Sabertooth

Interesting thread. If I were doing a bouldering warmup, it wouldn't be The Cleft. There are tons of boulder problems at Minne, including pages and pages of V0s to warm up on. Most of them are away from the main area where Mountain School is held. There are also LOTS of other places to climb in Spokane like Post Falls, Dishman, Tower Mountain, Deep Creek, Tum Tum, etc. If one weekend a year is crowded at Minne because of Mountain School, just go someplace else. An easy solution.

Get a copy of Marty Bland's guide when you get here. You can get one at Mountain Gear on North Division Street, or at Mountain Goat on Sprague and Division. Routes that I've enjoyed climbing or flailing on... The Dihedral - 5.9+ - 4 stars - A classic line on the center of the main wall. Very sustained, and well protected. Don't miss it. Get there early, it's very popular. The Diagonal - 5.8 - A sweet line that is runout on 4th class at the start, but has some nice sustained climbing above. Takes pro very well at the technical portions. Don Quixote - 5.10D - Awesome double overhanging cracks. Very pumpy and sustained. Probably Minne's only true pure crack climbing. Z Crack - 5.10A - A short but nice zig zagging crack on the Don Q. face. The Hooker - 5.11C - A really cool big heal hook move to start. Would be really burly to lead. Looks like good pro on the upper section, bring a pad. Heart Route - 5.9 - Fun crimpers and edging next to Y crack. 2 Quickdraws ad a large nut protects it. Lots of good boulder problems too, up to V11 I believe. Dirk Diggler V4/5 is the most popular. Protection is poor on some routes, but it's still fun to work them on TR. Lots of camping at Mount Spokane State Park, only 20 minutes away.

Cool video, thanks for sharing. What are the ratings on the routes in it?

5 day roadtrip to Smith, leaving Friday afternoon.

Hmmm, twisting a one finger jamb as you go up. I think I'll avoid trying that. Thanks for the info.

I was reading the really interesting section called "A Walk In The Park" on Climbingwashington.com today, and saw the term "mono-doight twister" referred to while ascending a 5.13 crack. A google search only brings up the article itself. Does anyone know what this is?

Nope

Saweeeeeet! Nice TR and Pics!

A few ideas to throw around... The Diamond on Bear. Liberty Crack was done all free, a 12 pitch 13B. Navigator Wall on Slesse. Victory Ridge fully covered in thick rime. Several routes on Rainier like a direct line up Liberty Wall.

Christine's record speaks for itself.

Those are some pretty bold words there Dr. Shappattack. I'll make sure to mention the name Jason Shappart to the guys I know, and tell them you think their work sucks.

Didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

Saweeeet! Looks like you can drive all the way to the hairpin from the east. Hmmmm, maybe I'll have to give that Early Winters Couloir a try a bit earlier.

Mount Si on Steroids??? Man I love Scott's writing.

There is bouldering too, but that area has recently seen a plethora of development of multi-pitch sport routes. I haven't been down there, but I know two of the "drillers". No guidebooks on these routes yet.

Attached is photo of rbw and shredder bailing down the couloir below the upper buttress of Yocum. They are single pixels, so I changed them to white, so you could see them. Damm, that looks like a steep downclimb. Glad you guys made it off ok. That was me dressed as the Michelin Man at the saddle chatting with you guys.

Nice trip report. That's a lot of ground to cover, you guys were moving pretty quickly. Was the North Face raining down ice particles?

I've never seen ice on the Devil's Kitchen Headwall, it might be possible though. Maybe 2 pickets, 2 or 3 screws, and 2 tools. The 1C Couloir in Oregon High gets lots of windblown powder deposits in it. You'll know very quickly if it's going to go or not. Check your forecast. Tomorrow's weather looks good, Sunday looks bad to me.

1. The central section that is knifedged is not loose at all, and has good easy climbing, with nice exposure. 2. We placed almost all nuts, you should have looked harder. 3. Based upon Topozone, the NE Ridge is approximately 1,500 feet long. So how much does a 750 foot rope weigh?

NE Ridge is either 5.2 if you stay off the crest, or 5.5 for a move or two directly on the crest. It's a good route to simulclimb.

A correction to my post yesterday. The rappel fall occured from off the far end of the sunshine wall, right above the point where the Millenium Wall and The Hen House Wall connect, not at The Tilted Pillars.

My condolences go out to the victim's wife/partner, and the rest of their family. Our group from Spokane was close to the victim's final resting place, which was at the base of Millenium Wall. He impacted 30 feet from us. I assisted in moving the body into a position for CPR, and friends of mine performed the CPR. I helped carry the backboard down to the site, and took photos of the tradgedy. The victim's partner told us that the accident occured during a rappel from the top of sunshine wall in the area between the kingpins and tilted pillars. She indicated that the accident occured because one end of the rope was only part of the way down. She stated that she tried to grab the rope at the anchor as the victim was yelling up at her, but didn't get ahold of it in time. She stated that the victim realized he was at the end of the rope, and was desperately holding on to the end that was in mid air, yelling up at her. A very sad day.

Looks like you're going to have to come to P.F. instead. Leave those tools home! :smirk 12:00 if you're interested, Post Wall.

What are the strangest names for routes you have ever seen? I thought I had seen it all until I heard about some new routes in Tieton. Diarrhea Direct, Fudge Packer, Dirty Sanchez??? Come on Joe, you can do better than that. Kids climb here. How about some names a little less offensive, for the new book?

Here is a photo taken by Gary Yngve last weekend that shows it. The second rap anchor is on the right edge of the large rock buttress in the photo. It is right next to the rope. If you are confident enough to solo the NEB, then this couloir would be an easy downclimb with 2 tools. The only steep part is getting over the cornice, and about 20 to 30 feet past that. After that, it is about 50 degrees at Wazzu indicates. Definately an easy downclimb.