JosephH

They're out now in online stores. Also, it's worth mentioning that not everyone is online so this year it's probably still a good idea if you spot aliens on someone's rack you might mention the recall and double check that they heard about it...

=================== Beacon Rock Update - 4/19/06... =================== Peregrine Monitoring Status The Peregrines are in very high, frantic, and ballistic courtship mode right now with at least one male consistently courting two females on Tuesday. At one point there were four Peregrines [biefly] interacting NW of Beacon - two courting, one nearby, and one to the NW looking interested in the activity. Most of the action is taking place on the near-Westside of Beacon in a narrow North-South band running from the island to the South and ranging quite far to the North. On their repeated returns to Beacon they often end up right above it soaring and gaining lift on the ridge of air Beacon creates. Overall they are generally staying in very close proximity to each other and to Beacon. My total poser guess is they are very close to pair-bonding / mating with nesting and eggs very soon thereafter. Eggs are incubated for about 33 days and the fledge cycle from hatching to fledging is somewhere between 30 and 58 days with the middle being average. So realistically if they settle down to nest this week or next we're most likely looking at a fairly normal opening date. I would suspect from what I'm seeing it might open a week or two early, but probably no more than that if they nest on the South Face. If they nest elsewhere and we can confirm the location than an earlier opening is certainly possible. David Anderson of the WDFW has monitoring staffed up with a small number of non-climbers this year after a training session that was run at the Audobon Society around the new year. He normally only wants a very few committed folks monitoring so as to keep the monitoring notes consistent. Bill Coe and I have a good relationship with David and while contributing to that overall monitoring effort we will be more focusing our monitoring effort on confirming the nest site so we can all have a better understanding of a likely opening date. Again, biologically speaking, things are looking fairly normal at the moment and we are determined to identify the nesting site this year. We'll keep you posted and will probably give a shout to a couple of you who expressed and interest in monitoring, though there is still no immediate rush as they are not nesting as yet. And for those that venture out on your own, it's easy to confuse the Red Tailed Hawks and Peregrines. In general, if the bird is doing a lot of flat flying / soaring without a lot of wing movement, doing wide lazy turns with broader wings, and a fairly decent sized "triangular" or "fan" tail - then it's a Red Tailed. Also note the leading and trailing wing edge profiles are basically reversed between the Red Tailed and the Peregrine. The Red Taileds nest up under the roofs where the big East face roofs start turning downward hard up from the SE corner (by the sign post on the trail) - You can see it either from the upper picnic area or from a spot between the men and women's bathrooms facing South. The nest is, coincidentally, very reddish, fairly large / tall and looks sort of "Tibetan" in its perch and construction. Because of the nest location and type of prey they hang out flying a lot to the East, Southeast, and South, steadily soaring along in order to spot game on the ground. Red Tailed Hawk The Peregrines are a bit smaller, darker, compact and burly. Their tail and wings are narrower, wings more articulated back at the "elbow", and more pointed at the tips. They don't do a lot of flat, slow soaring because they don't hunt for things on the ground but rather are after birds in the sky. They will do the Redtail type soaring but usually only in very close to the rock or directly above Beacon. Otherwise they're generally either chilling on a SE or SW corner ledge somewhere or they have their mojo on and are cutting up the sky swooping about climbing, diving, and booking out in some direction. Again, they often come back to the ridge lift right above Beacon. Some times they do head out to the North a ways or across the river so you have to be patient. The best place to see them right now is from down by the boat launch while looking at Beacon, the ridge lift above it, and in the sky to the N-NW. Once you catch them in a wing-tucked dive a couple of times they become a lot easier to identify on a consistent basis. Again, the key is really more in their flight behavior than their visual appearance; once you have that behavior down you can tell it's them even at a great distance. Peregrine Falcon Worth a trip out as they are really lighting things off right now if you catch them while they're out and about. I caught them on Tuesday, which was a beautiful day, in the afternoon around 3pm. They were out solid for two hours and then disappeared like Cinderella... Joseph Healy Bill Coe Beacon Rock Climbers' Association

Stewart, Thanks for your comments. The NW face is open for climbing, just not development at this time. The odds are good significant routes on the face will need some fixed protection. The protocol in question will likely be the approval of overall lines after a review versus inidividual pieces with the understanding that the priority on the routes be gear, pins, and bolts as a last resort in keeping with Beacon traditions. At this time the BRSP is considering the possibiliy of either they or the BRCA providing the fixed protection required for a route. "Approval of overall lines after a review" will probably entail both identifying what mix of fixed protection is required, and on which stretches of the route, and a survey of objective hazards. Some give and take and disagreements will likely be inevitable relative to the number and spacing of bolts with the BRCA position leaning closer to "stout" than to a "bolt ladder" in an effort to maintain route standards at Beacon. Routes / ascents on the Upper NW Face will in all likelyhood encounter some degree of "environmental" challenges relative to loose rock and / or vegatation either during the climb or attempting to exit off of them. Because of this, some "reasonable level of competency" will need to be displayed by folks on those routes, and the level of protection on routes so described should not be of such a nature as to attract folks unprepared to deal with the realities exhibited on any particular route. That's more or less the party line for the moment. I personally would expect fixed protection on routes that ascend to any height on the NW face to have more in common with the second, rather than the first, pitch of "Young Warriors". Others will have their own opinions and it will just have to get worked out in the wash. But the NW face is not a risk-free environment as you rightfully point out and that has to be weighted realistically as we go along - particularly on the upper bands. The last thing we want is a situation where the base of the NW face is busy with folks doing short, solid easier pitches and the top seeing a lot of activity on routes with significant [and ongoing] rockfall potential. Some route proposals will likely require some study for that potential. Joseph Healy

I like the Mammut Supersafe 10.2 - a very tough, but very supple rope...

Whew - gotta go to sleep, words are blurring together. In this case these two threads were right next to each other and kind of ran scarily together: WTB: Avalanche Probe RE: Uranus Good night...

I'm admittedly old school and despise having stuff hanging from my waist and clanking around my thighs. Racking on the harness is definitely a sport-to-trad new school deal. I personally use one of these and love it. Use it for everything from 1 pitch to 15. I'd switch up to a Yates for a big wall aid route, but for free climbing these babies are great. You can also rig them with a 1 liter bladder and they still take a wallet, keys, cell, and cliff bar.

Mark, No problem and I understand. I think Jim O. and Bill Coe can testify that we have a much better working relationship with all concerned at this point and we did open a bit early last year. I think we there is a good possibility for the same this year. We do need to do a pre-opening cleanup of what is now a ton of loose stuff hanging over the top of the base of the SE corner. That should just be a day or two however, and should be during the same couple of days the BRSP staff uses to get their pre-opening tasks and survey done once they get the ok from WDFW. Will keep everyone posted on that as well as the monitoring.

I'll take him out once Beacon opens. Are the Tuesday Rocky Butte sessions going on still, that would be a good venue to meet folks...

=================== Beacon Rock Update - 4/4/06... =================== Early Opening Rumors Just got off the phone with BRSP staff - climbing on the South face is most definitely not going to be opening this weekend. We are just now cranking up monitoring efforts and will be working with David Anderson of the WDFW and the BRSP to open the South face to climbing at the earliest possible time. Will keep you all posted about both the monitoring and any news of a potential early opening. Joseph Healy Beacon Rock Climbers' Association

Mark, It isn't a matter of whether they are there or not - I have no doubt whatsoever that they are as I've almost never been out and not seen them regardless of the time of year - it's a matter of verifying where exactly they are nesting. David Anderson and the BRSP are fully prepared to open early if we a) verify the Peregrines are nesting somewhere other than the South face or b) have fledged. And monitoring Beacon is a unique challange as a 3D free standing structure; you sometimes have to really hump back and forth between the upper picnic area, the boat ramp, and the tracks back from the SE Corner. It's better to have two folks, one at the upper picnic area and one at the boat ramp so you don't have to shag it around all day long.

Such rumors would be a lot easier to track down if folks would either post up, pm, or email the source. No Beacon is not opening this weekend. I don't know if this coming from my talks with Jim O. about the prospect and process of opening or somewhere else - but again, Beacon only opens after David Anderson of WDFW signs off on it and BRSP has a chance to do a survey, change signage, and handle a couple of other tasks. I spoke with David last week about starting monitoring back up and he didn't say a word about opening given the Peregrines are just now sorting out nesting.

Something Seattle can really call its own...

Kevin, We'll be able to develop over there again soon. The BSRP staff and WSP biologists weren't "sensitive" about the moss itself so much as the snow shovel one of our intrepid warriors was (somewhat innocently) using to remove entire slabs of it. There was simply a bit of a miscommunication and misunderstanding. The boys thought they were being told that the NW face was no longer considered "habitat" once it was designated as climbable. That was never true or an interpretation that even entered into the parks folk's mind. The whole of Beacon Rock is considered habitat - albeit, some parts of it more sensitive then other parts - and the explicit interpretation to be taken away from that is this: You can climb, but do so with the least footprint and impact possible - i.e. skip the snow shovels and don't clean entire slabs and faces. We're well on the road to getting the whole affair sorted out and put behind us and we'll keep you and everyone posted on that progress as we have something new to report...

Hanmi, Yes, the NW face between the signs (just West of the parking lot / drinking fountain and East of where the tourist trail hits the rock) is open. There are a couple of short bolted routes that caused enough commotion to shut down development on the NW face a couple of years ago and beyond that most stuff eventually ends up fairly savagely run out as it stands now. We are working with BRSP staff to resolve the development issues and hope to have new development protocols in place sometime this year so we can get back to it. As it stands now no new fixed protection is allowed. Again we will are actively on this one as there is the potential for some nice stuff up there. That said, if it's dry for a couple of days it's still worth exploring if you've never looked at it all...

Beacon Rock Notice - 3/28/2006

=================== Beacon Rock Update - 3/28/06... =================== Early Opening / Peregrine Rumors Just for the record. Peregrine monitoring has not yet begun and will only be formally initiated by David Anderson of the WDFW though we may start up on our own. This year's Peregrine's nesting status - both activity and location - are undetermined at this time. Beacon is NOT opening early as of this time. That status may change if and when we determine the status and location of any Peregrine nesting or lack thereof. If, and that's "if", the Peregrines are proven not to not be nesting on the South face arrangements will be initiated with the necessary agencies to open it to climbing at the earliest opportunity after such a determination by WDFW. For now the South face is closed and will remain so until either July 15th or until the WDFW determines otherwise. Thank you for your understanding, cooperation, and patience in this matter and rest assured we will be working to have the South face open as soon as possible. Joseph Healy Bill Coe Beacon Rock Climbers' Association

Blake, How goes it down there? How about a TR? Shipping it NZ International Parcel w/ Track & Trace for a .25lb/.2kg parcel looks like NZ $9.07

TRANGO RECALL NOTICE #1 MaxCam Batch Numbers: 0605, 0705 27 March 2006 After receiving a defective unit from a climber in the field, in-house inspection and testing has revealed that a small number of our # 1 MaxCams have head axle rivets that do not meet the minimum specified diameter, possibly resulting in failure of the cam assembly. This flaw affects only the red #1 MaxCam with Batch Numbers 0605 and 0705 that were sold in 2005 and 2006. All other cams are unaffected and you can continue to use them with confidence. Please discontinue the use of #1 MaxCams from Batch Numbers 0605 and 0705 from use immediately and return them according to the instructions below. We highly recommend that you use UPS or FedEx so that you have a tracking number. Via UPS/FedEx or other package service: TMI/Trango Freeport Center F-11 Clearfield, UT 84016 Via US Mail (USPS) TMI/Trango PO Box 160470 Clearfield, UT 84016 We will inspect and repair or replace your MaxCams within three business days and return them to you. Mark each cam with a return address, a phone number and an email where we can reach you if we have questions. We are truly sorry for any inconvenience. Please call us at 800/860-3653 or visit our website at www.trango.com if you have any further questions. Climb Safe, Malcolm Daly, Director mdaly@trango.com

I will say that Bill's and others' comments about the dangers posed setting up top ropes out at there are not without merit. Due to the top slope angle and the slick nature of the mud/soil I consider Rocky Butte to be of most dangerous places I've ever encountered in all my 32 years of climbing. And that is just to climbers let alone the proximity / lure factor to non-climbers. With even a hint of moisture out there you have to really pay attention regardless of what the f#ck you are doing. If you are on top you are risk. I'd add to that the risks posed by malicious non-climbers is real enough out there such that I'm wary of setting up top rope anchors back to trees without some form of gear backup at or just over the edge (another dangerous proposition just to setup and not always possible). I would suspect any chopping is likely by climbers though I don't know the history so am in no position to say who might take enough interest to police it. If it were non-climbers I'd expect one or two of the fatalities would have been the choppers...

Lol - "a 20 year old kitten" I prefer mine potty trained and experienced so I usually stick with the 26-28 year olds myself...

I picked up essentially new Fires and Blue Kaukulators on ebay. Did Epinephrine in the Fires before I nabbed the Kauk's and they were totally comfortable. Nothing beats those Kauk's however. My partner has always used Mythos, but I prefer high tops because I often run the rope over the top of my ankle to secure/brace my foot when [hip or atc] belaying a second up.

There you go... Now do this to it...

Ha! Damnit Jim, you'll never drive them out with birkenstocksI It's gonna take lycra to put the fear of god back in them...

Actually there are lots of grayhairs that have only gotten into climbing recently. Matter of fact, I'd go so far as to guess we're going to need more bouldering-only gyms for younger folks revolted by the increasing tide of newly retired boomers who decide "you know Harriet, I've always wanted to try that, but didn't want to worry you while we had the kids...". Oh yeah - you think us old losers from the '70s are bad? Well hang on little tomatoes because those clip joints haven't even started to get ugly. And to make matters worse we have formed an insurgent movement to put out a "SuburbanClimber" magazine for mature audiences that features middle-aged guys and gals in lycra. Yep, call it revenge of the "painter's pants", but we're planting the seeds of destruction that will ultimately result in Lycrasized Disco Wednesdays replete with mirrored balls and glitter coming to a gym near you soon. And you can bet all those 50-something Betty's are all still packing their early 80's aerobics outfits and gold headbands and just waiting to bust some plastic. By the time we're through trad will be the new bouldering as you'll be willing to do anything to get away from the looming senior invasion...

Cobra, I'd have to see the data and talk with Malcolm and the guy that developed it with Trango (I forget his name off the top of my head) before I'd believe that. Fairly well defies common sense but it wouldn't necessarily be the first time...