jordop

if ya know where to look, there are always places to climb in Squamish. But for most free routes, it takes a day after an extended shower to dry. But why does it need to be dry?

In a nutshell, as a cooperative, MEC is able to sell gear at far below the normal retail price. People from US come up and buy BD from MEC. Retailers in US get mad, lost business. Pissed-off retailers call BD, BD tells MEC not to ship to US because it disrupts US distribution networks.

My experience from the other side of things (US to Canada) is that ordering gear made in either the US or Candada does not involve duty. If goods are listed as "imported", then I have been levied a 20% duty charge -- but that has just been from US to Canada and I'm not certain that the same rules apply the other way around.

Both are easy scrambles and are described in Fairley's Climbing and Hiking in SW BC. The area is very popular with the summer day hiking crowd. What was once a lovely area only six or seven years ago is now littered with excrement, Tp, dogs, &c. Tread lightly; the whole corridor has gotten more use in the last ten years than in its whole "lifetime."

.

Long, 4x4 for the most near the end. Snowmobiles used until mid June. Easier to ski in from Saskatchewan Glacier, or even Athabasca. I'm assuming it's the traverse, E. Ridge or the N. Face you're talking aboot. Try a ski descent of the N. Face!

.

If planning on doing some of the well known free climbs - Cathedrals &c., be prepared for:1. Big run outs.2. Really bad 1/4" bolts on even popular routes.3. The "neat" grading system that has all chimneys about 5.7 or so, regardless of gear.4. Bombays : don't know? don't ask!5. Line ups for all trade routes.6. Crap, TP, feminine hygiene products in cracks at base of El Cap.7. Smooth as glass cracks that have no friction: jamming is the rule!8. When the topo says gear to 3.5", that doesn't mean the crack only gets to be that wide. It just means that after 3.5", its really only a nine and you don't need gear! Truly: look at Reeds Direct: 4" vertical crack that's 5.9! Translation: 5.9s in the Valley are 5.10s everywhere else. Sound like fun? It is; can't wait to get back there in May! [ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: jordop ]

There's this spot between your index knuckle and your thumb knuckle, a pad of muscle forward from the bone joint. Find it. Push hard with other thumb. Repeat over and over until you have scar tissue. That and pull ups.

Alright what's the deal here? I was planning a little foul weather trip down to that dismal area of basalt we all know and love, but Snoqualmie Pass is still closed, "reopening unknown." Seems to me up here in the great white north we can keep a road open in pretty much any condition (Roger's Pass?), so what's so goddamn tough about keeping little ol Snoqualmie open? Or am I completely missing something here, somebody down there help me out! Maybe the highways people are just protectiung stupid drivers from themselves. I may be a Kanuck, but every time I make a trip down to Vantage in the winter, I see at least one flipped BMW in a ditch, people taking up three lanes, huge, black SUVs rippin it up not realizing that, yes, SUVs have more traction, but they are also much higher off the ground!

Ivan, you can take your friend's approach one step further for those alpine routes where every gram counts; here's how: where you approach a horn or a flake that would make an excellent sling, simply pull out a double runner, step into it, pull it over your head and out over the rope. Now just sling it over a feature and voila, no biners needed! You might have to weigh it down with some rocks, cos there's gonna be some drag! Seriously though, my buddy once swore he saw some guys top roping in Squamish with the rope just running through the webbing. Managed to saw it about half-way through before someone actually told him, "you know, you need a biner there, man!"

Pretty sure its 10a, (10bs don't seem to have really nice places to put your feet like 10as do!)but nevertheless, yes its nice.

I used to doze off in lectures and dream about doin the FA of the Chan Can!

1st pitch North Face Fairview Dome; almost alpine!

Hey Dyno whats the weather like down there right now? Snow?

Did Incredible Hand crack coupla years back with only about 4 pieces (2.5 Friend/2 camalot/7-8 4cam I think) just leap froggin them! Try puttin a hex into a perfect splitter for a good scare! One day I'll be rich enough to climb properly at Indian Creek!

We should start a new thread arguing about the best 10b at Squampton! Never had a good time on split beav. Yeah hand jive is good (okay awesome!) and i forgot about Caboose which really rocks. Sunblessed is probably pretty good too, but I've always been too lazy to hike that far! Best 10b in the universe? Stone Groove at Reeds, or Sons of Yesterday/Serenity Crack (10a and 10d respectively)

Did laps on "A Little Testis", the 2nd best 10b crack in Squamish (at that grade its got pretty stiff competition with the pillar!). Too bad it's suffered noticable polish from people trying to smear when they should be jammin damnit! And its only been in existance for about five years. Do it now before it turns into a Flyin Circus yosem style glass crack!

It got pretty warm yesterday too. I almost got smoked by a falling icicle up at Murrin!

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=28&t=000077

.

The recent thread on tricks brought to mind an idea I've been proposing. Perhaps someone with a greater materials/chemical engineering background will be able to shed some light on this: Accessory cord is non-dry. Why cannot one just spray the cord with Tx Direct or similar silicone based "waterproofer" to make it more resistant to H2O? Is there anything in the stuff that would compromise the integrity of said cordage? Also: anybody in the know know when the new MEC catalogue is coming out? Seems late this year. My bathroom visits are pretty lonely and boring looking at the same Gucci zines over and over!

.

.

.