Jeff_T

Heh, I was wondering when someone was going to catch that! The nut that's hanging there got pulled out when I forgot to unclip my daisy when moving up to the next piece. Thanks for the tip. I guess I was focusing on the "aid" part and forgetting some of the basics.... Jeff

Thanks for the vote of confidence. My biggest concern is that we were moving pretty slow. Although, we knew we were only going to climb two pitches and weren't in too much of a hurry. I suppose if we were on Town Crier, we would be motivated to move a bit faster. Jeff

Trip: Index LTW - Narrow Arrow Overhang Date: 6/9/2007 Trip Report: Steve and I headed out last Saturday to try something at Index that was a bit harder than City Park. Since the weather wasn't the greatest, we had the place to ourselves and ended up choosing Narrow Arrow Overhang (C2). I lead the first pitch, which got off to a rather slow start. Getting up to the start of the crack was rather awkward in boots and a full aid rack. After managing to scrap my way up to the crack, I realized that this was definitely going to be more challenging than City Park. The crack took lots of nuts, but mostly really small ones. I found that the BD micronuts worked the best. I was very happy to place a bomber #1 Camalot in a horizontal crack higher up on the route. Much better than the tiny Alien I had to place in a pin scar with only half the lobes engaged! Needless to say I was quite happy to reach the belay and try out Steve's new belay seat (Thanks Steve!!!). Steve took on the challenge of leading the roof on the second pitch after quickly cleaning the first pitch. We had practiced aiding the roof at Marymoor, but this still seemed pretty difficult. Steve made his way up, also having to make some difficult placements. He was able to make some free moves so that sped things up. After I cleaned the second pitch, we stood at the second belay and decided to head down. The third pitch, which I believe is actually part of Narrow Arrow Direct, has a chimney that opens up pretty big. We weren't sure that we had the gear to aid it or the free climbing ability (or strength left!) to climb it, so we called it a day. I was really happy with this climb and definitely recommend it. I think next time we'll try Ironhorse or Stern Farmer. Definitely need more practice before Town Crier. Check out the pics at http://www.cascadesclimber.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=47 See all my pics at www.cascadesclimber.com Jeff Gear Notes: Probably way more than we needed. Lots of nuts required. Approach Notes: Park the car and wake up people "camping" in parking lot. Walk across railroad tracks.

Trip: Index LTW - City Park Date: 3/24/2007 Trip Report: We headed out to Index on a nice rainy day knowing we would have the place to ourselves....so what about the buckets of rain coming down, right??? The first pitch seemed pretty straight forward. Although since the rock was wet, the start of the route up to the bolt ladder had to be aided. Once Steve was at the belay, I cleaned the route. Not real quickly...I gotta work on my jugging technique. I led up the second pitch. After reaching an old 1/4" bolt, I had a couple of different cracks I could go up. Not sure if the one I chose was the best. I decided to go up a thin crack to the left. It took micro nuts at first then larger pro further up. Getting up on the ledge near the top was pretty tough. I had to top step and really reach to make a blind nut placement. Soon after that I was able to make a few free moves and reach the belay. The third pitch looked pretty straightforward, but we figured at our current snail's pace, we may be coming down in the dark (and pouring rain)...something I did not look forward to. We decided to call it a day and headed down. It ended up being a great climb, even though we got completely soaked. Here's the pics: http://www.cascadesclimber.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=41 Jeff Gear Notes: Used a lot of mid-size nuts, a couple micro nuts, .75 - 2 Camalots, offset Friends, HB offsets, and a whole bunch of other crap that I can't think of right now. We took way more gear than required. Approach Notes: Huddle under tarp hanging off car while getting ready, try not to get run over by train that comes just as we are heading out, endure grueling 100ft approach trail.

Since somebody mentioned urine.....would the above methods work for removing cat urine as well? Could there have been any damage done since it looks like it has been a day or two since it happened? I loathe cats. Jeff www.cascadesclimber.com/coppermine

Not to get too far off topic, but can anyone recommend a good camera case? I like the Ewa-Marine bags, but they are very expensive. Maybe I'll just keep the camera in the case unless the weather is nice Jeff

Sweeet. Thanks!

Wow...never expected so many respones. Thanks for all the great info guys. Jeff

Looks like the Trango S has been discontinued and replaced with the Goretex version. I was hoping to use my REI dividend to pick up a pair...does anyone know if they are planning on carrying these? I hope I don't have to pay full price for these things.

I bought a Marmot Hydrogen recently. I wanted the WM Highlite, but I got a deal on the Marmot that I couldn't refuse. It's only about 4 oz heavier and I've been pretty happy with it so far. I took it out to Vantage this weekend and I could have use a bit warmer bag, but it was ok. Froze my ass off once I got out of the bag this morning though! Jeff

I use a BD Raven, been pretty happy with it so far. I haven't climbed any real steep routes with it yet, just stuff like Easton on Mt Baker. Wouldn't a curved shaft or rubber grip make it difficult to use for checking for crevasses? Jeff

Sorry, I gotta learn how to use that Search thingy....Thanks for the link, it was very informative. Jeff

Just curious as to what people generally prefer and why. I'm pretty new at this, but I would think that it would be best to have mostly sewn and only a few tied runners. But then, I don't really have any experience... What do you think? Jeff

Hi Jim, I bought the OR Summit mitts as well and have been pretty happy with them. I did notice that OR came out with the Alti mitts if your Summits ever seem cold. They look like expedition-type mitts, probably overkill for around here (for most people anyway). Jeff

I have a 3yo and 5yo. The older one loves to climb, but I haven't taken the younger one yet. My wife brought him by to watch us the other day and he just stood there in amazement watching his older brother. I think I'll have to let him take a whack at it pretty soon. So far, we've just been climbing at the local gym. I guess it's too wet to get out much, and I don't really have any experience setting up TRs anyway. Jeff

Catbirdseat - do you still have this topo available? Thanks, Jeff