Farrgo

If we get a break in the weather... or at least its not a complete downpour... is anyone interested at getting some tool time this weekend? Either Saturday or Sunday... should at least be dry at the crag even if the approach requires raincoat and umbrella.

Local stokage: Who Needs Ice? 2hr approach Unclimbed and 200+ ft In from December to April Solid rock and bomber cams. Shouldn't be long... Has been in each year, for the past few years (at least). Hard to argue about PNW versus New England ice. You can climb ice the vast majority of days from mid-November to early-March in New England. Also, it is rad. There is way more ice in the PNW than conventional wisdom would have, but you have to work for it. There are only a handful days when you can get on the low hanging fruit. The PNW is not the place to come, or live for ice cragging. But then again, when its good, the PNW is AMAZING. And its good more than people think. Just be ready to walk, get shut down, get psyched and do it again next week.

I think with A0 the route could go at 5.9. On the crux pitch you have a rightward traverse that probably clocks in about there. I'm pretty sure you can't aid through, or at least it would be much easier and less scary to free climb. The first few pitches would likely require 5.8 free, but I'm not sure how long your stick clip is.

Can't take it anymore... my personal 2010 ice stoke is boiling over in a picture frenzy... Hydrophobia Suffer Machine Cryophobia Haffner Creek Upper Weeping Wall Cryophobia Pitch 2 or 3 Suffer Machine Pitch 1

Very cool. Did you take the picture of those North Face couloirs?

Currently have six pairs of of BD punisher gloves. I used them from roadside mixed climbing and long ice routes to 20k alpine climbs. For harder mixed climbs I use the torque gloves and they seem fine. Although I often try to gloveless and put gloves on once I get on the ice. On cold days I will often throw in my Ice Gloves just in case the conditions outmatch the Punishers. It's also really nice to throw on these gloves for the rap and walk out. With a pair of hand warmers your hands will be toasty. I used to climb in cheaper thin scholler gloves, which work okay. The dexterity is great, the warmth isn't. I'll still use these in warmer spring conditions. Also, used to climb with Atlas work gloves but one particularly memorable screaming barfy experience relegated these to bushwack approaches.

Wayne just make sure to climb it at night... I've heard of people getting in trouble for climbing there. Also, if its gets that cold again, you might have company.

I am looking for some motivated people to train with this winter. Does anyone have an active home gym scene? If not is there a good box gym, or local gym to check out?

You might want to check out Dave's well-written ice climbing article. This is the page about picks: http://cascadeclimbers.com/ice/gear/ice-picks/. In general thinner picks penetrate ice more easily than thick picks. Thicker picks are more durable (especially for mixed climbing) than thinner picks. A lot of it is personal preference. I'm pretty sure the Vipers come with the Laser picks which is BD's ice pick. If your just starting ice climbing you might not notice a lot of difference between the picks until you get some days under your belt.

Right next to Pan Dome Falls... ~10 min walk. Anybody know if the Rap Wall is overhanging enough to merit a rainy day session? On that note, anybody interested in getting on those routes this fall... big plans for the winter.

I'm moving into the area and wondering if any of the climbing gyms in Tacoma have a decent weight lifting area? I'd love to be able to just join a climbing gym and still get in all the non-climbing workouts at one facility. The gym would need to have a selection of free weights, a rower, stuff like that.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/981174#Post981174

10/1/10 Dan did you climb on the BBs this past July? I've seen some winter remnants hanging late a few seasons earlier and wondered if anybody got after it.

We'll I went up anyway to take a look... and it looks like July. I'd say we are at least a couple strong storm cycles away from having interesting conditions in the mountains. There is some snow on the BBs and maybe a veneer of ice... but still a ways to go. On a side note, the C.H. looks a lot less dodgy than it did earlier this season. A direct line in from the right looks like it may be in good shape right now.

Anybody been in the area recently? Pictures to share? Has any of the snow from the late summer storms hung around?

Nursing school doesn't need to be the end of climbing for you. I finished nursing school in March and climbed consistently throughout all four years (including pre-reqs). I logged 40+ days ice climbing (from PDX!) in the last two years, trained hard and did two expeditions to S. America. Feel free to PM about strategies for maintaining sanity. It's rough but as long as you're focused, realistic, and determined you can engage both simultaneously.

I certainly didn't see signs of chipping on Stone Rodeo when I was on it last season. Maybe its just because I got back from the Laruelwood but here's my two cents on Stone Rodeo. There are already bolts on it, they might as well be decent bolts. If someone is going to go to the extent of permanently altering the rock for fixed pro, they owe it to the climbing community that those pieces of pro adequately protect the pitch and are of good quality. What use are antiques? Currently those bolts are nothing but eyesores. I understand that many/most/all of those bolts may not have been placed by the FFA party (whoever they were) but they're there now. I hate to break it to all the Beatards but replacing worthless bolts on a 40' route at Beacon Rock isn't the worse thing in the world. In fact, getting some stronger climbers out at Beacon Rock is probably the best thing that could happen at that crag. There are so many routes in the 10-11+ range that would be high quality if only climbed and cleaned more often. What this crag needs is an influx of climbers not headed for the Corner, YW, JT or the like. I understand BR has a trad ethic, but honestly once the damage is done... the bolts should at least be decent so that the community gets full value out of them. It's no different between YW and SR. If YW was just a bunch of star-drives, they should be replaced as well. If a route developer decides fixed gear is needed, then it is their responsibility to see that the gear is adequate and the community's responsibility to see that it is maintained. There needs to both be a sense of obligation from route developers and responsibility from the climbing community. Rock is a shared resource and it needs to be treated as such.

Couldn't you just build one near the base of Windwalker?

It was chalked at the end of last season.

Short, 300m. It was almost entirely thin ice (<1 inch) and pure dry.

That's one route, but four picks; two for each climber.

PPP: Post Pukaraju Picks

I think the bolts are in the right spot. It is a little bouldery right off the deck but once you get a piece or two in, it should be a safe fall. Making sure the fixed gear is trustworthy is the main issue with that route.

Those particular climbs are "in" every year. As with any climbing expedition, you need to be flexible with your ambitions. Any of the contacts listed in the Johnson guide (i.e., La Cima) should be able to help you out. I've gotten good information from SummitPost but usually only in reference to previous seasons. Actual route conditions probably won't be reported until May/June when the climbing season starts so unless you buy your tickets last minute you're probably going to travel a long way regardless.

I'm looking for a information on any FA's done in the Bugaboo area since the Atkinson-Piche guidebook. I've gone through all the AAJ's, what is another good database? Are more routes published in the CAJ than the AAJ?