Midnight rock seasonal bird closure

[keenwesh]

I want to get up to M rock sometime this spring/fall, but I know that it's closed to climbing pretty much every year. when does this closure start/end? also, is R.O.T.C. stiff for the grade?

[keenwesh]

google is a neat tool, found this:

http://www.washingtonclimbers.org/Climbing/Tumwater.htm

 

will midnight be climbable before april first? I'm looking to do easter overhang, wild traverse, and toprope rotc and a couple other 5.11's

when will the snow melt in there? is it good right now?

[Peter_Puget]

I am sure Midnight will be climbable before 4/1. The routes on the left side (incl. EO) are often a bit slow warming up in the morning. ROTC if anything is fairly easy for the grade. The crux section is right off the deck and you use to have to fiddle with pro ow it's plug and go with cams - not real small ones (.74 to 1.5 friends?). You can get a good rest in the pod/chimney section before the final hand crack which if I remember correctly takes #2.5 to #3 friends.

 

The are two little done routes on the left (Curtains and Sometimes a Great Notion that are pretty good. The last pitch of Wild travers (Apron Jam) is super fun!

[keenwesh]

cool!

how hard is it to traverse over from EO of WT and set up a toprope?

[Peter_Puget]

Once you're on top I remember it as being fairly easy to move around. It might be easiest to bring an extra rope for setting up a TR. Last time I was there there were no fixed anchors fr TR'ing. ROTC is just east of the Twin Cracks fissure which should be easy to locate. Since youll be be psyched for top roping you might as well set an anchor on EO and TR In Search of a Perfect Pump to start off the day. It's short and fun and a well protected lead if you want to try it that way.

[keenwesh]

thanks a ton! I have half ropes, so toproping long pitches is no problem the weekend of the 20th is starting to look very promising. I would lead (hangdog) rotc but I don't have enough thin hands through fingers pieces, and I'm not looking to run it out a ton. is rotc overhanging?

[Peter_Puget]

I heard that ROTC stood for Route Opposite Twin Cracks or Rather Overhanging Thin Crack. If i had to choose which one was correct I'd go with the former. The route starts off less than vertical and then steepens to the pod/chimney. Up to the pod the route is less than vertical. Getting out of the pods is a steep hand crack that soon gets less steep with every move. Its a great route.

[keenwesh]

cool, thanks!