Minnehaha Invasion

[Jake]

Figured this afternoon would be a good time to do a little bouldering prior to the late afternoon beer drinking and basketball watching festivities, so I went out to Minnehaha.

 

The first thing I noticed after I pulled up (besides the four or five of Spokane's biggest fire trucks taking up four parking spaces each) were the herds of persons walking around wearing with their helmets. Bad sign.

 

Of course, not only were the helmets permanently attached to their skulls even when they were sitting in the shade not climbing, but they also had heavy duty hiking boots on, which seemed like overkill, particularly since my sandals were doing just fine traversing the dirt and grass. Also, they seemed to have an affinity for carrying big packs filled with who knows what, since they were only there for an afternoon of cragging and not tackling Everest. Fortunately, I was able to tell them apart as they wandered around in their various herds by their nametags, artistically written on white athletic tape (and decorated with smily faces no less), that were affixed to their chests.

 

The worst part about these herds was that they had decided to toprope nearly every good warm up boulder problem in the area. I have never seen so many 15' and 20' top ropes rigged in a single area in my entire life. Below each rope sat the herd in the dirt, replete in their above described outfits, staring up at the climb the leader had chosen to test their abilities. Now it is worth noting that these toprope setups were not all your standard rigs. One setup featured webbing stretched horizontally between two boulders about 10' high with a toprope attached to it dropping that same 10' down the ground. Meanwhile, the person trying to climb the rock about three feet away was constantly being pulled off the rock by the rope - a torture device that would have made Saddam proud. Not to be showed up by this spectacle, the group right around the corner had a guy tied into the rope about 15' off the ground trying to downclimb the route while facing away from the rock. He didn't appear to be having and easy time of it either.

 

Undoubtedly I missed out on more climbing hijinks, but with all my warmup routes taken and cold brews calling my name, I decided to head back to the parking lot and squeeze my way out between the fire trucks and head home.

 

I would appreciate some help in identifying this Minnehaha invasion/infestation. What would you call this group and why were they exhibiting such circus style antics?

[chacalnhide]

a bunch of wankers??

[sk]

I was suposed to climb at the collums this morning. I debated and fought with myself becuase I realy had a shit ton to do arround the house and needed to get to it, so I left the house to go to the bank and meet my friends at the collums any way as I was just about at the bank I gott a call from mustang sally. "this sucks, just go home. I don't want to climb today" turns out there was a CLASS of aprox. 25 students at the COLLUMS. Shit man there are only about 10 realy decent routes there. plus there were som random other climbers trying to get routes in. the only climbs available were the two hardest ones. ah well, I guess to get any climbing done there I will have to get up earlier than the other climbers

[pindude]

Jake,

You whining crybaby.

 

Why couldn't you have come up and spoken to any of us, rather than feel the need to post your squawking here? If you had approached any of us at the time, including me, we would have gladly talked with you, given you the straight scoop, and it would have been civil I'm sure. We might even have shared a rope with you. Instead you air this crap on this board.

 

First thing I'll say, is that if it wasn't for that "herd," you would not have Minnehaha Rocks for a climbing area, and the property would have been developed for private housing almost 20 years ago. That herd, along with Mountain Gear and Spokane County Parks, teamed together to keep Minnehaha a climbing, hiking, biking area back in the mid to late 1980s. Recently, the herd has been responsible for cleaning the area up, including sandblasting all the graffiti off the main walls and in your prized bouldering area.

 

Time to straighten some things out here. The group was the Spokane Mountaineers--and no, contrary to the popular belief on this board (yeah, I like the caption contests as much as the rest of you) they are not a division of the Sea Mounties. The Spo Mounties may share a common name and interest with the Sea Mounties, but we take pride in being an autonomous outdoors club, representing outdoorspeople of the Inland Northwest since 1915, conserving and preserving recreation properties and open spaces, providing instruction for outdoor activities including climbing, hiking, BC skiing, and a few more mountain- and water-oriented pursuits. We are fortunate to have an excellent safety record (knock on wood), and have not suffered the problems some other large nonprofit outdoor groups and even some guide services have, in regard to accidents. And--for the most part--we try not to disrupt others where we may do our thing. We do have a history of having had a few rather exceptional climbers participate in our programs. We take pride in being a small, fairly flexible, nonbureaucratic (well, at least as much as possible) outdoors club. If you want to know more, you can check out our website at www.spokanemountaineers.org.

 

There is a need in outdoor communities for responsible organizations to provide competent instruction. In regard to what you saw out there, it was our Mountain School. The packs were larger than what you normally see at the crags because earlier in the day, folks hiked up to the top of Beacon Hill IN TRAINING. After all, it’s “Mountain School.” If this had been Rock School or Lead School, you would’ve seen smaller crag packs instead.

 

For many of those people it was there FIRST DAY EVER CLIMBING ON ROCKS. While I and maybe you have soloed hundreds of feet off the ground, and perhaps feel comfortable on boulder problems up to 20’ or more up (well, I used to), it’s not appropriate for beginners, obviously. Ever heard of liability, Jake?

 

Jake, you’re not just a whiner, you’re a spin doctor. Much of what you were describing is exaggerated. That “horizontal” rigging system was the only way to have rigged what is perhaps one of the best little chimneys to teach that technique. Not that it makes much difference, but it was closer to 15’, not 10’, by the time you can step off. Most years it hasn’t been TR’ed, but this is the age of liability. As far as pulling the climber off, well, I can’t speak to that, but I have to question your credibility with this major spin-job post of yours.

 

As far as the group around the corner was concerned, if a guy wanted to downclimb (yeah, we teach downclimbing, too), all the more power to him for downclimbing on TR. In fact, I believe you’ve never climbed that little route, or you would know that in a portion of it, it is easiest to FACE OUT. And if you had climbed it before, you would know not only that but also, overall, that climb is a little awkward for a beginner, which is likely the reason why the person you saw wasn’t having the easiest time of it. You would know that IF you had climbed it. BTW, that little 15’, 5.0 testpiece is called The Cleft. You’re welcome to boulder it sometime (including on the other 364 days of the year or so we don't have a rope on it).

 

As far as the climbs we take up, we try to be cognizant of our impact and others at Minne or elsewhere whenever we gather en masse, but there is simply no other way around it, sorry. That little bouldering area, unfortunately for others like you, is perfect for teaching beginners who are getting up off the ground for the first time ever. HOWEVER, this was only one smaller portion of Minne where we were climbing. And it is for only one day for the whole year that we are in that particular bouldering area. You should have taken the opportunity to explore much of the other prime bouldering around Minne, where there are MANY more problems, and where you WOULD have found solitude today.

 

As far as the firemen are concerned, that is Spokane County’s high-angle rescue team. You know, they have to do training sometimes. It’s good for both you and me, and especially the greater community. They were only taking up one small spot, where the climbs The Hooker and The John are, on the Secondary Face. I’d like to see you boulder those. They’re what, 5.11c/d, in the 20-25’ range? Normally led or TR’ed. I’ve never heard of them being bouldered/soloed.

 

I would be out at Minne tomorrow too, Jake, but I’m going skiing instead. Be warned, the herd will be there. No, not in your bouldering area, you’ll have that back. They will have moved on toward the Main Face and longer climbs. Sorry for those of you who might want to climb on some of these routes we’ll have ropes on, but we are known for sharing our TRs with others who want to climb, if you’d just ask. And next time you’re out there, Jake, you’re welcome to speak to me in person. If you’re civil, I might share a rope with you, or give you a spot on your favorite boulder problem.

 

Steve Reynolds

[slothrop]

Jake,

You whining crybaby.

 

Yeah, what he said.

[sk]

hey it's a trip report. he went he watched he decided to not climb... me thinks thou are a bit over sensative so it's a newbie class. so what. sure people need to learn to climb. so. I learned you learned we all learned. I have yet to take a class although I am considering one. but I would not take a climbing class with more than 10 people MAX. for me the noise and comotion of more people than that in a group gets distracting becuase I am so social. Honestly I would be better off learning one on one.

[Jake]

Yeah ok so maybe I was whining a bit. I was just a little frustrated when I posted. I'll admit that a lot of people were out there learning how to climb - something, including me - we all did at one time or another. Pindude - you have some valid points, though I wouldn't make a big deal about climbing 10' vs. 15' off the deck. Sorry for the exageration and the perceived 'spin doctoring.' Sorry if I underestimated the height of the climb. Yes, I could have spoken with you at a climb, but with all of the other people around, I didn't want to jump in a possibly make others wait to climb when they were obviously there to learn more. I have nothing against people learning how to climb, it's a great sport. I just was frustrated when many of the warm up climbs down on the lower part of the hill were in use - and yes - you are correct, I could have hiked farther up the hill and climbed something else. Bottom line, Minne was busy and some days it just isn't easy to climb where you want. No prob - though I found some of the getups and toprope riggings somewhat interesting.

PS - As for the fire department, I don't have anything against those guys learning high angle stuff. I just wonder why they had to drive their biggest trucks.

[catbirdseat]

Jake, it sounds as though beer and basketball were calling to you anyway.

[pindude]

hey it's a trip report.

 

Albeit a highly skewed TR. Muffy, perhaps I was being oversensitive. But I thought Jake's post needed to called out for what is was, and it was a good opportunity to set the record straight. And sorry, dear, you weren't there. You might have enjoyed our social situation. While our student group is large overall (about 35 students), everything is broken down into smaller groups of 3-4. Instructor to student ratio is 1:2 or less, and instruction is highly individualized, as climbing instruction should be.

 

Minne is a large place, and we were in a couple of the prime bouldering areas. But there was much more out there for anyone to boulder, lead, or TR today. As far as noise and commotion is concerned, it's there, but not from the climbers, as we climbers aren't running around screaming our heads off. The noise and commotion is from this being an urban climbing area: sounds of helicopters and vintage biplanes buzzing overhead from nearby Felts Field, gunshots from an even closer law enforcement shooting range, noise from traffic on the adjacent road.

 

[lancegranite]

 

a Check this out! re you guys for hire? I have a couple of projects...

[sk]

PS - As for the fire department, I don't have anything against those guys learning high angle stuff. I just wonder why they had to drive their biggest trucks.

because driving the BIG TRUCK IS FUN

[sk]

hey it's a trip report.

 

Albeit a highly skewed TR. Muffy, perhaps I was being oversensitive. But I thought Jake's post needed to called out for what is was, and it was a good opportunity to set the record straight. And sorry, dear, you weren't there. You might have enjoyed our social situation. While our student group is large overall (about 35 students), everything is broken down into smaller groups of 3-4. Instructor to student ratio is 1:2 or less, and instruction is highly individualized, as climbing instruction should be.

 

Minne is a large place, and we were in a couple of the prime bouldering areas. But there was much more out there for anyone to boulder, lead, or TR today. As far as noise and commotion is concerned, it's there, but not from the climbers, as we climbers aren't running around screaming our heads off. The noise and commotion is from this being an urban climbing area: sounds of helicopters and vintage biplanes buzzing overhead from nearby Felts Field, gunshots from an even closer law enforcement shooting range, noise from traffic on the adjacent road.

 

COOL let me know when you want to teach a leader class for free I will be alll over it

[pindude]

Yeah ok so maybe I was whining a bit. I was just a little frustrated when I posted. I'll admit that a lot of people were out there learning how to climb - something, including me - we all did at one time or another. Pindude - you have some valid points, though I wouldn't make a big deal about climbing 10' vs. 15' off the deck. Sorry for the exageration and the perceived 'spin doctoring.' Sorry if I underestimated the height of the climb. Yes, I could have spoken with you at a climb, but with all of the other people around, I didn't want to jump in a possibly make others wait to climb when they were obviously there to learn more. I have nothing against people learning how to climb, it's a great sport. I just was frustrated when many of the warm up climbs down on the lower part of the hill were in use - and yes - you are correct, I could have hiked farther up the hill and climbed something else. Bottom line, Minne was busy and some days it just isn't easy to climb where you want. No prob - though I found some of the getups and toprope riggings somewhat interesting.

PS - As for the fire department, I don't have anything against those guys learning high angle stuff. I just wonder why they had to drive their biggest trucks.

 

Thanks, Jake. Yeah, it would have been hard to jump in, but we do share our ropes when we can. I'd be glad to climb or boulder with you anytime. Bouldering is what really drew me to Minne in the first place. I might have come on a bit strong, but I do stand by what I said. Some of my emotion is certainly from the fact my crag pack got ripped off today. I'll save that for a new topic.

--Steve

[sk]

fucking theives

 

bummer dude, i hope it turns up

[pindude]

a Check this out! re you guys for hire? I have a couple of projects...

 

We were told we did $35K worth of work when we did that all-volunteer project...sure we could do it for hire, or give you the beta to do the work yourself.

[pindude]

COOL let me know when you want to teach a leader class for free I will be alll over it

 

We'd be glad to teach you anytime over here, Muffy. There are a lot of excellent lead-climbing instructors on this board, I'm sure, who would do the same thing for you at Smith, L-worth, Squish, or any of the other higher quality places on the west side.

[Jake]

Pindude - sorry to hear about your pack. Definitely a crappy deal. Enjoy the bouldering.

[kurthicks]

that sucks about your pack pindude.

where you guys up there last weekend too? I saw a large party learning how to belay when i was up there solo aiding... they gave me some WTF looks, but all was well. except for my aid climbing ability, that is.

[AlpineK]

That's pretty cool what you're doing with the sandblasting.

 

I used to climb there in the 80s and the place was a pit; graffiti and junk were everywhere. Despite that I thought the rock was a fun place then. It sounds like it's even better now.

[AaronB]

I would have been bummed to see so many ppl from the same group with topropes everywhere. Especially in a place as small as minnehaha, especially on a w/e... Free up some space.. Make smaller groups. Or do it on a weekday. I think thats rude pindude..

[pindude]

that sucks about your pack pindude.

where you guys up there last weekend too? I saw a large party learning how to belay when i was up there solo aiding... they gave me some WTF looks, but all was well. except for my aid climbing ability, that is.

 

I wasn't there, but that was likely the instructor workshop for the same Mtn School program. They would have been ensuring the instructors were all on the same page as far as how to teach belaying, etc. Many of those folks are still fairly new climbers, so they were probably intrigued with whatever set-up you had going on for your aid self-belay. I can picture the looks you got myself!

 

Reminds me of when I started solo-aiding out at Minne in the late 80s, setting up an anchor at the bottom of the route and heading on up. I typically had people gawking at me and my system then, too.

[pindude]

AlpineK,

Wish the place was better, at least it looks better. The problem at Minne has always been the non-climbers, and they’re still the problem. Such is this urban crag.

 

Jake,

One thing I’ve noticed out at Minne this spring is that some of the trails, especially in the same bouldering area we’ve been talking about, are disappearing in new grass growth. Something I haven’t seen for many years. I thought bouldering was more popular today than ever, but it seems there isn’t as much bouldering going on at Minne as there used to be. Perhaps the locals need to be reminded about what a great bunch of problems exist out there.

 

AaronB,

If you knew me, you'd know I'm not rude, but you'd also know I'm not afraid to call it like it is. As was expressed in the above posts (please read *all* of the above), and agreed upon by Jake, there was a lot more to climb out there both yesterday and today--Minne's not that small, there was more than just "some space" for others to climb, and we *were* in smaller groups.

 

Most Spokane-area climbers know me, and know what Minne and our local club is about. I know you're new to town. Let me know, Aaron, and I'd be glad to show you around Minne and other crags around here, climb, and knock back a beer or two.

 

Steve Reynolds

[Greg_W]

Hey, I'm invading this place in a couple weeks. Any thoughts on good camping and routes to hit? All I have is Smoot's POS "Washington Rock" as a guide for the area.

[Jake]

Yeah Pindude I noticed that same thing with the grass. There was 1 spot near the parking lot across from the main wall that is sorta two tiered and has a easy 20' traverse on it and none of the grass was trampled down at all. Further up the hill too there were some areas where nobody had visited too. Although I must say I like soft green grass landings better than dusty ones.

[Sabertooth]

Hey, I'm invading this place in a couple weeks. Any thoughts on good camping and routes to hit? All I have is Smoot's POS "Washington Rock" as a guide for the area.

 

Get a copy of Marty Bland's guide when you get here. You can get one at Mountain Gear on North Division Street, or at Mountain Goat on Sprague and Division.

 

Routes that I've enjoyed climbing or flailing on...

 

The Dihedral - 5.9+ - 4 stars - A classic line on the center of the main wall. Very sustained, and well protected. Don't miss it. Get there early, it's very popular.

 

The Diagonal - 5.8 - A sweet line that is runout on 4th class at the start, but has some nice sustained climbing above. Takes pro very well at the technical portions.

 

Don Quixote - 5.10D - Awesome double overhanging cracks. Very pumpy and sustained. Probably Minne's only true pure crack climbing.

 

Z Crack - 5.10A - A short but nice zig zagging crack on the Don Q. face.

 

The Hooker - 5.11C - A really cool big heal hook move to start. Would be really burly to lead. Looks like good pro on the upper section, bring a pad.

 

Heart Route - 5.9 - Fun crimpers and edging next to Y crack. 2 Quickdraws ad a large nut protects it.

 

Lots of good boulder problems too, up to V11 I believe. Dirk Diggler V4/5 is the most popular.

 

Protection is poor on some routes, but it's still fun to work them on TR.

 

Lots of camping at Mount Spokane State Park, only 20 minutes away.