THE POWER OF THE CHOSS COMPELS YOU...

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Fritz

Trad climber

Choss Creek, ID

Feb 17, 2013 - 10:26pm PT

McHales! Re your mention:

I forget the name of this intrepid climber, but he was the founder of Pipestone Mountaineering in Missoula, MT.

Is that the near-legendary Jim Wilson?

Speaking of Thumb-Rock on Liberty Ridge. By the time I finally got around to climbing the route in the early 1980's, every other turkey in the NW had figured out they could do the route in June.

We barely had room to camp at the flat-bivy under Thumb-Rock. We were forced to bivy right-up against the thumb and 15' above us was a huge detached flake, just hanging there like an axe-head. It stayed put, but I had nightmares.

McHale's Navy

Trad climber

Panorama City, California & living in Seattle

Feb 17, 2013 - 10:30pm PT

We had the total ridge to ourselves in 1995! It was approximately June. We camped on the summit for 2 days in a storm and saw nobody, then descended the Emmons to the Emmons ranger hut and saw nobody - and used the radio there to let everyone know we were OK. I guess that was pretty weird looking back on it - shows you how bad the weather was!

I climbed the Emmons Glacier route with Dave Gotlieb about the same time and we snowboarded off the summit. Again, the weather was bad, but it was also Memorial Weekend and the road had just opened. We hiked in while it rained and snowed and climbed the mountain with not another soul there. Had to plow through waste deep snow almost all the way up - and got there just before sunset with just enough time to fly down!

You mean the Stoney Point Jim Wilson? That's not him and his name was not Jim Wilson. I mean Jim Wilson's name was Jim Wilson, but not this guy. I forget this guy's name, but it wasn't Jim Wilson. If it was Jim Wilson he would have recognized me as a Stoney Point guy but he didn't.

This shows the true power of the choss - let the choss be with you. 2nd video is better, plus there are more links when it's over;

http://www.justgetout.net/wenatchee/22554

Plaidman

Trad climber

South Slope of Mt. Tabor, Portland, Oregon, USA

Feb 18, 2013 - 12:50am PT

This shows the true power of the choss - let the choss be with you.

That second video was wild!
WOW! Revenge of the CHOSS! That was is certainly an eye opener. Don't get in the way of the CHOSS! Let the CHOSS have it's way. Cause it will make a way where there was none before.

Plaid

kpinwalla2

Social climber

Feb 18, 2013 - 02:03am PT

As several other folks have pointed out - the Northwest is truly the land of choss, and the voluminous basalt flows of eastern Washington are truly choss-Mecca. If you're climbing without the knowledge that any (or every) handhold, foothold, or "fixed" anchor could suddenly fail under body weight at any moment, where's the thrill?

Plaidman

Trad climber

South Slope of Mt. Tabor, Portland, Oregon, USA

Feb 18, 2013 - 02:15am PT

If you're climbing without the knowledge that any (or every) handhold, foothold, or "fixed" anchor could suddenly fail under body weight at any moment, where's the thrill?

That's what I say. It adds to the fun as long as you don't hurt anyone else. Belayer's beware! Always wear a helmet...and shoulder pads and a shield may not be a bad idea.

McHale's Navy

Trad climber

Panorama City, California & living in Seattle

Feb 18, 2013 - 02:29am PT

Very nice.....very nice choss. I have a gong I could put to use as a shield.

ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber

bouldering

Feb 18, 2013 - 03:59am PT

Honopu beach on Kauai

There seems to have been some sort of rockslide that opened up ... and there are huge boulders strewn on the beach.

MisterE

Social climber

Feb 18, 2013 - 10:11am PT

No choss thread is complete without Texas Canyon pictures:

kpinwalla2

Social climber

Feb 18, 2013 - 11:22am PT

That's what I say. It adds to the fun as long as you don't hurt anyone else. Belayer's beware! Always wear a helmet...and shoulder pads and a shield may not be a bad idea.

I agree. You know you've encountered authentic choss when the belayer is at greater risk of injury than the climber. Someone should come up with a line of protective gear for the choss belayer - as suggested above. Choss climbing might really take off if belayers resembled gladiators....

dave729

Trad climber

Western America

Feb 18, 2013 - 03:46pm PT

The grossest type of choss? Its made of sea creature corpses and their poop
semi solidified into brittle poopified hazmat corpse stone.

Get back on some granite now

Fritz

Trad climber

Choss Creek, ID

Feb 18, 2013 - 08:14pm PT

McHale's! Re your post & my post & your question:

McHales! Re your mention:
I forget the name of this intrepid climber, but he was the founder of Pipestone Mountaineering in Missoula, MT.

From Fritz!

Is that the near-legendary Jim Wilson?

Then your confused answer? (I did not answer your first question clearly)

You mean the Stoney Point Jim Wilson? That's not him and his name was not Jim Wilson. I mean Jim Wilson's name was Jim Wilson, but not this guy. I forget this guy's name, but it wasn't Jim Wilson. If it was Jim Wilson he would have recognized me as a Stoney Point guy but he didn't.

I doubt if the Jim Wilson that started Pipestone was the Stoney Point Jim Wilson, since the Pipestone founder (who is another Jim Wilson) grew up north of Butte and first started a climbing shop there, before expanding to Missoula. I'm sure of his name, since I worked with him as a outdoor gear sales-rep from day one. He sold the store a few years back to a Bozeman-based Nabob, who closed it in the 2008 recession.

Back to Choss. Much less confusing!

Makes for quick descents!

Plaidman

Trad climber

South Slope of Mt. Tabor, Portland, Oregon, USA

Feb 18, 2013 - 11:31pm PT

kpinwalla2 as per your remark:

Choss climbing might really take off if belayers resembled gladiators....

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

the crowd MUST BE MOCKED...Mocked I tell you.

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2013 - 12:41pm PT

Fortunately bright orange is easy to find if the choss collapses on you and we have to start digging.

McHale's Navy

Trad climber

Panorama City, California & living in Seattle

Feb 19, 2013 - 01:16pm PT

Fritz, Wow! That would be a coincidence. It sure doesn't ring the bells it should, but I look for first signs of dementia, in myself and others! HaHa! That is challenging for climbers since there is already a high background level of the stuff.

Plaidman

Trad climber

South Slope of Mt. Tabor, Portland, Oregon, USA

Feb 19, 2013 - 08:07pm PT

Fortunately bright orange is easy to find if the choss collapses on you and we have to start digging.

With picks and shovels? Use dynamite. It's faster.

MisterE

Social climber

Feb 19, 2013 - 08:51pm PT

Skip following "Trundle Trophy", Riverside Quarry.

They took all of the limestone, and this is what is left.

Doesn't get much chossier than a fractured, blown-out cliff!

Disclaimer: The climbing is actually really good, if you can ignore the glue...

kpinwalla2

Social climber

Feb 19, 2013 - 10:23pm PT

I'm looking at a lot of the photos on this thread, and to me, many of them feature rock that falls far below my standard for choss. But just how does one quantify "chossiness"? I'd suggest using the average density, as measured by combined length of cracks (fractures) per area of rock. So if you took a square meter of rock surface and measured the length of all of the cracks in that square meter and got 1 meter of fractures, that would not be so chossy as compared to say 5 or 6 meters of fractures. By this criteria, the rock in the photo below blows away most anything I've seen on here. Basically any piece of rock will move if a bit of force is applied to it - truly world class choss...