montypiton

I'd have to side with Mattp on this one. Tents have their place (bugs, big mountains) but if light, versatile, and inexpensive is your goal, it's hard to beat a tarp. Create more dry space per weight than any tent, and condensation is a non-issue.

Keenan & Mark - glad to hear you kids are maintaining the proud standards of the CFCC! ("if I told you, you'd have to kill me") well done! -Haireball

I have used them on occasion, but usually prefer the new generation curved hexes from WC & DMM. One place the tricams really shine is on climbs where you find pockets & holes, but few real cracks. A tricam will fit into a hole or pocket where the length of the axle precludes use of a normal cam, and a hex simply doesn't have the camming range to work. of course, most climbs of this type are bolt-protected these days...

from O-zone yesterday, Stuart looked like April -- LOTS of snow. probably entertaining as long as you're prepared for it... for the standard North Ridge route, it shouldn't pose much difficulty except possibly at the gendarme bypass. might be a pitch of spicy mixed there.

Chris - agreed, a kiwi-coil is NOT a substitute for a chest harness, but it can be tied to fulfill that function, and I can assure you from experience, it does work. certainly a mountaineer's coil stowed on your pack would work as well as the kiwi coil in many situations, and I can see how it could be more convenient in some. wearing a pack of any size, kiwi-coil seems to just get in the way...

I carry one six-millimeter cordelette pretty much everywhere - it's just "part of my harness" like the belay device that lives on the belay loop. I almost never use it for building belay anchors. Trained as a guide back in the eighties, to me it's an "all-purpose" emergency piece. I use it to sling BIG trees, to build loops to stand in at hanging belays on free climbs, and it's an essential element in most self-rescue maneuvers. Escaping a loaded belay without one takes more ingenuity than I like to count on... I go through one or more per season, because I cut them up for rappel anchors when I need to build those. So I vehemently disagree that it's a "one-trick pony". Hell, I've even used them to construct emergency harnesses in hairy situations. I've almost never felt the need to carry more than one at a time.

agreed! even living in Leavenworth over thirty years now, Castlerock remains at the top of my favorites list. I never get tired of it!

thought-provoking posts! I hadn't considered "restructuring" the route. thinking in those terms, there may well be superior stances within "modern" rope-lengths, and given modern styles, (I try not to use the term "ethics") it makes sense to use them. eliminating the one hanging stance would "improve" the route without changing the character of the climbing. (although, for me, it would alter the character of the overall route experience) and if the consensus is that the old bolts ought to be removed, I'm not truly against removing them, I'm just lazy. If I truly believed using them presented a real hazard, I'd feel a lot less lazy. I like consensus decision-making. The final product may take a while, but I think the discussion is productive, and will yield a superior solution.

thanks for the post! now I know what to do with my tired old thermarest!!

Bob - thanks for "risking" the thoughtful and thought provoking posts. I too had a mentor for whom climbing was pure fun, and that's likely the reason I'm still climbing at my age. Matt- I'm not sure where I'd move that belay to -- I don't recall a comfortable place to stand anywhere close, and I'd be hesitant to move it any great distance. If I make the improvement, I'd be inclined to add a single 3/8 modern bolt out left of the existing two, and set up the anchor with the existing bolts equalized as a single element, and that combination equalized with the new bolt. This configuration would improve, rather than replace the existing anchor, and would not create additional scarring of the rock. It would move the focal point of the anchor further left from the dihedral, making the stance more spacious. There still wouldn't be anything to stand on, and if I were to do this climb again, I'd hang slings to stand in to make the stance more comfortable. as long as we're already debating, I'd appreciate feedback on my proposed improvement. I'm really not inclined to remove the old bolts, and I do believe that they are solid enough to be a functional anchor element. And I readily admit that part of my resistance to removing bolts is pure laziness - pulling them and filling the holes just seems silly to me. (critics - fire away!)

"Kiwi coil" - name comes from John Fisher (used to own Palisades School of Mountaineering - Bishop, CA) who named it for S.P. Parker (from NZ) who introduced it to the AMGA at a workshop in 1988 (I was there). You tie into the rope end, coil about a third of the rope snug over your shoulder, tie off the coil and clip the tie-off to your harness. According to S.P., the NZ guides intend this method to be used on glaciers - if tied correctly, the coil functions as a chest harness for a climber taking a crevasse fall. The climber on the surface constructs an anchor and anchors the rope before untieing his/her kiwi-coil, then unties his/her coils and uses that free rope to construct a raising system if necessary. For a rope of three, kiwi-coil wouldn't be necessary, because with one in a hole and two on the surface, the surface climbers have enough rope between them to construct a raising system. Guides also use it to manage rope when short-roping clients on moderate ground. I like it for simulclimbing, as it facilitates communication by keeping partners closer together,and its easy to switch back and forth between short belayed pitches and simulclimbing. I've never used it for a rope of more than two.

I've worked on some rescue missions and training events with John & Olivia's Northwest Mountain School, and I've occasionally encountered their guides on cragging days. Easy folks to work with, and Leavenworth area seems a much better venue than Smith Rock for learning traditional lead skills...

I was the party on it on Sunday -- yup, it's dirty -- needs a lot more traffic. we traversed left out of the main dihedral at the one NEW bolt on the route (Telemarker's variant). I found the shallow dihedral more challenging than the traverse. Agree that the bolt anchors need reinforcing. I backed them up by slinging a football-sized chockstone in the dihedral (as described above), but this moved the focal point of the anchor closer to the dihedral, yielding a more awkward stance. I figured I'd go back and remedy this maybe sometime this month...

Have a drill, access to ss bolts, willing to share the labor. Climbed Mary Jane Dihedral last weekend & found two belay anchors which were each two fairly old rusted 5/16. I figured I'd go back & update these...

I climbed on the M.E. wall about a month ago - saw a number of other parties there as well. Haven't heard of any bird closure...

an opinion on the "tape = aid" controversy -- in ancient times (mid 1970s) I spent two climbing seasons at Devils Tower Wyoming. Dennis Horning and I established the Tower's first 5.11. In our transition to taping, we did a plethora of climbs both ways, and concluded that a good tape job was worth about a full number grade -- felt like a taped hand stayed in a marginal jam better than an untaped one. No doubt there are those who would disagree, but that's what it felt like to us. In those days, there were those who argued that CHALK = aid. There may still be a few of those around, but I haven't heard that argument for twenty years or so... I began using the Ocun gloves last year, and yes, I did notice the reduction in "feel". The sticky rubber more than makes up for that, for me -- but then I'm old & weak & need all the help I can get. I wear shoes, too, and climb several grades harder in them than I've been able to climb barefoot. Used to see photos of East Germans climbing barefoot on limestone - so they could use pockets which would take a toe, but not a shoe -- HARDMEN! everybody develops their own style, and mine is still evolving after forty years. All of this stuff works. Play around with it, spend LOTSA time in cracks. Compare different techniques and you'll settle into something that feels/works best for you. then don't get too attached to it, cuz down the road you're bound to see a better way sooner or later...

haven't seen your pm with paypal info yet... I still want the nanos.

check out Ocun's crack glove -- similar to hand-jammies, but paper thin - no thicker than a heavy tape job. I've been using them about a year now. yeah, at $30+ they initially seem spendy, but if you climb cracks daily, they end up being more economical. may be hard to find -- I mail-ordered from a dealer in Vancouver, Canada

I'd take the nanos - paypal works for me - shoot me a pm with particulars

when using the Kain hut in the ancient days, I would usually bed down in one of the numerous boulder-caves nearby - private sleeping quarters, perfectly dry, and the hut kitchen and social scene ready at hand. one advantage to this practice is we could easily check the weather at midnight - when we saw stars, we'd go, generally be done by the time the weather went to hell later in the day - and it was fun to sit in the hut with a hot drink and watch the stream of "drowned rats" straggle back in over the course of the afternoon... I have no idea whether this is permitted these days...

Scorpio at Smith Rock was run out for me. I was looking at a groundfall from the end of the unprotected second pitch. Those first two pitches were short enough that they could be done as a single pitch now, but you'd still be looking at a groundfall from 50+ meters... unless someone has placed a bolt since the '70s. I'd have to say that feeling run out, for me, depends on the combination of the likelihood, and consequence, of falling from my position. Fall-factor comes into play, as well. Thirty feet unprotected at the end of a sewn-up sixty-meter pitch feels way less run out to me than thirty feet of unprotected climbing immediately from the belay. I agree that it's a question well worth discussing

pm sent

sent you a pm...

whichever prusik solution you choose, you WILL test it before your first trip, yes? I've used single half and twin ropes for going light on alpine trips for decades. On moderate-angled ground where the load of a fall would be relatively light, it's most likely adequate. If in any doubt, just double it over and climb shorter pitches. you're on the right track...

check your pm file