obwan

As mentioned, multipitch are hard to come by - for moderate and fun trad routes, The 60 Trad Routes book is the best one and saves a lot of time searching around. "Where two Deserts Meet" easy 5.8 is short and fun. "Mental Physics" 5.7 at Lenticular Dome is the best at it's grade, forget the 2nd pitch ( take two ropes) "Touch and Go" is a hard 5.9 IMO One cannot leave the Park without doing "Sail Away" a hard 5.8, but fun. Easiest 5.6 in the Park "Ain't Nothing But a J-Tree Thing" And of course "Rainy Day Women" at 5.7 "Fote Hog" is a 5.6 sandbag (more like 5.8/5.9) Just some of my favorites. I may be up there next week, look for WA plates (Yakima Sky Box on Top of my KIA).

I took a "screamer" ( a fall where you have lots of freefall to be able to scream) out of Pat's Crack at Vantage just to the right of Ride em' Cowboy in about 2004-5. In Frenchman's Coulee book by Ford&Yoder, it's listed as a 5.8 hand crack; in Whitelaw's book "Weekend Rock" it's a 5.9 with gear needed to 4 inches. As noted above, gear has a tendency to pull or walk in that type of smooth basalt - Matt P. described it properly, and other threads have noted that hexes in desert rock sets better. I had been climbing cracks everywhere for years and thought this was going well, I was mostly using BD and Metolius cams, and seemed to be running low. I was so comfortable with the spacing and actually reached down to move a piece up so I would have enough to top out. I was up about 85-90 ft, then the next piece was a BD gold, and now I was about 30feet above the last pro (but had sufficient gear in the first half). Again feeling in control and over confident - I clipped the piece and was moving the rope out of the crack - and the piece walked out, just as my hand slipped out of the crack. And what a ride - about 60-65 feet and possibly 5-10 feet more with rope stretch and belay dynamics. It was actually a soft fall, and I was about 10- 15feet from the ground - and did not come in contact with the rock. The good news it was Tony B. brand new rope (oops). So the stars were aligned in my favor, having an experienced belayer able to pull in some slack, and the next piece held - a metolius #5 quad/black. Also in my favor was that the amount of rope out (maybe 90-100ft) accounting for a low fall factor, additionally being only a buck twenty lbs helped. Tony also put an opposing nut setup at the start of the climb. It happened so fast, it took me a while, and a lot of campfire beers to figure out what went wrong. I really let my guard down, and felt pretty bad about the new rope. What I learned was - do not remove any good placements, and stitch the hell out of it with sometimes doubles at the crux as mentioned, or Don't Fall! I was lucky, as the Fall Factor was about .66 (length of fall/length of rope out) - so the trick is to reduce the length of the fall by placing lots of gear and more so in the first half of the climb. p.s. In mid 2003 I volunteered some of my cams to the Kropp testing done by Mike Gautier, as he needed the same type and vintage cams. That is his analysis in the above link by Jon.

I have stumbled into an extra copy of "Tieton River Rocks", by Marlene Ford and Jim Yoder - it's hard to find, being out of print for awhile(2004). If a guide book qualifies as "gear", this maybe should be in The Yard Sale Forum. Long story short - it retailed for $26; I'll ship it to you for $25. Pm me if you need one - it's in perfect condition.

Dan - Wow, thanks for the report - you guys do an incredible job every year, very thorough and it's actually pretty dangerous. Take care and work safe.

We would need to see if the buckle is double-backed: but then I realized the Petzl buckles do not have that requirement. Nice ice tool.

Johnthe3rd: This time of year is the best (early Spring) - no need to buy a guide book, just show up and everyone there will have one. As said before, most of the climbs on Sunshine Wall are easy to TR. Cheers,

Damn - that's nice. The technical issue is "the harness is on backwards", but that's ok for what I'm thinking.

Patrix As already stated July can be hot on the eastern half of the state. It kinda depends on how much time you have, to get the most climbing in - sounds like you are staying close to the I-90 corridor on the way east to Montana. Leavenworth is a nice place to climb and has some camping, or a great place to hang out in town. It's about an hour from Cle Elum/I-90, and one could climb all day and still get back to I-90 at Ellensburg. Better to stay a day or two to get the most out of climbing there, as some of the climbs take some recon and hiking. If you are short on time, stopping at Vantage mid-week just to see the vertical basalt is interesting; one could climb the shady side or get done by noon - the sunny side is sizzling hot. It's only worth a quick stop/look-see, and definitely not on the weekend. Continuing on I-90 to Spokane, there is a neat place to climb just out of downtown, and it's jump out of the car climbing. It's the Minihaha Park (google it for route info) - It is single pitch and has good moderate trad routes in the 5.4 to 5.9 range. Definitely worth a quick stop for the day. Before you head out of the Seattle area - a stop in North Bend at Exit 38, the Far Side and Lil SI (exit 32) have some great routes - mostly sport, but not as hot as the Eastside. Enjoy your trip!

Very good input from DPS and Matt - I view March as fairly harsh conditions still in MRNP, follow their advice and you'll maybe hit it just right. Usually May/June, things are warming up and not that good for ice - it's so weather dependent, it sometimes sucks. "thrilling" is a good description of the North Ridge. Have Fun!

The sad part is - no one has all the answers on Avalanches, they are pretty unpredictable even though there are methods of prediction. But, as usual they are mother nature at it's very worse - such as floods, earthquakes or what ever. And the vote as to head for the trees or stay in the open is probably 50/50. It depends on the area - do you always have Cascade Cement coming down or some easy moving Snow Sugar. It's to bad the only cure is to avoid them when conditions start to add up - it's the old 3 strikes and your out. One mistake can get you by, and sometimes the second mistake will forgive you - but accidents (especially the ones I have had) are compounding; and when it adds up to three, your chances of surviving are slim. Be mindful of the powers of three. Be Safe!

A good discussion regarding anchors - it certainly depends on the situation at hand. Obviously for descending it should be backed-up, and bomber in a perfect world - but as one can realize in the alpine scenario, you may be down to your last cordelette, webbing; and come on - we all have some of those "leaver" beaners that have outlived their use for lead falls, but would make nice rap or belay stations. It's not that we would be setting up a picture perfect anchor for Top Roping/ Teaching, or belaying on multi-pitch. You have to do the best with what you got, and beware - webbing will melt thru, especially if it is sun bleached/aged.

Sobo - you are funny, and got the jump on Dru on this one. Al Filo - take no offense, just a little humor.

Lots of good info in this thread - obviously it has been a tragic event, god bless those involved. I know very well what the death of friends does to your mind set, and continuing doing what they enjoy doing. It's hard shit. Mtguide - your excellent input is well taken and I hope others can feel the risk assessment nature of your input is very real. Even in my own case, as I look back on my accidents - it was overconfidence and letting my guard down that caused them all. It seems as though it is always the most experienced that it happens to - again 'god bless' and I express my greatest sympathy. I do not know 'who' makes the call when it's time to go - the loss of friends has nagged me a lot, even more so when in a spooky situation; and the demons of doubt start their mantra. It's really hard to turn back, and comes down to knowing when to hold em' and when to fold em'. Adios to some good people.

Vantage is the desert here in the NW, it's usually dry and climbable.

I messed up the quote thing. What a Stoke for Tieton! I 2nd what Off-White and Drederek have said - that canyon is a cool place.

The Tieton area was a good part of the response to KyleJ's question regarding where's the best place to learn crack climbing in the NW, in this same forum (just up a few notches). Quite a few of everyone's favorites were listed.

sobo - that's the TR, awesome photos! The loose rock at the top would sure be crazy if there was an earthquake while on route.

The climbing is very good - just watch out for the rope chopping loosely stacked dinner plates at the top.

May is a good time - the climbs face south and usually dry. You can get there by the scenic route of Chinook Pass/White Pass & HWY 12 - it's basically just east of Naches, or drive to the Yakima area, then to Tieton. Camping at Rimrock Lake is good. There is a great trip report on this site somewhere by sobo. Also try www.cascadeimages.com/cr/tieton/tieton.htm

Wow! You've nailed it - and I'll bet your taxes are very low. Being in the middle of the state is quite an advantage, you are within easy reach of all the climbing. When you look at the state map and throw a dart - Wenatchee is right in the center and Roslyn is pretty close. Finding a place where there is climbing right out the back door would be a challenge, maybe North Bend?

In response to your search for a location that would give you something "based on need for a wide range of climbing at your door step" could be a challenge, and I apologize if this gets a little to long. I'm pretty familiar with those that have vacation cabins/homes in the Winthrop/ Mazama area. The late Summer and Fall seasons are pretty awesome. Winters are tough as the HWY 20 is closed and one has to drive from the Wenatchee/Leavenworth area (2-3hrs) and (4.5-5hrs) from the westside Seattle/Bellevue area. What does your "wide range" include - Alpine, Ice or just Rock? It really matters, as going north on the eastside puts you in striking distance of good Ice in B.C. as well as Eastern Wash. Whereas, the west side north such as Blghm would make it quite a long travel around and through the passes of Stevens or I90/Blewett, not realistic. The Mazama/Winthrop area is the closest to North Cascades Peaks and some good rock, such as the Liberty Bell - just a stones throw (30-45 min drive). Also some great XCountry ski trails. So, you can see the perfect place at your door is quite a challenge. DPS and Winter are correct - an investment in some property and cabin is fairly long term; and since you can't take it with you - maybe spending it on some other world locations ain't a bad idea. So, it depends on what your long term goal is all about. My vote is somewhere on the eastside like Leavenworth or Wenatchee, putting me in striking distance of the Central Cascades, as well as the North Cascades and even B.C. Just my two cents. Good luck in your adventure.

I have been known to climb that place 11 out of 12 months of the year.

Perfect!

Not much around Whistler - as mentioned head up toward The Rambles, there is some good moderate stuff around Lillooet. Cache Creek is a fairly easy drive - I haven't been that way for awhile but it had some good places to stay and good food. Cheers!

All very good advice regarding Vantage vs Tieton. The difference being, Vantage basalt cracks are fairly smooth and tapered, whereas Tieton has a rougher texture. This translates to the "gear" holding much better at 'T' - the cams have a tendency to walk when wiggled at Vantage, and true enough desert basalt climbers favor hexes. For novice crack climbing/learning - be very suspect. ::