Rad

Wait 'till Simon Yates cuts the rope, drop into a crevasse, crawl out, write a book...

I enjoyed a recent mag article that brought back fond memories of two steep multi-pitch cobble routes on somewhat sketchy terrain: Shake n Bake and Lava Falls in Pinnacles Natl Monument. There were plenty of knobs to hit if you fell. Both were drilled by hand from stances on lead. And bolts are not body length apart. Or even close to it. These routes would not be what they are today if they had bolts every 5 feet. But Oregon is not California. What matters is what the ethic is at the crag in question. If bolts every 5 feet is the norm then a new route with bolts every 5 feet will be right at home. If neighboring routes are runout sketchfests with tied off knobs then a closely bolted route won't fit with the local ethic. If this is the first route on a crag then all bets are off. Y'all can figure it out. Debate and discussion are healthy and should not be stifled.

Lighten up kids, in a few years Mitt will frac the planet apart and we'll all be drifing on hunks of rock in space, so climb while you can. Meanwhile, enjoy this blast from the past:

I'll also vouch for Gene being a great partner. Gene, if you solo consider going in and out via Bedal Creek as it avoids the glacier. You'll still get into some lovely high country. You can climb a moderate West Face route or scramble the descent. ps. I'll be in Stehekin.

I agree, but I think you missed the point of the article. It's one thing to be able to lead a few 11s. Being able to confidently lead testpiece 5.11s in all different styles is a much, much higher bar.

Time is the limited resource we all have to decide how to spend. I wouldn't trade my family or career for being an 11 all-rounder. I do enjoy climbing in the mountains and on long routes and want to make the most of my times there, so I train as best I can. But I haven't found a way to train for pure friction moves. None of the friction areas I know (Darrington, Static Pt, Squamish, and farther afield) are close enough to hit with any regularity.

911 operators are trained to give some basic, and sometimes life-saving advice. Perhaps SAR could have talked them through how to get their ropes unstuck. Sadly, liability concerns may prevent this.

You get good at what you do. If you pull plastic bouldering routes you get good at plastic bouldering routes. If you climb slabs all the time you get good at that. If you climb crimpy Little Si enduro routes you get good at those. Unfortunately, skills in one area usually don't confer much benefit in the other areas. The only way to become a solid all-around climber is to climb all of the styles, with particular emphasis on your weaknesses. Most people don't have/make time to log that many hours on distant crags to get good at everything. Wet weather doesn't help the equation. I wish there was a gym where I could practice slab climbing. Ditto jamming of different sizes. Yes, there are some gyms that have fake cracks but they're pretty far from the real thing. So here's a hypothesis: it's not possible to become a 5.11 all-rounder if you live on the wet side of our mountains and have a family and job because you simply can't log enough hours practicing all the necessary skills. Maintaining a high level of proficiency is easier than gaining it in the first place, which is why I say "become" rather than "be" above. Feel free to prove me wrong. ps. Largo is too Yosemite-centric. We need a list of NW benchmark routes.

Stoke! Are those 2 mini-traxions in your solo set-up? Does the rope need to be weighted to have them feed smoothly? Will it work on dynamic line or do you need the stiffer static? I've just been using the Cinch, which requires reaching down to pull rope through the device. A hands-free setup would be better.

Limiting the number of camping permits is intended to limit human impact on a sensitive environment. We should honor those limits and play by the rules to help protect the Enchantments and to help relevant regulatory agencies believe that climbers are legitimate and responsible users of this precious resource. Sorry if that sounds preachy, but the actions of one or two climbers can have a big impact on public perception of climbers, which in turn could compromise access for many other climbers. Thanks and have fun wherever you go.

Disney couldn't write a better happy ending.

I second Kurt's recommendation and would add that with one strand between you there's a lot less rope drag on low angle, uneven terrain, you don't have to worry about which strand to clip, and you still have a full length rope for rapping if needed.

This is like Tommy Caldwell updating his blog from a portaledge on El Cap. Cue Beth Rodden voiceover: Go Tommy Plaidman!

Is this the latest Slesse descent beta? Does the lower part correspond to the trail that Colin and friends supposedly spent time improving/marking? Thanks.

Rinse with a more dilute solvent: Budweiser.

"I started doing research about the common injury and sure enough I had suffered a minor to moderate tear of the medial meniscus." Internet medical research is probably worth about what you paid for it. If problems persist consider getting a professional to check it out. IMHO a good PT can be worth their weight in gold. It could be that your injury was the result of years of a muscle imbalance that will re-appear as soon as you ramp up again. That was the case with knee and shoulder issues I had recently. Both have been fixed by PT followed by exercises to correct the imbalance. A buddy of mine tore his MCL in February. He took nearly 12 weeks to get back to 100%, but he's 40. No surgery needed. When you're ready to test the knee, ramp back up with increasing volume of lower difficulty lines. Resist the temptation to jump on that radical problem your friends are struggling on. As was noted above, avoiding re-injury is the fastest path to getting back to 100%. Staying healthy is an important part of the game that takes more and more of your attention as you get older, but it's far better than being injured on the sidelines.

Sent pm. I'll be offline most of the day.

This looks like an inexpensive and light combo: Ryobi hammerdrill + 18V battery

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Good point Matt. IMHO placing a bolt is an act that should not be taken lightly as it permanently alters the rock. Before placing a bolt I try to address the following questions: - Is the line worth developing (aka will others want to climb it)? - Does it need to be a lead route (some routes in other parts of the country are top-rope only) - Is there other protection available that could eliminate the need for a bolt? - Is bolt placement consistent with the traditions of the crag under development? - Is the bolt being placed with subsequent climbers in mind (preferred IMHO) or only to suit the needs of the FA party (selfish IMHO). - Would the selected bolt placement adequately protect the leader from hitting the ground, a ledge, or another nasty obstacle? - Would the bolt protect moves that need to be protected? - Is the bolt being placed so that people of average height can reach it from a reasonable clipping stance? - Is the placement a reasonable distance from protection before and after that point in the climb? - Would the bolt place the rope and/or quickdraws so that they obstruct a key feature needed for freeclimbing? - Is the bolt being placed in line with other protection so that rope drag will be minimized? - Is the bolt being placed away from rock features, such as roofs and ledges, that could cause significant rope drag or other problems? - Would the bolt be in solid rock away from weak points? - Would the bolt be near a sharp edge that could cut/damage the rope or a quickdraw? Placing bolts using a power drill is the easiest and fastest part of route development, and it's one of the last steps I take. But that's me. I'm sure others have other opinions. No bolting arguments/discussions please...i'm only asking about the drill itself...i've put in enough routes already...not a noob here... I'm just responding to Matt's comment. Feel free to ignore my post if you wish.

Good point Matt. IMHO placing a bolt is an act that should not be taken lightly as it permanently alters the rock. Before placing a bolt I try to address the following questions: - Is the line worth developing (aka will others want to climb it)? - Does it need to be a lead route (some routes in other parts of the country are top-rope only) - Is there other protection available that could eliminate the need for a bolt? - Is bolt placement consistent with the traditions of the crag under development? - Is the bolt being placed with subsequent climbers in mind (preferred IMHO) or only to suit the needs of the FA party (selfish IMHO). - Would the selected bolt placement adequately protect the leader from hitting the ground, a ledge, or another nasty obstacle? - Would the bolt protect moves that need to be protected? - Is the bolt being placed so that people of average height can reach it from a reasonable clipping stance? - Is the placement a reasonable distance from protection before and after that point in the climb? - Would the bolt place the rope and/or quickdraws so that they obstruct a key feature needed for freeclimbing? - Is the bolt being placed in line with other protection so that rope drag will be minimized? - Is the bolt being placed away from rock features, such as roofs and ledges, that could cause significant rope drag or other problems? - Would the bolt be in solid rock away from weak points? - Would the bolt be near a sharp edge that could cut/damage the rope or a quickdraw? Placing bolts using a power drill is the easiest and fastest part of route development, and it's one of the last steps I take. But that's me. I'm sure others have other opinions.

Batteries can be almost as expensive as the drill, so I wouldn't plan on a lot of batteries. It's important to take good care of batteries or they will crap out on you. 50-60lbs sounds too high. The TE6A system that Alex and I have might be 15-20lbs with drill + 1 battery. Weight might not be as much of a factor as you think. You could pull the drill up to a stance on a tagline from if bolting on lead. Dangle it below you if coming in from above. Either way, you shouldn't have to make free moves carrying the drill, though that can speed things up at times. Some of the experienced developers on here have creative solutions that separate the drill from its batteries. Maybe they will chime in too. BTW, when I bought my drill used I tested it on a granite erratic and was able to drill 12 holes on a full charge in less than ten minutes. From experience, I can tell you that trying to drill with a crappy drill and/or crappy battery is no fun.

Believe it or not I'm not trying to razz you. The crampons are classic though, you should write a TR from that trip and post it to enter one of these contests.

Great TR. That ramp looks like the most reasonable approach this late in the season. My crampons from my first trip up the pillar in 2004 with Ron Kirby. Colin and Jens climbed the pillar the following weekend; Colin originally grabbed the crampons but shortly into the pillar pitches realized why I had left them in the first place and promptly hung them on the nut where they still remain it appears. What ever happened to the neutrino and windshirt?

Thanks. I was mainly asking because while I'm probably willing to free solo mid fifth, I'm unlikely to be willing to free solo exposed 5.9 for a variety of reasons. I have done some climbing in the high Sierras, though nothing hard anywhere close to 13k.