Dannible

Word on the street is that there are some slabs pretty much at the base of the west faces (a couple hundred feet below) that are pretty good. They were covered in snow a couple of weeks ago, but I wouldn't be suprised if they have melted out by now. Otherwise you can go up to the pass south of gunsight, or dig a platform in the snow anywhere. Have fun up there, and try not to let the approach get you down.

That picture doesn't do the chimney justice. We linked the corner shown in the picture with the real first pitch (I think), but if you choose to do this and the leader is a 5.10b/c climber I would suggest slpitting it in 2 by belaying at the rap slings below the overhang because the crux comes at the very end of the pitch right when you are getting tired. I didn't split it up, and took some nice falls as a result. Sweet pitch though, the overhang is easier than it looks.

I've done 6 of them in a half day. Don't bother with a rope if you are ok with downclimbing, and while crampons won't be required, you might want an axe or trekking poles to help cross any lingering snowpatches. Most of it is just scree walking without much elevation gain so your time will depend on whether you walk or run on the easier stuff. Fun place.

Yep, a great few days in one of the nicest places that I have ever been. The traverse should be a classic, and would be more popular than similar routes such as the Torment to Forbidden (that's really the only thing that I can think of to compare it to) if it were closer to a road. We pitched out about 15 pitches, simul-climbed a couple (class 4), and soloed a couple (low 5th and class 4) to help avoid a cold night. There were 3 or 4 5.10 pitches, and all but a few were above 5.5. What Blake left out about the last pitch and the 2 raps to the snow was that they were done in almost total darkness, without headlamps; headlamps and alpine starts are aid anyway. The 2006 east face route is super cool. Solid rock, and really sustained. Aiding the crux by pulling on gear is pretty easy if that kind of thing isn't for you. We did a variation of that pitch (because we were confused) and A0ed up the wide flake to the right, which would also be about 10d. When we realised where we went wrong Blake dropped down and TRed the real splitter, which he really enjoyed. Due to our 5pm start, we enjoyed another summit sunset. Our new route, Accidental Discharge, is not quite so classic. The fist pitch was good, but my pitch was pretty much just plain nasty. With several 5.10 overhanging offwidths and chimneys, poor protection, and rock so loose that I had to take inventory of what holds I could use before committing to cruxes, it is more like something you would find in the Olympics than in the Gunsight range. Sorry for giving too much beta, but I am just still pretty stoked about how things worked out. Blake is a good parner, and knows this area of the Cascades more than pretty much anyone.

My dad lived worked there for a while in the 80s, and throughout my life he told me enough jokes and stories about the kind of people who live there to make me want to avoid it at all costs. He said that he whenever he left Bellevue he could never look people in the eye when he told them where he was from, so I just kind of get a kick out of how enthused you are about the place. Not that there is anything wrong with that... I found it interesting that when you were questioning what there is to life you said nothing about climbing. I would guess that to many people here that is more important than the other options you listed, and for some, myself included, it is more important than their job, house, car, and money (no, I don't have a family to support right now). Its not going to change the world, but unlike the system that many people in places like Bellevue for example are feeding into, its not hurting much. I do fall into your 18-25 year old category, so its not like anything that I have to say is worth anything to a fellow with your kind of class and wardrobe, but have you ever thought of working to improve the living standards (education, parks, crime) in places like Seattle rather than just moving to suburbia to pretend that the problems don't exist? This is all just something to think about; who knows, in 20 yeas I might be living next door to you, giving my life away to make my boss richer in order to pay for my fancy hover car and pool. Feel free to defend your way of life by insulting mine, I am going to be off climbing for a while and won't be able to respond, so you will be able to feel like you shut me down.

Might not be a "must do," but this route has some fun pitches: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=628237&PHPSESSID=dfd9db59b57e009552e95d129dcf6817. I think that if you head east from the start of the NW Face, on the east end of the grassy bench you can drop down 10 feet on a class 4 slab to a ledge at the base of the 3rd pitch, avoiding a lot of class 4 and two easy pitches. Or you might have to scramble up over something before you drop down, I don't remember. Might be a good way to spend your half day. Bring extra RPs and your choice of narrow headed small cams to make the aid reasonable. Offsets would be ideal.

Well, I was going to say that we should start burning foreigners in the streets to set an example, but I think G-spotter is on to something. This is our chance to make the world think that we are sympathetic, peaceful people who just want what's best for everyone. Once we have regained their trust, WE STRIKE!

I'm not saying that it's fair, I'm just saying that I understand why the undocumented worker might put the needs of his family and himself before others.

Well, I would rather have them steal than starve to death I guess, but that is not the issue here. They are working. Stealing and working are two different things.

I agree that punishing those who hire illegal immigrants is the way to solve the problem, but the simple fact is that the illegal immigrants who were arrested had no malicious intent. In most cases they are trying to make a better lives for themselves and for their families. Sure they could have gone through the necessary hoops to get the legal documents, but I would imagine that when your family is starving, patients wears thin, and you are going to do whatever it takes to support them.

That's bold. 10b is an oldschool rating (castle rating) for Brass Balls, I'd call it c or d. Pulling through the first roof your body is parallel to the ground (can't really tell in the video), and you have to swing out and pull up on jugs. The crux for most people is pulling through the second roof on insecure finger locks.

Nice picture. His bike ended up in the bushes about 30 feet away. Pretty much the first thing I said was "this is an asshole thing to say, but I'm glad you took the lead!"

Generally speaking I'd say that Olympic choss makes North Cascade choss seem pretty nice. There is a pretty good reason why the more technical routes are not very popular in there.

Sounds like a full dose of Olympic fun. Thanks for reporting on this, I was thinking about either soloing it, or bringing some gym climbers along. So much for that. If you are really feeling down in life, go climb the South Ridge of Mt. Buckhorn... Sorry about the rope.

We saw 3 snakes there on Sunday. They seemed friendly enough though, and only one rattled despite much taunting.

Ski tracks crack is fun

That's you guys on pitch 4. I was so stoked when I saw the route was dry. In early season coming up from the hairpin is the way to go; 1 hour up, 10 minutes down.

Nice to meet you Bill, let me know when you want to check that place out this summer. Drinking all night and climbing (and drinking) all day? You guys sound like my kind of people.

Did anyone else see this? I was belaying my partner up on the southwest rib, heard a rumbling (one of many throughout the day), and looked over in time to see someone's near miss.

Nothin like a good old fashion lynch mob.

I don't know what it's called, but next to "La Cucaracha" there is a nasty one that doesn't really let you get solid jams of any kind. The book calls it 5.9, but personally I would say that it is the hardest single pitch that I have climbed.

Ok, I can go for a little while. I've seen cliffhanger AND vertical limit so clearly I know how to belay and stuff. What time you thinking? I'm free until about 3.

I'm gonna be up that way on Friday and might have time early on. I'll get back to you.

I haven't been up there recently but I would think that there is snow. I climbed it last fall when there was a good amount of snow on it and it was fine; I'm not sure about the north side routes, but for the most part the top seemed pretty low angle.

There are lots of routes at Mt. Erie, near Anacortes. Some people like the place, some hate it, but Olympia has no real rock so you might like it (I do). Larabee State Park has some good bouldering right on the beach and some places that you can put up a top rope on the traintracks. There are a handfull of other smaller areas such as Blanchard Mountain, Big Rock (east of Mount Vernon), and on the Mt. Baker HW. There are guidebooks available, or you can look online.