ryanb

Tri cams are a waste of time at index. They aren't small enough to protect the places that are hard to protect. When they are the only thing that will fit in a placement you probably want that pod as hand hold. For finger cracks at index (many of the 5.10 and harder gear routes), get at least 4-5 micro nuts (i carry 8 stoppers, a set of BD micros and a couple of metolius astro nuts for flared placements. I may buy a few offsets at the next opertunity.) and concentrate multiples in the small cams up to 1. I own triples of blue alien/purple metolius and green alien/blue metolius. I usually carry nothing bigger than a single 2 unless i know the route has sustained wide sections. There are places (sag, p1 japanese gardens, GM probably others) where a 4 and/or a couple of 3's are nice but for a lot "index moderate" classics (thin fingers, tatoosh, godzilla, p2 city park, sloe children, klaus von whatever, p3 japanese gardens, iron horse, dr sniff, marginal karma, even steven) the emphasis is on thin to thin hands. Convince your partner to buy, and carry, the big stuff.

Nice Send Fitz! Reiter road does connect to index (as long as its not still under construction like it was this summer), you can ride from seattle via the burck gilman, the woodinville duval highway, high bridge road/W snoqualamie valley rd/tulaca (to avoid 203) ben howard road (across the river from 2 from monroe to sultan) and reiter and avoid 2 almost entirely. A more fun option might be some forest service roads from duval to index.

Off-width variation p3 freedom rider on liberty bell. Probably want a couple of 3's, 4's, and 5's and abb's you could grate cheese on as well. I haven't been on it but "another man's car" at index might fit the bill too.

What is an elliptical? Does having a highly trained elliptical help one climb harder?

Thanks for the info Rich. Seems like a nice last resort. I was wondering if you could program route details into the 911 message before big trips, guess only for the help msg?

Glad all involved are safe. Can you program the SPOT's with a custom message before you leave home?

I've climbed it twice post clean, pre bolt. Its a great route and I'm glad somebody had the vision to see its potential. My partner led the bottom laying back the flake after placing the red alien, this seemed pretty spicy. I led it as a flare (staying behind the flake) and was able to place the red alien and another (green or blue) higher up. The rock didn't seem great for either placement and will probably get worse as dirt washes down there. I can't argue with a bolt there, particularly if the placements are as hollow as backcountrydog says.

Cole Alan said something a few weeks ago about trying to free the lower seem as a direct start to dwarf toss I think?

Not sure if it has gone free/clean but there was chalk and a fixed rope on it yesterday.

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=1534 "Thick foam/soft shell - The thickness of foam is constant throughout the whole shell, and as this is the main energy-absorbing layer, it is clear that the helmet will be effective wherever an impact occurs. Thick foam/hard shell - With these helmets the foam is concentrated around the crown, and thins out towards the edges or simply stops. Again the foam is the main energy absorber, and as it is thinner at the edges, the transmitted force is much greater for an impact in these areas than one where the foam is thickest. Traditional - The main energy-absorbing component in these helmets is the textile webbing cradle, and the crucial clearance distance between this and the shell. This webbing is anchored to the shell at the rim, which means that the nearer the rim an impact occurs, the lower the energy absorption will be – in this case the force transmitted is over four times the maximum allowed for a comparative crown impact by the EN standard."

I wore a battered ecrin rock for years but recently purchased a bd tracer on sale. I feel that the tracer offers sufficient protection against falling rock and better protection against inverted falls and other off center impacts...I really wouldn't trust the ecrin in a head falling into rock or bike crash style impact. The tracer is also much lighter. My only dislike is that its vent holes can "whistle" in high winds or on a bike. I also considered the metolius safe tech helmet which used both foam and a hard shell. It is slightly lighter then the ecrin and seems to offer a good combination of protection if you can get your hands on one.

Is the book they have at 2nd ascent an updated version of sky valley rock or the same as the 2000 version?

I have access to a 10 foot zodiac with 10 hp outboard. Rated for 4 fat people/1100 lbs and fits in the back of my Honda accord when deflated. I've been thinking of heading out there some weekend when its rainy here and not there to check out the DWS possibilities. Is the rock actually steep enough that a fall would be clean? How much DWS'able rock is there out there? pictures?

GNS or Aires or one of the other variations in that area is the best option for access...the hike looks like it would cross the wet grassy slabs to the left of the top of GNS which would be sketch. One 60 is sufficient to rap from the mid wall if you make use of a slung tree above winki dinky cliff. Last time I was up there you could also access the mid wall from the top of gorilla my dreams my making a short (roped) scramble up a piece of old fixed rope though this could probably stand to be replaced/backed up if it is still there. It is possible to string together a good selection of moderate climbs by doing this...there is also a decent 2-3 pitch ~5.7 to the right of winki dinki above the top of breakfast of champions, plumb pudding and robins ramps on the mid wall are fun.

Has any one done any of the harder routes to the left or right of Brass Balls on lower castle? I don't have a guide book but i think the names are along the liens of "Shrieks of the Mutilated" and "Screams of the Humiliated" and the ratings are 11+ to 12-? Look like short roof cracks more then sustained climbing?

Dude last time you lead something wide, you pushed the damn big cam up so far I had to climb it with nothing to pull on but the frickin rock. I'll take this one. So beta on Mastodon roof? Its that steep wide crack near the top of that rocky hillside thing above the straightaway boulders at leavenworth right? or is that something else? any fun? big cams and go for it?

What's the access situation for "Omak Crack"? (picture at: http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/04/041_Omak.html )

Has any one done Mastodon Roof?

Locked as of friday.

Was out for part of new years weekend. Gloves were nice on rock routes. Fugs was about half frozen, nearest liquor store was in george.

I'm looking for a partner for index tomorrow. I'll pm you my contact info.

We ran up to the base of the UTW in the morning to give the lower wall some time to dry. Must have been you guys on the second pitch? Was impressed by the amount of primal grunting that could be heard from down the trail. Nice send on a great day.

Wheather looks decent, all my partners are busy or lazy. Solid leader into the low to mid tens looking to log some mileage and get better this year, gear, car, U-district.

Feds are on to it.

http://www.jiwire.com/browse-hotspot-united-states-us-washington-wa-leavenworth-3449639.htm welcome till google...