wfinley

Photo changed.

Hey John - contrary to what your ego tells you, you're not the only one who has ever climbed Yukla. Everytime you post on any forum it... rapidly devolves into a spray fest. Go climbing and stop spraying.

First of all I have to ask if you’ve read the plan? As I’ve stated before – the plan calls for lots of development. A $40 million road within the park, 3 caretaker homes, 2 backcountry cabins, a new ATV trail in Bird and many many new trails. The plan removes all of Crow Pass from the Wilderness Zone – thus greatly reducing the overall amount of wilderness in the park. Likewise the plan lists commercial power development, hydroelectric generators and commercial lodges as compatible and calls for ATV tours within the park to be permissible. When you take any of the above points and compare them to a handful of bolts in road-cut above the busiest highway in Alaska the notion of impact becomes moot. As for your specific points…. There hasn’t been a new guidebook for CSP rock in over a decade so linking increased numbers to guidebooks is a poor arguement. Anchorage has seen a demographic shift in the past decade and there are more young people into outdoor sports. Demographics plays a far greater roll than blogs, forums or guidebooks. As for service... Kelsey has been very public about the replaced bolts. That’s a good thing. Most of the bolts down on the highway were placed in the 80s. Most of them are 1/4 inch stubbies that spin and wouldn’t hold shit yet most of them still get climbed on a regular basis. Replacing them is a service – and most climbers are thankful for that. It would suck to break a leg because some old-school climber (who thinks climbing on loose roadcut with bad bolts is character building) managed to stop anchor replacements. I agree that camouflaging anchors is ideal - but I don't think neglecting to do so is causation for an all out ban. I call BS on this. I climb down there on a regular basis and have not seen instances of this. More no parking signs? The only no parking signs added in the past 15 years have been the ones at McHugh – and those were put up because of the new lot built 10 years ago. Let's get some perspective here. You’re talking about replacement bolts in roadcut and about 15 retro bolts (half of which have been removed). I'm sorry but I really have a hard time seeing how these are fodder for an all-out ban. Retro bolts (and the online rants that have stemmed from them) might be part of it - but there has to be another reason. * * * According to a post at SuperTopo liability is one of DNR’s concerns. I contacted the AK representative but he’s out of town on business.

Not happening this fall. I have a fractured tibia & talus.

Nice! That N couloir looks fun. I'll have to get back there & try it this spring.

Maybe they proposed the ban so when people complain about the park's emphasis on development they can tout their dedication to wilderness values by pointing to the anchor ban. As for impact ... These are the same land managers that wants to build new ATV trails near Bird. They could care less about impact.

John - the park plan calls for stuff like a new road at Glen Alps and lists military training, commercial lodges and commercial power development as "Compatible" uses within the park. Insinuating that the park has some sort of environmental ethos attached to this ban (because of a handful of new bolts at Crack in the Woods?) is ridiculous when you you look at how the plan embraces development elsewhere in the park. This ban would impact everyone... including the anchors you leave behind.

For those of you who live near Anchorage & for those of you who visit - please comment. Click here for text only version of the above.

I've never seen a grizzly in the lower-48 - however I did once attend the "Annual First Grizzly Bear Mauling of the Season Party" at Glacier National Park some years back. As for worries about closure... grizzlies haven't changed access in Glacier, Yellowstone or the Tetons. Don't know why it would be any different in the Cascades. Saw this guy this summer. He stood his ground across a very shallow river for 5 very long minutes while we screamed and yelled with bear spray at the ready.

All you ever wanted to know about pepper spray, guns & bears: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/are-guns-more-effective-pepper-spray-alaska-bear-attack?page=0,0

This guy wishes he had bear spray. http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/09/23/1811140/sheriff-nevada-man-attacked-by.html

Woah... awesome trip & amazing photos! Looks like there are at least some pluses to immobility!

And another Denali vid. [video:vimeo]29250081

Damn that looks good...

Thanks for all the tips. Still waiting to find out if there is any ligament damage. Until then it's the couch, a bag of peas and bad netflix movies. Here it is right after it happened. Probably shouldn't have hiked out but too late for that.

And all the locals say you can't climb this stuff in September.

Anyone here busted their ankle? I took a fall this past weekend... instant swelling and made worse by a hard 6 mile slog out in rough terrain. No fracture but bad swelling and the doc says I have to return next week to check for ligament damage. Of course he wouldn't give a recovery time-frame and I've never sprained anything before so I don't know what to expect. How long did it take to recover? Any tips?

Nice Will!!!! Way to take advantage of our early September weather window!

http://www.nps.gov/dena/parknews/mtn-use-fee-increase.htm

But I'm not ready to give up on rock quite yet.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not happy about the retro bolts. If a line has been TR only or a highball problem for years then it shouldn't be bolted for the masses. This year I've seen retro bolts on Center Fire and on Upper Pivot Point plus the old ones that have been on Sunshine Ridge for a few years now. I recently went to Upper Crack in the Woods and noticed the bolts are gone - which is a good thing. Thanks for pulling them cleanly (I could barely find the holes). However... hundreds of retro bolts? Please fill me in. I've been climbing on the highway more than usual this summer and I haven't been seeing these hundreds of retro bolts. Or do you call replacing old 1/2" bolts retro bolting? Having ripped off more chossy holds than usual this rainy summer I've not been too keen on getting on anything with rusty old button heads. Call me a wimp. Do you really think that the Chugach State Park Planners want to ban fixed anchors because they've had a sudden environmental change of heart? Please... this is the same plan that proposes a new road through the park up to Glen Alps. The same plan that removes all of Crow Pass from the wilderness zone. The same plan that allows tactical military training in the wilderness zone, commercial power development in the non-wilderness portions of the park and new huts in Peters Creek and Bird Creek. When compared to the issues I listed above the issue of fixed anchors is ridiculously trivial. If the park wants to implement a fixed anchor ban because of a handful of new bolts (which I guarantee you neither Monica Alvarez nor Tom Harrison have ever seen) then chances are they're only doing so because of a very vocal local who can't seem to talk about this in a rational manner.

I've had the Spot for 3 years now. I carry it along on longer trips (fly in and when I'm away from home for more than a week). As people have already mentioned... there are certainly issues with it. I've never had to use it in an emergency situation so I cannot personally attest to whether it works or not - but when sending the standard OK messages I'd say 80% of them go through and the 20% that don't go through are usually b/c I only activated it for 20 minutes or so (whereas if you really want to make sure it goes through you need to leave it on for an hour). The check in option is pretty nice if you travel a fair amount and have a partner or family who likes to know that you're alright. I generally tend to activate it every night when cooking dinner (if I remember). As for whether or not I would trust it... I go both ways. Recently I did a week long river trip and my Spot was the only communication device I carried along. My reasoning was that on a river trip weather isn't really a concern. If there's an emergency you press the help button and hope they get the message. Climbing is different.... if you do a fly in climbing trip and shit happens then communication is key. If you cannot talk with your pilot then you have no idea what to expect - thus on fly-in climbing trips I always carry a sat phone & leave it in basecamp. If I'm not on the trip with my wife then I take the Spot as well - but it's solely for piece of mind since I never use the sat phone except for emergencies. So in short... great for shorter trips where you want piece of mind in case something happens. Great for keeping in touch with family when on long trips. Great for a back up when a sat phone is overkill. Not so great in high risk situations where communication is key in the event of an accident (i.e. climbing in a very remote area).

FYI - here's a pretty in-depth report on snow anchors: http://alpineclub.org.nz/system/files/Snow_Anchor_Report_2005.pdf

Looks like Simon had a great life. I used to have a dog that looked just like him. A great mutt that I miss like crazy. He wasn't so good in the super puma though. Get a puppy. No one should have to go more than a week in-between dogs.

If you follow this logic then why bother learning how to climb with a rope and gear in any terrain? And what is easy? Lots of people might consider 5.4 rock to be easy but will think 45 degree snow is spooky. Learning how to simul-climb and protect moderately snow or ice is as fundamental to alpine climbing as equalizing anchors or rigging a v-thread. If you're climbing in a 3 person team have roughly 50' of rope between climbers. (Be aware that a full 100' between climbers would produce too much impact on gear in the event of a fall.) At all times there should be at least 1 piece of pro - be it a picket hammered in or buried (depending on conditions), a screw or (best yet) rock pro. The middle climber unclips the gear and then clips it below his/her knot (this can be done without every removing the biner from the rope) and when the lower climber reaches the piece he/she communicates to the leader that gear needs to be placed. This is the same method used for ascending / descending crevassed or corniced ridges and it can be done relatively safely if you take the time to do it right. Here are some pix for you of people simulclimbing snow roped up. Lots of people might be fine soloing most of the terrain pictured below... but that's not always an option (for example in the 3rd picture that's my nephew & brother on their first ever snow climb). Learn to place gear for all conditions and it can be done safely. 3 people on 1 rope. Pickets used for pro: 4 people 1 rope. Rock gear used for pro: 3 people / 1 rope. Note the picket: 3 people / 1 rope. Note the pickets. Two have been placed here due to this spot being famous for having collasping cornices: