Sol

Sounds like your back in the game Max, nice work on your rehab! EPIC adventure up there, WOW! I've always enjoyed being the friendly local, you end up with lots more friends and six-packs (from loaning your gear, giving beta, offering shower/hottub/places to crash, etc.). Geuss those dudes dont like friends or beer..

YES! Bad idea!

Nice work crew!

BONE CRUSHER!!!

I'd say best practices are for the leader to either leave two draws for the initial lower and any subsequent topropes. Then the final climber cleans the draws and lowers through the fixed anchor, minimizing wear. Even easier: have the leader clip into the two cold shuts, then add a single biner to either the left or right bolt hanger and clip into that, effectively decreasing the wear on the two cold shuts by taking the load. Last climber simply pulls the single biner and lowers off via the fixed anchor.

L-Town: Zweibles, Rainshadow, Shriek of the Mutilated. Index: Fifth Force (CLICK) , Bat Skins, Spooner, Natural Log Cabin, P4 Japanese Gardens.

They must not fit you or any of your friends.

So sorry to hear this news. Condolences to yourself and your family Lowell.

Aaron's got the beta. Easy and quick secret squirrel descent to the base. No up and over, no top of Aasgard, but you do miss out on the frolicking in the meadows on the plateau.

WAsome! Tim's Flake looks like Pickets stone at its finest! Thus far I nominate you for choss-dawg of the year.

I'll sell you a black alien. I'll send you a PM.

Fer sure, it could definetly be a FA or portions thereof, but it seems like every few years someone does a new FA on Prusik which makes me think it's all been climbed before. Nonetheless like you said, it's the experience not the documentation that counts!

Nice work! Looks like a great weekend. I imagine that much of the new route you guys did was climbed in the late 80's by Fred Yakijlic. Fred put up four routes in the Solid Gold vicinity including the likely FA of Solid Gold. This is what Dberdinka wrote in my original Solid Gold TR : You shouldn't let that take away from your adventures though. Like Wayne and party on Solid Gold, you can't fake the thrill of climbing into the unknown on lichen covered white granite! Big ups to Mr. Yakijlic for throwing down back in the day!

Impressive work Chelan County Mountain Rescue Assocaition!

Surprising amount of loose rock on that route despite the popularity. There's been a few flakes up above the chamber that have been poised to come down for a few years. Belay beyond psychopath is still cleaning up after being obliterated from natural rockfall a few years back. Lately I've been drawn more and more to obscuriites and in consequence rarely, if ever, do I climb below any other climbers. Definetly a thing to consider.. I'd be interested to hear the details of the rockfall as well. I'll be up that way later this week and could check route condition.

I was also going to suggest upper town walls at Index. If you do get on Thin Red Line, I would do your best to avoid nailing as it is just as popular these days as a free climb. Though roadside, TRL is going to have some alpine characteristics to it that may be right up your alley or might be more then you want to deal with. Snowy approach, possible moat issues, once the "wall" portion of the climb is done a moderate 5th class finish that would be hellish to haul, and a straightforward though alpiney descent. That being said, the views and the environs up on that wall are all time. Lots of bigger stuff a bit north at Squamish including Uncle Ben's, Cowboys and Indians, etc..

I use a Petzl Microcender for my top piece and a Petzl Micro-traxion for the bottom. I like the Micro-cender as it uses cam instead of teeth. Being the top piece it is the only one that gets waited in falls. Call me old school but I never liked the idea of possibly taking dynamic falls with a toothed device onto a rope. I keep it oriented using the stretchiest thera-bands. I like the Micro-trax on the bottom because it's light, feeds well, and makes a great hauling pulley for lightweight mini big wall freeclimbing.