shapp

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n=5019539&e=446097&s=50&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25 Here is a link to Duns Bluff. I would advise having a high clearance vehicle to get to there from the Moss Springs trail head. Park on the dirt road that is to the est of the cliff. Hike straight for the small wetland pond, cross the wetland/pond on the south and head up through the small rise then down to the edge of the cliff. This should take less than 10 minutes. Set and anchor and rapp off the short cliff. The main cliff is to the south and holds several 2 to 3 pitch routes. Good cracks. On the shorter cliff where you rap is an excellent hand crack about 50-ft tall. There are no anchors on the wall that I know off, but I would not discount the possibility. Also good grouse hunting territory!

One more not on the House route, I think it is up the scratch creek drainage on a wall that faces northeast and tops out on traverse ridge. I remember the roue being called something like the polish route or some other country around there cause House did some climbs with these guys like a year our two earlier. Hell I can't remember. All I know is you can see the wall from the right angle when you are in enterprise and when you are diving up Hurricane creek before you get into the canyon, but the approach looks fairly difficult. I would say in the range of the approach to squire creek wall out by Darrington, maybe longer or the approach to Hozameen.

Wanky Spanky, Bill is smoking cranky. There is rock in the Elkhorns, but it is mostly no good. There are a few fun routes, but not worthe the drive from far away. Best there in the winter for skiing, it aint no climbing destination, but if you are set on it climb the coulier on the NW side of lees peack (5.5 or 5.6, 2-3 pitches) there is some short routes up above angel basin, hike up and look around. Also to the left of the coulier on Lees are a few mostly natural lines. I have heard tell of some hard mixed routes on the south side of Lakes lookout, but never been on them. There is some multipitch loosish shizzle up on some walls at the head of dutch flat (look it up on the Anthony Lakes quad and hike in there the best way you can, it is southwest of Anthony Lakes and the Antone Creek drainage. It aint that good though, but may be some of the loose holds are gone now, it was several years ago when I was there last. We climbed a dirty hand crack to a ledge, up a mostly bolted pitch and then another pitch to the tope. The next crag over had a bunch of cracks, looked good for aid. This wall is the first wall to the South west of Van Patten Butte and the wall faces southeast. The wall we did the climbing on was next wall to the south west of the aid wall. This link may help if it works. If you want to poach some shizzle not, look up dunns bluff which faces east and overlooks the Minam/little minam drainage and is north of the moss springs trailhead area. Look it up on a topo. THe bush wack is less than 15 minutes to the top of the wall. There are some sweet hand cracks that have not been poached yet I bet. I did a couple routes there about 6 years ago. Also steve house and Mark H? I am not sure how all other than House was involved but they put up a several pitch 5.10 on a fairly large wall outside of Enterprise. It has a write up in a old issue of Climbing. I always wanted to go back and do it, but never did. If you really want the beta on this route you should troll for some info from Steve House. Good luck. Bottom line is Elkorns = Sweet skiing, but poor rock, although the bouldering aint too bad. Cheers, http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n=4976700&e=405191&s=100&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

I actually watched arguments in this case on the UW channel. MSR and SMC I believe gave testimony. They argued that Omega had unfair subsidies from the state in producing their prodocts that lead to unfair competition subsidized by the state. This is supposed to be a no no for the inmate industries program. The most important argument that I heard was the cost of utilites, such as water and electrcity. From what I understand Omega was getting a huge reduction in their operating costs by getting water and power for nearly nothing which is very imporant in the climbing gear manufacturing process for hardware. While it is good for inmates to work I doubt anyone would like to see MSR or SMC have to layoff fine upstanding hard working folks because they were getting beat in the market place by a company receving unfare government subsidies. BYT I am not affiliate with any of these companies and am not involeved with any manufacturing company.

I don't know who is most, but all the climbers from Oregon I know have heard of the Menagerie (however, very few have actually climbed there) and most likely even if it is published there still won't be a huge crowd since smith is not much farther away and the mixed and trad nature won't fit the majority of climbers out there although it suites me fine.

I have a set of tech friends and older rigid freinds. I find that the older rigid friends are excellent pieces especially for the larger 3 to 4 inch sizes. The seem way more stable than my comparable trango and metolious large size cams. I want to get a couple more 3.5 and 4 inch forged friends for those wide cracks. They are a great deal.

Now that is what I am talking about. We have heard of something new today. Thanks ashw_justin

In the supertopo guide for Red Rocks, there is a picture of George Urioste on Chuckwalla (I think) wearing hand jammies. I have considered buying a pair to replace tape, which I liberally use. I don't care what anyone else says, shoes are aid, cams are aid, the rope is aid, icetools are aid, crampons are aid, chalk is way-aid. I am infact an aid climber. I don't give a rats what you think is aid. I would like to hear from folks who have used the Jammies. I have never tried them on. Anyone know if a store in the Seattle Area carries these? Also the argument that they make your hands bigger is laim since peoples hands come in all shapes and sizes. For any given crack each individual finds the best jams they can depending on their hand size.

Many people been selling soloists or giving them away. Some have said the work for hands free solo toproping. I am not sure this can be done if rigged in the intended manner, although the rope feed real smooth leading. The only method I am aware of that works pretty good for straight routes, especially good for columnar basalt cracks, is by using an ascender and a chest harnes with a fixed rope. The rope at the bottom is coiled to hang a foot or so off the ground to provide weight so the ascender is free to slide up smoothly at the start of the route. Also, I have seen this old Austrian dude at Smith that drilled a hole through a round river cobble stone that probably weighed a few pounds and attached the stone to the lower end of the rope with a prusik type knot. Either way the bottom of the rope is weighted to allow the ascender to slide smoothly. When done properly there is not slack in the system and no shock loading when falling. Usually you jus slip off and hang. I have used this system with a static line and a petzel jug on probably well over 100 pitches, usuall on fairly straight cracks about 50 to 100 feet tall. I have never had a problem and never have heard of a problem, although it is possible that the jug could come unclipped from the rope. A way to further reduce this possiblity may be to use a gibbs ascender. What are other methods and has anyone ever heard of the ascender method failing?

Not out of kilter, I was at the switch back at 2834-ft and was looking at Bald Mt. Mark hana PMed me about this and I think I will have to go scramble up it when the snow smelts. Thanks for the info. Anybody scambled up the SE Face?

On the deer creek road, anybody been up to the slab that is strait west of the last 90 degree hook in the road before you get to the Kelcema lake trailhead? Is it choss, doen't look to bad from the road. Looks like you could get 3 to 4 pitches in a few places.

tasy bite offers a bunch of tasty products that are in an MRE style pouch and very packable. Fred Myers carries this brand in their health food section. The phad tai and the noodles with peanut sauce are both pretty good. They have curry too.

with all respect to Mattp, humping a haul bag into the Witch D. with all the pain in the ass involvement along with being out in the relative middle of no-where with a good deal of adventure is a perfet training ground for VI routes cause grade VI is about suffering (for most mere mortals) and I can't think of a better place to pratice a little S&M suffering.

I would be interested to know if there is any oportunity to fix some pins in that middle section for a belay?

the question remains then on the descent do you have to down climb that section? Something seems amiss here to me that someone would go through so much trouble to drill so many bolts and include mandatory soloing in the middle of the route.

first kiss is not runout. It has just as many bolts as any other smith route I have done, in fact on some pitches I think I skipped a few cause I didn't have enough runners. Shapp

if you climb 5.9 I would start out well below to get the feel of the rock unless you are a tuolomne slab bad ass mofo. I like the big tree route and I also really like garden weasel 5.10 and cornicopia flake

I have the guidebook CD. It is worth the $17 bucks, but the topos don't print that well with my setup. Mattp web site topos print more clearly, but I would defenitely get the CD! Darrington is great, but you will have to get used to the routes if you have been climbing a lot in red rocks, not to many incut edges and plates at Darrington. PS i am going to red rocks this sunday for a week. Cheers, shapp

The fourth horseman is very very good and on a weekday would be even better. This is one of my favorite 5.8 hand cracks = take first pitck of Fridays jinx (not that fun but alright). Then head up and out left for the second pitch into the crack of infinity straight in crack, once over the bulge head back right and up to the top of Fridays Jinx. Pack animal is great too. White satin (5.9 but very protectable) is very good with easy and harder pitches for both people to lead. The west face variation is also killer take the left hand start over the bulge (may be tricky for a new leader, but way safer than the right hand start) then take the left and pitch for pitch two. Anything in the gorge with a few stars and koala rock has some good routes. The first pitch of peking kicks ass. Spiderman rocks especially on a weekday when the lines are gone. A killer day would be to climb moscow or peking, walk off over the top and do spiderman and finish up with white satin or sky ridge. feel the stoke!

Chuck, the rock was Wet! not damp shapp

I hiked in there last sunday, still a snow slog on the road for about 40 min. to the trail head. The rock was still pretty wet even after the sun we got on saturday, I would wait a bit longer. Shapp

You make me jelous! I lived in "The Big" for awile and skied up above anthony a lot. Instead of skiing the bowls between Lees and Lookout, go to the next bowl to the northeast, between Lees and Gunsight, this area is called angel basin and usually has better snow, there is also a short ice climb just above and to the right of the steep step entering the bowl from hoffer lakes. Alos the back side of Anthony down toward the NF John Day river is very good too! Some years the USFS rents out Peavy cabin in the winter way down in the bottom of the valley (NF JOhn Day) and you can get some great skiing in while at the cabin. And one more thing, don't even think about driving from bend to John Day and over the pass to Baker after a big snow storm! shapp

Thinker, you don't happen to be Ryan P. that went to OSU? If so, dude we have some shweet big granite up by my place. You should come up and we'll do some 10 pitch routes. If this isn't Ryan you are still welcome to come up and do some sweet 10 pitch routes. send me a pm Shapp

One more point and I am done. I don't think that steve's routes and the mad bolters routes suck. Many of them are damn fine sport routes. The problem for me is, especially at spring mt., is that so many routes are put up, many of them extremely close together and there are many bolts near bomber natural pro. I don't want to get into a debate about this, I have already had long discussions with the route developers along time ago. It is their choice, I just disagree. My main point was that if Vert is Mark H. he is a damn fine climber by reputation and any of you out there would be stoked to share a rope with him.

Go ahead Sabertooth, I have already told those individuals these things in person. I do not hide behind a fake name as so many other posters do! Vert are you Mark H.? Shap out-