eldiente

For these larger groups I don't understand why they can't hire more guides so there is a guide for every student? Cost prohibitive?

Good point. Fixed. Partner gave me a fruity mixed drink in exchange for leading all the pitches. Fun!

Trip: Red Rocks - Epinephrine Date: 6/2/2009 Trip Report: Over Memorial Day weekend I made a quick 3 day trip to Red Rocks. Sort of strange as I've never been to Red Rocks this late in the year (HOT!) The main goal of the trip was the mega classic Epinephrine. My partner had read all about it and made it his life-long goal to get up this route. I had never been on it so this seemed like a fun outing for both of us.* (History. Actually I tried climbing this route four years ago with motomagik. We started late and I moved very slow through the chimneys. She had a really hard time of it and was brought to tears when she shredded every bit of skin off her back during the first chimney. We bailed there.) [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/517/medium/DSC03280.jpg[/img] We started hiking about 5:30AM and were tied in by 6:30. There was another party in front of us which would slow us down throughout the day. First few pitches went by quickly, on the second pitch there is a bit of run-out 5.8 slab and and again near the end of the long 3rd pitch. Nothing too wild, but heads-up. The 3rd pitch ends at the base of the 500 foot chimney that makes up the crux of the route. My partner was very nervous as he had never climbed an OW before, I was a bit nervous having climbed just a few pitches of OW in the last year. I elected to haul our water (almost two gallons!) through the chimneys on a 6mm tag line so that my partner could climb without the weight. I've read lots of horror stories about these chimney pitches, here is what I found. [img:center] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/517/DSC03282.jpg[/img] Pitch 4 Chimney. (120 feet?) Mostly overlapping flake cracks that turns into pure chimney about 40 feet below the belay. Gear is a 2s, 3s, and maybe a spot for a #4. Use long slings down low and don't shove gear all the way back in as you'll never get it out (see stuck pro all over this pitch) Belay is right at bolts, easy to climb past if your not looking. Pitch 5 Chimney. (120 feet?) Very Sustained, but secure chimney. A bit physical as you'll make the same move over and over again. Pro here is a bit sparse, there are places for good pro but they are way in the back of the crack where you don't want to be. For my size (5'10") I had a perfect fit on the outside and felt secure. The #4 will get used on this pitch. Belay on bolts to right. Pitch 6 Chimney. (90 feet) This is probably the crux for most people. The party in front of us was suffering hard. At first the leader started yelling "I'm gona die, I'm gona die" while getting into the tight bulge. A few minutes later he switched to screaming "I'm going to puke!" as his whole body was shaking from the pump. I had a good laugh. My turn. I clipped a bolt just a few feet above the belay and moved into the chimney. The first 20+ feet above the bolt are mellow but then it gets tight, flared and slightly overhanging. I got into a insecure knee/back position and could slowly feel myself oozing out. I can see why that poor guy started talking to God, very insecure. I gave up on being graceful and did a body dyno to a perfect hand jam and let my feet cut lose. That was close. From there is is mellow cracks in faces to another bolt on the right. No wide gear is used on this pitch, one bolt (crux) and smaller gear in the cracks to the anchors. Moves are run-out above the bolt. Pitch 7 Chimney. (140 feet) Last chimney pitch is very airy and a bit overhanging. The key here is to go right side in and face climb the inside of the chimney with your back against the other wall. Sort of like a .12 face climb except there is a place to lean your back against. The crux of this pitch is mental, looking up at it from the belay it isn't obvious where the pro is. After the first two bolts there isn't any obvious gear. After a bunch of airy moves there is a little flake that takes cams right where I was starting to get worried. From that flake is more of the same on a long run-out to the anchors. No wide gear for this pitch, 2 bolts for pro and small cams for the flake. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/517/medium/DSC03288.jpg[/img] Rest of the pitches. (7-13) After the chimneys it is just endless .8 and .9 pitches of crack and face in a very airy position. I was shocked, having climbed many routes at RR, I was expecting these pitches to be over-hyped. They're every bit as good as people say and some of the best moderate climbing I've ever done. Highlight for me was linking 3 pitches (5.8ish or5.9) into one off the Elephants Trunk. 270+ feet of steep climbing. (I made my partner simul climb to link this together) The top out is about 500 vertical feet of 4th low 5th class to the summit. We simul-climbed to the tree summit, some folks might just un-rope for this. Car to car was about 14 hours for us, I thought this was a decent pace considering my partner had never done any multi pitch and that I hauled a ton of water up this thing. As an added plus, I got to lead the entire route. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/517/medium/DSC03294.jpg[/img] Descent Beta. Easy. How do people get lost on this? On the summit block look South and walk to the top of the ridge behind you before going down. Follow the ridge a very long way before turning left and going down toward your car. There is huge Cairns the whole way down. Don't be tempted to go down early into no mans land. Gear. Double Set of cams from Yellow Alien to #2 BD. Triple #3s and 2x #4s. One Green Alien to protect roof moves on pitch 13. I'd only bring one #4 next time an double #3s. The #4 will be useful, no need for anything larger. Route is mostly in the shade in May but still hot. Travel as light as possible as you can't wear a pack in the chimney pitches. Rest of trip. Sport climbing in the Black Corridor. Trying not to get cooked. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/517/medium/DSC03321.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs098.snc1/4734_111222016012_605271012_3181412_5516559_n.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/517/medium/DSC03354.jpg[/img]

Yes, switching belay devices is a great way to go. If I'm using an ATC, I like to simply put on knot on the break end of the rope while were exchanging gear instead of having the second tie into the anchor.

Climb later in the day. Although it is "normal" to summit at dawn, it is possible to go up later in the day, shooting for maybe a 11:00 AM summit. Yes, there might be a bit of icefall, but if you give the obvious ice formations a wide berth and keep your eyes open, it is possible to have a safe to the summit late in the day.

Oddly enough the people doing the most complaining don't actually use Aliens or have stopped using them.If you don't like them, don't use them. My offer still stands, send them my way. Clearly only idiots and morons use Aliens. Look at this asshole here. He's a long along way out above a Black Alien pulling the crux on a 5.14 pitch. Someone needs to let this guy know how unsafe that Alien is. [img:left]http://www.alpinist.com/media/ALP20/trotter_path.jpg[/img]

Anyone that think their Aliens are unsafe can send them my way.

What are people using to tie up their anchors with? I normally use a 6mm cordellete, however I've also been using a 8' dyneema sling. Pros? Cons? The sling seems a bit less bulkly when on my harness, although I also notice that it is tougher to tie knots in the sling.

Sorry but this is why many people (myself included) get a tad upset with the Mazamas. It is disrespectful to other climbers and to the natural environment to push such a large group of climbers up a Hood. Why do you do this? I'm stoked when people get out and want to learn how to climb, but why do it in such large groups? Why can't you just partner up with another person and go as as a two man team? Please explain? Better yet, why can't you just go up solo? Hood is always going to be busy during nice weather, but the large teams create a lot of problems for other users. Do they talk ethical considerations in the Mazamas 101 course? Other question, why rope up at all? If your roped up and not placing good pro, you'd be better off soling. Being roped to other inexperienced climbers ain't safe. -Nate

C3s for the really tiny stuff. Aliens or master cams for the rest of the small stuff you might encounter. For some reason the bigger C3 (yellow) doesn't work very well for me. Too stiff. Anyone else have this problem? I really like the smaller C3s, they seem to fit almost like an offset nut in flares.

Maybe all the bolts at Ozone need to be replaced by rivets to give it that big-wall feel.

So do we have a name?

If money was no object I'd climb on 9.0mm all the time. Yes, they wear out fast, but oh my they are such a joy to climb on. I've never felt they are unsafe so long as you retire them early and often. I usually only break out my 9mm for alpine stuff (weight on backpack) or for multi-pitch.

"anybuddy wanna go sport-climbing???" Those look like your typical trad climbers to me. When I think of sport wankers, I usually think of people that look like this.

I've seen way better at Mary's. Really there is this 80 pound meth addict that dances there that can do one-arm front levers from the pole.

Sort of related. The other day I was out at Ozone climbing and saw a man/wife team getting racked up to lead this dirty gully system that was filled with loss chalkstone and brush. Looked 4th class or low 5th. I start talking to them and the man says that this is her first trad lead and that she is learning to place pro. Fair enough. Problem is that every third hold is breaking off and only "pro" she is getting to is girth hitched roots and tipped out cams between boulders. What a horrible way to learn. The poor belayer nearly got the chop from all the falling rock. IMO aid climbing is a great way for a new leader to learn to trad climb. I think the thought of aid climbing a steep splitter cracks intimidates new leaders, but I think this is much safer venue to learn than some low angle crap free climb. Even just leading one pitch of easy aid gives a new climber a ton of experience, every pice is weighted and evaluated right on the spot. Sure a body weight placement isn't the same as a lead fall, however it gives a person a sense of what good pro is and isn't without having to do a "test" fall.

Ouch! That hurts. I don't understand the value of testing pro by falling on it, especially on low angler terrain.

2nd that, solo the SS side. Almost no risk of avy danger, occasional icefall in the afternoon. Even when I go up there with a partner I usually have my iPod on so it is more like a group solo than a partner climb.

Do you have a Topo or pitch-by pitch beta for this route? I've been wanting to get on it for a while now.

Umh, does this work for everything on their site?

Thanks for cleaning this route.

That's rad. You could take a big whip on the pillar and use the banner to catch your fall.

I haven't found a good way to simulate crack/trad climbing while indoors on the bouldering wall. Any suggestions? For a lot of long crack routes I find my upper arms, chest, and back get tired sooner than my forearms do. Especially true for routes with a lot laybacking or OW pitches. I would guess this because these muscles don't normally get worked during a normal bouldering session. To counter this I'll try to do a bit of lifting if I know I'll be doing a lot of crack climbing. Nothing too specific but some combination of; bench press, lat pulls, pull-ups, curls, reverse curls. push-press,dips and push-ups.

A few thoughts. If you follow the workouts from mt.athlete you'll notice that most of the climbing specific workouts are endurance oriented. ie lots of movement done at low intensity. This will indeed get you fit, and helps you build up endurance for long pitches. However, this will not make you stronger. When I think stronger, I'm thinking what is the smallest possible hold you can hold onto for 2 seconds. Doing long traverses on big holds will not help in this area. For example, if your dream project has V8 crux move on it you'll never make it up that route unless you can pull V8. Doesn't matter how many laps you can do, you must be able to climb the hardest move on a climb in order to get up it. Now if you can do all the moves but get pumped when linking it together, then by all means, do some laps to work on endurance. I followed the Mt. Athlete workouts for a while this past Winter. I was using it more as base training getting back into climbing shaped. It worked well for that but it did not help increase my boulder or rope grades. Too much jug hauling. I guess you could try to perform the same workouts on crimps, but even for this your going to have to scale back to stay on the wall for 20 minutes in row as required for the system board workouts. My in-season workout is a mix of 4x4s (4 boulder hard problems, no rest between sets x4) and hang-board. I also like to do laps (or systems) but mixed with harder terminal boulder problems. Ex: do 1 hard problem at max effort, and go right into 5 minutes of traversing/system without letting my feet touch the ground. The idea for me is to simulate routes with hard cruxes followed by easier moves. Another twist on this do the five minutes of system and launch into a set of max effort boulder problems simulating crux moves right below the chains. Overall the best training is real climbing, much more effective then all this rubbish.

Yeah a lot of red necks down there ruin it for everyone. We don't seem to be able to police the place ourself so now we'll have to pay someone $5 to police it for us.