Frankazoid

I was there when a route was being bolted. I warned them to remove the routes, that the feathers were done long ago, and that everything they leave up will be a serious danger to the public. I witnessed a cluster of rocks falling down a belayer as his climber tried to find footing on solid rock, but there was none. So I gotta point you out, since you left your garbage up after explained why it needed to go... Fu** Y** for putting other people's lives at risk. Take your garbage down or I will on my next visit. And sell your drill, Brenden Sullivan & Bro. So god da*n sincere it's not even funny, -Frank

4-10-14: I walked up to the sanctuary cave and witnessed a Peregrine Falcon returning to her nesting site (heard little ones too), which is located on top of the cave/ cliff band, far right. It is extremely close to the routes on the far right, and I feel that walking up the noisy approach trail or anywhere around the cave could disturb these birds, so I am suggesting a voluntary closure until... Let's help to make sure these wonderful creatures survive their infancy and give'em their space, eh? Anybody care to post a flyer out there? I forgot to do so and won't be back anytime soon.

I think marmot in bellevue has a 28 or 28.5 in the garmont delerium. It's a charging boot with a 130+ rating and 104mm up front. Pretty bad ass boot in my opinion.

This seems to be a great wide- multi purpose tool... I might purchace it for myself this year. http://k2skis.com/skis/adventure/sidestash-1213 I currently ski the Line sir francis bacon, which is also 108 under foot, but just a little wider in the tip and tail than the k2 sidestash. The combination of the rocker+ traditional camber with a good radius like 140-108-136 makes for an awesome ski that works great in just about every condition. I used it for backcountry skiing and everything inbounds 6 days a week last season (I work nights on the hill and ski all day). I really have to reccomend this style of ski, especially for around here. The flat tail is also appealing to me- I'll be able to click in and out with a bit more ease on steep aspects. That can be a more of a delicate process with the twin tips I have now. Im pretty much sold on the sidestash. Just need to demo it to confirm what I already know. Or do i? Now if it would only snow!!!!

Nice work! Looks like a fun climb!

How about the fee/permit system associated with the enchantments? From what iv'e read it sounds like I should be able to walk around freely up there without harassment from rangers. Rant: To me, the mountains are a place of complete freedom. Super-pure freedom. I understand fees associated with drive up USFS campgrounds or *trailheads that provide amenities that cost money to keep up. But a fee just for your human body being in the mountains I do not understand. I should have complete freedom to decide spur of the moment that i'd like to walk around the mountains and sleep wherever I so choose without paying somebody for it or acquiring a permit. The mountains should be a place free from politics and normal society etc... A place where you can simply exist, bare bones naked and leave the rest of the world behind. Thats what iv'e always thought of the mountains and that is EXACTLY why they are so special to me. I will never walk around up there with the uncomfortable feeling of a USFS finger up my butt.

I have some 98% deet spray, but i'm hesitant to use that shit these days... Anyone use any sort of natural repellent with good results?

Had a great time climbing puzzle palace today... Ticks were out of control from the offramp boulder all the way to puzzle. The approach was a nightmare because of it.

Avoid the "and then you do this, then this, no no- put your foot here, thats the wrong hand hold, wrong hold i said- you won't be able do anything like that, no keep going- seriously try harder, great... no dont grab the draw- YOU CAN'T grab the draw! I SAID LET GO OF THE ROPE WHILE I LOWER YOU! Hey that was fun, eh?" syndrome and all should be well.

those are my draws on orgasmatron... they have been on there for about 2.5 years now. just fyi.

I must say I was happy to see the NW Trails people pull there monster equipment out of the rainy lake trail in the middlefork last year. Still havent figured out why we need 4 lane highways stomped through our forests. Less time consuming and invasive to just use hard work with picks, shovels, saws, hard rakes and rock bars. In no way am I condoning the theft though. That is sad.

So then to maintain your flow you can clip every 36 or 48'' if you like, eh?

Im looking foward to seeing what Wednesday morning will look like after the smoke clears... Today was quite a bit different than forecasted. Snowing steady from 9-1pm when I left. I can't speak for this afternoon and evening- Kevin?

Quite possible for a mon or tues chair 2 opening. Iv'e heard rumors of the weekend, but my feeling is it will be later than that.

2 inches of snow in the X38 parking lots, and you can pretty much call it 2' at the top of chair 2. There's a good chance it will be double that by Friday!

I thought this was about Boing resorts and how they own Alpental and no longer let people park campers for the winter season in lot 3. Well, you can still do it- it just costs $15 per night, lol! The hours and wage I receive there doesnt really make renting a room doable. If im working for them they should at least let me park my rig in the lot! You can have the thread back now...

Yo Rad- Excellent work sending that thing man. It was cool to see you persevere through the mental (and physical) challenges on that thing! Do you have any more detailed beta for that pitch? lol.

Joseph, I have heard of that before and ummm... ya that doesn't sound very awesome. Heard of people being dropped with the cinch, then last year I witnessed 2 climbers in the RRG getting dropped with a cinch. seriously, 1 at the boneyard crag and 1 at the solarium. Both times the belayer managed to stop the free fall too close to the deck (lucky at all though). My friend had also told me some of his accounts with it that he didn't like. I just don't think i'll ever be able to get a cinch. Thanks for the ideas, but im definetly going to stick with the M-T for fixed rope soloing. I might even do the double M-T setup! Based on the research iv'e done up until this point, it seems to me that the easiest method to switch to lower is to throw the gri on a second fixed line beside you, weight it and let the MT's roll free. After messing with it, it is quite pain free and quick. So I guess now that would be my own answer to anybody else with this question! Definetly interesting though to hear how other people are ropesoloing. I guess I should also add that I do use a loose kleimheist above the M-T for a backup.

So iv'e been rope soloing for a bit now with a mini traxion and I always find it a bitch to switch to rappel... it usually involves multiple steps before im off the mini traxion and rapping. When your trying to go up and down over and over to work out moves on a route its really a hassel. Does anyone know of an easy way to work up and down the rope when using a mini t? The only thing iv'e thought of is to switch onto the other fixed rope with the gri gri, take on that, the mini T is now freed of its tension and can be unlocked, then lower on the gri gri... Maybe there is something even easier?

Cool! Is the Oregon Mt. Baker near the Oregon Olympic National Forest?

Yes, perhaps I should practice diplomacy... Really just wanted to let people know that some dude put a lot of bolts in some really shitty rock up there, and to be careful. Bolts in hollow faces, dectatched flakes, huecos etc... Almost no cleaning/trundling. If this crag were down at the main area the bolts would have been removed very quickly. I ran into a couple guys who were at the crag while the "developer" was there, and they said he was calling routes that climbed like a mid-11 a 12+ etc... apparently some dude with money for bolts, a drill, and too much time on his hands. That was their opinion too. If you go the zoo I would probably stick with the original lines there and stay away from the dozens of shiny fixe hangers. Just to stay safe. Of course he won't respond to my post and say "it's me!!". I'll have to work on better style when attempting to call someone out.

Hey there, Trying to get a hold of the person who put up quite a few new lines at the Zoo crag at Smith. Is your name Kevin by chance? I definetly have a few questions for you... The first one being, what were you thinking? Why did you think the rest of that rock needed to be developed? There is a reason the person who first developed that crag only put up a few routes. There is some serious safety related things going on there that you must not have considered too. Thanks, Frank

I know that the route "Giant 11c" in the actual cave (x38) see's signifigant traffic from people wanting to get on their first super steep climb. Those bolts were looking kind of not so awesome last time I was there. The location of a couple of them could be moved too. A closer 2nd bolt would elimnate mega pendulum death when failing to clip the 2nd bolt. There certainly is a high potential for that.

cant figure out how to upload my photos... July had some good skiing at logan pass, then 5 feet of snow melted in 2 weeks. I didn't do any skiing on my last trip. Instead I just hiked down to Hidden Lake which was amazing. Kevino- stoked your getting turns in the Alpental area. I wish I was there. Anybody hear the predictions for the winter coming up? Iv'e searched the internet and cant really find anything.