Jump to content

matt_m

Members
  • Posts

    322
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by matt_m

  1. Is he up to 200 attempts on Chronic, yet? I'll have to hit the after work sessions to follow the epic. Marcus is awesome - i didn't realize the mythic status the man has on the route. I work with the guy and you couldn't meet a nicer person. I'm new to the area (little over a year) and every time i mention a route i might try the guy can remember SPECIFIC info - i'm talking holds, gear you name it! He seems to have been EVERYWHERE in WA too! We talked a bunch at work about training and i backed him on taking a break for a while - sanity is important too! To Marcus!
  2. stand corrected - misty beethoven is the opening to Hall Of Mirrors - that pitch called the unfinished 9th combined with the musical ref messed with my memory. so what ARE the correct facts if mine are askew?
  3. I think the story of the resin refers to stuff Bridwell used to do on the apron (Yos). Specifically, to the route Unfinished Symphony. Hard 11. Unfinshed Symphony is the approach route for Hall of Mirrors. 12c and grade VI. See 50 favorites. I lived with a guy that did like the 4th ascent of HOM - said it was a lifetime achievement for him. Anyway - hard slab is awesome - when you get up it, it's as if logic has been defied. Other hard have grips that the mind understands needs strength to grasp. Slab - there's nothing! It's like slowly understand steven hawking stuff. Tick list this year... Unfinished Symphony (both the Yosemite and Squam versions), Dancing in the Light, Magic Carpet Ride. Might even check out Dream On (gone up to the overlap 10d but the stuff above looks BLANK!) good times have to get to work at index too
  4. Index again this past sunday gave me a chance to test new gear (always a continuing affliction for me). 1) Metolius PAS. - OK I know I'm in the minority here but I HATE daisy chains for anchoring - Big, tangles, not really that strong. I've used a 2' sling forever and it worked most of the time but I often got "short slinged" at belays. The PAS it pretty bitchin. About as long as a 3' sling with the loops ala a daisy but everything is full strength. Very cool. Adds a little cluster f... but no more than a daisy. Highly Recomended. 2) BD Positron Locker - nice. small nose goes through tight chain and doesn't get caught on everything. If you're in the market - good small locker. 3) Wild Country 10mm slings. Bigger than the 8mm Mammuts - these are AWESOME. I've run into tangling issues with my friends 8mm and went with the WCs instead. Flatter profile keeps the tangling down. I use them on my "tripled up" draws and they rock. See how durability is with time. more toys tests soon
  5. FYI - REI Seattle got its aliens back in - 5 deep in every size - I swear there's a deal with the devil to have that many in one place - gonna get me a second set when I get the $$. Even cooler - we now have (carry) the BLACK alien - TWO as of Sat PM. first time i've ever seen one in a shop. I've started working with people to see if there's anyway to stock offsets - keep people posted... but don't hold your breath Anyone know local shops that have offsets? Climb On had a set early last year and I'm still kickin myself for not getting them.
  6. Ehh - playing on the apron @ squamish last year i got on some fun stuff that had me 30 - 35 feet out OR 20-25 out SIDEWAYS i think it was called DREAM SYMPHONY - I didn't do the 11b cause it got to hot and I was greasing off the granite
  7. Mammut Champs are great but $$ and not the most H2O resistant I've been impressed with some of the Vahhala Pure stuff I've seen @ squish - might get a pair next time. The Patagonia Guide pants are sweet - I think they're made of some form of the EPIC fabric. Mistrals are enticing but i'd replace the elastic with straight flat webbing first Gamma MX pants are good but too warm for non cold weather use. I've got the old polartec ones - Arc Teryx has switched to some new fabrics so i can't peak for them all
  8. bah - i've met guys that did 12c roof offwidths with gloves wrapped in tape - the simple fact they did the climb is amazing enough. Once you start the tape is aid argument it's a very slippery slope - sticky rubber is aid, modern gear is aid etc etc there is something weird about those mad rock finger condoms though...
  9. I've got the ice lines (8.1) 9.7mm and just ordered a 10.5mm top gun. With their new super coating the durability issues are supposed to be fixed. Beal ropes are my choice for a number of reasons. First and most importantly - Low impact forces. I look at these before I look at anything else on a rope. 2nd - Cut resistance - even the 9.7 passes the UIAA test I think. (Note the UIAA sharp edge test is not as drastic as the one Edelweiss puts their Stratos through - Stratos is still the edge king) Black mark in the middle - easy to spot and doesn't cost me $30 like a bi-color. Hand is great - beals are softer ropes so buy one thickness thicker if you're not used to them - ie - looking at the 9.7 go with the 10.2 flyer and you'll be happy for info of the scientific sort - check out Beal Impact Forces
  10. hey - it's even on the route update link - i need to read up on stuff more often anyone done Heavens Gate?
  11. So Sunday 3/22 was an amazingly nice day to climb. My partner and I, kicking off the training season for an attempt at HDIAD later this year decided to log some milage @ Index. Plan was to do Davis Holland to Lovin Arms twice and burn laps on the lower wall with whatever time we had left. I'd never done the route before (new to WA) but the day was awesome and the rock was dry so we fired it up. First 3 pitches were great - 1st was a little damp but nothing a little chalk couldn't fix. I topped out on #3 and my partner joined me. He says " ok, we go right here following those bolts." I look at him and say "are you sure? I thought you went up the chimney a ways and then traversed past a single bolt." "Nah, last time I did it I went left and then up - we'll meet up with the dike don't worry." So off he goes clipping bolts and looking like he's working pretty hard for mostly .10 stuff. Then he hits the biz and peels 4 times trying to make this high-step rock over move. "Hey, there's another bail biner up here - that's two of them. " he says, at which point I respond " I'd like to enter into the record that I think we're on the wrong route - no bid deal as this one looks good too." He makes the move soon enough and I'm off following the pitch. Damn hard and slopey granite edges challenge me but I almost, climb it clean. Slimed off the hardest move but got it second try. I get to the belay and say - "man - that was the hardest 11b I've done in a while." I looked out left and saw the bolt from the REAL 11b traverse and knew something was amiss. There's a thin crack that leads straight above us for about 60 feet before it turns into face climbing with 2 bolts. I start off on the lead still not sure if we've met back up with lovin arms or if we're off to the right somewhere. Found out soon enough as I try and pull though the crux part of the pitch. Moves very similar to the first hard 11 section on p1 of Japanese Gardens (layback crack with bad feet) send me on a 15 foot ride when my finger locks blow out (crack was a little dirty) Slammed a good little hole in my knee and lowered so my partner could take a stab at it (knee was killing me at that point) HE got it 3rd try and ran the pitch to the top of the wall past the ledge anchors. I followed passing the hard crach section into some hard face climbing past the bolts. The finishing .9+ up the headwall was spectacular. Topped out and compared punctures (he had a nice hole in his shin) Rapped down on our 70m (the rope of choice at index because there seem to be lots of 34m pitches) Got out the book and looked in the back to see if there were any new routes - Sure enough - new route to the right of lovin arms. Senseless Thoughts of Paranoia. 5.11b/c To quote the book - "these pitches are sustained for index" My crack pitch was 11a and not knowing it- was damn near my first 11a onsight. The climb is great and with a little cleaning of the cracks up high would be stellar. Shinny new bolts everywhere so the fixed pro is good. Small cams and nuts a good idea as well. Best part is we both need to go back and do Lovin Arms - Damn, more good climbing. Finished off the day running a few laps to the mid anchors on p1 Jap Gardens - good burn.
  12. I have and still do on a of mine. There are lots of "ideas" out there about what they do and don't do - I'll fire off some of my thoughts. They're most useful where high fall factors will be present - ie first few placements on a pitch - the higher you go the more the ropes dynamic capabilities take over. Worrying about extension is a valid argument IF the decking potential is there - obviously if it's that close - an Actual thought based judgment call will have to be made - thinking for yourself is fun! I use lockers on a few of mine - not so much because of vibration but for the fact that usually - i'm placing these early on the pitch and/or on gear that's not great or not abundant. These two things really make me want my rope to REMAIN clipped into the piece - as unlikely as that may be, a wipper on slab with one bolt between you on the ground really makes me want keep in clipped The idea of the screamer isn't to absorb force (ie eliminate energy) it's to distribute said energy's impact over a greater area (time) thus keeping the PEAK force lower. Summary - I place screamers on pieces early in a pitch that I want to keep peak forces lower on. I use lockers when said piece is my sole pro at that point and thus important to remain attached to.
  13. Check out both of these - the wild countrys are awesome - orderd up a dozen of them asap. The trango is sick light (smaller than the WC but not neutrino small) Mammut also has the same manufacturer for their version of the trango superfly -some company in Italy i think. Two biggest plusses for the WC are the wire gate AND rope radius - the ultralight is like the old standard bd light d!
  14. Any opinions on the new BD tents? What about that REI quarter dome UL? Sub 4lbs ain't bad though the BD goes sub 3 - don't need the 4 season capabilities either...
  15. I tend to find that criticizing a guidebook because its ratings are "soft" or "stiff" is a waste of time. The reason i say this is that almost universally, for every soft climb you can find a stiff climb in the same area. Anyone played on the first 4 pitches of Dream On on the Apron? I'd say that it's spot on 10d. And what of the down grading of Local Boys Do Good? that got dropped to 10d as well. I've done Gunks 5.6 routes that put Yosemite 5.6 to shame. Index? thin fingers 11a is always a good beer debate over softness what of routes changing over time? holds blowing out (steck-salathe) or appearing due to natural weathering? advancement of rubbers? gear? all variables the point is - the variations among areas keep me thinking about my ability as a climber - I consider myself a solid .10 trad climber in the PNW - if i were to go back to NY and start climbing again there i'd start lower and figure it out - knowing areas and how YOU relate to the grades is part of climbing
  16. Just did most of Dream Symphony this weekend (Rapped off without doing the 11b finish because the sun was beating down on me making the "thin padding" rather difficult and slick. Dream State / Dream Symphony climbs are not for the faint of heart. We're talking some nasty runouts here. Great climbing but you better love slab! It was an awesome climb and I'll be back to climb it in cooler weather!
  17. Heading up there this weekend and will check it out - anyone know if its still wet? been dry and sunny all week! Second the request for any info in the Unfinished Sym , Dream On, area. Also - info on Dancing in the Light - I'm on a mission to do some hard slab! Topo for the Peasants Route clean up? Is that the one mentioned as a Work In Progress in the 2001 Guide addendum?
  18. yeah - its an add for beal ropes indirectly but i think it's extremely good info http://www.impact-force.info/anglais/impact.html even more important for trad and big (+80kg) climbers
  19. Been fitting boots for a few years now - I'm damn picky so it took me close to 9 months to pick these boots out. Fit comments - Toe box and forefoot nice and wide - esp around the "bunion" zone. Heel is a little more narrow but has a nice pocket to keep heel slip to a minimum. Stiff but still climbs well. Leather breathes well but the boot is definitely not H2O proof. Insole (as in every boot) sucks - I put in a set of blue superfeet so as not to effect the lift in the heel cup much. You can try them on @ Marmot Mountain over in Bellevue. Trip test - No sh_t - I took them out of the box and put them on at the Snow Lakes trail head (they'd just been picked up that day) 4 days later, with 35,000 feet of elevation change going up and down between snow lakes and Prusik etc the boots rocked. No durability issues so far but long term is still TBD I'd say make sure the fit is right (most important) and go from there. These came highly recommended to me from a bud that guided for Exum in the Tetons for a bunch of years. Other boots tried: Sportiva Trango S - Light, stiff but more narrow and funky heel fit for me. KAyland Multitraction - narrow all around but seemed to me to be a great climber - stiff as well but heavier
  20. Got down of DEB of S. Early Winter - cool route - Car to summit in 5hrs. Anyway - there looked like a lot of good stuff around and being new to the area I've discovered Becky and Smooth don't have the greatest info on trad climbing in the north cascades (newer stuff) Someone told me to find Burdo's book? Where? Any good?
  21. Break Down Schoeller makes Dynamic, Dryskin Dryskin Extreme 3x Malden Mills : Powershield (both Reg and new Lighter Weight Vers) There's also EPIC by Nextec - get to that in a sec Arctery'x Gamma LT stuff used to use the Schoeller Dynamic (I have the pants and they're great for warmer weather) Their new MX line uses the lighter version of the Powershield REI Uses the heavier Powershield in their "One" JKT and the Shoeller Dynamic in the the Mistral stuff. Cloudveil, Mammut and Marmot use the Dryskin Extreme 3x in various products Ice Floe, Serendipty Jkts, Champ Pants, ATV Jkt Champ Pants rock for most conditions and are ergonomically cut to boot. Patagonia uses a proprietary Powershield for their Core Skin seires (checkered fleece inside ala R. series instead of straight fleece) Their Guide pants and Dimension Jkt both used a version of EPIC fabric. Schoeller fabrics are a "weave" style soft shell. They tend to be more breathable and flexible than powershield. Powershield (both thicknesses) is a laminate. The outer layer is the stretchy DWR coated part laminated to fleece inner section. These tend to be more weather and abrasion resistant but sacrifice some breathability and stretch for it. EPIC is an encapsulation process in which individual fibers are coated in a "rubber" before being woven together. Falls somewhere between the other two in functionality. I have and have used all three and found they fit different uses well. Champ pants (Dryskin Extreme 3x) and Dimension Jkt (EPIC 7oz) are my faves There are new ones out there like Trango by GORE but haven't had a chance to test those yet...
×
×
  • Create New...