Blake

Definitely substitute Anonymity Tower/s for Burgundy Tower.

Diamond on Bear, then I'd be less scared of it. In all seriousness I think that Tooth and Claw and Independence Route (ask Sol or Max?) might be great contenders. Rad lines that get done less due to their degrading fixed pro. It might have been done recently, but maybe "edge of Space" as well.

Rad! Psyched to see the video!

I never quite figured out why the Alpine Bod is popular. I used to own one until I realized it's heavier, bulkier, and not any more comfortable than lots of other harnesses, not to mention it lacks a belay loop. I think brand loyalty has a lot to do with that harness's popularity. The only neat feature is the ability to doff/don while wearing big boots and 'pons, but even that isn't unique any more.

Darin did you ever get Burdo's Steinbok story?

If you can't fit 2 days worth of stuff in a 30L, take less stuff. With a rope folded over the top and along the sides, plus the lid, it carries a lot of gear.

Some friends and I did most of Ellation recently and thought it was a great climb. Darin put a lot of effort and thought into making a route that is safe, clean, and takes the best-looking line around. The rock is awesome up there! With new fixe double-bolt-and-ring anchors and an approach this quick and non-schwacky, Ellation should get climbed a bunch. Diorite knobs - P4's 5.10 face climbing was my favorite of the route P6 - More gear and easier climbing than it looks from the belay It's a lot like climbing a good squamish route on a steeper version of the apron, with no roads, people, border crossings, etc etc. The rappels are very slick with one rope as well.

Nice Rat and Eric. We came in from the other direction and got scared off by all the terrain to the left/south of what we took to be the doorish route. Kinda hard to tell, but we thought we could see a monkey-resembling-pillar that is described in the CAG on the right edge of the face, looks like you guys figured it to be in that spot as well. I would buy a 6 pack for anyone who puts up a route on the wall left of the Doorish line. Is there where you attempted one in the past?

Nice, great-looking climbs and cool adventure to read about!

I found a camera between Hannegan Pass and Mt. Ruth. It seemed to have been there for a few weeks at least, and didn't turn on, but the card works fine. It looks like the owners are climbers and Baker River Hotshots. Anyone have any contact info?

did it cross over that long pterodactyl ledge reached by Dragonfly, Dragons of Eden, Pete/Eric's route, etc? Or were you right of all those cracks?

More folks have been killed in airplanes than in space shuttles. Does that make space shuttles safer?

If you need to get a cam back in action and you are on a camping or road trip without wd-40, some olive oil will definitely work as well. Over time it gathers dust, but for a day or two, it works like a charm. Bacon grease tends to re-congeal.

In four or five visits, i've maybe seen one tick, and had no poison ivy reactions. Some approaches are well-worn trails or rappels, so if you seen poison ivy, you can just walk around it. Others (such as the "prisoner of your hairdo gully" ) do have some unavoidable patches of posion ivy, but with long pants on, neither myself nor partner ever noticed an effect.

Trip: Black Canyon of the Gunnison - The Flakes Date: 5/20/2011 Trip Report: Over the past year and a half, I've been able to make several visits to one of the USA's newest national parks, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I think that it ranks right up there with Squamish/Yos/Zion/Red Rock in terms of highly-accessible long rock climbs. The camping and ambiance make it a must-visit spot. This week I climbed "The Flakes" on the South Chasm View Wall with my friend Rob. The climb begins and ends on Astro Dog and has about 10 pitches of independent climbing in the middle. It's basically just a lot of fun granite crack climbing, with everything from fingers to chimneys. This wall is in the shade most of the day, and it's nice to sit on a comfy ledge and see the afternoon rays shooting down into the canyon and catching the iridescent backs of all the swallows, along with the mist pouring out of the rapids and waterfalls. I thought Astro Dog was a little better then The Flakes, but both routes are worth climbing. From on our North-facing wall, we were entertained at belays by watching a team work their way up the South-Facing wall across the river. (climbers in the corner left-center) Routes on this wall are reached via a line of 12 double-rope raps called the "astro slog", and since the rap stations are belay stations for some of these routes, you can strategically leave prizes for yourself clipped to the belays that you'll be returning to. Given that one starts rappeling about 50 feet from the car, there's no need to bring tennis shoes, so you can climb pretty light considering the routes are around 1,800 or 2,000 feet. Although I'm sure that doing new or truly obscure routes in the Black would result in some loose flakes and choss, there are dozens of clean and solid climbs that get done every season and are nothing like the horrifying reputation which the area has cultivated. The rangers are climbers who actually get out and climb as well! A few more photos from good climbs on both sides: Nate on Atlantis Matt on the Scenic Cruise Lightning Bolt Crack on Comic Relief The Dylan Wall My friend Scott's video from Astro Dog [video:vimeo]15513547 Gear Notes: The Flakes - doubles to #2, with a 3, 4, 5. Approach Notes: Usually down a gully, occasionally with a few rappels. You top out at the road or campground.

For sure it would go with a 70m as long as you had a few runners to clip to lengthen your rap length. Do this: but just use one rope. Make the "OK rope" be the long end, and have one climber rap it first to measure it out just long enough to get to the base of the pillar. Then the second climber also raps this one strand, but ties on a few slings / cords onto the other (short) end as they rap. Pull that end to get your rope back. Fireman back or rapping on a GriGri makes it easier. I guess there are a fair number of bolts on War of the Raptors, Cruel Shoes, Merci Me, etc, but you still might have some non-standard rappels to make it from the base of the pillar back to the ground.

Almost any of Darin's trips, but his adventures in the Pasayten Wilderness was an inspirational favorite: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=379431

Yeah buddy, thanks for the great day! Sol sent the gnar on a pitch of stacked flakes that he held together by jamming all sides at once, and he didn't even give me too much trouble when got us lost on the Black Velvet approach 3 times in a row.

If I could only ever have one pack, it'd be a 30L Cilogear. I've used mine on more trips than I can count, and it is the bees knees on everything from an afternoon of cragging to 4-day trip into the Picket Range. My only issue is a small hole in the bottom which I patched. The hole was chewed by a monkey in SE Asia though, so I can't really blame Graham or the design for that one.

It's getting a little cold on the North-facing stuff, but if anyone has a free weekend and wants to climb in Red Rock through the end of the year, you can currently book a round trip flight AND hotel in Vegas for practically nothing. People have been going form Seattle (+ hotel) for 20 cents. Buy tickets and hotel through www.Expedia.ca (gotta love the Canadians) and you'll get a $300 discount on what is a ~$300 purchase when you type "SAVE300" on the last page. More info on the deal

Inspirational guys...

6,000' gain and loss in 5 hours... pretty good for a sport climber. I hear that cinnamon rolls are the 'next thing' in post-workout nutrition.

Ellation to the summit, traverse Hannegan to Ruth-Icy-Shuksan, then climb the Arayete. The 542 Berdinka Link-A.

And Sol adds to his ever-growing list of 2nd ascents... Now I'm relieved that nobody was to tempted to 'test' that pin. Way to keep it together through the subsequent "excitement". Did the clean upper-wall features inspire any ideas? Congrats to G-J and Jess on their NR tick as well.

That's awesome guys! Really really inspiring to see! For people (like me) who aren't able to hang around upside-down in hand cracks, I think it's reasonable to have a great time doing the route at 5.11- C1, with 20 feet of easy aid.