JosephH

If you guys need any beta then maybe get ahold of Chuck Boyd who did a trip to Broad / K2 in 2008. They got to K2 base camp just as all hell broke loose and spent their time there assisting with the rescue efforts. http://www.verticalrealms.com/aboutus.html

YW / SE Corner Safety Note ========================= The first large rock hanging above the top of the rockfall scar - the rock you see to your right as you finish YW proper - is precariously perched and should not be climbed over or disturbed in any way. It's hard to see just how precarious unless it is viewed from the S/SE, as in finishing YW. The temp work anchor will be removed asap to eliminate any temptation to be over that way. In general, please just avoid the whole rockfall scar area, particularly the top of it just below where the SE Corner and YW meet. If you're coming up LW then you should stay to the right at the top of the scar or better yet, exit the scar as low as possible and come up to the right of it.

All the fixed pro on the route is as it was, though the loss of the super-luxurious rail for the exit of the p3 crux makes it a bit of a spicier proposition. Sort of a "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" sort of deal. All in all it looks like YW p1-p3 definitely took the brunt of rockfall and is a complete mess and will be until it gets cleaned up. Will have to think about that one a bit as it won't be a straightforward affair no matter how it's done.

Well, I'm headed out there right now and will check on it...

Are you sure? Both pins were solid when I checked them last year; neither would ever come out on their own. Maybe someone fell and pulled one? Which of the two is missing - the one on the way up to the crux or the one up in the start of the dihedral?

My old climbing partner did his masters in peoples' ability to assess risk. Pretty interesting stuff and by and large people suck at it outside of some basic instinctive parameters.

One pin, just above the crux in the middle of the slab. There is a second, unusually large pin as you come up approaching the rest stance instantly below the crux.

Does that come with or without a cult religion, or would that be an ala carte item? I don't know if I'd like being 'under glass' with that many other people and I think maybe he needs to take some weekend continuing ed class in virology and pathologies in industrial farming [of humans].

That's actually a very nice route on the North side. This is the money side of Beacon:

There has always been a badly drilled bolt w/ a loose nut at the p4 crux. It's between two pins, one big one as you come up to the crux and another in the middle of the slab after you pull the crux.

Are you saying there is now a bolt above the p4 crux bolt and slab pin? If so I'll take care of it Sat/Sun night when I do it.

Talked with Vivian and she'll track it down. It apparently got misplaced over the course of the changing of the guard. I'll post it somewhere permanent when she sends it.

The north face has been doing that quite well on its own of late.

That's fine with me, they're the man with the plan (CMP rewrite coming soon now that the new park staff is in place and the big construction projects are out of the way).

Because it's coming from you maybe? Yes, it was nice of you to put a rope on that one, and yep, missed the move up on it for sure.

Well, given Beacon is a trad island in a sport ocean and has seen bolt skirmishes and the installation of a number of retro sport anchors and retro bolts on what were previously aid lines, who's to say what should and should not be bolted for the sake of the PDX community? P.S. I'd answer if I thought it was a serious question...

I dunna know, what's the difference between one of you and some sport dude who decides he want's to bolt Blownout to provide a wider opportunity for all?

Bears fans all look like the defensive line.

Rapping YW from the top is problematic at best. The work anchor wasn't for going in that direction and I wouldn't try going down YW from there. In fact, I can't think of a good way to rap YW without leaving gear at the top unless you wanted to go down to the last bolt on the last pitch and rap of it by itself. Even then you'd need two ropes. Rapping P3 and attempting to pull the rope would suck as well. Best is to climb it up to the P3 crux and rig something off those two pins, clean it, and then re-climb the whole thing. At least that was my plan for this coming full moon.

Chalk is definitely not the problem when I don't make it up Dods. Not really sure how much chalk really compensates for an extra 10-15 pounds around the gut, but probably not enough to bother with.

I've seen him do it, on Dod's, just below Big Ledge. I think I even have a photo of it. I'm sure it was only cause he forgot his chalk though. Yep, if I fuckup that sequence or am too out of shape it's all over pretty quick and I'm left dangling. It's usually either impossible or easy with seemingly no middle ground. Don't know why.

I don't think those three blocks are going anytime soon, but there are several at and just above the notch which could go any winter there's a heavy ice load. If they ever do they will all fall on the South Face side of the SE Corner likely causing more of a problem than these did.

Yes, the second block below the finish of YW was locked in well enough to stop the cascade of falling blocks. Had that not been the case it would undoubtedly kept going through the 'notch' and taken out at least the first blocks of the upper ramp. As it is, the blocks immediately adjacent and on the uphill side of the notch are all suspect, as are the outer blocks of the entire upper ramp finish. But for now at least, the block that stopped the cascade appears to be solid.

Could be, if he didn't have the weight and flexibility of a Kielbasa.

We ran out of gas and time during the cleanup for rapping / cleaning YW & LW, but that would be a good thing for someone to go out and do real early some day - if you do just keep an eye out for anyone coming down the trail.