TrogdortheBurninator

have you checked out rockfax? http://www.rockfax.com/publications/country.html?id=2

That reminds me, what about the bolted (full body?) chimney at the start of just another sucker on the vine by planet of the eights? That thing looked pretty crazy.

After waking up saturday with the effects of a bad dinner friday, neither my fiance or me were feeling like climbing. We lounged around the house until about 2PM, then decided to drive over to Tieton and camp (PS avoid the temptation to drive over white pass as a late start "scenic drive"), then climb just one day. Ended up spending the whole day a Royal Columns. Met two of our good friends there, and saw two other parties up there all day (hard to beleive it is the most popular area there). Stuck to easy crack climbs all day, and found the climbing to be very enjoyable. I would highly recommend RC for anybody just learning to crack climb, or anybody looking to take some first time crack climbers, climbing. The grades did feel stout, but not unreasonable. In an older post, many people were praising the utility of Hexes as pro at RC. While my Hexes haven't made it on to my craggin rack for Leavenworth since I doubled up most of my cams, I was very happy to have them in Tieton. In many situations, Hexes were more bomber, and faster to place than cams. I felt that BD cams placed slightly easier than DMMs in the edgy cracks, but nothing compared to the hexes. I started the day leaving the Hexes on the ground, then slowly added 1 or 2 hand sized pieces, then ended the last few climbs toting my whole set. I will definitely have to try and get back out to Tieton again 1 or 2 more times this spring. Thanks for all the input from everyone, next time we will make sure to check out some more of the areas.

I grabbed the book last night. Looks like Royal Columns has a lot of fun easy-moderate cracks. We'll definitely spend one day there. Sometimes my fiance gets sick of crack climbing and is looking for some moderate face climbing (<5.9). It looks like RC and the Bends have mostly traditional routes at the lower grades. Any recommended places to make a day or half a day of easier face climbing, possibly still mixed in with some fun crack climbing.

Was thinking about heading over to tieton this weekend for the first time. From seattle, what is the best way to get there? Also, rumor has it that the grades are a little stiff there. What does this mean? (Stiff compared to vantage, index, leavenworth, etc). Any reccomended routes in the 5.10b or less sport range and 5.8-5.9 or less trad range? Also, where is the best camping in the area? Finally, is the weather well predicted by the Yakima forecast, or is there usually a better indicator. Is the weather better or worse than Vantage and/or Leavenworth in general. Thanks.

Half off doesnt start till monday if I read the announcement right,

I agree Kurt that it didnt need to be bolted, but now that its there I don't see the harm in leaving it. Eventually the hype would die down and we'd be left with a route that those who wanted to could climb and those who didnt could leave alone.

I guess I dont see why you couldnt in your example just manually enter the waypoint for the cols in the rare instances you need that kind of precision. Waypoint could be entered either at home via computer, or just by reading coords from the full map.

Finally some good news. Alpental is opening this saturady and sunday for those of us who cant afford Crystal and have passes at snoqualmie. Hopefully chair 2 is open, otherwise I will be mad as hell if I go there instead of baker or crystal.

It still sounds to me like they entered at the base of the slabs, not a few hundred feet higher where the route starts. If the first picture is where they started the route, I think they started climbing way to early. We saw some other guys try the same thing when we were out there. Question for OP: Do you recall hiking up a fairly steep trail for an extended period of time (10min maybe less) after the base of the face first came into view? If not, I think you were off route. If this thing is being chopped, I think it is pretty poor ethics in my opinion. The route represents a substantial effort on the part of the FAists on a face that hardly ever got climbed prior to this route.

In an alpine environ I have actually used my GPS with a lot of satellites to set my watch altimeter, and have found that when I reach the summit, it is dead on. GPS measurement is based on triangulation, and it is my understanding that more obtuse angles between satellites yields better vertical resolution. I probably wouldn't trust the given eleveation unless I was in a totally open view with 5 or more satellites, and the reading is stable. If you are thinking about blowing a huge chunk of $$ on your GPS, I would consider the new Suunto watch way before any color mapping doohicky. I think the watch is way more practical in the sense that you would always have it ready for measurement. If I wasnt going to blow a huge wad of $$, I would look at the etrex gecko. I would have bought the gecko instead of my etrex venture if it had been out at the time. Geckos are light weight and easy to use. I think in the long run you will use it way more with those charachteristics compared to the handful of times you might acutally use color mapping or something.

in tree cover dont count on it, however on alpine climbs you can get very good accuracy from the satellites.

Glad to see some replies at sg i was thinking: vertical hands in bouldering area 5.7 - 5.8 Slab hands to fists in bouldering 5.6-5.7 depending how far you jam Overhanging hands 5.10 something (i probably tried this thing more times than any other route before i finally got it months later) Vertical fingers / off fingers in lead roof back room (havent climbed pure crack) Overhanging finger in front room (in my dreams) fingers to thin hads in top rope 5.11- entry to 5.10- crack UW coachs - i thought harder than 5.8 cause the top out gets a little rattly for my hands fingers on east slab - 5.8ish those are the only two i think ive made without face holds

I will be spending 3 weeks in Tolouse France this summer helping to teach a class at one of the local universities. I am wondering if and where the closest good climbing is. I hope to have a couple of weekends free, and I'd like to spend them climbing. I had looked at trying to get to Chamonix, but it is like a 24hr total trip by train. Maybe there are some good options in the south of france, or northern spain. Regarding gear, I'd like to just bring shoes, helmet, and harness, but that requires that local partners are easy to find.

Although it is probably a stupid idea to try and rate fake cracks, I thought it might be interesting to see where different people rate some of the local practice cracks (ie UW rock, stone gardens, UW bridge, whatever else). I know various guides to UW have come and gone, but I have only seen the old school bouldering grades and not the crack grades. Anyhow, to standardize, rate things based on YDS of the basic difficulty of the moves. IF necessary, feel free to add restrictions such as with face holds, no face holds, no stemming, all 4 in crack, etc. Try and give some reference to which crack you are descrbing, based on direction, common name, etc.

I think a lot of the really light weight soft shell materials are so light that adding zippers for vents and zips gives the pants an uncomrtable feel and adds a lot of unnecessary weight. For the thick soft shell materials I see a lot more full side zips other accessories becuase from a comfort and weight basis it is not as big an issue. I think that with really light softshells (dynamic or lighter) if you want shorts, bring em along in the pack. Otherwise get the pants in a light color, and roll up the legs if necessary, most of these light weights breathe so well, vents dont seem to matter too much. In terms of favorites, I have some OR granite pants that are super durable and I like a lot, only downside is the pockets on mine dont zip. I also have some moonstone cirque pants which are really nice, however a little short in length. I also have some really heavy weight moonstone softshells that are geared more towards cold weather climbing. They are really nice too, but they arent available for sale. I think that soft shells are becoming a very generic category with a lot of variation in materials such that the choice in garment/fabric is very usage dependent and just specifying soft shell is not enough. Instead you should specify a light weight, mid-weight, or heavy weight soft shell, and whether you want an emphasis placed on durability, wind resistance, water resistance/proofness, or breathability.

bump, Leave seattle in next hour, return this evening? email: killgoj@u.washington.edu, PM, or call 2067906566

Anyone looking for a partner tomorrow in vantage or L'worth. Id prefer to meet someone there as I may stay the night and meet some other friends tuesday. Although I could be persuaded to drive back to seattle if necessary. Looking to climb easy trad/moderate sport.

That rattlesnake boulder is way harder in waders and oversized felt soled wading boots.

You could probably do it in any 4wd with high ground clearance, however a winch would provide a little more confidence in avoiding getting stuck.

My mom bought me the original avalung when they first came out. I wore it a few times, but it was bulky and uncomfortable. I think the newer design looks significantly better. After reading stories where the devices actually made a difference, it is tempting to purchase a new one. It still seems like the design could use some refinement, particularly in reducing the bulk of the breathing tube. I feel that the more stremlined the design becomes, and the lower the price drops, the more widely adopted the device will be. I feel the BD made a mistake by introducing the original Avalung in a configuration that was not conducive to widespread apotion.

ANybody ever have any luck with tick repellents?

I had one of the little bastards dig into my belly button last weekend. Didnt see it at first when I was checking myself over. Anybody know what the odds of actually getting sick from a tick are? No syptoms as of yet, just curious.

there may be some letter rearrangement at play here

Nope, still snow on the ground last weekend