rbw1966

I'm not sure where I would put it in my Condo- I was thinking more like an old Kayack or Roadbike or something... I got an old kayak I would trade for it.

7 days at 17K? I hope those weren't consecutive. Three days at that altitude was more than enough for me. Beers waiting.

Alpenjager, Crown Point Oregon. Bring a clean pair of underwear.

. . and she's a spitter too.

I would walk five miles through a minefield wearing snowshoes. . .

Ya know he aint messin. . . When he breaks out the wesson!

Is it new or used?

Panties wedged up that crack pretty tightly this morning, Gregory? Beware the chaffing or even the mail order brides will balk. Post in spray, welcome the spray, be one with the spray.

Is there a yawning gremlin?

I suspect that the group he refers to is the Clackamas County Fire Department who sets up training sessions from time to time at Carver.

I found an iguana sunning itself on my front porch once. If its wild why not let it go? Speaking of red snapeprs: Did you hear the one about the woman that went fishing with three guys? She came home with a . . . I know--thats bad

So now you claim insight into this guy's motivations? Like others have pointed out, he was honest about his ascent, had a good time and tok the time to share his expreriences here. I commend you Braumeister! Kudos to actually climbing something rather than giving people shit on here. For those who have never climbed Mt. Hood via the south side let me tell you that the slog through the snow field is no 'climb' by any stretch of the imagination. Its flat out boring and not in any way challenging aside from staying awake while you hike it. The guy paid for a ride in the lift--BFD. I rode a snowcat once (it was free) up the south side for a winter attempt on Yocum. I've also slogged up the Palmer ~40 times or so. Just in the interest of full disclosure.

My golden retriever ate a used tampon once that Erik didn't dispose of properly. When he layed it out it was stuck hanging from his ass by the string. Have a nice lunch.

I ran the first leg last year. Your knees will be fine. Its your quads that will be the problem. You may not notice it right away but about the time you start smacking pavement on your second leg your quads will be screaming. Third leg? Might as well bring a walker. Any other HtoC'ers in the group? Maybe we can party at the beach.

Is that a feeble attempt at humor Iain?

Nor I

I've salivated heavily over most of the ice climbs listed in the Olson book - and the gorge falls. Too bad Multnomah's off limits Lots of potential out there in Gorgeland with an artic winter. I watched a couple guys climb multnomah falls when it iced over about ten years ago. They did it at night. Stealth ice climbing--oh yeah baby.

I was out there recently and there were still signs saying no trespassing. I'll check it out. Thanks.

Isnt Goodness a band out of Seattle? Did they ever make more than one album?

Every couple of years or so they talk about instituting limits on the amount of climbers on the South side of Hood. I wonder if this survey is going to be used in an effort to limit access there and elsewhere. Just what we need, more limits on use of public lands.

If we don't find it, I am sure it will find us. I'm glad we decided against that A3 route on the main Crown Point buttress.

Indeed. This ties in withmy drive-by choss fest TR: New Medical Study from the FDA

Thanks for posting the pics Shredder. You da man. Note the antiquated edition of Nick Dodge's Rock climbing in Oregon guide (for the foolhardy). Also note in that Crown Point pic that Alpenjager is the far right had spire that splits off the main buttress. The route follows the groove to the chimney.

Can you name one of these sources so I can confirm for myself? I live real close to there but dont need another bust.

Drive by Choss-Fest or "Did Somebody Call a Wahhhhmbulance?" Shredder and I enjoyed a fine day of choss climbing Saturday in the Gorge. We settled first on Rooster Rock, the pinnacle protecting the nude beach. We parked in the park lot and walked across a field past a culvert and down to the base of what we thought was the pinnacle. 20 minutes of thrashing around in blackberry vines made us reconsider. As we doubled back we saw a couple of what appeared to be climbers (you know the look) walking back towards the park. Well, maybe we didn't walk far enough along the highway. So we follow a small trail further west and bingo we find the 'trail' leading through the blackberry vines into a cool, shady grove of willows. The trail wound around and up steeply until ending at the base of the west side of the pinnacle. We put on our harnesses and decided to forego the rope on the lower section and ascended some easy 4th class terrain with packs. Above this was a bolt that marked a traverse over to the gully proper which Shredder led in fine style solo over 5.3-5.4 ground. We made the summit and enjoyed the outstanding views of the ambulances roaring to a stop just outside the park about where we had been thrutching around before finding the true trail. We kicked back, took a few hero shots and then set off on the scary ass rappell back down. We had to down climb some of the lower 4th class sections but nothing too serious. We then decided to climb Crown Point via the Alpenjager route. The Dodge guide describes this route in relatively favorable terms and hell, we're a couple of adventurers. Had we any idea what we were in for we might have left that one alone. We had to park alongside hwy 84 and hike along some railroad tracks to find a small trail leading towards the base. It soon waxed out and we were thrutching around through undergrowth again. We waded through lush fields of stinging nettles. Did I mention I was wearing shorts? Much groaning, crying and whining found us clinging to the rock with absolutely no sign of a trail and no route indications. We're both a bit sketched out as we don our harnesses while clinging to choss on 5.3 terrain. I get a feeling we're again in the wrong spot so traverse further east to discover, yes we are in the wrong spot again. While no trail existed, this gully leading up was clearly easier than where we had started from so I yell for Shredder to come and join me as I start off on the lower 5.4 sections. Before I know it the climbing has gotten harder and the exposure is crazy but I am committed. I see a piece of bail-off webbing and start to think about using it. Above me though I spy two pitons and what appears to be a relatively new bolt and hanger so I continue towards safety thinking I can at least rapell from here more safely. I clip in, say a few silent prayers and look over my shoulder to see how Shredder is doing. Oops--he's got the rope. He's coming along nicely and accept for one spot that has him stymied briefly he arrives at the belay without incident. We both agree we will never do anything like that again. Little did we know that was nothing compared to what lie ahead. We pulled out the rope, tied in and I grabbede rack. We were both climbing with packs on again. Shredder put me on belay and off I went. The route goes up directly from the belay then follows a series of fixed pins along an open book to a chimney where the real fun began. Dodge describes it as a stem fest in his book. We both agreed it was not only a stem fest but a scare fest. There was a number of fixed pins along the way and a full-on belay station with a rusty, spinning 1/4" bolt backed up with two pitons that ended the second pitch. Rockfall was unavoidable but not that bad on the second pitch. The third, exit pitch was another story. Alpenjager splits completely from the main Crown Point buttress and is seperated by a chimney that goes from fist sized at the bottom to big enough to accomodate my fat ass with a pack at the top. I followed the chimney up and as it arced back south I stayed inside of it stemming out the entire way. Pretty easy climbing but there was no more fixed gear and I saw nothing solid enough to take any passive gear. So I slung a chickstone and ran it out. When I reached the apex of the arc I tried to ascend to the true summit of alpenjager but it was not to be. It was covered in a thick pelt of moss over large stones that were no more secure than gravel. I got about 20 feet up this crap when it started peeling away and I was sliding backward clinging to that choss heap like a cat on a shower curtain. I slowly and very methodically downclimbed. Did I mention I was scared? As I did so I released a torrent of dirt and rocks that rained down the chimney but thankfully avoided shredder. Then I continued my stemming ways to the south side of the chimney and terra firma. Shredder followed but because of the rope catching on a piece of choss up above he was suckered into trying to climb the moss as I did until I yelled to him to avoid it. We gave up trying to achieve the true summit of alpenjager in favor of wading back through the nettles. All in all a great time and truly adventurous climbing. I highly recommend Rooster Rock as an easy outing but I would discourage anyone from trying Alpenjager unless they truly want to experience Columbia River choss at its finest. As a sidenote, apparently there was a shooting in the parking lot of Rooster Rock while we were climbing. Hence all the ambulances. Rooster Rock 2 pitches of 5.3 climbing Alpenjager 3-4 pitches of 5.4/5.5 climbing, one pair of ruined underwear. No rock pro used on Rooster Rock. A light rack would suffice for Alpenjager. I'll defer to Shredder's masterful computer skills for picture posting.