Alyosha

Hmm... I've never tried slab climbing with my ice axe. Thanks for the beta! Too bad it's not in yet...

Has anyone been to Static Point recently? Was the gate open? Was the road snow-free? Thanks!

Great, thanks for all the pointers! And, DCramer, I didn't really have firm plans as to what route(s): if I am feeling timid, I might just "sample" a lower pitch or two and rappel off. Was there a reason you were asking?

Has anyone been to Static Point this season? Is the road/trail affected by the latest round of washouts from this autumn/winter? Is the description of how to get there in the "Sky Valley Rock" guidebook still (somewhat) accurate? Thanks!

Three of us are going to Squamish this weekend, and are looking for a fourth. We're all pretty new to the sport, so we'll probably be climbing 5.6s and 5.7s (maybe 5.8s, if things are going well). Ideally, we would like to find a fourth person who can lead (sport and trad) at about that level. The plan is to leave town Friday(today) afternoon, and come back Sunday evening. If interested, email me: zhenya@freeshell.org, or call my cell: 425-417-9117.

Found a trekking pole in Boston Basin, just below Quien Sabe Glacier. The rightful owner should be able to describe it.

Well, you don't _have_ to rappel the route, if you climb GNS, do you? You could walk up and right, and rappel off "The Terrace Rappel station", no? I haven't found a way to do the second rappel with anything shorter than a 60m rope, and it's a bit exciting even with a 60m (I was glad I had knotted the ends), but I lived, and so did my partners.

In addition to Gritscone, Squishy Bell (also in the Far Side area) is entirely top-ropeable. Unlike Gritscone, which is entirely under tree canopy, Squishy Bell is open to the winds, and faces East/South, so it might be dryer; it certainly is sunnier. It's about 20 minutes' hike from the parking area (If you follow the trail that goes past High Point, and Eastern Block, once you hit the talus field, skirt along its lower/left edge, until you see the trail that goes left of the talus field, and takes you to Squishy Bell: the trail is not obscure, or particularly faint, but is a lot easier to find once you've seen it once, and can be missed the first time around). Write-off-Rock in the Deception Crags area can be top-roped, after you lead the really short and easy 5.5 (Exit 38 rating) on the left. FWIW, I thought that 5.5 was a nice, gentle first sport lead. It may be possible to scramble to the top of Write-off-Rock, but I suspect that'd actually be harder than leading the 5.5 on the left. Write-off-Rock is about five to eight minutes' walk from the Deception Crags parking lot. Beware of credit card stealing car-prowling shysters when you go to Exit 38: take your wallet with you to the base of the climb.

I have two separate questions, really. First, what areas/routes in Squamish would you recommend for a first sport lead? Second, what areas/routes would you recommend for easy(5.6-ish) trad, preferably multi-pitch? (The person looking to do the first sport lead is different from the person looking to do easy trad). Thanks

We ended up doing Super Slab and Moscow (so, we aren't fast). We both liked the Super Slab much more than the athletic Moscow. A #4 Friend worked very nicely in the wide crack near the top of Moscow. Thanks, Alex, for suggesting we bring something in that range. Also, thanks for the route suggestions, everyone. I guess we'll have to go back and try them (wouldn't that be a chore! )

You could call the Leavenworth Ranger station at 509-548-6977, and ask. My recollection is that individual sites are first-come, first-served, and that they aren't "officially" open until April 15th.

I'll be going to Smith next Monday (the 12th). My partner is looking to lead 5.7-5.8ish trad; I am looking to lead 5.5-5.6ish trad. Routes that protect nicely would be preferable, obviously. Could someone suggest which area(s) at Smith we should try? Thank you

Neat, thank you. I feel edufied.

Someone mentioned a "double bowline" (apparently abbreviated DBBB) in another thread. Dr. Flash Amazing had even posted a link, but the link was broken. Would someone please post a link/picture of the "DBBB" that isn't broken? Alternatively, if you think you can explain in text how to tie the "DBBB" to someone who knows how to tie a regular bowline and a bowline-on-a-bight, that'd work too. I googled for "DBBB bowline" and found nothing besides this thread. So, I googled for "double bowline" , and the most promising-looking thing I found was this: double bowline page But I thought double bowline, as shown on that page was weaker than the figure-eight (because the rope makes a sharper bend)? Or is the "DBBB" the "Water Bowline" or the "Zeppelin Loop"? Thanks

The blurb by the Black Diamond guy was actually quite informative (for me, anyways). Thanks for pointing me to it. Also, thanks to everyone who posted to date. It was nice to hear some arguments pro and con besides "my friends do it that way."

I clip my "belay biner" (HMS locking biner to which I attach my belay device) to my harness's belay loop, which is what the instructions that come with my harness tell me to do. But I've seen a few people who cheerfully disregard the fact that their harness is equipped with that belay loop thing, and clip their "belay biner" through the leg piece and the waist piece of their harness, the way the rope would go for tie-in (or perhaps simply clip it around the leg piece and the harness waist belt -- I haven't looked closely enough to remember exactly). Whenever I asked them to explain why they're doing it this way, all I got was "my friend/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/dog/cat/hamster, who has been climbing for ten years does it that way." My reaction to that iron-clad argument has generally been "and my great-grandpa used to tie a hemp rope around his waist, and call it good, but he died." Yet nagging doubt remains, "maybe, I'm missing something here?" Am I? (Their friend who told them to do it that way never seems to be on hand ) Note that I'm not asking about harnesses that don't have a belay loop by design. Thank you

Behold, I unwittingly resurrected a monster. I appreciate everyone giving their opinions. What I've heard/learned: The controversy seems to center around whether to use a (separate) "personal anchor" when alpine/multi-pitch climbing. The people who don't use a (separate) personal anchor cite "less gear to carry/less bulk at your harness's power point" and "the rope is stronger and more cut-resistant than any personal anchor" as their main arguments. They girth-hitch a runner around their harness if they need to attach themselves to an anchor for rappelling. The people who do use a (separate) personal anchor cite "better redundancy" (less chance of accidentally unclipping the wrong person, according to Uncle Tricky). The people who use a (separate) personal anchor seem to generally like daisy chains (for adjustability), except for that maveric Daniel Smith, who says they're too bulky (the daisy chains, not the people), and uses perlon. Along the way, many wonderful and weird tangential points have been raised (don't clip two loops of a daisy chain, clove hitch vs something on-a-hank -- eh... I mean a bight -- for anchor tie-in, how much force would a fall on a static "personal anchor" generate vs a fall on a section of the rope, etc.) As to my original question, if I wanted to use a separate personal anchor, the only argument for perlon seems to be "less bulky than a daisy chain" by -- surprise -- none other than Daniel Smith. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of what was said; even so, I feel quite enlightened. Thanks again to everyone who replied, and thanks to CBS for pointing me to the other thread. Wonder how long it'll take before someone posts a bathroom pun on "enlightened..."

Can anyone comment on using a loop of (Perlon) cord girth-hitched around one's harness for a personal anchor when free-climbing? (Instead of a sling or a daisy-chain, which most people seem to use). It certainly seems that 7mm or 8mm Perlon has enough tensile strength to provide a comfortable safety margin. Has anyone tried it? Can anyone tell me why it's a bad idea? Thank you

I know this may come as a real shock, but smiles aren't actually all that uncommon on Mounties trips.

I disagree. I did not read any assumption in that area of strength ratings. It read and asked for a suggestion on glacier ropes with markings. Unless homey changed it. MattP read my question the way I intended, Captain. What I meant was that a half of a double-rope or a twin-rope system isn't, strictly speaking, rated for use as a single rope. What I get from the responses so far is that, because crevasse falls are not leader falls, you don't need a rope that's rated for use as a single rope. I was jut too lazy to type all that in the original post, sorry.

If you were doing a two or three-day climb that involved some glacier travel, what rope would you bring to use on the glacier? In particular, can you comment on bringing along "half" of a double rope system (an 8.5mm-ish rope that has "1/2" markings on its ends)? Thank you

If my past (and rather limited) experience with crack climbing is any indication, 5.4-5.6 should be just right for me difficulty-wise. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Sounds like Icicle Creek Canyon is my best bet for now, and maybe I can go to Squamish or Vantage when I grow up. Royal Columns in Tieton sounds good too, but the only info I could find on it was a "here are a few routes, but, by all means, try any crack that looks good" in Soot. Thank you kndly, Mr. Soot, but not while I'm trying to learn new technique. Thanks again to everyone who replied!

Can anyone recommend some areas around Seattle (say, no more than 4-5hr drive) that have good beginner cracks? I'm looking for cracks in the 5.4-5.6 range that are reasonably straightforward to top-rope. Ideally, the approach would be reasonably short, and the crack would be pretty much the entire route: I would like to be able to practice climbing the crack a few times without annoying the people who want to climb the route and could care less about some fools wanting to practice crack climbing on that first pitch. Areas that are climbeable in autumn/winter, if the weather cooperates are a big bonus. Thank you kindly.