rbwen

You can also get them at the 76 Station at Icicle Junction...they might open earlier. - Wenatchee area: Northwest Forest passes are available at Arlberg Sports Inc., Hooked on Toys, and Mountain Air Gear. - Lake Wenatchee area: Passes are available at Cole's Corner Market (Shell station), Parkside Grocery, and Plain Hardware. - Leavenworth area: In Leavenworth passes are available at Der Sportsman, Icicle Quik Stop 76 gas station, Leavenworth Mountain Sports, Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat Gift Shop, Pioneer Market in Cashmere, and Ingalls Creek Convenience Center & Lodging at 3057 US Highway 97 rb

I got it last year at Peshastin Pinnacles right about the end of June climbing Martian Diagonal, so I'm not sure if it was somewhere on the route or at the base. Then went up to Skaha and spent a miserable week climbing in 105 degree temps and it was all I could do to not scratch because it felt SO GOOD. What feels really good, almost orgasmic, is to get in the shower under hot, hot water and let it stream all over the poison oak. Now don't go rushing out to get poison oak just so you can experience this high. But, damn, it felt good. I used Tec-Nu on it and also another product we bought at Safeway to stop the spreading but it was too late and I just had to endure it until it went away.

This is called Ancient Lakes, near Quincy off of White Trail Rd.

The new Rick Labelle book has a bunch of routes in it (Rock Climbs of Central WA) as does Weekend Rock. I've got both if you are coming through Wenatchee and want to borrow...rbwen

Thank you for the great information! rbwen

I do realize the need for someone to be familiar with belaying, and see the need to teach it to the youngsters, but the people who sign the insurance liability forms don't. When I refer to auto-belay I'm referring to the setups you see on the portable rock walls. rbwen

Starting to plan a wall for the school where I teach. What are the best options for auto belay systems and what are the costs? Anybody have any experience with a good system? Thanks! rbwen

There's one at the rec center at Western Wash. Univ. There also used to be on at Leading Edge North Gymnastics Center. rbwen

From today's Wenatchee World Ellensburg teen suffers serious injuries in rock climbing accident Posted May 11, 2007 George -- An 18-year-old Ellensburg man fell from a cliff about 15 feet onto a rocky surface Thursday night, suffering serious injuries, a Grant County Fire District 3 official said. Battalion Chief Tony Leibelt said the teen was free climbing at about 8 p.m. in the Feathers Rock climbing area southwest of George. Leibelt said friends of the teen described him falling about 15 feet. The teen was transported to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake in stable but serious condition, Leibelt said. He said the teen did not appear to suffer a head injury.

I would heartily second the recommendation of Dr. Holland. He did my ACL three years ago (autograft patellar tendon) and my knee feels stronger than ever. rbwen

We climbed at Poison Ivy Crack last year and met the landowner and his son. He was very friendly and we asked him about access across his property because of its proximity to the crags. His reponse was something like, "How are you guys going to climb the routes if you can't get there?" He basically gave permission to cross his property to get up there. I've seen the sign he put up this year "...at own risk" and I'm pretty sure it's in response to climbers accessing his property. rbwen

The climber on the slab on the right in light blue is on Cocaine Connection. The climber in the middle of the photo is closer to the start of R & D. http://www.briankenison.com/picture/289

It starts on the left side of the buttress (not on the face) about 100 yards up the small canyon. Look for the slabby two-pitch 5.7 called Cocaine Connection that starts in a small roof/corner and then go uphill another 50 yards to the left. rbwen

Perfect. Thanks.

We climbed two routes at Veteran's Club in the Icicle on Saturday that aren't in Kramer's book and wondered what the grades (and names?) might be. Going left to right they were the second and third climbs on the wall. The second climb started in a fist-sized double crack that trended left and up to a thin face and another wider crack about 3/4 of the way up. The third climb from the left started on an arete, moving left to small face features, then up onto a slab to the shared anchors with climb #2. My friend who climbed them thought they were 10c or a bit harder. These are the two climbs immediately left of Left Cheek (10a). Any ideas? Thanks! That's a fun wall if you've never been up there. An 8, a 9+, and a 10a (plus three other 10+ climbs). Sorta one-move wonders and a bit short but fun nonetheless on good, gritty rock. rbwen

Thanks for the TR! Geronimo was my second multi-pitch (Frogland being the first the day before) and I loved it. I don't think I led anything, so kudos to you. A double-rope rap is recommended because we got our rope stuck on one of the raps but luckily there was another party coming down after us. Thanks again! rbwen

This is the only one I've seen, at the Sleeping Lady (apparently not updated frequently) http://www.skileavenworth.com/conditions/#webcam

I work in the Tech dept. in a school district and we have older eMacs (less than three years old) and the logic boards are all starting to go. Ours are under warranty though so we just have to swap them out. Does happen on all computers though.

Here's what I found from the website: "Scheduled Opening: 3/16/2007 *Snow conditions may influence reopening date" I called the parks department, (509) 664-6373, and their message said it was open. It also said some of the trails had been washed out from the winter but that they were passable. There's no snow there now. Happy climbing! Give a quick TR when you get back to let us with mending bodies know how it is. rbwen

I had mine done by Dr. Lawrence Holland at Swedish and I highly recommend him. http://www.swedish.org/11762.cfm I went the patellar tendon route because I asked him what he would do for a pro athlete or a family member. It took a few months longer in rehab but I think it's stronger (no chance of denial as in an allograft (cadaver) and not made of hamstring strips). Plus the patellar tendon will grow back, the hamstring won't. PM me if you want further details. Also, lots of discussion on the subject here: http://factotem.org/cgi-bin/kneebbs.pl rbwen

I use Windows Media Player 10 with my mp3. I tried with iTunes by changing all the ITunes formatted songs to mp3s but it just wasn't working. The website for my player said WMP 10 would sync the songs for my player. rbwen

I would put in a vote for Queen's Creek. An hour away from Phoenix, nobody there, free camping, lots of rock, good bouldering. Also second the nod towards the granite just to the north (McDowell Mountains?) rbwen

Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic. I have merely owned a couple of VW vans. Feel free to pick apart my information and correct it if I'm wrong. I've owned a handful of them. I'll start with the good. I had a '71 van that was great. Easy to work on, fairly straightforward, parts were cheap, the Muir manual was indespensible. It wasn't a camper but you could easily sleep in it. I also had an '84 Westfalia and it was a piece of crap. I LOVED it to death but it broke down often and was costly to repair. The engine design is poor and because of that you have to have the head gaskets replaced frequently (75,000 miles) in order to avoid further damage. Many people talk about replacing them preemptively. Do the water pump at the same time. They are notoriously poor engines as they were some of the first designed to run on gas (not diesel). They also have a problem with the transmission, specifically a syncro between the 3rd and 4th gear. It wears out prematurely and then you have to get the tranny rebuilt, at least I did. It was one of those things VW knew about but wouldn't recall. They are slow and they're somewhat heavy but they are a TON of fun when they're running. We took mine across country and back and all around the PNW. Be wary of buying one with high miles that hasn't had a recent tranny service, new head gaskets, water pump, and possibly even new heads. I think they main thing with the heads with the 84 and 85s was the gasket used...I could be wrong. If you do buy one of the water cooled VWs make sure to use the correct antifreeze or it will ruin the aluminum heads. You need phosphate-free, so that would be a good thing to check when buying one. More good. We currently have a '91 Westfalia and we love it. It has 130,000 and had a rebuilt tranny and engine about 40,000 miles ago. It runs great and is a blast to own. There's nothing like driving somewhere, climbing all day, getting back and sipping a cold beer from the fridge, taking a nap in the back, heating up some dinner on the stove, maybe watching a DVD and heading off to sleep. If you are going to buy a Vanagon or Westfalia avoid the '84s and '85s. Apparently the '86s and up are mechanically more sound. An interesting note, to get financing for a Westfalia you have to be ready to convince the lender that they are worth more than the Blue Book says they are. They are very underpriced (or overvalued by owners) and we had to put some $$ down that we weren't expecting to get ours. We paid $11,000 for our '91 and felt we got a steal. It could have easily have gone for $15,000 in Seattle or CA or PDX. Feel free to PM if you have more questions. Again, I'm not a mechanice but I am an owner. Also, there are some pretty good forums that have a ton of good Q&A. vanagon.com is one, gowesty.com is another. rbwen

Here it is...rbwen I loved going to PC. It had a lot of great climbing on Limestone and cheap camping with a great international flavor. Where do I start? Getting There: We flew into Laredo, TX and then took a taxi to the border and walked across with all of our stuff. From there crossed into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. This place is pretty unruly so if you're alone or if you have a lot of expensive looking climbing equipment I would be a bit wary. When I say unruly I mean lawless. There was a story a while ago about how the police basically had no control over the town and to be very careful travelling there. We took another taxi to the bus station which was a couple of miles from the border, not good walking distance at midnight. The cost for the cab was cheap. From there we took the Conejo (rabbit) bus lines all the way to Monterey. Luckily I speak Spanish and we started talking to a local and he was able to get us on the right but and headed in the right direction. The bus ride was about three hours to Monterrey and the bus stopped about ten miles over the border so they could check our visitation papers. You need to get these once you cross the border if you're planning on travelling farther into the country for an extended period of time. I'm not sure of what they're officially called but it's pretty standard procedure to buy them and get checked before going any further, even if you're in your own vehicle. I think it was less than $5 a piece for these and the whole bus trip was about $15 for two separate buses all the way to Hidalgo. Once in Monterrey we caught another bus (actually a school bus that had kids and workers on it) that took us another two hours northeast to Hidalgo. We were packed in quite tight with all of our stuff. From there they told us to find a cab and just tell them to take us to Homero's. Homero's is one of the camping spots just outside of Potrero Chico, literally a stone's throw from the entrance to the canyon and you can see thousands of feet of looming limestone from anywhere in town. Our cab ride up the hill about a mile and a half was about $5. You could walk this but we were eager to get up there. There are a couple places to stay up there. Homero's is pretty cheap. Maybe $10/night which includes bathrooms, showers, a communal kitchen and there is a covered area if it's raining that you can pitch your tent in. This is not a hotel and you're basically camping next to the driveway with a bunch of other tenters. We helped them out with the guidebook so they let us stay there for free...not bad. Most of the internationals stay here so there was a good mix of Mexican, French, American, etc. staying there. There is also a motel right next door called Posada El Potrero Chico that has rooms and camping and I believe a pool http://www.elpotrerochico.com.mx/ The third place is Kurt Smith's ranch. When we were there about five years ago this was the place where all the Americans hung out. It was okay, a bunch of campers in a field with a big covered area with stoves, sinks, etc. I think the prices were comparable to Homero's but it's about 1/4 mile further away from the rock AND I have heard the Smith's place was shut down and he was kicked out of the country awhile ago. Maybe surf that up to see if it's true. Could be because he's a bit of a bad boy down there, bolting crack climbs, etc. Climbing: To get to the rock you just pack up and start walking. There is a tiny, tiny store on the way up. You can get beer, chips, tortillas, the random can of something or other, and possibly some other small items to eat. Most of the good food is downtown so walk back down the hill and go to the outdoor market or street vendors. The market happened two days a week and is well worth the trip for fresh food/veggies. Oh yeah...climbing...we were there about eight days and climbed on six of them. The first and last day were travel/rest/orientation. You hike from your tent and in ten minutes you're in a canyon that is surrounded by thousand foot high walls of limestone. From here there are hundreds, if not thousands, of routes to climb. Most of the ratings are soft. I climbed a 5.11 sport route that felt more like a 5.10b route. There are plenty of routes in the moderate range and some really long moderate climbs to boot. There are places to be in the shade and the sun. Like I said, we went in December and it wasn't too cold at night. We climbed in the shade one day and decided we would try to seek out the sun as much as possible. In the sun we wore shorts and t-shirts. Fun climbs that we did that I can remember: You have to do Space Boyz. It's ten pitches of moderate climbing. There is one pitch of 5.10b or 10d but that's way up the face and you can either rap down from there or climb on up it. It's well protected all the way up and the first seven or eight pitches go 5.8/9 and are pretty easy and straightforward. We met another party and it was getting dark so we didn't do the last two pitches. Another awesome one was Estrellitas. I believe this was twelve pitches topping out with two easy pitches of 5.10b. Again, somewhat soft on the ratings. This one went up high and then you do three or four raps off the back side straight down to the other canyon where you're rapping in mid air searching for the next rap station on the cliff. Very fun route and probably the best we did there...but maybe not better than Space Boyz. We also did one of the two pillars (the right one). I can't remember their names...maybe Classic Pillar? It was fun and worth the climb. A bit runout on the first pitch but goes at 5.10a-ish. The second pitch was a thin crack but all bolt-protected. Most of the climbs were very well protected and there was really only one place on that pillar where things felt runout and sketchy. The rock is mostly pretty solid BUT there were some places (like anywhere...Vantage) that rocks come tumbling down. One spot in particular toward the back of the canyon had a longer sport climb above it (Snot Boyz...I think) that would always rain down rocks, some pretty big, so bring a helmet and you're fancy steppin' shoes to get out of the way. Atmosphere: We had a great time, met nice people at Homero's and on the rock, and enjoyed our time in town. We both drank the water without impunity but then we'd both lived in Mexico at some point, me for a year, so maybe I had some immunity built up. Maybe buy your own so you're not sending me haunting emails ;o) Book: There is a guidebook out there. I think the Texas Mountaineers sell it and it's by a guy named Magic Ed Garza. He and his wife run Homero's. Homero just owns the land. They are very nice and Ed puts up the majority of the routes in PC along with Kurt Smith, if he's still around. Unfortunately my friend has the book but if you can't find it I'll email her and she can send it to you/me. She's in Boston right now. Like I said we went about five years ago so I'm sure there's tons of new routes and possibly even a new/better book. We literally put together the book for Ed and he printed us off a copy from his computer before it was even bound, that's how new it was back then. Going Home: We had planned on taking the bus back to Monterrey and then back to Laredo but instead we hooked up with a couple of Texas guys who gave us a ride back to TX with them in their van. Not a bad deal and it was much shorter to head northwest to get back rather than south, then west, then north through Monterrey. If you rent a car make sure that you get rental insurance from one of the places at the border. You don't want to get in an accident in Mexico with your car or a rental car without insurance. I've heard stories of jail time. I've also bribed cops with $20 bills before...so it probably goes both ways. I dream of going back down there. I've got some pictures that I'll post, if I can find them and then I'll send you the link. Let me know if you want that book or if you need any more info. Feel free to call tomorrow or over the weekend. Good luck! Ray, Wenatchee, WA

Potrero Chico - no surf but warm rock and a small town. I wrote a TR last year and if I can find it I'll PM you. rbwen