PDXClimber

Just to clarify "there is a local guide which is marginal" - The climbing guidebook is marginal. There is a great climbing guide named Ross in Capetown. You can contact the 'Mountain Club of S.Africa' or something similar for more info on the area...

My wife and I climbed Table Mountain in Capetown during January two years back. Our route was about 10-12 pitches w/ two scrambling sections in between the climbing. Great exposure and gorgeous area. There is a local guide which is marginal. Probably hundreds of different routes up Table Mountain. Mostly all trad w/ horizontal cracks for pro. Lots of people there climb in the Drakensberg, but we never made it there. You will want to go there December - February when it is dryest and warmest. Great place to visit for other activities: windsurfing and surfing is world class there.

I agree with Double Cross (and other Josh climbs) being sandbagged. If you are not solid on handjams, it won't seem 5.7+... Classic Crack, Broughton feels weird and slimy, but is it really harder than 5.9. It seems easier to fingerjam on it than lieback. At Beacon, Free for all (5.8) is on the right side of flake (somewhat unprotected) and Free for Some (5.9/5.10a) is on the left side (better pro). Both are hard for me.

Looking through some topos of Enchantment area it looks like it might be feasible to do a multi-day linkup of several climbs in the area (Dragontail, Prusik, Mole, Snow Creek Wall) in a counterclockwise loop. Anybody ever do something similar? Any words of advice or wisdom?

My wife liked it more - she gave it a 6 out of 10.

I would probably give W. Ridge Thomson a 4 out of 10. My wife and I camped near the lake near the end of the approach hike (PCT). Nice, scenic camp, but it made for a long hike back w/ gear load. Most of the route was fairly moderate, but I think we made a routefinding mistake by going left at the slab and found some dirty, poorly protected, more difficult climbing. Don't make the same mistake. Unless you are very set on trying to escape the crowds, I think that both Tooth and Ingalls are better 1-day intro routes to alpine climing in PNW. Good luck whatever you choose...

Its been a while since I have climbed (since the birth of my son in June) but reading this thread makes me wish for a long alpine climbing weekend. Some of the most memborable climbs and hikes were: Rock Climbs- Snow Creek (Outer Space, Orbit) Becky Route, Liberty Bell, N.Cascades Josh (Double Cross, Lost Horse Wall) Moab Area (Kor-Ingalls at Castleton, Ancient Art, Indian Creek cracks) Salt Lake (cottonwood canyon routes) Smith (Karate Crack, Pioneer Route) Red Rocks (Chrimson Chrysalis, Black Dagger) Stuart N.Ridge, Ingalls E.Ridge E.Buttress, Middle Cathedral, Yosemite Table Mountain, Capetown, S.Africa Snow/Ice Climbs- Ouray Ice, Leavenworth Ice Adams Glacier, Adams Kautz, Ranier Wy'East, Hood Hikes- Langtang/Ganga La Pass,Nepal Annapurna, Nepal Mount Kinabalu, Sabah Malasia Mt. Bromo, Bali, Indonesia Jungfrau Area, Interlaken, Switzerland

see katu.com for video showing the climbers fall. above the bergshrund a rope team of 4 slipped and slid down, taking out a rope team of 2, then sliding further and taking out a rope team of 3. all slid quickly into bergshrund. see video clip "the fall..." on site: http://easylink.playstream.com/katu/020530tilkin2.wvx

my wife and i had fun on this route as it was one of our first alpine climbs. avoid going right on the first pitches to a set of anchors up traverse on right - this will give you more excitement than you might want... fun ridge climbing and crux is easier than it looks.

I climbed it with a friend last August and crevasses were very numerous and wide, especially at the top. It took us three tries to even find a route to the base through the web of crevasses. At the top of the route we spent lots of time trying to find a route through the broken up section at the top. Be prepared for a long descent on north ridge. I would recommend doing it early in the summer... As you climb the route check out the steep ice on the northwest face to your right.

"Any dog that threatens me gets a "Vibram" stamp on their forehead from the bottom of my boot. For myself (and many others that I have talked to), if someone were to physically strike or injure my dog it would be similar to some adult deciding to slap one of my kids in the face. Neither action would have a pleasant ending. "Dog's that aren't socialized don't belong near people." Its the owners that keep dogs from hanging around people that have dogs that are not well socialized. Dogs need to be exposed to as many other dogs and people as possible, especially as puppies.

Horsefeathers is pretty good food but almost always crowded - especially on summer weekends. Once after a day windsurfing, I waited with some friends for nearly 2 hours to get seated, then another hour for our food. I try to avoid that place unless its a weeknight. In Hood River try 6th street bistro (pricy but good), Brian's Poorhouse (also a bit pricy for me), Cajan BBQ up on the hill or good Pizza by 'The Surf House.'

interesting to see that replies on this thread span the spectrum. we knew that we should have gotten up earlier, so we figured first group had dibs on route. i was also wondering about style of soloist choosing a crowded classic for rope soloing (reqd going up twice and down once for each pitch). in the end we tried to keep it relatively low key, but the hanging belays really became less pleasant as our time hanging in belays easily doubled while waiting for the slow party in front. if i did it again (it was a superb route and really fun despite delays) i would get up earlier. otherwise i would try to go past soloist earlier so we could push on past slow party early on the route. it seemed like the slow first party were new to multipitches since they lost efficiency most on transitions (they often rearranged their anchors several times to make sure it was equalized on the bolted anchors). the other factor was that red rocks rangers supposedly fine climbers returning after dark. maybe the first party ended up with a ticket?

Last Sunday at Red Rocks, my partner and I climbed Crimson Crysalis route. We arrived at the base to find three climbers getting ready to climb. First pair started up and the third person was climbing rope solo. The first party was extremely slow causing delays for all that followed. The rope soloist offered to let us pass on belay ledge at top of pitch four recognizing that he would not summit due to slow progress of party ahead of him. The party after us also bailed due to slow progress of the first party. We accepted the soloist offer to pass on the ledge, then climbed up to first party to request a pass, but they declined since they felt like they were close to the top. We probably spent an extra 2.5 hours waiting in hanging belays for the first party and an extra hour on rappels waiting for them. What would you have done in this situation? We made it off the route just as it was getting dark...

chucK/anybody- Any word on current Snow Creek Wall conditions? Especially, descent route (dry?)... I hope to climb some routes on the wall Sunday.

Matt-I know this is off-topic for climbing, but I was intrigued by your mention of Windsurfing near Squamish. I have seen the sign from the highway but was curious about why windsurfing in Squamish was so good? We have so many people from BC come down to the Gorge during the summer...I wonder if this is where they first got hooked windsurfing... What is the windsurfing like at Squamish? How strong is the wind typically in June? Water temp, any good swell? -Mark

I have climbed some long single-pitch rock climbs at Pete's in the Summer. It has been a good place to do some trad climbs while waiting for the winds to pick up in the afternoon (for Windsurfing). It was a steep 10 minute hike from pulloff on Hwy35 to main crag. It seemed like most climbs would be single pitch w/ maybe a few 2-pitch climbs. Area was about 200 yards wide. I am also interested to hear if anyone has climbed ice here...

On recent trip to Tatoosh with 1 tele-skier and 2 randonee skiers and 1 snowboarder/snowshoer (me) we were able to make some comparisons. Skis seemed faster for level, slightly downhill stuff and did not require additional weight of carrying board (while snowshoeing). One disadvantage of skis seemed to be extra time putting on skins and removing them. I found snowshoes to be better on steeper ascents than partners who were 'skinning' up the slope. The skiers in the group were a bit faster than me on the snowshoes, except for steep narrow trail descents. I will always prefer the board in deep powder, although of course its a blast on skis, too. Board seems better for heavier, wet snow, but skis are better for truly steep, icy terrain. If I had the cash, I would probably get a randonee setup.

I can't imagine anything being better than Indian Creek: Incredible Hand Crack (10c) and Supercrack (10)...?

More votes for Outer Space/Orbit, N.Ridge Stewart. Actually, the only routes I would hesitate to repeat would be West Ridge of Thomson (sp?)and Hood S.Side.

bowline knot is commonly used by sailors when rigging sails and attaching downhaul to main sheet.

I spent the weekend w/ some friends doing an overnight at Tatoosh this weekend. Lots for fresh snow made the skiing/boarding great but conditions were not too good for climbing. It looked like there was a short pitch of ice on north side of Castle, but an abundance of snow above it kept us away. We saw some amazing looking ice from Narada bridge (steep, likely 2-pitches) and another longer narrower smear from about a mile further down the road. Looked good for somebody who was solid on WI5...

Anybody done any ice climbing in Leavenworth recently? I am thinking about making the long drive if there is anything worthwhile this weekend...

I am a member at Club Sport gym. Its much too expensive and a long way to drive, but its hard to give up the membership since indoor gym sessions are a great workout alternative for rainy evenings in Portland during the winter. If someone were to open a gym on the West Side of Portland, many of us would join in a minute.

Anyone been up Hood recently? I am contemplating a Leutholds or Sandy Headwall ascent some time soon, especially since weather has been pretty stable the last few days.