JosephH

What he said...

Dress warm - like two layers of something warm for your legs, three layers on top, fingerless gloves (I have a spare pair) and a good hat of some sort. I have plenty of heat packs for all...

Came into a batch of larger ones and am looking to trade #10's and #11's for #7's and #8's...

112 is coming through and should be there at 10:30 and Metolius sent me a gorgeous new 9.8mm to try out rope soloing with the Edelrid Eddy. So if you and pink_chalk show up and 112 doesn't I'll probably just solo along right ahead or behind you guys and see how the new rig works.

The plan is still a go for tomorrow - who's interested. 112 is coming through from Walla Walla and is in - anyone else? Kevin, your friend the new pink? The entire stretch of the next 10 days looks good as well...

Yep, sh#tload of water available and running. Supposed to be sunny and near 50 degrees by next Wed. so hard to imagine it setting up all that well in such a short time, but who know.

New Mammut Supersafe 10.2mm (11-12 falls) - on ebay, no bids so far, probably because of the high shipping, but it's still a good price so long as it doesn't go up any. You can get one for $216 w/ free shipping on-line. Great rope, though.

I do hate guide books and knowing anything about a line (even that it is a route) before I get on it the first time. I like just getting to an area, scoping the rock and jumping on whatever lines grab my eye. The only use I ever had for guidebooks was the first page or two that tells you how to get to an area. I sometimes go back to a store after I leave and see what I climbed, but that's about it. The Beacon guide is the only one other than Chris Mac's big wall guide for El Cap that I've ever bought and that was so I could communicate with Jim. As for the star issue - I'm with Kevin after the disaster of the stars in Olson's book - skip the stars. What I think guidebooks really miss, and what makes them all souless, is the great opportunity to tell the "story" of each route. Most routes [trad anyway] usually have one or more stories about them and what was happening in the FA's lives and in the local community at the time - those are the word-of-mouth legacies that get handed down by folks like Jim and you guys who were there. I don't really care how hard routes are or what pro they take - I'll figure that out for myself - what I like knowing is the [creation] stories around how each route came to be. So as far as I'm concerned, guidebooks authors tend to capture all the stuff I don't care about and miss the stuff I really want to read or hear...

You should and blow all the spray off so you'll be set for a new round of it next week...

Ah, for the good ole' days when 'narco-analysis' and 'truth drugs' meant something and you were getting really high quality acid from government labs. And what? Are you a latter day Rip Van Winkle and just woke up to the administration's broad 'can do' attitude...? It's not just a slogan - it's the law (or something close enough to it to pass muster with the AG...).

Spray may suck Today, but you suck every day Kevboner. At least Im not just a weekend climber. Does that mean you're not coming out and doing the Corner with me on Saturday?

After drying solid today and tomorrow the rock on the corner will be warm starting at about 10:30 and if the sun holds the temp on the climb should feel about 45-50. You just have to guard against the wind which is where the Sport Hill 'XC Cross' pants and UnderArmor 'ColdGear Mock' Tee come into play so well. Hey, 112 (is that you Ken?)- just saw you're post above, pm me and we'll figure it out, but the plan should be to meet at the parking lot about 10:30 unless you're in PDX and then we can just head up together. Should be great and I definitely need to get out clear my head...

Bump for Saturday...

For god's sake, be careful out there this year - last year was down right scary...

From what I've seen climbing Beacon all along I'd say it's plausible given it has been setting up pretty fast this year when it does get cold. I just don't know how thick it would be and because there is a lot of water I suspect they'd still be wet. Maybe someone doing the drive between HR and PDX can post up in the next day or two. I'll be out at Beacon Saturday, but that will be a little late for your purposes.

At about roughly 1.5 chicks per nesting pair, "booming" would be descriptively over the top, but the North American recovery program has been having steady successes. The results from the first nationwide monitoring effort to measure the peregrine falcon's recovery in 2006 put the number of nesting pairs in North America at 3,005. This includes estimates of 400 pairs in Canada, 170 pairs in Mexico, approximately 1,000 pairs in Alaska, and the rest (1,435 pairs) distributed among 40 of the lower 48 states. For example, last year in Ohio, 18 nesting pairs of peregrine falcons resulted in the successful hatching and fledging of a record 57 young falcons (with an anticipated loss rate of 65% in the first year). This is a fairly typical recovery chart (not from Ohio); note that a lot of chicks doesn't necessarily translate into a lot of nesting pairs due to a fairly high natural mortality rate of young birds (Great Horned Owls, Coyotes, cars, etc.). And also be aware the stability of the overall population is more a function of adult mortality (we lost a female this year on rte. 14 just west of Beacon) and that the number of nesting pairs and successful nests rises only incrementally regardless of the number of chicks: The estimated historic North American numbers are approximately 4-4,500 pairs so we are roughly 3/4's of the way there and there will be three more post-delisting surveys in 2009, 2012, and 2015. At some point along that time line it is possible some state protections will be lifted - but, even that doesn't necessarily mean individual historic nest sites won't still be protected under some form of state and federal laws or rules. That's because each known-productive, historic [anchor] nest site (like Beacon, Midnight, etc.) only serves a single nesting pair, are a one shot deal each year, and are key in the overall recovery effort. It would be different if sites hosted multiple pairs, but that's just not how they are. Keep in mind this historic recovery is one of the iconic successes of the overall environmental movement from the '70s and has been hard fought for thirty years by small groups of dedicated individuals who will have forty years into it before they are done. This is their legacy and is not all that different than our collective forty year legacy of routes on El Cap or elsewhere. And we are not talking pigeon-like numbers here, these are still relatively spartan numbers due to the size of the ranges of individual pairs. We should very much appreciate what has been accomplished by this dedicated group of folks. These are the fastest, burliest birds alive and fellow cliff-dwellers - if we can't share the vertical realm with them it says volumes about how consumptive, self-centered, and jaded we've become. Anyway, these are the best facts available, and as far as I'm concerned, Beacon wouldn't be Beacon - or half as alive - without the Peregrines (or the trains)... [ And Kevin and Andrew, I agree with many of your comments about the trail and its impact, but that's another story altogether and more one of political and legal realities than of targeting climbers per se as 'scapegoats'. Take it as you will, but I just don't agree that closures are bogus in the context of the overall recovery and sustaining requirements. As you said, Beacon is unique, but unfortunately easily accessible and has a long, convoluted, and storied history stretching back before Lewis and Clark. Far better it were obscure, buried in the forest somewhere and a trek to get to - but then it wouldn't be Beacon. ] =========================================================================== Here's some recovery history and stats from the late '90s that contributed to the Federal ESA delisting... =========================================================================== ALASKA: Surveys conducted between 1966 and 1998 along the upper Yukon River demonstrated increases in the number of occupied nesting territories from a low of 11 known pairs in 1973 to 46 pairs in 1998. Similarly, along the upper Tanana River, the number of occupied nesting territories increased from 2 in 1975 to 33 in 1998. The recovery objective of 28 occupied nesting territories in the two study areas was first achieved in 1988, with 23 nesting territories on the Yukon River and 12 on the Tanana River. PACIFIC STATES: By 1976, no American peregrine falcons were found at 14 historical nest sites in Washington. Oregon had also lost most of its peregrine falcons and only 1 or 2 pairs remained on the California coast. Surveys conducted from 1991 to 1998 indicated a steadily increasing number of American peregrine falcon pairs breeding in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. Known pairs in Washington increased from 17 to 45 and in Oregon from 23 to 51. The number of American peregrine falcons in California increased from an estimated low of 5 to 10 breeding pairs in the early 1970s to a minimum of 167 occupied sites in 1998. The increase in California was concurrent with the restriction of DDT and included the release of over 750 American peregrine falcons through 1997. ROCKY MOUNTAINS/SOUTHWEST: The Rocky Mountain/Southwest population of the American peregrine falcon has made a profound comeback since the late 1970s when surveys showed no occupied nest sites in Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming and only a few pairs in Colorado, New Mexico, and the Colorado Plateau, including parts of southern Utah and Arizona. Surveys conducted from 1991 through 1998 indicated that the number of American peregrine falcon pairs in the Rocky Mountain/Southwest area has steadily increased. In 1991, there were 367 known pairs; in 1998 the number of pairs increased to 535. EASTERN STATES: The eastern peregrine population has a unique history and complex status under the Act. Peregrine falcons were extirpated in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada by the mid-1960s. Releases of young captive bred peregrines have reestablished populations throughout much of their former range in the east. In 1998, there were a total of 193 pairs counted in five designated eastern State recovery units. The number of territorial pairs recorded in the eastern peregrine falcon recovery area increased an average of 10% annually between 1992 and 1998. Equally important, the productivity of these pairs during the same 7-year period averaged 1.5 young per pair, demonstrating sustained successful nesting.

It's called a runout, it only make noise when you do...

Looking like it's going to have to be Saturday for me, but it looks to be a good day Friday as well and someone here should get out with you then if that's the only day you can. I suspect it will be cold, but if you hit the corner about 10:45-11:00 the rock will be nice and warm for you...

From the "Rescue on Mt. Hood" thread on Supertopo 12/20-21: Last night my brother, a physics professor, told me he was driving his daughters to school, and described the same sunrise and rainbow. He said it was like nothing he'd ever seen before, and that he felt it was a farewell message to the families and friends that "all would be well". Afterwards I was stunned when I saw the above post. I am no climber, but have been reading this blog over the past few days. You are an extraordinary community.

That's what small pro is for. It just pays to know the capabilities and limitations of the pro when it starts getting small. Many of the aspects of placing pro we take for granted when using larger gear become considerably more critical at smaller scales. Constructing placements from one or multiple small/micro pieces of pro that will actually hold falls takes a bit of different mindset and very clear understanding of both the pro and the rock you're attempting to use. I've been free climbing above small pro and assorted hooks for a long time and have fallen on many of those placements. We took a load of dives on a circular nest of seven equalized rp's once putting up a route at Crow Hill in MA back in the mid-80's. We used about a dozen steeply pre-sliced Air Voyagers (Screamers) three or four times each in the process, reslicing them again and again, and the nest held up until the job got done. You can get quite creative with both small pro, hooks, and pre-sliced screamers in various combinations and never have to resort to a bolt, if you know what you're doing. And yes, WCZ's could even play a role in one's arsenal, but there are not many places (very shallow horizontals)where I'd be inclined to use them rather than more robust alternatives.

And end up climbing above fairly weak, if not lame, pro because of it...

What day would work best for you...?

Good shots Kevin...

Looks to be good again coming up at the second half of the week through early next week. Shout if you're interested...

Again, folks who have problems with ball nuts just haven't put the time and effort into figuring out how they actually work. WCZ's are simply less robust from a materials and design perspective and the charts above speak for themselves.