Crack

slimming down bigger cams on your rack (bd #3.5 and up) helps: a little piece of wooden dowel stuck in the holes of the cam lobes keep them aerodynamic and less likely to catch...especially if you are dragging your rack under you while thrutching upwards in chimneys

if you went to the 'bugs i'd plan on more than just that one route (which can be super crowded), but you'll figure that out as soon as you get there. weather's the trick as most of the approaches i believe are pretty easy...most of the folks that we talked to on the hike in had spent the previous week sitting out storm after storm -we went the last week of aug. like a buddy had done the previous year and had one short storm followed by 5 straight bomber bluebird days

i used an andinista for many years -it's a killer pack, super tough for how lightweight it is and with lots of great features as advertised...but: 1) the top pouch -fits poorly on the pack, especially when it actually has weight in it...never could figure out why WC didn't design it to fit snugger -i hardly ever used it and i enjoyed having the clearance as well. 2) i thought the removable foam pad to be worthless as a sleeping pad -too narrow for my shoulder blades, too thin for any comfort - 3) i used my andinista for everything, and only that pack as i swore by it...i finally did a trip using a different pack with a real suspension system and that did it for me -it's strictly a minimalists dream.

50 classics and nelson's for the PNW

chuck -got on it for the second time earlier this week (this time with your buddy Jeff H.)...the first pitch is pretty burly but with good gear, as fun as it looks -definitely the hardest 5.6 i've ever yarded through. the scrubbed crack that you see from the base leaving the chains/belay station is still A1, both times we used 5 pins. the A3 move is just passed it, a hook above two manky fixed pieces...this second pitch (original) is super short and the anchor there is fatty with three new bolts (a double rope rap gets you down). the third pitch looks super fun, but be prepared for some serious vertical bushwacking. i've been considering the idea of cleaning the 3rd and 4th pitches on rappel, as the line is very appealing and it'd be great to have another route on the upper walls to top out on...

butt cold and clear (despite snow/rain storm forecasts) all of this year's usual blah, blah, blahs are still in and fat, including honeyman falls. that's it.

covers rock! nirvana -molly's lips (the vibrators) 7 seconds -99 red balloons (nena) nofx -champ elysees (traditional french song) ramones -do you wanna dance/rockaway beach (50's stuff?) vindictives -covered the entire album "leave home" (ramones) pouges -south australia (???) clash -i fought the law (???) screeching weasel -danny is a wimp (the queers) the queers -like a parasite (screeching weasel) face to face -just like heaven (the cure) most pathetic remake -ben weasel singing "linger", by the fuckin' cranberries...

despite hearing lots of bleak reports we just HAD to go check it out ourselves...and we confirm that it really is slim pickins: nightengale looked in up high, but way thin. shriek was not really even there, in fact -nothing really was in bridge river except for capricorn (upper two pitches). the road past the dam is open, maybe this is a chance to scout further back... loose lady's upper pitches were there, but really scary and wet. carl's berg would be a stiff lead at 5...3 ring circus looked in and thin. didn't go to rambles or marble. the upper pitches of synchro were in thin, getting to them looked spicy. serendipity wasn't there at all. didn't see much of anything on the way back (99 through pemberton/whistler), just lots of potential. kind of a bust -but when ya gotta go, you go...and we went -so you won't have to, at least not for a bit.

i know you think i'm just a stupid useless punk because every night, i come home drunk hi mom, it's me -that fuckin' little shit the ugly little monkey that used to suck your tit. -the Queers

my buddy j2 works a solid case for grand junction as "the climbing center of the universe!!"...good weather and bomber location: .within an hour you have unaweep, 'the monument', the BLACK .within two -fisher towers/castle valley, moab, indian creek, yada yada...ouray, rifle, glenwood canyon .a few hours to zion, vail, southwest colorado, 'eldo', utah ice .a short day gets you Wyoming, red rocks, Arizona and ShiP i know there's plenty more, but that's a good spread to get started on...

don't hold back man -let's see some shots of you toppin' out on eatin' crow!!!

some things i love to come home to (in no particular order); .weekdays at index .the lush, plush, thick and rich greenery in the lowlands...the crisp, brisk alpine settings up high .no deadly bugs .second bounce -just about everything you could ask for in a used gear shop .having vantage all to yourself .british columbia -just about everything you could ask for period .no swag, and lots of beautiful glass .the bellvue public library .finding vision in a beckey guide .the killer stretches of sunshine

some great pitches mentioned...more fun: steel grill .9 -vantage istanbul .9 -index karate crack .10a -smith sunshine chimney centre to backsack .8 -squamish catapult .8 -leavenworth right gull .10a -beacon rock

Triassic Sands is a stellar climb in the Black Velvet, and for some reason sees much less traffic than some of the other classics at it's grade... and -another vote for Dark Shadows, which is pretty much right around the corner from Cat in the Hat, fun stuff.

another vote for cheap radios -i picked up a pair this summer for under $15 bucks, made by Uniden. they are super light and tiny, each taking a pair of AAA batteries. very simple in design and function... another option which i use often is a tug system. no doubt there are many variations to this, i just use what has worked for me: 1) first set of tugs, from leader -means he/she is anchored in at the belay, and ready to get off rope. i tug at least 6-7 times, just a few can be confused with rope drag, unnoticed, etc. after this first set of tugs the belayer can get ready to climb -be tied in before putting your shoes back on or whatever, at this time the leader can start bringing up the rope(s)/slack... 2) the second set of tugs comes from the belayer, letting the leader know to start belaying. when i'm bringing someone up, i keep the belay on super tight at first to let the 2nd know that they're on... i would suggest practicing anything new on easy terrain, and find what's gonna work best for you. it's nice to be able to climb without screaming back and forth, and often entertaining listening to other parties ... FB quote: "HAH?!!"

the Ultimate Everything could be renamed a Little Bit of Everything...still a nice way to bag a lot of friendly graded pitches with some good moves -the .10b traverse pitch at the end is a total go, super fun with decent pro and positive holds. definitely a nice option to the crowds bottlenecked on the short crux of the face climb. way, way worth it: Backsack .8 -a variation on P2 of Sunshine Chimney Centre at the Campground Wall. 5 minutes in flip flops had us at the base of some truly fun climbing in a way cool setting. getting colder at nights, campground traffic seems like it's starting to thin out...

if you can make it up the north ridge, you'll be able to descend the west ridge just fine -and get yourself back to the lake much quicker, bagging another fine route...that couloir sucks ass.

dana's arch(p.1) -Index prince of darkness -Red Rocks the .12a arete climb just to the left of th "sweet and sticky" arete, can't remember the name -Little Si anything up at the killer bob area -Exit 38 i normally hate slab climbing, but silent runnings was a blast, great new addition with the 7th pitch -Darrington and how about the pitch coming out of the monkey's face mouth? good value for brief bolt clipping -Smith Rocks cryin' time again -Tuolomne Meadows barrata, barrata and just about everything else over in southern Thailand [ 08-25-2002, 09:36 AM: Message edited by: Crack ]

magic fern and p2. of curious poses(private idaho -index), the first pitch of the lamplighter(index), and the stanley-burgner route on prussik.

the Trailhead Cafe on the way to Index in Goldbar has got the bomb chicken-fried steak and gravy breakfast...it's all "home-made" with killer hashbrowns and thick buttery toast. that's the only thing i've ever had there, it's big -go with Bronco, he'll pay if you ropegun there is a killer 'gut-truck' on the way to Index that is so worth stopping for: it's on the left hand side when you're leaving Monroe headed east...on a pull-out near the Arco/AmPm gas station(the cheapest on the stretch from Seattle), set behind an espesso stand and in front of some antique/home-made ice-cream store, along with some RV's for sale...super nice people that just put up a shaded awning with picnic tables -just for you. it's bomber, go. eat. get fat. oh yeah -the korean lady/couple in the Index store makes this awesome bread thing, it's like this juicy-braided round loaf sorta deal sprinkled with little chunks of ground beef and onions and some mushrooms and these little diced peppers and some cheese mmm cheese and some other stuff...it's only like 2 bucks, worthy to chow on in the morning when it's still warm. also; she mixes chinese hot mustard and sweet'n'sour sauce together for her eggrolls, and puts them into these nice little dipping containers to go... wow, now i got the munchies so i'd also like to add, "STRAWBERRY MILK IS THE SHIT"

...i've heard that nixxing an aider mid pitch and leaving yourself only one is the way to go, super simple they say

GIVE ME A RING HOLMES, WE NEED TO TALK

kicking horse is great right now, everything in the book plus more looked in -but warmer bluebird days will make for rapid change...essondale right was killer, first pitch thin and chandeliered -tricky pro, the rest is fat with no crowds... fyi -gibraltor wall is still fat, a double freestanding pillar formed high up to the left of the left side, a cold snap would make it a go...

hey ben -it's JAPanese...a dirtbag's gotta have some standards. night'n'gale was way fat and friendly(easy 4), a good/lucky day as it was very warm. crossed the river easily on a log bridge. is that shriek of the sheep to the left a few hundred yards? big, blue curtain. capricorn looked a little too holey for us, another cold snap might make it good to go.

after spending the last week touring through the rockies we were ready for some ugly american partyin' -where were you washingtonians? colder than shit, dale and crew made it in the family van and caddie so no excuses on road conditions...either way the small crowd was friendly, and the whole event was very low key. kudos to the moose and lyle and the dude from mec, great people...sorry about the cave again, lyle.