matt_warfield

Yes, if the slacker had been two days faster, it would have been the second ascent. What a loser.

Note that the cables had been laid down for the season and that it was raining and so represents a bigger adventure than normal. But I also am surprised that there aren't more accidents as the better conditions in summer are compensated by hordes and some sketchy folks. I was there this year in summer and won't soon forget the irony of being in such a beautiful place and yet being put off by the ant trail of people going up the cables.

Go try Granite Mountain near Prescott- multipitch granite with old school ratings and normally closed in the Spring. It will get cool soon however because it's near 7000 feet.

I've wondered why they don't update the GriGri for the skinnier ropes or have two models maybe.

Bachar-Yerian! (Not the climb- I met John Bachar and Dave Yerian in the same year)

"it was an oxymoron in action." This one still has me scratching my head. Thanks for the TR, though!

Belay loops are one of the strongest parts of the climbing system. I will bet that age and wear is the primary factor in any failure. Replace that harness regularly as part of overall attention to safety.

An LA Times' story mentions a harness failure, which seems improbable but consistent with the rappel device and carabiner still on the rope. We'll have to see. The article also discusses the near miss he and Piana had on the summit of El Cap when their anchor boulder dislodged and rolled off the face. Todd had a great climbing legacy and his work in the early climbing videos was impressive and entertaining. RIP.

I think the guide assumes a belay on the shelf above the crack end but below the final chickenhead headwall. Good job extending the season and avoiding the crowds on this classic.

Cheyenne WY Jackson WY Bozeman MT (my favorite) Missoula MT Neither state has all that many 20K+ towns though.

The Mountain Project website, while sparse for many areas, has a pretty good summary of RMNP alpine rock routes since its origins were in the very active Climbing Boulder site.

A VW member can climb at any VW gym.

I still have a piece of pencil lead in my hand from a mishap in grade school. Good times.....

October is prime season at Smith and while there are far fewer climbers during the week, there will be a lot. Just go hang around the parking area, the camping area, and/or the climbs and ask around. During one of our trips we met a guy from Switzerland who was by himself and adopted him for our whole trip. Good luck.

I chatted with a Leavenworth local after he free soloed a few laps on Classic Crack and he said he feels there is no way he could fall off of it because of the secure jams. I'm on the side of the people who say it's about your crack technique in the absence of face holds or features. How popular do you think Outer Space would be (and what would it be rated) if the headwall didn't have all of those chickenheads?

The "proper" chimney is around the corner to the right from the start of the final pitch and is short and easy. It is not well described in Beckey.

Verizon has service in the main part of the Valley, but was spotty elsewhere. Plan to do your calling when around the tourist centers and you'll be fine. Camp 4 has posted a stat about the large number of cars that are broken into every year by bears. If you leave food in the car, they WILL know and find it. Camp 4 has strict camping regulations regarding reservations, people per site, etc.

There is also a "sport climbing park" high in Boulder Canyon that is all bolted and has lots of casual single pitch sport climbing. But the ethics police hates the place. Especially pope, even if he doesn't know about it.

Lumpy Ridge is mostly 3-7 pitch climbs although I'm sure you could unearth some single pitch and rap outings. Eldo is likely to be hot and is also primarily multipitch, but has lots of shade opportunities. I would recommend one day to climb the 3rd Flatiron on the edge of Boulder, which is about 6 pitches up to 5.4 but not a lot of exposure until the summit is reached. It's a guaranteed great experience.

Estes Park would be great except that it is mostly multipitch cragging at Lumpy Ridge and alpine rock in Rocky Mountain National Park. You could be creative searching for single pitches but you'd be missing out on the area's strengths.

EH.

No offense to Mike's tremendous accomplishments, but the FFA of Freedom or Death was around '98 by Eli Helmuth.

Seems like 11+ is well within range of Butler and Helmuth. Are we sure they didn't get the FFA of their own route?

I think it reaches Snafflhound Ledge more on the left hand side, then traverses straight right on the Ledge then up to the tree- the crux pitch above the ledge is as shown but then the final pitch keeps the diagonal left to "top" out at the notch left. Olyclimber? Meanwhile, where is Matt_Anderson to discuss where his line was.....

I think the Beckey route takes the crack to the right of the indicated line from the ledge to the top, above the small tree.