Rad

Welcome to WA. You might pm Sol and attend meetings/events of the Leavenworth Mountain Association. Sounds like a great place to meet some fun like-minded folks.

Fantastic that he broke through to a new grade. Cool that you're proud papa. Lame "so what did u do" comment.

Agree with Sol and Gene. Your post suggests you're just starting out. If so, ramp up gradually to avoid tendonitis and other maladies and avoid a hangboard for a couple of years. Stay healthy and you should have many years of good climbing ahead of you.

Approximate driving times from Seattle: X32 - 35 minutes X38 - 40 minutes Index - 75 minutes Erie - 100 minutes Nason - 100 minutes Leavenworth - 2 hrs. New Halem - 2.5 hrs Vantage - 2.5 hrs Fossil - 3 hrs? Mazama 3+ hours. Spokane - 5 hrs? Smith - 6 hrs? Finally, a big part of the fun is meeting local climbers and finding out what they like best. They can help you put together a tick list that will keep you busy and psyched. You can meet folks on this board, and even in this thread who are probably willing to take you on a tour of their favorite areas. Enjoy! And when you meet locals you can connect with those that have racks to do some of the great routes of the NW, including Davis Holland Loving Arms. Outer Space. The Grand Wall at Squamish. And many, many others in the mountains and elsewhere.

Fossil rock, Erie, Rosario Beach haven't been mentioned. Bottom line: there is TONS of sport climbing within a few hours of Seattle. Try as many areas as you can. Also, you didn't mention whether you're looking for 5.7, 5.10, or 5.13. This may substantially affect your decisions. Then you haven't found the great lines yet. There are hundreds of routes at a wide range of grades, and the best rival the best at any other WA area. X38 has many crags, each with a different character, so definitely don't extrapolate from one to others. Conversely, there are some crappy routes at every area.

Cool. Thanks. You're the main reason we do what we do.

-Several new crag route projects -Bust the Rhythm -An alpine FA -Make new friends and keep the old ones

I'm curious to see what John and other knowledgable people have to say. As a tip from a cyclist cousin, I started Whey supplements a few years ago and it over time it had an impact. I'm probably in the 1.3 to 1.5 range and am not keeping close tabs. As John mentioned, diet is only one of many factors affecting performance. Don't neglect the others. If rock is your preferred medium, I suggest you read Goddard and Neumann's Performance Rock Climbing. They do an excellent job of explaining and illustrating the principles about how to improve technique, mental/psychological elements, and strength (power, endurance, anaerobic, aerobic). Staying healthy and injury-free is an art and science as well.

Sad to hear. Hope all is well and that she heals quickly. Kudos to the response teams. Many far side crags have significant belayer/climber communication challenges due to wind and noise from the freeway. If it's the 10c I'm thinking of, you can't see your belayer either. Always agree on a plan before you leave the ground.

Amazonia seeps a lot if the soil is saturated, which it is. Peanacle, or whatever it's called, is a bit of a hike but generally dries fast. There are plenty of other X38 crags that should be mostly dry.

Matt, Super. Thanks for your hard work here. You should write a Titled Index FPPP (first poop in a porta-potty).

Ondra goes ground up on 9a Superman w/a Hilti. LOL!

Thanks for sharing. What's striking in your case is that you really did not do anything wrong. Who would suspect a new piece of gear would be flawed? I'm very glad you're going to be OK, that you are willing to share your experience, that you were giving your time and energy to others, and that your perspective regarding your belayer is simultaneously blame-free and forgiving. Many folks read accident analyses and then think to themselves: "That guy did X, Y, and Z wrong. I would NEVER make those mistakes." But people do make those same mistakes. All it takes is a single lapse of judgment, failure to pay attention at a critical moment, a simple but catastrophic oversight, or just plain bad luck. Those of us, myself included, who mentally distance ourselves from those in accidents do so to convince ourselves we won't suffer the same fate ourselves. This is a dangerous mindset. We'd be better served to understand and accept that accidents, both human-caused and those beyond our control, can happen to anyone at any time. That doesn't mean we shouldn't climb. It only means we need to have our eyes and minds open and analyzing all the time in an effort to minimize the chance of human errors, and we must work hard to identify potential objective hazards and mitigate them or turn back when their combined severity and probability dictate. Heal fast, HOR. We could use more of your kind.

We're headed for a huge snowpack this year, which means that you won't have to do too much crevasse hopping and that will speed your ascent. If you're reasonably fit and the weather is good two days is pretty reasonable. Good water management is another way to control weight. Some people will cut the bottom off their toothbrush to save half an ounce and then carry 2L of water as they hike along creeks. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Super hydrate down low and then don't carry more than a liter per person up to camp. Manage your layers, sun exposure, pace etc to keep from getting dehydrated. Traveling in the cooler morning hours will be less work and require less water. Of course, on summit day you'll start in the dark and be down by early afternoon anyway. Non-drug tips to avoid getting a slitting altitude headache: stay really well hydrated, use plenty of sunblock (50+), and wear a hat and polarized sunglasses. You'll do great!

I heard you can see Russia from there.

Check out John Scurlock's site. He'll print great images for you at a very reasonable cost.

Moves like these require incredible strength, balance, and creativity not seen in US comps, as far as I can tell.

D woods interview on why US climbers do poorly in world cup comps. An interesting read. Worth thinking about if you hope your child prodigies will shine in the Olympics or the World Cup someday.

Exit 38 is on I90 and has tone of climbs in that range. See North Bend Rock guides for info. A better plan IMHO is to take a day to drive out Route 2, hit Index Great Northern Slab, camp in Leavenworth or by the river at Index. Then go to Leavenworth the next day. Climb in the early morning on routes in the shade and you should be ok. The just drive down 97 back to I90 and be on your way.

Partner.

One problem with a radio is that you need someone listening on the other end. So in each area you enter you need to know what frequency to use to reach someone.

We wrote about that in the Northwest Mountaineering Journal recently. Climber 9-1-1 article on communication devices

From his blog: Now it’s going to get a little controversial: In both of the accidents above (Jack Tackle and Carlyle Norman) good communications might have made a difference to if not the outcome then certainly the process and speed of response. Maybe nothing would have made a difference, but risks were taken and decisions made that good communications would have helped resolve faster, or at least reduce risks. I think that if you’re out in the mountains today without a Spot/DeLorme InReach (which was supposed to show up around here for a review two months ago?), satellite phone, appropriate radio or cell phone then, bluntly, you’re making a serious error and being an ass. In today’s world rescuers are going to come for you; if you can give a clear location then they will waste less time finding you, and put themselves at less risk. A Spot declares an emergency and provides a location, a very good start to being rescued efficiently. that. Two climbers were recently rescued off the top of the Goodsirs; I spoke with the guy doing the rescue, a friend of mine, all he knew was a GPS location from the Spot; he flew in, there they were, boom, off the mountain. There are problems with Spots, mainly that the communication isn’t two-way, but as any SAR person will tell you, finding the person quickly is the start of a successful rescue. A Spot weighs very little, and I don’t generally head into the hills without mine now. But if I do then I’m in an area with good cell service, and keep the phone well charged. If there is no cell service then the choices are a Satellite phone or a radio. Radios take more knowledge to use (repeaters, frequencies, etc etc), but have some strong benefits, mainly on-going communication with the rescuers when they are close. Satellite phones also allow two-way communication, work anywhere (or almost anywhere), and are getting increasingly cheap to buy and operate. No one tool is perfect, but the ability to declare an emergency and give a precise location is essential not only to the victim but also to those attempting to do the rescue. Full stop. I don’t want to even hear arguments about ethics and rescue etc. etc., in today’s world a rescue will be mounted, let’s keep it simple so it costs less, reduces risk to the rescuers and cuts trauma time for the family and friends down even if the person is dead. And if it saves the victim’s life then that’s a bonus. Most of the arguments around not bringing communications centre on the victim; don’t be a selfish victim, communicate. So, take care, don’t have accidents, but if you do have minimal but effective communication. I expect this will become the norm shortly, as basic as a headlight in any outdoor user’s pack.

I did a bit of research on this last year but didn't end up going. I didn't get a response by email so just picked up the phone. The owner answered all of my questions right away.

I'm not an expert, but it's not too hard to imagine situations (e.g. shifting wind directions, variable cloud cover) where snow stability varies widely within a small area. So no matter what the forecast or hazard rating is one needs to assess the local terrain carefully. Perhaps ice climbing, another sport I haven't taken up due to time constraints and concerns about objective hazards, shares this feature.