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The reachy bolt is right off of the 3rd anchor on the small ledge. It's just out of reach top stepping the left anchor bolt. There are several good reaches but that's the only one that requires a stick clip/hook move... You can read about my first attempt on this route here: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=738892

Sounds like you need to sleep on a portaledge, perhaps in Zion on Moonlight....

Aye, it's a little guy (BD Stubby). Being so overhung it's a really easy line to haul. Gives the leader something to do while the second cleans too

Thanks. It's a great route with tons of exposure. Just watch the loose rocks in the cave.

Trip: Smith Rocks Monkey Face - West Face Aid Route Date: 4/27/2008 Trip Report: So Dan F and I tried it again. The West Face rematch! This time we got the last pitch in with lots of time to spare. I had the first pitch: Dan jugging up: Dan leading p2 and p3. I got p4 and Dan had p5 Dan rapping off: Gear Notes: Small rack, offset nuts ~20 draws and 2 ropes. ****Stick clip****

I was near the top of the first pitch on WF so proably close to 40 meters up. I'd guess he got canopy ~30 meters above me... sailed by and said hello, then drifted around the corner. I have lots of pictures of Dan on the first pitch of the bolt ladder and the summit pitch coming out of the cave. I'll try and get them edited and posted this week. Thanks for the fun climb Dan!

I ordered these without trying them on. Bouldered in them for less than 10 minutes at the gym. They are 43.5 and my true shoe size is 11-11.5 so they are way too small. Retail is like $120 I'd like to get ~$80 out of them to put towards a pair in my size

I picked up the 1-4 from MG. They are a bit narrower than their C4 counter parts and just slightly wider than C3s. I don't have any other cams to compare them too. The trigger is softer than the C3 and I like the feel. Like Bill I'm a bit confused about the trigger cable placements. Seems like if they rotated them 90 degrees the stem would nest better. Nice solid piece of gear though!

Aye aye!

Dan F and I were out there a couple of weeks ago. Aided up something to the climbers left of the corner then did the corner. Snowed on and off but the rock was mostly dry with just a few went spots. There was not a single person there besides us all day. Good times

Damn, too slow. I wanted a second livewire.... Thanks anyway Bill

Wow, that brings back some memories! When I was 15 I hiked up to Coldfish lake, then onto the Spatzizi (SP) river where we built a log raft. We took that down until it met the Stakine and onto telegraph falls. No technical climbing just a lot of bushwacking! Nice work guys!!

Nice work guys! I picked up that new guide book for RR. Now I want to head down there!

He's referring to REI's return policy but I don't think they resell any technical climbing gear for liability reasons..

I've only used this pack once so it's perfect. It's almost 10 years old and has been mothballed in my closet for nearly that entire time. This is US made unlike their new packs. I have the Vector day pack and snowboard attachment along with a rain cover w/pouch and a water bottle holder. From http://www.trailspace.com/gear: "User Review: Osprey Xenith Reviewed September 14, 1997 by Mike Fogarty Rating: rated 5 of 5 stars Design: Internal Size: 7000 ci (size large/with the Vector Day) Number of Pockets: toplid, upper, lower, & Vector day Max. Load Carried: 75lb Height of Owner: 6'4" Price Paid: $400 I recently wore this pack to train for and to participate in an expedition seminar on Mt. Rainier. I bought this pack because of its workmanship and comfort. While shopping I tried a Mountainsmith, a North Face, and a Kelty Lockdown. Each was tested with about 50lb load over a period of a couple of days. The Osprey was the most comfortable and had by far had the best workmanship. A plus is Osprey's Vector system. The Vector compression system is a line of 8 different pack attachments that act to carry gear and serve as the main compression system for the pack bag. I upgraded the standard 400 cu.in Vector 2 for a highly versitle 750 cu.in Vector Day. The day serves as a small day-bag and also will house a hydration bladder! It's a great system. I plan to purchase additional Vector components. Another plus to the Ospery Xenith is the fact that it has slash zips and a really nice built-in sleeping bag stuffer.... which makes getting your sleeping bag into the pack a BREEZE!! In summary, it's a well thought out and well made pack, a very comfortable pack, and the vector compression system adds tremendous functionality and versatility!" $150 OBO 97225 can ship where ever

LMAO

When I was an electrician we used to send the apprentices to the job trailer for wire stretchers when they weren't being useful... Similar technique I suppose.

Never met him but obviously he had a profound effect on the climbing community and everyone he met and will be missed. R.I.P.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Those of you that have not climbed with Dan take the chance if you get it. He's very safe and his technical know how is impressive. I'm just learning aid climbing and am really glad to have Dan helping me out. I never doubt his judgment for a second. When you have a couple hundred feet of air under you it's nice to know the guy on the other end of the rope has you covered. I think a stick clip and another aider would really smooth out the ripples on this climb. Heck just knowing I can actually reach that bolt makes all the difference! Like Dan I'm looking forward to doing it again now...

Trip: Smith Rocks Monkey Face - West Face Aid Route Date: 10/27/2007 Trip Report: So last weekend Dan Forester and I tried our hand at the West Face of Monkey Face at Smith Rocks. It was really cold in the AM and I got the joyful task of first belay... Soon I had every scrap of available clothing on and I was still shivering. But the sun was coming and Dan shed an hour off of his previous climb time for the first 40 meter pitch. So I jugged up towards the sunshine and cleaned the pitch. By the time I got to the belay ledge I was sweating my ass off so I jettisoned my soft shell. Dan actually tossed it and it basically landed in my girlfriends lap at the base. Nice shot! I had the technically easy but mentally daunting task of running the next three pitches together up to the West cave. It's all bolts so what's the big deal right, right.. I pass the first set of anchors and the over hang eases up a bit. Keep on chugging and pretty soon I'm at the second set on a little ledge. It's a very shallow dihedral and above it the wall starts overhanging again leading to the West cave. Only problem is the first bolt is like 9-10 feet off of the ledge! WTF!?! I'm just using two aiders so if I try to top step only one leg bears the punishment. I simply can't do it. Too strenuous and too off balance. Clipping the anchor and stepping as high as possible the with a stiff quickdraw the bolt is nearly a foot out of reach (I'm 5'10"). Hmm well it looks like I could free climb it. Dan is wondering what is going on at this point so I tell him I'm going to put my climbing shoes on and try to free a move or two to the bolt. I try that for a bit and between the exposure and the thought of landing back on this little ledge I don't think I could have free climbed a staircase at that point. Someone around the corner on West Face Variation is suggesting a nut tool for extra extension but I don't have any tape.. I suggest Dan jugs up to me but he quickly reminds me that if I can't reach it he won't be able to either.. Then my MacGyver instinct kicks in and I get an idea. So with my boots back on I put both aiders on one daisy and try top stepping it. Bouncing on my tip toes I can just nick the bottom of the hanger with the draw. I shout down, "I just touched it!!!!!!!" Dan is probably regretting his choice of partners at this point.. So I just need a couple of inches. I have some sport draws and it looks like I can wedge an oval biner in the loose end lengthwise. Sure enough it fits, albeit very tightly! So now I'm able to hold the very bottom of the draw. I get back into position and whamo it's in. Before I lose my grip on it I clip my other daisy in and we're off again. Two or three more times I need to consolidate my aiders on one daisy to reach a bolt on the way up to the cave. None required the Richard Dean Anderson signature series quickdraw though.. Dan had told me a trick about pulling your daisy's off of your aiders so you could leave the aiders behind in an awkward situation. The lip entering the cave is one of those situations. So again I put both aiders together on the last bolt, get up to the 3rd or 4th step and have the lip at belly level. There is a ton of small lose rock here! So I find some holds and commit to it. I bring my right knee up onto the ledge and crawl over. Leaving my aiders dangling on the last bolt. From this ledge there's another 4 foot tall step into the cave proper and it has gravel right up to the edge along with lots of bigger rocks. The main trail runs directly below and my girlfriend is sitting down there. I'm pretty sure Dan is out of harms way due to how overhung the climb is though. So I spend a few minutes pushing rocks back from the edge and still managed to send a fist sized rock over. I yell rock and luckily it didn't hit anyone! Half monkey half man.. I set up the fixed line and try to let Dan know he can start jugging but he can't hear me. My GF ends up relaying messages between us. Soon he's on the way. We had a second rope for the rap that we used as a belay line so I was able to monitor progress. Soon it stopped and I hear my GF shouting that Dan wants me rap down. Huh? No way. Dan couldn't have said that. So I double check and sure enough.. So I'm looking at all this rock the rope is going to bring down and the fact it's almost entirely overhung so reaching the anchors will not be fun at all. I quickly decide if we need to bail the West Face is not way to do it. Dan was concerned about how late in the day it was. I thought he was at the third anchor and it was only 5 bolts and a scramble to the top from where I was.. Plenty of time! Turns out he was at the second anchor and it took another good hour for him to get to me. By this point summiting was not our first option but there's no obvious rappel route from the West cave. So we decide to rap out of the South side of the cave in hopes of penduluming over to Bohn Street and bailing from there. By now it's starting to get dark and we only have one head lamp. Dan glanced over the South edge and yells that he doesn't think he can see Bohn. Hmm. Not good. Maybe we do have to go up. But I remember seeing a sport route on the topo leading from Bohn Street to the West Cave.. So we set up a rap with a single 70m rope and over I go. The rope ends were knotted (Dan kept the headlamp so he could set up his rap) and I was using a kleinheist. Soon in the failing light I see Bohn Street and my fears were eased. Now I just need to get there. I lower down 15-20 meters and start swinging. Soon I'm in range and dive for a hold. Bingo! I crawl up and clip the line in and yell for Dan to follow. I give him some tension and soon he's standing next to me. We set up the last rap and within minutes the rope is coiled and we're jogging down the trail to gather up our gear and locate my GF. Gear Notes: That is without a doubt the most exposed climb I've ever been on. The exposure is very sustained too. High recommend the route! Tons of fun. I'd take a stick clip or your favorite NBA player along and probably split up the bolt ladder next time. 3-4 aiders would probably be a good idea too. I'm no whiz at jugging but I just had to do the first pitch which is pretty much vertical. Dan had a lot of trouble on the overhung sections with his setup. I'm sure he'd be happy to comment about what was going on. The sustained over hang makes seemingly easy tasks very difficult.

It was a good show!

28th and Sandy, at least the were there a month ago. I stopped by yesterday around noon and they weren,t open.. didn't occur to me that the might not be there. Looked normal from the street....

Always top shelf around here!

I like the picture in the top left.. reminds me of some old movie where these kids were gangsters and had marshmellow guns.. NOrgDbldcA4

Oh, now it makes sense... Interesting for a compression break but I aints no DR!