JosephH

Found a cam and a large nut out at Beacon - describe and they are yours again...

Looks like Metolius did it right years ago and continues doing it right today by comparison...

Schapp, Thanks for the info. Just curious if someone knew what they were doing and if the routes are protectable with gear... Joseph

"...and I want to add another bolt/piton/fixed gear." 1) Question your motives... 2) Go to step #1.

"Safe bolting on 5.10-5.11 routes under the arch created some incredible lines." What exactly does "safe bolting" mean to you...?

Tex, We're missing you guys as well - come for a visit sometime...!

=================== Beacon Rock Update... =================== Oh, a quick note - the rap rings and webbing are not on the anchor at the top of P2 on Young Warriors for a couple of days. If you need to rap at that point just thread your rope through the beefy Metolius rap anchors as that's what they are designed for... Joseph Healy Beacon Rock Climber's Association [8/20 - This anchor has been restored...]

Here: Beacon Rock 8/3 Update

=================== Beacon Rock Update... =================== Free Parking Area - once again, please do not park parallel to the road in the free parking area East of the main lot, park diagonally facing the SE - thanks... A Little Consideration - leaving unleashed dogs at the base of multi-pitch routes and covering the entire area at the base with your gear is a complete drag for folks coming up after you who don't know your animals and need some room to "suit up" as well. So a little consideration please, leash your dogs at all times if you must bring them out, pack out their waste, and don't monopolize the entire base of multi-pitch climbs. Young Warriors - the block you step around at the start of the second pitch is big, not solid, and is what's left after trundling its righthand twin last fall. It isn't loose as in 'moves when you touch it' loose, but it is perceptibly "loose" and should not be pulled on any more than absolutely necessary - particularly not out away from the cliff as you step around it. We all need to monitor the status of this rock closely and if it comes to it we'll have to coordinate removing it with the park staff. This is somewhat problematic as it is possible it is chocking the rather larger rock above it. Time will tell - be careful around it and let myself, Jim Opdyke, Bill Coe, Kevin Evansen, or one of the Park Rangers know if it ever does move significantly on you. Grassy Ledges Rocks - while we did do a significant amount of high priority, pre-opening trundling/cleaning, there is still a large amount of loose rock up on Grassy Ledges, some of it fairly big. Cleaning it will be the focus of next year's pre-opening work session, but until then - please, everyone be extremely careful making your way across the Grassy Ledges (p3 of SE Face), especially watch your rope!!! Main SE Descent Rappels - we are still logging lots of incidents of smaller rock coming down during some climber's raps, so again please be especially careful of your feet and rope movements on the uppermost two rap stations. And as always it's a good idea to where a helmet at the start of the SE Face, Little Wing, etc. if it is a busy day out there. SE Face Tree - the big landmark tree on the corner ledge above the slab has been taking a beating for years now as both a belay station and as a rap anchor. Please do not ever rap directly off the tree; one, it's a "bad rap" in general and a lousy way down; two, you are far better off continuing on up to the main Grassy Ledges rap or downclimb 12 feet and then traverse right 12 feet to the p2 anchors on Young Warriors rapping from there. In fact, if you are planning on only doing the first to pitches of the SE Face, then don't go up to the tree ledge and instead, on topping out from the slab, simply continue straight ahead to that p2 Young Warrior anchor right in front of you. At some point we'll be organizing a work crew to haul enough soil/gravel to re-bury the main root structure; how we end up dealing with rapping damage to the tree itself will depend on how it fairs this year. In general we'd ask that you simply not use the tree at all and build belay anchors on the ledge instead - however, if you must, then please use webbing or your rope and not thin cord[elettes] as they damage the tree more. This will likely be another long term monitoring situation out there so please pass this on to folks you know and let see if we can't all work to insure this Beacon landmark is around for a long, long time to come. Anchor Replacement Project - We've been out doing more work this past week including finally getting up to replace the top rap station for the standard SE Face/Grassy Legdes descent route. Along the way the anchors on the first two pitches of Young Warriors were replaced, all four bolts turned out to be spinners so it was about time for an upgrade. Ground Zero Rap Anchor - it is currently gone and we will finish replacing it asap; darkness and reason intervened in the middle of the operation. The original anchors are still up and to the right and remain serviceable until we can get back to it; either that or simply walk 60 feet to the right and use the main SE rap. Peregrines - they have been really active and you'll see signs of their predation all over the South face in the form of large swaths of feathers where they've fed and possibly bodiless wing pairs around the base below. And if you get out much you don't really have to be all that lucky to see them. Their cries, tucked dives, and close flybys are pretty spectacular. That's it for this update - have fun, play safe... Joseph Healy Beacon Rock Climber's Association

Anyone interested in a day of fairly hard work in the A.M....

I've always thought studing chalk in gyms would be a perfect Masters or Phd project for some budding pulmonary specialist...

Hi, We've had two busy weekends out at Beacon since the opening and wanted to post a couple of points. 1) The free parking pullout to the east of the main [pay] parking lot has limited space, if you are the first ones out there on a weekend please do not park parallel to the road - park diagonally facing Southeast to make the most of the space. 2) The anchors with light gray slings are brand new with two independent 1" webbing slings slung in a figure 8 with two 50kn stainless rings through the X in the figure 8; this configuration allows them to equalize across both anchors and automatically adjust to rapping in any direction. They need no additional slings and cordage - and in fact, adding slings will just screw up the mechanism. Please do not add any slings or cords to the new anchors as it's a hassle to go remove them. If you have any questions about the anchors or see anchors you feel have a problem email to Beacon.Rock@AvaSys.com 3) The cracks around the belay stations aren't ashtrays, please don't fill them with your butts (to who ever was on Young Warriors Sunday at the top of the second pitch...). 4) Jim Opdyke has restored the lost arrow piton that was traditionally near the top of the first pitch of the Southeast Corner if anyone wonders where it came from... 5) There are lots of ledges and rap stations with smallish gravel at Beacon - especially so on routes all across the entire Souteast Corner and faces - please be cognizant of the movements of your feet and rope across such spots as it can really rain down on folks at the base. Even small stones can do damage so bring a helmet - particularly on weekends for sure or anytime you're venturing off the beaten track... Thanks all... Joseph Healy Beacon Rock Climber's Association.

Well, mine was a wooden handled Chouinard ice hammer, I was on a 1200ft ice fall, I was wearing jeans and a bunch of wool, there was cold water running down my wrists, and my belayer kept yelling "GET BACK ON THE ICE...!" - I wasn't really thinking about either as I was too busy trying to keep water from running down my leg...

Well Geek, it isn't so much an environmental/health/aesthetic impact I'm concerned about, though they are legitimate complaints (healthwise more so in gyms), no my problem with it is I'm simply trying to climb a line and when it's been drenched on dark gray rock it takes on a real climb-by-the-dot / breadcrumb appearance that gets hard to ignore. Now I can ignore it but it really degrades the experience as I'm not really into the Lemmings school of climbing movement. I really don't need or want to see where/how where other folks climb and I really don't like that shit all over holds that don't need it. This is a matter of conditioning, mostly from gyms and bouldering where you can make a case that after so many greasy paws have slimed off some small sloper you actually need the aid. But, again, on the rock out at Beacon 90% of the holds need chalk about 5% of the time. Somehow folks have gotten so psychologically addicted to chalk that they can't get up a gritty 5.7 without it. It's used to wild excess, and if a little consideration for others; the ability to discriminate between a gym, Smith, and Beacon; and a thoughtful and judicious use of the stuff is beyond the capability of today's climbers then the situation has gotten pretty damn sad. [Note: I should have qualified "drenched" and "slathered" in the first post - by that I mean basically a very few people managed to deposit so much chalk on most of the holds they used that partial and whole hand prints were completely opaque with excess mounds of chalk compressed all over the print - I've been sweating rivers in the Valley on offwidths wishing I could get that much chalk out of the bag, but never figured out how one would short of cupping a handful out. Again, I'm not complaining about normal, judicious chalk use here...]

Well, that's the difference, I don't think it's trivial - if you and others do than I suppose it shouldn't really be a problem for you to cut back or leaving it at home when it it isn't necessary. Or, just maybe Dr.,it really isn't trivial and you can't climb, flash, or be amazing without it on a cool, gritty, 5.9? Only you know for sure. I'm simply asking folks to think for moment whether they really need it on a give day, rock, or move before drenching a route in chalk...

Chalk is like 90% mental and actually required out at a place like Beacon about 10% of the time on 5% of the holds....

When I'm on the end of a rope for almost anytime at all I invert and spend half or more of my time inverted. I tend to pass out easily and this prevents it.

The very large, loose block in the description of pitch 2 above was cleaned off the route late last fall. You should belay pitch 2 from about 10 feet directly left of the pitch one anchor. Pitch 3 ends at nice grassy alcove below and left of a large crescent feature that looks like it could be the next pitch - if you get to the base of a large crescent feature, don't go up it the anchors and the continuation of the route are right in front of you on the ledge you are standing on. You'll know you've arrived as there will be an old rectangular hanger right in front of your face on the east end of the ledge as you come up to it.

========================================== Upfront disclaimer - I despise the stuff and usually only use it [sparingly] when temps get above 90, on particular sloping moves on hard routes, or I'm on slick, white Valley granite. ========================================== <Rant ON> In a short week since opening the routes out at Beacon Rock have been literally slathered with the stuff. A judicious dip now and then when it's truly needed by a few people that sweat exessively is one thing, but it was certainly completely unnecessary on the trade routes out at Beacon yesterday or for the week for that matter. From what I saw it must at this point be an desparately obsessive pychological crutch for many, many people. Also, to have routes chalked up to the point where it's climb-by-the-numbers(dots) just adds to the mental crutch. Just for fun sometime consider leaving it at home and climbing without it and see how you fair. Or at least consider using it judiciously, and only when it's really necessary. Slathering it everywhere unnecessarily just sucks... [and 90 percent of the routes out at Beacon don't need any 90% of the time...] <Rant OFF> I'll get flamed on this no doubt, but it really just completely degraded the whole experience to a degree I haven't experienced in some time...

Everyone just needs to keep watch at areas where new route development is going on and note whether fixe rap rings are appearing. The ones out at Beacon are either stamped or will be Saturday for ID purposes so if they show up anywhere else we'll be able to figure out who took them and if we track down anyone hustling gear the result won't be pleasant. As for the choice of webbing and rings, we've been in a long process of working with Washington State Parks, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Beacon Rock Climber's Association along with discussions with other climbers; the combination of WDP's and WDFW's desire that Beacon, as a habitat, remain as natural as possible and consideration for Beacon's history and traditional anchors, the consensus was webbing and ring anchors best met the objectives and are in keeping with that history. Also, given many of the rappel points are used to rappel multiple routes the equalizing webbing and ring anchors are far better choice so chains and all other bright hardware are being swapped out. We're also still looking for darker gray version of the webbing.

Did another work session today hitting the anchors in the Windsurfer area. Still had no lighter so if anyone is heading to Beacon take one and melt any cut ends you run into...

Ah - it was a #2 then - yours is the one we found then. That is now the last free pitch of "Lost Warriors".

It's open in the morning, Jim and I spent another day out there today and in the end we really only have it about 70% overhauled and will be trying to get to the rest over the next week. Do us a favor - take a lighter with you and melt the ends of any of the slings that need them on the remediated rap anchors - we ended up with a dead lighter today about half way through that we'll get to during the week. Some anchors were moved today mainly because of the conditions of the bolts, but two because they were simply badly installed or badly arranged; so you will see some dust from drilling at several stations that will be gone after the next big rain. Jim will be out tomorrow so say hi to him - I have other obligations so enjoy and hope to see you all out there soon... Joseph

======================================================= BEACON ROCK OPENS EARLY - OPENING ON SUNDAY JULY 10TH ======================================================= David Anderson of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has certified that this year's Peregrine Falcon fledging has taken place and, after consultation with the Washington State Parks (WSP) and the Beacon Rock State Park (BRSP) Staff, that rock climbing can re-open on Sunday, July 10th. We should all recognize that this is a result of some committed effort by both David and the Park Staff relative to the work required to open climbing each year. The opening requires the dedication of a lot of hours of Falcon monitoring, trailwork, and changes to the parks signage, website, and phone system - all at the busiest time of the year for the park. And this year the Park Staff has been executing on some major construction projects on the West side of the park that include a major parking expansion, launch area and rip-rap maintenance, and new access off Route 14 (to begin soon) so it really has been an extra effort on their part to get all the work done for the early opening. As Bill Coe has mentioned above, he, Jim Opdyke, and myself (Joseph Healy) have re-formed (and reformed) the Beacon Rock Climber's Association and we have been working for most of this year to re-establish positive and productive relationships between the Portland area climbing community and: WDFW Biologists (David Anderson) BSRP Staff (Rangers Erik Plunkett and John Ernster) Washington State Parks Resource Stewards (WSPRS - Lisa Lantz) We have also been coordinating and working with the following organizations: Access Fund (Kelly Rice, Leslie Brown, Andy Fitz, Matt Perkins, Matt Perkins) American Alpine Club/Oregon Section (Bob McGown, Tom Thrall, Tom Bennett, Jeff Alzner) Mazamas (Barbara Wilson, Co-Chair, Conservation Committee). We will be setting up a website, forum, and Paypal account for the BRCA and begin a recruiting drive over the course of the summer and work with the American Alpine Club on a Beacon Rock fundraising party/presentation (with a mystery speaker) as soon as we can. Also as Bill has mentioned, we managed to organize a gathering of the clans (WDFW, WSPRS, BRSP, BRCA) on July 7th and launched the first annual Pre-Opening Safety Check. This is a particularly significant achievement on everyone's part and is the first time a formal joint effort has been assembled to conduct a thorough pre-opening review of Peregrine nesting activity and a climbing safety working session. Many of these essential tasks have been performed on an informal basis over the years by Jim Opdyke and company, but after a decade of ad hoc caretaking a great deal of work was deemed necessary after a full review the overall conditions on the South face. But don't let Bill kid you, both he and Jim have been humping heavy loads up the tourist trail, rapping all day with them off their harnesses, and basically working like dogs out there to clean up the loose rock situation that has developed over the years. We are also into day three of what will end up being a fairly substantial top-to-bottom, East-to-West remediation effort to check and upgrade fixed belay and rap anchors across the South face. This effort has entailed a technical, safety, environmental, and aesthetic check of each station/anchor area and all necessary remediation work (when deemed necessary). The technical details of anchor replacements when they have occured is: Camoed, heavy duty Metolius Rap Hangers, Two equalizing, X-crossed 1" grey slings, and two Fixe 50kn stainless rap rings. These Metolius Rap Hangers can be rappeled off of directly with no additional hardware if need be in the case slings were ever damaged or missing. We have also epoxy patched dozens of drill holes; removed all extraneous hardware not deemed to have some meaningful utilitarian, educational, or first ascent significance; camoflauge painted many protection bolt hangers, and did substantial maintenance on the Peregrine Falcon's traditional nest site (even though it wasn't used this year). Only one new anchor as been added, and only after much discussion and in consultation with the Park Staff coming to a decision to avoid the use of trees for anchors/rappels. We added a belay/rap station at the small triangular pillar-top below the tree on Dodd's jam and reconfigured the use of the tree on that route. All old webbing and the rap rings have been removed from the tree and replaced with a double loop of webbing around the tree with a single fixe 50kn ring for climbing protecion and backed up immediately above the tree by a Lost Arrow piton. Please note that we special ordered grey webbing for sling replacements to help alleviate some of the visual clutter on the rock and it is supposed to be the color it is; it isn't weathered so additional slings are not necessary on any of the remmediated anchors. We will have approximately 90% of the work completed by opening but some of the more obsure anchors and hangers will be reviewed and remediated over the next several weeks. By the time the work is complete we will have acummulated close to 50lbs. of scrap off the South face (photos of the cleanup effort will be posted here and on the BRCA website sometime in the next week or so). We and the BRSP Staff would also like to extend many, many thanks to both Metolius and the US Outdoor Store for their contribution in extending equipment discounts on hardware for this effort. When all is said and done, and after all the discounts, the cost of this year's cleanup will be roughly $500.00 from the BRCA and hence why a fundraiser will be announced sometime in the next few months. Again many big kudos to this year's supporting sponsors Metolius (Brooke Sandahl) and the US Outdoor Store (Gavin Ferguson). On the Peregrine front, the Beacon Rock pair did manage to fledge at least one chick and put on a couple of stunning training flights with the parents teaching the young fledge how to hunt. But, again as Bill mentioned, we were never able to locate this year's nesting site, though we have some real suspicions that was very high up on the northern half of the East face. We had hoped to find the nest location as it would make next year's monitoring effort much easier. But as a 3-D monolith, Beacon presents some real monitoring challenges compared to your typical 2-D escarpment cliff. Though, now that we have some well-trained monitors the hope is we will find it during next year's monitoring season. Last but not least we are in the process of working with the BRSP Staff and Ranger John Ernster, who is rewriting the Climbing Management Plan, to come up with a more flexible formal process for new route development and anchor replacement. More details will be published once a process has been defined, but the first test of any new policies will probably be on development of routes on the Northwest face. In general, Beacon Rock has a long history as a trad climbing area and while several one pitch pure bolted lines do exist most routes have been establish with a mixed approach to fixed protection that can be summed up as: gear, pins, and bolts as a last resort. New routes on the Nortwest Face will likely necessarily be just such mixed routes. Again, we will keep you all abreast of developments on this front as they emerge, but be aware - no one is authorized to install fixed protection of any type without review and approval by the BRSP Staff in accordance with Washington State law and as implemented in the BRSP Climbing Management Plan. That said, Erik and his staff are completely jazzed about climbing at the park and over the years have been some of the biggest supporters of climbing a Beacon Rock in the face of pressure from multiple other groups and agencies to shut it down. O.k. - after all that - hey, we're about to be able to climb again at Beacon!!! Have fun, be safe, and if you have any questions at all about any aspect of the information presented by Bill Coe or myself here or about anything you see or hear out at Beacon don't hesitate to contact us. Bill Coe and myself can be PM'd here at Cascade Climbers or at RC.com and my phone is posted below. And of course Jim Opdyke is best contacted out at Beacon. Also, once we launch please join the BRCA and support climbing at Beacon. Joseph Healy Beacon Rock Climber's Association 503.704.9300 Joseph.Healy@gmail.com

I should add that the one we found was also blown at the bottom of the clipping loop. 2kn is not a hard number to reach and I likely wouldn't bounce or hammer test a #1.