octavius

Ok, did it Sunday. There is a haze to the east that looks like it could be from smoke, but you don't smell anything. On the rappel down, we could see the occasional tree flaring up on the lower south slopes of Silver Star. Anyway, the fire isn't close enough to Kangaroo to be an issue right now.

I have a trip planned to do Kangraoo Temple (NW Face) on Sunday. The Cedar Creek fire is burning a couple miles away ( Cedar Creek Fire ) just south of Snagtooth Ridge. Anybody done Kangraroo in the last couple of days? How smokey was it? I called the information center for the fire and there are no closures currently along Kangaroo Ridge.

Has anybody here done this route? The CAG lists it as the easiest on Concord... but with 'devious' access. I scrambled up to the base of this route earlier this year with as a climb with a local club but we bailed... the start looked a lot harder than Becky described it (we did LB instead). After reading CAG again I'm wondering if we just didn't get over far enough to identify the true start of this route. Anybody?

Now that the days are getting shorter, I'm heading back inside (Vertical World) for a twice weekly workout. Indoors I average 5.10b (lower on lead). Would be nice if you climbed at a similar level but that isn't a deal breaker for me as long as you are fairly regular. 7pm - 9pm is ideal, but I'm flex. PM me.

I found a pay phone at Clark's, but I don't think it was considered local to Seattle, it wanted $2.90 to make a call to the 206 area code.

Yeah, thanks for the lecture. I'm not going to use the phone to call my buddies from a summit I had an experience a couple weeks ago where my friends had to bail on a climb and I was waiting for them at the trail head. My t-mobile gets no coverage up Highway 20 anywhere beyond Cedro Wooly and they could not reach me... I get no coverage in Marblemount but I now some people do... never tried it from the summit of Baker. I have seen cases where other people's cell's worked from various places in the wild, and mine never has. Emgergency use would be a plus. Sounds like Verizon would be a step up, and I'll loog for combined analog service too.

For those that have good or above average cell coverage in the wild, what cell provider do you use? I've found my t-mobile is pretty useless out there... I've heard some good stuff about Verizon.

Ditto on the mosquitos at the Blue Lake TH, and on the approach. No snow except for a tiny amount in the gully on the approach last weekend. For camping, the Blue Lake TH is right next to the highway, so you will hear traffic all night. A couple of miles east is the Cutthroat Lake TH and the camping area is at least a mile from the highway, near a brook... much nicer and no mosquitoes at all. I just slept in the back of my truck... in at 10pm, out by 6am. I didn't see any place to pay a fee, just had a NWFS pass... might not be legal but I've never heard of anybody getting hassled there.

I just did the SW Face on Sat (Becky Route). I referred to both the Cascade Alpine Guide 3:Rainy Pass to Fraser River by Fred Beckey, and to Selected Climbs in the Cascades Volume 1 by Nelson and Potterfield. Both guides are good. Have fun.

My group did something similiar on 6/20 & 6/21, though I wouldn't say we found it easier. We crossed the stream and followed it a few hundred yards, then started moving uphill and wound up on lower southern tip of the RR rigde, and had to do some scrambling (3rd & 4th class) to get up to the RR ridge itself. I'm curious how you did that part? Perhaps we left the stream too early, though we didn't see any way up to the ridge further upstream. Regards, Octavius

I climbed it via Easton yesterday following the standard route. The hardest part was getting from the trail head to the low camp... the trail is still all snow. There is a light trail starting on the Easton glacier you can follow most of the way. Be prepared skirt some cravasses. The trail gets much lighter near the crater and beyond it. We wanded most of the Easton glacier and were glad we did when we descended in clouds and near whiteout conditions. Didn't see any avalanche conditions or rock fall on the route.

Good point. I should have seperated good service from good knowledge on boot fit; FF provided good service (they ordered the Nuptses for me), but I didn't get the impression the particular salesrep helping me when I went to try them on had a lot of knowledge about good boot fit, the toebox wasn't ideal, and he didn't have much to suggest. I bought them because they fit my feet well enough for what I wanted them for (Rainier or very cold conditions & backcountry snowboarding). I would not wear them for a 15 mile approach hike. But you make a good point, I should give them another try for the kind of boots I am looking for now. They didn't fit my foot well. The salesrep seemed to ignore that and suggest that even though they don't fit my foot well, they are very popular... therefor I should like them. I should have added that two of the climbers on My Anderson climb had those boots (seems like every other person out there now has them) and they both said that at the end of the 15 mile hike their feet hurt a lot... one guys left foot was totally numb from the arch to the toe. So... just because the boot is a top seller doesn't mean it is right for everybody. My feet are hard to fit. My main request from a boot store is that they have a good selection, and let me try on every pair I want... not just the pairs the salesrep *thinks* is best for me. I didn't mean my thread as a knock on the stores (sorry if it came out that way), but more a question of... for people that have hard to fit feet, what is your favorite store? ...or is there a particular salesrep that you like at a particular store?

I'm thinking it's time for a new pair of Mountaineering boots. I've been using a pair of Vasque leather boots (either full or 3/4 shank, I forget) for the past 8 years and have finally decided I want something lighter with maybe less shank. Due to the shank, these things don't flex at all when I walk, which increases heel rub on long approach hikes (such as the 15 mile approach hike I did this weekend for Mt. Anderson). Last year, I hit REI and Marmot and spent close to two hours at each and never found boots that fit my feet as well as the Vasque and so I decided to give the Vasque another year... but now I'm fed up with them. I've done custom foot beds, but that doesn't help the heel rub or their weight. If I had lighter boots, I could even wear something more comfortable for the approach hike and pack the boots. So, is there a top notch store for boots in the Seattle area? I'm not impressed with the staff at REI. Marmot was a bit better, but they were still trying to sell me a boot that I kept telling him I didn't like (that super light weight La Sportiva). I bought a pair of Nuptse boot for extreme cold weather at Feathered Friends... I didn't find their staff to be that great for boots either. Maybe my expectations are too high... What about Vancouver, anything better up there? Regards, Octavius

I agree with this. We did this last year, first day all the way to Schurman, then did a FULL day of rest there (24+hours). Less time setting up and breaking down camp, and you get more time at a higher altitude to acclimate. Have fun.

What is that on the rock just above the waterline? Looks like some weird animal... maybe a bigfoot was out trundling?

Chew-N-Butts in Cle Elum.

[deleted... obviously not the right forum for a constructive discussion]

Rockguy, before you backoff too far, will you answer the question about easy pro placement on the last pitch on YJT? You implied protecting that pitch is easy... what pro do you use there? Regards

Agreed. So what is the answer to the question about the best pro to place?

I'm here to learn. I'm not saying bolt anything. Rockguy's post states many times that it is easy to protect. I'm just asking what that protection would be on that pitch? Seems like people are making a lot of statements like 'no protection is needed it's only 5.4'... why not just answer the question? So what if somebody overprotects a route you would not... I'm not here to get into a pissing match about what I can climb unprotected... I just want to know the best pro to set on that pitch? Or was Rockguy just blowing smoke? I'm too new here to know who is who. Regards

Since you brought it up... what is your prefered method, specifically, to protecting final pitch?

Yep, I always use two hands when I'm lowering somebody (sans GriGri)... for those very reasons. Good question. Nope, the belayer was not using the extra carabiner. I've since learned that lots of people don't use that 'biner. The way gym staff manager explained it to me is that the GriGri was not designed to be used with the extra 'biner, so people that leanred to use them out in the field tend to not use them. I always use it, and feel it provides for better friction on the lower. I used to think people that didn't use them were just demonstrating that they were hotshots... but I hadn't thought about the fact that people that learned to use the GriGri outside of the gym might be more acustomed to not using that extra 'biner. The gym manager said he has since played around with using the extra 'biner, and might suggest it to everybody.

No other circumstances... unless you consider the chance the guy was distracted by cute coeds... that is always a risk in these gyms. As to names, I'm not interested in outing the guy (it wasn't Adrian). I think it was just a mistake. I'm more interested in the psychology of trusting new climbing partners again.

Anybody ever been outright dropped to the deck by their belay partner while being lowered after a climb? I had a disturbing experience while gym climbing last week. I was climbing at one of the Seattle indoor rock gyms, with a guy that I wound up with because we are both members of a group that trains together twice weekly at said gym... my usual friends were not available that night, but this guy seemed pretty competent... he is a good climber anyway (and a climb leader with a local club), and it's pretty common for members of this group to rotate through the other members as climbing partners. Anyway, I did a route, and was at the top ready to be lowered. The gym uses all GriGris for top rope climbing. The route was about 30 feet high. After being lowered a few feet I felt a sudden increase in acceleration which I thought was just an issue with the belayer opening the GriGri too far... and that he'd notice and let it close. Next thing I know, I'm freefalling (as if the rope broke) at full speed/acceleration, and I deck out… f*cking hard, on the gym's gravel floor. I'm in instant daze as my brain tries to process what just happened, and I realize that I'm trying to get up, but I can't. A couple of gym staffers are with me in a matter of seconds, performing the MOFA style 7 steps, and I hear somebody say "call 911". I hear the guy that was belaying me say "oh man... I left the handle open too long". My daze fades a bit and I realize I'm laying in gravel, on my back, on my bulky chalk bag and harness, and I just want to get up... my mind thinking the bulky bag is what is causing the pain in my lower back. But I can't get up, and the staffers are telling me not to move, and holding my head and neck straight. They say they've called 911 and I should just relax. I'm getting very hot from the adrenaline pumping through my system. My mind is racing... what the f*ck just happened? Climbing is risky... this was an accident that can happen... part of the sport…; but it wasn't due to anything I did... I was just fricken dropped while being lowered! ...by somebody that apparently wasn't paying attention! Am I hurt? I have 3 outdoor climbs coming up in the next 2 weeks... can I still do them? I’m feeling an odd combination of fear, anger, and loss… I had been looking forward to these upcomming outdoor climbs for over a month. The fire department EMTs arrive, more checking, pulse, BP, can I feel my feet, etc. They strap me into a backboard and transport me to an ER. Today, 7 days later, I'm recovering. Small chip in a vertebrae, pretty stiff back and neck for a few days that is getting better, and a new awareness afound picking my climbing & belay partners… even in a gym. A number of people saw parts of this accident, but nobody saw the entire thing. My belayer said the fall was 12 feet, though if he wasn't paying attention I'm not sure how he even knows. My neighbor happened to see much of it... the before and after anyway... and said there was very little time between when I was at the top of the route, and when he heard the impact and looked over again. I found a couple of days later that the left cheek of my new climbing pants had 4 holes in them... from the gravel at the base of the route. That gravel is round-ish. I'm more than a bit curious what kind of force is required for round gravel to put holes in climbing pants. The physical wounds are heeling. The mental part is different though. I'm thinking I will never climb now with somebody I don't know, and trust, 100%... even in a gym. Perhaps this is knowledge that most experienced climbers already have (I’ve only been in the sport for a year)... maybe this is just a reaction to something that was pretty scary. You can't really know another person 100%; you can't know when they might have a brain fart... Oh, and GriGris (even when setup correctly) require more competence than I realized to operate, on the lowering portion anyway. I'm really curious to hear other stories out there, and how they compare or relate. How long did it take to learn to trust any new climbing partners afterwards? Regards, Octavius

Thanks for the tips so far. I'll probably try getting more onto my waist harness, and making use of the gear loop on the extra back sling on the shoulder harness. I'm sure part of the problem is that I'm new enough to this that I'm carrying more than I need on the routes, but for me its part of learning what I use/need and what I don't. Octavius