old 5.9

Out here on the peninsula a few of us wanted a place where we could conveniently climb some fairly hard shit on a regular basis. Thus the Elwha wall was brought into service. We would go out and spend days hanging on fixed ropes, trundling death blocks, scraping and scrubbing off moss and dirt, tearing up shrubbery and installing protection, all in the spirit of creating Port Angeles’s next dick wrenching mega classic. We were, I think successful in creating a few classics but of course not everything pans out and we created some duds too. All in all we did create a climbing area worth visiting and after being featured in the latest Olympic Mountains climbing guide has become a fairly popular stop in. Other than myself there is only 1 other person that I’d call a regular climber in town, so I personally like that more people are visiting, it makes for a more regular climbing scene. Along with the new visitors there apparently have been a few (1 or 2) who feel it is ok to steal the fixed draws and slings off of a few of the hard routes. Granted Leave it to Cleaver does not see many ascents it did, however see quite a few attempts and the fact that you used to be able to bail after the first three clips by simply lowering off of stuff already in place encouraged folks to try it. I guess no more. The other routes affected by the thievery are done pretty frequently so fixed stuff will probably reappear at the tough clips. If ya took this stuff just return it and all is forgiven if not probably best you don’t come back. To the rest of ya welcome, and for those that want to come and weren’t quite sure how to get there now that the dam is gone here’s the beans: Park at the adventure trail trailhead just west of the Elwha Bridge on 112 and follow the trail to the powerline corridor go left down the corridor almost to last set of poles on this side of the river. Go right on a trail with no orv sign follow trail to trees with dayglo orange RP painted on them 50 feet or so past this look for a climbers trail branching of left and follow it down to the crag.

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1851610/Mastadon-Update He's over the crux! The punctured lung/broken ribs/induced coma to combat that stuff is sketchy business. So this is great news: that he's awake and breathing on his own. But he is in the hospital with multiple injuries and that means he is still exposed, because mistakes get made, risk of infection and etc. So vigilance is required. This is where having Tommy Herbert in the wings to monitor and critique Don's overall care strategy is so cool. Dr. Herbert is a hospitalist and that's what they do: keep tabs on and tweak the big picture like a project manager. When the time is right, we hope to see Don moved to Tom's native hospital, where he will be officially performing this function. Carter failed to mention that Don availed one of the nurses of one of our more endearing Western mudra... Namely that he slowly flipped her the bird when she wasn't bringing him enough ice to sooth his thirst.

If you are interested in the worlds largest dam removal you can follow along here: http://www.video-monitoring.com/construction/olympic/js.htm They just started chipping away at the 210ft. Glines Canyon dam at ten am yesterday.

There is now a new trail that goes left about 50 feet past a section corner monument which is alongside the trail going in from the powerline corridor about ¼ mile in from the powerlines. The new trail delivers you to the top of the gully adjacent to Earth and Sky where you then scramble down the gully to the base of the crag (handline fixed atp.) I was just informed by park law enforcement that the area will be closed this coming Friday and Saturday for the scheduled gathering of dignitaries and politicians at the dam on Saturday.

Being one of the original instigators at the Elwha and it's most frequent user by a long shot I have a little different perspective on the activities of this “Solid Rock” climbers group and the Elwha in general. First off the Elwha is loaded with loose rock. However, when we first established the routes we did our best to remove that which was truly dangerous yet lesser stuff will always remain that is just the nature of the place. If you are afraid of potentially loose rock you probably need to find another area in which to climb. It is totally unacceptable to take hammers and pry bars to long established and popular routes and remove holds because you are uncomfortable using them. This was recently done on the route Buzz away in the name of safety for beginning leaders now the first bolt is nearly impossible to clip and the second one nearly as bad. This is certainly not an improvement in my eyes especially in terms of safety. The “new routes” consist of a one bolt variational start to the route Panasonic and a five bolt squeeze job in between The Breeze and It Goes with anchors placed mid route on The Breeze, which have subsequently been removed. Both of these had long ago been top roped from already existent gear and remain easily top roped today. None of the original bolts have been removed on existing routes as stated above by johnsonjj22. Someone did install a poorly placed bolt next to the original drilled angle on Earth and Sky, however they were not able to remove the old pin so I’d probably trust it more than the new bolt. The anchors were replaced on Slapping Skeeters in such a way that you now run the risk of shredding your rope over the edge of a ledge by top roping and lowering off of them. Dam removal is supposed to start in fall 2011 and thus far no restrictions on access to the crag. The cliff is currently very wet and will probably remain so till early April.

Super!

Mz, four to five days isn’t much time for a trip I think your best bet is to pick one spot and spend the duration of your trip there. Out of your listed choices City of Rocks fits the bill the best with lots of good trad lines easier than 5.9 and lots of good sport climbing harder than 5.10. Though we tend to think of SE Idaho as too hot in the summer much of the city is above 6000 ft and with the rocks being oriented N-S there are always options to either be in the shade or sun.

Wayne, Since you are heading to Utah and I don't know if you are lookin for suggestions I'll give a few anyway. Since it sounds like you are climbing 11's I don't think you will want to miss N. face of Castleton tower (first pitch is certainly one of the best sandstone pitches anywhere). If you have never done it do Ancient Art over in the Fishers and over in Arches Right Chimney on the Three Penguins is very nice, mostly a nice handcrack with a little offwidth finish despite the name. Have not done it myself but the West face of the Three Gossips looks awesome as does The Dunn Route on Moses in Canyonlands. Then of course there is Indian Creek. Happy trails

How's this?

For some good beginner routes on the Layton scale it’s hard to beat these. A cragging route Left side of Reed’s Pinnacle Something longer Steck-Salathe

I know this is a long shot since most partner threads here are dead end streets, but I'm heading out the door to Smith figured I'd give it a shot. Anyone want to climb? Look for blue vanagon with Washington plates. I will be there till monday.

Tyler's annoucement was a little premature, but now seepage has stopped and the place is truely dry and in all likelyhood will stay that way till next November.

Yeah and "putrid", "pointless" and "death tour".

I don't know there girl your camp looks a little rustic to me.

It exsisted as a toprope for years though before someone decided to bolt it. Now it just crowds stuff that's of better quality, and gives you some bolts to beat your chest with. Oddly, I've seen people style the clip up then get their butt kicked on Dogleg which is two number grades easier. Apparently it is easier to figure out a handshake than it is to figure out a handjam.