catbirdseat

Climb: Snow Creek Wall-Champagne Date of Climb: 9/19/2005 Route Description: Leave any gear you don't want to take at the base of the Outer Space Walk off. Take the Easter Tower Notch route to get to the start of Champagne. There is a short chimney with a couple of 5.8 moves that is easily protectable. Don't try to avoid it by going around. Scramble up the rest of the gully, 4th class, to the notch. The first pitch of Champagne is easily recognizable. The hardest moves are the first few out of the notch up a left facing corner (nuts for pro). Traverse left on a narrow grassy ledge and then continued up a crack to a roof and traverse right past an old 1/4 inch bolt. Don't belay here if you have a 60 m rope. Continue on up knobs with a crack for pro to a nice belay spot by some bushes with a 2 foot wide ledge to the right. You have a choice for the second pitch of a 5.4 gully straight up or, better, to the right on knobs and chickenheads, 5.5. Walk right on the ledge about 10 ft and you'll see a crack that peters out about 10 ft up. Ascend this then clip an old 1/4" bolt with a loose hanger. Continue up and to the right on easier climbing on big chicken heads with no pro for about 30 ft. Step right into an easy groove where eventually you'll get a cam, then continue up to a broad, grassy ledge, a good spot to belay. This pitch is a bit run out but it is quite easy and fun. You'll end up directly below the big chimney. The third pitch goes up a 5.6 chimney that some claim is harder than that. There are two chockstones, initially for pro, and then various cracks on the right side that take nuts. Top out by pulling over chockstones. Belay immediately above or continue on. Probably better to belay here for communications. If one of you is wearing a pack, be "generous" and volunteer to lead this pitch, and let the follower wear the pack. The fourth and last pitch is up a low 5th or 4th class offwidth. The crack was too wide for the pro at first but narrows to where you can get a cam in about 15 ft up. The pitch finishes on another big ledge with large trees. Here you have a choice of three or more ways of getting up to the ridge top from about 5.4 to 5.8. The easiest of these is the one furthest to the right and starts by a small doug fir tree. Best described as 5.fun. Enjoyable and easily protected. This puts you at a flat area with a piton in a block for an anchor. Scramble (some may wish to rope up) along ridge about a half rope legth to a rap station hidden under a block. It is right before a pair of skinny rock pinnacles. Make a 30 m rappel to a ledge. Make another 20 m rap to where a ledge system will take you left to the dirt. Follow goat paths up to a notch (below which is White Slabs/ Umbrella Tree) and continue along the ridge, up and over a hill then back down to the Outer Space walk off. Trip Report: Our group of six arrived at SCW at about 9:30 am. I led up the 5.8 chimney and brought up Jim and Erin. Jim brought up the rest while Erin and I got started on the first pitch. I led using a single set of nuts and set of cams to 3.5 Friend plus Blue to Orange Aliens and placed every cam except for the Blue Alien. Rope drag can be bad on this pitch, if you aren't careful, because of the way in which it wanders. Double ropes might have been nice. Dawn and Ben who both started leading this year followed, with Dawn leading the first pitch. She cursed like a sailor (as usual) on what she later would call her toughest lead to date. Jim and Lee were in the cleanup role with Lee leading solidly on the first pitch, which is the hardest one. We waited at the belay long enough to be sure Dawn would be able to see which way we went on the second pitch. I was sort of guessing on this based on reports from Toast, but we got it right. It's more fun going up the chicken heads rather than the gully to the left (the more obvious way) which is how we'd done it before. We waited at the grassy ledge for what seem a long time and headed up the chimney. At the top I had a better view of the second pitch and waited to bring Erin up. Ben went past the ledge and headed up the chimney, forgetting he'd soon run out of rope. He stopped and belayed from a chockstone, brought Dawn up to the ledge from which she belayed so he could continue. Erin didn't like the chimney on account of the pack she was wearing. She slung it so it hung below her, but then it kept getting hung up. Packs and chimneys don't get along. We continued on up to the ridge and waited for what seemed like an interminable period of time, beefing up the rap anchor and waiting some more before we started rapping. Built a new anchor for the second rap as we didn't see any existing ones. They probably all got burnt up in the fire. Got tired of waiting so pulled the rope and did the second rap. Shouted at Dawn and waited some more and finally heard voices and then spotted Dawn quickly followed by Jim. Glad we were all back together as it was now 4 pm or so. Got everyone down uneventfully and pulled the ropes without either getting stuck. The tennis shoes we hauled were nice to have for the hike, although Ben elected not to bring them. That's a long walkoff in rock shoes, if you ask me. Started down the White Slabs walkoff by mistake, but quickly recognized we were in the wrong place and reversed course and soon saw the familiar flat area at the top of Outer Space. The down hike was uneventful except that Ben, Erin and I missed a turn at the very bottom and had to hike back up a hundred feet or so to our waiting packs and the water we were so thirsty for. Hiked out to the cars where we arrived at 7 pm, very late. Jim and Erin had been racing each other on the trail. Jim had been in the lead until his pack came open and its entire contents emptied out on the trail. Erin caught up while he was hurredly stuffing everything back inside. Lee's wife wasn't too happy to be kept waiting. Erin missed her dinner party and got a speeding ticket trying to get to a phone. The Sheriff's deputy very kindly let her use his cell phone as he wrote the ticket. Jim, Erin and I stopped at 59er Diner for some food while the others headed quickly home.

If this was the US, someone would have been shot. How can that be? We all know that guns don't kill people, people kill people. In Canada it is hoses don't squirt people...

Adopt-A-Crag (Clean-up) Day Date: Saturday, September 24, 2005 Time: 9:00AM - 3:00PM PDT (GMT-07:00) The Frenchman Coulee Climbers’ Coalition is hosting the Access Fund’s 6th Annual Adopt-a-Crag Day on September 24th at 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Volunteers are needed to maintain trails, remove garbage, re-seed bare ground and control erosion. Meet at the main climbers’ parking lot at the Frenchman Coulee Climbing Area (a.k.a., Vantage) on September 24th beginning at 9:00 am. For more information, contact Kevin Dwight at kdwight@elltel.net

As the book says, it's a couple of 5.8 moves to get up over that chockstone. Believe me when I say it is easier than it looks. There are a couple of good cracks up under there that allow you to protect it really well, using nuts, cams or both. After the chockstone there is another step with a few low fifth moves and then more 3rd/4th class to the notch. You should have just gone for it.

We had a fun time with this route yesterday. We started into the ridge traverse, but then decided we were running out of time, so opted to rap off the backside and hike up the goat paths to the Outer Space walkoff. For those interested, it takes two single rope raps from the ridge near the two prominant pinnacles (about half a pitch from the east end of the ridge). You would need to use a 60 m rope reach our lower rap station. Don't make the same mistake we made and start down towards White Slabs (didn't get far before figuring it out). Once you have hiked up to the notch, continue on along the ridge a ways before decending to the OS walkoff.

Old story. And yes, I knew the guy was a nut case.

Here's the interview with the pilot. Climbing Magazine Article

I rather doubt he would have done something like that if he had a friend in the world.

It is the result of "google bombing". Snopes Explanation

I hope someone worked him over. But chances are that never happened and he's happiliy living on the government dole.

So post a link or else tell us what you know about it.

Somehow I had you pegged as the "anti-klenke", but now I see I was wrong.

I overheard some fellow at UW Rock telling a story about a bloke in France who took a sledge hammer to all the holds on some well known bouldering route or routes. I tried googling it up, but didn't find anything. Has anyone heard a similar story? For all I know, this could be ancient history.

I heard they got an approvable letter from the FDA. Too bad Stefan.

Someone told me you can tell when it's -40 when your spit freezes before it hits the ground. Probably applies to piss as well.

Oh, are you referring to that pot dealer? The guy who got rich peddling dope. THAT guy?

Larry, go eat some more grass.

"A very common thickening agent Cabisil or Colloidal Silica, although pretty strong, is really not best for structural support. Use this when you need to fill for contouring. West Systems makes a Microlight Filler material that is designed for use as an easy-to-sand/shape filler. It makes a mixture that looks like a chocolate shake and when mixed really thick, can create a formable gel. Great for filets!" The microlight filler is also known as Microballoons. I believe Aerogel is another name for the lightest of colloidal silicas.

The Beatles, although they didn't have the same longevity. No other band comes close, including Led Zepplin, though certainly a worthy band, no question.

Dude, I can't see Hello Kitty and not think "Dru!". I guess it makes you a "hybrid" avatar?

Lithuim_161, Neswstar, lowlght and others may or may not be misspelled intentionally? How about those forgotten avatars? MaideninherPeak, Lord_Albert_Winchester, Markus_Twighticus...

Spray is where it's at today! Today shall be proclaimed National Spray Day!

Seems to me that the default should be "Older than 1 Week". I can usually find stuff newer than a week by just browsing.

Good Earth Tea. Can't be beat.

Toast used to like that place. I've been there once or twice.