Beacon

[pink]

Mr.Pink - I'll check out that start and let you know. I don't recall exactly how many bolts and pins are on P2 but Bill's count sounds about right.

 

Are you serious it is called Leprechauns in Leotards? Who put that up if it wasn't Jim and Andrew? 11b??

 

But Bill forgot to tell Jeff... and Obie never showed up with the twenty-seven 8 x 10 glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, sat down. we all sat motherfucking down

 

[pink]

how much fixed gear is on the second pitch of smoked signals! i know i put some pins in on lead but we removed them as i was going to the ditch shortly after

 

7 bolts, 2 fixed pin's and a Link Cam. Oh, and please refer to the correct name, named by the first ascensions in 2009: Leprechauns in Leotards. 5.11B they say.

 

teacher IVAN drawing topo's on classroom dry erase boards recruiting the next generation of Beacon Mother Fuckin Rockers this topo is missing westbay, bachar, grossman, and the quack....

Edited April 22, 2016 by pink

[pink]

Edited April 22, 2016 by pink

[pink]

i'd never placed a bolt in my life until working those 1st 2 pitches (and installed them all of lead) so yup, most of them deserve replacing, especially b/c of the extra long studs exposed (most of them could just be saw-zalled short actually and be fine, there's plenty of steel in the hole) - i don't have any of the requisite equipment though and so haven't yet fixed it - i give my unlimited blessing to those who'd want to improve any pitch of stone soup and would like to be along on the endeavour, should you care for the company

 

that corner of beacon is wicked littered w/ junk, on all the ledges, from ground to summit - the base is a morass of water bottles, beer bottles, cigarette butts, n' fee slips, largely b/c of the hurricane winds that dump everything there - i made a right kewl trash dump up on the swiss ledges, half way up, that has, in addition to all the standard tourist-debis, the tattered remains of some real-kewl gay-pride TAT from many decades ago

 

the 1st pitch of stone soup makes most sense if you look at it from an aider's perspective and go there in february (when the s side closure sets in) and it's soaking wet (that line is the only dry one there at that time - you can tell that in one of your pictures by noting how it's the only line not heavily moss-clad)

 

i'd love to see the lower and 2nd tier more developed

 

go to the top and see how if you like it any better?

 

Sometimes you eat the BAR, and sometimes the BAR eat's you!

 

 

[pink]

All this talk of soup and not much about the routes to the left or right of it.

 

Left of Stone Soup is a route called Smoke Signals, 10c from what I can gather. Bill Coe made reference to it having 13 bolts and being called Crossdressing Fool but I think that was his April 1st post.

 

Right of Soup is what, anything?

no bolts to the left of stone soup and nothing to right for about 30 yards until you hit pink's route (starts in a small cave - has 2-3 bolts than thin n' skittery gear to the big tree)

 

plenty of room to put in some ground up routes between those 2 climbs - gotta get me a drill and go rescue my hammer off the side of tower rock

 

what does skittery gear mean! that's a good thing right

[pink]

Mr.Pink - I'll check out that start and let you know. I don't recall exactly how many bolts and pins are on P2 but Bill's count sounds about right.

 

Are you serious it is called Leprechauns in Leotards? Who put that up if it wasn't Jim and Andrew? 11b??

 

what are you going to let me know? i'm confused?

[billcoe]

Are you serious it is called Leprechauns in Leotards? Who put that up if it wasn't Jim and Andrew? 11b??

 

Whoh, someone bit:

 

Nope. Not serious at all, 100 percent teasing Mr Pink. That's all. I left the happy face off thinking that would be even funnier, but I'm rethinking that now. I might need to put something like this on those posts:

 

 

 

Sorry!

[ivan]

1/10/16 - 4th year of setting down the shit that does down in beatardia, where men are women and women are never around

 

was a rude late fall/early winter season - the big blow of early november annihilated the hiking trail and i woulda been pissed about it if'n never-ending rains hadn't set in and made soloing laps insane anyway

 

a late december trip out w/ geoff at the start of winter break - we ended up just drinking beers n' smoking shit n' commenting on the awful, awful slickery nature of everything - the wall closed at ground zero and so nothing aidable particularly of interest

 

christmas ensued and all was well - didn't have the cash or the clock-time to go for a long off trade to red rocks or whatever, so the only local option was heading up to the puget sound and make a water-man of meself again - last year was great, a 3 day back-pack on the olympic coast n' a 2 day ocean kayak

 

this time around it was a 6-day sea window

 

beat up north in the early hours of 12/27, bent out of my mind it seemed, water streaming along the side of the automovat - seattle shortly after dawn, proud pat all pat-like

 

made our way to the marina n' nattered in the cold light waiting to meet up w/ our captain, a true comedy of errors - soon enough we were on board and casting off

 

sweet simple sailing southward in light airs, past bouys bestowed with sealions - seals - dolphins - eagles both american and candadian i bet - the pleasant site of a 'lion bolting down a full-growth salmon by tail

 

the last bit into port orchard by motor, the night come round so soon - carriers at bremerton

 

ashore we 'sup n' carouse n' enjoy ourselves capitally - meet a sheila-acquaintance of denali dave's round the fireplace n' philsophize over the weight of smoke before rambling off to a sea-berth

 

sail oughta town the next day and all was well - got meself nearly kilt by a swinging boom just shy of brian island or somethign like that - spent much of the night dazed as could be but enjoyed a grand time nonetheless binging on burgundy, n' noble reds n' flowing bowls of what-have-you until 2 in the morning

 

awoke feeling near as death as i've felt in awhile - the hard-knock the day before was certainly one of my fabled 9 lives n' i felt the truth of it - grayed out - feeling the cold i'd inherited from the silverton clan plus the concusssion plus the cold above deck plus the deep, deep fucking booze funk

 

they all thought i was dead the day before and grew doubly grim when i was drawing breath the day after but groaning - turned into me laying in agony on the cabin bench n' holding me head together as we steamed back to seattle against a solid breeze

 

the rest of the day was a healing thing - pat flung himself into the sound in his wetsuit as i laid around his joint, showering and trying to sleep off my fucking concussion - that night we did some super-stoned shopping n' headed over to his girlfriend's for a sumptous dinner set against a most scorchign cold outside - i cackled n' thumbed through 1960's civil defense brochures while pat snored n' i made small talk w/ his missus and her very alien animal

 

3 days of ocean kayaking ensued - launched out from an indian reservation near bellingham, stocked up on cheap injun smokes - the rudder was rudely impaired n' pat didn't know but had me in the back anyhow, so after hours of bitching n' cussing we finally fetched up on clark island

 

soaked rather wet we came straight ashore n' made camp in what proved to be a damned cold place - made a roaring fire n' had a bit of a good night - italian fare i recollect - olives n' red sauce n' sausage tortellinis n' mozeralla n' red wine - a sputtering fire, a bit of a dissapointment but soon enough the tent beside a snoring pat n' i slept soundly, the head cold resonating through me

 

day 2 of the ocean kayak we resolve to shift our camp southwards on the island but no further - find a sweet cove filled w/ firewood n' a sweltering sun, relative to our recent camp - we souse along the shore for a bit n' later launch for a trip to a nearby island where pat is molested by sheep

 

great night, this one - we were promised the northern lights but they never appeared but fuck it - it was new years eve - we sat by a roaring fire n' enjoyed bacon n' chili n' what-have-you, me sucking down pionot noir n' smokes n' enjoying the simpleness of being stranded at sea

 

new year's eve we returned to civilization n' after a bit of agony i made it home in time for winter weather and a nice delayed start to the school year

 

 

but this a beacon thread, n' so all this stuff before is simple bullshit n' i apologize for it

 

today was day 1! corner lap #1, but not solo n' gladly not

 

geoff at the bk a bit past 10 - we saunter eastwards by strong light n' stronger winds

 

the parking lot in a simple gale - we pack and wander down, bound n' determined to reach the top of the uprising and to suss out the damage from there

 

cold n' icy but delightfully dry - i take pitch 1 n' we alternate from there - snow patches here and there, but dry where it needs to be - some beers along the way n' we get time to poke our head over the railing n' take in the carnage on the touron-trail - much work to be done it's obvious - big blown out trees n' blowdown n' battered stones - we take it in and scoot down the raps in the big blow n' enjoy some beers and ramboling aroudn and reach back for home

 

here's to 2016

 

1/31 - day 2 - closing day, and not a very promising one - 39 degrees n' pouring rain in the parking lot - a drive out through mental desperation, the moss on this here rolling rock of meself growing thick n' fucking shaggy

 

beers n' bullshitting w/ steve n' waiting for the weather to give up a little - there were no illusions of how thorough soggy it was gonna be

 

no wind to speak of though, so there was that at least and it got warmer on the south side after the mist melted away - soon enough i cast off, pulling on gear here and there to remind meself not to be a dipshit on a point of pride climbing the slime-cone

 

the sun shone out halfway up and the mood improved noticeably - fresh snow, as innocent as a downy laotian-lamb along the far gorge walls -steve was exuberant to lead the second pitch and i salute him for it as it wouldn't have taken much to talk me out of it

 

a real slippy-slidey one is that - our boy did it w/o flying off but, following, i found meself doing the cartoon-character spinning me feet in the air thang at one point and only narrowly avoiding a pretty cosmic pirouette around the first crux

 

found meself holding forth somethign fierce on tree ledge, swilling pbr n' pounding upon our poor fellow about his own cosmic hangups -those rightly disposed, and a few butts thrown in to boot, i bolted on up the slippery ramps to grassy ledges - since i had a 70 and the jill's anchor was running wet, i went past it and anchored to a tree - a flippant shoulder belay ensued n' steve quite soon went n' fell big time onto it but i proved them old-boys knew what they were doing and ended up smiling on the ground for it

 

the trail closed sign even as we slipped away - stone soup next month now i suppose, though i suspect it's gonna take a civil action and yet another juicy skamania judge session before it gets sorted out - how good is it i have no other hobbies?

 

 

2/27 - day 3 - stone soup in the sopping wet - sausage n' eggs n' a leisurely breakfast - 'nastia at tad past 10 - streaming water on the sides of the machine on the way out - the k-19 in classic form, fresh off a cardiac arrest for christ's sake?

 

3/2 - day 4 - the k-19 konked out saturday just at the parking lot ledge n' we ran out of day and had to leave all the gear hanging on the wall - ya'll bitches lost out on a treasure trove of scary worn-out trash

 

we raced out amid squalls n' rain-storms, me simultaneously sucking down beer n' butts n' changing clothes - was an easy romp up the route w/ the gear all pre-placed - strong winds n' steady rain at times but all went well

 

prime time for putting up some more routes on this small patch of available wall...

 

3/26 - day 6 - spring breaks big upon the land - breezy clouds n' bright sun - a right sound sleep-in - wine n' pizza for breakfast, than a side-saddle into the gorge under glorious skies - crisp n' cold - spent some time scrambling 'round the ozone n' enjoying da wedder, then busted eastwards more to beacon - aid-soloed stone soup n' had a prime time of it, binging on, of all things, katy perry

4/28 - day 7 - been out to hike hamilton a couple times the past few weeks but that shit don't count - been a bad fews weeks of loss: health, cool students, ambition, colleagues, etc. - got a taste of bacon to soothe the senses today - me n' mike at the base of stone soup in the cool grey of the afternoon - the alpine start to three tree ledges - to the swiss ledges from there, swapping leads - sawzalled a couple bolts to get'em more righteous - shit, there's so many more to do - set off 2 huge blocks on the rap back down, topping a big tree along the way - for the best really - stoked to see so much chalk on p1 & 2, just gotta improve them amateur bolts for the sporto's

[ivan]

1/10/16 - 4th year of setting down the shit that does down in beatardia, where men are women and women are never around

 

was a rude late fall/early winter season - the big blow of early november annihilated the hiking trail and i woulda been pissed about it if'n never-ending rains hadn't set in and made soloing laps insane anyway

 

a late december trip out w/ geoff at the start of winter break - we ended up just drinking beers n' smoking shit n' commenting on the awful, awful slickery nature of everything - the wall closed at ground zero and so nothing aidable particularly of interest

 

christmas ensued and all was well - didn't have the cash or the clock-time to go for a long off trade to red rocks or whatever, so the only local option was heading up to the puget sound and make a water-man of meself again - last year was great, a 3 day back-pack on the olympic coast n' a 2 day ocean kayak

 

this time around it was a 6-day sea window

 

beat up north in the early hours of 12/27, bent out of my mind it seemed, water streaming along the side of the automovat - seattle shortly after dawn, proud pat all pat-like

 

made our way to the marina n' nattered in the cold light waiting to meet up w/ our captain, a true comedy of errors - soon enough we were on board and casting off

 

sweet simple sailing southward in light airs, past bouys bestowed with sealions - seals - dolphins - eagles both american and candadian i bet - the pleasant site of a 'lion bolting down a full-growth salmon by tail

 

the last bit into port orchard by motor, the night come round so soon - carriers at bremerton

 

ashore we 'sup n' carouse n' enjoy ourselves capitally - meet a sheila-acquaintance of denali dave's round the fireplace n' philsophize over the weight of smoke before rambling off to a sea-berth

 

sail oughta town the next day and all was well - got meself nearly kilt by a swinging boom just shy of brian island or somethign like that - spent much of the night dazed as could be but enjoyed a grand time nonetheless binging on burgundy, n' noble reds n' flowing bowls of what-have-you until 2 in the morning

 

awoke feeling near as death as i've felt in awhile - the hard-knock the day before was certainly one of my fabled 9 lives n' i felt the truth of it - grayed out - feeling the cold i'd inherited from the silverton clan plus the concusssion plus the cold above deck plus the deep, deep fucking booze funk

 

they all thought i was dead the day before and grew doubly grim when i was drawing breath the day after but groaning - turned into me laying in agony on the cabin bench n' holding me head together as we steamed back to seattle against a solid breeze

 

the rest of the day was a healing thing - pat flung himself into the sound in his wetsuit as i laid around his joint, showering and trying to sleep off my fucking concussion - that night we did some super-stoned shopping n' headed over to his girlfriend's for a sumptous dinner set against a most scorchign cold outside - i cackled n' thumbed through 1960's civil defense brochures while pat snored n' i made small talk w/ his missus and her very alien animal

 

3 days of ocean kayaking ensued - launched out from an indian reservation near bellingham, stocked up on cheap injun smokes - the rudder was rudely impaired n' pat didn't know but had me in the back anyhow, so after hours of bitching n' cussing we finally fetched up on clark island

 

soaked rather wet we came straight ashore n' made camp in what proved to be a damned cold place - made a roaring fire n' had a bit of a good night - italian fare i recollect - olives n' red sauce n' sausage tortellinis n' mozeralla n' red wine - a sputtering fire, a bit of a dissapointment but soon enough the tent beside a snoring pat n' i slept soundly, the head cold resonating through me

 

day 2 of the ocean kayak we resolve to shift our camp southwards on the island but no further - find a sweet cove filled w/ firewood n' a sweltering sun, relative to our recent camp - we souse along the shore for a bit n' later launch for a trip to a nearby island where pat is molested by sheep

 

great night, this one - we were promised the northern lights but they never appeared but fuck it - it was new years eve - we sat by a roaring fire n' enjoyed bacon n' chili n' what-have-you, me sucking down pionot noir n' smokes n' enjoying the simpleness of being stranded at sea

 

new year's eve we returned to civilization n' after a bit of agony i made it home in time for winter weather and a nice delayed start to the school year

 

 

but this a beacon thread, n' so all this stuff before is simple bullshit n' i apologize for it

 

today was day 1! corner lap #1, but not solo n' gladly not

 

geoff at the bk a bit past 10 - we saunter eastwards by strong light n' stronger winds

 

the parking lot in a simple gale - we pack and wander down, bound n' determined to reach the top of the uprising and to suss out the damage from there

 

cold n' icy but delightfully dry - i take pitch 1 n' we alternate from there - snow patches here and there, but dry where it needs to be - some beers along the way n' we get time to poke our head over the railing n' take in the carnage on the touron-trail - much work to be done it's obvious - big blown out trees n' blowdown n' battered stones - we take it in and scoot down the raps in the big blow n' enjoy some beers and ramboling aroudn and reach back for home

 

here's to 2016

 

1/31 - day 2 - closing day, and not a very promising one - 39 degrees n' pouring rain in the parking lot - a drive out through mental desperation, the moss on this here rolling rock of meself growing thick n' fucking shaggy

 

beers n' bullshitting w/ steve n' waiting for the weather to give up a little - there were no illusions of how thorough soggy it was gonna be

 

no wind to speak of though, so there was that at least and it got warmer on the south side after the mist melted away - soon enough i cast off, pulling on gear here and there to remind meself not to be a dipshit on a point of pride climbing the slime-cone

 

the sun shone out halfway up and the mood improved noticeably - fresh snow, as innocent as a downy laotian-lamb along the far gorge walls -steve was exuberant to lead the second pitch and i salute him for it as it wouldn't have taken much to talk me out of it

 

a real slippy-slidey one is that - our boy did it w/o flying off but, following, i found meself doing the cartoon-character spinning me feet in the air thang at one point and only narrowly avoiding a pretty cosmic pirouette around the first crux

 

found meself holding forth somethign fierce on tree ledge, swilling pbr n' pounding upon our poor fellow about his own cosmic hangups -those rightly disposed, and a few butts thrown in to boot, i bolted on up the slippery ramps to grassy ledges - since i had a 70 and the jill's anchor was running wet, i went past it and anchored to a tree - a flippant shoulder belay ensued n' steve quite soon went n' fell big time onto it but i proved them old-boys knew what they were doing and ended up smiling on the ground for it

 

the trail closed sign even as we slipped away - stone soup next month now i suppose, though i suspect it's gonna take a civil action and yet another juicy skamania judge session before it gets sorted out - how good is it i have no other hobbies?

 

 

2/27 - day 3 - stone soup in the sopping wet - sausage n' eggs n' a leisurely breakfast - 'nastia at tad past 10 - streaming water on the sides of the machine on the way out - the k-19 in classic form, fresh off a cardiac arrest for christ's sake?

 

3/2 - day 4 - the k-19 konked out saturday just at the parking lot ledge n' we ran out of day and had to leave all the gear hanging on the wall - ya'll bitches lost out on a treasure trove of scary worn-out trash

 

we raced out amid squalls n' rain-storms, me simultaneously sucking down beer n' butts n' changing clothes - was an easy romp up the route w/ the gear all pre-placed - strong winds n' steady rain at times but all went well

 

prime time for putting up some more routes on this small patch of available wall...

 

3/26 - day 6 - spring breaks big upon the land - breezy clouds n' bright sun - a right sound sleep-in - wine n' pizza for breakfast, than a side-saddle into the gorge under glorious skies - crisp n' cold - spent some time scrambling 'round the ozone n' enjoying da wedder, then busted eastwards more to beacon - aid-soloed stone soup n' had a prime time of it, binging on, of all things, katy perry

 

4/28 - day 7 - been out to hike hamilton a couple times the past few weeks but that shit don't count - been a bad fews weeks of loss: health, cool students, ambition, colleagues, etc. - got a taste of bacon to soothe the senses today - me n' mike at the base of stone soup in the cool grey of the afternoon - the alpine start to three tree ledges - to the swiss ledges from there, swapping leads - sawzalled a couple bolts to get'em more righteous - shit, there's so many more to do - set off 2 huge blocks on the rap back down, topping a big tree along the way - for the best really - stoked to see so much chalk on p1 & 2, just gotta improve them amateur bolts for the sporto's

5/2 - day 8 - nobody to climb w/ but it was 80+ at days end and nary a cloud in the crystal sky, so what can you do? scampered out to beacon, belting out bale-loads of smoke along the way n' bitch'n ballads, the 'lesberu purring away n' throwing engine warning lights out like it's wont to do - were time compressed into a single moment and a single feeling, i'm sure this wouldn't be the worst of em all to settle on, spring setting in and summer beckoning right behind...

 

not a soul in the parking lot, not right at all for so rare a spring day - what worries me really about the closed hiking trail is there isn't a sign at all of work being done to fix the damn thing - if i had a dollar for every tourist who stops, pays the 10$, then curses to discover the main attraction is under wraps, i'd have 1/10 of what the park's getting...

 

joe lent me a mean sawzall n' i put it to some use - climbed the 1st pitch of stone soup and, while cleaning it, cut down all the nasty extruding studs n' filed n' em nice n' smooth

[ivan]

1/10/16 - 4th year of setting down the shit that does down in beatardia, where men are women and women are never around

 

was a rude late fall/early winter season - the big blow of early november annihilated the hiking trail and i woulda been pissed about it if'n never-ending rains hadn't set in and made soloing laps insane anyway

 

a late december trip out w/ geoff at the start of winter break - we ended up just drinking beers n' smoking shit n' commenting on the awful, awful slickery nature of everything - the wall closed at ground zero and so nothing aidable particularly of interest

 

christmas ensued and all was well - didn't have the cash or the clock-time to go for a long off trade to red rocks or whatever, so the only local option was heading up to the puget sound and make a water-man of meself again - last year was great, a 3 day back-pack on the olympic coast n' a 2 day ocean kayak

 

this time around it was a 6-day sea window

 

beat up north in the early hours of 12/27, bent out of my mind it seemed, water streaming along the side of the automovat - seattle shortly after dawn, proud pat all pat-like

 

made our way to the marina n' nattered in the cold light waiting to meet up w/ our captain, a true comedy of errors - soon enough we were on board and casting off

 

sweet simple sailing southward in light airs, past bouys bestowed with sealions - seals - dolphins - eagles both american and candadian i bet - the pleasant site of a 'lion bolting down a full-growth salmon by tail

 

the last bit into port orchard by motor, the night come round so soon - carriers at bremerton

 

ashore we 'sup n' carouse n' enjoy ourselves capitally - meet a sheila-acquaintance of denali dave's round the fireplace n' philsophize over the weight of smoke before rambling off to a sea-berth

 

sail oughta town the next day and all was well - got meself nearly kilt by a swinging boom just shy of brian island or somethign like that - spent much of the night dazed as could be but enjoyed a grand time nonetheless binging on burgundy, n' noble reds n' flowing bowls of what-have-you until 2 in the morning

 

awoke feeling near as death as i've felt in awhile - the hard-knock the day before was certainly one of my fabled 9 lives n' i felt the truth of it - grayed out - feeling the cold i'd inherited from the silverton clan plus the concusssion plus the cold above deck plus the deep, deep fucking booze funk

 

they all thought i was dead the day before and grew doubly grim when i was drawing breath the day after but groaning - turned into me laying in agony on the cabin bench n' holding me head together as we steamed back to seattle against a solid breeze

 

the rest of the day was a healing thing - pat flung himself into the sound in his wetsuit as i laid around his joint, showering and trying to sleep off my fucking concussion - that night we did some super-stoned shopping n' headed over to his girlfriend's for a sumptous dinner set against a most scorchign cold outside - i cackled n' thumbed through 1960's civil defense brochures while pat snored n' i made small talk w/ his missus and her very alien animal

 

3 days of ocean kayaking ensued - launched out from an indian reservation near bellingham, stocked up on cheap injun smokes - the rudder was rudely impaired n' pat didn't know but had me in the back anyhow, so after hours of bitching n' cussing we finally fetched up on clark island

 

soaked rather wet we came straight ashore n' made camp in what proved to be a damned cold place - made a roaring fire n' had a bit of a good night - italian fare i recollect - olives n' red sauce n' sausage tortellinis n' mozeralla n' red wine - a sputtering fire, a bit of a dissapointment but soon enough the tent beside a snoring pat n' i slept soundly, the head cold resonating through me

 

day 2 of the ocean kayak we resolve to shift our camp southwards on the island but no further - find a sweet cove filled w/ firewood n' a sweltering sun, relative to our recent camp - we souse along the shore for a bit n' later launch for a trip to a nearby island where pat is molested by sheep

 

great night, this one - we were promised the northern lights but they never appeared but fuck it - it was new years eve - we sat by a roaring fire n' enjoyed bacon n' chili n' what-have-you, me sucking down pionot noir n' smokes n' enjoying the simpleness of being stranded at sea

 

new year's eve we returned to civilization n' after a bit of agony i made it home in time for winter weather and a nice delayed start to the school year

 

 

but this a beacon thread, n' so all this stuff before is simple bullshit n' i apologize for it

 

today was day 1! corner lap #1, but not solo n' gladly not

 

geoff at the bk a bit past 10 - we saunter eastwards by strong light n' stronger winds

 

the parking lot in a simple gale - we pack and wander down, bound n' determined to reach the top of the uprising and to suss out the damage from there

 

cold n' icy but delightfully dry - i take pitch 1 n' we alternate from there - snow patches here and there, but dry where it needs to be - some beers along the way n' we get time to poke our head over the railing n' take in the carnage on the touron-trail - much work to be done it's obvious - big blown out trees n' blowdown n' battered stones - we take it in and scoot down the raps in the big blow n' enjoy some beers and ramboling aroudn and reach back for home

 

here's to 2016

 

1/31 - day 2 - closing day, and not a very promising one - 39 degrees n' pouring rain in the parking lot - a drive out through mental desperation, the moss on this here rolling rock of meself growing thick n' fucking shaggy

 

beers n' bullshitting w/ steve n' waiting for the weather to give up a little - there were no illusions of how thorough soggy it was gonna be

 

no wind to speak of though, so there was that at least and it got warmer on the south side after the mist melted away - soon enough i cast off, pulling on gear here and there to remind meself not to be a dipshit on a point of pride climbing the slime-cone

 

the sun shone out halfway up and the mood improved noticeably - fresh snow, as innocent as a downy laotian-lamb along the far gorge walls -steve was exuberant to lead the second pitch and i salute him for it as it wouldn't have taken much to talk me out of it

 

a real slippy-slidey one is that - our boy did it w/o flying off but, following, i found meself doing the cartoon-character spinning me feet in the air thang at one point and only narrowly avoiding a pretty cosmic pirouette around the first crux

 

found meself holding forth somethign fierce on tree ledge, swilling pbr n' pounding upon our poor fellow about his own cosmic hangups -those rightly disposed, and a few butts thrown in to boot, i bolted on up the slippery ramps to grassy ledges - since i had a 70 and the jill's anchor was running wet, i went past it and anchored to a tree - a flippant shoulder belay ensued n' steve quite soon went n' fell big time onto it but i proved them old-boys knew what they were doing and ended up smiling on the ground for it

 

the trail closed sign even as we slipped away - stone soup next month now i suppose, though i suspect it's gonna take a civil action and yet another juicy skamania judge session before it gets sorted out - how good is it i have no other hobbies?

 

 

2/27 - day 3 - stone soup in the sopping wet - sausage n' eggs n' a leisurely breakfast - 'nastia at tad past 10 - streaming water on the sides of the machine on the way out - the k-19 in classic form, fresh off a cardiac arrest for christ's sake?

 

3/2 - day 4 - the k-19 konked out saturday just at the parking lot ledge n' we ran out of day and had to leave all the gear hanging on the wall - ya'll bitches lost out on a treasure trove of scary worn-out trash

 

we raced out amid squalls n' rain-storms, me simultaneously sucking down beer n' butts n' changing clothes - was an easy romp up the route w/ the gear all pre-placed - strong winds n' steady rain at times but all went well

 

prime time for putting up some more routes on this small patch of available wall...

 

3/26 - day 6 - spring breaks big upon the land - breezy clouds n' bright sun - a right sound sleep-in - wine n' pizza for breakfast, than a side-saddle into the gorge under glorious skies - crisp n' cold - spent some time scrambling 'round the ozone n' enjoying da wedder, then busted eastwards more to beacon - aid-soloed stone soup n' had a prime time of it, binging on, of all things, katy perry

 

4/28 - day 7 - been out to hike hamilton a couple times the past few weeks but that shit don't count - been a bad fews weeks of loss: health, cool students, ambition, colleagues, etc. - got a taste of bacon to soothe the senses today - me n' mike at the base of stone soup in the cool grey of the afternoon - the alpine start to three tree ledges - to the swiss ledges from there, swapping leads - sawzalled a couple bolts to get'em more righteous - shit, there's so many more to do - set off 2 huge blocks on the rap back down, topping a big tree along the way - for the best really - stoked to see so much chalk on p1 & 2, just gotta improve them amateur bolts for the sporto's

 

5/2 - day 8 - nobody to climb w/ but it was 80+ at days end and nary a cloud in the crystal sky, so what can you do? scampered out to beacon, belting out bale-loads of smoke along the way n' bitch'n ballads, the 'lesberu purring away n' throwing engine warning lights out like it's wont to do - were time compressed into a single moment and a single feeling, i'm sure this wouldn't be the worst of em all to settle on, spring setting in and summer beckoning right behind...

 

not a soul in the parking lot, not right at all for so rare a spring day - what worries me really about the closed hiking trail is there isn't a sign at all of work being done to fix the damn thing - if i had a dollar for every tourist who stops, pays the 10$, then curses to discover the main attraction is under wraps, i'd have 1/10 of what the park's getting...

 

joe lent me a mean sawzall n' i put it to some use - climbed the 1st pitch of stone soup and, while cleaning it, cut down all the nasty extruding studs n' filed n' em nice n' smooth

5/28 - day 9 - many hikes up hamilton in recent days, but that don't hardly count - thursday was out for the big walk an saw topher n' company on stone soup - brought a bit of a smile to the heart n' had a good govreet w/ them fools after the walk was over - passed off a sawzall, which didn't appear to get much use, and after a few gut-laff's w/ denali-dave, all done up and vivisected on account of his duputryens, danced away west

 

teamed up w/ geoff today - hadn't seen that courtly fool since casting him off at his hill house shortly after completing our spring break trip to the valley

 

our sad friend greatly hobbled all this time gone by, he braved his early exit from fat-phuck retirment and out we went - topher'd pulled his ropes, and we rambled up the first 2 pitches, me getting all the good work

 

the recently renovated p1 was hardly noticable - p2 not so much - a new bolt allows the aid'n fool to skip the eyebrow cave (bryan managed this same variation w/o a bolt i recall) which makes the aid across a bit more mellow - no more sling on the tree above the bush but it still works, so long as you fully extend your daisy and commit to the top step on tiny handholds

 

the 2 upper headwall bolts all ripped out and eloped east - it got called stone soup for a reason - the new way just fine, aiding-wise, and kinda fun as it forces some funky mixed free maneavours to make the high step

 

rawked out for the rest of our times - 3 tree - the long way down - rangers abound - beers and butts - the boat-dock - always bet on #28 - the big bound home

[pink]

That second pitch has become the bastard child of Beacon Rock...

[ivan]

more like the village bicycle...

[MrGecko]

...or the village whore...

[pink]

red head,,,, step child???

 

 

Bernie is a TRAD climber...

 

 

[mksportn]

So Topher, Sam and I climbed Smoke Signals into Stone Soup today. We attempted to free it the entire way, and were mostly successful. Pretty good climbing and it was a great day. And we were even met at the top by Ivan himself!

I'm sure Topher will give a detailed post of what's been done, but I wanted to do a little report on what I thought of each pitch.

Pitch 1: I led this one, (flash, because Topher gave me some gear beta, which I promptly forgot and didn't use haha.)

Good route, a little tricky to follow the natural because there isn't an obvious line, but once you're climbing it falls into place. Grade wise, I felt like it was somewhere in the 5.9/10a area, and the gear was all easy to place and plentiful.

 

Pitch 2: Sam onsighted this one, carrying a full double rack to 4" Props to him! P2 is amazing. Stellar climbing on flawless rock, with a pumpy section up top! Thought this pitch was around 10d/11a.

 

Pitch 3: I led this one. Initially tried to go up the first squeeze chute you come too, but found that I couldn't fit up it. haha then found the double OW around the corner, which was fun, and pretty easy. 5.8 pitch, simply because of the start up the short hand crack at the beginning. I would like to look at seeing if it's possible to send the first squeeze chute as a lieback, and make it a more direct free line.

 

Pitch 4: I also led this one. Once I took a look at the bolt line, I really wanted to try to free it, rather than take the dirty 5.6 line around the corner. So we french free'd the bolt ladder in order to scrub holds, and I gave it a shot. The first 3 bolts to the little foot ramp about 20' up is too hard. Probably hard 5.11 slab, and just not in character with the rest of the route. However, I found a nice little finger crack to the right about 10' that led to the same foot ramp. Cleaned that out, and scrubbed the holds in the top section, then pulled the rope, and lead it on gear up to the ramp, and then used the bolts on the bolt ladder to finish out. It went free on my first redpoint attempt. The crux is at the top of the slab, and features awesome and tricky slab moves. Giving it a grade of 5.10+, thin gear to 1" for the starting crack.

As a free climb, I would recommend continuing up the handline to the upper anchors at the start of pitch 5.

 

Pitch 5: this is the only pitch we didn't free clean. Sent it no problem up to the overhang, and then it took a while to figure out the moves through that. Finally figured out that once you reach the overhang, cut up and left on the leaning weakness, and top out just left of the aid line by about 5'. Needs a single bolt to protect that fall, as the current pin placement causes a rather nasty fall. So, while I freed all the moves, it's not been freed in a single go yet.

 

Pitch 6: Scary as FUCK! haha some really good climbing mixed with terrifying loose blocks. We are going to look at continuing the line straight up the face and bypassing those loose block, because as a free climb, you can't avoid them, and there are a lot of them...

P6 felt like a hard 5.9.

 

We then simul-climb to the top! Pretty cool it actually goes to the top!! Good work on Ivan and the crew for finding the line!!

 

[MrGecko]

Looks like Micah beat me to it but yeah the Smoke Signals to Stone Soup connection went well yesterday.

 

There is a fair amount of tat on the line and we cleaned up what we could. A short list of TO-Do's remains so that the link up will run a bit more smoothly for free climbing it. Some of the points where the belays are moved up 10m or so need to have a second anchor added. Most of these just need to be 2 bolts and not rap anchors as they don't really serve well for the somewhat existing rap line. The rap line itself will get a few replacements to accommodate a single rope retreat from as high as pitch 6. Perhaps I can recruit Ivan to assist with that since he seems to know the general decent line well.

 

Most of the gear is solid, the bolt at the base of the double off width on P3 is a spinner and not just the hanger. I'm not keen on adding another bolt on that section as I'd rather see folks carry a #6 cam rather than leaving it in the closet its whole life. There is also a chock stone that can be used if any of them new climbers can figure out how that is done.

 

Pitch 4 has at least 3 variations at this point including a 5.5, 5.10d/11a, maybe 12 or aiding a bolt ladder.

 

Pitch 5 will get a variation thru the roof which will be more along the 11- grade and the tied off pin under the roof will likely get replaced with a bolt more in line for the free climber.

 

Pitch 6 This is the pitch that is most concerning for me. The belayer is in a bad position given the large number of loose blocks above. There is also the concern about where these would land if they were knocked off. Inevitably they will come down at one point or another, only a matter of time. I feel a coordinated effort would be the best remedy here. There is also a possibility for a reroute of pitch 6 to avoid those blocks altogether but that is yet to be determined.

 

I've thrown together these images as a topo, the last 2 pitches might be a bit off but the general idea is there and the route fits the description in the PRG.

 

 

 

Pitch 2 & 3

 

Upper pitches

 

Pitch 2 detail

 

Looking up pitch 2

 

 

 

[ivan]

really enjoyed the hell out of seeing ya'll up there - the first complete ascent by a team not having one of the original climbers on it - kewl.

 

i'd be happy to help out w/ changes you're thinking about making. p5 in particular could use another bolt or two, if only to swap out the skeery, incipient fixed pins which were NOT intended to stop some free-climbing hardman's fall

[pink]

really enjoyed the hell out of seeing ya'll up there - the first complete ascent by a team not having one of the original climbers on it - kewl.

 

i'd be happy to help out w/ changes you're thinking about making. p5 in particular could use another bolt or two, if only to swap out the skeery, incipient fixed pins which were NOT intended to stop some free-climbing hardman's fall

 

ivan... ur a walking premature ejaculation...

[pink]

So Topher, Sam and I climbed Smoke Signals into Stone Soup today. We attempted to free it the entire way, and were mostly successful. Pretty good climbing and it was a great day. And we were even met at the top by Ivan himself!

I'm sure Topher will give a detailed post of what's been done, but I wanted to do a little report on what I thought of each pitch.

Pitch 1: I led this one, (flash, because Topher gave me some gear beta, which I promptly forgot and didn't use haha.)

Good route, a little tricky to follow the natural because there isn't an obvious line, but once you're climbing it falls into place. Grade wise, I felt like it was somewhere in the 5.9/10a area, and the gear was all easy to place and plentiful.

 

Pitch 2: Sam onsighted this one, carrying a full double rack to 4" Props to him! P2 is amazing. Stellar climbing on flawless rock, with a pumpy section up top! Thought this pitch was around 10d/11a.

 

Pitch 3: I led this one. Initially tried to go up the first squeeze chute you come too, but found that I couldn't fit up it. haha then found the double OW around the corner, which was fun, and pretty easy. 5.8 pitch, simply because of the start up the short hand crack at the beginning. I would like to look at seeing if it's possible to send the first squeeze chute as a lieback, and make it a more direct free line.

 

Pitch 4: I also led this one. Once I took a look at the bolt line, I really wanted to try to free it, rather than take the dirty 5.6 line around the corner. So we french free'd the bolt ladder in order to scrub holds, and I gave it a shot. The first 3 bolts to the little foot ramp about 20' up is too hard. Probably hard 5.11 slab, and just not in character with the rest of the route. However, I found a nice little finger crack to the right about 10' that led to the same foot ramp. Cleaned that out, and scrubbed the holds in the top section, then pulled the rope, and lead it on gear up to the ramp, and then used the bolts on the bolt ladder to finish out. It went free on my first redpoint attempt. The crux is at the top of the slab, and features awesome and tricky slab moves. Giving it a grade of 5.10+, thin gear to 1" for the starting crack.

As a free climb, I would recommend continuing up the handline to the upper anchors at the start of pitch 5.

 

Pitch 5: this is the only pitch we didn't free clean. Sent it no problem up to the overhang, and then it took a while to figure out the moves through that. Finally figured out that once you reach the overhang, cut up and left on the leaning weakness, and top out just left of the aid line by about 5'. Needs a single bolt to protect that fall, as the current pin placement causes a rather nasty fall. So, while I freed all the moves, it's not been freed in a single go yet.

 

Pitch 6: Scary as FUCK! haha some really good climbing mixed with terrifying loose blocks. We are going to look at continuing the line straight up the face and bypassing those loose block, because as a free climb, you can't avoid them, and there are a lot of them...

P6 felt like a hard 5.9.

 

We then simul-climb to the top! Pretty cool it actually goes to the top!! Good work on Ivan and the crew for finding the line!!

 

so basically the first two pitches are good you are very welcome... to bad the second pitch isn't as bold as it could be... sigh

 

[pink]

and the first pitch is better than the second had you led when it was a carpet of moss.... the first pitch is all natural gear.. kinda tricky to follow a natural line??? i'm confused

[mksportn]

and the first pitch is better than the second had you led when it was a carpet of moss.... the first pitch is all natural gear.. kinda tricky to follow a natural line??? i'm confused

So many broken cracks going different ways, feel like it could be climbed 5 different ways. Nothing wrong with that! The two pitons in the middle helped point to the original line though.

Edited June 2, 2016 by mksportn

[ivan]

 

so basically the first two pitches are good you are very welcome... to bad the second pitch isn't as bold as it could be... sigh

but...like...yeah...you didn't do the same second pitch...

[MrGecko]

oh now things are a heat'in up, did someone say fighten werds?

 

What's the story here?

 

 

so basically the first two pitches are good you are very welcome... to bad the second pitch isn't as bold as it could be... sigh

but...like...yeah...you didn't do the same second pitch...

[ivan]

no stories ever on the internet, just lotza white noise

[G-spotter]

So did this burning oil tanker derailment make Beacon into Crispy Bacon?