JosephH

Hmmmm, I personally wouldn't belay YW from there. The plan at the moment is to leave things as is until this time next year so we can see how everything has shaken out over this coming winter and then make the call. That will also give a chance to climb 'Lost Warriors' and sort out where an anchor should be for it instead of the tree that's now gone (still need to try and find that tree, gotta be down there somewhere...!).

Not sure what an 'alpine big rig' is, but all my 'roped soloing' is lead free climbing. There is endless discussion on 'TR soloing' on Supertopo and here for that matter if you search google with that phrase.

Just as an aside, and to keep the confusion level down, I generally use the phrase "roped soloing" or "roped soloed" for lead roped solo free climbing and "TR soloing" and "aid soloing" for those activities. Either way it sounds like you were kicking some ass...

So begins year 15 of victimal whining...

STFUAB is in no way grigri-specific. As far as dropping them? I've dropped and used some, dropped and retired others - it's a 'depends' sort of deal.

These days almost always a case of STFUAB.

No, and neither am I. But you are and I'm guessing the new wife is as well...

If conservatives and republican politicians don't like gays then they should stop having and raising them. Simple as that.

According to the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Sarah is loosing the 'Mama Grizzly' protected status she has enjoyed so long as she stayed close to her new kid.

Maybe post this one up over on RC; sounds like quite the guy...

Another perspective of the rockfall scar from a bit below the midway mark of it (that's Bill up there).

It's both an adjustable leash and a shock absorber; more the former than the latter.

Yeah, especially when the 'box' consists of state and federal laws. Maybe consult your attorney wife about your options regarding that 'box', but it's not too tough to figure out what she'd tell you. Yes, it should be, but it ain't going to happen. So you and others can lose another 14 years to relentless whining over that lamentable fact, but I for one have better things to do with my life.

================================= Beacon will be open Wednesday, July 14th ================================= Sunday and Monday saw all day pre-opening work sessions to clear both the site of the high rockfall scar and also numerous ledges and chutes across the South Face. A significant additional tonnage came down during Monday's session and that made the carnage on the [ex-]trail significantly worse and wreaked even more havoc on all the trees as well as creating / worsening big craters in the impact zone. Also, both the initial rockfall and the cleanup effort launched many large rocks which broadly and unavoidably rained down across the SE flank when viewed from above. While we did successfully clear the entire high rockfall scar of all loose rock, we didn't get 100% of the rock on the wall down below the site of the scar, or anywhere else on Beacon for that matter. You will still encounter some rocks and fragments while climbing - PLEASE DO NOT THROW THEM OR ANYTHING ELSE OFF - instead, temporarily stack it somewhere safe off to the side and out of the way for a followup cleaning in the next several weeks. Do, however, feel free to do anything you think is appropriate to help create a new path through where the trail used to be and to clear debris from intact trail sections on either side of the destruction zone. Beacon has always been a relatively serious place to climb and this incident, while rare, highlights that fact all the more. Be careful out there, don't throw anything, and helmets are highly recommended especially for anything within a 'stones throw' of either side of the SE corner of the rock. Oh and a big thanks to all those who pitched in on the cleanup effort. Hanmi Hubbard Marco Fedrizzi Gordon ? and young son (a friend of Opdyckes) Justin Pattison Kenny Allen Larry Jennings Jim Opdycke Bill Coe New Head Ranger Karl Hinze and the BRSP Staff Hanmi got a bunch of good pics of the action from down on the tracks and hopefully she'll post them up when she gets the chance. [ P.S. The pin was re-placed in the high SE Corner ridge notch - please leave it as we'll be doing follow up checks on things down in the rockfall scar and will need it when we do. ]

You could also use a miniTrax which works fine as well. But given a backup knot doesn't run with you, just using a grigri and yarding in the slack every now and then micmics the behavior of a backup knot just fine. Microscender above, miniTrax or grigri on the harness - pretty much a six of one, half dozen of the other sort of deal from my perspective. All will provide reasonable service as a backup.

Place thine protection well lest the ground rise up to smite thee.

Pink, I believe Steve here is calling your NW route dangerous, scary, and shite because someone took a dive on it when their pro pulled. Well, that's the whole victimal thing in a nutshell. I have complete sympathy for the climber in question relative to the fall, but it wasn't the rock's fault. In the world of climbing I come from the name of the game is personal responsibility - it's a 'guns don't...' sort of deal, just sub 'rock' for 'gun'. With the exception of a very few objective hazards, like non-climber initiated rockfall, 98% of the risk and danger in rock climbing is entirely subjective - e.g. the rock isn't dangerous, the climber may or may not be. Climbers choosing to leave the ground on mossy or loose terrain are making either a wise or unwise decisions, but a decision regardless. Hey, lots of people die in the Valley, is El Cap and the Nose 'dangerous' and 'scary' or is it the climbers who leave the ground that make it that? I could be wrong, but I just don't see Chris rushing to press with a "Yosemite Safe Climbs" guidebook anytime soon. You have no idea what you're talking about here. None whatsoever. And again, rock doesn't get "exponentially" more dangerous other than based on who is standing in front of it looking up. There are no 'safe' routes - anywhere - only climbers who are competent to the task at hand when they leave the ground. Period. You can always go to Smith to practice those things just like all the guys here have been doing - but be forewarned, those routes aren't 'safe' either. No, climbers do not deserve better, free lunches, good jobs, great rides, and / or stunningly beautiful girlfriends and wives. Again, you talking completely out your ass. First (for the millionth time) - the BRSP has ZERO control over the closure. Got that? ZERO, so don't waste your breath trying to talk with them about it, it's not their deal. Second - the WDFW's closure is well within the limits of Raptor closures accepted by climbers and the Access Fund across the country. Make a legal and / or scientific case for why that should change and I'm your friggin' huckleberry. Until then, STFU with the incessant, victimal wailing, or maybe just head for the Valley.

Nah, nothing so simple. What I look for in first and foremost in climbing is a mix of puzzle and interesting physical movement; difficulty by itself is fairly irrelevant to me. I'm fine if a climb or roof has some jams on it, but when it's just a splitter it instantly loses all appeal - no more puzzle, no more interesting movement, and no more monkey. I prefer lines and roofs with single and double toe/heel hooks and hangs, knee bars and various locks, where the 'route' or moves aren't obvious, and where monkeydom is maintained.

Never have climbed on top of anyone on any route, it's not my deal. As for the climbing on FFA, it's a favorite roped-solo and I essentially do it without any jams at all and it is fairly dynamic that way. And as for difficulty, you're again more than welcome to get on any of my routes and you can assess their difficulty for yourself. As for the victimal, anytime anyone blames an accident or fall on a closure I don't know how else one can categorize such a claim. I don't and haven't denigrated Yosemite in any way; I've simply said it's not my bag (other than possibly the left half of Sentinel, the only thing that really caught my interest).

Ah, yes I get it now, subtle in that you-must-strangle-your-inner-monkey sort of way I consider tedious and anti-monkey. And yes, there are roofs in the Valley, but vertical or horizontal, splitter cracks are short on monkey no matter how you look at it and most splitter roofs look bland, uninteresting, and entirely without puzzle factor. SR looks to have a bit more texture and a puzzle at the end so might be worth a go though.

Technically not granite, but for the purposes of a sandstone climber it falls into that bag. I would agree for the most part, the proclivities of the majority of sourthern [sport] climbers runs to the steep edged monotony with little creativity. Our band's interests lay primarily around roofs. Movement over granite 'subtle'? Now that's a good one, in what way exactly? Again, granite is all but devoid of monkey. Absolutely, I climb to monkey and to have my feet higher than my head as often as humanly possible and for no other reason.

Were they sport routes, or ground up bolted and runout trad lines?

Well there you have it, we'll have to agree to disagree. It doesn't matter whether it's the Valley, Eldo, or the Gunks, or the North Cascades for that matter - heading there to sport climb is missing way wide of the mark.

I don't think the book will drive significantly more bolts in the near term, my comment was just that going to a trad area to clip bolts misses the point.

Off, it has nothing to do with the Valley per se. I've climbed Gunks, Cannon, Whitehorse and Cathedral, N.C., and RMNP as well. About the only granite I like is the Gunks and that's only because of the roofs and horizontals. Bottom line for me is outside of the Gunks, granite just has very little monkey compared to highly textured sandstone (or limestones, though I find them harsh in hand texture). I'd take southern sandstone over any granite area I've seen as for me the physical body movement over granite is boring by comparison. RR and Eldo make a good second call, though Eldo isn't particularly textured and RR is fragile with very undeveloped ironwork. In the end you just don't find monkey stuff like this on granite: And while I don't have that lovely stone to climb out here, it long ago defined my both my climbing and interest in stone. Basalt isn't all that featured either, but I've adapted to what's here in PDX and have found it enjoyable enough and even eeked out a bit of monkey here and there. Look, I have no doubt doing a sport/TR book was a great business decision for Chris given clipping bolts defines climbing for about 85% of the demographic and only few of them are ever going to buy a big wall book. This sport / TR book on the other hand they'll be buying - it could even end up his best seller by a long shot in the end. And hey, I like the guy, he always comes off as a nice guy and the shoes I wear climbing for about 95% of my climbing are courtesy him.