Rad

Obviously, you don't want the leader to hit the ground or a large ledge, but slippage with an ATC is not likely to be more than 1-3 feet, unless it's a huge fall and your hand is sucked through the device. And if that distance makes the difference between hitting the ledge/deck or not then the leader needs to be prepared for that possibility or not lead the pitch. Second, there is a big difference in the impact forces generated by static vs dynamic belay devices. The main thing to be concerned about is the highest piece of gear below the leader, which may be the anchor if no gear has been placed. A good basic explanation of the physics involved is here Auto locking belay devices DO cause significantly higher forces on the top piece of protection, so if you're climbing a trad route with small or questionable gear this may mean the difference between having that piece hold or having it fail: See R&I article on static vs dynamic belays See mythbusters website

They say several times that this is only intended for situations where you have a bomb-proof anchor point. So is the goal to make sure the forces are absorbed by the anchor and not by the belayer in the event of a possible long fall? I agree with you that this looks like it has potential to place high loads on the fixed anchor point. Generally, the more dynamic the system is the lower the forces on all components, including the anchor point or points, the protection points en route, and the climber on the other end. Things that increase dynamics and reduce these loads include: 1 - Using a dynamic climbing rope. 2 - Having a belay device that allows some rope slippage in the event of a fall (e.g. ATC or similar device or a munter hitch or this Italian hitch shown). 3 - Belaying off your harness from a stance where your body can absorb some of the energy. This may hurt in the event of a long fall, but it will definitely reduce loads on the anchor. See below for more on this. 4 - Use the rope as part of the anchor instead of a static material like dyneema. If you have marginal pieces, and your goal is to minimize the chance of total anchor failure in the event of a leader fall, and you know the leader will have at least one solid piece in before falling (i.e. won't produce a downward pull on the anchor) then you might even consider lowering down below the anchor and belaying off your harness. Then when the leader falls they will pull the belayer back up to the anchor. Lifting the belayer in this way (like when Beth catches Tommy or Daila catches Chris) will absorb a significant amount of energy before the anchor is loaded at all. Equalizing the anchor pieces will also reduce the forces on each one by half depending on angles. More experienced folks can chime in with ideas of correct errors I've made here.

Chad, You're right that the interwebs are full of tall tales and bs, but this site has some regular long-time contributors who are solid folks that post useful info. Climb with some, read their reports and suggestions, climb their routes, and you can get a sense of how to interpret their comments and TRs. Soloing is a very personal experience. One person's solo is another's lifetime project, so there is no formula. At the end of the day, each of us must find our own path and take responsibility for our own actions. see you at SBP! Rad

Terrible indeed. RIP Chris. Your love for Darrington will live on in many who follow in the footsteps of your routes. Condolences to your family.

Awesome adventure. And nice write-up. Congrats.

SPOT has uses and limitations like any other tool. There are many situations where you will want to communicate complex, non-standard messages and have 2-way communication, which no SPOT or PLB will do. I'll refrain from linking the Climber 9-1-1 NWMJ article that talks about accidents and signaling devices. You can find it with google if you want it.

Perhaps the best training for the mountains is scrambling and climbing in the mountains. There are many situations where options for protection are sparse and/or placing protection to pitch-out 4th class terrain is impractical because it slows you down so much. People who want to transition to the mountains might consider scrambling non-technical peaks. Climbing is about more than ratings. Just ask the folks who have done the Index traverse, climbed Jberg by any route, or climbed the Nooksack tower. Buy the Beckey guides and the scramble book and have fun along the way!

Love this story. Reminds me of traveling. Many of the best experiences emerged from shared adventures that sprang from chance encounters with wonderful strangers. Two thumbs up!

Maybe post some photos in the lost and found forum?

By hand. And it's the Original Route, not the "bypass route." Thanks Kurt. We're lucky to have you caring for NW classics. Is the site up and ready so we can contribute $?

Based on our experience last year around this time, I expect you'll encounter multiple large snowfields on the upper and middle portions of the descent. We didn't find water on the route but planned for that and were fine.

I suspect access and preservation are tightly linked. Increased access, via roads and trails, raises the use, visibility, and perceived value of natural resources. This in turn motivates people to protect these and maintain good access to them. I expect that decreased access will have the opposite affect. Add to that the fact that there is a complex mess of passes to navigate to be able to park at the trailhead without getting fined, and the message is pretty clear: stay home on your couch. The experiment has been going on for several years now, and I'm not optimistic about the outcomes. The WA Trails Association, WA climbers coalition, and other grass routes efforts are laudable, but we need action on a higher level too. That said, establishment of the Wild Sky Wilderness is an encouraging recent milestone.

Maybe we need a community trimming party to improve the "trail", a bit like Colin and company did for the Slesse crossover descent, which is now a breeze.

Nice TR! I had a similarly sketchy experience getting past that moat. Thankfully, we ended up below a more solid and reasonable piece of rock than you did. Good job avoiding the chop!

Hwy 20 to open at 10am Monday August 19th

NYTimes article on the people who brought forward Snowden's story and leaks. But what's not getting said is that Google, Facebook, MSFT, ATT, and others are watching you just as carefully, and while they may not detain you at the airport, they will insinuate themselves into your lives to sell you more stuff. Privacy is dead, unless you live off the grid in the bushes. It's a brave new world out there. Don't forget to look over your shoulder.

Very cool. Every time I read a Jberg TR I am reminded why this mountain is NOT on my list!

You can climb at WA pass as the road isn't closed until Rainy Pass. Lots of great alpine rock routes there.

Thompson is a short route on a pile of choss a long way from the road. I don't think it deserves classic status. Enchantments would be far better IMHO. Vesper is an excellent outing, but getting on the lower part of the route late season involves crossing hard snow/ice and then crossing a potentially large and dangerous moat. Crampons and ax may be recommended. I think you can get on the route on ledges part way up and bypass the snow/ice but I've never gone that way. E Ridge Direct of Forbidden is outstanding, but road closure may be an issue.

Road to Cascade Pass (goes past BB trailhead) Basin was washed out as well. Not sure where updates on this are. Check WSDOT website for updates on the 20: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/northcascades/

ps. maybe you can start a business to teach V4 gym climbers to scramble 4th class. They probably have cash to drop on the right tool/app/person.

D, Kev will jump in shortly to tell your pretty pony to wear a helmet! Yes, this is a pathetic and humorous outcome. I'm just glad it's comedy and not tragedy like the Sharkfin newbie-crushing block incident from a few years back. R

Sure, unfortunate (and sometimes embarrassing) things happen to the very experienced, but that doesn't mean it's the same thing as unfortunate things happening to the inexperienced and naive. There is a difference. Right. We should give newbies more slack and less flack for their mis-steps. Experienced folks should know better. We all make mistakes. Erring on the side of caution, as these folks did, isn't necessarily a bad thing. What should have happened IMHO, is the party of 2 should have gone up to see what was happening. Without communication, they had no way to know their friends weren't injured, so perhaps asking for a rescue was the right call given the circumstances. I was in a somewhat similar situation years ago in Tuolumne. I climbed the Eichorn Pinnacle and was meeting up with friends who had climbed the SW Face of Cathedral. I finished, scrambled up the back side of Cathedral, and waited. They didn't show by sunset so I descended to the base of the route and waited there. Someone flashed lights to us from high on the route. I found another climber and we went up to the summit to check things out. When we got there my friends were just topping out around midnight. They were exhausted and hypothermic from too little clothing and high winds. We helped them down, warmed them, and hiked out without incident. If the party on the rock had had a two-way communication device (sat phone or something else) the heli-rescue would probably not have been needed.

Pathetic, but no one was hurt and they'll be back to climb another day. Having spoken with Kelly Bush about NCNP rescues, I bet she and her team find this annoying and amusing but far more desirable than if the team had tried to come down in the dark and gotten badly injured. Most of us have done something stupid at one point or another. Usually, we come out without getting injured or invoking a rescue. But not always. I know a very experienced climber, who shall remain nameless, who was on the front page photo of one of the East side papers stranded in on a rock in the Tumwater because his crampons poked a hole in the raft his team was using to cross to go climb Drury. Oops.

Way to persevere! Between snow for walking and snow for meltwater, early season looks like a good way to go.