routes In Index WA

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Messages 141 - 160 of total 162 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
yedi

Trad climber
Stanwood,wa
Sep 10, 2016 - 03:17pm PT
Go do Centerfold and Dark Crystal. Both xclnt climbs in my opinion .
Jon Nelson

Boulder climber
Bellingham, WA
Sep 10, 2016 - 08:56pm PT
Click on a poster's avatar, top left, beside the post. That'll pop up a profile, in which the bottom line says "Member-to-Member Messsages" There is a line following, which usually says "Yes, you can send me a member-to-member email." If so, then look at the top right, where there will be a button that says "Send Email to Jon Nelson"

But be aware that half the time the message either somehow doesn't go through, or the person set up his/her account years ago, using an email address that s/he no longer remembers having, let alone ever checks.

And btw, thanks for the saw.

Thanks a lot Ghost!

Did I give you one of those Japanese cleaning tools?

I heard that they have them now at the Daiso store in Crossroads Mall, Bellevue. $1.50, I think.
mastadon

Trad climber
crack addict
Sep 10, 2016 - 10:17pm PT

Still need to get in touch with that slippery Mastadon fellow?
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Sep 11, 2016 - 07:28am PT
Did I give you one of those Japanese cleaning tools?

Yes - via Eric. And it was put to good use.

On another subject, yesterday you said: "I cannot seem to find the message system on this site. Where do I find it?""

Today it's my turn: "I cannot seem to find Coal Mountain. Where do I find it?"

We spent hours and hours in that maze of logging roads. Got some nice views, but never got near anything resembling anything in the Cumberland Crags descriptions.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 11, 2016 - 09:26am PT
Ghost, don't get me started on logging roads. BITD, before gps and Google Earth, it was the
PacNW outdoors version of 'Waiting For Godot', with the same tree.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Sep 11, 2016 - 10:07am PT
And just like Godot, that clear view of your objective simply never arrives...
Jon Nelson

Boulder climber
Bellingham, WA
Sep 11, 2016 - 05:25pm PT
Still need to get in touch with that slippery Mastadon fellow?

Hi Don, thanks.
Do you know who first freed P1 of Japanese Gardens?

I saw you post upthread about your attempt in the 70s, and all I know is that someone named it "Through Thick and Thin" in the 1982 guidebook.


Today it's my turn: "I cannot seem to find Coal Mountain. Where do I find it?"

We spent hours and hours in that maze of logging roads. Got some nice views, but never got near anything resembling anything in the Cumberland Crags descriptions.


Never been there. But before my knee took a turn for the worse this summer, I tried contacting one of developers in the hopes of getting up there. Never heard back. Perhaps an old Kloke guide would help?

And just like Godot, that clear view of your objective simply never arrives...

Oh man, so many times Russell E- and I would spot some promising crag on the distant hillside, only to find upon arrival at the base a vastly shrunken, broken-up choss heap. Still, the chase was always fun.
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Sep 11, 2016 - 06:54pm PT
Never been there.

Well, sh#t howdy. There's a write-up about it on Mountain Project (bunch of crags east of Mt. Vernon) with your name on it.

Hang on...

Ah. Okay, you're the moderator of that part of the forum, not the climber.

So. Anyone? Cumberland Crags? Coal Mt.? Sounds pretty good, but damn... Guarded by a thousand miles of logging roads with junctions every mile. A million ways to go wrong.
mastadon

Trad climber
crack addict
Sep 11, 2016 - 06:57pm PT
Jon Nelson,

No, I'm not sure who first did that free. I know that Peter Croft did some hard free climbing in that area of the wall, and before him, Mark Moore, but I don't know conclusively who done-did it.. Maybe Pat Timson? He did a lot of that stuff and was never one to talk about it. Sorry.....
Jon Nelson

Boulder climber
Bellingham, WA
Sep 11, 2016 - 08:23pm PT
I know that Peter Croft did some hard free climbing in that area of the wall, and before him, Mark Moore, but I don't know conclusively who done-did it.. Maybe Pat Timson? He did a lot of that stuff and was never one to talk about it.

Thanks Don.

Well, a lot of possibilities. When I heard the route name, I thought of Dan Lepeska (Originator of "On the Verge"). Greg Olsen then told me he thought it might be Dave Anderson. But Mark, Peter, and Pat sound likely too.

Don Brooks ought to know since it was in his guidebook.


Ghost - Sorry to hear about the trouble with Cumberland description. I'll send a message to the guy who posted the main page.


mastadon

Trad climber
crack addict
Sep 11, 2016 - 08:33pm PT

I just sent you Don Brooks' email.
Darryl Cramer

Social climber
Sep 13, 2016 - 09:23am PT
Jon - Are you living full time in Bellingham now?

If I remember correctly when Jeff and I met with Don while researching the guidebook we made back in the 80's it hadn't really been led free but had been top roped in some fashion. I think it was the same story for Shirley too. What was DOn reply - consistent with my memory?

By the way last time I saw Don it was at E38 about 5 years ago after work. At least it looked like Don. We were racing up the trail to climb before the sun went down so we didnt slow down when we passed.
Jon Nelson

Boulder climber
Bellingham, WA
Sep 13, 2016 - 03:44pm PT
Hi Don ---

Thanks, but I haven't gotten a PM or email yet. I've also tried sending two PMs from Supertopo without success. Maybe the system has completely stopped working. My gmail address is jontne. (And it does seem to be correctly entered on my account here and have the correct setting. Anyone else get it to work?)

Darryl,

I'm never 100% anywhere... Mostly Bham though.

Interesting story. So maybe Terry did get the first lead of pitch 1 after all. He'd be happy to hear that.

And I forgot about Shirley. Was that previously called 'Buried Treasure' or was it 'Freedom Fighter'?

mastadon

Trad climber
crack addict
Sep 13, 2016 - 03:50pm PT

Index in the 70's wasn't the destination climbing area it is today. There were probably only a few people in the Seattle area capable of leading Japanese Gardens free at that time and that list gets even shorter when you take cams and big cams out of the equation. Not many would have led that with the minimal protection that tube chocks and big hexes provided.
Dr.Sprock

Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
Sep 13, 2016 - 03:53pm PT
what's the best time of the year to die on Rainier?
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Sep 14, 2016 - 09:12pm PT
I don't know if the rest of you noticed it, but Honnold's back breaking accident a few months ago happened on Godzilla. He was lowered off a rope that was too short. Actually I know Ghost noticed it 'cause he commented in that thread. I know accidents happen everywhere, but it weirds me out and of course makes me sad when famous, awesome and inspirational climbers come to the cascades and get stove up or worse. I'm thinking of Craig Leubben, too.

Speaking of Ghost, he's also commented on the zoo that Lower Town Wall and even Inner Wall have become, even on week days. I noticed it a couple months ago as a swarm of youngsters sieged the first pitch of Even Steven and Corner Flash, tying them up for hours. Fore heavens sake, even I can climbing those. Really weird crowd from my old fart's perspective, too.

OK, youngsters, as in they were under 50. ;-)
Jon Nelson

Boulder climber
Bellingham, WA
Sep 15, 2016 - 05:33pm PT
I don't know if the rest of you noticed it, but Honnold's back breaking accident a few months ago happened on Godzilla. He was lowered off a rope that was too short. Actually I know Ghost noticed it 'cause he commented in that thread. I know accidents happen everywhere, but it weirds me out and of course makes me sad when famous, awesome and inspirational climbers come to the cascades and get stove up or worse. I'm thinking of Craig Leubben, too.

Speaking of Ghost, he's also commented on the zoo that Lower Town Wall and even Inner Wall have become, even on week days.

I'd heard the sad case of Honnold, but not of Leubben. I see the latter happened in 2009, and I wasn't paying much attention to the NW climbing scene then. Sad to hear about Craig too.

About the LTW crowding, I haven't noticed as I've long avoided the crag. Everything there is too hard for me now. So, on those rare days I get out, I head for Lookout Point or the UTW. But a few years back, Eric and I went up to do a route on the UTW, and there were parties on 4 other routes, some routes with multiple parties. Never seen so many up there.
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Sep 15, 2016 - 08:16pm PT
About the LTW crowding...

To some extent, it's a function of laziness. Much easier to put one's mind on remote control and go to Index than to put out the mental and physical effort to get on some new rock.

And there's plenty of new rock. Index offers some of the best pure rock climbing in the US, but just 4 km west is Zeke's Wall, where the climbing is even better. But no one will make the effort to do anything other than climb the same ten routes at Index for the fiftieth time.

Go somewhere else? Ooohhhh. No way. LIke, there isn't even a guidebook.

Okay, the Leavenworth area does draw some interest. But that seems like the limit of most Seattle climbers' willingness to try anything new.

When we first hiked up to Zeke's we were completely blown away by both the potential, and by the fact that it was still potential. The wall is in plain view from the highway, and the approach is about the same as the hike to the Upper Town Wall, but other than Marty Gunderson, no one was climbing there. We joined in, as did a couple of others, but that brought the grand total of climbers exploring the wall to six. And this is a wall that offers everything the Upper Town Wall offers, and then even more.

A bunch of ORV as#@&%es forced the DNR to close the access road a few years ago, but that really only added another 45 minutes of logging road hiking to the approach.

And that's just one crag.

So why do climbers here choose to spend their weekends waiting in line to repeat the same few routes at Index?

I suppose I should do a TR about Zeke's. I'll try to do that in late October when I've got a bit more time. Until then, the best I can do is post a couple of pictures (yeah, I know, I posted one of them before) and hope it will encourage someone to turn off the remote, and do something different.


Jon Nelson

Boulder climber
Bellingham, WA
Sep 16, 2016 - 09:38pm PT
I suppose I should do a TR about Zeke's. I'll try to do that in late October when I've got a bit more time. Until then, the best I can do is post a couple of pictures (yeah, I know, I posted one of them before) and hope it will encourage someone to turn off the remote, and do something different.

Thanks for the Zeke's Wall pictures. I look forward to the TR.

Once this knee of mine gets fully healed, I want to check out the wall above Zekes, seeking more of an alpine-like exploration adventure.
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Sep 16, 2016 - 11:52pm PT
Have any of you headed up to the cliffs west of Steven's Pass down Tye road, or alternately from the western terminus of Skyline Ridge? I was keeping them quite for a while, but I think they are unlikely to be developed by me ;-) . I walked up in that area a couple times and they actually were reasonable in both approach and apparent difficulty. I never climbed there, though.

This is what I'm talking about, where the star is,


But from the western terminus of Skyline Ridge:

Some close up rock:

This is from the other side of the creek and isn't quite as good as it looks but is a much easier approach:

I'm leaving out a gory photo of -not-me- the consequences of judging the descent incorrectly. It kind of took the wind out of my sails, although no permanent damage was done physically just emotionally.


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