hemp22

Ditto. Much Much thanks to Chad and Tyler! If I ever meet one of you guys at the crag, I'll buy you a pint afterwards.. Also, "terrible fixed anchor that consisted of a single bolt and a little slung flake" and the sad, hollow tree...sounds familiar - what route?

Yeah, I think you've found your problem. If you're looking to find a cheap ski destination to get away from the crowds, Hood isn't your place. Iain's descriptions of the Hood resorts are pretty accurate, in my opinion. But if you're looking to escape the crowds, drive further. head to BC, or anthony lakes.

2 out of the 3 work parties occurred. Only the first one, in May, was cancelled. The ones in June and September had a good turnout. I attended the June one. There are no other trailbuilding activities scheduled for 2010, that I'm aware of. I don't know the latest plans for scheduled opening, but I know it wasn't going to be this year. Next year at best, but probably not. If I remember right, they plans to move forward with making it a county park are approved, but they need funding to build the parking lot, etc. before it will be open. Based on the birds of prey discoveries this spring, I'd bet that they'll be cautious about scheduling any work out there for next year until they know what's going on with that.

Yeah, fatter skis can work just fine for touring, as long as you make sure your skins are wide enough. don't try to get by with skins that are too narrow underfoot. Also, if you're breaking trail with fat skis, your friends will love you for the nice big skin track...

I'd agree with that. When I was last shopping for a touring pack I was looking a lot at the BD packs because of the built-in avalung option. But I ended up getting the stand-alone avalung just so that I could use it interchangeably with different sized packs (day trips vs. overnight) But even without the avalung, some of the BD packs, like the Outlaw, are pretty nice. If I were shopping today, the Outlaw is what I'd be leaning toward for day trips.

Well, I wasn't really going to get involved in this, because I could care less what the place gets called. But, I saw what Bill said above, and wanted to add: If Tim does add all the Ozone/DropZone beta to his new edition, but doesn't include all the FA information, then that's tragic, and you guys shouldn't put up with that. The worst thing about his recent editions is that he removed all that FA information. Is it so hard to add a few pages back by the index? It leaves me with having to question Tim's motives for re-releasing the same dribble every year with minimal added content, and unfortunately I end up losing respect for him and the book when I do that. But, back on topic, since I'm here: Do you guys really care what it gets named in Tim's book? It's nothing more than an extension of ozone anyway. It's not a geographically different place. Just lump it all together with different "Walls" named. Tim named the Lake Oswego crag the "Iron Mountain crag" is his latest books. Have any of you ever met someone who calls it the Iron Mountain Crag? It's always been the Lake O crag, or just the railroad crag, even for people who never climbed before the book came out. It's obvious that what is published will have ~zero impact on what people end up calling it. And, sorry Joe, but the "there's already a far side" argument is weak. People aren't going to get them confused. And yes, there are already duplicate named features all over the place in this state. Multiple Table Rocks, etc. There are at least 2 Red Walls at Oregon crags - do people ever get them confused? So, anyway, my input on what it should be called is, you're kidding yourself if you think it matters.

http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/sarah-palins-alaska-rock-climber-or-rock-star.html#mkcpgn=fb3

Seems to me this is a clear case of "sport rappelling" newbies... probably walked to the top and tried to just rap off using a single shiny new rope.

Anyplace local in portland to try on or check out the stuff in person, without ordering it first?

Yeah, my worst case ever came from up on top of the hanging gardens...the slopes above the cliffs are crawling with the stuff. I never top out on Gandalf's anymore - I just rap, to avoid getting up into the foliage...

That's awesome Marc. Sounds like an awesome day - and it's always great to see you so psyched on these climbs. So, where are the pics??

For the novice leader who's on the route for their first time, it makes sense that they would head toward where they can see a definite gear placement, instead of up the slab where they might not be able to see any. It's only a few feet to the left, and the rock is still solid, so it's not like they're really off route or in danger. I know that I headed up to that corner to place gear my first time. I'm curious - you said that you did that corner once...why? Was it your first time on the route, and you thought that might be where it goes, and didn't know better yet? The start of FFA is similar - for their first time there, people might not know that the right-hand start sucks until they actually get high enough on it...

Hey Steve - good to meet you. This is Jeff. It's funny that you guys mention that Cedar Wright video, because that was one of the first things that came to our minds. And, yes, big props to Rick for having the mental fortitude to get back on the horse and finish up the pitch after a scare like that. Hope the rest of the day went off without a hitch, we had to leave pretty quickly right afterwards.

thanks for doing that - i've been meaning to check out that pitch. I think the first pitch of reckless driver could be a good approach to that too, at only 5.6, if it were cleaned up & gardened a bit. Question: on the top out of risky business, is there an obvious anchor or belay spot at the edge, or did you go up and belay off the tree? and is there any poison oak on that side? (sorry, can't help you get rid of the tat - not mine)

I think it's safe to say that those 2 bolts are there in lieu of the 2 really large nuts that you'd need otherwise. I can't believe you guys are giving the man such a hard time about replacing a couple manky/rusty old bolts with new ones. All FA ambiguity aside, just replacing the existing ticking time-bombs is hardly an ethical issue - the only way it will alter anyone else's experience is that the new bolts should be a little less likely to catastrophically fail on the next person to fall on them...

For someone who's so adamantly against "incessant whining", you sure do incessantly whine about it a lot

Two new routes this year: Center Drip and Fric-Amos Might be some info on Wayne's site too - he'd probably be the authority to ask... New guidebook supposed to be coming out too...

I've always heard that the McNett's ReviveX works better than the Nikwax brand stuff - but haven't actually tried the nikwax. I use the soft-shell ReviveX. I'd definitely say to go with the spray-on stuff as opposed to wash-in. I don't think you'll find either one that will last forever though - so wash & apply frequently. make sure your garment is good and clean before applying. For the ReviveX stuff, you throw it in the dryer for like an hour after spraying it on - and that seems to work.

I can't give you a direct answer to your question about maintaining 90% of strength - but I'd say that if you're only doing a few climbs & glacier trips a year, then you shouldn't have any issue with skinny dyneema slings wearing out. the dyneema slings do wear out more quickly than nylon - but that seems to be primarily from abrasion that's seen with heavy usage. So, if you were using them every weekend, you'd probably want to look at replacing them after 2-3 years. But only a few trips a year isn't going to wear them out quickly. Also, 90% of the original strength is still like 20kN, which is still overkill. For alpine & glacier, you'd probably have to lose > 50% of the strength of the sling before the sling becomes the weak link (instead of your placement).

Oh, come on - that picture rob posted looks like one of the ultra classics at that brand-new world-class crag just southwest of corvallis link to the hilarity

Just adding emphasis to be sure you read this far - it looks to me like the work that would actually impact 'zone parking as been "Deferred".

now if only he'd put all of the FA information back into it..... ...did you guys make sure he's going to include that for the zones?

There were 2 versions of the "third edition", I think. The one pictured in your link was the first version of the "third edition - and isn't really available anymore. The more recent version was updated to include Madrone, and include a couple pages on Ozone. However, I've heard that this second version of the "third addition" may also be sold out. I'd say your best bet is to call Climb Max and see what they have. Note, the author has a website: www.portlandrockclimbs.com (currently lists the third edition as sold out). So, to help identify: the one with the cover photo of the guy in blue pants leading Short Circuit @ Broughton with excessive orange webbing is version 3.1, and is out of date. the one with the cover photo of the guy in the blue t-shirt and shorts leading Chain Mail @ Ozone is version 3.2, and is the most recent.

Holy $#!+ man! Amazed and glad that you're OK. and THANK YOU for having the balls to also post up on CC.com about your experience and let us know the details. Subjecting to the online court of public approval can't be easy - but hopefully folks can learn something.

haven't been out there in a long time, but yeah, i remember there's rock that'd be high enough for some routes. i don't know of anything established there, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been done. i don't remember the rock looking very confidence-inspiring i was looking at it a few years back for skiing, and if i remember right, the access gets to be a pain in the ass if there's significant snow - so ice may be hard to come by. but for dry rock routes, sure, go check it out. it'll probably be chossy, but from the pictures on this website, we know that hasn't stopped you in the past