MrGecko

Kevin - any chance you want to add your latest and greatest routes here? Flash In The Park Pan Handled and Whats That Other One Called?

I'm in want of some of this, rope hook for sure.

Rad - all bolts seemed to be in good shape less that eye sore which is hanging loose and well beaten but not removed on the start of pitch 3. Have you considered a separate rap line down the buttress? RAPPEL ADVICE If you end up bringing two ropes then you will only need them for rapping pitch 6 and pitch 1. Backpack the second rope for all other rappels and save yourself the trouble of getting the knot stuck. Ideally use a 70m rope.

So is this Stone Soup or Smoke Signals? It'd be nice to have it clear for the new guide book.

"but...like...yeah...you didn't do the same second pitch..." So Pink, what did you climb as the second pitch if it wasn't the line Ivan climbed as Stone Soup?

Wrong side of the river G-Spot

oh now things are a heat'in up, did someone say fighten werds? What's the story here? but...like...yeah...you didn't do the same second pitch...

Looks like Micah beat me to it but yeah the Smoke Signals to Stone Soup connection went well yesterday. There is a fair amount of tat on the line and we cleaned up what we could. A short list of TO-Do's remains so that the link up will run a bit more smoothly for free climbing it. Some of the points where the belays are moved up 10m or so need to have a second anchor added. Most of these just need to be 2 bolts and not rap anchors as they don't really serve well for the somewhat existing rap line. The rap line itself will get a few replacements to accommodate a single rope retreat from as high as pitch 6. Perhaps I can recruit Ivan to assist with that since he seems to know the general decent line well. Most of the gear is solid, the bolt at the base of the double off width on P3 is a spinner and not just the hanger. I'm not keen on adding another bolt on that section as I'd rather see folks carry a #6 cam rather than leaving it in the closet its whole life. There is also a chock stone that can be used if any of them new climbers can figure out how that is done. Pitch 4 has at least 3 variations at this point including a 5.5, 5.10d/11a, maybe 12 or aiding a bolt ladder. Pitch 5 will get a variation thru the roof which will be more along the 11- grade and the tied off pin under the roof will likely get replaced with a bolt more in line for the free climber. Pitch 6 This is the pitch that is most concerning for me. The belayer is in a bad position given the large number of loose blocks above. There is also the concern about where these would land if they were knocked off. Inevitably they will come down at one point or another, only a matter of time. I feel a coordinated effort would be the best remedy here. There is also a possibility for a reroute of pitch 6 to avoid those blocks altogether but that is yet to be determined. I've thrown together these images as a topo, the last 2 pitches might be a bit off but the general idea is there and the route fits the description in the PRG. Pitch 2 & 3 Upper pitches Pitch 2 detail Looking up pitch 2

...or the village whore...

Jack The Ripper Added an extension to the fine crack route called Ripper. Goes up about 30m or so and currently shares top anchors with Orion. http://www.mountainproject.com/v/jack-the-ripper/109532675

Does the route follow the top rope line up and over to the anchors as shown in your picture below? Jim mentioned it was April 11, 99 or 2000 that he thinks you did the route with him. You recall?

Mr.Pink - I'll check out that start and let you know. I don't recall exactly how many bolts and pins are on P2 but Bill's count sounds about right. Are you serious it is called Leprechauns in Leotards? Who put that up if it wasn't Jim and Andrew? 11b??

Bejebus Ivan - sorry to hear that dude.

Jim was very stoked to see us freeing P2 of Smoke Signals. I saw a car stop in the parking area and this guy watched us intently for quite some time. When we made it back to the Parking Lot ledge he yelled up "Great job! Its about time that route gets freed more often!" I recognized him from his voice and he looked very pleased giving us the thumbs up numerous times. I'll definitely get him involved and out there to get his hands dirty. Please get Jim out there, that would make me happier than anything. Thanks, Andrew

Thanks again Pink, I'll chat with Jim and get him to chime in with his ultimate wisdom and mayor-shipery. Hopefully he can come out, climb and help clean that first pitch up with us!

Pink - well done to you and Jim for putting that up. I don't know why it hasn't been rediscovered since you did but it really is great climbing especially pitch 2. For all the closing down of Beacon until July this would be the shit as far as a great multi-pitch outing. It sounds like Stoned Soup follows the Smoke Signals 2nd pitch and not vise-versa. Do you know the approximate date you and Jim set that route up? I was thinking that a fixed piece/pin could go into that traverse on pitch 1 where the gear is desperate and sketchy. I also think that older pin needs to be updated as it was a tad loose and looks a bit on the corroded side of good. Should I talk to Jim and have him come out or do you want to? Can we push Smoke to the top and add some more free climbing? I'm stoked that we got on this and am excited to explore running it to the top.

A couple days of climbing at Beacon on the NW side. The rock sure isn't like the south side. Saturday we freed the first pitch of Stone Soup. It really doesn't climb that great as far as a line goes. Awkward, easier climbing to a pin, then a few harder moves until in a pod just below the bolts. Thin uninspiring climbing into exfoliating rock. Hard 11 or easy 12 thru this section but if the intention was to aid, the bolts are more set up for free climbing. Then searching thru the carpet of moss next door we find holds, edges and nice movement. A bit of cleaning and unearthing and we spot an old pin. We carry on and the climbing gets harder but is just as fun. Another uninspiring pin is found higher up, rusting and in need of some seating, I'm not sure this one just shouldn't be fixed up. This route really is the better half of the ugly twin beside it. It finally exits out left before heading up some slab to the same top anchors. Why isn't this the hailed route of this section of rock I don't know but it sure has potential. The following day we return with a brush, a bag full of gear and a desire to get the first two pitches of what we believe is SMOKE SIGNALS knocked out. The Portland Rock Guide doesn't name the route but suggests difficult gear placements and a 10c rating. The first 2/3's of the pitch eats gear really well after the crap was cleaned out of the cracks. The preferred diet seemed to be DMM offset nuts and a few cams. Not sure why the first pin was even necessary as there are good placements on either side of it. The second pin is a welcome fixed piece but beyond that the gear is a real challenge. Pretty much everything placed was wonked, tipped out lobes, uneven cams, a funky torqued nut all while working through the crux sequences. Just to see if anything better could be had I rapped back down to the crux section and took time while hanging to fiddle with gear and see what I could come up with. There really isn't much that is good and if this route wants to get climbed more often (and it should because it really is a quality line) it could do with another fixed piece or two. Later on in the day we started up the second pitch of the route. This would be the second pitch of Stone Soup. Since this rock is exposed to direct afternoon sun it was quite clean and free of moss. This line climbed very nice and reminded me more of a something you would find on granite. Big cracks, long reaches, fat flakes and pretty good gear with the exception of a Pecker and a swagged short piton that isn't fully seated. We passed a small tree with a sling ladder attached to it. Not sure why, there are some excellent free moves right there and then to a final head wall with 3 poorly implemented bolts. Two of them are loose, one has the hanger fixed sideways resting on a thin horizontal edge. They all had the studs sticking too far out such that a fall past one could skewer the leg or worse, snag and damage the rope. They are all placed too far to the right of the natural free climbing line. I think they should all be replaced and done correctly. With a good clean-up and a few additions for protection these two pitches would make for a solid free line on the NW side of high quality climbing that goes at about 10c/d. Jim O was out watching the upper pitch go down and said it was about time that thing gets freed more often. It was a little disappointing to see PBR trash stuffed into the crack at the first belay. I can only imagine this would be climbers as it isn't accessible otherwise. P1 Stoned Soup - this line sucks in our collective opinion P1 Smoke Signals - look at all that gear and up to about the last 1/3 it was darn solid too! Piton #1 with perfect taper nut placements on either side P2 - Smoke Signals or P2 Stoned Soup, same line but I suppose it is called Smoke Signals if you free it. We were thinking about 10d for this pitch. At least leave 'em full next time

Brian, did you also work the trail over at the DropZone/Farside?

Tunnel Vision received a new bolt at the lip (crux) and it is intended to be clipped after the big throw. Not sure that I would want to keep hucking away and landing on the section of rock below but to each their own. This would be an impressive onsight. The sketchy short knife blade pin on Lonesome Winner has now been replaced by a proper bolt.

Try the AntiGravity outfit located in the Beaverton gym.

Thanks y'all, nice to hear the history and not lose totally the exploration that was done. Micah is putting together a guide(s) for the region and it would be nice to capture all this goodness including the folks who scratched away at those lines. I'll go take a look and see what I can piece together from what you shared.

Ivan, do you have any pics that you can show where those lines go? Maybe super impose a rough guess? Thanks! Would like to hit the Soup line with you sometime.

We are seeking an experienced climbing shoe resoler. You can work flexible hours so that you can still go out and climb rock. Work when it rains, work early mornings or late nights that's up to you. You will essentially be running your own business within an existing shoe repair facility which will provide you with a work space, materials and equipment. You bring your know how, friendliness and desire to grow the business. Want to move to the NW and live in Portland or maybe you already live here and want a flexible position. Requirements: Experience resoling climbing shoes Knowledge of various shoe brands Knowledge of climbing shoe rubber materials Knowledge of adhesive materials Process oriented Able to operate power tools/machinery Customer service know how Friendly Honest Trustworthy Basic command of the English language Good communication skills We look forward to hearing from you and please share accordingly. This post will be removed or updated when the position is no longer available. Thanks! resoler@miraiusa.com

Big Wall Tips & Tricks with Mark Hudon Friday, June 3rd, 2016 ..... 5:00PM - 9:00PM Mazama Mountaineering Center 527 SE 43rd Avenue Portland, OR 97215 This clinic was previously held with great attendance through the Mazamas Clinics & Special Presentations. It was a full house, packed with great information and very well received. Mark will be back from another season of winter & spring climbing fresh to tell tales and share tips about his latest sessions on the big stone climbing some serious El Cap routes in Yosemite. Please spread the word. Thanks SIGN UP: http://mazamas.org/education-classes/clinics-and-special-presentations/ CLINIC DESCRIPTION, $45 ----------------------------------------- If you have already embarked on your path to big wall climbing, have a few or many ascents or are just about to open that door but have a good idea of the logistics involved then you might want to join big wall master Mark Hudon for an evening of big wall tribal knowledge. Topics to be discussed and/or demonstrated include: Advanced hauling and docking Solo bag movement Packing a haul bag Nice to have extras and specialized tools Unique/uncommon gear placements Cheaters Efficient leading and following Fast belay setups Communication or lack of Preferred aiders and ascender setup Big wall racking Fast ascending/following Portaledge setup Faster transitions About Mark Hudon Mark Hudon first climbed El Capitan in 1974 when he was 18 years old. Over the next 6 years Mark would climb El Cap 8 more times by a number of different routes such as the Mescalito, Magic Mushroom, New Dawn and the Zodiac, not to mention nearly free ascents of the Salalthe Wall and The Nose. In 2009 Mark was bitten by the big wall bug again and lead The Nose route in a 15.5 hr push. The next spring he soloed Grape Race to Tribal Rite in 11 days and has done 15 routes since, including two more solos. With various partners Mark knocked out six El Cap routes last year including Tempest, A4+ and Genesis A4+ Mark was recently featured in Accidental Production's El Cap Bridge Web Series [video:vimeo]158762502

Big Wall Tips & Tricks with Mark Hudon Friday, June 3rd, 2016 ..... 5:00PM - 9:00PM Mazama Mountaineering Center 527 SE 43rd Avenue Portland, OR 97215 This clinic was previously held with great attendance through the Mazamas Clinics & Special Presentations. It was a full house, packed with great information and very well received. Mark will be back from another season of winter & spring climbing fresh to tell tales and share tips about his latest sessions on the big stone climbing some serious El Cap routes in Yosemite. Please spread the word. Thanks SIGN UP: http://mazamas.org/education-classes/clinics-and-special-presentations/ CLINIC DESCRIPTION, $45 ----------------------------------------- If you have already embarked on your path to big wall climbing, have a few or many ascents or are just about to open that door but have a good idea of the logistics involved then you might want to join big wall master Mark Hudon for an evening of big wall tribal knowledge. Topics to be discussed and/or demonstrated include: Advanced hauling and docking Solo bag movement Packing a haul bag Nice to have extras and specialized tools Unique/uncommon gear placements Cheaters Efficient leading and following Fast belay setups Communication or lack of Preferred aiders and ascender setup Big wall racking Fast ascending/following Portaledge setup Faster transitions About Mark Hudon Mark Hudon first climbed El Capitan in 1974 when he was 18 years old. Over the next 6 years Mark would climb El Cap 8 more times by a number of different routes such as the Mescalito, Magic Mushroom, New Dawn and the Zodiac, not to mention nearly free ascents of the Salalthe Wall and The Nose. In 2009 Mark was bitten by the big wall bug again and lead The Nose route in a 15.5 hr push. The next spring he soloed Grape Race to Tribal Rite in 11 days and has done 15 routes since, including two more solos. With various partners Mark knocked out six El Cap routes last year including Tempest, A4+ and Genesis A4+ Mark was recently featured in Accidental Production's El Cap Bridge Web Series [video:vimeo]158762502