Moof

Most slings are expendable to a certain degree... Only the select few are extendable! Sadly I've also found out my belt is extendable too...

Just say no to cast metal parts in safety gear! Most other climbing gear parts are stamped, milled, or extruded (and then milled). Cast Jumars supposedly would break at the thin front section if bashed into a rock or fallen onto. Cast parts tend to break instead of bend. Now if only Ivan hadn't dropped my blue Petzl one off Washington Column...

Why not do like Smith and just limit usage, instead of an outright closure? Just opening things up to single pitch (200' or less) usage on the south side would be a grand improvment. Many other climbing areas manage similar limited bans, the one at Beacon just seems retardedly broad in its scope.

Joseph, there there, I was taking a whack at a hybrid approach as suggested by a couple other Russkie users. You walk up the lower rungs normal style, then hook the top step or grab loop (depending on the angle), you get the best of both worlds, though you still sadly end up with the larger cluster of aiders. Word has it that Fish's alpine aid ladders are the absolute shit with russkie cuffs. I'll be posting my pics up here shortly too. But for now, kickass TR Ivan! It was a god damned pleasure to climb with you!

Ivan, Wonderful alliteration? Damnit I can too read! I basically am required to take a week off by the end of May, so I am flexible at the moment, but was thinking the week of the 10th, but anything from April 20th to the end of May is open. Basic plan is to drive Saturday, bivying just outside the park. Spend 2 more days getting a couple pitches fixed and humping loads to the base, and then blast. Pace will be intentionally modest. Mideast Crisis is my hope, but I'm interested in anything in the C2+/5.7 category less than 20 or so pitches. I have 2 ledges, a spare haul bag, and all that sort of crap.

would clove-hitching the lead line into a good piece in route work just as well? or would it be somehow more difficult to clean the pitch later on? Ivan, Leaving cloves behind has to be done carefully, as it is possible in a fall to pin the knot against any sharp bulge above the piece and cut the rope (so inspect for sharp bugles, duh). Alpine butterfly's can be preferable for this sort of thing, as if the knot is cut against the wall the rest of the knot still holds and you don't die (not immediately anyway). Alpine butterfingers are also easier to untie than a really cinched up clove (largely becuase I'm fat as fuck). Rebelaying around a sharp edge is a good idea, and the only time I usually rebelay, but you want to alipine butterfly into a slammer piece right before as well as the one right after the edge/roof/wtf so that neither jugging nor falling load the rope against the edge (good places for screamers due to the fall factor issue). Rubber bands do 2 things for you. As stated they keep the fall factor low, so are preferable except in the case of sharp edges. Second, as you mention it makes cleaning easier with rubber bands. If you can't clean them on rap, they just break when you start jugging. Usually they stay stuck to the rope so you aren't littering. Also, I hate getting to a rebelayed piece only to have to frig with the jugs. I usually have to get my weight on the piece to get the second jug on the rope and get the next section of rope snugged up (damn rope stretch...). It slows things down a lot for me. My $0.02 Anyone need a wall partner for a week in May? I'll even drive to the valley!

got one.

Dude, I wasn't being serious... Anything interesting planned for the last day at Beacon? Weather looks iffy. I was kind of just going to blow it off (turnabout is fair play!) for the last day.

Anyone want to join me Saturday or Sunday for a chop session? I'm happy to do the pulling if someone just wants to be a belay slave, but would be very thankful for someone with more bolt pulling experience than I have. I'll even drive. Ivan, don't you owe me a 5 hour belay? I figure the way to go is simply lead the thing to the last bolt, and start pulling and down aiding. Come warer drier stuff maybe Jospeh can do a little community outreach and show us his patching skills?

safeclimbing.org has a nice discussion of pulling Rawl 5 piece bolts. I've had mixed results. Longer bolts (non 2.25") are harder to pull the sleeve out of (hard to snag with a hook), and rusted in place ones are just a bear (another vote for sooner than later). Tools required here are: wrench, needlenose, nail, sleeve snagging hooking device (never found an effective widget for this so far), craw bar, funkness, and hammer. Stud bolts, as jospeh states are either a whack-em deep (if the hole was deep enough) or whack back and forth to snap off, then whack-em deep affair. Knowing what style of bolt these are would help greatly. I'd be happy to help in the bolt pulling effort, as either a mediocre puller, or belay slave. My Saturday is open.

Doh, got 2 things that night already booked in. Bummer!

Thanks Joseph, and Bill, Next season when things are less epic I'll go after the last lead bolt and the anchor bolt for Pipedream, so one of those monsters would be great. I can also donate a pile of plain Fixe SS hangers, the big burly 35kN ones, for any lead bolts that need upgrades. I think I have about 20-25 that no longer have any plans for them.

Where the hell were you all today? It was glorious out there, the sounds of nearby shotgun fire, no rain (steady gusts of snow flakes instead), and no line for SE Corner. Took down my fixed line. It was too damn cold, so I did not get the last lead bolt replaced. Maybe come summer. Ivan, I was wrong about the ledge size, it is much smaller than I was thinking. It is triangular with the well side being 7-8', and jutting out about 4-5' at it's widest. OK bivy for 1. The bolts are right at 5' up from the ledge, so hauling should be OK. Judging from my rap lines, a haul bag will hang out in space most of the way, and there are no real edges or ledges to wear the rope or snag the bag. New PDHW II anchor bolts: The very alluring hand/fist crack off the ledge to places unknown (Jensen's eventually?): The crack at the base. Purists can build their anchor with #2-#3's, eschewing the bolts...: My toes are still cold... FYI, I had right at 25-30' of extra rope from my 60m lines, so 2 55m ropes or longer are required. I did not see any intermediate rap station to easily get to, so it's all or nothing.

Just to add, SW has room for a good climbing gym. Club Sport is expensive enough that I've never set foot in it. Stoneworks has a nice vibe, but is small and useless for anything but bouldering. Never been to the circuit, as I can only stand douldering sessions every so often. So I commute all the fricking way to PRG, and not often enough to make my membership useful.

$65/mo is steap compared to the $49/mo PRG charges. Your other competition is Club Sport who quoted me $99/mo, to which I responded with a stunned 15 seconds of silence, hoping for a punchline. Cracks: Most gym cracks suck. Either do them right, or not at all. PRG cracks mostly suck, and see very little traffic. Planet Granite in Sunnyvale (and I hear their new San Fransisco gym) did an excellent job on theirs. I hear they contracted it out, call and visit them before making yours (then try PRG's to see how not to do it). Fitness: Most climber dudes want some gym gear, but a full 24 hour fitness will just dilute you and confuse your target audience. Could be wrong here. Too much of the 24 hour fitness crowd may annoy and alienate your climber crowd as well. Decide if you want to be a climbing gym with fitness stuff, or yet another gym with a climbing wall in the corner collecting dust. Features: Natural feature like stem boxes, well done aretes, non-stupid chimneys, etc are worth the trouble to include. Too many gyms look good from afar, but get very repetitive due to lack of "3 dimensional" climbing. Just crimping at various levels of overhang can just suck after awhile. Other: Consider putting in a couple aid climbing features. Most gyms do not allow any aid crap, so it would be a niche. I'm specifically suggesting a belayed fixed line to practice jugging, and a couple bolt ladders (vertical and overhanging). Such features would do wonders for those of us who want to dial in our systems for wall trips. Leading is not necessary, just a safe warm place to practice sequences with a TR belay. Yoga: WTF? If you want to make money, open yet another Yoga hall. While their is overlap of interests, one gym to do it all will suck at everything. The area has lots of yoga crap, pilates crap, etc. There is however a lack of a good climbing gym on this side of town, concentrate on that.

One of the dudes who was coming off Dodd's Jam as I arrived Sunday was well blood splattered (hand, pats, jacket, rope). It was from a nail trimming gone horribly wrong, which then opened up mid-lead. Just goes to show that you're safer on the cliff than off. Oh yeah, also means god wants you to keep your pants on.

That ledge wouldn't be too bad to just bivy on directly (with pretty thick pads, as the ledge is a bit lumpy), but would be maxed out with 2 dudes (plush for 1, tight for 2). The anchor location is very good for hauling, as it is at the very far right end of the ledge, and relatively high, but you'll want to make sure you get your hauler as high as you can. The only backup is in the crack at your feet, takes roughly #3 camalots (#2 and #4 will likely fit in there somewhere as well). I built a backup anchor and alpine butterflied into the fixed line when I went back to the car for the bolting gear. I only had a #3 C4, #3 Max Cam, and a #3 rigid friend (~#2 camalot) to work with. As for a portaledge, it'll have to be sitting right above the ledge, so half will be overhanging the void. Probably smart to clip a #3 camalot into the one corner to keep it from tipping every time someone farts. I got one more bolt done today, a 3.5" monster right at the beginning of the route. Old one pulled pretty darn easy. I was thwarted in my attempt to go higher, as the hurricane force winds were making my ropes go everywhere and tie themselves in knots. So I bailed... Fixed line is still there, so hopefully it will be less windy next weekend. Edit: Oh yeah, the wall side is very flat, so a ledge will lay against the wall very nicely.

Joseph said cold, very windy, but climbable on Friday. Lower pitches were better sheltered, but upper pitches of the corner were whipping. I'll be out tomorrow to finish bolting stuff, and will be packing my puffy.

I love that shoe review, definately the detail and right thinking I wish most gear review had. For $69 I'm still glad I got a pair, but I'm very glad I didn't pay full price. Black gear annoys me, and I love the paint primer solution for the wall shoes! Having sewn a bunch I understand the choice. Shit sewing and lousy cutting/piecing looks fan-fucking-tastic in black with black thread, and atrocious in more telling colors. But black clothing and gear is stupid more times than not. My metolius pack melts my snickers becuase of the black lid, and my granite gear backpack makes the water in my drink sack warm if I don't wrap it with spare clothes (yuck!). Stupid. Damn pretty looking gear though... For safety gear I am a strong believer in contrasting thread to make abrasion to sewing easier to detect. But who am I... High tops are something I've learned to grab a pair of whenever I can. My old green Alita's eventually died of resoles and overuse. Now I have a pair of Kaukulators on their last legs, a pair of comfy sized new Altias, and the Maximus. For thrashing up your favorite chimney or easy widefest with zero technique I just love the feel of proper ankle armor. Still got to get a pair of JB's when I'm flush again.

About 6-7 years ago when I first got interested in a couple rebolting projects. After reading up on the plethora of bolts in use, and installed I went through a pretty long period of "bolt freak out". Bolts can be bomber, but there are tons of overtightened, badly drilled, rusted, or simply crappy bolts. A lot of the advice that shows up for bolt installation is just wrong (safeclimbing.org is an excellent source of the right way of doing things). I cringe when I see folks advocating the bulk construction grade junk (redheads, rawl knock offs, etc). Shit like this just brings back the heebie jeebies I thought I was over...

Thankfully this didn't happen to me, but two of my partners (call them Walt and Tim) went on a wall with two other guys (good friends/partners of theirs). Reefer huffing was rampant: 1. Walt (non-reefer huffer) got sent out of lead with the rack the much more experienced reefer huffer prepared for him as the right rack for the pitch. It wasn't, things sucked badly for my friend. Refer huffing was attributed as the main reason for the bone head rack selection for that pitch. 2. A day or two later reefer huffer #1 lead the pitch. Reefer huffer #2 was screwing with bag rigging for a very long time (attributed to refer huffing). Upon being annoyed by the delay reefer huffer #1 started hauling. The locking biner to the swivel was not locked (source of much controversy), and it unclipped, sending the bags went for the big ride. Fortunately for the bags, but not reefer huffer #2, there was a lower out line. The lower out line proceeded to wrap around reefer huffer #2's legs and give him very bad rope burns as the bags wrenched to a stop (probably >>200 lbs of gear). The rope was nearly cut loose by Walt to end the screaming, but Tim managed to get an ascender on the line to save the bags as well as reefer huffer #2's legs. Walt took his rope, bag, and bailed. The three remaining stooges soldiered on for another day or so before it became clear that it wasn't gonna happen. Edited to fix refer to reefer. Tells you how much reefer I've huffed.

I got my Strykers and Maximus shoes in. Sizing: Strykers were spot on for my usual street shoe size, handling a thickish sock just fine, as their first outing was aiding in near freezing weather. Maximus are sized about right, but sized about like my climbing shoes. If I had it to do over again I'd spring for the split sizing, as my left foot is longer than my right, but I cheaped out. I'm hoping for just a smidge of stretch, then I'll be set. Even though they claim zero stretch, when they did demos at the gym once I noted their 10 fit me looser/better than the 10.5, to which the demo dude fessed up to having used that particular pair for a full days climbing. We'll see. The maximus to me is more confusing now that I have it in hand. It is overly stiff and such to be a great free climbing shoe (unless your old with bad feet), but the toebox and such is just too climbing shoe to be an all day aiding shoe. Sort of a great looking shoe that makes no sense. Both shoes lack for arch support, and my arches are only moderately high. I fixed the strykers with a home made foam insert, but haven't dorked with the maximus yet.

Joseph, I'm planning to be out there both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. I'd be up for following you up some free climbing crap. I know how royally FAT I've gotten, so, yeah, feel free to find a stronger partner instead. My only tick list is to get the last two lead bolts on the start of Pipedream and retrieve all my crap (half day solo), and I'll likely do that Sunday. What and where is Menopause?

How about "A Thousand Monkeys"? Referring to the old addage of a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters for a thousand years will eventualy write a great novel. Less gay. My weekend is wide open, so if I can wrap up the last two bolts (shouldn't take long at all) then I definately want to check this beast out.

Old Bolts: The button head was harder to pull, the threaded was in a slightly cratered hole, so a good 3/8" on the left side of the bolt was not actually embedded in rock, and it correspondingly was pretty easy to pull. According to my book the anchor is for Pipeline Headwall II, no anchor is shown in my Olsen guide there (probably because nobody has done the route in 25 years). If you want to pencil it in your guidebook, mark it on the right side of the that is depicts (1.5" above the "125" route number in my guidebook). My blue alien I think is finally getting retired: The copper widget got pinched over a sharp edge on this outing enough this time to bind on the cable. That is the final injury for it. Long ago the trigger wire bar got mangled, and one spring has been funky for a while and keeps popping loose.