bwwakaranai

GGGGGRRRRR! makes you mad doesnt it. Thanks alot for the clean up effort. I havent been to the lookout wall for a while but it has two really fun climbs that I frequently enjoy. Ill bring a broom next time. An Erie clean up day is a great idea, lets do it this spring.

I never said I was a real gym climber, It wouldnt make sense to get an annual pass because many of us wont go once the weather is good. I was told I cant transfer my 10 punch card from gym to gym. I still go every other weekend, but after you add gasoline to the mix...ouch! It seemed like it was $12 just a couple of years ago. I think all the kid classes and other ideas are good. How about lowering the price for my three yr. old to climb though. I mean she'll probably do two laps and then want to play with her legos and I have to fork out $12-$14? Bla Bla Bla bitch bitch bitch whine whine whine. Alright, Im heading to the gym now BTW VW seattle did an amazing job on the new place.

Hey Im looking for a guidebook on City Of Rocks, ID. Would anyone be willing to trade for a while (thru May)I have Joshua Tree, Smith Rock (old version), Sierras (good/great/awesome), Alababma Hills, Mammoth Lakes area(old version)and a few others. It doesnt matter if its an older edition since Ive never been to The City.

Hey Im looking for a guidebook on City Of Rocks, ID. Would anyone be willing to trade for a while (thru May)I have Joshua Tree, Smith Rock (old version), Sierras (good/great/awesome), Alababma Hills, Mammoth Lakes area(old version)and a few others. It doesnt matter if its an older edition since Ive never been to The City.

How about lower prices. $17-$20 bucks a pop is B.S. An annual pass doesnt make sense once the sun shines and a 10 pass punch card doesnt work for sister gyms. Obviously these issues dont really matter to the masses judging by the crowds at VW Sea last weekend. I betcha that place is making some serious $$$

whoops, already ongoing in Oregon section

Just read that they closed Trout Creek to climbing on Feb-1st thru August. Thats a big hit for the area being the spring and fall months are the best weather. Golden eagle nesting... Hopefully locals can work somthing out with gov. Ive only been there once but found it to be a special place for climbing indeed. Are people not part of nature too? Seems like eagles and climbers can co-exist on this fine cliff. email the gov. at eshepard@blm.gov and Deborah_Henderson-Norton@blm.gov link: http://www.mountainproject.com/v/sudden-closure-of-trout-creek/107459731

Rock On Hans! You ar der shnizzlhimer! Miss you bro -Brandon

Cant make it tomorrow but Im heading there Saturday if you'd like to join Martin and I.

Hikes- Minaret area(see also Banner Peak) starting in Mammoth and hiking to Silver Lake (June Lake) is a great 20 mile loop with nice camping along the way but mild enough elevation you can do it in a day. Thousand Island Lakes is beautiful. Anything in the Palisades Peak Bagging- Banner and Dade are easy enough that my Bulldog could join me and are both great summits. Easy Alpine Rock- Bear Creek Spire 5.8 Mt. Humphreys 5.7 Mt. Sill 5.7 all very enjoyable climbs at high elevation A little bit harder- Mithral Dihedral 5.10- one of my all time favorites at 14,000+ Sun Ribbon Arete on Temple Crag 5.9 Matthes Crest 5.6 Red Dihedral (Incredible Hulk) 5.10+ All classic. Im jealous, I sure miss that area, especially this time of year in the PNW. Have a great time and just remember to wear your sunglasses

Damn thats it Sol? I thought you would have some higher expectations for yourself my 2012 hopes Freeway new one in Darrington A few new ones in Skagit Co. Get down to 125 lbs. (yeah ok) maybe 175 lbs. top rope or aid one climb off of Sol's list get my 4 yr. old on a rope for the first time grow some heirloom tomatoes

Cant wait to try her out next year Chris. Looks like some fantastic exposure and beautiful stone.

Thanks a lot for the link Wastral. Im honestly surprised that they found no significant decrease in strength in a 29 yr. old rope! Hey no more leading on the fuzzy noodle Rad we can just take out O'l greenie I like the idea of drop testing the other rope too.

I know right. but its sooo brand new...looking single dynamic correct..? It will make a good work horse. Come on Rad, you'll dust her off and test her for me no??

I just inherited 2 ropes,they are 14 years old but they had never been taken out of the factory coils. I know they were stored in a nice cool, dry place. They are Elderids, which seem to have a stiff feel anyways but this one is a bit drier than usual. Otherwise it looks perfect. Safe for leading??? The other rope he gave me is also brand new but its hard to tell if its a static or dynamic rope. I know it sounds weird but again since Elderids have a stiff feel, I just cant tell. I did a stretch test just tugging on it and it seems to have bounce but not much. The only mark thats on it is a (1) on the ends. Anyone know if this is a symbol for single rope?? Dynamic??

Hello Im a poser and I didnt even know what mountain Yocum ridge was on but when I googled it this TR came up. Maybe it can help you find what your looking for??? From the second to third gendarme is a little break for the mind. A wide ridge (fifteen feet) leads to the peak of the third gendarme. We reach the top of the pinnacle. From here there are two choices. One may drop off to the west and continue along about a quarter mile of knife edge ridge or drop off to the north and climb steep snowfields to regain the ridge at the base of the upper buttress. We do not like the look of the rime on the knife ridge so we decide to drop off to the north. This requires a rappel of fifty meters down the sheer north side of the ridge landing on sixty five degree snow slopes of questionable stability. We opt for the rappel. The top of the gendarme is only about two feet wide and we start to excavate the snow and ice in search of good rock for our anchor. The spire the guide book spoke of is long gone, which is no surprise when we discover the condition of the rock under the snow and ice. After two hours of digging and testing rock all we accomplish is the realization that the rock of the third gendarme is nothing but a pile of ruble glued together with snow and ice. Every time we find a rock that we think will do we break it free with the slightest of force. Judah swears he feels the entire spire shudder in a gust of wind. We decide our best option is to place my three foot snow picket in the snow and rime just on the south side of the spire. We finish setting the picket and my shovel is lying flat and careless on the eastern slope. Judah takes a step down a little too close to the shovel and knocks it loose. It starts to slide and after about twenty feet disappears down a chute on the north side and we both know it is gone. We never see it again. Judah feels bad but there is nothing to be done but continue. Judah takes the rappel first and prays for the picket to hold. It does and I follow him down. The rappel is over one-hundred-fifty feet with some free sections over cliffs. We are glad to be off the third gendarme. Relative relief!

Great job guys! It must be an amazing place to be this time of year.

Reflecting over a long day moving over thousands of feet of perfect stone drinking an IPA afterwards soaking my hands in the creek nursing my thumb that I hit over and over again because Im a lousy shot with the hammer with the smell of cedar pitch and granite dust peering through the old-growth forest up to the menacing wall that looms above causing my inards to roll like the rock under my foot soaking my sock in the creek that cools another IPA for later after pulling on the bush hoping that it wont snap one more time so I can pad up the slab stepping and praying and surprisingly it holds untill it doesnt and down the wall I go cheese grating untill the rope comes tight allowing me to enjoy the beautiful views of Salish and 3 fingers realizing a whole other world is beyond the pass protected by series of perfectly cascading waterfalls that fill my mind as I try to fall asleep cause I have to be at the f-shop in the morning when I'd rather be there. I know you dont need the ego fluff Chris, but thanks for your post. Your statement reflects the feelings of many. and thanks for the history lesson too.

Ive have a lot to learn and appreciate the history lesson. Darrington is an amazing place and I enjoy hearing stories from people who REALLY know it. We are so lucky to have these walls to play on, and to be able to do it with what is a relatively small community of climbers, is somthing special. Everyone I've ever met or climbed with from cc.com has been solid. Never met a new partner from here that I didnt like. I especially enjoy reading the TRs. From grandmas hike to the first winter ascent of that Grade VII. A big portion of my tick list is derived from the TRs I find here. They get me through the soggy western wa winters. I also enjoy the open dialect and somtimes brutal honesty. It's freakin entertaining It seems to me adventure will exist in Darrington for a long time to come and I hope that sharing route info doesnt effect that negatively. We most certainly would never trample an existing route to put up a new one. In this case we found no evidence of fixed gear or slings, but its such a sea of granite. One thing about top-down tactics is that- in this sea of granite you are able take a direct line that you wouldnt normally on lead, or so it seems. Next year, I wanna learn it the hard way. But like stated before, this is for a different dicussion I have a hard time believing Smedley would need a fixed line on that section. I tried to keep up with him on a down hill coming off of Calendar Butte and about shat myself. Moving gracefully through wet western WA forest still perplexes me, even after living here for 12 years.

Ha Ha. I figured I'd stir the pot with this. Much Re-spect to you Darrington pioneers who put yourselves at risk for the sake of exploration and love of the mountains and wilderness. Your boldness and that of your predecessors continue to amaze me everytime I'm faced with a run-out and think of how you could have possibly placed that bolt on lead. Or everytime I'm crammed in some offwidth thinking how the hell did that guy do that in boots or EBs or barefoot for gods sakes. You balls are the size of small coconuts, your courage not short of a true Samurai. With that said, I dont believe that these feats neccessarily mean you love or respect the rock, nature, or climbing any more than me or the next ass hole. I understand the fear of loosing that sense of adventure, especially when these grounds were once so isolated or unknown to many of us. Once upon a time I had a sacred place that was overrun by gumby and friends... Im a realative newbie myself, first climbed in Darrington just 11 years ago and have only done probably 8 or so routes there. I never loved slab climbing, having been scared shitless climbing in Tuolumne and Pine Creek. Love the knobs not the runouts. Anyways... I can relate to having had close calls although these incidents fall short of staring into the face of DEATH! They were enough to lower my willingness to truly put my ass on the line. I guess I bring this up to defend tactics used to put up this, as stated above, one mans freeway via rap bolting. Maybe you should actually give it a try, who knows you might not be that offended by the spread and even enjoy yourself. As far as the tree branches... Are the environmentally concerned not also the same folks who have left barrells of spewing shit up there? I may have bolted on rappel but Ive never bolted a 2x4 to the rock. Ian, why didnt you have your helmet on young man! Im guessing because he's as white as a ghost and the hat shaded his fine scottish mug.

Trip: Darrington/Illusion Wall - The Page Date: 12/5/2011 Trip Report: This summer we finally completed a two year project on the left side of the Illusion Wall resulting in a fine multipitch, mostly bolt protected face climb. Although this route may lack the standout features found on Excalibur or Holy Grail, it does contain some excellent and sustained, knob littered pitches. The Page is probably a touch softer in the grade than the other climbs on Illusion Wall. Even so,it should not be taken too lightly as it will challenge the 5.10 climber at times. This holds especially true on pitch 4 (p3 if you link starting pitches) which is probably the best of the climb. The huge, wafer thin flake made my nether regions quiver and though it is seemingly solid, one should not reef too hard on her. Luckily you dont have to put gear behind the expandorama and can instead clip a couple of bolts and pass through gingerly. There is some loose stuff at the start and end but all and all the route is worthy of some repeats. Pitches 1 and 2 are short and could be linked. The last two pitches are merely a way to the top of the formation (might as well). The middle is the reason for doing it. Me, Mike Dobie, and Ian Geddes were lucky enough to enjoy the FA on a pleasant summer day but Matt Beasley, and Darryl Kralovic also did a lot of hiking, pounding, and cleaning. Even Mr. Greyell threw in an anchor on a coffee break from his project. Nice working and whiskey drinking with ya'll... another fun, somthing to do in Darrington. Approach Pitch in a mist P1 short, link with p2? (Mike Dobie) P2and3 Mike lead this in one pitch with terrible rope drag, new anchor installed breaks it up in two Death Block on P1 ledge, went to trundle but stopped due to not having a pocket knife to cut arm off when it gets pinned behind it. Looking down the crux p4(5) 2nd to last pitch. Stay a little right, single bolt avoids loose stuff out left Last pitch is like 5.2 but gets you to the top (single bolt) Watch the hornets nest! http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/517/medium/1711.JPG' alt='1711.JPG'> Gear Notes: Light rack to 1". 15 runners descend double rope rappels down route or one of the other routes Approach Notes: See Excalibur Do the same approach pitch and traverse 4th class ledge a little further left to the next set of anchors below a short corner and face with 2 bolts.

Way to go! An awesome group effort to say the least. Some big stone out there.

Whats the scoop on the new B-ham gym? Is it still just a concept? or have they actually broken ground. Im ashamed to say that I partake in gym road trips all too often. Mount Vernon has zip, B-ham has 3 really lousy gyms (rather do push-ups) Everett VW is within reach but for $16+fuel...ouch! I even get desperate enough to hit Coquitlam Cliffhanger, which is the best gym around BTW, but at 1+ hrs to get there or one of the other VW's, its enough to get you thinking about taking up video games for the winter. Seattlites, consider yourself lucky this time of year. Come summertime I love Mount Vernon for its centralized location to some great climbing but we need a gym up north! The private sector cant seem to get one going. Might be worth a look/see for Vertical World, or Stone Gardens???

Way to sneak another awesome pitch in the 2011 season! This one looks heady which also made it more rewarding Im sure. You are an inspiration to all the weekend warrior dads out there.

Yeah buddy thats the stuff! Ive been wanting to go for years now. Thanks for posting and glad to see you back in your ol' stompin grounds again.