck for finding the right balance for your life shel.

ploughed trails? bah no biggy walk down the mountain and collect spare change from under the lifts. I think the 2 times snoboy and I walked it we netted $2.25 ... bling!

Should I move this to spray??

I might be able to do 17/18. Not earlier though

whatever 5.10 there is, is short and not hard. There is lots more runout 5.8/5.9 on so-so rock that requires more extended attention. I wouldn't call it excellent. Good, moderate climbing, adequate pro. In spring when the descent is still snowchoked there may be some complications in getting off - maybe a rap, maybe step-cutting.

hold power does relate to the cam still being "cam-shaped" - i.e logarithmic spiral of a particular angle. If the teeth are ground off more in some areas than others, or if the cams have flat-spots then the force geometry has changed, and the holding strength has changed. That is theory. Is YOUR cam still "strong enough" in practice? I dunno. For me, I look at my small cams with a critical eye for flat spots and wear that has changed the lobe shape. Usually this wear is related to the thing getting stuck and being wiggled a bunch at one position of retraction. Anything bigger than orange metolius I worry more about spring strength than cam shape and even then I don't worry too much.

Onsight Duffle These are decent.

For some reason ... even though I think it is not true ... I can easily imagine chucK wearing those water socks elf shoes all day every day.

clip a shoulder sling from your belay loop to the anchor (parallel to your daisy or whatever). Stack the rope - short loops are better than long. When buddy arrives unclip the sling from your loop and reclip to his. Or clip the one sling biner to the other around the rope stack and get it outta the way hanging off the anchor directly.

time consuming rappels and descents become less stressful when you have time - i.e climb UP faster. Take the time and be smart and thoughtful on the descent where most mistakes occur. Bring extra headlight batteries and some twilight calories.

The current "screw up" that has the Murrin parking lot closed is due to a fuel truck spill. The parking lot is being used as a holding area for contaminated soils that have been excavated as part of the cleanup. It's temporary.

I'm confused by this statement, probably because I'm over four years removed from climbing in these locations. Is Smoke Bluffs easy or sandbag? I always thought it was a little on the soft side compared to places like Index and Joshua Tree. Smoke bluffs grades are soft as little bunnywabbit whapped in fuzzywuzzy bwanket. Wiring Laughing Crack and Burgers&Fries will not teach you the skills that will get you up Crap Crags with happy joyful friendship time - though all are rated 5.7. Dig?

The natural vegetation on the Crap Crags line includes lots of "full grown" trees - i.e. multiple decades old cedars etc. that can be tied off, climbed, provide shade that limits the regrowth of brush etc. There's a neat feature where a cedar is growing right up against a leaning boulder so that the branches form a natural overhanging ladder. A lot of the rock in the chimneys is actually shit - decomposing oatmeal and loose flakes. Plenty of pitches of Crap Crags it is easier and safer to pull on the veg. But so what - transplant yourself to WA Pass or Anderson River group or Black Canyon or wherever and guess what you have to climb sometimes? Shitty dirty rock as part of a larger adventure. It's Nature (capital N). I just don't understand the need to be so destructive and heavy-handed in this case. When you chop out evergreens what grows back is bushes - alders and vine maples and blueberries - that are much less conducive to belaying or climbing. Clean sterile granite is rare and short-lived in Squamish. Anyone who thinks this "cleanup" is going to magically eliminate the ubiquitous Diedre line-up - or have any effect whatsoever on the crowded easy routes during the Squamish peak season is following some branch of logic or experience that eludes me.

Crap Crags was a fine adventure route. The trees made for consistent shady belays on a sunny exposure, the 5.7+ grade was fair compared to WA Pass or Snow Ck Wall, but not consistent with Smoke Bluffs grading. I think it is misguided to think that trees need to be removed en masse to create or improve a route.

If you have never climbed ice/used crampons & tools then getting to the tops of some of the places listed to set the TR is likely going to be very risky.

feel free to continue discussing easter timing by email or elsewhere. Any further Skaha specific chatter can stay here...