jeb013

Hey Bryan, Thanks for being a ropegun, I had a great time and it was a beautiful day to get out climbing. I didn't realize you were cleaning chalk off on your way up but I agree with you. If I can make it up that route, just about anyone else should be able too without having to follow the pink route. Jeremy

Bryan, Sent you a message

Agreed. Not to mention 25 people with 2 ropes and only one person to direct the traffic made for a clusterf*ck in the two areas that they monopolized. There are plenty of routes, but it would have been nice to get to the upper pitches and climb hang up's. Oh well next time.

Has anyone heard when the climbers bivy is going to open up this year? Thanks in advance. Jeb

Thanks for all the input. I have picked up a couple of the Mater cams and they seem to work pretty good for the few placements I have been able to use them for. Unfortunately a back injury has taken me off the rock for the time being , guess i should just be glad it's the off season. jeb

Awesome to hear, you just turned my stoke level up a notch. Besides any chance to see a dog that's a total freak of nature is always worth it. Think I will be heading out tomorrow after all. Jeb

I'm sure that this whole "don't want to get wet" theme is going to be popular for the next few months, but i got to ask anyways. In the valley when it says 20% chance of rain it means your going to get wet. But at Smith when it says 20% chance of showers does that mean you actually have an 80% chance of enjoying a day of climbing. I would really like to get outside this weekend, but I am afraid it is time to retire to the gym for the season. Jeb

Seamstress, I was out there climbing next to you when this happened. I have also been looking for any info on the young man but have not been able to find any. I was impressed by yours and everyone elses quick response to help this person, and would like to thank all of you, even though I was not involved nor do I know the gentleman. It is just always nice to see those who can help actually go help when they are needed, and the amount of trained personnel this hobby of ours has that are capable. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery. Jeb

beacon or broughtons can both work well - if beacon (best option), climb free 4 all or dod's jam p1 and set your top-rope for aiding on free for sum - right gull to 2nd anchor, then rap down and set up a tr on wrong gull works too - if broughton's, try classic crack (fuck all those free-styling bitches) or one of the steeper lines to the right Thanks Ivan, this is what I was looking for . Although I am pretty sure I have read multiple posts about your "free-styling" antics out at beacon. Jeb

So feeding off this thread, does anyone have any suggestions for places to practice in the portland area. Trying to get more comfortable setting gear while having a fixed rope up, to be safe. Tying a set of aiders seemed like a good way to set a bunch of gear, while not having to focus on the moves, and when I am a little more comfortable start tying the two together. Should be right about the time the weather turns to shit. Also if anyone knows of bolt ladders around here so i can get used to the aiders and fifi that would be cool too. Jeb

Thanks for the warning on the used aliens. I was planning on staying with new till i have a little more knowledge on what a good used cam looks like. I have seen the mastercams out there quite a bit, and they are easy to find. Jeb

Thanks for the feed back guys. Had not even thought of the aliens, probably cause i have not used them before. Jeb

Slowly putting together a rack, so far have a single set of c4's set of stoppers and some hexes, all of which I'm happy with so far. My question is what are most of the portland area climbers using for smaller cams, I have seen c3's quite a bit and have heard good things about the smaller metolius master cams up through the yellow for small cams. It's always nice for some input before dropping $$. Thanks in advance. jeb

Thats a good way of putting it. jeb

I've been showered by partners not watching the rope before, but it was pebbles. Thinking about it though the rope could probably dislodge something quite exciting. jeb

I have climbed at places with loose rock, it's just a part of climbing that you have to deal with in the PNW. I have even pulled a couple of loose pieces out and gotten rid of them to make it better for the next guy. But on saturday I was climbing the east face of Pinnacle Peak up by MRNP when I went to make a step on the traverse and a block about the size of my thigh just came off. I had barely even touched it and it was gone. It didn't so much scare me as it made me realize how life altering something like that can be, if someone had been below me and got hit, at the least it would have broken bones. So being a relatively new climber this was an eye opening experience, no one was hurt and all it did was make some noise and actually it was kind of cool to watch it bounce down to the snow field, but none the less it really got me thinking. I don't so much have a question just kind of wanted to get that off my chest and was wondering what others thought of there first realization of how something so little could be so dangerous in this sport. Thanks for listening, Jeb

pm sent

Heading out from Portland early Friday morning and was wondering if anyone wanted to meet up. Never been out to Smith and was hoping to find someone who wanted to show a newbie around. have a rope, draws and enough of a rack to compliment someone elses quite well leaving us pretty open. Will lead to 5.8 on sport and follow .9/easy 10 don't have alot of trad experience but trying to break into it. Hoping to get some easy multi-pitch in but anything would be great. Jeb

Just got back to town and was hoping to get some climbing in tomorrow morning before returning to the grind on monday. Have a rope and partial rack, looking to climb 5.8/9 range. Can lead around 5.8 sport, not super comfortable with placing gear on lead so only 5.5/6 on a trad lead. Send a PM if interested Jeremy

I was thinking something similar, that and i plan in going mid July so probably a better chance of not getting cooked on the rock. It does look like most people who use a guide service tend to not be dissapointed, which is encouraging. Thanks for the feedback Jeb

Hello All, I am looking into hiring a guide next month to take my climbing knowledge to the next level. I have been climbing a little under a year now, about 3 times a week, but this has been primarily on top rope and I feel I am ready to get on the sharp end.I am pretty comfortable with movement on rock up to about .10a so I am more focused on setting pro, building anchors, rope management and multipitch techniques. I have selected two guide services that interest me, one is Northwest Mountain School out of Leavenworth and the other is Smith Rock Climbing Guides. I am looking into 1 on 1 instruction that can be customized as the day goes on. I was wondering if anyone could chime in with opinions or experiences with these organizations. Or if you have used both, a comparison of the two. Thank You, Jeb

If the weather cooperates i'll be out there again this weekend, i thought that was you when i was looking through previous posts. I am ready for some rock, was up on St. Helens a few days ago and got blown off the mountain. Got to 7200' and decided enough was enough. High winds and driving rain/sleet just doesn't do it for me. Jeb

A couple weeks ago I was out at Broughton Bluff to do some top roping, got there early and set up a line and low and behold my partner never showed up. I thought that I had wasted my time when a couple of climbers offered to let me follow and clean one of the routes they lead (The Sickle). Well this made my day since it was the first time I had the opportunity to clean gear. Later another group of climbers’ from Reed College offered to let me join them, we set up quite a few different lines and got a lot of climbing in, using 2 ropes between the 5 of us. They were a lot of fun to hang out and climb with. Towards the end of the day the 2 gentlemen I climbed with earlier offered me a chance to follow and clean on the 1st pitch of Gandalf’s Grip, which to date is the longest single pitch I have had the opportunity to climb, and again the chance to clean gear and see placement. This was truly a perfect ending to my day. I just want to say that the local climbing community is one to be proud of; sure I have ran into some people I don’t care for. But I have met a lot more that are just genuinely good people. What started out to be a total bust turned into a full day of climbing, and I would like to say thank you to everyone out there that helped make it possible. I hope you read this. Sincerely, Jeb

Good luck, hopefully this goes better for you here than it did on RC.com I think you touched a couple nerves over there (not that it seams hard to do). Jeb

Anything above 4800' requires a permit, so anything worth skiing would need a permit. Don't know about enforcement but mothers day weekend is pretty busy up there which makes it prime for the rangers to try and make some extra income. Jeb