JosephH

The park somehow came into enough cash to do much needed renovations to the tourst trail from the green gate down which has taken a couple of pummelings from large ice-loaded trees coming down on it. They're going to do some repaving, install some drainage lines, and fix railings and rock walls. This work has begun and will run the next three weeks. The trail will be open Fri-Sun during this time but will be closed Mon-Thu. The BRSP takes breaches of the trail closures via swinging the gate very seriously and have now and in the past repeatedly explained that when the gate is closed they don't want anyone on the trail either going up or down. They worry less about us and more about people seeing us and trying to do what we do with bad results (and I've seen even inexperienced climbers totally sketch on it, let alone tourons) - so let's cut them some slack as we have plenty of options for getting down fast. I did the Flying Dutchman rap tonight - always a super fast way down (but don't forget the mid-anchor is around to the left out of sight until you lock around the corner).

Went out this afternoon. Windy, but surprisingly warm. Stopped momentarily to pay my respects to Menopause - it's now like a shadow hanging over me every time I go out there and made the broken finger suddenly start throbbing just looking at it. After not climbing for five weeks or so it's surprising how little changed physically yet how much changed psychologically. Too much time robotically staring at the screen...

Dissing it is certainly the coping mechanism de rigueur for the intimidated who haven't measured up to the challenge. But, for you, we could probably arrange a mosey up the Corner with Opdycke if you're in need of some quality handholding time to get used to it all.

naw, ya just got to be a lot more intoxicated, well dressed, and weighed down w/ thermoses of coffee I know you're talking aid belaying and not climbing here - oh, the insanity...!

Makes me a little sweaty just looking at the photos of it again as I don't think the #3 BD out at the lip is going to hold anything at this point so it will be pretty exciting to change that out next time.

The bottom red dot on the lower edge of the photo corresponds to the high p2 (formerly p3) anchor, the upper red dot our high point out at and [vaguely - like half a body] over the lip of the roof. Leaving the high anchor is pretty serious business because of the technical nature of the pro and the moves themselves as well as due to the amount you trend right out to the lip. I took a 40-50 footer from the lip and had a pretty arduous time trying to get back to the anchor. Turning the lip is pretty airy as you've gone right so far you're now about 285' straight to the deck. Once we have an anchor up above the roof the only way to come down will be with a fixed line between p3 and p4 or two ropes tied together to the deck. You rap off the end of two 60's in this lower picture and it's a dead straight drop from the high anchor to the spot where you stand to start 'Rythmn Method'. All in all it's a pretty entertaining and interesting p2 up to the high anchor (first done in two pitches, now one) and makes for a nice climb in its own right, but I wouldn't recommend leaving that anchor unless you are absolutely dead serious about it all and prepared to deal with some pretty big (potentially car-size) loose blocks. Note: If anyone does head up there, the p1 anchor for Menopause is NOT the double-bolted Rhythmn Method anchor, but rather above it up a ways where the yellow dot is. Sling the Rythmn Method anchor long, and then head right about 20', then up about 30' to a pedestal on your left with a single bolt (a replaced original Coe bolt) and setup an anchor there - I use the bolt, a #3 Ballnut, and a black Metolius to build the p1 anchor.

Anyone interested in trying to get out tomorrow? Bill, when are you going to be in RR? I think I'm going to be down there for a few days starting the 19th or 20th if I don't go surfing instead.

The day I did it I humped everything over the pass to the base only to discover I'd left my harness in the car. Would have just tied into the end of the rope if I'd been free climbing, but as it was I ended up doing a fairly brutal run there and back. Ugh, but thankfully no one got on it in the meantime.

Plaid, I eyeballed those first bolts when I did it and just clipped the first one with a locker and alpine butterflied an extended alpine draw on the second such that the first biner was tensioned up. Good for you for getting creative though that might have been a bit of over kill. FWIW, my general take on aiding is that your instinct is for 'art & perfection' in placements, but the timeline keeps asking "is it good enough to stand on and would it hold a fall" - seemed like the key was to stay at least somewhat focused on the next piece and less OCD about the current one...

The SE flank of Beacon has a rough p2 band you have to climb through, but the climbing on the rest of LW is pure gold going up the true upper line of the SE corner structure and through the biggest roof on it. Like YW, it has a great diversity of climbing on it, though more demanding and technical. P2 is cleaned more than well enough to climb it and if you aren't prepared to feel like you're doing seriously different then you shouldn't be up there to begin with. Bill, did you take that shot? Here is the line of upper LW with the red dot approximately where Ujahn is in the photo above. The new line Menopause goes up the actual skyline to the right in this photo and you can see the rap lines from its high anchor down and right (and the photo is tipped a fair amount to the left from reality).

So, my question is: The similarity of the seemingly majority view...Is it some indication of the triumph of will (of the secular State) that heralds the success of the educational system in social conditioning to this brave new world? Or is it just an illusion of unity? You'd have to narrow down exactly which 'majority' and which 'view' you are talking about and frankly I fail to see anything 'brave' or 'new' about the world or any 'majority view'.

L. Ron Hubbard rode Kant's assertion all the way from science fiction to religion. Kant's impeccable logic unfortunately makes god, santa claus, the tooth fairy, and the bad dreams I had after eating chili last night all equally plausible, defensible, and undeniable. According to Kant it's anything goes with no basis whatsoever for a belief in god being in anyway superior or more rationale than a belief in the easter bunny. If I were religious, I'd counsel giving Kant a wide berth given the company he has you folks keeping.

I inadvertantly did p3 free solo once when I switched from roped soloing with a grigri to using an eddy - I had threaded it backwards for the pitch. And I have the deal in place with my wife not to free solo otherwise I likely would have taken more than a few rides on YW by now. Overall, I sketch more on the bottom of p1 than any place; p2 I have ruthlessly wired and find the least threatening; p3 is like climbing a ladder except for the crux dihedral which is straightforward enough; the p4 crux is a one-move boulder problem that I'd rather do than traverse left and back right. The move just above the p4 crux is probably what would sketch me out more on that pitch.

That's no problem, Smith is one of the greatest choss heaps in the country and I'm not into granite, so we should be set an all fronts.

After surviving a number of summers in the late 80's Euro-infested windsurfing scene I can't tell you what a relief it is not to be on the Euro or Japanese 'fun radar'.

Ride'n the pig

Ok, I do have to disagree on Beacon, it's really top notch climbing and, despite quick appearances to the contrary, there's more than enough high quality multipitch lines for it to be a one to two week 'destination'. But this is another case where, for me, I prefer it not be know as such and that folks continue on to Smith, Index, Squamish, or seek out the urban comforts of one of our local sport venues.

Per se, no - but from a movement perspective, beyond the technical exercise involved, they are very boring, as is chimneying. And the more uniform the crack, the more boring. Sort of like climbing big antennas, same-same, same-same once you have the specific move down. I guess I've never been much interested in 'getting up things' so much as scoping for creative monkeying. Makes me fairly one-dimensional I know, but that's no a problem given I'm never trying to get anywhere in particular.

Can't go with you there - I find granite, and especially splitters of any stripe, tedious and boring from a movement perspective.

Well, for me rock-wise, SE sandstone will always be #1 leagues ahead of other sandstones, basalt, and especially granite, so I'm with you in spirit.

I'm with Mark - summer in Eldo and RMNP every time. The SE is all about climbing in the fall. They don't call the southern 23 counties of Illinois "Little Egypt" for nothing, let alone TN and points SE of there. If you're going East anyway then go NE and hit the Gunks, Cathedral, and Cannon.

Cuban-style bacon, from the 'Three guys from Miami' ...

Here ya' go: a 1200 lumens, $1,000 headlamp from Scurion... http://www.scurion.ch/ms/index.php?Scurion-k

I don't and don't care either. I'm only interested in threads that are about bacon.

Maybe it would be a more acceptable idea if it were a forum where it's threads were invisible unless you sign up for it. Probably no one but us wants to hear or think about bacon.