Blake

To me they are just worse than aliens in every way. Less flexy, less range, more apt to get stuck due to lobes that rotate past each other, more easily gummed up, and after the cam stops (which the triggers pull on) broke on a purple one (and metolius wouldn't do anything about it) I don't have much faith in their durability. I'd vote for wanting an alien or offset alien in about 80-90% of the small cam placements I make, with a pretty even distribution of times I'd want a TCU or C3 for the odd spot here and there on the other placements.

Hey Wayne! You know, there really wasn't a lot of lichen on those routes, but some grainyness and flaring cracks on that aspect of Cathedral. Amphitheatre was basically flawless, just frustatingly lacking in continuous steepness.

Trip: Pasayten Wilderness - Cathedral and Amphitheater Trip Report: Over the course of a week spent in the eastern edges of the range back in August, my friend Scott Bennett and I climbed a few new routes and were amazed by all the folks out there. I made a couple topos below. Our granite sojourn began at CAMP 4: I had been to the region once before, about 4 years ago, when my girlfriend and I didn't see anyone for 5 days. 7 years ago, Darin and Owen had an inspirational trip and apparently didn't encounter many people either. This time it was a zoo! (multiple NOLS groups, some cowboys...) But our one day of snow flurries was made better by the friendly folks who let us fly fish and play cards and even steal some yukon jack whiskey. Darin's "Pilgrimage to Mecca" route was getting done by several groups, as was the SE Buttress on Cathedral. Scott and I joined up with fellow a former-Bellinghamster named Dana, and we climbed the first pitch of Amphitheater's " Left Side of the Middle Finger Buttress which is definitely one of the best 5.10 corner pitches in the range. We left a rap station above. Scott and I also did a few new routes. The climb on Amphitheater was fun for a few pitches, then became lower angle and joined the general vicinity of the upper "Left Side" route. It began here, taking a line on the right: Flake to Corner to Splitter to Roofs The red alien/green camalot splitter is good Cascades alpine training for Moonlight Buttress. The swinging steps left were wild, but solid-feeling, and the roofs weren't as bad as we had thought they'd be. P2 On Cathedral, we hoped for clean white granite and splitters. We found some of both, but overall the face is so ledgy, with corners and options all around, that it never forced us to take a line or climb a weakness and we wandered around picking out features that seemed fun. Climbing on the headwall crux - The headwall climbing was neat, featuring a (now cleaned-out) roof-to-finger crack sequence that I failed to free on lead. The moves are all there, it's just a big span between the last opening in the crack, and an obvious jug. Scott, both a better climber and with long monkey-man arms, sent this pitch and hauled the pack, and I lunged to follow cleanly. Pretty reach dependent, but with good gear and neat moves. (pic courtesy of friendly Canadian illegal visitor) Gear Notes: Both routes would go fine with a rack to 3" and some small wires and doubles in medium-sized cams. Approach Notes: Up via the Chewack River from Winthrop

I'm another heretic who TR solos on the cinch all the time. It feeds really smoothly, has always locked up, and allows for instant lower/rapping. I do tend to tie an overhand knot or fig-8-on-a-bight after leaving the ground or big ledges as a final safety measure that I could never fall past, but it has always locked up. I like the harnesses that have the snug, dogbone-style belay loop slot, which keeps the little locking 'biner oriented properly. One thing with the cinch: it requires a real tug to lock it up, just like the seatbelt in your car. A very slow and gentle pull will not lock it up. So when you are falling, don't grab the rope and try to slow yourself, just sit back down with your weight on the rope.

Here's an update/article from the Seattle PI - I like the premise, which is for groups like the North Cascades Conservation Council to reconsider road repairs and greater access in exchange for such an expansion of park size. SEATTLE PI ARTICLE Greens want bigger national park: Let people into it! By JOEL CONNELLY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF Updated 07:00 p.m., Sunday, October 2, 2011 Dubbing themselves the "American Alps Legacy Project," a bevy of conservation groups want to put about a quarter-million acres of additional federal land into our state's North Cascades National Park. Nobody doubts the land is of "park caliber." Pull off the North Cascades Highway and look up Ross Lake at Hozomeen Mountain. Watch 8,900-foot Black Peak come into view from the road, or hike to Maple Pass for broader vistas. Or walk the Baker River rainforest on a misty-moisty shoulder season day. But Congress ought to deliver an either/or ultimatum to the more rigid advocates of a larger park: Let people into it. Old-line green groups must drop resistance to reopening roads that access trailheads and campgrounds in the North Cascades and Olympic National Parks. They must stop lawsuits blocking rebuild of the Suiattle River Road in Snohomish County, the major access to wonderful trails into the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area. The coalition behind the "American Alps Legacy Project" includes practical people like former Republican Gov. Dan Evans, climber-lawyer Jim Wickwire (first American atop K-2), and Peter Jackson, writer son of the U.S. Senator who wrote the 1968 North Cascades Act. But its lead sponsor is the North Cascades Conservation Council. The N3C was plaintiff in a federal suit, earlier this year, that forced the Federal Highway Administration to abandon a plan to rebuild the Suiatte Road. It seems that some absolutist activists have lived by a motto: Keep everybody out but us. Now that it's time to add 237,702 acres to the park, however, they're singing a different tune. "The North Cascades National Park is currently one of the least visited national parks in the 'lower 48' states," the American Alps Legacy Project said last week. How come? One reason: The N3C, Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association and other groups have tenaciously fought -- and helped block -- reconstruction of one of just two roads that lead into the park. The dirt road up the Stehekin River valley washed out in the great fall storm of 2003. The washout occurred near aptly named Carwash Falls. A rebuilt road could use the path of an old wagon road just east of the washout. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., has introduced a bill to do just that. We're not talking about Interstate 5. The Stehekin Road was used mainly for a National Park Service shuttle bus that dropped hikers off at trailheads, and took non-backpackers to such wonderful lowland places as the Bridge Creek Campground. When Congress was considering North Cascades legislation in the 1960s, the Sierra Club produced a film entitled "The Wilderness Alps of Stehekin." It showed club director David Brower and his family on a horseback trip up to Park Creek Pass, a 6,100-foot-high defile flanked by three 9,000-foot peaks. Hiking buddies and I once watched, at Park Creek Pass, as a mother bear and three cubs frolicked in the meadows. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth. A stiff eight-mile hike when the Stehekin Road was open, it's now 14 miles each way: Who has time to follow in the Browers' footsteps? Park legislation has to pass through the House Resources Committee. Doc Hastings is the chairman: The Doc's last League of Conservation Voters scorecard rating -- a goosegg. A chunk of the proposed park addition -- Rainy Pass-to-Washington Pass on the North Cascades Highway -- is in Hastings' district. Hence, park advocates need to ask a question they learned as kids on Saturday morning television: What's up, Doc? The sun will rise over the Olympics before Hastings ever agrees to park status for popular hunting areas (e.g. Canyon Creek) north of the North Cascades Highway. He's going to insist that the Stehekin Road be rebuilt. Driven by outrage in Snohomish County, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., is going to have his back up -- as he should -- over putting back the Suiattle Road. The American Alps Legacy Project proposes some visitor enhancements. But new visitor centers would be located in Marblemount and Winthrop, outside the park. A silky promise reads: "Family-friendly front country recreation along S.R. 20 will be developed in a way that is compatible with conservation in the park." Does that mean a de-emphasis -- or abandonment -- of roads and trails leading to glorious high places? Sweeping views from the Hidden Lake Lookout hold a lot more appeal than the proposed "Goodell Creek Landslide Trail." Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who hikes and climbs in her (little) spare time, is working the issue. She'll need the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon to pull off what would be wonderful for the state -- an enlarged North Cascades National Park that a cross-section of citizens can enjoy. Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/connelly/article/Greens-want-bigger-national-park-Fine-let-2197242.php#ixzz1chOVB3sb

I would love to climb at castle, midnight or anything sunny tomorrow. dont mind leading all day. thanks

Cams $25/ea (#3.5 tech friend is like a 3 camalot - the .5 and .75 max cams have a bit more range than camalots) Shoes - Size 40 brand new in box Instincts - crush your edging-intensive proj, bro! $75 Hexes - full set - $60 Tricam - free with anything or $5 HB version of the ATC - $5 and way more street cred than the new types OR Vigor Jacket - Mens Medium - with own pocket to stuff into and clip on - $35 Mens Small misty mtn harness - $20 Womens Med Rock Empire Harness - $20 Quickdraws - keylock - great shape - $10/ea First Ascent Brand fleece beanie - $5 Red CAG - NEW!! - $25 (No picture, covers Rainy to Fraser) New color Boulder Canyon, CO guide - $25 Hammer - $5

Yo Mikey, Scott and I had a single unzipped bivy bag and 2 (~30 degree 20oz) down bags for 5 nights on our pollone trip. Although we didn't have nights as cold as you guys on fitz, it was still chilly and windy and we slept really well and even felt rested after bivy on route. If I did it again i think the ideal setup for something like this which you are describing would be LINK TO SUCH A PRODUCT a basic ( zipperless) sheet of Cuben/cubic Fiber or Silnylon that could be thrown over both climbers. Maybe 7' x 7'? It would maybe just have grommets in the 4 corners, or better yet, just small dabs of seam grip with holes poked through (poor-mans ultralight grommets). Then I'd be a fan of 2 ultralight bags like the montbell 40degreee bag, which weigh about 15oz each, though perhaps a spoonbill equivalent, or a down blanket from western mtneering, would be better. Stick your feet and lower legs in your pack and sleep on the rope, and overall i think it produces a pretty good shelter/sleep system for not much more weight than a full nalgene. I think overal its worth picking the brain of some accomplished long distance hikers for their setups, and checking sites like this one: www.zpacks.com It seems like with a VBL inside the bag, your warm air cushion of feathers is going to suffer a lot more convective heat loss due to wind than with a layer on the outside, and of course when it rains, you are hosed.

awesome climb and photos... i love the shots with you all up in the rhime and snice, and the fall colors of the cascade pass trail down below.

The Casual Route is 5.10a and has only a body-length or so of climbing even as hard as a typical Index 5.9. That's not to say it doesn't take some guts to solo it. (and then nearly crash in a BASE jump from the top)

My friend Scott and I did this a few weeks ago and concur with Mikey, Max, Sol, et al - this one gets my vote for best rock climb in Washington. You can also rap the first 6 pitches with a 70m rope for a great half-day climb with short approach. All the harder pitches are just short enough to allow the leader to untie and throw down their end of the 70m rope and haul up a pack - no need for a tag line. Scott made a freeclimbing topo - Scott's writeup Crux pitch: good 'til the end Double roofs on pitch 6

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.

Red #1 Camalot $30 Red CAG - NEW! $25 3.5 Tech Friend - same as 3 camalot $20 0 Metolius ultralight FCU $30 #1 Ballnut new with tags $15 Trango .5 Max Cam /purple (slightly bigger range than .5 camalot) $25 #2 Yellow Metolius TCU - $25 Lockers and chalk bags (most keynose) $5/ea Rap rings and quicklinks and nut tool - $1/ea Deuter summerweight sleeping bag - about 1 pound - $30 Used clothes: Patagonia Talus Pants - Ultralight simple black schoeller - just reapplied the DWR- Mens small fits 30x31 or thereabouts $40 OR Rumor hoody -Similar to Patagonia R1-ideal 2nd layer- mns small - $25 Mtn Hardwear Phantom Jacket- 800 fill down - dark blue, mens small - ~16oz - $30 Scarpa Laser (or other AT boot) liners - lace up, not the bake-it-yourself ones. Fit wmns size 8 or 38 euro foot. $10

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?

New edition and new copy of the Red/northern Cascade Alpine Guide - Retail was $35 or $40 when i bought it from the store a few weeks ago. Asking $20 for it now.

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?