bstach

Thanks for posting. Adding this to my 'to do' list.

PM sent. I'm in Vancouver, Canada. Hit me up if you want to head up to Squamish.

There is a discussion on SquamishClimbing.com on this topic

How was your father's day? What did you do? I woke up to a bouquet of balloons - each balloon had a note of appreciation in it. We had fun popping them all to get the notes out. Then my boy took me climbing in Squamish. Good day.

Dig-dug

Dug

I went to 2nd Avenue on Saturday and it is indeed a good area for kids with lots of moderate climbing and bolted anchors. I took a photo of the topos - not too meaningful unless you are standing in front of the crag, but gives you an idea of what is there. The climb up the dyke is particularly aesthetic.

This question coms up regularly. Everything you need to know is in this recent thread here In a nutshell, send your Metolius stuff back to Metolius. If you have newer camalots with the thumb loop, send them back to BD to have a proper doubled up sling put on (the other thread has a link to the explanation). Otherwise if you have the old Camalots with the stainless steel tipped stem, you can send it anywhere. I sent all my old style Camalots to Mountain Tools along with a few rigid friends. Both Metolius and Mountain tools did a great job with short turn-around.

I'll be there on Saturday. If you see a guy in a red helmet surrounded by a gaggle of kids, say hi.

Where is jug slab?

Thanks Gene. The area you are thinking of is the Sugar Loaf

I am looking for suggestions for good places to take kids - ages 6-12. In other words, has a good collection of 5.4-5.6 climbs, maybe a few 5.7-5.8s and a safe area to loiter at the base. Off the top of my head: -Sugar Loaf (been there, done that) -Call It a Day (Smoke Bluffs) A few places I have heard, but I am unsure of: -Respiration Rock - where can I get a topo for this? -New area above Lumberland - a few weekends ago I ran into a Squamish local who goes by the name 'heavy' and he mentioned some new kid-friendly routes have been cleaned here. Anyone know of this crag and where I could get a topo for it? Whatever happened to the supposed kids area between Penny Lane and Neat and Cool that never seemed to materialize? Muchas gracias

Welcome to cc.com Kieth. I am in Vancouver, Canada, so if you want to do some climbing in Squamish, let me know. I have been climbing for 10+ years and have lots of alpine and mountaineering experience. I have done most moderate long routes in Squamish and travel regularly to red Rocks and J-Tree. This board won't let me PM you, so drop me a note at pretty_good210 at hot mail dot com if interested. -Brian

Does this mean us Canucks will have Squamish to ourselves this summer?

I'm really stoked about this.

If you are confident in setting up solid, redundant, equalized anchors, you are probably good to go. As the previous poster said, ask those that have been mentoring you if you are ready because you don't know what you don't know. I would pass on the rappeling. When I have taught rapelling to newbs I have them on belay on a separate rope. This is much easier to manage with 2 instructors, one at the top and one at the bottom.

Sad story. Does anyone know if the names of the deceased have been released? Condolences to the family. Father, daughter killed by rockfall near Blackcomb

My son just had his sixth birthday...which included a camel ride through the ancient city of Petra (Jordan). Pic is taken in front of the Khazneh. The smiles say it all.

Use a front loading machine instead of one with a central agitator as the agitator can damage the rope.

Try it with a prusick back-up or better yet a separate belay. Start with a sloping slab and work your way up to overhanging. Report back on your findings.

Lol @ "They are heavy"...yes, compared to leaving the large gear at home and looking for a smaller placement, they are heavy. Compared with carrying double #4 and double #5 camalots they are good value for the weight. I agree with your advice overall though. Best bet is to just take less gear. Chose climbs within your ability so you don't need to sew it up and can climb through to those smaller placements. Much more enjoyable that way.

YES! I love my hexes for this and carry #8, #9 and #10 hexentrics. Of course I usually get sprayed on when i suggest it here - i think by people who can't place anyting but a cam. Also I get the "Needs more cowbell" jokes on the trail.

You can buy iron-on nylon patches. They don't stay on forever, but whatever, they just iron back on.

After a summer of borrowing gear or climbing on partners racks I started with: -1 set of BD nuts -Metolius TCU #1 and #2 (I recommend the TCU in the smaller sizes) -Metolius Power Cam #3, #4 and #5 -#1 and #2 Camalot This is the perfect balance of what you need to get started and not breaking the bank, imo. Over the subsequent years I picked up: -#3 and #4 camalot (which I rarely place) -#1 and #2 Rigid friends I picked up at a gear swap and had re-slung (doubles for finger size cracks) -#8, #9, #10 and #11 Hexentrics (picked up at a gear swap) I LOVE my hexes!!! Great way to double up on larger sizes without breaking the bank or weighing you down on those alpine approaches. They also provide a secure placement where nothing else will (like inward flaring cracks). Just put a long sling on them. Nobody has mentioned it here yet, but I know alot of people like tri-cams for this same reason. Pink seems to be a popular size. Good luck

60-70 degrees this weekend...too hot for lycra?