Rad

I don't have the historical references to respond in riddle form, but you've given us the thinly veiled answer already: Inspiration and Pinnacle/Chopping Block were Colin winter FAs. The latter was the solo. We saw photos of the former at the Dwayner/Marko/Colin Pickets traverse last year. Good fun.

On the whole, this article is probably pretty good for the climbing community because it portrays climbers as responsible outdoor enthusiasts. The explanations were simple enough to be understood by reasonably bright non-climbers. The biggest flaw, as Slothrop points out, is the Little Si access error. Trad/sport/alpine distinctions are not central to the article, but it makes bolts sound like new and improved climbing rather than an alternative to trad placements. Mentioning the theft problems without slamming the police for inaction is probably the best way to raise awareness without riling the coppers.

I used to wash ropes in the bathtub. Pain in de arse, that. Care must be taken to make sure the rope load in your washer is balanced, just like any other load you'd put in there. I've never had problems.

Selkirk, Congrats on falling. Seriously. Being able to do it safely is an important part of the learning curve.

I also follow the school of Muffiness: New rope = lead rope. Lead rope becomes top rope when it is ready to retire from the sharp end (see below). Old top rope becomes anchor fodder when trees are really far back from the cliff you want to toprope (I haven't encountered this yet in the PNW but did in the Traprocks of CT. Older still gets cut up for dog leashes or otherwise discarded for the When to retire lead rope? People do different things. Mammut recommends you keep a log of falls (length, fall factor, date etc) and abseils (rapping for euros). I don't know anyone who really does this but it would be good. When the lead rope gets about half the number of recommended falls, or is otherwise damaged or just getting older, then buy a new lead rope and turn your old lead rope into a toprope. Unless you are working a route with long run-outs your rope will probably wear long before you max out on its UIAA fall rating. These factors include: Abrasion over rough rock or sharp edges (think about this when setting up those topropes). Dirt ground into the core can damage a rope. Keep your rope out of the dirt as much as possible and don't step on your rope. Wash it from time to time in the washing machine - woolite, slow spin, drip dry. Easy. Excessive UV exposure, heat, or exposure to gas fumes (don't leave your rope in your car). The actions of idiots wearing crampons. Lastly, if you're not falling you're not pushing yourself. However, if you're logging factor 2 falls you're not thinking.

Small potatoes: 1 - MF onsight attempt in the gunks. Was only 7 ft over my last 2 pieces, equalized cams in a flaring, shallow pocket. Ropedrag was horrendous so I pulled up enough to get me past the upper crux and to the anchor. Got most of the way there and pumped out - launched, pieces held. Fall was only 20-25 ft but I came swinging down right onto the edge of the roof on the route. I smacked into the roof edge with my crotch! Thankfully, my brand new locker took the hurt and not the family jewels. I checked for other injuries (cut on leg but otherwise ok) and headed back up. This time I took the same fall again, though not as far this time. Stopped above the roof. Third time's a charm. I went back up, found a foothold I'd been missing, and reached the anchor. The locker still has a nice gouge in it. Anyone need a belay? 2 - Was leading delicate 5.9 friction on sandstone at an SF bay area secret spot when a lizard came running up next to me. A second one sprinted up and jumped on the first, attempting to hump it. Entwined, they fell together, bouncing twice off the wall before hitting the deck. Both were dazed for a few seconds, but hormones soon kicked in and the humper chased the humpee off into the manzanita. I felt pretty silly with a rope and harness and shoes and bolts after that...

"They were whooping it up like kids over there." Um, they are kids...kids that rock.

Neat and Cool. Smoke Bluffs. Onsight attempt, being belayed by a lady friend who wanted to stand farther back (10ft) from the base to watch. I climbed 15 feet, placing a stopper and then a #1 camelot. In the crux (which I think is the left diagonalling crack 25 or so feet off the deck), I placed a blue tcu in what looked like a solid, if polished, undercling crack. I was making the delicate crux traverse moves toward a good hold when my left foot blew off the greasy slab where I had been willing it to stick. I launched and immediately flipped because my leg had been around the rope. The tcu popped in an instant, my belayer was lifted off the ground and swung until she stopped at the base of the route (now that's what I call a dynamic belay!). I flew down until the #1 caught me. I stopped completely sideways about 18 inches off the ground, and my head tipped slowly and tapped a rock. Thank you helmet. If I'd stayed vertical I would've decked. Other than a ropeburn behind my knee, which started to ooze but not bleed, I was fine. Shaken, but fine. We waited a few minutes. I headed up again, placed a 3/4 camelot a few feet before the crux and got into position. This time I was able to push upward with my right foot in a wide stem off the rampy roof on the right of the crack. This increased the pressure of my left foot on the greasy slab and it stayed put. I pulled the traverse, rested, came back across the ramp above and pulled through the lovely handcrack to the finish. It felt good to complete the redpoint after that fall, to face fear and conquer it in some small way on one summer afternoon a few years ago. Neat and cool.

W ridge Mt Thompson. Mediocre rock with only 2 interesting moves on the whole climb, and the interesting part is whether the plates you're pinching will pull off the choss pile of a route. It is a lovely setting, however. The rock reminded me of Chair Peak, which is another classic summit with great views guarded by choss. I agree with Dberdinka: it's all about expectations. I was on the N face route of Vesper, which is a moderate route with quality moves, quality rock, and an amazing alpine ambience, and a party of two we talked with en route said if we liked that route we should go do Thompson. Expectations were high and were not met.

5 Towers traverse and E ridge of Inspiration, Pickets Outer space, SCW E ridge, Forbidden Backbone Ridge, Dragontail W Ridge Stuart .......... looking forward to many more new ones!

We need a graemlin for the someone playing the world's smallest violin.

Pull up a bight of rope but don't bite it, then we can all live together in homonymy.

Carabiners and a rope will only help you if you have solid crevasse rescue skills.

Interesting. So if you climb 10m and don't place pro after the anchor you're looking at a 20m fall on 20m of rope (a factor 1 fall)? In that case the stout tree is starting to sound a lot better than the piton or single nut anchor. Placing slings or pro along the way could reduce the fall length by a lot, but then you'd have to leave that pro behind...

Calm, focused, and deliberate is good advice. Sounds like Peter Croft. Sometimes one wants a little more security... On a few occasions getting to or from a technical climb I have come to a move I hesitated to free solo. At those times I had the rack with me so I clipped a long sling to my harness, placed a piece above me (when going up, have done this downclimbing too) to protect the move and cleaned it after making the move. If you have more than one move you could place a piece, move up, place the 2nd piece, clean the first, move up, clean the 2nd etc. This quick and dirty system is just what I improvised at the time. It may not work in many situations, and I'd not recommend doing it for more than a few moves. Disadvantages: you're trusting yourself to one piece at a time. Best for short sections with good pro options. Pros: safer than free solo and faster than dealing with a rope. Sometimes safer/less exposed alternate routes can be found nearby so keep your eyes open. Turning around is sometimes the best option, even if it can be hard to make yourself do it. Good luck and use your head.

Plan of action. First, please remember: A - Someone died in this race. Treading respectfully will be important. B - The Seattletimes (and possibly national news services) ran an article that mentioned the race and the death. Thus, there is already media interest in this event. The pump has been primed, if you will. This means that the race organizers have already been scrutinzed by the media and have probably implemented some program to deal with public relations. I think there are many good suggestions in the thread above. Based on those here is the course of action I recommend: 1 - Collect photos etc to document damage. Make sure to include non-cliff areas where damage may have ocurred. 2 - Contact the race organizers first in a respectful manner inquiring when and how they intend to complete their clean-up and removal of bolts etc. We hope they will 'do the right thing'. 3 - If that doesn't work contact the Forest service to notify them of our 'concerns', and suggest we hope the race organizers will 'do the right thing'. 4 - If these don't work then contact the media (Seattletimes for a start), describe the damage, and suggest that we all hope that the race organizers will 'do the right thing'. 5 - Get attorneys to put together a complaint in the event they failed to 'do the right thing'. 6 - Go watch a Spike Lee movie called.... Seriously, it's now time to put words into action. I would volunteer to write letters as necessary, or help edit them, when appropriate. Interested parties pm me to coordinate.

Sunshine crack.

We never really own pink tricams. They inhabit our racks and then move on when they feel the urge to hit the road. Over the years I've had one to three on my rack. I've only ever purchased one, and it ditched me long ago. Long live the pink! ............. Blue tricams, on the otherhand, are largely useless and entirely sedentary, preferring to lounge in the bottom of an old pack, unused.

When in France...

The approach for Moby Grape and VMC direct direct is straightforward. Hike on well-maintained trail a short distance (check guide for more detailed info) and then ascend steeply up talus to the base of the wall. Time will depend on your physical condition. Perhaps 30-60 minutes? Reppy's crack is easy to spot, and the VMC roofs are quite prominent as well. Look at guidebook photos to guide you.

Cannon cliff has a wonderful alpine feel despite the highway running up the bottom of the canyon. Access is easy, walkoff the top. I don't recall the guidebook, but the one I have is undoubtedly out of date anyway. All of these routes will be in a guide: Routes: Whitney Gilman ridge. 5 pitches. 5.7 Good views, fun position. Pretty casual. Moby Grape. 5.8, about 8 pitches. Excellent quality and variety on this route. Climb Reppy's crack as a variation start. Finger of fate pitch is probably unlike anything you've climbed before. Very fun. VMC Direct direct. 11b, 9 pitches. I have not done this one, alas, but it gets great ratings and press. One useful link: http://6degrees.com/~travis/Climbing/Cannon.htm Note: rockfall on the cliff sheared off the 'old man of the mountains' and may have taken out some routes (not the ones I've mentioned) in the process. Not sure about free camping as those things change over time. It may be peak foliage season which means there will be oodles of bumblies ogling foliage. Have a great trip.

Assuming the highest 'wild' scores will be from places with minimal human impact and travel, I propose the following hypothesis: 1 - The 'Wild' factor is directly proportional to the difficulty of gaining access. Lack of roads or trailheads nearby will deter many. Long, hard bushwhacks will deter most others. 2 - The higher the perceived rewards, the more suffering people are willing to endure on the approach. What if you had to bushwhack for two days straight to get to Das Toof? What if Terror peak had a road running to its base as Index does? What if the most remote and 'wild' place was a swamp infested with tons of mosquitoes and had little or no value to climbers, hikers, hunters, or campers? It probably stands a better chance of staying wild than do the Pickets, right? Lauding great wilderness areas might increase the numbers of people who perceive a high reward, but it may not increase traffic if the access difficulties still deter most folks from going. How many people do you know who talk about climbing Challenger, Luna, Terror, Bear or other remote peaks but have never gone? I see no reason to curtail discussion of 'wild' places, particularly if heightened awareness might encourage those who go to do so in an environmentally sensitive manner, and leave no trace of their passing.

Tiblocs work just fine, and since it's not your rope, I wouldn't stress about damage to it, particularly if they have you on belay. They are cheap and super light. Anyway, if you die then you can sue. That's the american way.

On moderate terrain where you're comfortable simul-climbing then s t r e t c h i t o u t. On steeper rock where I'm not comfortable simul climbing then I find it's usually better to stop at the belay. Going farther often results in extra time spent trying to find gear placements or a comfy stance. Downclimbing takes even more time. Some pitches are short because ropedrag, sharp flakes, vegetation, or some other item would make extending them dangerous or annoying. Other belays are pre-determined by where the 1st ascentionists put their manky bolts. If the climb was put up with a 50m rope it may be best to climb with that. A longer rope will tempt you into climbing farther on each pitch than is optimal (see above), will tangle around you if you do stop short, and is heavier anyway. Finally, speed is not everything. Don't forget to smell the guano and admire the advancing storm clouds!

You might consider renting gear a few times to try it out to see if you like the sport. In the process you can test out different gear and get some knowledgeable folks to advise you in gear selections. Have fun