summerprophet

This is one of those things that you can overthink whilst sitting in your comfy recliner during the summer........ in all reality, it is obvious when you are out there. Get a decent stance, with good tool placements, and drive in the screw between mid chest and hips..... anywhere else is simply going to be too difficult. I often use old tool marks as a good spot to start the screw, gets it to "bite" easier.

Canada ain't doing to bad really, 17 medals for a country with a population of only 33 million comes up to about 2 million people per medal. USA has a whopping 79 medals for a population of 304 million, coming to about 4 million people per medal. Hell congrats to all the athletes who made it there, remember, coming in dead last at the olypics, still means you among the best 1000 athletes in your sport. Very doubtful anyone one here can make those claims. 'Sides, everyone knows Canada is all about the winter sports anyways.

Thumbs up on both the Olympus SW, and Canon Point and shoots. Olympus: Shockproof, Water resistant and compact, custom rechargable batteries, and no optical viewfinder. (bought for my wife) Canon A510 Tough as nails. Period. Dropped from "the Surprise" on Five open books, plunged 200 ft to the valley floor. Fired right up once I found it. Dropped while on Mountain Biking, hit a rock, denting the casing, zoom extended, no response from the camera, certain it was dead. Forced the zoom back into the camera, and to my surprise, the camera fired right up again. After about a year of abuse, the shutter has to be opened manually, but that si somewhat expected. If you intend to abuse your camera, avoid Sony and Panasonic. Don't buy a Kodak.... ever.....

Warning: Drove into the Coulee today on the way though. I noticed that there were ariel flight targets set on site. For those of you not in the know, a flight target is a marker placed on the ground for ariel photography to be taken. As the prices for such things start around $5000 chances are there is a developer interested in the land. Seeing as two seperate rumors I have heard involve 1.) Fish and Game not interested in anything happening on site or bothering to maintain (or even visit), and 2.) Possible Golf course development on the valley floor. Incidently, proving that Fish and Game has essenially abandoned the site, the toilets are in a sad state of affairs, if anyone here knows who to contact regarding maintaining them, please pass on the message. Also, is there anything we can do as a community pre-emptively to prevent loss of access to the Coulee? Be a shame to have just spent 3 hours working on a new stone staircase to not be able to use it.

Fern, I would consult with the "Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia", I believe they may have been involved with the original draft, and are also heavily into all the background government stuff as far as land management and park issues. Incidently, you wouldn't happen to be the same Fern I met in Yosemite circa 1998 would you? I remember you planning on gearing up to solo the prow.

I have the peruvian maps for both Alpamayo and Huascaran. I can copy them if you can deal with black and white. PM re the guidebook. J.

Old chouinard reverse locking biners will not bind up at all, the screwgate is very thin. Unfortunately, they had a tendency to unscrew themselves....... pros and cons.

Oh seriously, with all the fucked up shit going on in Iraq, are you seriously jealous of anything they have? Sure gas is cheap there, they have it all, and don't have the government structuring to tax it and provide services and benefits to the population. I will take a warfare free zone and happily pay top dollar for fuel, rather than having foreign troops and local tough guys duke it out in my backyard with machine guns and rockets.

Plastic boots do a pretty good job of packing out to fit your foot. Those koflach boots are pretty soft for a plastic, and while you aren't going to get into french technique or anything, They aren't really that much stiffer or heavier than my full leathers. That being said, I would really hesitate to buy boots online (especially leathers). When you calculate the number of miles you intend to put on your boots, you really want the comfort to be there. I am a little behind the times when it comes to boots, but last I remember, koflach boots fit wide feet pretty well. I had a friend who used EMS for mail order, and they would fit you as best they could if you sent in a tracing of your foot. I am not sure if this is still offered, but might be an avenue worth looking into. Not knowing you, your feet, your type of climbing, or what VA is like I would suggest going with the lightest, most flexible mountain boot you can get by with. It will not have the kick ass ice stomping ability of doubles, but will be easier on your knees for approaches, and save you from carrying approach shoes in addition to your pack. I am thinking along the lines of LaSportiva Makalu / Asolo Glacier, full leather, full shank with a bit of flex and camber for the hiking, rubber rand, etc. But for sure, ignore the price tag and go with what fits.

I plan on going to the Ellensburg meeting. Is there any issues that the climbers on here would like to see addressed?

Side Note on self arrest. Practice these arrests every year. Face up, Head uphill Roll to position and arrest. Face down, head uphill Often the only skill practiced by the unseasoned Face down, head downhill Drop pick in, fluttering feet to rotate around to position Face up, head downhill, Rolling to drop in pick, fluttering feet to rotate around Without Axe grasping hands and dropping elbows to snow to create "dam" Body position higher than with an axe, more weight on toes

90% of the time a self arrest, is used as a rapid brake for when someone drops into a crevasse. Now by dropping into a crevasse I do not mean the huge Hollywood plunges, rather you poke in a leg or two, and belly crawl out. Now, that being said, being able to drop in that position rapidly, without thinking "Hmmm, why is the rope so tight" and perform a perfect drop should be a MANDITORY skill every mountaineer has. The other advantage with proper ice axe technique, is you develop a knowledge of how long it will take you to stop, and what kind of terrain you can arrest on. This builds your comfort level on steep snow slopes and during glissades, making you faster in the mountains, able to climb comfortably without pickets, and able to continue without having to stop to needlessly put on crampons. I have no stories of partners "spilling" and requiring an arrest, nor can I tell you of rope teams going. But unlike rockclimbing partners, I am VERY picky about who I venture into the alpine with.

Matt, While I most recently coined the phrase, I certainly was not the first. here is my take on the matter. While real world bolting situations are for the most part experienced climbers submitting their cash and hard work to equip a route. Anyone who has developed a climbing area can attest to the fact that it is hard, filty work. The issue is that internet forums are not real world, and anyone without the knowledge or skill can attempt to get that information without learning under the leadership of someone more experienced. I remember, not that long ago, rockclimbing was learned under the guidance of the previous generation, with the understanding that the tradition would be carried on when it was your turn. Gym climbing and the urbanization of the sport has changed this tradition, and I think a lot of us still have our cards pretty close to our chest handing out information on a forum where it can easily be misinterpreted by a fledgling climber. Not that that is a bad thing mind you, greater good and all that..... But in bolting especially, it is damn expensive to do correctly, and not that much cheaper to do poorly. In addition it is a buttload of work, and not near as fun as a day out climbing. I kind of view it as sailing around the world, something a lot of people inquire about, and would love to know the details, but very few are about to pony up the cash, time and dedication to actually persue such endevors. (sidenote: I never responded to the discussion this grew from, firstly, because I didn't want to provide more ammo to those with inflamatory responses, and secondly because good information continued to trickle in. I am pretty sure those who know me and/or climb with me know I am not about to go grid bolting anything. I am a trad climber at heart. I don't have the eye for sport routes, and the bolts I place are generally top anchors or face climbs to get to the cracks.)

Go to a hardware store and pick up fine grain sterile sand and fiberglass resin. Mix together and apply to the wall.

I am curious if anyone here has bolted basalt. Looking for specifics regarding plated nature of the rock, and equipment used. Please PM me, to avoid details being available to any punk kid with a drill, and provide ammo to the angry "know it alls" who peruse thsi site without having been on rock in years. This is in the Tieton. Thanks in advance.

Matt, PM Sent.

Just met Jim yesterday afternoon out at Frenchmans Collee. The new guide is available, and Jim is doing the tour from shop to shop. Keep your eyes peeled for the new guide, at long last it is here. Mountain High in Ellensburg has copies, and Jim may still have damaged copies for sale next week when he is back there for climbing.

Bakeries? Showers? Ikea? It appears that the climbers around here have no idea what dirtbagging is. It is about stretching your dollar to last as long as possible. If you are enjoying a table in a diner, then you have failed at dirtbagging my friend. Cooking for yourself, washing in creeks, and trading rather than paying are all signs or the extended dirtbagger. Oh, and if you are a "weekend dirtbagger".... you aren't a dirtbag, you are just a cheap bastard.

A few options, Craigslist Rideshare, Supertopo.com (valley based website) would be good options to hitch a ride through. Also, YARTS is the bus operator in the Valley. They have service from Merced Airport.

Rob, My schedule works with yours, but I have no idea where you are located and what level you are looking to climb at. Get back to me if you are in central Washington, and looking to climb 9's and 10's.

Concrete and Real rock are not the same thing my friend. Expansion bolts and epoxy bolts both have their place. Epoxy bolts are not the end all solution to bolt placement. In hard rock the drill hole will be very smooth sided, and the epoxy will not penetrate the rock, creating a cylendar of glue with minimal adherance. The benefit of epoxy is it penetrates into the pores of the softer rock (and concrete) creating a placement structure far greater than the size of the meager hole. And I never claimed to be an expert, just have knowledge willing to share, and experience in these matters. And as far as bending, the "shitty steel" (actually some of the best steel available) can bend when the bolt binds in the hole. And if your gas pocket theory is true, the bolt would fracture out the rock once you tightened the bolt down, causing it to spin in the hole....... see my statement about drilling extra deep.

Here is my .02. I have placed over 30 bolts. Both by hand and with a power drill. Here is my take on answering a few of the misconceptions floating around here. Hole depth: In some cases hole depth is pertinant to the integrity of the hole. HOWEVER.... modern bolts like this are less common (and far more expensive) than the equivalent to the typical epoxy or expansion wedges. Old stardrive, ,and mashhead bolts required a specific depth to be set properly. Modern expansion wedge bolts do NOT require a specific depth, and as a matter of fact, if you have a power drill at hand, you should actually drill the same depth as the length of the bolt, so if the bolt is bad (bends or hits a soft spot) you can bury the bolt, and hide the hole. Obviously hand drilling you stop drilling as soon as possible. If it was indeed an sleeve wedge style expansion bolt (a la fixe or redhead) I would suspect the wrong size bit was being used. a 10mm bit is close enough to look correct, and will sometimes even hold the bolt enough to appear good. The bolt can blow around 5 to 30 lbs force, less if it was hand drilled. (Hand drilling makes a slightly larger, and less circular hole) While epoxying wedge bolts might work, I would not recommend it. Firstly, you are tossing dollars away, secondly, the sleeve would create an air pocket in the epoxy, weakening the placement, and lastly, those in the know, can actually tell what style of bolt it is by the external appearance. If I see a sleeve wedge hanging out of sandstone I am going to assume that whoever placed it had no idea what they are doing and may waste my time and money ripping and replacing the bolts with glue ins. If this is actually a new project, I would say we have to determine who is putting in these bolts, and put him on the right track. And determine and replace all the other deathtraps he may have set up for the rest of us.

I have an old beat up copy of "Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca of Peru" by Sharman. I am not about to part with it, but if you pay for the shipping and copy fees, I could get it your way. Of course I could just get you the specific routes you are thinking of. I have no qualms about making copies on books that are out of print, and are otherwise unattainable. Justin

Hey all, Looking to spend the weekend up in the mountains, and work off the winter fat. Just looking to stretch my legs and lungs, so not looking for anything I need to haul a rope for. Anything with open access to get me up into the alpine and bag some casual peaks without a mega hike? (ie. Hiking up a closed road) Thanks for the responses.

PM sent.