Ryan

Alright, here's the deal. I still want to come to Squamish- have there been many more break-ins lately? If so, does anyone have some extra BC plates I could borrow for a few weeks? I need to get up there and climb!

Great TR! Good job on overcoming anxieties that had been there from the previous climb- that type of thing can often be the crux of a climb. Keep it up!

I've got a 70cm Raven Pro, and it has worked wonderfully for me. Not long enough to become a hindrance, and not short enough to be problematic when I need to gain some extra balance. The Pro is light enough as it is, so the length doesn't present much of an issue, regardless of size.

Nice work on all the routes, I'm impressed- keep it up!

JayB, that's great. We were climbing at Devils Tower about a year ago, and were on the standard "Durrance" route. Our party consisted of myself and two friends. Behind us were two other climbers. They were an odd couple- one of the climbers was phsyically fit, competant, and quiet. His partner, on the other hand, was a tad overweight (or maybe just big boned?), blatantly ignorant, and obnoxious. My partners and I had just finished the Durrance crack, the so called crux of the route, and were kicking back on the ledge while drinking some water and eating some food. The two climbers behind us were now on the Durrance crack, with the loud one on lead. From our perch on the ledge, we could watch him make progress up the 70 foot pitch. The obnoxious leader climbed to within five feet of our stance on the ledge, and was then faced with a crossover from the handcrack to a short section of offwidth to gain the ledge. At this point, he lost all mental and physical capacity. He looked down at his belayer and began to quiver...he then said something to the effect of "SHIT! I'M GOING TO FALL HERE! OH GOD, NO, NO, NOOO! I'LL DECK FOR SURE. ALL MY GEAR IS SHITTY! MY LAST PIECE IS THIRTY FEET BELOW ME! FUCK!" At this point, I'm leading the next pitch...I glance down to watch the commotion, and observe that his last piece of protection is a mere two or three feet below his feet. Below that, I couldn't tell if he had been free or aid climbing- there was loads of gear in the crack, and all of it was good. I decided to postpone my lead to take in this spectacle, and my partners were watching now as well. The leader is still losing it, and his belayer, realizing that he is in no immediate danger, is simply standing on the ledge looking up at his hopeless partner with disdain. It's at this time that the leader comes up with the solution. "THROW ME A ROPE!" he screams at my partners. "DO YOU WANT TO SEE SOMEONE DIE TODAY? THROW ME A ROPE, PLEASE! I'LL RIP MY GEAR FOR SURE IF I FALL!" My partner flakes a section of rope down to the guy, and he grabs the rope with desparately focused determination. Hand over hand, he hauls himself up the remaining five feet of the pitch, and flops onto the ledge. He stands up, looks down the pitch, and then remarks "Eh, that's not such a bad pitch. Kind of slick, but no big deal." My partners give him a WTF? look, and I just laugh as I continue the lead.

There's the Outdoor Retailer trade show that takes place in SLC sometime in August- check out outdoorretailer.com, I think that's the site.

I've gone 20 feet on a sport route before. Clean fall, nothing but air. Kind of fun actually. Same distance on trad- we were climbing at Devils Tower, and I was leading the first pitch of SOLER. It was 105 degrees on the face that day, and I was 10 feet shy of the anchors on the 150 foot pitch. I plugged in a yellow alien, which was too small for the crack but my only option, and moved up on a jam. I reached for the jug inside the crack, and in doing so lost my feet. For a second I was hanging on a hand jam, which then slipped, sending me for the ride. The cam held, though.

I've checked out ericandlucie.com before- that shit looks righteous.

Have any of you climbed the DC in August? I'm looking at doing it in late August, kind of a last climb for the summer before the school year starts up. Are conditions still favorable around that time of year usually?

Red and yellow Aliens. BD stoppers also.

Well that settles that then.

So there's no hope then? Dammit. I want to go to Squamish in the worst way, but I don't want to worry about these fucking thieves stealing anything and everything. Will the thieves steal things from the campground if you leave your tent up and some stuff inside?

Hey, did a search on this thread becuase I'm planning on taking a big trip up to Squamish in late July/ early August. We'll be camping the whole time and will have all of our stuff in a Subaru Outback- are the breakins still a problem up in Squamish, or have the thieves calmed down this summer? Our vehicle will have South Dakota plates- would BC plates reduce the risk of getting broken into? If so, does anyone have old BC plates they'd be willing to hook up? Thanks y'all.

I spoke with Twight this past winter at an ice festival and he seemed very down to earth. There was the arrogance, yes, but he's Mark Twight. If any of you have climbed routes such as the routes that he's done that involve incredible difficulty and commitment, then I wouldn't mind if you were a bit arrogant. I also own both his books and thoroughly enjoy them.

I've used Quarks equipped with the Clipper before and I found that they worked great. Occasionally the bolt that the Clipper attaches to would ice up, but it was never extremely problematic. I like them better than the BD Android.

Sobo- thanks very much for the offer, but I'll let you hang on to your guidebook. I'd like to think that I'm resourceful enough to figure it out when I get over there. If I go, that is- plans are changing daily. Thanks for the offer, though, I appreciate it.

Well alrighty then. Thanks for the tips.

I don't specifically care about numbers. I do care about the difficulty of the line that I am climbing, but I look for the perfect blend of difficulty and appearance of the line. Like Dru pointed out, I'd be the one to climb the quality route over the harder route. I'm just looking for the most aesthetic and challenging lines in one package.

I can understand his side, but that doesn't mean I'll agree with it. And I'll quote Alex Lowe all I want!

I have recently been offered a chance to travel to Europe for three weeks later in the summer for a bumming and climbing trip. I'm psyched about this, but I am having trouble finding reliable information in regards to the crags over there, specifically in France, Switzerland, and Italy. Does anyone have any info about crags, etc, in these countries? Any information is appreciated, thanks!

Not sure if it's still there, but to the northeast of the Muir hut, there was a pretty big bank of snow that had formed. It drops in a pretty steep pitch for about 7 or 8 feet and then mellows out down low. This is where we practiced, and it worked wonderfully.

No good...RIP, and best wishes to family and friends. And I'll reiterate what everyone else is saying- be careful out there!

I bought a dry 8.1 double line for glacier and easy alpine routes. I got a good deal on it, which was the primary reason for buying it, but it is nice to have. I don't think that using your dry rope rock climbing will affect it's dry capabilities, but you have to have the right rope. Sterling and Beal are the only two manufacturers that dry treat each individual strand of the core and sheath, which makes their dry ropes a bit better than the rest (IMHO). It's worth it to have a dry rope, though. The extra money is well worth it when you find yourself in a downpour with a rope that is up to the task. If you want to get a rope that will be good on everything, you might want to go a little lower than 10.2. The Sterling Marathon is a super nice rope that you can get in a 10.0, which would fit the bill it seems. Good luck!

Matt M- thanks for the heads up, I had thought of that, and all I ever pack up in the helmet are smaller items that take up very little room (gauze, bandages, etc). That'd be pretty ironic if my first aid kit ended up being the cause of my injury, huh? One helmet that I will warn you against is the Petzl Meteor. I used this helmet for a few months when I started climbing, and I never got used to it. The fit was bad, and it didn't feel like it offered much protection up front or on the sides. As everyone has stated, though, make sure you buy a helmet that fits you well. My Ecrin fits me like a glove, and becuase of this, it's not hard to convince myself to wear it should the need arise.

Nice work! Any more pictures?