crimper

Describe it, and it's yours....

Hi, if anyone found my blue rain jacket at the base of the main cliff at this crag on Sunday February 15, please let me know. I heard that an Erin and a Graham were there after I left, and may have been with some Circuit employees. I will call the Circuit, but maybe I'll have some luck here! Thanks, Bryan.

A few routes at carver could also use some love. The long 5-10c/d to the right of Smerk (accessed by a 5-8 trad crack, or by skipping Smerk's anchors to the left and instead heading up and right) has 5 ancient bolts, as does the 2 bolt 10b extension that goes to the top of the cliff. The crux bolt caught our whippers this summer but looks frankly awful. I could probably help with Carver...

Ask Micah Klesick, he's an administrator with Mt. project now and could probably make it happen.

If I were more tech savvy this would look better, but: the green line is the 5-9 Cougar Buttress. The Yellow and purple lines show Yardsale, including a couple variations we came up with. The yellow line is the way to go on the second half of the route. We went that way after scaring ourselves on the easier but scary terrain shown by the purple line. Yardsale proper starts on purple, then sticks with yellow once you hit yellow. I am so surprised more climbers don't climb here.

I finally posted a photo! Look out. The Cougar Buttress 5-9 starts on the wall just right of the black midway line on the photo, and more or less goes straight up to the right of that black line, then cuts right to the wide looking corner system that angles up and left to gain the base of the shiny headwall at the very top of the buttress. There is a huge ledge at the base of that headwall - which is about 80/90 feet tall, believe it or not. The 5-11 crack goes directly up the headwall, the 5-9 chimney splits the right side (you can see it, and it takes normal sized gear), a 5-10 crack splits the left side of the headwall, and the 4th class exit weasels out to the left of the headwall. Mark D and I put up a multi in the next crack system to the right, one buttress over: Yardsale, 10a. The second pitch follows the striking crack system, then the route eventually angles leftward to gain the ledge at the base of the headwall. Yardsale is a bit harder than the Cougar Buttress and a little more adventurous, but protects reasonably. I'm not sure if anyone does it, though...even though it has bolted anchors...

Hey Ben! I think it's just called the Cougar Buttress. I was told it went up in the late 1970s as it was the most obvious crack system from the base to the summit. "We" considered it the best 5-9 multi in Oregon, or at least way better than any 5-8 or 5-9 multis at Smith (White Satin, Wherever I May Roam, Thin Air, Solar, etc. are nowhere near as good or sustained). Picture the last pitch on Zebra Zion in terms of difficulty, positive holds and gear quality, then make it 350 feet long and all reasonably protected with trad gear and bolted anchors. No runouts at all, just stout solid cracks to protect. Then add a one pitch summitting option of either a 4th class weasel exit, a great 5-9 chimney crack (Ben you did that), 5-10 rising traverse crack or 5-11c finger and hand crack through a roof, so you don't have to rap off. Wish I was there right now...

Done.

At Beacon yesterday i looked at Sufficiently Breathless. (I'm referencing my earlier comments about how good the pins on this route are or aren't, and whether they should be replaced) The route is heavily vegetated and by all appearances has not been climbed despite a full month of Beacon season. So, after all my complaining about the 2 pins, maybe none of you would be climbing it even if it had two bolts, because nobody is climbing it anyway? And if it has been climbed this year, maybe next time try and do some cleaning on the way down to get this great climb back in the rotation. Winter Delight also looked pretty lonely. Spring Fever, too. Why do those great climbs get neglected? PS - I led Blownout direct and guess what, I didn't like clipping 3 pins (and a manky fixed alien) in a row! I guess it's me who has an issue with pins. When I was younger I pretended they were bolts but as I age and hear more stories about pins I no longer have great confidence on them...my issue, not yours...

Where did you find it?

Steve, I don't really think people want beacon to be obscure, but let's face it, would you rather climb on Tuesday by yourself or a weekend? I was there Saturday and there were 6-7 parties on the routes under 5-10 (you know those routes), and 2 parties down by the arena of terror. (I was there Tuesday and saw only Kenny and Ivan, for contrast) So when it's crowded it's great to have more routes both open and clean, but that requires US to get out there and spend our time cleaning them after the closure. And for those with families, etc, it's hard to justify spending a day out there just cleaning, not climbing. Nobody goes to Smith or Ozone and spends the day cleaning the classics, right? So I agree that the closure is the main reason routes get dirty. It takes all summer for them to slowly get cleaned, then all the hard work is erased during the closure. Last July I battled my way up Suff. Breathless, cleaning as I went, then got scared at the pins when i realized my lowest gear would be useless if the pins both pulled. (And trust me, I didn't skip a single placement i could excavate or find) I have no pride and I hung on the top pin so I could rest and do my best to avoid actually falling on the pin - but that would never have happened if there had been a bolt there, or a pin that had recently been checked. Anyway, this is apparently my personal drama with that route, so does anyone here have contact info. for Scott? I will contact him if I can. Thanks! (and don't get me started on p3 of young warriors, with those useless pins at the bottom of the dihedral - splat! even if they hold, splat splat if they don't)

I wish we could stick with the fixed pin comments made by Eldiente (Nate), which I think built on my comment that there are 2 pins on Sufficiently Breathless that are the only things between you and the ground when you are in the last 15 (crux) feet of the route. Kenny, i love your tough guy attitude, but "not clipping the pins" on SBreathless would mean soling the top of a 10a out there. In the middle of an alpine route put up on lead and in the backcountry, yes, dangerous runouts happen because the FA party had no means to install fixed gear and never went back - but that's asinine on a single pitch climb off the deck that could easily be equipped with a bolt instead of a pin. If someone decks because a pin fails you can bet there will be a closer look at all the pins at Beacon... Would it not be more reasonable to have 2 bolts instead of 2 pins? Also, since the question was raised about bad pins: I watched Arent pull out a pin on blood, sweat and smears with his bare hands about 10 years ago. He retreated to the anchor. I doubt the pin has been replaced, and has anyone seen how neglected that proud and beautiful line has become? That's what happens when you don't - as a community - maintain fixed pro on your classic climbs. they fall into anonymity. (Which i think most of you want for Beacon anyway, though...) so yeah, i don't really trust the pins at beacon, no matter what Joe says. i'd rather clip a bolt anyday, seems a fair statement to make whether you are at beacon, ozone, broughton, smith, leavenworth, j tree, etc.. i'd rather clip a bolt than a pin. I can't unsee watching Arent pull out that pin...