crazedmaniac

hey Chris.... DONE? it took us (Ken Strong, Mike Rose, #1, and Walter Brischgi from Switzerland) over 4 years doing everything from ground up, on this route Ken and i called, BAD SIGN. Cause every time we went up there, between 93 and 96, we saw a "BAD SIGN"! Not the 70,s, started climbing up there regularly in 1986. (THE skitzo route used to be called 7 pins, as it was done once with just 7 pitons, and other reasons). This means, putting in all the bolts, ON LEAD. Have watched you over the years hanging from the ropes drilling bolts and guessing, replacing ours. Sure you missed some of my 3/16 button heads, cause i used to, all the time when leading out 60 or 80ft on a small 1/4" bolt, and get totally terrified, looking at a 120+ft tumble and scrape bounce. We have done all but about 30 or 40 ft the way you did. Also, the top of the 3rd pitch (our 3rd)was where i said to Ken, look at this, this wall is an Illusion, which was how it got its name. The last 2x,s we went back to climb it again, i could not lead out to the 1/4"bolt i could see, with NOTHING BUT QUICK DRAWS, that i drilled many years earlier, with over 40lbs of gear on. Tried 4 or 5 times, only to come smearing back or slide to the end of the rope. I cried, (literally) cause it meant i wasn't the climber i used to be...say, A.G.E.? Ken told me then and there, "yup, you used to have major balls and bold grips". Guess i have no excuse to go back now! Have also climbed many pitches (about 10 or 13) between BAD SIGN, and 7PINS. This route is also the place where Ken rapped off the end of his rope, FALLING OVER 50FT onto a small ledge, bouncing 3 times with a old 300ft 5/8 fixed line in his pack we had up there for 2 years. We were rapping back down, after solo freeing "PRIMAL SCREAM, on the south face, and kens screaming while falling was how that got it name. I also was rapping down a old black fixed 3/8" static line one night, 3rd pitch(after major rock cleaning way up on the wall) and the rope turned white going thru my robot at high speed (rope got cut by rock)then i was free falling to my death, only to have the 2 climbing ropes "appear" next to me, as Ken had thrown them off the belay before i went off the end of the rope, saving my life ... AGAIN!

have "camped" there ... called "big tree", at the base of "go no go slab", way over 50 times, getting there way after midnight. The big cedar tree that the place is named after, is long gone. Like many of the VERY old cedars on the "new way" to the base of illusion, and many of the blueberry bushes that we used to feast off of. There are still about 20+ pitches on illusion that are still NOT bolted up, (as of 2010, that we did in the early to mid 90,s) that can be a lot of fun, if you know how to build your own belays, and when to stop for/at a good belay place... AND have an OLD SCHOOL (clean climbing)SENSE OF ADVENTURE!!! Left plenty of loose rock for others to enjoy sending off .... one of the best things about squire... lot of loose flakes. "holyGreyhell" USED to be called, "7 pins", because it was done with just 7 pins ... and other reasons... long live Chris! i think it is the "best/most fun way" on illusion, even if it has bolts now marking the ... way.

single nut rap, on a rope pinch device? your .... NUTS! i hear im crazy... better than . nuts!! GET a ROBOT, OR go back to a biner stack.(like a breaker bar rack, using your biners) being smooth is the way for dangerous raps, you nut.

Eric, please take me with you next year... i love that place. spent 15 days up there in 76. my bro and i wanted to get some of the titanium pitons they left behind. Has always been 'early' for me in there, thanks for sharing the pics! ... so i can see what it looks like w/o snow. 2 ppl caring gear is way lighter, too. We started out one trip with 110 and 120 lb. packs, off the ferry at the harbor. (they weighed em) Yea, NO fancy plastic clothing, lightweight hi-tec gear, and small cameras then, or, for the self funded teen agers. I had 28lbs in camera gear, and 5 rolls of film for about 37 pics ea. compared to now? ... thousands of pics on a mini card the size of your finger nail, and micro grams. We had plenty of meat, steel in pitons and hammers, our gold line ropes and extra food and fuel for the big gas stoves for 3+ weeks. Kids 'now days', ... have no idea, pansies. Love seeing your trip reports!!!! thanks again.

AND UH ... Pete Dorish is the MAN OF INDEX!!!!! he did some REALLY HARD CORE ROUTES up there ...

nice. brought back some great memory's with my bro up there, from the 70,s. One time up there, 2 brothers were climbing north peak and one of them fell to his death, only bouncing off the wall cpl times before his last bounce. Of course, everyone back home heard the news, and thought it was one of us. will never forget pulling in at home and the neighbors coming over to my van to see which one it was. Met the guy whos uncle it was last week at costco. He was up there and his mom saw him fall from the hwy. He was 4 and his memory of that is well burnt in! Said he will never forget his mom telling his dad," this is your LAST CLIMB!" We had just talked to them 1/2 hr before his 'fall'. The hwy noise SUCKS there .... tried to land a helicopter on top with my hang glider strapped to the skids, to take off from the top ... and the pilot said i was ... crazy!!! The traverse rocks and can sand bag you with route finding!

yes! that is a HUGE amount of vertical. Took Ken and i more than 4 days of work to go all the way up Illusion (from the bottom up). When we did what is now skitzo, about 18 years ago, it took us about 14 hrs, NOT 4.5 HRS.... AND of course, we didn't have pre placed gear (bolts), beta, and HAD HUGE runabouts. I move way slower, with my last pin or small angle 60 to 90 feet below. And, i would NOT have been able without having a world class European climber lead most of the top pitches. They seemed to be more than 10+, but we were sticking to where we could get a good piece in. Remember getting scared out on the chicken heads, looking at a great crack just to the right, but to scared to just move over to it. Several pitches of this route Ken Strong and i did as we were exploring the north end of Illusion. All of the bottom we did in the dark, before bolts. There are many more ways to go there. I have gone up the north end of Illusion, over 6 different ways. Just go for it, and don't look for the "line of bolts", like some one is doing to the very first route Dave J. and i did on Zips wall, more than 26 years ago. What ever happened to "CLEAN CLIMBING?" AGAIN, WAY TO GO FOR IT .... kids.... If you don't think the pre-placed gear (shinny way to go trail), and beta made any difference, then get your butts over to the main center wall, (lot of 20+ pitches there!) or to the n.e. face of 3 fingers!!!! You will be challenged there!!!!

NOT the masses. just '4 ME'. cause im old, and way less bold. Old injury's (spinal cord)are screaming at me. Point i was making, if a piece failed on me like this, i probably wouldn't be here telling you about it. Have only broke 3 biners in falls (crossing on bolt hangers, and already stress cracked, cause of being dropped/hit on rock or ?) and 'allmost allways', place a nice HEALTHY old school biner when im looking at a long fall above that. The past cpl of years, it looks like the MASSES have been up to squire walls, tho. Was told the other day that in only the past cpl of years, there has been more people using the engineers trail to big tree, (up from the old parking lot, logging landing)than all the years combined before that. I did some quick math, and i highly doubt that. i have personally taken up more than 80 DIFFERENT people up there, of which way MORE than 1/2 of them have gone back MORE than a doz. times, and bringing others with them. i have personally gone up 'that way' more than 400 times, and with MORE THAN 3 people, almost ALL those times. (you do the math) Good times, and you couldn't tell it, as we didn't take saws and prunning tools, and we went different ways, except for the obvious places, that have now been been 'marked' with tree removal. We actually enjoyed losing our way, cause it was a test, to see how we did in the devils club and knawly thick bushes and tree falls. more of a attitude test. It NOW looks like the MASSES have been there. One bent cedar tree, that had become polished by having MORE THAN 1,000x,s, hands rubbing on it over the years (before a cpl years ago) on a steep slope, was cut last year, cause it was "in the way?" i counted the rings SAME DAY this climb here was going on, and it was about 80 HEALTHY yrs old (where it had been cut, so way more than 80,s yrs old). It hadn't changed much over the 28 years i HAD been pulling on it. Only getting stronger with all the pulls on it, as we swung around it. I have a great story to go along with that one. There has been way to much marking of the trails, by removing thick moss on rocks, my 'favorite' super sweet mass producers OF blueberry bushes, small old firs and super old cedars, ... '4 ME'. By the way, one of the first accents up Squire Wall's was done just to the left (south) of this route, big daddy, w/o any 'beta' or bivy gear. 3 days of climbing to the top and back down,(dinkin around slabs)not the easy way. Dj and friend. A lot of the climbing here in the pacific north west, is about the APPROACH, as much as it is about the rock, and getting off. i can tell you , more? LOVE YOUR PICS, high life! THANKS!!!

you guys are not first up there this year. it has seen a lot of traffic in may. i see climbers using this superlight weight gear all the time, and i ask them if they fall on it a lot .. they usually reply, Fall? Never! i have taken many falls over 70 feet on squire and seen a guy from germany fall about 90ft after zipping out his kb,s onto a 1/4" bolt i had to talk him into placing there, just for that reason, on zips wall. Now that i am getting much older, and WAY LESS BOLDER, i have been going back and placing Mass bolts on many of my routes that i used to solo free climb. The cheese grater stuff can rip you up, if you dont know how to fall on it. Saw 4 bolts this year ripped out by rock fall on squire so far, THIS YEAR. yea, we were up on "something amazing". surprised you dint hear us. i love to yell, esp. in the morn and night ....

and... uh ... always dangerous, bragging about doing stuff, in super time. Wish i woulda had some big talker (found out had no experience) 'bragger' bail on us,way early, in early 90,s in very similar conditions, on n face big 4. never 'believed' a chest thumper again, after that.

NICCCCE! you guys friggen SCORED! doesn't get any better for conditions than ... this/that. bet ya have some really sweet pics, like this one ... SO...??? and better to have, and not need, than to not, and don't. Been there to many times in the past, so most all-ways,(cause, never again) i have mass stuff, i didn't use. The movie done just to the east here, was all based on the .. "now we don't have it, and what we guna do now???"

way back ... in the 80,s, and early 90,s when we were custom building gear (mostly for Europeans), I saw a lot of 'slides' from the Cirque, and plenty from the Lotus Flower. The look in their eyes, and all the energy of being there remained written all over them, weeks later. It must be most rock climbers dream, to do that climb, just because of the pictures. Still remember the national geographic magazine story, and all the pics. Its one of the ones I wished i 'had climbed'. Then to drive over to the Bugaboos ... Major KUDOS! thanks for the wishing memory's ...

and... yea, you can hear people talking from the trail, from Illusion wall north to the bowl-in-alley. Have had conversations with others, from way up on zips wall with people from the old parking lot, without yelling. and the wind also makes for ... talking voices. It's the angles of the rock. And others, from the other .. side, coming thru the other dimensions .... There is a reason we call Zephyr ledge on Illusion, Zephyr. that goes back to over 20 years ago. It has gotten much louder over the past 4 years .... way louder....

"I would say "all summer" is a bit of an exaggeration. " I SAAAID, (said like 'Bunifa Latifa Halifa Shalifa Jackson' ) "The south slabs can be VERY dangerous ALL spring, and into summer, ....even in july." past previous 2 years in a row, most all of july. that's into summer, not "all summer". have been on the south wall for about 25 different summers, so far. and to curtveld, just get off the trail and get adventurous. Isn't that part of being in the mountains any more? Just, please, leave your saw at home. (if you were thinking about that) Really no need to mark the trails by sawing down cedars, small firs and blueberry bushes like others have done on the 'other side'. and, yea, they grow back, may be. really hard for a small bush or tree to take hold in such a rough territory. Especially ones that are 50 to over a 100 years old. And since i will be very lucky, IF i climb up there for maybe, 10 more years or so, NOT IN MY LIFE TIME! Had quite the shock this past weekend up there ... REALLY? leave your saws at home! it is a wilderness you know. If it is dead already, it moves quite easily. there is NO REASON to be cutting down live trees up there. if you feel you might get lost, or can't find your way back, do what others do, mark the trees with bright orange survey tape, and pretend your on mt Rainer in a semi white out. or better yet, just stay home or go somewhere else to learn how to hike in the woods. GET adventurous, its way more fun! JUST GO for IT!

"I did not take a map, GPS, compass or signaling device of any type." again, sign of a true adventurer ... kudos!!!!!!!!