Skinner's Butte Closure/Condition Report

[JoeR]

Skinner's Butte closure area has expanded to include all the columns until just right of the Main Chimney. There is a fence and caution tape marking the closure. The closure is indefinite pending inspection of the stability of Outer Column and other loose rocks in the area. Hopefully this happens soon, but with how tight the city budget is we can't expect too much. The rest of Skinner's Butte is still open. Please respect the closure boundary.

 

For those who want to know what happened, the word on the street is that a contractor hired by the city to remove the last big rocks left over from the last slide went beyond the instructions given to him. Supposedly he went way overboard with the excavator and moved things around under Outer Column, which shifted "2 feet".

 

If you have questions or concerns you can contact the Eugene Outdoor Program at The River House @ 541-682-5329 Noon-4pm M-F

[Plaidman]

WOW! Thanks for posting up. At least this is not another bird closure. Thanks for the info concerning the reason for the closure.

[geoff]

Who you gonna call?

 

[pcg]

Here's how it looks now. I didn't see where anything had shifted. I guess there is some concern about possible undermining of some of the rock.

 

[shapp]

dam, great idea, dig babby dig, lets turn it into a 3 pitch crag

[JoeR]

I've always thought that if they would dynamite or something a hundred feet back into the cliff we might have a real crag on our hands.

 

 

 

But really

 

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/Columns_damage1.JPG[/img]

 

I've circled where the shifting supposedly happened when the contractor was getting jiggy with it. Since columns rest on this jumble of blocks there is some concern that something could shift or come down as well. Not likely, but still a concern for the city.

 

 

Also, it is always possible that since the contractor was the only one to witness the shifting as it was taking place that it was not nearly 2 ft and more like 2 inches.

 

Edited May 21, 2012 by JoeR

[pcg]

Now I can see that those three blocks all shifted, with the lower block shifting down at least eight inches.

[corvallisclimb]

Jeeze looks like they where really going at it! The city of Eugene contacted some good friends of mine to do an assessment of the area. They looked at it and told them what they thought as far as a pertinent closure, but that is as far as its gotten now with them. I'll try to post an update when I hear something more.

[shapp]

I was actually on limp dick a few years ago just before the first closure/rock fall. I actually, put a cam up a the top and hung. I felt this weird sensation and looked up as the cam was expanding and the column shifting and immediately un-weighted the cam and free climbed up and off. Scared the beezus out of me.

[KirkW]

That's weird. I was on Limp Dick last summer and fell or hung 3 times. All the gear held with no movement in the column. That route's been climbed thousands of times since then and no one else noticed any movement that I'm aware of either. This is, of course, AFTER the rock fall that these idiots were trying to "clean up".

 

Weird how it moved for you but no one else.

[luvshaker]

Hey Shapp, I don't think it was just you. I was hand jamming the top of it and got the block to shift and moan toward last.

 

That was shortly before the top few feet of Limpy took the ride I never want to take.....to the base of the columns.

 

Yea, I'd love to hear the logic behind the excavation?? Better crash pad spots?

[shapp]

That's weird. I was on Limp Dick last summer and fell or hung 3 times. All the gear held with no movement in the column. That route's been climbed thousands of times since then and no one else noticed any movement that I'm aware of either. This is, of course, AFTER the rock fall that these idiots were trying to "clean up".

 

Weird how it moved for you but no one else.

 

Thats cause the top part of Limp Dick that shifted on me is now gone dude, and wasn't there when you climbed it last summer!

Edited May 22, 2012 by shapp

[chris54]

Uneducated thought, but why don't they just remove the three pieces? I'm basing this only off the photo. Is this the city just taking along time or is this a bigger problem than I'm seeing?

[JoeR]

Yea, I'd love to hear the logic behind the excavation?? Better crash pad spots?

 

There wasn't really supposed to be any excavation going on as far as I've been told, the contractor was just supposed to clear up the rest of the rocks laying around from the last slide. Since the city supervisor had to leave for some reason, the contractor was able to go hog wild with his tractor.

 

 

Great idea Chris, but since The Columns are put together like a puzzle, they'd be clearing a whole lot more than just those three pieces. It sounds like they are trying to figure out a plan of attack that is safe, easy, and cheap.

 

 

Let's hope that soon this historic climbing area is opened all the way back up, even if they have to peel off a couple columns to do it.

[KirkW]

Thats cause the top part of Limp Dick that shifted on me is now gone dude, and wasn't there when you climbed it last summer!

 

My apologies for the snarky comment Shapp but you did say just before the first rock fall/closure. The top of LD fell off(was removed?) years before the first big rock fall came down on the right side and has absolutely nothing to do with the current state of the columns.

 

Perhaps your talking about the FIRST first rock fall/shifting/ closure that happened before Orton's guide came out?

 

Or maybe you're referring to the some other rock fall/closure that occurred that I'm not aware of?

 

And, for the record, I didn't climb LD. I fell up it.

 

 

[shapp]

how many firsts are there? The rock fall that closed 1/3rd of the cliff shortly after I climbed limp dick. I don't know what year it was, but I did post about it on CC climbers about the shifting at the top of the dick but I can't seem to find it on the search

Edited May 24, 2012 by shapp

[KirkW]

how many firsts are there? The rock fall that closed 1/3rd of the cliff shortly after I climbed limp dick. I don't know what year it was, but I did post about it on CC climbers about the shifting at the top of the dick but I can't seem to find it on the search

 

Sorry for not putting the little smiley in to indicate my poor use of sarcasm.

 

I'm having trouble figuring out what your talking about because the rock fall that was recently cleaned up and closed 1/3 of the columns happened after the block fell off Limp Dick. Way after actually. The two events are completely un-related. So if you climbed el Limpo "shortly" before the rock fall I'm trying to discern exactly what "shifted" on you because that top block wasn't there.

[HerbalTee]

Seems like Shapp climb the full limpdick before the it was shortened. I remember hearing that the rock expanded when M. South was climbing it so they shorten it. After they shortened during that stormy wet winter/spring the rocks fell and took out parts of the metal nets.

[luvshaker]

TIMELINE of Events related to: The Columns, The Luvshaker, Kirkw and Shapp (in that order)

 

15 million years ago-The plateau came before the mountains, built by flood basalt eruptions that culminated in the Miocene. Blah, Blah, blah, molten lava, cooling, awesome cracks.

19-something. Skinner Butte quary un-earthed these cool cracks.

1960-70's Pin pounding-army boot climbers get all the classic FA's. They manufacture the greatest route of ALL TIME. SATISFACTION!!!!

1971-Wayne Arrington showed us how to climb cracks using a huge beard.

1980 Alan Watts showed everyone how to climb everything, and invited his friend Lynn Hill to climb "Limpy".

1980's-Mullets and lycra.

1984-Someone climbed the columns naked. Lester and Soule watched. Unfortunately for them it's not Lynn Hill.

1999-Luvshaker attemps the columns and can't even make it to the top.

2009 Luvshaker bums a belay form KirkW and thinks....cool guy. I should go climbing with him sometime.

2009-Shapp moves the top of Limpy with a weighted cam.

2009-Around the same year Luvshaker jams Limpy with his left index finger and inadvertinly crushes the head small bat hiding inside the crack.

2009 Top 4 feet of Limpy fall get pushed off.

2010 Rockfall to the right of Limpy during winter months

2011 Luvshaker virtually meets Shapp and thinks.....cool guy. I should go boating with him sometime.

2011 KirkW gives Limpy a "go". What's left of it appears solid.

2012 Man in skid-loader drinks three "5 hour energy drinks" and excavates the area. Needing another hour to finish his shift, he has some fun, and really gets things level.

 

 

[JoeR]

Thank you Mr. Shaker, that is the best laugh I've had from a CC post.

[shapp]

Nice!

[mtep]

So here's what's really pertinent about this as I see it:

 

1: The routes on the right side are now 2-5' longer. Lets get a pressure washer and get cranking!

 

2: Shifting may have resulted in some interesting changes in crack size. Has anybody taken a closer look to see if the cracks from Fat Crack to Limpy (which were the only ones really worth climbing anyway...) are still the same size? Do we have a new handcrack?

[JoeR]

Here's the latest update:

 

Talked with a civil engineer with the Public Works Department today, as well as a couple other people who are working on this stuff. Super cool people, with a strong focus on getting things right.

 

They have a plan for dealing with the loosened rock at Skinner's, as well as the wire mesh netting on the hillside. They hope to be able to get the area safe enough to completely remove all the chain link fencing around the base, as well as pretty things up.

 

They asked that we have some patience and don't take matters into our own hands or violate the closure. Public Works has made this project a priority.

 

I will be looking into more options for interested climbers to get together and help Public Works, as well as ourselves. We have friends in Public Works most of us didn't even know about, lets do everything we can to build positive and lasting relationships.

 

Edited May 25, 2012 by JoeR

[KirkW]

TIMELINE of Events related to: The Columns, The Luvshaker, Kirkw and Shapp (in that order)

 

15 million years ago-The plateau came before the mountains, built by flood basalt eruptions that culminated in the Miocene. Blah, Blah, blah, molten lava, cooling, awesome cracks.

19-something. Skinner Butte quary un-earthed these cool cracks.

1960-70's Pin pounding-army boot climbers get all the classic FA's. They manufacture the greatest route of ALL TIME. SATISFACTION!!!!

1971-Wayne Arrington showed us how to climb cracks using a huge beard.

1980 Alan Watts showed everyone how to climb everything, and invited his friend Lynn Hill to climb "Limpy".

1980's-Mullets and lycra.

1984-Someone climbed the columns naked. Lester and Soule watched. Unfortunately for them it's not Lynn Hill.

1999-Luvshaker attemps the columns and can't even make it to the top.

2009 Luvshaker bums a belay form KirkW and thinks....cool guy. I should go climbing with him sometime.

2009-Shapp moves the top of Limpy with a weighted cam.

2009-Around the same year Luvshaker jams Limpy with his left index finger and inadvertinly crushes the head small bat hiding inside the crack.

2009 Top 4 feet of Limpy fall get pushed off.

2010 Rockfall to the right of Limpy during winter months

2011 Luvshaker virtually meets Shapp and thinks.....cool guy. I should go boating with him sometime.

2011 KirkW gives Limpy a "go". What's left of it appears solid.

2012 Man in skid-loader drinks three "5 hour energy drinks" and excavates the area. Needing another hour to finish his shift, he has some fun, and really gets things level.

 

 

I never realized that Wayne had such a massive beard. I guess most pictures I've seen of the man were taken from below and the center of focus usually seemed to be his ass hanging out of a crack with very little, if any, pro in the frame. Can't really judge a man's facial hair from that angle.

 

I think you and Shapp and I should go skiing and straighten this whole timeline thing out. The slog up the Palmer would give us plenty of time to discuss and I've never climbed Hood. Then I could finally write that Hood South Side TR that I've been dreaming of.

 

In regards to the columns and the rock fall and all that. Yeah, they're falling apart. Just like everything else. The stories of shifting columns will continue. Glad the city is taking it seriously. It'd be a shame to loose this place. Thanks Joe for keeping the rest of us informed.