Rad

If you go, you will find beefy biners on the chains at the top of routes - like at Nason. Clip and lower and please leave the biners where you found them. Thx.

Blotter on accident Glad he's going to be OK. Anyone know what route or what happened?

Not secret, but not ready to post details on the interweb yet. Send a pm if interested in going Sunday, and if you prefer to go by yourself I can send you directions.

If you bring shoes and a harness you can probably join us on Sunday for rock climbing here We may be able to transport you to/from Seattle too...

Some of you know I've been working on a crag, dubbed Shangri-La, for a few years and have been taking people out rather than posting beta on a website. Well, I'm going on Sunday and would be glad to give a tour to anyone who'd like to come along. PM if interested. The crag is mostly South-facing and should be in great condition. Routes feel more like Index than the rest of X38, but I'd rather let the routes do the talking so you can decide for yourselves. Everyone who has been so far has enjoyed them anyway. Ratings are subjective, as we know, but be warned that these are more more in line with Index than the rest of X38. People comfortable on 10s and up should find plenty to do. The breakdown goes like this: Drive By = 5.8 bolted arête. 27 meters. Magic Carpet Ride = 5.8ish trad crack. 40 meters. Unnamed = 5.9ish bolted face. About 35 meters. History Book = 5.10- trad crack. 20 meters. Guillotine = 5.10- trad crack and flake in a giant corner. 22 meters. Hangman = 5.10- bolted face and roof. 30 meters. Small Arms Fire = 5.10 bolted face. 20 meters. Crouching Tiger = 5.10+ bolted roof and face climbing. 20 meters. Metamorphosis = 5.10+ two pitch line with mixed bolts and gear. About 50 meters total. Free Radical = 5.11- bolted arête. 22 meters. Hidden Dragon = 5.11 (11+ if short) bolted face and roofs. 29 meters. Hypertension = 5.11+ bolted face and roofs. 28 meters. Unrepeated. Skullduggery = 5.12ish bolted overhanging face. 13 meters. Unrepeated. Project = 5.12+ or harder…. The approach is 15-25 minutes depending on your pace. On the walk in I can also point out some newish 11s that are well worth doing. Me on the FA of Guillotine in 2007. Skullduggery. (Rope at left is vertical)

Nobody mentioned Utah. I've never lived there but it sounds like it's got sunshine, rock, ice, and snow in abundance. True?

Another way to spend your 2 days is to go to the W Ridge of Conness. It's only about 5.6, but it must be over 3000ft long in a stunning position. Crowds are unlikely. It does top out over 12k so if you haven't done any acclimatization you may feel the hurt. Other routes listed are good choices too.

Middle Fork of the SnoQualmie

Impressive. Thanks for sharing the training tips. It makes Tommy's free ascents of the Nose and Freerider in under 24hrs seem even more insane. http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/News_Tommy_ElCap.htm

Good work. Great route, particularly on the upper arete. You didn't whip, and the bolt placement is quite reasonable, so I'm not sure the dire warnings are needed - IF you take the TCU. A good route to climb if you're nursing a pulley tear...

Onsight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-btPtpkMr4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbmnqhQBJ0E&feature=fvsr Make sure to watch the part starting around 2:00

Reading your post again, it sounds like the landings from unexpected falls on routes near your limit are what's causing stress to your system. Some of my comments above are not relevant to that. Here are two more quick thoughts then: - Before you climb a route, figure out where a fall is likely and pad the landing as much as possible. If it involves an awkward body position imagine/plan how you will fall safely. There is a fine line here, because you don't want to visualize failure. At the same time, you don't want to be making your falling plan when you're airborne. - Get tips from veteran boulderers about how to fall and not get hurt. Watch them too. - Skip problems that have higher impact or dangerous falls, or only do them when you're fresh. - Shorten your workouts. Perhaps the biggest danger in bouldering is climbing too much. Because you aren't swapping with a partner, tying in and out, lowering, and can go straight to the hard moves, bouldering trends toward higher intensity, shorter duration workouts than roped climbing. I can get a better workout in 45 minutes of bouldering than 2 hours of roped climbing.

Hmmm. For a variety of reasons most of my workouts are indoor bouldering. I have come to love it as I find more creative movement than most roped routes. I know you're a very experienced climber, but some basics still apply (like listen to your body and rest). Here's what works for me (may or may not work for you). 1 - Warm up. Traverse. Multiple easy routes (climb up and down). Stretch all parts (back especially important). 2 - Set a goal for your session and stick to it. It might be to do all the routes under a certain grade, or to try a target problem at your limit, or to do a certain number of routes at a target grade (1-2 levels below limit). Many other options are possible, but don't allow yourself to do a huge number of routes and then do a lot of attempts on your hardest problem. 3 - Be willing to say no to a problem. I won't do routes at my limit where the hardest moves set you up for injury. For me, this might mean hard moves that put your body in an awkward position way above the pads. Or moves right down near the ground where there's no time in the air to adjust yourself. Or moves on vertical or slab routes where you can get hurt hitting other holds. It might mean certain holds or hold positions that seem likely to cause finger, wrist, shoulder, or other injuries (you'll know these after one attempt). Sometimes routes are just shitty. It's not worth injuring yourself just to prove you can climb it. 4 - Downclimb from the top when possible on easier holds. This is almost always possible - or at least you can get lower and control your fall/landing. 5 - Fall/land properly. Land on two feet whenever possible and never land with straight legs or put out a straight arm to stop yourself (think martial arts falls). Absorb fall energy by couching down toward fetal position. Roll if necessary, but watch out for others. 6 - Some gyms are better than others. I find that VW Seattle has the hardest landings in the area. The pads you pull around the room are a joke and there are often unruly kids underneath you wanting to get squashed. SG has better padding. 7 - Listen to your body. I don't climb more than two days in a row or 4 days a week because it is hard on the system. Your body needs time to rest between workouts otherwise you won't be getting stronger. The exception to these is if you're just doing endurance workouts. If you feel a shoulder or elbow is on the edge of tweakage avoid routes that aggravate it. Ditto any other hand/finger/wrist situation. Don't ride ibuprofen to get through as it will set you back in the long run. When you're old like me staying healthy is hard work! I could probably ramble on but I'll stop. Have fun! Rad

He has twice responded promptly to emails sent to the address listed. If you have something to say/ask perhaps send it there. Last time I checked, we live in the land of "innocent until proven guilty"

I traded an email with Clay and filled out the survey, but you guys have made me wonder. Googling shows he's posted the survey on a host of climbing sites, but there's no one by that name at UO Medicine. Clay, care to provide some evidence of your connection to UO Medicine? If not, maybe we should post warning notes on the other forums where information requests have been posted...

Yep. Some great routes in the woods are rarely climbed. Two examples: Lay of the Land. Goldrush. Digitalis and the climb just right of it could probably use some cleaning too.

Thanks Frank. The book calls it 11d. Is it as good as it looks?

I don't have experience on St Helens, but I did tote my kids around when they were smaller and lighter. My thought is that it's not that confortable for kids to be immobilized in a pack for a long time (>45 minutes), particularly in cold weather. Their legs/feet can go to sleep/get numb from having thighs/hips press into the pack. They are not exercising and so get cold fairly easily. They are not likely to benefit much from the outing. Then they weigh you down and slow you down, add to the gear/food/drinks you must carry, must be attended periodically based on their needs. etc. My 2 cents: if your goal is the summit find someone to watch the kid. You'll both be happier. If your goal is to have quality outdoor time, then skip St Helens as they'll (are you going in spring?) have as much fun or more at any snowy trailhead as 5000ft up the side of mtn. Other parents can chime in here.

I saw one in Argentina years ago. Haven't seen one in the US yet.

For smearing at index, I'd take cool and damp over hot and greasy any day of the week.

I find the original bold visions of these two climbers inspiring. Turning it into a pickle sprayfest would be unfortunate and uninteresting. I'd like to see these two take their fitness and creative energies to new objectives.

Snafflehaus or House of Snaffle

Nice. I love the high Sierra. Miss it.

Now I want to see one where a multi-piece rock anchor with cams is hitched up so the triggers are pulled when you pull the rope so the anchor comes down with the rope. LOL! These may sound and look crazy, but I like the idea of inventing and testing solutions for extreme situations BEFORE you are in those situations.