billcoe

I was out at Beacon all day and missed the fun. Sorry to hear of it Nolse. Was it visble in the car? I too have been ripped off at the Butte as I've documented here before. The big one (full backpack) still pissed me off like 28 years later.

Sorry I didn't answer this previously: it was up in the air until yesterday. Heres the full meal deal. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/474887/an/0/page/0#474887

Joseph Healy and myself, along with Jim Opdyke spent the day at Beacon Rock as a pre-opening tune up so to speak. First order of business was evaluating last years Peregrine nesting site and conducting saftey inspections/correction. Those guys were able to go out again today (Friday) while I'm cubical-bound today dreaming of the open sky. Our prime objective was to throw the obvious loose rocks off of popular routes areas (like SE Corner) and webbing replacement where needed. Anybody who has climbed here knows this couldn’t be accomplished in a couple of days, probably not in a full season. However, the attempt was made and the happy results will be obvious to anybody who gets out here. With the trail closed, the group of loose rocks which has been raining hell on the East Side say the Boardwalk/Raindance area which is caused by rocks on the last pitch of the SE corner was cut loose. Rapping further down to the top of the 5th pitch just below the chimney provided another massive group of rock and dirt which was pushed off and the area brushed with wisk brooms. It is the first time ever to my knowledge that area has seen bare rock, it’s always been a loose scree situation until now. Note that the entire Corner route was not scrubbed, only the most notable group of obvious killer rocks were thrown off. The Grassy ledges received similar treatment as well as the Jill’s thrill rap stations, and the Stephanwolf\big ledge area. There are still loose rocks up there all over the place, but a hell of a lot less of em than before. Sorry for the long pre-amble, but it gets longer. This year Joseph Healy and myself, along with Jim Opdyke have formally organized the Beacon Rock Climber's Association (BRCA) and committed to re-establishing positive working relationship with the Washington State Parks, Beacon Rock State Park Staff, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other organizations concerned with climbing, conservations, and stewardship at Beacon Rock. At the top of that list of concerns are the Peregrine Falcons. There have been rumblings of discord amongst some climbers about the whole process. We would like to see that rumbling minimized or eliminated via working with the managers. Throughout this year we have been attempting to help David Anderson – the Wash. Regional Fish and Wildlife person responsible for the Beacon Rock area, to compile info on the Peregrine Falcons. Despite many many hours of observation, WE FAILED TO LOCATE THE NEST (scrape) of the birds this year. Yet we all see them flying around the area. The good news is that they successfully hatched and fledged some young’ens this year. They are DEFINITELY NOT at last years scrape. We had binoculars trained on that area throughout the year, yesterday Joseph rapped down, took pictures or that spot and confirmed that there was no evidence of nesting at that location. They are somewhere out there. Somewhere, we suspect the east face, but they could be nesting up on Mt Hamilton and coming down to Beacon to perch and hunt. We can use help in locating potential nesting spots. David is responsible for a huge area, and other wildlife in addition to the birds, he’s got a lot on his plate. So cutting to the chase, John, the ranger at Beacon, has confirmed that Beacon will open early this year to climbers because David Anderson was able to confirm the age and conditions of the chicks. (Despite not finding the scrape location). Sunday, July 10th will be opening day for climbers. Anyone out there, please keep your eyes open and let us know if you even think you know where a nest might be. Otherwise we might duplicate this frustrating process next year. If these birds are out of climbers way nesting elsewhere, we may not have a closure next year. Anybody interested in hanging out watching the birds next year, we will be doing the same thing, assuming they are in the area (which is a good bet), step forward and volunteer!

Nolse: I have stainless bolts for sale, check your PM's. All I want to see it the TR's, you are definately entering into a new arena with a type of climbing heretofor not seen and done around here. It's kind of exciting and scary at the same time........opps, I just peed on myself. Gimme a moment to clean up........jeeze....

You'll be disapointed is my guess, it's like 25 pages big, and the routes are not crowded into it to save paper either.

Here is the thing in it's entirety as Nolse wrote it in case you don't have Word and can't transcribe it. Very well done Nolse. Do like Ivan says, toss in an expletive and switch a couple of sentences around and you're gold. SAMPLE LETTER TO BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS/MADRONE WALL Name Street Address City, State Zip Date Clackamas County Board of Commissioners Commissioner Bill Kennemer Commissioner Martha Schrader Commissioner Larry Sowa 2051 Kaen Road Oregon City, Oregon 97045 bcc@co.clackamas.or.us Re: Preservation of and Access to Publicly-Owned Madrone Wall Dear Board of Commissioners: I understand you are soliciting public input for your upcoming decision regarding the future of the Madrone Wall, an amazing civic treasure located just east of Carver near the Clackamas River. This beautiful site, located in the geologically important Clackamas Bluffs, offers beautiful views over the lower Clackamas River Basin. It has an unparalleled diversity of wildflowers, old growth Douglas fir, Pacific madrone, and wetland bogs. Ground water emanating from its headland supports endangered salmon and nearby residents and there are vast, untapped outdoor educational opportunities. The site offers superb recreation for hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, picnicking, and wildlife and wildflower viewing that citizens of all ages can enjoy. Within this increasingly urbanized and park-barren area of Damascus, we need more open space, not less, to reconnect with the natural world that makes Oregon so unique. It is because of this diversity of geography and potential use that makes it a rich treasure without equal anywhere in the northern Willamette Valley and if destroyed it will be surely gone forever to the regret of future generations. This treasure must not be destroyed as an environmentally ruinous open pit quarry and it must not be auctioned to the highest bidder and transferred out of the public trust for a future trophy housing development. After nearly a decade of deliberation, I urge you, as ultimate stewards of the County's natural heritage, to seize this opportunity to preserve this public treasure, which would require no money to acquire, for all time as a park that all can access and enjoy. Thank you. Sincerely, Name _____________________________________________-- or call them up: Contact the Commissioners Phone: (503) 655-8581 Fax: (503) 742-5919 Address: 2051 Kaen Road Oregon City, OR 97045

Probably! Pretty good place to get a workout, definatly worth the time to send a letter to save - nice combo of mixed bolted some trad climbs: like Rob says, it stays dry. Real nice place to hang for an afternoon or a day. I'll send a note: thanks Nolse and Keith for the work on all of our behalf.

Use of thimbles would increase the strength, but would also dramatically increase the weight of a piece which normally stays in the basement. Black diamond says batch testing ensures consistent quality, plus each unit use to be individually tested to half its rated strength before leaving the factory. Perhaps a smaller radius carabiner means you do not get close the full tensile rating they came up with? ? What was the carabiner you used?

Wow, sounds perfect dude. Told you. It's every climbers duty to make the pilgramge to mecca at least once in their career. Every year if you can do it. I was down there earlier with some real strong climbers, and it was such a joy to feel my strength coming back and relaxing and all that when I came home I was talking with my wife about throwing in the towel and retiring. I'm telling you.

Nolse: Thanks, it was real good climbing with you Mac and Katie: a good time was had by all once again. Katie was out there with a fractured foot too, what a trooper. Warm Regards: Bill

Fuenos just came back from Yos. Wheres the pics and TR?

I'll show up with shoes and harness, I haven't been out this week as I've been in a family way: however, I shall keep my tool (dry or not) zipped up as usual. Thanks Nolse

Trask, you ARE finally back!

The main routes on the south side are currently closed. However, the NW side has been open all year. There is a sign by the water fountain near the parking lot which points to the closed area right there. The closure is as clearly marked as it's ever been if you want to head there and scope it out. How about sailing to Broughtons Bluff just like Lewis and Clark did a while ago? Then go climb. As cold and as wet as it's been, it's probably the premier place right now.

Ok, I broke down and did the search. It was hard and tough, not like struggling up a 5.5 handcrack kind of way though, but way up there on the difficulty scale. I'll share how I did it: I clicked the word "search" above, then typed in "ballnuts" and changed the "date" to 1 year. Look what I found! What follows is Josephs post word for word: "That's the spirit Blake! There's definitely no need to let gear languish the way it comes out of the box. So, yeah, I modify the following gear: Ball Nuts: a) [Carefully] melt the outer plastic tubing really good [bubbling] and flatten it so it locks the the smaller, inner wire race tubing in place and so the outer tubing doesn't obstruct placements of the smaller sizes; b) On new Trango and Camp BallNutz you should grind the paddle/blade corners to a round chamfer else they tend catch and hang up badly trying to place them in tight spots - this was an inadvertantly oversight when both licensees of the original Lowe/Byrne Ball nut design started manufacturing (along with a couple of other minor details hopefully to be corrected in the next year or so). Tri-Cams: stiffen the webbing with electical cable heat shrink tubing (Radar Electric or URS Electronics); sport tape the cams back to the webbing so that when holding the now stiffened webbing like a stopper you can flip the cam to either the stopper position (uncammed) or in the camming position (folded back); this allows you to place it with an extended reach like a wired stopper and also place it like a cam by just pushing it via the webbing into a crack. Larger cams: all have thin, long, leashed cotter pins for pinning the cams together so when you're climbing they don't hang up on things while racked. Crack N'Ups: Thin wire swaged to the top so you can rack them in the beaks down position; dyneema slings through the hole from the cammed side up around the anchor head, then tied in place with very thin nylon cord; #2s and #3s have plastic tape under the dynemma to keep the sharp edge action down. Metolius Cleaning tool: drilled to accept sewn shoulder leash; point ground ala Opdyke into a small, sharp claw for cleaning out fine cracks (for ballnuts, brassies, and Crack N'Ups. Not a mod, but: A couple of my doubled trad draws have matching doubled loops of elastic/nylon cord along with the doubled sling for setting pieces in opposition where the bottom one won't stay "set" on it's own; the elastic cord keeps the two pieces in tension and so in place until they get loaded by the rope going by or by a fall. I'll have a digital camera in a few days and I'll edit this to add photos... " Heres the link: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/s...true#Post425845 Whew...... enjoy ! Please don't ask how I did this or that with my ballnuts, again, I feel fortunate being able to stick them in the crack frontwards and not backasswards: you have to ask Joseph, a quick reminder, everthing in quotations above (which look like this " " ) are his words, plagerized directly. The plastic really helps the smaller sizes fit in the crack too. Regards Bill

Interesting. Make them better in what way? Increase the expansion ratio? Make the cable more durable? Change the shape of the ball to make them more effective in flared cracks or pin scars? If only we could figure out that search thingy I mentioned above...........Damn they make these computers complicated don't they?

I DID, I DID, LOOK AT ME - I DID!

Hmmm, and it didn't work very well either although I sucessfully trolled B-rock into a short outing! Thanks Jeff! I didn't have to beg or pay for it EITHER! Hey, if you want to replace those rags you call shoes, REI has Mytos on sale right now for $74.00. http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductD...IMBINGundefined

Well, it might be counter productive, but if anybody wants to read the ruling, as opposed to argueing that somebody here heard that somebody else said blah blah.... http://wid.ap.org/documents/scotus/050623kelo.pdf BTW: the eminant domain policy will not change for @ 44 of the states out there, only a few will see a change: like Washington State, which seems happy to sit idle and watch while the builders turn Seattle into a LA style strip-mall shit-hole anyway. BTW, I might be reading the thing upside down, and getting confused: but this case means eminate domain policy still provides for overview, and they still MUST pay for property, and may only exercise eminate domain to transfer to a private party if it benefits the public. Perhaps a small point. Perhaps not. Theft of property is NOT allowed. Paid for with fair pricing, after an ellaborate process to deternime and asses need and direction, and a method with checks and balances for that process is allowed.

Where the hell is Joseph? He not only has this stuff wired, but has a bunch of ways to retro the ballnutz to make them better. I just feel fortunate to be able to figure out which end goes in the crack, so I'm going to refrain from opening my mouth and sounding like an idiot. Well.....opening it any more than I already have I mean. Does anybody know how to do that "search" thingy an see if Joseph might have already answered this? Bill Errrr, I mean in addition to Ferns comments.

If your buddy Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist doesn't step down soon, looks like Hillary will be picking the next justice. From CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/08/rehnquist.legacy.ap/ Chief justice's legacy of federalism fraying States' rights stance takes a beating in recent decisions Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Posted: 1:10 PM EDT (1710 GMT) l WASHINGTON (AP) -- In what may be his last term, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's legacy of limiting the federal government's reach has been tarnished as the states' rights coalition he nurtured for more than a decade splinters on some major issues. The latest example is the Supreme Court decision that a federal marijuana ban trumps state laws legalizing the drug for the seriously ill. Rehnquist also was on the losing side this year in cases that struck down state laws on wine purchases and declared it unconstitutional for states to execute juvenile killers. "In case after case after case in recent years, the strong federalist position doesn't seem to be winning out," said Richard Garnett, a former Rehnquist clerk who teaches at Notre Dame Law School. The chief justice has been the leader of the "federalist five," the five conservatives who generally support states' rights and advocate limited federal government interference. Those five -- Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas -- have voted together to strike down federal laws intended to protect female victims of violent crime and keep guns away from schools. Their reasoning is that those issues are better dealt with at the local level. Scalia and Kennedy parted ways with the five in Monday's ruling giving federal authorities the power to punish sick people who smoke marijuana to ease pain even if they live in states with "medical marijuana" laws. Rehnquist, O'Connor and Thomas warned that the court was inviting Congress to pass intrusive laws. 'Fig-leaf federalism' A ruling for California in the marijuana case would have sealed the Rehnquist states' rights legacy. But that was not expected, in part because the politics of the medical marijuana issue made it tougher for the five justices to stay together. "So far he (Rehnquist) has been able to get five votes for very small, more or less symbolic restraints on Congress," said Nelson Lund, a law professor at George Mason University. "It's what I call fig-leaf federalism." Thomas Goldstein, a Washington lawyer who specializes in the Supreme Court, said, "It's not for lack of leadership. Instead, a majority of the court simply isn't as conservative yet as the chief justice." The four justices who make up the court's more liberal wing -- John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer -- consistently vote together in cases that test the federal government's power. They were united on Monday in another decision that Rehnquist disagreed with, a ruling siding with the federal government in a dispute over ownership of submerged lands in Glacier Bay National Park. Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas filed a partial dissent supporting Alaska. Kennedy wrote the Alaska decision. The moderate conservative also wrote the 5-4 wine decision that critics said usurped a state's right to control alcohol. And he penned the 5-4 ruling that threw out the sentences of 72 death row inmates who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. Tough court Craig Bradley, a law professor at Indiana University and former Rehnquist law clerk, said the chief justice has "an incredibly strong-minded court to deal with." O'Connor, also more moderate than the chief justice, has stranded Rehnquist in major federalism cases before. Last year, for example, she joined the four liberal justices in ruling that disabled people can use a federal law to sue states over inadequate accommodations in courthouses. Garnett said a big test may come next term, when justices consider the Bush administration's challenge to Oregon's unique law allowing physician-assisted suicide. Justices will also take up a case that asks if states can be sued for not accommodating disabled prisoners. The next term starts in October, and the court may have a leadership change before then. Rehnquist has thyroid cancer and is 80. He has been on the court 33 years, and since 1986 has been chief justice. Despite the recent losses, "the Rehnquist federalism jurisprudence is still there," said Thomas Lee, a law professor at Fordham University and former clerk to Souter.

Yup, just look what that little bastard Napoleon did to Paris in the 1800's.

Sh*t it make you wonder how much time Dru spends on this site doesn't it? I'm working on that math now, ....lets seee.....hmmm.... if he was making .50 cents an hour posting here.........he'd have......ummm....something like......ahhhhh.... half a billion dollars or so right now., plus or minus a few million I suppose. Any authorities want to cruise this site to stop a violent criminal act or crap that ruins peoples lives by f*ucked up criminals like identity theft, have at it, I'll send you some extra money to help out if you need it, otherwise, stay our of our bedrooms and living rooms. If I choose to let my 19 year old have a glass of wine at a social function inside of my home and she drinks that alleged glass, I say stay the f*ck out of my life. Citizens know how to make a phone call and invite the authorities in if any of us want to do so. ____________________________________________- Disclaimer: wine may or may not have been drunk by or with minors in my home no actual pets were used or harmed in this solicitation your mileage may vary.

Sure - OK with me Mike. I can always talk about climbing on CC.com like everybody else around here anyway :-) Before any of you hardcore spraymassers flame me, I'm just kidding. ........right. Hey, I think I'm getting breasts from inactivity! Gotta get out and work em off.

Hi Mike! Long time.....well that explains why you never returned my PM, we had room in the campsite in Yosemite. I didn't see you down there either, hope you made it and it was good for you. It was as good as it gets for me, awesome time. Now I want to quit work and move there.......sigh.... Joseph came through and we both got pumped yesterday. How about Thursday after work? Fridays not good for me.