Sol

ya post em, let's see cori cranking down.

So i've lead both sloe children and the third pitch of NAD in the past 2 weeks and although sloe children was proabaly the best finger crack i've climbed, i'd have to agree that the third pitch of NAD is the shit. as stated before its got everything fingers, hand, fist, off width. so, i've heard SC called benchmark 10+ for index; i found slow children significantly easier and less sustained than pitch 3 of NAD and would proabaly rerate the third pitch of NAD to 5.11-. Anyone agree, disagree?

just wanted to thank masternate and the WWU outdoor center for the great mike libecki presentation last night. it was killer. I geuss libecki's brother lives in whatcom county, so mikes' brothers' bluegrass jamband played while mike was giving the slideshow. mike showed this hilarious little video he had made while soloing a big wall in greenland that really showed the sense of humor you have to have to endure such a sufferfest by yourself. I won a dark side of the black diamond t-shirt in the raffle that really made my night. thanks again OC,

Thanks for the beta. Interesting that in the Sky Valley guide the first pitch is rated 5.11 A2, even though C ratings are prevelant on many of the aid climbs in the book. ???

perfect, thanks.

Thanks for the info. Would you recommend the last pitch? it kinda intrigues me because it was on of the first 10's put up at index. I heard the first pitch got freed, what's the rating? Also, does the first pitch get aided clean very often?

Anyone got any beta on the last pitch of this route? In Cramer's Sky Valley book he says its a 10b squeeze that will only protect with big gear. How big? Also, cramer says bad anchors? Does anyone know what these bad anchors are? would be willing to fix a couple pins or drill a bolt to beef up the anchor, would either of those be a solution or is the problem bad rock? thanks for any info,

what do you use to lube your cams? wd-40, tri-flow, metolius cam lube? why? why not?

Sweet! Nice job!

I've done those last pitches by linking in on the Green dragon and I can see where your coming from. But, call me a traditionalist, cuz I just don't feel like i've finished a route until I stand on top of the wall. I had a vendetta with the last pitch of the green dragon until this past December. When I did finally finish that pitch on like my 5th or 6th time on route, it was the first time it really felt complete. it's different for us all though, word.

There was about 20 ft of slime on the 2nd pitch when i soloed it a week ago, and it looked even drier on wed. but that's proabaly all changed now.

neato, thanks D.

word, thanks.

funny, similar situation went throught my head on wednesday. 50 min of algebra class or index in the sun....??? Index won, climbed Davis Holland Lovin Arms in t-shirts. route is 98% dry and the wet sections are still freeable, get some. hey bigwalling was that you on the dragon? did you bail or where you just shuttling gear?

Does anyone have any beta on linking pitches on the town crier at index? I know there is a couple of extra belays and figure theres got to be a way to shorten the climb by a pitch or two. Any thoughts? thanks, .

I made a bunch of gear through the fairhaven college at WWU last year. Not only did I get credit for it I also scored equipment and supplies grants so that all the materials were paid for. One of the items I made was a single bivy sack with epic fabric on the top and waterproof taffetta on the bottom. though the bag is super-light, I don't think it is worth using the epic fabric as it does leak in even moderatly wet situations. I used a pattern that I bought from a fabric company in Wyoming called Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics. Though the original dimensions for the single sack are a bit too roomy, it would be easy to modify them for the two person. One thing I did like about the pattern was this visor that you built into the closure so you could wear the opening like a hat. hard to explain, but surprisingly functional. If you have any questions, feel free to PM.

Hey, nobody mentioneed Blue Autumn at Vantage. Looks to be a bit more accesible now that that pesky tower got knocked down. Anybody climb this one? I've had my eye on it for a while I just need to round up all the big gear.

great info darin. after using the sp with two biners like the manufactuer suggests i had a hunch that not everybody complied. yes, i use a back up knot. ususally just clove hitches and I do not pre-ty them so they don't get stuck. what about ropes, any thoughts? I could have friday off, index?

just to clarify, you use a single oversized screw link with the silent partner?

A while ago i posted asking about the sp and modified gri-gri's and such. well, i picked up a silent partner after hemming and hawwing for way too long. i used it a bit and so far I really like it. I'm wondering what size and/or brands of ropes people have found to work well with it? Also, are there any locking HMS carabiner recommendations for attaching it to the harness? Last time I used pezal attache's because they are keylocks but they ended up being way too small and made it quite a hassle to take the sp on and off. does anyone go with only a single biner to attach it to the harness instead of the recommended two? I wonder about the physics of the device this way, but if that was not a problem i think one of those big ol stainless steel lockers would be the goods. thanks ahead for any thoughts.

Your going to get lots of different opinions about what aider systems are the best. I use two single aiders on their own keylock carabiners for everything below c/a3, for anything harder i would use 3 single aiders, two for standing in, one for bounce testing. i think the two sets of aiders system causes too much fluking cluster, is over complicated, and heavy. I think for full on aid routes (not just a pitch of two of aid) the metolius easy aiders would suck because you would be constantly re-adjusting them instead of just sticking your feet in and out of rungs. Note: the two single aider system puts you in greater jeaoapardy of dropping an aider so for longer routes i throw a lightweight metolius alpine aider in the bottom of the haulbag just in cause. Just a comment about metolius easy daisies, I don't know if you've ever looked at the breaking strength of them but its somewhere around 300 lbs. In my opinion that is way too weak to hold up to the rigors of loads that could accompany big wall climbing. Though you should take all efforts to avoid them, static falls onto daisies do happen, and would snap those easy daisies in a second (but maybe thats good, better than your back). though they wear out realatively quick and are somewhat expensive I use and recommend the yates wall daisies. they rock. just some food for thought, .

hey, that other group was my bro bobby and I. truly the most alpine conditions i've seen at vantage: ice on route, spindrift avalanches onto the belayer when topping out, foot and a half deep snow drifts; classic northwest winter free climbing. we were as surprised as you guys to see other people out there. remember that if you ever want to check on current conditions at vantage the WA Department of Transportation website has a webcam posted on silica road.

ha

just got a pro traxion for hanukkah. will part with my petzl wall hauler for $30.

Nice pics ty. Another good day on the upper town wall,