eldiente

I read about it online, I'm claiming the FA on this one.

Trip: Snow Creek Wall - Hyperspace Date: 9/11/2010 Trip Report: Hypersapce has been on my mind for a while, never seemed to work out as whenever I'm near 11-worth I'm thinking about alpine type stuff. Alpine climbing didn't really happen for me this year, the summer was two days long. As a consultation prize for our missed alpine objective, Jaime and I took a trip up Hyperspace on Saturday in fantastic Fall weather. (Side note, I like to say I've been wanting to do Hyperspace for a while, but in fact I've been secretly intimidated by the Pressure Chamber pitch and was looking for someone to rope gun for me. Jaime had already done Hyperspace and promised me it was mellow, perfect I'm thinking, I'd chill out in the back seat all day and let him do the work) Jaime hurt his shoulder the week before, he put on a good game face and was stoked to get me up there. It became apparent that he was hurting more than he let on when he asked me to grab things off his harness because he couldn't bend his arm that direction. Very kind of him to belay for me all day even though he was really hurting, I respect that. I don't have many pictures to share, but here is a few thoughts on what we found. Blake's beta is good P1.Normal start to Outer Space. I almost killed my injured partner on the first pitch traverse by forgetting to put in any gear to protect the second. The slabs were wet and Jaime was rightly cursing me as he slid around on the wet moss. Sorry man! P2. The Psychopath pitch 5.11. Brilliant finger crack, the kind where your like oh please let me lead this pitch, oh please me first! Jaime was kind enough to let me give it a go. I hung at the middle crux, lowered off and pulled the rope, botched it again, pulled the rope, third try it went. I was upset to miss the onsite but I was climbing with tunnel vision and using bad internet beta that told me to layback the crux. Wrong! Here is the correct super beta *laughs* Spoiler beta alert. Mellow straight-in jamming. The crack begins to thin, look left for small crimp/knob thing, this is key. Dead-hang this crimp and put in gear, no worries about plugging the crack up with gear as you won't be using the crack proper for the next few moves. Crux is here, keep left hand on crimp/knob while shuffling right hand up the edge of the crack working toward obvious wide spot/flake thingy. Keep both feet left of crack while shuffling with right hand, sort of barn-door feeling but once you latch the flake you can cut your feet and march them over to right side of crack while hanging off flake. Put in yellow Master cam here and punch it far right to Smith style jug bucket, chalk-up but don't bother trying to put in any more gear here as it is too thin. Move left on crimps and top-out left on sloppers. Very engaging sport climbing styled finish. Red C3s or Blue Master Cams are very useful on this pitch. [img:center]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/4988549411_c13f2c7caf_b.jpg[/img] Pitch 2 below the crux. P3. 5.9 hand cracks and just fun. Pulling the roof is much easier than it looks. P4. More thin, looks burly from belay but not too bad a mid 5.10. In Blake's topo he links this pitch with the next. I elected to break these pitches in two as I was getting drag. P5. Blake says you can go left via dirty 5.10C corner or right via over-hangging face. I did the overhanging face thing at 5.11. One of the best pitches of the climb, reminded me of jug hauling out at Ozone with gear. I love this style of climbing. Magically all of the jugs had good gear by them, wait until your on a jug to place gear. Red C3 or Blue Master cam is helpful for protecting the lower part. After the face climbing bit move back left into dirty crack to finish. This was sketchy for me, there is a lot of dirt/moss and not so much gear. A Green C3 saved the day here. Very excited to have gotten this pitch clean, one of the more enjoyable pitches I've done this summer. [img:center]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/4989178248_9ca7c430b7_b.jpg[/img] Looking up the 5.11 face pitch. P6. Brilliant as well, lay-backing and jamming with feet on knobs to get the pitch started, and exciting move left onto huge flakes. Flakes feel hallow, will they break off on some poor sap? Higher up there is many options, the flare chimney on the right seems like the best option. I was surprised, half way into it I'm full chimneying across an airy gap. Yeah! Left shoulder is in and there is a thin crack behind you the whole time that takes small cams. Keep eye open for a jug ledge climbers right in chimney, this jug allows some rest before some awkward moves left around chalk-stone. P7.Pressure Chamber. No luck for me on getting Jaime to lead this one, he's been in pain all day and can't lead. Bummer. Actually the Pressure Chamber in general is a big bummer, the whole pitch is rad crack work right up until then. I was hiking along getting big in the head thinking the send was in the bag, only 10 feet of climbing separated me from a clean send. That 10 feet turns out to be a real whore, even after numerous falls and 100% effort I'm still unsure of the proper beta. I figured out how to get out of the chamber via wild behind the body stemming, but getting into the Chamber is confusing to me. I was using #1 sized jams and trying to campus through it, sort of worked but it was taxing as hell. Any ideas on this one? I did see some chalk far left on a finger crack, maybe work in from there? P8. We belayed above the Chamber so the last pitch started out with some airy lay-backing to a left foot traverse. The traverse isn't hard but made me gulp, walking the plank comes to mind. The crack above is a bit dirty. Pulling the roof is hard, #1 sized hands with feet crushed up under you. (Being short would be an advantage on this) After doing the equivalent of 100 pull-ups inside the Pressure Chamber, I was spent and had to push hard to get over this bulge with feet dangling in the air. The run-out to the summit is easy 4th class but gave me awful drag, might be better to belay below the summit tree. I'm a fan and very much loved this route. Has a nice adventure feel to it with lots of sustained pitches. Thanks to Jaime for letting me do this one, heal up soon man! -Nate More photos here Gear Notes: Doubles Green C3s to #2. One #3. I found triples in the finger size cams to be useful although nuts could be used instead. We brought the #4 along but didn't really need it. If you belay high and left of the Pressure Chamber, you would need a #4 for the belay but I found the belay right above the Chamber to be secure off medium gear. Lots of draws, there is a lot of ledges to go around and over. Approach Notes: Snow Creek.

Sorry can't help you with the upper pitches, we were using Wild Turkeys as a way to get to the start of Borderline. I didn't look-up. Although I do recall there is an anchor right where the finger crack ends.

The first pitch of Wild Turkeys is indeed good good fun, a bit tough to place gear as your always standing on these slick slopers, but aside from that it is a joy. I don't have the guide-book, but I was thinking mid to upper 5.10 (?) -Nate

If you prefer gloves or chalk Chalk? Does that mean I can free-climb the comp rout? Sweet!

I use the Mammut ProCord 6mm for my pull cord, so far it has worked well. 6mm is still big enough that you can rap on it the normal way in a pinch (This happened last weekend in Squamish, the rap rings were these huge ovals that were too big for a knot or biner to jam up against. Ended up tying the 6mm to a 10mm lead line and rappelled as normal.) I normally tie a bite on a eight with an extra long loop. The loop has a locker on it that gets clipped back to the rap line. The mental security blanket for me is knowing that there is no possible way a locker can fit through the rap ring. I read a recent accident report in one of the mags about a guy dying because he failed to put a biner on the loop and the knot slipped through the rings. Beware of getting the rope stuck, the knot is bulky with the locker attached to it and when it gets stuck, all you have is a pile of 6mm static cord in your lap to work with. Jaime B and myself once had the pleasure of re-leading a full pitch at RR with the 6mm cord as our lead line. [img:center]http://www.canyonwiki.com/wiki/images/thumb/f/f0/Autoblock_lockeds.JPG/448px-Autoblock_lockeds.JPG[/img] -Nate

I had the same problem once. A local told me to park in front of some house at some random address. I asked why I would do that and was told that it was the safest place in town as a drug dealer lived there, the tweekers were afraid of him and wouldn't touch any of the cars parked there. -Nate

Thanks this a good start! Is there some sport wanking at another cliff neat Gold bar? I seem to recall someone tell me there was good sport climbing at crag neat the stop-ligh/traffic jam on Hwy 2. Thoughts?

Does anyone have any recommendations for sport climbs near Index? I'm only familiar with the usual trad routes there. My partner is looking for clip-ups in the 5.9-5.11 range, anything like that exist around there? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks! -Nate

That's fantastic! Thanks for sharing. It makes me happy to hear about people working hard trad projects. Seems like the crux of this pitch would trying to focus with all the traffic going by on the road, a perfect pitch to put on a show for the tourists. It seems a bit taboo to write TRs about crag routes or red-points, but honestly I'm all for it. A well written (and photographed) TR of a project send is just as interesting (or more so) than reading about someone walking around in the snow. -Nate

You seem to be intolerant of the Fourteenth Amendment so I guess were even. (Full disclosure, gun owner myself. Mossberg makes a reliable firearm) Gun nuts everywhere like to cite the 2nd Amendment as a call to arms to protect citizen rights from intrusive governments. Citizens rights indeed, like the right to marry whoever you want? Sounds like something worth taking up arms to me. Thankfully the LGBT community is passive so you've got nothing to worry about. (till 2012 when the Supreme Court legalizes it.)

I think what he's trying to say is that not only is he opposed to equal rights for everyone, he is also a gun touting nut job that divides his time between Everydaynodayoff.com fantasizing about shooting home invaders and CC.com spraying about his latest FA on 30 foot tall piles of grass. Funny as in 50 years, (it is only a matter of time) we'll all look back the time when we denied some adults the right to marry as a dark time much in the same way we look back at the time when Women weren't allowed to vote and think, "What the hell was wrong with those people?" Well what the hell is wrong with us? -Nate

Flying Dutchman was what I was thinking of. Never been on Bears, where is it at? Any good? Worth doing? Beta please. -Nate

Mark D calls it .11+ or .12ish. I went down it on rope solo a few years back and found it too dirty for free climbing.

Replacing old, worn bolts is just that, replacing old worn bolts. Usually thought of as good community service. It is a tad ironic that someone who likes to publicly spout about the evils of bolting, has probably sunk more bolts in the Portland area than all of the sport wankers combined. (High five, if there is going to be metal junk stuck in the wall, it may as well be good metal junk) (Side note, Beacon climbers on CC.com should start a timer every time they post into this thread. There are many software utilities that lawyers use for this sort of thing. Keep track of the total time you spend posting into this thread and sum for the whole year. With all that time you could have taken a trip to somewhere with really good climbing that would blow your mind. See below. Or if you can't get out of town, you could use that time for training. You'd get so strong that you wouldn't give a crap about bolts because you aren't going to fall anyway and you're putting your energy into a thin desperate crack that hasn't been climbed in 10 years. Ok that took me three minutes to write, three minutes on the hang board tonight for me) -Nate [img:center]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XNueStDVX8c/SqfZo000XaI/AAAAAAAAGpA/vLCtOTTixF0/s640/P1000643.JPG[/img]

If you are pithing it out, a 70M would be slick. If you are going simul, a 30M would be nice. I had good luck taking a 60Mx 8mm rope and folding it in half and simul with it, when the time came to pitch-out, we un-folded the rope and used it like a single. -Nate

I rap on my 6mm ProCord using a normal ATC. If it is really steep terrain, I use an extra binner for more friction. I'm sure a 5mm would be strong enough, my main worry there would be durability and kinks. My 6mm can be a nightmare to untangle at each rap, the cord is too light to toss down and must be walked down. I do enjoy having such a light rope, but it is debatable if it helps speed you up at all. If it takes you an extra 15 minutes to untangle the cord at every station, maybe you'd be better off using a normal cord?

Thanks for a great write-up! Strong work.

Climbed Blood Sweat and Smears recently. Felt about the same as it always does, I don't recall there being any missing pro. (Although I wouldn't know how it used to be, my first time up it was a two years ago)

There was a wildfire near there last night, maybe that was it. ?

Perhaps were being a little tough on the Kain route descent, compared with the typical NW bushwhack it ins't too bad. However, after an easy romp up the NE ridge, I bet many folks are surprised (I was) by the length and time it takes to go down the the Kain route. The raps are easy, the down-climbing and scrambling is also easy, but time consuming and tedious. (The first time I did it, I was on-route and it took me 3x longer to go down the Kain than it did to go up the NE Ridge)

I would agree with that. Although having gone down the Kain route twice, I'm thinking I'd rather get hit in the head, have my rope chopped and be punched in the balls all at the same time than do that again. It was dumb luck, we topped out in a lighting storm and our screw-up of going down the East face may have saved us from being struck. You lose elevation very quickly with the raps we did whereas the descent via the Kain route is more exposed to the weather. Neither of these descents are fun, the Kain route is at least well traveled and has bolted raps. -Nate

The problem here is that these "investments" aren't investments, they are a salary and should be taxed as such. Again, I think of S. Jobs and his $1 per year salary. His main source of cash is the stock that Apple gives him (worth billions) but he pays no taxes on this as it is an investment. I would say that actual investments should be tax free. If your office pays you $500 and you put $50 into starting a lemonade stand, that should be tax free. No question. This is not the same as having your shares of Apple inc go up 5% while you sit on your ass. (This is just simply another source of income and you should be taxed on it)

First of all, there's no way someone making $60K is paying 30% on all of their income. I know that because our gross income was more than that, our dividend income totaled about $300, and our effective federal tax rate was roughly ~12.5%. That's for a household composed of two adults taking the standard deduction. Here's the tax schedule for 2008: You have to assume that Buffet knows a few things about numbers. Nebraska has a 6% income tax, that puts her up to 30%. Maybe she should hire your accountant to score such a low rate? Since we don't know anything about what she's writing off, we can simply say " if you make 60k in Nebraska, 30% of your income is going to the government." I suppose Buffet could just make up a bunch of numbers, but again I'll go out on a limb again and say he knows more about the US tax code than most of us.

Trip: Bugaboos - Various Date: 7/18/2010 Trip Report: [img:center]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XNueStDVX8c/TGQnRumBGhI/AAAAAAAALF8/dK5dfqPH1nQ/s720/Snbowpatch%20in%20morning%20light.jpg[/img] I took two weeks off from work at the end of July and set-up shop in the Bugs. I haven't had time to write-up proper beta for all the routes we did, hopefully I can get that up soon. (Note. I love TRs that give good beta, how long the hike took, how hard the climbing was, what type of gear etc. It would be nice if we could make the TRs section of CC.com a real resource for beta on climbs. I'll try to do my part, I have all the info on the climbs we did hand-written, I will try to get the info up as soon as possible. In the interim contact me for info on any of the routes listed below) Over the course of 12 days we dealt with the usual Bugs weather and logistical hurdles. Managed to climb seven routes, bailed off a few things, took two day rest in the Banff area in the middle of the trip. Mostly climbed easy moderates, very much a recreational trip aside from all the hiking which was not at all recreational. Getting to spend time with my friends in the mountains is a real joy and the highlight of the trip. Routes. NE Ridge Bugaboo Spire 5.8: Group Solo with James, 1.5 hours up, 5 down. Paddle Flake 5.10: Swing leads with James. South Howser Tower Beckey Chouinard 5.10. With James round trip in a day. Furry Pink arete 5.10Cish. Swing leads with Winter. Paddle Flake 5.10: Swing leads with Winter, lead pitches that I missed last time. Snow Patch Route 5.8. Solo* 7 or 8 hours round trip. NE Ridge Bugaboo Spire 5.8: With Stephanie, 16 hours, mostly on descent. *French Free a few moves off fixed junk, climbed through pitch 16 before bailing and down-climbing Media Video here. Blog here. Winter's blog here. [img:center]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XNueStDVX8c/TFia4yjOUwI/AAAAAAAAKvY/gWKd71mS1k0/s640/P1010603.JPG[/img] Last rap coming off South Howser tower. Notes *Snow conditions. The Bugs had a lot of late season snow and the whole season has been pushed back a few weeks from normal. Our first week up there (16th of July) there was only a few dry spots at the campground, people were digging spots in the snow for the tent. The glaciers were covered with winter snow, no ice. Traveling around during the day was easy, ankle deep slush. We didn't get much use from the pons or axe the first week as the snow was soft. Most of the routes were dry, although the BC route had some icy cracks and a lot of snow cover on the upper ridge, getting to the summit meant wadding through a cornice. *Camping. Rates have gone up. It is $10 per night and a 7 day limit (new this year) There is now bear boxes at the campground. The hut was full the entire time I was there, many nights there was families with kids there. Sort of a strange scene. *Water. We drank out of the stream behind camp or the lake without a water filter. Nobody got sick. Water filter could probably be left at home. *I used the fixed raps in the Bugaboo Col once while up there. They are actually a real time saver and if the Col was icy, this would be the way to do it without having to put pons on. The raps are skiers right on the Col just a few feet above the snow. The raps are set for single rope raps, four of them total. The last rap will take you over the the Bergschrund. If you have a novice partner with you, the trick beta is to set a 60M single rope rap off the last rap and send them down on that eliminating most of the steep snow travel. After they are down, unfix the rope and rap 30M and down climb to your partner. *East Creek. There was good clean water running near the bivy sites, no need to melt water with the stove. The hike into East Creek was doable without pons, but later in the year it might be icy. Some Polish guys tipped us off to a great idea. On the hike from the car grab a walking stick and take it with you. Sharpen this stick and use it as an axe as you descend into East Creek. Leave the stick at the base of the whatever route your climbing so you don't have to take it up and over with you. *Descending Bugaboo Spire. The normal way is to rap and down-climb the Kain route. I botched up the descent and took us straight down the East Face via steep raps on blank rock (1,500, 2,000 feet?) At first this seemed like a epic as we had to leave kit behind and had no idea where we were going. In retrospect this is actually faster than going down the Kain route and you don't have to go down the Col at the end of the day. There is a lot of junk left from our descent, (and we found other fixed kit from people that made the same mistake.) If you are feeling brave and/or are in a hurry, go down this way. *Must have gear. A sun hat. The skin takes a beating sitting around camp in the sun, everyone kept trying to steal my hat. Waterproof approach shoes, put pons on the shoes and you're set. No need for heavy boots to get around the glaciers. Flip-flops for camp, a bit cold on the feet when running through the snow to take a pee, but better than putting back on your soaked shoes. Bug dope for the hike in, awful mosquitoes at parking lot. Lots of cord for tying down the tent, stakes will be of no use. Approach Notes: With heavy pack 4 hours from car to camp.