matt_warfield

Trip: L-town - Classic Crack- Leavenworth Date: 10/14/2009 Trip Report: This is called the Good and the Bad and the Ugly. And none of it is related to me or my partner or Clint Eastwood. We arrived at Classic Crack at 8mile to do some climbing. The ugly was a bunch of Mounties hanging off the wall with slings and big bros and all kinds of shit, taking a huge amount of time to complete the Crack or any other climb. I was 20 feet away. The bad was some dude leading the Crack, put one piece in the pod and then starting laybacking. Put in a piece which sucked and then fell which pulled that piece and he ended up upside down scraping the ground with his hand while being saved by the first piece. He then declared his intention to continue climbing... elsewhere. Lucky to be alive. I was 5 feet away but wish I had been farther. The good was that after all of that two local dudes showed up drinking beer, one with rock shoes and one with approach shoes and started doing free solo laps on the Crack. One said that there is no way he could fall off of that route. I was 3 feet away. BTW, I did climb a number of routes on the crag in the midst of the excitement.

Spend one day with an AMGA certified guide and it is worth more than a dozen books. Then climb on safely.

I always heard it was that the phrase was as cold as a witches tit in a brass bra. But a great TR and it's always good to get out.

Ivan is so creative he could make a hike up Mt. Si sound interesting.

I agree with most of the advice. I have been on a trail where a mother black bear ran up the hill while her two cubs went up a tree on the other side. We went on with no problems. Bottom line is black bears can be reasonable but grizzlies are at the top of the food chain and very dangerous. Luckily, they don't frequent Washington. But in Yellowstone Park, Glacier Park, Canada, and Alaska, be aware. I went hiking in Kodiak AK and all the bear spray and handguns don't keep one from puckering hiking around a corner. We all have our phobias about bears, snakes, and sharks, etc. but at the end of the day it is cancer and auto accidents that are way worse.

I have always enjoyed carpet cleaning. Resoling, in my opinion, should be done by a professional. It is a small cost compared to other resources needed for climbing and you will appreciate it on your next edging project. Ramuta is great and so is the Rubber Room in Bishop CA. It is great to have multiple pairs while you wait. I pride myself in having more pairs of rock shoes than my wife has high heels. Resole on and good climbing. And then there is always the Jimmy Dunn barefoot option. But it is nice to be able to do a lot of pullups with that option.

He must be related to John Gill. And who was the chick who did the FA of a 5.11 on Bastille Wall in Eldorado but could only do one pullup. Frenchies are a better skill for climbing. And although I admire the shit out of him House was cheating a bit by not doing full extenstion at the bottom which is the bane of many pullup artists. If you don't drop full down and go to chin over the bar, it can definitely improve your performance. It also helps to have narrow but powerful shoulders. But I agree, this dude was impressive!

And I'll bet swami belts as well.

Did anyone get pregnant because of the unreliablity of the rhythm method? Dean Potter solo'd the Nose using one or two pieces at a time but he's a freak. I agree with the above- free solo or be safe all the time with rope solo. Or just take a partner.

I started out in RR's as well (bright blue right?) which dates us both. Actually my first few sessions were in logging boots (pretty poor on edging). My first sighting of RR's was in the library at college where some dude was wearing them to advertise that he was a ROCK CLIMBER!

... with the bagpipes and a caber on your rack! And don't forget some haggis for lunch.

Remember when EBs were the shit? Then Fire with sticky rubber changed everything except we (who were climbing then) were too distracted by lycra to notice. But even lycra is better than speedos or underwear. I wonder what the highest rating would be if we hadn't advanced footwear beyond EBs or worse yet the early hard soled edging shoes. But climbing is about individuality and I admire all of the persons who wrote or climbed or were pictured in this TR. Tvash continues to come up with some of the most entertaining TRs on this site. He is like the Big Lebouski of cc.com. Write on Dude.

Great day! And as I have said before, I chatted with Peter about his trip and I am pretty sure that he said that he didn't do Outer Space on the way out, although the rest of his linkup was stout. Another huge endurance day was accomplished in Rocky Mountain National Park a few years ago by Topher Donahue and a partner who's name escapes me at the moment. It wasn't free solo but it included the Diamond, Spearhead, Hallett, and the Petit Grepon, without any assist (i.e. walking from peak to peak and carrying all gear). They attended a celebration party but were too tired to enjoy it as much as the entourage.

The Rockies are notorious for lightning storms. In Colorado, you try to top out on alpine adventures by noon to avoid the inevitable afternoon storms. I climbed Granite Peak with a fundamental Christian who swore that it was only a couple of thousand years old, created by God, while I as a scientist asserted that it was in the billions of years. We survived the argument and summited and met a guide with a mid 70's dude who was at the time the oldest person to summit. I recommend the Froze to Death approach as I prefer to avoid bushwacking and don't mind the extra distance. There is an elevation loss from the Plateau to the col to approach Granite but if you don't like to walk you wouldn't be doing Granite anyway. If you have an extra day or two, the Beartooth Plateau is magnificent high trekking. Hope you had a great trip.

I don't have any problem with style. I do have a problem with hammering bongs at a primarily sport crag. I find it ironic that folks who hate bolts will condone pitons in a place where they are not necessary. Pitons destroy the rock and are mostly irrelevant at cragging sites due to modern protection. And you can rain down on guides all you want but if they are AMGA certified and climb around 200 days per year as most do, they are qualified to have an opinion. Try placing a bong at Smith on something like Karate Crack and the shitstorm will definitely exceed this interweb forum. And WWI and surroundings are not practice areas. Lots of climbers enjoy the site as their favorite kind of climbing. Instead of condoning a different style including homemade harness and dulfer belay and bong placements, why eschew high end climbers who are working on 5.14. It sure as hell isn't practice on Whores of Babylon and other projects under way. And the Blackstone Wall is not choss and at 5.8-5.10 it is superb climbing on very clean rock. I totally respect pope and Dane and Raindawg and others for their history of great climbing and their stubborn traditionalism but climbing has evolved and we can't turn the clock back. Robbins, Kor, Chouinard, Messner, House, Barber, Bachar, Kauk, Graham, Sharma, etc. are or were all great climbers in the way they chose. Peace and just keep getting out there. Alpine, multipitch, sport, at any rating from scramble to 5.15, it shoudn't matter. Live and let live but have fun on your medium and difficulty of choice and respect the rock.

I don't think Croft did Outer Space on his linkup. It seems logical but even Peter would be getting pretty worked by then.

To make the bitch slapping even worse, Croft started from the main road due to transportation issues, hiking to the Stuart Lake trailhead in the dark and getting hassled by the man on the way due to concerns about car prowling at the time. The image of mild mannered Peter negotiating with the rentacop while on the verge of an epic free solo linkup remains amusing. Rentacop had no idea who he was talking to and his biggest adventure that day was probably cracking a PBR. Nonetheless, we can't all be Croft and your trip was proud and I'm sure highly enjoyable.

The Integral Route on the Diamond was renamed Casual Route after Charlie Fowler free solo'd and described it as such in an interview. No controversy there that I know of. In the old days there was a tendency to name routes by their location and aspect. Today, route names are creative in most cases, named by creative people. Obviously the Nose would not be renamed but few climbers would quibble with Astroman as a free route name. In the end, style and names may change, but the rock remains the same. It is the evolution of climbing.

Previously, as some may remember, Charlie tied in and jumped off for a 150' free fall in Eldorado Canyon. And yes, he was responsible for renaiming Integral to Casual. I have done the route and "Casual" at 10a at 14000 ft. seems like a misnomer. Probably because Charlie was badass and I was at my limit.

I met John at Owens River Gorge (post car accident) and kicked myself for not getting an autograph or picture. He was very friendly and free solo'd up to 5.10d. Even though he has solo'd thousands of routes, it was freaky to watch, especially since you have to top out on tricky slabs above the anchors. I also met Dave Yerian at Smith and should have gotten a picture there as well. John lived life large and came close to buying it in the auto accident. At least he died doing something close to his heart instead. When I am getting stressed climbing and don't know what to do, I say to myself "What would Bachar do". He climbed effortlessly and with great style and obviously had tremendous mental control. It is a tremendous loss to the climbing community.

All I want to say is that, though occasionally abrasive, Rumr is a very accomplished climber with great judgment in the field and his kid can probably outlcimb 80% of the posters here, with or without a helmet.

I just wonder if anyone has witnessed a bear doing Midnight Lightning while hanging out in Camp 4.

I have witnessed a backclip unclipping- it is scary and a real danger for sport climbers. Of course Raindawg and pope and others have their own solution: don't clip bolts! But trad has its own dangers... It is all "good" as long as we all practice due diligence in the part of climbing we like best. The best backclip is the one having the most fun, right Gspotter? And BTW, the hair doesn't go all the way to the back first but pauses to make a deposit in ears and nostrils.

Simpler anchors? This was quite simple, fox. Maybe you and Matt_warfield could come up with an AMGA certified anchor pic and demonstrate to the rest of us the err of my ways, not that you're diagram wasn't pretty. If so many disagree with my set-up then post a pic with one that is more acceptable... In that spot I made the best with what I had and what I had worked out really well. Besides, if it was a choice between what I set up and nothing I'd definitely do it again! I am not trying to say your anchor was bad as results vary anchor by anchor but was just trying to say that anybody that needs help building a good one can benefit from professional or highly experienced advice. Peace. And sometimes the anchors are built before dawn in the dark in lightning territory. But I won't quibble with the fox because he could get in the henhouse. Matt

Of course geoff is being a smartass but in all due sincerity, if an unsure rock climber spends one day with an AMGA certified guide they will get the real scoop on anchors and protection from someone that has gone through extensive training and testing in the daylight and at night. It will cost a few bucks but could save your life sometime. But everyone posting here is still alive (I assume) which is a blessing whether through skill or luck.