rbwen
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Posts posted by rbwen
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Climbed it today. A moderate amount of snow in the approach gully, enough to keep the dirt and rocks at bay. We were thankful for our ice axes. Met the goat on the ledge before the hidden gully. The dihedral pitch was very wet because of the melt from a snow patch at the base of the summit pitch. We donated a handful of slings, biners, and quick links to back up the rappels. Many were completely gone. It was fun, beautiful weather, and a long hike for a short couple of pitches, but it was a good alpine experience, not necessarily a rock climbing expedition. There were many ticks and we saw a HUGE rockslide off the backside, between YJT and the slope about 100 yards away. Boulders the size of the small cars crashing and sliding down the back gully.
Saw a few people on Icicle Buttress and Mounties Dome but that was it.
rbwen
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Don't know which day this was but it looks like they took their time with the rescue.
(from kohoradio.com)
Rock climber rescued in Icicle Canyon
The Chelan County Mountain Rescue team and the Sheriffs Office High Angle Rescue Rope Team came to the aid of a rock climber yesterday. Ron Lavigne of Olympia had fallen from a rock face about 5 miles up Icicle Road, and was unconscious on a ledge about 100 feet above the ground. The rescue teams set up a 5-to-1 line system enabling them to safely lower Lavigne in a litter to an awaiting ambulance. He’s now in serious condition at Central Washington Hospital.
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The DOT is going to do avalanche work in the morning and hopefully have Highway 20 open by noon.
rbwen
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Woo hoo. Thanks for the beta.
rbwen
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Anybody been up there yet this year? How much snow is there to deal with? Route conditions?
We're headed up there this Friday.
rbwen
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What route is the corner in pic #4?
rbwen
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My wife and I got it but if our death is due to 'mountain climbing' we couldn't collect. Same for our disability, unless we wanted to pay through the roof for coverage.
rbwen
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The weather was actually pleasantly nice. We got spit on a couple of times at the campground and rarely at the crags but for the most part it was sunny or partly cloudy. It stayed about 60 degrees in the daytime and got down to the upper thirties at night.
The wind was an annoyance at times but we were able to find places to climb out of the way. We went last year in July and it was super. Nice and warm, climbing without shirts, made the camping very comfortable. The nice thing about Skaha is there are places to climb for all types of conditions. There's even a cave route for when it really starts to pour. After we left our Seattle friends stuck around for a few more days and got rained on, came back to The Icicle and got rained on there too. Must be we're their lucky charms. ;o)
We thought the seed issue was why the border agent was giving us the business but she seemed unclear about it too when she was 'scolding' us.
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Climb: Skaha Bluffs-Moderates Galore
Date of Climb: 4/8/2006
Trip Report:
We headed to Skaha for Spring Break and had a ton of fun climbing the following:
Day One - Daycare: There are six or seven routes here ranging from 5.6-5.9 and one around the corner that seems a bit harder with a roof.
1.We climbed the 5.6 (Cyopeck's Secret) on gear. It was not terribly well protected, a bit of a flaring crack, but the climbing was not too hard. A great warm up.
2. We moved over and led the 5.7 (Your Father Wears...), again on gear. It was a lot funner, had better protection, and reminded us that climbing outdoors on real rock is much better than the gym. We got attacked by some quail because we were too close to their roost or they wanted our sandwiches. We're not yet sure.
3. Next up was a 5.7 (Your Mother). About the same as the other 5.7. About the same amount of gear. Not terribly hard. There are some 5.8s you can toprope in the middle of the slab and I think we did one of those but they don't look very protectable and not worth leading. There are chains on top of almost all of the climbs here. There is also another intriguing wall just northwest of Daycare called Hangdog Hill with some TR-able 5.9s. You can walk off of or TR both of these cliffs.
We continued up the loop trail to Garden of Eden. Here we climbed:
4. Another nice 5.5 gear route called Eve's Dropping. It starts out going up one of two pretty good cracks that take decent gear, over a bulge and then easy climbing up to the chains. The top is a bit of a reach if you're shorter than 5.8 (I'm 6', my wife didn't want to try to take down the anchor because it was awkward).
5. Next we led up the bolted 5.6 next to it called Taboo. It was pretty straightforward with seven bolts, or so, up to the chains. Very fun climbing on solid rock. There was another climb to the right up a somewhat dirty crack called Sinners in Paradise that didn't look too appealing.
6. The wife was getting tired so she belayed me up the 5.9 further to the right called Fig Leaf Frolic. It was a very fun route, a bit challenging in the middle section when I got off route (stay to the right of the bolt line) but not terribly taxing. I scrambled up the lower fifth class line to the right of this climb to the anchors to free our rope but these climbs are not downclimbable. There were two great looking climbs called Professional Belay Slaves and White Knuckle Express. They were both 5.8 bolted lines on the Grassy Glades wall right next to Garden of Eden that looked really nice and long and very consistent in their grade. There was a line for these so we filed them away for a later date.
Day Two: We met our friends from Seattle and headed to Red Tail Lower to knock off some more moderates there. Those included:
1. A 5.7 bolt lead called Mother Superior. We had four climbers and one baby so we could only put up one rope today and this was our first. This is a great, fun 5.7 with nicely spaced bolts all the way up. It gets a bit thin up top but it is definitely 5.7. This is nice and long and a very good warm up.
2. We hopped over and did the 5.6 called Second Belay Jump. Very easy bolted line with a weird rap station in the middle of the first and only pitch. I guess if you were practicing your multi-pitch, bolted climbs this one would be a great place to start. You can easily climb the whole thing in one pitch.
3. We moved over to the next smallish crag to the north and climbed a couple of cracks on gear. These lines are about 12m long and take many good pieces so it was good practice for all us moderates. Both of these cracks went at 5.7 with the one on the right being slightly longer and thinner. There are also some climbs to top rope here that are harder, but short. We had our first encounter with a Mounties group on this crag practicing placing gear.
4. We moved back to Red Tail Lower and climbed a couple more sport routes that were 5.6 and 5.7. I don't have the book with me but they were the far right climbs of RTL. Fun and easy.
5. The wives and baby headed back to the car so the men climbed a very fun 5.8 Sport Climbing is Neither. The nice thing about this climb and this wall is most of the climbs are nice and long. This one had a couple of tricky moves up about 3/4 of the way up. Bolts and chains all the way up.
Day Three: The rain continued to hold off and we were counting our blessings. It was a bit windy so we headed just south of RTL to Another Buttress. Here we met two or three Mounties groups at different times but we seemed to stay out of each other's way. They were practicing hanging belays and climbing some of the cracks in the area. They were doing a lot of talking and not much climbing though.
1. We started on a nice crack that went at 5.6. It wasn't Don't Worry or Be Happy and again I don't have the book and can't remember the climb name but it's the obvious crack to the left of the two 5.8 slabs. We ran up and down this, putting in plentiful gear.
2. We climbed the 5.8 called Lichen in My Panties. It was bolted and very fun. I think the author gave it three stars in the book (Howie Richardson) and it was probably worthy of that. These climbs are all top ropeable.
3. We moved the TR and did the 5.8 Like it in Her Panties. Another fun route, probably harder than the other 5.8. The first bolt was up pretty high and you really couldn't put any gear in down below so it didn't seem like the best first lead for someone, but it was fun. I did this one three or four times and it was probably harder than the 5.9 I did in Garden of Eden.
It was time to head back to WA and also time for the baby to nap so we called it a day. Another great weekend of climbing at Skaha.
Notes: All of the campgrounds were not yet open except for Wright's Beach, right on the corner when you come down 97 into town. It was loud because of all the passing traffic and jake brakes and we finally bought earplugs after the first night...but we were the only ones there. We normally like to stay at Skaha Lake Campground because it's close to the crags and the nice park on Skaha Lake.
We were attacked by some quail and also saw a cool big horned sheep (Ram?).
Weird thing happened to us on our way across the border into Canada. The border agent stopped us and told us that we couldn't bring our mt. bikes across because they had "delicate soil issues" in BC. Is this true?!?!?! She told us to hose off our bikes next time we tried to cross. We couldn't decide if she was just trying to catch us off guard and maintain the upper hand or were we actually transporting some undelicate dirt that would eventually ruin Beautiful British Columbia? Has anyone else encountered this? What about the mud on our shoes? Mud flaps? Didn't make a lot of sense, but then neither does vinegar on french fries.
Sorry, no good pics but PM if you want any more info on easy to moderate Skaha climbs. Another great wall is Go Anywhere.
Gear Notes:
Clips and a standard rack
Howie's book
We used a 60m rope
Approach Notes:
Parking at Braeyside Farm was $3 per person. It isn't actually a parking fee but an access fee to get into the climbing area. Well worth it imho. There are two porta potties, a nice open-air shelter with a chalkboard for writin' stuff, and the trail up to the crags is nicely maintained.
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Did you try freecycle.org? I got mine off of there for free!
rbwen
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I've been trading emails with Kevin Pogue this morning and he said basically the same thing. Don't make special trip to go there. He also said stay on route with the bolt line and most climbs should be somewhat clean (in other words, wear a helmet). We might make it a road trip this summer and circle on down through the south part of WA.
rbwen
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Not what you're thinking...different forum.
Anyone climbed here? Is it worth the three hour drive from Central WA? Red Tail Arete looks like a ton of fun. Any new development there in the last few year?
http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/listArea.php?AreaID=9603
Thanks!
rbwen
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Chatsworth Edge looks great! We'll bring the rack.
Thanks!
rbwen
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Can't slip one by me. Making me try to climb something hard...sheesh!
We really enjoyed Red Tail Lower and Go Anywhere walls last time we were up there so anything with a full day's climbing in the moderate range would be desireable (or multi pitch).
rbwen
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Thanks, but it's 10c and it's an off-width. I don't think my wife will enjoy that and doesn't quite fall into the category we're looking for.
rbwen
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Wife and I are headed to Skaha for Spring Break and we're looking for some fun moderate (5.4-5.9 sport) to do. Any recommendations?
Thanks!
rbwen
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Not actually for me but a friend's truck just crapped out on her and she's looking for a new one. She has $8,000 to spend so if you've got one you're looking to sell PM me.
rbwen
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I'm sure you'll get the royalties either way...but I bought one from Mountain Goat Outfitters.
Thanks for the offer!
rbwen
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Gov. Gregoire just signed the bill eliminating the $5 parking fee at state campgrounds because it was driving people away from parks.
I think Pesashtin Pinnacles opened on March 15th. At least one reason to climb there, now that there's no payment!
rbwen
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Thanks!
Just emailed them both and Mountain Goat has a copy. Just gotta call them with my digits and I'm good to go!
rbwen
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Anybody have a copy of this they want to part with? I've searched high and low and can't find a copy on the Internet (all out of print). Thanks!
rbwen
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Scraps are in downtown Wenatchee on the corner of Yakima and Columbia St. There's an apple bin half-full of them and a dumpster with some more right next to it. I can't remember the name of the shop but it's on a dead end street on the southeast side of the intersection.
rbwen
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Thanks for all the advice. A buddy of mine has loaned me a rotary hammer drill to do the task at hand.
rbwen
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I'm not. I'd never even really heard of one. Just Googled one up to see what you're talking about. Wonder if I can rent one?
The guy I talked to at the shop said he could drill some holes for me so maybe I'll take some pieces back and see what he charges. He's a climber too so maybe he'll do it for cheap!
Thanks!
rbwen
New Routes at Playground Point
in Alpine Lakes
Posted
We played around at Playground Point today with the one-year old and did the routes listed above. I'll list a bit about each one to give a little more information for the curious, as we were. These lines are great beginning leads. Easy slabs with many bolts and good anchors on top of the sport lines. Starting at Birthday Boy, moving right to left. We used a 60m rope.
1. The 5.3 trad line is down the hill about 40 feet and about 50 feet to the left of BB. It starts right by a tree and heads up a crack trending left and then back up right up onto the slab to a two-bolt anchor next to the Birthday Boy anchor. There are no chains on this anchor but you can walk off to the left. Next time I get up there I'll put quick links and chains on Birthday Boy and this route. The route itself is not very exciting and not very hard but it does take some decent gear and is a good training for trad leading. There is one bolt on the upper slab to protect it.
2. The next route to the left is a bolted line (6-7 bolts) that runs up a slab to an anchor with chains. You start down and left of the 5.3 on a little ledge with a nice two-bolt belay anchor. Move up the slab from the ledge, clip the first bolt, pull the first move onto the slab and then it's a quick romp up to the top. Plenty of bolts on this one and pretty fun. 5.6 seemed like a good rating with some slabby moves down below and some easy bulges up top.
3. Another 75 feet to the left and up to a large tree is the third new climb here. The tree has a piece of rope with two large rap rings to use for a belay anchor and a quick/safe way back down the 20 feet to the main ledge. This climb is very similar to its neighbor and would probably be rated 5.6 also. Start from the tree and follow the bolts up past a small roof to the anchors. Thank you whomever created these routes for the great anchors with quicklinks and chains. There are 8 bolts on this one. Again, pretty much the same as the one to the right. Easy slab moves past a ton of bolts all the way.
We scouted a bit more to the left but didn't see anything else worthy of our time.
As we were leaving we noticed a route being established about ten feet to the left of the 5.4 Baby Steps. It was being bolted and scrubbed and seemed to be about the same grade as BS. We questioned the need for two bolted routes of the same grade so close together but decided we were happy that new stuff was being put up.
Question: There is a crack climb to the right of Baby Steps that looks like it ends at a tree belay. It looked fun but we didn't have time to check it out, about fist-wide for fifeen or twenty feet. Anybody know the name of that one and what it goes at?
rbwen