JonNelson

Seeing as it is not a Halloween event, I will not invite him.

Alright! Now it's no longer a truly authentic BD event, but that is a good thing.

I'm not exactly looking for partners, instead I'd like to have a small, low-key, indoor bouldering competition. The "mediocre" in the subject line means being able to do about V4-V8 on some occasions. "Small" means a total of 6-7 max. All ages, all genders welcome, and all compete in the same "division". When: Saturday morning, Nov. 28. Where: An indoor facility in Redmond. Cost: Bring some cookies. Prize: Some of those cookies. For the exact time and place, as well as the proposed format, send me (Jon) an email (jontne at gmail). The format doesn't allow for more than 6 total, so you must contact me if you want to participate. This is also posted in the Events forum as '(1st ever) Brad Driscol Cookie Invitational* Bouldering Friendly** '. So don't be confused by the apparent imitator.

It's nearly time for a (1st ever) Brad Driscol Cookie Invitational* Bouldering Friendly** This, hopefully, will be a small, low-key, indoor bouldering competition. All ages, all genders welcome, and all compete in the same "division". Those who have never been in a real competition before, and can boulder about V4-V8, are particularly welcome. *If you promise to bring cookies and behave, then you're invited. When: Saturday morning, Nov. 28. Where: An indoor facility in Redmond. Cost: Bring some cookies. Prize: Some of those cookies. For the exact time and place, as well as the proposed format, send me (Jon) an email (jontne at gmail). The format doesn't allow for more than 6 persons total, so you must contact me if you want to participate. ** The problems outnumbered the people, but a good time was had by all. (For those of you familiar with Mr. Brad Driscol.)

A few suggestions: 1) Go up to the Black Sea area (UTW). Scattered around the start of the Perverse Traverse are a few 5.9s and moderate 10s. Nearby, you can set up on Pressure Drop and neighboring routes. 2) Private Idaho. Hike around to the top of Senior Citizens. You can TR a few routes there or near there. 3) The Wart at the Lower Lump (This has the easiest approach of all three places.) Check Mt. Project for newer routes at these areas. I wish there were more, but that should be enough for a few days anyway.

The tree-cutting at the base of the LTW in the early 80s was not done by Terry Lien or anyone who climbed with him. The fellow who did that no longer climbs at Index, or at least, I haven't seen or heard anything about him for decades. Alan's letter (or article?) was as much about cutting at Squamish as at Index. About the tree cutting back then at Index, the only complaint I ever heard was that the guy didn't clean up. The fact that one could see the wall more clearly and it could dry up more quickly (at the base) generally seemed to go over well with climbers. The same sentiment likely applies as well to trees on and near new routes: do a 100% removal (i.e., even the stump), and nobody complains.

I bivied in the crater, on dry ground with ice overhead. I don't recall any wind, just some wisps of condensed vapor drifting up from the ground. Seemed to be a peaceful place to sleep. My partner and I didn't have any hassle from a park ranger, but this was back in the 70s. I do recall a beautiful sunrise the next morning. The reason for camping there was to avoid the crowds. It certainly wasn't crowded up there...

On rappel, somehow he got off the end of the ropes and slipped. They don't know whether it was by rapping off the end, or by intentionally moving off the end to find the next rap anchor.

I hadn't heard of JP before, but this video is great work. He takes a dreary town in dreary weather, and shows how you can have fun nonetheless. I hope more people get the message.

For the busier times, someone could set up a concession stand in the parking lot. Sell drinks, cookies, chalk, and tape. Make a little money and keep a watch out for shady characters.

The first-ever Index Climbers' Festival is this weekend. See attached poster for details.

Yes, for that section of rock, the part right above the old manky belay on Till Broad Daylight looked more fun than the Kone -- TBD looked steeper and with more knobs. Also, it seemed more "out there"... So, it has a nice solid belay now, but the leader should be comfortable clipping the old 1/4" protection bolts...

Do I remember? How could I forget... I was up there just a few days before you replaced the bolts. They looked so sketchy that I traversed back and went up and right to the belay on the Kone. It was too bad, as the next pitch of Till Broad Daylight looked like a blast. With the new anchor, I'll be heading back up there to finish the route. Thanks a lot, Otto.

Thanks! There it lies, helping all who wander past to succeed on their route... I hope you had a great climb!

I forgot to add that I am still hoping to get that shoe back. The pair was once Terry Lien's, and I think it oozed special climbing power, but only as a matched pair. Boreal Fire with red cotton laces.

Trip: WA Pass. - The Clean Break on Juno Tower (and the lost boot) Date: 7/27/2014 Trip Report: Things can happen on the approach. On our way up Burgundy Col, I lost one rock shoe, going down the other side, Nicola injured his knee. Burgundy Col the evening before. Juno Tower is left of the photo. The shoe, which had been clipped via its laces to a sling around my neck, must have come untied. But it was the talus on the other side that got my partner's knee. We decided that sliding down the snow was the best way after that. The first pitch is the crux. Nicola laybacked up the start, then cruised up the remaining finger and hand jams. His knee was swelling up, but you sure wouldn't know it from the way he climbed. On the other hand, I was resting on the rope from the start. Later, I got used to climbing with one approach boot. The mismatched boots. It worked out pretty well this way, with me following most pitches. When things eased up, I led. Pitch four starts with a fun traverse, then up some flakes. One should be careful leading this pitch, as one finishes up on hollow flakes directly above the belayer. The next pitch has some thoughtful face moves, and then it is a fight through trees and a wide crack. I was glad not to be the guy following with a pack on this one. Then, on pitch 7 there is a 5.10 wide-hands crack (presently with a fixed cam), followed by some delicate face and corner moves. The remaining 8 pitches or so are much easier, but still on good rock. One can wander about yet remain on the rib. A final steep section at the end has another fixed cam. Overall, the route is no Liberty Crack, but has some fun pitches in a scenic setting. The descent initially follows a gully, but soon one is wandering across numerous slopes of fine-scale scree. We stayed high as we traversed west back to the camp, and just missed the campsite by a hundred yards or so. It was nice for me to get back into matching boots. Nicola's knee was still in sad shape. Gear Notes: Light rack to fist-size. A few wide-finger-sized cams useful for P1, but for the most part one can use stoppers and hand-sized cams. Approach Notes: It took 2.5 hrs to Bench Camp below Burgundy, then about 2 hrs the next day to go over the col and down past two ribs to the start of the route.

Probably left on Aug. 1.

I lost one old Boreal Fire rock shoe between Bench Camp and Burgundy Col on the way to a Juno Tower route. It's well-used, but still useful. Jon at jontne@gmail, 425.691.9905

Thanks, Matt. I often suspect roots, which could be a key factor in the warm-weather events. Perhaps a growth spurt... About the conditions of Silent Running, as of July 13, the lowest two pitches have quite a bit of loose rock at the ledges and the rock a coating of rock dust. The third pitch seemed fine. And Total Soul seemed to escape unscathed, as the posters above suggested.

Thanks Ryan, that's nice to know. As someone above was saying, those routes are about to become a little more popular...

Fantastic job Ryan & Michal, and thanks for the nice write-up. Hard to see how you could stop to take any photos! Nice pics. To do ~4 pitches per simul-belay on Slab Daddy and Oso, how many quickdraws did you bring? Or did you skip bolts? For all those raps, did you also simul-rap?

It is frightening. I wonder what caused it. Is rockfall like this common in summer (as compared to other times of the year)? I hope to do Total Soul in two weeks. Do you think that route would have any loose fragments from this rockfall?

If the window breaking happens only when a train comes by, then someone needs to check the place only when a train comes by, which isn't very often. Another thing one can do when there are few cars in the lot is to park up at the campsites, where the parking is right off the road, and presumably safer. There is a trail from there through the old gun range, making the trek to the Country and UTW about the same as that from the LTW parking.

I found a quickdraw on an anchor at Marymoor climbing crags early morning of Sat. May. 31. Email me jontne at gmail to identify it and tell me where it was left.

I like the Index choices -- will have to try that one you mentioned on Tempitchuous. Others: The pinch-layback move on the roof when one is getting into the crack on Deal With it Ranger (LTW, also part of Natural log cabin). The "falling-timber" move before reaching the crack on I am in Top a Shader (Private Idaho). Every move on Wet Dream (Private Idaho). Cranking up to get that first finger-lock on Slow Children.