sobo

This song is stuck in my head...

Wow, where has the time gone...???

Mark (or is it Mike? It's been a long time...), see this thread.

Wes, It was the entire column. Here's a photo of the aftermath. Route destruction is evident in center frame. You can still see the big slab/boulder that is the belay spot below Thriller Pillar, where a large portion of the debris hit. Photo is courtesy of Larry Nevers Jr. (apeman). I smell a new crack FA (or a serious stem ) behind the fallen column in about three weeks when WDFW opens the area back up again. Who's gonna nab it...??? "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines..."

I smell a Dirty Sanchez I've smelled that smell before...

Confirmed. SM (5.10a) and PoC (5.11b) are no more...

Note that the Royal Columns area is closed as of last Friday for a month due to rockfall. Plenty of other places to climb in the NF Tieton River canyon... WDFW press release

Wes, Nothing new to add that the WDFW release doesn't already say, but mebbe if Larry would come down out of the orchard and drive around the corner, he could tell us which route(s) fell down... Larry Nevers..??? Nevers??? Nevers??? Nevers??? (in Ferris Bueller's econ teacher's accent...)

Well, it looks like it won't happen, but I appreciate the fact that you'd volunteer to help if something were to actually go down. And yes, I am well, and well off. Those 3+ years in AFG and KSA did wonders for me mentally, professionally, and financially. Just nothing climberingly...

Nastia! You're still playing in this little sandbox! How nice.

John and Daniel, Thanks for the "welcome home" wishes! Doesn't look like y'all do RopeUps anymore. Bumma...

Herr ZZ and 5K: Thanks for the "welcome home" wishes. It sure is good to be back here. I guess I should change my location back to the Oklahoma Dustbowl of WA again, eh?

That's a no-go, NOLSE. I'm back stateside now, since late-June. Spent 9 months in KSA after leaving AFG - been in Jeddah since September 2014. All done overseas now. WTF are you doing over there, anyway? Teaching those fat, lazy, arrogant Arabs X-fit???

Any chance at a RopeUp 2015, oly??? I'm back in the States now and would really like to get out for some casual climbing and drinking with friends before the snow flies (since I haven't climbed any since before I left for Afghanistan way back in 2012).

You were looking at Spoil Ill. Do a search for Joe Puryear's (R.I.P.) site - you could prolly find a link for it here on CC.com using the search function. Once you find his site, you'll likely find any beta he had on it. I've been outta the country for the past several years, so I don't know if Joe's widow took the site down or if Stoney Richards is keeping it up.

YES!!!1 The boy is back in town. The boy is back in town... oh, and , if youz guys are still doing that...

It's here... FREEDOM!!!1

I read all 40-some comments and ROFLMAO'ed the whole time. I think "Diesel" could actually be our old nemesis Divot or Arc from years gone by. Hell, it could even be the Marmot Prince! Whaddaya think, Off? Does Diesel smell like Divot?

Thanks, Porter! I did read somewhere that you have to take a side trail near an old mine to find the old crash site. And I really appreciate the extra nugget about the waterfall. I hadn't read that anywhere. The kids will love it. Need headlamps to get there safely? Is it safe for kids (10 and 12 years old) to hike back in there? How far back in the mine is it?

1 and a wake-up!!!

Which is why I won't be staying for very long. I'm going from AFG to Dubai, where I'll spend a few days exploring my reclaimed freedom. I'll climb the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world), drive a dunebuggy in the desert, ride a camel, and buy some golden shiny things in the souk. Then I'm headed to my old childhood stomping grounds of Pisa (Italy) for 10 days on the beach at the Italian Riveria. Even flying the GF over from Seattle to meet me there! Then flying into Dulles and spending a few days with the 'rents in NOVA, and then finally back Out West to you guys. For my son's 12th birthday, he wants to go on his first overnight backpacking trip, and he wants that to be with his old man. So we're headed into the ONF and up to Buckhorn Lake. I understand that there's an old plane crash along the way. Any of yous guys know much about that? Finally, a week at home visiting friends and catching up on medical/dental/vision appointments before shipping out on September 01 for SAUDI ARABIA and the NEXT GRAND ADVENTURE!!!1 I guess at that point we'll have to lock this thread and start a new one for Sobo Updates from Saudi...

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I'M IN THE SINGLE DIGITS NOW!!!1 Just 9 and a wake-up! I can't believe I'm this fawk'n close to gittin' the hell outta here!!!1

Why, they're in Pink's pink, of course. The little pussy...

Beware of teh buckshard!!!