erik

jf, l-town is ready to go. been out there a couple of times. dry and no snow. s.c.w. is still pretty adventursome right now, but anything south facing is bone dry. see you out there. jah

charlie, did you and v.p. pull the column over or what!? mike saw you guys going out there, i guess i missed you as i came down the trail eariler. hope you had fun in j-tree jah

i talk the shit and take it as well, sometime not well, but i can't be a spoilsport. i personally wouldn't be in your shoes as i got rid of my confrontational side in the valley last fall. once i did that me soul was light enough to send routes a grade harder. jah

yeah wallstein! i thought little kid questions belonged in the newbie section. do i get a sticker if i get to the top!

ray 110% the time i take no offense to any of your comments, as i to love to give a good ole' fashioned ribbing myself. but to name people, that you are not sure thats who it really is, now that is rude. i personally really..really do not believe it is yoder...he is not mean spirited! i have known him for years and look up to him as a climbing mentor..nothing he has ever taught falls into that category. unless you really know the facts i would not speculate.(except on route beta thats fun ) wether you and him don't like each other has no bearing on the post or anything. so i please ask you to retract your statement about him. i don't think he even knows about internet anyway. thanks ray

yeah that fall that seb grieve took in that movie is just about the sickest one i've seen. though a couple weeks ago some dude took a fatty on j-gardens....good thing his much smaller belayer was tied into that burned stump. by the way who burned that stump...very unattractive.

Wake Up! It’s time to go to work! Thursday again! Time to head out for the weekend. Phone calls made, plans hammered out, logistics figured. Leavenworth again! This ideal little town nestled in the rain shadow of the Wenatchee Mountains is blessed with an absurd amount of granite to climb. The canyon slopes are just littered with domes, cliff, boulders and buttress all begging for the modern free climber to ascend. The history of Washington rock climbing is deeply rooted in Leavenworth, the establishment of free climbs on Castle Rock in Tummwater canyon dates all the way back to the late forties. Fred Becky, Pete Schoening, Jim Yoder, Peter Croft and many others have left their mark on the cliffs; establishing climbs that are still today test pieces and classics alike. In my opinion this is the choice place to enjoy a four-day hiatus from the “real” world. Mike and I head out to John’s house to gather him up, always an ordeal. After all the barating, eating, slack line walking, hacky sack and coffee we pull out of the compound and head for the hills. Being chased from the West Side by a constant rain, we make no haste in escaping to the east. The constant debate over the safety of white water kayaking, the ethics of climbing and how hot Steph Davis really is, lets the drive pass like a sport climb approach. Monroe, rain…Index, rain…Stevens Pass, more rain…and finally Cole’s corner, moonlight. Once again the eastside of the mountains shines through as a refugee camp for moss brained westsiders looking for dry stone! With the approach of Icicle junction I can relax now, 5 more minutes and I can escape the confines of this infernal beast and let the beauty of the mountains envelop my spirit and use the privy. Creeping into the campground (if a diesel can!), it looks about half full, though only a few cars have that dirtbag look to them. Admittedly I don’t count Subaru Outback’ as a climbers’ car, or at least brethren so maybe there are more climbers. 11 p.m. and the drive has left me restless (I slept most of the way), I guess we are going to have to get more beer cause I’m drinkin’. Drinking without a campfire, for some reason drains any life out of the party, so maybe we won’t have to get more beer. Zipped into the sleeping bags once again brings on chattiness, route ideas are tossed around, shit talking ensues and we are asleep. When working I can guarantee that I will wake up an hour late. But when climbing without effort I wake up an hour early. A bad thing? Nah, it just gives me time to read my book and drink my tea with a little peace and quiet. Then again watching the sunrise is pretty nice too! The second round of boiling water and jostling of the coffee press sparks Mike and John’s interest in the day. “BOYS” I yell. “Time to wake up and go to work.” John springs from his bag and tackles me, “DIE T-BALL!” With a couple kidney punches I pass on the job of coffee boy to him. With coffee made and a breakfast of yogurt and granola handled, let the hacky sack begin! We have devised a warm up ritual that allows the energy to follow from our bodies and regain the balance we lost sleeping on the cold, hard ground. After running from one end to the other end of the campsite attempting for that all elusive ‘hacky’ it is decided that we need to slack line. But first more coffee! These spring time trips with the cold mornings really take some getting use to. In the winter you know it is cold out and make the “smart” decision to stay in your bag a little longer. Winter at least shortens transition time. Wake up! Go climbing, that’s it. Now the altar of the sun must be set up! Us westsiders really appreciate this religion, as the Mother Nature controls sun worshipping on the westside much like the Chinese control Tibet. It exists and we let you now that, but we don’t want you to see it. With the slack line set up and the hauling systems removed, it’s time to practice my circus tricks. Admittedly Barnum and Bailey are not coming for me soon, but I can at the least salvage Rock Monkey honor by giving it my best. Watching Mike waltz up and down the line as if strutting like a runway model, I decided that it is time. With the eloquent language of a Hillbilly, “Pack it up girlz we goin’ scalin’!”

good deal dru, we can call it the trans ameri-da fell good expedition for lackys and their little sisters. maybe with an angle we can pick up some sponsers. i once had an idea for the clean up of everest ad other big mtns, though it got shot down by some oversensitive capital hill types. "Booty Call 2000" imagine all the gear we could get from exisiting cache's and bodies littered all over the mtns. i felt that it follows in other famous recent expeditions to exploit the dead and famous. bad taste i'm sure! but we all gotta laugh sometimes!

haven't seen this thread show up yet, so here it is. i have to truthfully admit that i have never taken the "BIG" ride, though i took and gumby lead fall on stern farmer, my first aid lead about 5 yrs ago. cam hooks, brass nutz and 185lbs beginner equals upside down & a spooked me. though the fall was short, it did enough damage that i have always frowned upon the aid leads since. though currently i have opened myself to new things again and have taken aiding back into interest. so physically the fall was nothing, but mentally it was a big one. free climbing, somehow falls don't seem as bad. maybe it is the fact that usually you know when you are going to fall. though now a days i don't see as many falls, just more cries of "TAKE!" who else has a better story than mine? probably shouldn't have started this one, cause i'm sure it will catch up with me soon. who wants to belay me this weekend?

whillans! save us from this!

dru, good news just heard back from olde' english and the "royal british climbing group for the mentally inept history buffs" they are on board.

OH DRU! well then in june lets go out there and put one up dude! i really want a scary modern a4 loose block, stacked pin, sloping hook move route. maybe a barber pole route around the pile.

to keep aiden's post alive, cause it is always entertaining to read other's dreams. i have come to a preminsion(sp) that we should all take the summer off from climbing and become good citizens, helping others. this is a dream that includes world peace and the end of hunger. (very nice dream, though i am a 23yr old conservative) or we could keep talking about the goods. so as i sit here at work and look over guide books, read classic mtnering litiature(sp), i can come up with so many dreams and wishes. how can we only climb in the cascades or the rockies or the sierra and somebody said they had mtns out east. how do we broaden our scope as climbers and people? i think that it comes with self motivation and intertwinging outselves with others that share a positive message. this website is a fullfillment of part of a dream.(read THE aac) here we can interact with other climbers, share our experiences and hopefully take something from each posting that we read. wether it be a flaming, outragoues dialouge or an actual trip report. so my real dream for the summer is for complete utter bliss for everyone, for whatever that they do. haul loads to muir for others, send the girth pillar in a day or learn to tie the figure 8 at exit 38. i write this for several reasons, some chick i met last night grounded me, a young climber i met last night shared his idealistic hopes and attitude & i have only slept 3 hours last nite. i saw myself in this "kid" and thought thats what i am or was like? harsh dude! as this past couple months i have been able to excel in my abilities and answer some of my dreams. i personally feel that i have grown and hoped to have made an impact on others in a positive light. so in retrospect i would like to apologize/thank everyone i have impacted or who has impacted me and only hope that others feel the same. so my dream is for everyone to have a totally excellent and safe summer. p.s. wallstein leaves for the valley in a couple of days and i need a new super adventure partner to help push myself to new heights and dreams. p.p.s. if you have read this far thank you! jah erik

when it comes down to ethics- i personally only believe in one. don't damage the rock or any wilderness for your benefit. now on style of ascent that is a different matter. if you want to have someone carry loads, or you ae going to pull on gear or what not, then that is poor style. and if you want to start a good topic, though do it through baiting people, then that is worse than poor style. but does it really effect anyone if any or no style is involved? nope! the only thing you are cheating with poor style is your image(if it matters) and maybe good decision making skills for later. patterns do develop. so if you want to use load hualers or pull on gear, or have a guide take you up a mtn.... blah...blah...blah....go for it, just as long as you are not adversly affecting the enviroment. jah

dru, the rock in the area is similar to the rock in the rest of the snoq batholith? sections good sections bad, more on the bad side though. it is a metamorphosed granite. diorite. blocky, down slopers with incipients cracks that are brittle. the area is quite nice though, i personally would recommend a tip there, as there is always routes to be done.

i have one and only use it occasionally. the small diameter has led to problems prussiking up it, though the tibloc works on it i think that it might damage the sheath on it. the short length and small diameter really makes it only sutible for glacier travel. i have heard of someone leading on doubled ice floss, kinda skecthy if you ask me. i originally thought that i might use it for x-treme scrambling and the what not for short raps, but after messing around with it decided that i would use a different rope. good glacier travel-bad everything else. have fun

i recently went through getting a new pack thing and i came home w/ an arcteryx nozone. i tried wildthings ice sac, it left a knot on my back for a week, mtn smith too many long straps, heavy and overkill on the suspension, osprey comortable pack too much suspension and really heavy. i looked at the ccw packs, they seemed to me a little lite in the contruction, i have a habit of breaking shit easily. the nozone has a removable frame and a tri folded ridgerest works great! in place of it. all the bells & whistles come off to strip her down to sub 2lbs. it has a really big collar so i can sleep in it(i'm not looking forward to this) the spectra cloth rips easy, but the damage does not spread.(i have also ripped codura packs so i wasn't that bummed though.) it comes with a 1 3/4" waist belt and a padded beast, both have gear loops and tool holsters. a bit pricy retail, but it is made in north america and arcterx has always been kind to me with any problems that i create. the biggest thing that i used to measure packs was the wieght vs capacity. i am really lazy(some people call them minimalists). tool tubes seem to add weight and if you have bent shaft tools sometimes it is difficult to use. if you are having problems keeping your tools in check then twist them a couple times before you lash the shafts down. hard to say what pack is best, but i only really trust my own opinion in the end. everyone else is just an appetizer for the brain. so go try them all on and you can borrow any pack i have to test out.

i will give my vote for fiveten mixed masters....after climbing 5.10 in them, running between toulume & the valley(plus other runs), done numerous peaks with them and some v2 bouldering....i would have to say that they are mixed masters....as rod said though they do wear out fast....6 months is longest they've held up.

mcmurra i drew a topo for the climb, but it is not needed. mike gave as good as a description as needed. you only need one #3 cam and it is optional if you don't fall. and like off balance offwidth moves. have fun probably the proudest route i have done(even more so than baby orca(a cult classic) cause it was with two of my best homey's mazike and my french friend al'ien) [This message has been edited by erik (edited 03-15-2001).] [This message has been edited by erik (edited 03-15-2001).]

bonbon, i don't place bolts. and everything else is a rumor.

VALLEY COBBLER 253-859-9138 23639 104th ave se kent wa 98031

i will have to disagree on page's workmanship, the only other company the delams as much is marmot resole. i would recommend the valley cobbler in kent. resonable, good turn around time and he will warranty poor workmanship.

trango also reslings cams for a reasonable price.

i alreay ski shisapangma, but i didn't used ski and had on a translucent biometric suit. i have the footage on my personal website. obnoxioustacomapersonwithanattitude.com it's a great website full of spray and non-iformative beta, like the south buttress of the east ridge on brdge creek dome.

i take no responsibility for anyone going to this website. though i do have to admit somehow it is entertaining. http://bathtubgirl.com/ it is not a porn site...i promise. weird..dude!!!!!!!!!!!