skyclimb

Trip: Sawtooths - Mt. Cramer-North Face- 5.11a C2- Date: 8/13/2008 Trip Report: My friend Jimmy Watts and I sent this line. I have been eyeing it for a year now, and when I met Jimmy in the Bugaboo's this spring, I knew that the partner had finally arrived for this endeavor. Jimmy is from Boise, and I usually am around Idaho in the summers looking at timber, so plans were hatched. I knew the line was steep, and I knew the rock should be solid, but when we got to the face the roofs, and dihedrals were so big, I have to admit we were a little apprehensive. The line takes the obvious massive dihedral system for 3 long pitchs, and then works right through a roof out onto the face into another beautiful diheadral. From here blast straight up to the top. Pitch 1- 5.10 C1 65 meters Pitch 2- 5.10 C2- 59 meters Pitch 3- 5.10 C2- 30 meters pitch 4- 5.9 65 meters pitch 5- 5.11a 58 meters pitch 6- 5.7 ( a few moves) 55 meters We don't know if this has been done before, all my research and talking with locals has turned up nothing. This route is sustained at the grades, the rock is immaculate, and is a real canidate for being freed ( we aided about 25 feet of the 1,000 ft.). I couldn't have asked for a more headstrong, solid partner. A very memorable day in the hillz! Gear Notes: Doubles, with one #4 and #5 camelot....rp's very useful on crux free pitch Approach Notes: Take the boat across redfishake, and hike about 6-8 miles to cramer lake.

We were also there for the 3 day weather window!!! The day before that 3 inches of snow fell at applebee camp, and about 6 inches around the howsers and pigeon. The col was cruiser...no need for crampons or axes, however it was rapidly deteriorating, and small bits of gray ice were starting to show at the top of the col...the shrund' was also quickly beginning to open as said before. All the trade routes seemed good to go as evidenced by the traffic....there were some large cornices on the summit ridge of south howser...so that could be time consuming. Hope this helps Counterfeit...were you staying at applebee?

Funniest thing I have seen all day, but very true!

I will always purchase Garmin. I use my GPS everyday, all day long in the mountains doing contract forestry work. Time is very important to me, as time is money. The Garmin legend, and the cheaper blue unit are what I use now. I have used the $2000 magellen units for super high accuracy contracts, but IMHO they are no better than the Garmin. I work along side guys who use the new Rhino units, which have features like 2-way radios, however these cost $500. Eventually you will loose a GPS if you use it a lot, so why pay for all the frills, if the accuracy will be the same. Garmin is industry trusted, sounds like you got a lemon. Edit: don't buy a geko, as switching between datums is a major problem...for instance the geko can't goto NAD27 CONUS, so your lat/longs or UTM's will be off from the map you are using. This error could put you .10 miles easily. Many of the older guys I have worked with also have had trouble reading the screens on the Gecko unit.

Thanks for the advise. Sounds like I will need to try and take it easy for a few weeks...at least. Nick

Wazup Ian! Congrats on the house. When I was out on the crooked river ranch, living with Chris, we had a cave. There were a few walls that were vertical, which helped for smith, and the holds were cheap, cause they are tiny, but most of the stuff was 10-45 degrees overhanging. The most overhanging stuff was made arete style, so you could heel hook up/slap which help with core strength primarily, while on the 10 degree shit, grip strength seemed to really get worked. Go see Chris, as he pretty much built the place, and it is probably amazing by now. Cheers

Hey everyone! I broke some ribs skiing a few days ago, and am going fawking crazy just sitting around. I broke them on the left side right under the pectoral muscle. I am curious what exercises you all have found can be done without prolonging the injury? Thanks for the suggestions, Nick

PM sent

Koflach Degree-EUR 8.5 Intuition Liner- EUR 8 Good Condition $100 OBO Nick

That sucks. Jim was an inspiration to us all. Completely selfless, and one hell of a climber.

Nice! Looks like a fun day in da hillz

Found a camera at the base of Ellingwood Arete about a week ago, still works. Send a PM with camera info for return.

Glock, california clip..15 with one in the hole. Train, as you would with any serious piece of machinery. Shotguns are too bulky and akward for urban warfare. Glock will withstand saltwater submersion, being run over by trucks....and still fire.This is something you will have for years to come, and may pass on to future generations, don't skimp on price. Springfield makes another very good 40 cal. with a two point safety feature, grip and trigger...also has passed a water submersion...don't know if that is saltwater though. Also the price of ammo should be a deciding factor, as you should be going through a shit ton of it training to be a marksman if your life will depend on it. For instance, 40 cal. ammo is a bargain compared to .38cal. This is a very tough decision for people to make, and a lot of questions need to be asked. Will you be able to use it if the need arises? Will owning this tool instigate more problems than it will solve? Will you invest the time it takes to be safe so civilian bystandards aren't hit by strays? Have fun

Ate two marmots about two weeks ago...skinned them up, cut off the back legs(they are mostly gut), and then cooked in aluminum foil with lemon and pepper...pretty tasty, although quite gamey. I have been trying to kill a grouse for weeks, probably lost 500 dollars in time running around after those sneeky fuckers. Can't wait for that though. Anywho, I usually will go with a good quesadilla( tortilla, hotdogs, cheese, salsa, lemon), horsecock and pasta with cheese, cheese fondue(cheese, wine, bread)...and the biggest food trick is nutter butter bars....310 calories per bar....two boxes equals two days! Throw in a pack of tuna, and you have a good grade V lightwight calorie fest.

This is a good route on good granite. The first pitch on the upper peak is 55 meters of pure joy...fingers, hands, ow, chimney, mantels, face...Two tunnel pitches...fun...moderate goodness. It also was really fun, because the first 5 pitchs are slabby climbing, and the upper 4 pitches are steep jug-fests. Elisif was a joy to climb with, and kept her spirits up even on the night time raps and bushwacking into the unknown. If anyone else wants to come get some send me a PM, schedule is flexible. Cheers, Nick

Good to see some great company enjoying some great cracks! Cheers to all three of you.

Right on! Thanks.

Thats great! Eddy was talking about that trip this winter in the San Juans, funny to run into a TR about it here! Cheers! Eddy if your out there, its on this winter...Silverton,T-Ride!

Thanks for the TR, I've always wondered about that route...unquestionably one of the major ticks in the oregon cascades...and 10 times, fuckin' A!

solid 5.7 with the use of pine tar....sandbagging mofo's.

Thats fucking smooth. Good headspace for sure, he's got that shit dialed. Even busts out the cliffhanger for style points.

The routes are of Warpy Moople...mega classic, The Return of the Liar king(one of the first few ascents), possibly a shot in there from Excitable Boys. The Thumb is a fun route. I tried soloing that thing, and ended up down climbing from the crux. I thought I was off route....no way this can be 5.6. Turns out I was on route...went back with a rope and slayed it. There is so much new stuff waiting to be done there it doesn't seem real. If you can bust out the hooks, features can be linked for a lifetimes worth of new adventures.

Trip: Black Canyon of the Gunnison - Kachina wings and Journey Home Date: 6/1/2007 Trip Report: Something that can be potentially dangerous in the Black canyon is to just eye up a line, and go for it, especially with just a rope, rack and the shirt on your back. . My bro Andrew and I met in Gunnison for a little memorial day debauchery in the Black. The next day we were rapping and hiking down the cruise gully through copious amount of that shinny little plant we all love so much...poison ivy. Thats when we saw IT. That beautiful dihedral just went on forever....unfortunatly with our googly eyes we overlooked the 100 ft. pegmatite band that ran straight through it. Pegmetite for those uninitiated is a less than solid form of rock, that makes volcanic choss seem bombproof. It is what commands the most respect in the black. Away we went, simul climbing for around 400 feet, till the shit got steep. Andrew took off on lead rocking out a 180 ft. of sustained 10+...an amazingly good pitch of fingers hands and lyebacking. From the hanging belay I shot up about 20 feet of the same, and then the rock gradually turned to pegmatite. 100 feet later with much dry heaving, I was able to build a 6 piece hanging belay in the pegmatite. Fortuntly I had that bomber RP, or shit would have been real wild. Andrew came up, and then embarked on the 6 inch wideness ahead( wish we had the big gear).About 30 feet up, with dubious gear between him and I he was psyching up for running the next 50 feet out through the pegmatite squeeze from hell. Luckily our senses prevailed, and we bailed. 100 dollars worth of bailage and it was time to hike back out the cruise gully. Sonofabitch, we were 300 feet from the top, but so far away. Turns out the route is called Kachina Wings...The name is derived from Ed Websters 80 ft. winger on one of the dihedral pitches. Kachina means either spirit or devil...I can't figure out which. A shower at the local RV park, and we were both back in reality. A little poision ivy, but feeling ready for our next adventure...Journey Home. This time we actually checked the Guidebook... Journey home is one of the best routes I have done anywhere. The rock is great, the climbing is sustained at 5.10 for 600 ft., and the pitches are uber long, making a 70 m rope a necessity. It has everything from fingers, to hands, to o/w and chimney's. We both managed to catch some airtime, but the gear is great, and is always fairly close by. Can't wait for next season!!! Gear Notes: RP's are essential Approach Notes: Down the cruise Gully

I love Rudy's, and even bought one of the shirts.. "I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables", love that prime rib, and brisket....AHHH I was living up on the mountain for quite a few months doing forest inventories for the national forest there, so the approach was very quick by driving up, but i always did want to do the tram apporach just for the novelty of it. Red or green, as long as its hot!

Trip: Sandia's Rock - Date: 5/22/2007 Trip Report: This is a photo essay of the Sandia's, located east of Albuquerque "crackie", NM. It is all alpine, and is all good in a wild sort of way. The approaches are from the crest down. The crest sits at about 10,500 ft. and is still holding snow. The rock is granite, and varies greatly in quality. Even the best routes seem to have loose pitches, however this just makes the good ones all the better. The grades are all stout old school, and a hold seems to appear everytime things get desperate...what more could you ask for? Hundreds of routes up to grade VI, most are around 800-1200 feet ranging from 5.8-5.12. Don't be surprised if you end up making F.A.'s trying to find exisiting routes, or doing some gardening en-route, but shit, this is the mountains right? Gear Notes: Double sets, RP's are your friend Approach Notes: Downhill