Off_White

Well, as the next installment in the soap opera, it appears that Arches National Park has banned all new fixed anchors and all use of pins for protection, making many existing routes now illegal and effectively preventing virtually all new route activity. Apparently, they've been innundated with requests from across the country to ban climbing there entirely. Thanks Ambassador Dean!

Heh, I'm just leaving that tagline on until googling the search string "pat robertson sex brother" puts me on the first page. I'm currently on page two. Yeah Bill, the PDX situation sounds frustrating. Odd too, since I don't think of Portland as being that tightly wrapped, but it only takes an individual or two. I was just urging Corvallisclimb to try and have such a conversation, rather than playing at bolt wars. I was impressed by a comment on Supertopo by Tom Higgins regarding a bolt war on a route named Hair Raiser Buttress in the eastern Sierra. Higgins was one of the FA parties, and for those unfamiliar with the name, he's an old school trad climber with impeccable credentials and a resume of bold ground up climbs.

Bill, he's talking about top rope anchors on boulder problems, not bolts added to pre-existing lead routes. How do you feel about unknown parties deciding to remove anchors at Rocky Butte? (rhetorical question - you've made your feelings known)

Anybody have contact info for Randall Green? I'd be game to post some of the stuff from his out of print guidebook online here, but I'd like to get the nod from him before I do much of that...

I'd encourage you to try and contact whoever was responsible and have a conversation about it. You may well be in your rights to chop those bolts, but a vicious cycle of chop and replace may not be a favorable outcome. Better if you can persuade the other folks to see things from your perspective, be persuaded by theirs, or come to some middle ground. Less dramatic to be sure though, so not what many here might advise.

I thought this bit was remarkable in itself: "Volunteers clearing stones from the 4,418ft peak..."

Dude, you don't look a day over 49. Honest.

Hah, saw the thread and the poster, and I already knew it would be about tequila before I even opened it. Glad to hear you're feeling good LUCKY.

I don't recall having climbed with you before, but it seems like we must have.

Here's my waiver you gotta sign for climbing in my front yard: LIABILITY WAIVER CLIMBING AT HERCULES #2 QUARRY TENINO, WASHINGTON I, ______________________________, recognize that rock climbing is an inherently dangerous sport and that responsibility for my safety is dependent upon decisions that I personally make. I will not hold the owners of this quarry, NAMES OMITTED CUZ MY WIFE DOESN'T WANT THAT SHIT ON THE INTERNET , (hereafter referred to as "the owners") responsible for death or injury incurred on this property. I accept that any day spent climbing at the Hercules #2 Quarry may be the last day of my life. All protection is suspect: bolts can pull and trees may be unstable due shallow rooting, disease, size, or other causes that are not readily apparent. The rock, Tenino Sandstone, can fracture in large and small pieces at any time without any warning. The owners recommend the use of helmets and belaying to the side of the person climbing, but do not guarantee that these measures will prevent injury or death. Beware of all blocks and flakes and do not equate size with stability: large flakes can detach and fall with very little encouragement. The owners do not vouch for the quality, strength or safety of any bolt or other protection placed at the Hercules #2 Quarry. Matters beyond the control of the owners may result in death, injury, or hideous and crippling disfigurement at any time anyone is at the Quarry. I accept that the owners in no way guarantee my safety or survival. I also recognize that my right to climb at the Hercules #2 Quarry is subject to rules limiting access and actions as set forth by the owners, and supplied with this liability waiver. I agree to follow these rules and recognize that violation of these rules can result in revocation of any right to access on my part and ultimately result in criminal prosecution for trespass.

Oh cool, so that pic of Will's is for a place in No. Carolina that's actually open for climbing? Is that where Last of the Mohicans was filmed? That looks like sweet rock, perhaps enough to entice a slab aficianado into a notch season road trip. I know that runout stuff you refer to, there's a pitch on Deep Throat on the Apron that comes to mind: 5.9 slab climbing with one lonely 1/4" bolt on the pitch. When leading, your crimping with your fingernails on the micro dishes, but with the confidence of a top rope you can just pad up with hands flat on the face. Like Tom Patey said: He's like a human spider clinging to the wall suction, faith, and friction and nothing else at all

Oh, and I know what you mean about that bolt protected iced up slab climbing, here's a pic of Surprise, a 5.8 slab route on Suicide Rock in SoCal, ca. 1977

Hmmm, are there two Stone Mountains? I'll have to reread the chapter in the book I was reading last night (Freakonomics), that weary one eyed in bed reading motif may have interfered with my comprehension. I believe it was the one with Robt. E. Lee carved in the side. I'll get back to you on that. Do you have any antique pictures from those bygone days? That slab pic of Will's is most appetizing to an old foonter like myself.

yo

Hah, and I've just become aware of the massive historical significance of Stone Mountain as an icon of the KKK, where they burned a world record 300' tall cross and routinely staged meetings and ralllies on top. No wonder North Carolina wants to avoid sullying such an awesome slab with climbers, it's the moral home of the true south. Static trumps Stone for me, since it's both a shorter drive and you can actually climb there. Still, it's all just jousting for second place, since no crag can beat the Glacier Point Apron as true king of the low angle slabs.

Hey, that link didn't work. That's not nice!

Dru, you remind me of a pitbull that won't let go, even when it's been shot in the head and is dead. Can anyone at all point out a thread where Dru admits that he's wrong? I don't think so. That's not to say you're not a smart guy Dru, I think you're a pretty sharp cookie, but I think you'd make a better author than a researcher.

Hey babes, you'll never make the best buddy list that way...

It's taken care of, but you'll have to do the Paypal donation to access the "premium content." I can't believe you don't know about the Donor Forum.

Reading between the lines, I'd say that "spindrift" was a misnomer. Usually, that's the light sluffs that happen during snow storms. Sounds to me like you got the spring surface sluffs that happen during warming conditions, a rather heavier and more worrisome event than poofy (poufy? pofy?) lightweight spindrift. Sounds like a good call to me.

No offense, but I really think this thread needs to be here in Spray in order to achieve it's full potential.

Don't forget to inflate your shoes!

I'm sorry some admin on the hosting site for your avatar image messed you up, but I fixed it for you.

Hey, the germ theory of disease is just a theory!

Oh, that would have simply been brilliant. 2020 hindsight and all that, drat.