eldiente

I almost never get rained out at Smith even going on days when it says 70% chance. If the weather system is coming in from the West (Normal) Smith stays dry. If the weather is from the South, (pineapple) sometimes Smith will get wet. Rock dries fast though.

There is steep caves at Vantage that stay dry even in the pouring rain. I forget the names, but a dozen or so routes in a bunker right under the road arose the road from the campground. I've climbed there in heavy rain. -Nate

Nope Nate. You're wrong. Go do the route then check back in with your opinion. Really. Yep, I'd have to see it first to understand. BUT if a route is so absurdly lose and dirty that the only way to climb it is by installing a bolt ladder, maybe it wasn't meant to be climbed eh? Or maybe a nice long top rope would suffice? I do understand, on clean, steep rock it makes sense for the bolts to be widely spaced. Yay for airy whippers into space! On blocky terrain I'd rather see the bolts close together. However, there is a precedent all over Oregon for dirty, lose routes with widely spaced bolts. (Smith has tons of dirty routes with widely spaced bolts as does Wolf rock etc) Seems Plaid is bucking a well established trend here.

I guess I'm going to have to revert back to Win7 from Win8 because the new calculator is broken. 22 bolts in 115? I have a general rule against spraying in someone's TR so I'll mention it here. Plaid I haven't climbed your route and I'm sure it was an epic pain to bolt (dirty!) but that said it sounds like you created an aid ladder on a free climb. You should think abut these things. I'm not a very bold climber, but a bolt every 10' is plenty, even on lose terrain. You're not going to break your leg falling a few extra feet. Be smart, if you're going to sink in that kind of hardware ask yourself honestly, a.) are people going to want to climb this route b.) is the average climber going to be content with the bolting. Climb a bunch of routes at Wolf Rock, Smith, etc to get a feel for what other climbers are doing in Oregon. Is your bolt placements similar to these areas? If not, why is that? Generally people bolt ground up as an adventure, to make it more mentally challenging for the first ascent or in some cases ground up is the local ethic area. If you need some inspiration for bolting on lead take a read at what Alex (ex-local) did two summers ago while on lead. (hand drilling no less) This is normally what bolting on lead is like. Or since I know you like to use the power drill, watch this video of Adam free climbing drilling on lead .14D and drilling on lead. Have fun out there! -Nate

Speaking of bowlines. This is the "normal" knot for sailing. I was out the other day in a good breeze and the bowline on my jib untied (!) I can't speculate on the forces involved, but the knot was perfect and had been working fine for several days and just came untied under load. (granted it was a big load on the sail) I've never seen that before and makes think twice about tying into a climbing rope with it. -Nate

Free solo of Clean Crack? Bold.

Plaid, I'd love to get out and take a trip up the SE corner. But might have to wait till later. I discovered this crack about 5 minutes from my house the other day, I went out and bought "Freedom of the Hills" and am going to learn how to place gear so I can do this route. Looks really good. Once I lead this route, I'll be ready for the SE Corner. Have fun guys but be nice. [img:center]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i31/Anders-Ourom/CleanCrackJune1977.jpg[/img]

Oh my I miss Portland! Without a question the most colorful locals I've ever met. Plaid any chance you can rope gun me up the SE Corner? I mostly just sport climb these days and would love a chance to go for a 6 hour siege on the SE corner. I'll be down there this Fall and would love to hit Beacon. -Nate

Really, that grassy choss heap could tip over tomorrow and nobody would care. You guys need to chip in on a gas card, pack up your car and drive to one of the MANY places in Western America that has GREAT climbing.

Linking into Angles Crest was mellow. At the top of the last pitch of Borderline follow 4th class ramp left (moss) There was one bolt there and a fixed hand line. Walk 100 feet left through woods. You'll keep moving left on low 5th class terrain, very dirty and lose rock for about 100 feet before rejoining with Angles Crest. You'll know you're on Angles Crest as the rock instantly gets better. -Nate

Trip: Squamish - Borderline Date: 7/30/2012 Trip Report: Nice little romp up 6-7 pitches of Squamish Granite. You can do the route and rap or continue on up and join up with Angles Crest or for double fun, finish on High Plains Drifter. Not the best route in Squish but good enough and a good way to bypass crowds on Angles Crest. Here's what we found. P1.5.10. Trick slab move/no hands thingy to gain the first bolt. Falling getting to the bolt would be kind ugly. After a few bolted slab moves, move left into nice corner system. P2. 5.10 More corner action. jugs and flakes. Move right on hand traverse rail and just like every other route in Squamish, grab a tree. P3.5.10D P45.10 Link together for 65 meters. My lead. (Thanks Jaime) Airy exposure and about five bolts of hard 5.10 slab gets the pitch started. Although the moves are slab, the wall is actually vertical. Huh. Falls are clean into space go for it. After clipping bolts move left into finger crack that feels a bit like the Exasperator. Perfect locks! I someone how missed the bolted belay at the end of the finger crack and kept on moving up P4. Exciting times as I had one #1 cam to protect 20 meters of climbing. Sort of hard roof move at the end of P4, keep that #1 cam handy when pulling the bulge. Super fun link. P5. 5.10OW. Hard bolt protected 8" OW. Short pitch but a real thrash for life. Bolts are close together. P6. 5.10D. Short pitch, all bolts. Bouldery slab moves to bolted anchor. P7. Move left through woods and some dirty 5.8 terrain to join Angles Crest somewhere around P6 of that route. P1 Looks kind green but gets good. P2 Jaime on lead in the corner. Old Man Jaime B still climbs harder then you. Approach via downwind sailing, head back home via upwind sailing. And rainbows will always come out. Gear Notes: Double Rack, Red BD C3-#3 BD. Extra finger pieces for finger crack pitch. Didn't need any nuts. 70M rope required if linking P3 and P4. Approach Notes: Sherif's Badge sign. Easy trail. 20 minutes.

Thanks.Link?

Can anyone help me out with some beta on Mount Habrich? I've heard conflicting reports on how far up the road is gated. Any thoughts? Some folks says 3k of road walking but I've also heard 9k of road walking (!) Any help would be great. -Nate

Master Cams or C3s would be my choice for small cams.

HB Offset for sure and I almost never place nuts but these are the "oh shit" Piece. Next up would be orange master cam.

About 100 people per year die golfing every year in the US. How many rock climbers do you think die every year? I don't know but I bet it is a rather low number.

Super! Nothing unsafe about moving fast, if the weather comes in you ski down real fast without too much fuss. Sounds fun to me. Walking uphill for a few days with heavy packs, not so much fun. -Nate

Again, as far as I'm concerned trying to weave this universal fabric over our entirely corrupt, for-profit, million-payers system of insurers / [large] providers is an entirely sub-optimal hack which leaves the system as corrupt as it was beforehand and achieves no benefits of scale. It's the reason why you can opt-out of public education by sending your kid to private schools, but you're still going to be paying for public schools. Yep, this is the problem. Nicely put.

It's a similar concept in that it's mandated with a penalty to avoid public costs. You buy a car... you buy car insurance so when you are in an accident you pay for it and not everyone else. It's no different then health insurance. Nope. Again car is an option/luxury, there is no law on the books that fines you for NOT buying a car. Here's the bottom line. If health insruance is a public "good" why not just offer it as a service like fire, schools, and police. Why this BS about making you buy it from private vendors?

That's classic. Oh you mean like being required to have auto insurance? Or does everyone in the Tea Party take the bus and ride their bike? I'm with the boner. Not like care insurance at all, you don't have to buy a car.

Weather looks decent Sunday/Monday and maybe doable Saturday as well. Or if it does rain, climbing at the Circus. Always dry there no matter how much it rains. I live in Vancouver have car, rack, rope. If camping is a problem this weekend (holiday) I could probably arrange a place to stay in Squamish. I'd be stoked to climb more or less anything but always like doing longer routes. Shoot me an email or PM natetack AT gmail DOT com -Nate

Yeah the last time I was there the kids were sort of annoying. I recall kids watching movies on their iPad at full volume.

I've done it both ways. I'd say camp (applebee) on rainy days hang out in the hut and sleep in your tent at the end of the day. If you're there for a short mission,(weekend) staying at the hut might be nice as you wouldn't have to lug up a tent, cooking gear, camp pad etc. The hut is often filled up with guided groups and peak bagging type folks. Usually nice people, but sometimes having to listen to someone drone on about their 5.6 redpoint "trad proj" for three days in a row can wear on the nerves. An iPod is a good idea. Also, note the hut is often full, reservations are a good idea. I've gotten into some uncomfortable discussions trying to find a corner to sleep in when the hut is full. -Nate

Canada was the fourth Country in the World to legalize Gay Marriage. Embarrassing that America is so far behind on basic civil rights.

Canadians also claim Americans are nationalist zealouts (U.S.A! U.S.A!) but everytime I am in Canada, I can't help to notice the huge # of Canadian flags everywhere, on shirts, clothes, etc. as well as logos and signs announcing works/projects/etc funded by the Canadian gov't. Unlike America Canadians have something to be proud of.