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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2015 - 10:48am PT
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we heard there was a large rock fall at Glacier Point. Being sensible we decided to go look and set off across the valley in the dark. As we hiked towards the Apron through the woods we started seeing fresh rock here and there, and you could here sounds of gravel and small rock falling in the distance. Then we heard a loud bang, followed by an increasing rumble. I remember looking at Vince and seeing he eyes widen in fear, which is something I had never seen in his eyes before. We both turned and ran, and as we ran our asses off the noise behind us got louder and louder. Then something I heard made my blood run cold and I will never forget it, I could hear rocks hitting the trees ABOVE our heads. I am not gonna lie I almost peed myself. We made it out without a scratch, no idea how. We went back there a few days latter and the area was littered with head sized rocks.
Some interesting paralells in this tale.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2015 - 12:15pm PT
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Ok maybe warzone is extreme. But it looks pretty devastated up there. The recent slide at Meager also had debris going upslope. Crazy forces.
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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hey, thanks Oplopanax!
High Plains Drifter is viewed from Angel's Crest. Looks like a great climb!
And Big Mike, that pic would be Heavy Duty. He seemed to be a fixture in Squamish for a while. Is he still around?
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2015 - 03:12pm PT
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Steve- He certainly is! I'm used to seeing him with blue and pink hair however! :)
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Glad that I climbed Angel's Crest LAST year.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2015 - 09:12pm PT
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Lol Wayne. I'm hoping it means less traffic for my triumphant return.
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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Of course to keep the numbers down, it should be known that venturing into the Angel's Crest Death Zone is a decidedly risky venture...
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2015 - 09:28pm PT
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Exactly Todd.
Stay away people! Rockfall has killed.
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Scrubber
climber
Straight outta Squampton
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Agreed Tami, the war-zone reference was inappropriate. Simply that the remainder of the forest looked like images from the war-ravaged european countryside that some of our parents and grandparents were witness to.
It reminded me of images like this, and stories from my grandfather who is still alive, but has great difficulty speaking about the atrocities he witnessed.
K
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Scrubber
climber
Straight outta Squampton
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Mike,
Trail closure signs from BC parks are still in place. Not sure what the long-term plan is. Parks probably doesn't have the funds to mount a scaling and stabilization project on their own. Even if they did, there are probably a dozen other areas on the chief with rockfall just as imminent. It's just nature taking it's course.
While they say the trail is closed, all of the adjacent trails, which link up along the base are unsigned. They don't have the resources to patrol that sort of thing. Probably just a CYA, so in the event someone went up there and got beaned, they can say they did their due diligence in informing the public about the hazard.
Kris
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Of course to keep the numbers down, it should be known that venturing into the Angel's Crest Death Zone is a decidedly risky venture...
Borderline will become the mandatory, rather than an optional, start to Angels Crest.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 5, 2015 - 12:23pm PT
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Hey Jim! Trees? What Trees? ;)
Thanks Kris! I thought that might be the case.
I can't wait to be strong enough to get up Angel's with a Borderline start Dave!
only bummer is you miss the beauty that is Angel crack..
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 5, 2015 - 06:11pm PT
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I ran into Robin Barley a couple of times on Sunday at the crag, and he related a few FA tales of some classic routes at Penny Lane.
Robin and Pete Shackleton were working on an area at Penny Lane. The crack they were cleaning, originally contained a 1" cedar, which they decided to leave in place so as to conceal their efforts from the prying eyes of Peter Croft and crew, who according to Robin was notorious for scoping out the action from the car park and stealing his routes.
Ye old Car Park
On the first ascent they climbed it from the lower crack with the tree, and due to their anti-surveillance efforts, gave it the moniker of "Clandestine Affair".
Kyle on Clandestine Affair, 5.9.
Having a tree in such a classic route however simply would not do, so Robin and Pete returned later with Robin's trusty Homelite chainsaw to finish manicuring the route.
After removing the offending tree, Robin set to work on his new project in the same area. He discovered a giant loose flake on the route and asked Pete if he would mind terribly, moving his chainsaw so
he could trundle it safely. Pete complied, moving the saw out of the way, some 40 feet off to the side.
Robin set to prying the flake off and when it popped, it hit the wall with such force that it ricocheted fourty feet out obliterated the Homelite saw.
Pete almost died of laughter and Robin was none too pleased. He paid 90 bucks to fix a saw he could have purchased for a 120$, and it never started the same again. Due to Robin's trundling prowess, the route was forever
known as, "Quarryman".
Kyle on Quarryman, 5.8
Thanks to Robin for these stories and giving me permission to share them with you guys!!
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 5, 2015 - 10:48pm PT
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How did i know that was coming.. Lol
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 5, 2015 - 11:49pm PT
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Jes' telling it like I heard it Tami! ;)
Maybe you can entice Peter to tell his side of the tale? ;)
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peter croft
climber
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Hey Mike
I sure don't remember stealing anything from Robin.
Why would I? He's the one who showed me the art of new routing in Squamish. I learned a lot from him.
There was that time he was driving us to the crags and got pulled over for speeding. Boy, he read that cop the riot act - which taught me that cops don't like being read the riot act. Big fat ticket!
Robin's a great guy but maybe him and Peter S. were imagining things.
I'm not suggesting they were being a bit paranoid...but maybe they were being a bit paranoid?
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 6, 2015 - 09:49am PT
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Perhaps they were a bit paranoid Peter. Thanks for your reply, and another tale to boot! Bonus!!
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2015 - 01:11pm PT
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Another beautiful day at the bluffs and we have the pleasure of hanging with Rolf again.
Rolf Ryback and his avalanche poodle Holly.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2015 - 11:14pm PT
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HAHAHAHAHA!
Nice poem Tami! ;)
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 8, 2015 - 09:19am PT
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Jim, i don't get it.. Lol am i missing something? Drywall joke? :)
We had a fun day yesterday. Sandra dropped me off at the bluffs to meet up with Rolf, and after checking if the resident dr b was in, we headed up to Penny Lane which was shining in the sun.
Rolf pointed out that he did indeed go left on Grumpy Old Men p1 and where the second pitch was just above the anchor he had placed.
He also pointed out that Teenage Girls don't Blow Gorbies starts on the left, not on the right as i was always led to believe. After some soul searching Rolf decided Penny Lane wouldn't do, since he had spent way too much time there and we strolled down to Neat and Cool.
A couple warm ups later found us on one of Ivan and Rolf's fa's, Raging Duck. He said he had an ascent of this line for every year since they put it up. They originally placed two bolts on rappel, and a couple years later of disuse, Rolf asked Ivan if he could add a couple more to popularize the routes. It was clean as a whistle, thanks to Hevy's recent efforts in the area. Also sporting new hardware which i'm assuming Hevy contributed also?
Rolf starting up Raging Duck 10b
What the hell kind of new fangled gear have you got here Mike?
Getting it done, with style.
Sandra got up it pretty quick, but it seemed as if to me, that Rolf had chosen the hardest 10b in the park just to vex me. Small crimps and shitty left foot high steps are definitely still a weakness for me.. Stupid SCI, Stupid ball of water ankle... Lol
After falling off repeatedly at the bottom, I got frustrated and Rolf said "I've never seen a 6'7 two year old before.." Lol
Eventually i got up it, with much rope holding and a little frustration...
After we did Pink Flamingo which both Rolf and Sandra crushed and I was once again challenged by my left foot issues. It went better than the duck however.. Lol
A quick warm down at Mosquito on sphincter quits saw Rolf dashing back to Vancouver.
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