JosephH

sprocket - feel free to pm me if you're coming down later this year and if I'm in town I'd be happy to get out with you.

Better dry and cold than wet - climbing babie, not sliming! Monday's the day...

I can put together a second cold-weather outfit if anyone is game and is size medium.

Anyone up for Monday?

meddling socialist engineers always trying to "solve" some problem with big gov't and only creating more problems... which of course they will "solve" with big gov't. repeat. meanwhile Archie pays more taxes Both comments are completely incorrect. The root of the crisis was Bush leaning on Greenspan to push interest rates lower after the dotcom crash to sustain the only sector of the economy with legs - housing. Together they pushed interests rates way down while simultaneously providing the mortgage market regulatory protection for predetory lending practices and mortgage market instruments which decoupled the incentives of banks to lend from the ability of homeowners to repay those loans. The entire crisis was a wholly owned and manufactured scheme by the administration to provide the appearance of a "healthy economy" while waging war in Iraq and cutting taxes on the rich. Meanwhile, the administration and their corporate cronies have been f#cking Archie and his wife in the ass at every turn since the first day an all-republican government took office in 2000.

P.S. For those that didn't hear, BRSP Ranger John Ernster has moved on to greener pastures up north where he's now a head ranger. As of this week we have a new Ranger I haven't met who I believe is named Ben. Will keep you posted once I've had a chance to meet him and learn more about his background and perspective. Candidates go through a pretty rigorous local hiring process and BRSP Head Ranger Erik Plunkett has gone out of his way so far to hire folks who will are willing to work with climbers to ensure Beacon always remains a [trad] climbing area.

Bill, as much as I wish it would help - monitoring basically sucks and is hard to do correctly to protocol - but I'm pretty much in rythmn with it at this point. Also, it's taken a few years to get to where David trusts my observations and we have more or less a language established around describing behavior out there. Another part of the deal is the need for consistency and reliability across the seasons which we also have established. If David gets to where he needs more observation sessions, or if I end up being in ABQ too much then, yeah, we'd probably want to deal with the hassle of spinning up another person, but for now it's cool and I can cover it. However, I do very much appreciate your suggesting it. I guess part of the deal is it is a lot of time and effort on everyone's part - mine, David's, the BRSP staff, Lisa Lance at WSP - to deal with all this on the up and up and it sure would be easier if people could hold on to the actual situation out there. From my perspective nothing else is really required from folks other than a bit of respect for both the birds and this admittedly painful process. But it is what it is and I am trying to deal with it as best I can to see that the rock is open every single day it possibly can under the circumstances we have all been dealt. So anyway, thanks again for the hint regardless...

No cliff notes - pink has it right, the short version is Ozone.

Funny how the rock stays open to the hundreds of thousands of hikers/walkers, yet they close the south face to the 50 climbers that climb there every year, due to those “stupid birds”. One could speculate that closing the entire rock to protect these “stupid birds” would be the most beneficial for the birds mating season. But NO……the climbers are scape goats. Oh well….same story every year. Kevin, at just what point does this tired diatribe yield to reality? Sure, nobody likes that it closes to climbing - hell, David Anderson and the BRSP don't like that it does - it's a friggin' royal pain in the ass for them as well as for us. And how many times does it have to be written that David and the WDFW did try to close the hiking trail as well - but that the legal terms of the transaction creating the BRSP precluded it? WDFW had the choice of burning political capital fighting WSP on an issue or letting it go. They knew they were going to lose that fight to close the trail in the end so chose to let it go - but they did try to close it. No one 'scapegoated' the climbers, period. You know exactly how many routes climb to, past, or traverse Big Ledge - the Peregrine's preferred eyrie - as opposed to the trail which is 140 meters way at it's closest point. The closure is consistent in every respect with, or shorter than, all the other Peregrine closures in the country. Also, there is nothing 'dumb' about the Peregrines - they fucking lay their eggs out in the weather on a bare rock ledge on a verical wall in some of the worst weather the Gorge has to offer. They teach their young how to explode meals out of thin air, and are one of the burliest creatures on Earth. Pretty much no other creature besides mountain goats better represent what it means to get out and survive on one's own on a vertical surface than the Peregrines. And no one despises the fact that the stone closes more than I do - hey, I and a few other nuts actually get out there this time of year every time it's almost dry. But let's not 'scapegoat' the Peregrines because we're asked to time-share with them so these 'dumb [magnificent] birds' can try to reestablish their historic natural range. They are 3/4 of the way there and every single successfully nesting pair is critical to their species succeeding at that goal over the next 15 years. The year-round pairs at Beacon have made it among the most consistently successful eyries in the country which is the reason behind the closure. Again, no one wants it opened more than I do and it has taken four years of the steady investment of a shitload of time and gas (22 days last year at six hours at a shot while you folks were climbing away at Ozone) to re-establish a working relationship with David and the WDFW so that climbers are vested in the process of monitoring the Peregrines' progress and the details of the closures. That has allowed early opens and, if and when the Peregrines ever decide to stop using the South Face eyrie, it will allow either not closing or a very early opening. But - to be excruciatingly clear as to what that means - that means the Peregrines have to not even attempt to nest on Big Ledge in consecutive years based on strict monitoring protocols (which I meet in my monitoring). And contrary to public rumor and myth. That has not yet occured - what has occured is they have failed in three years of attempts on Big Ledge and were successful somewhere nearby in two of those years (we've never been able to pin down where). So where is it all at right now? As of last summer the latest resident Peregrine pair have established themselves high up on the East Face roofs at a point about two o'clock on the Southern/lower of the two main arches that make up the East Face. They have been consistently using this location every visit I've made to Beacon since September. Does this mean we don't have to close? No, they have no track record using this location and certainly have not successfully bred there. They could easily abandon it for Big Ledge starting anytime around the end of the month. We will close, but I will be monitoring them earlier and as heavily as possible this year starting in the second half of next month. If they conclusively don't attempt to use Big Ledge AND are undeniably and verifiably continue using the new East Face location, I will work with David and the WDFW on an much earlier open. Establishing the facts of such a scenario under the monitoring protocol would likely take through April sometime if it actually played out that way. If it doesn't play out that way, then it will be business as usual attempting to either verify the date of any fledging or summarily conclude they have failed to successfully breed altogether (last year's outcome) so we can hopefully open sometime earlier than July 15th. The best possible outcome for this year and next is the new pair continue to use, and successfully fledge at, the East Face location remaining and returning there in spring 2009 without ever attempting to use Big Ledge in either year. But however it plays out this year and next, you folks now have Ozone to get by on until we know for sure what exactly is happening at Beacon. And given how many cars I drive by at Ozone to get to an empty parking lot at Beacon even after it's open, I'd say you have enough going on to keep you in enough climbing until it does. Anyway, that's the whole story on the Peregrines at Beacon so there is no misunderstanding about just what is going on out there this year.

It isn't moving between now and the weekend if someone want's to try and catch it Friday...

I talked to USAA about some other matters today, but coverage beyond very basic limits on computers and jewelry both require additional coverage attached to your policy - at least renters, anyway. Those coverages can be quoted at pretty much any additional amount want covered.

Real men crawl into snow caves with Ivan - little girly men crawl out. Caveat Rumptor

Hmmmm, USAA is THE best insurance company on the planet so I wouldn't diss them too hard. Times have possibly changed from the sound of it though. When my gear was lifted from my car in the early 90's USAA asked how much it would cost to replace it and I told them $2400 which arrived three days later without any listing of the gear whatsoever.

Mimi dear, the distinction between IB and WoS, aside from both involving a steaming pile of shit, is that the facts about WoS were clearly distorted and the "chipping" and 'hole/bolt' count in question can only be verified by those who have "been on the line" [with a magnifying visor] whereas with IB there are no such facts in contention and there is no need whatsoever to have "been on the line" to know what it's all about. If you want to honestly and intelligently discuss the technical reality of WoS in stone you have to either get on it or rely on the commentary of someone who has been. That's quite different from IB where the bolt count and rock quality have been more than adequately reported. On the otherhand, you and others can legitimately discuss the question of whether the WoS or IB slabs should ever have been climbed without having "been on the line". Ditto on the style, ethics, and ensuing cultural conflicts.

There's a guidebook to Krabi and Tonsai now? I suppose it was inevitable...

YW as a prelude to the party at the Op-Warrior's place would be fitting...

Please, do feel free to talk shit about me long before and long after I'm dead. Oops wait - too late (or is that too soon...)! Proceed.

NateK - I'd still take them...

And next week looks even better in the ten day forecast...

Supposed to be 50 and sunny on friday...

Bill, the Third Rail was '06. Interesting, but I wouldn't call that a 'best' pitch. That next pitch through the roofs may end up taking all of the 2008 season for the 27 gallons of epoxy to harden behind the first block off the high anchor.

Looks potentially good 16th (wed) - 18th (fri)... I'm thinking YW. Can anyone else play hooky any of those days?

Now that it's all cleaned up the new pitch above Rythmn Method is quite nice and varied. But one new pitch in all of 2007? Have got to be a bit more productive in 2008...

I'll see if I can't swing by for a bit...

Ken's works for the corps up by Tri-cities. He has a brother down in Vancouver and has been coming down to climb at Beacon for the past three or four years. He's more local than some of the locals at this point.