Plaidman, eat yer heart out! I'm going' to Choss Heaven - the Dolomiti! Where it all started.
I'm gonna do Il Campanile Basso di Brenta which was first climbed in 1899! 5.8 Choss in
street shoes with hemp ropes and little else. Check out the Grossman thread:
Great Pioneers of the Eastern Alps.
Really enjoyed the article in the Mazama annual Plaidman. Makes me want to go back - something about the smell of Gorge moss...smells like adventure. Was craning my neck (again) yesterday looking at those piles...I mean towers above 84 just east of the dalles. Look nice.
John Leary photo 2008.
His account of pulling up onto the mossy blocks at top of the 96 foot band, to the ledge was what inspired me to bring the moss ax to assist in making that move. The heck with a hook. I'll take a moss ax any day. Here is what one looks like.....
Friends don't let friends choose choss. Choss isn't a choice.. it's a lifestyle you learn to lovingly embrace when every hunk of rock within 100 miles is crumbling POS and your love of climbing outweighs your fear of headwounds.
Let us know!