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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 15, 2009 - 02:00am PT
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I was at the Particle Accelerator Conference in Vancouver last week, and found a little time to climb and socialize with Mighty Hiker, MH2, Tami, Brock and many others... quite fun and a wonderful city.
The opening sessions were at the Hotel Vancouver
a wonderful old Canadian Railway hotel, the Hyatt Regency was just across the street, where this image was shot. It was Sunday, 5/3 and I was waiting to meet up with Anders.
As it had rained, we weren't in a rush to get to the cliffs. On the way there we picked up our rope-gun MH2 and headed out. After a stop to get coffee, we headed out to Little Smokey Bluffs. Our first stop was to do Penny Lane 5.9, which is a great introduction to the rock. We rapped off and set a top rope on Crime of the Century 5.11c, which I managed to handdog on top rope... thin fingers. Here is a strong, young local Mike leading it in great style:
MH2 had also lead a 5.10 around the right from Penny Lane. We were on our way to another climb when we stopped to watch Mike... here's the scene
quite chill.
Wandering around the cliffs in sight seeing mode we got to the top of Jabberwocky 5.10a, which has an acrobatic start to a great crack... here is MH2 setting up the rope
after top roping this we headed out for a beer and the trip home. We called Tami after dropping MH2 off,
"what are you up to?"
"I'm drinking, where are you?"
We picked up some side dishes and headed out to Tami's for a great dinner with her and Phil, chatted a lot about various things, some of which are captured on video....
...always wonderful to stop by and catch up on what's happening.
Phil had asked me if I liked "Trailer Park Boys," I had never seen it, so he lent me a two DVD set which I watched in one sitting one of the nights.... that was weird. This TV series would seriously be right up some of yours senses of humor... you might want to watch it for a serious twist. http://www.trailerparkboys.com/
By Wednesday I was really hurting with a cold and cough, pretty sure it was not swine-flu, went to the Cliffhangers gym to meet Anders, Brock and MH2 and get a bit of climbing in. Didn't last too long, but did manage to get up one of the cracks without too much of a struggle.
On the next Saturday, 5/9 I played hooky and we headed out to Squamish again, this time Brock was our rope-gun. Once again a pretty relaxed start, the objective being Sun Blessed 5.10b on The Backside Crags at the Chief. On our way out there we took a look at some wide cracks, here is Scimitar (the topic of a past thread)
Maybe I should submit Squamish to the WideFest Organizing Committee for consideration! My excuse for not jumping on any of these wide cracks was that I had left my Kaukulators in the car... I only had my Chameleons with me...
Sun Blessed is a cool climb in three pitches, each different climbing from the others. Here is the prominent 2nd pitch crack:
the start is a dike you can't quite make out, which runs into the one you can see going up and right.
Here is Brock making the awkward moves near the crux
The 2nd pitch hand crack is really wonderful, here is Brock leading out
under the attention of Mighty Hiker
Anders clearing gear so I could follow carefree
We picked the left variation 3rd pitch, which was stemy and with a thoughtful crux, Brock doing the honors, once again
we got this summit (and the other two on the way down), beautiful view of Mt. Garibaldi [edit to get the name right per Tami]
After the hike around and down, we headed off to find some quite spot to have a beer and burger, but this being NHL playoff night with the local team we settled for the not-too-crowded Troller bar in Horseshoe Bay, here is Mighty Hiker and Brock...
All in all a great trip with a lot of physics, and climbing...
thanks to you all in Vancouver... I definitely have to road trip up with 510 OW and get some fun in soon!
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
the greasewood ghetto
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May 15, 2009 - 02:14am PT
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Textbook tr - - Thanks Ed .
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
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May 15, 2009 - 02:21am PT
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Super Zer Kool Mr. Hartoni.....the story line and pics plus people are just great ! Enjoyed. Peace, lynne
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 15, 2009 - 02:25am PT
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Yes, we had a nice visit from Dr. Ed - not many SuperTopians seem to make it up this way. Contrary to rumours, his conference was about more than determining whether or not climbing ropes can exceed the speed of sound - although that vexed question remains unanswered. (http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=335919); We did have nice weather for both days Ed was free to climb, which helped. And very capable rope guns. Due to my lack of fitness, we did not attempt Cobra Crack (also in the Cirque of the Uncrackables), but did our best to persuade Ed that a WideFetish camp at Squamish may be feasible - the ambitious could even try to duplicate Grug's solo FFA of Pipeline, although the pipes are now gone.
Here is Ed, belaying at the base of the route for those who like piccolo trumpets.
Andy (MH2) leading same:
And displaying his versatile belaying abilities:
We then visited the Weed Farm, where Tami was busy concocting something. If you read the fine print, you may think the recipe was from "Arsenic & Old Lace".
A high fibre diet, apparently:
Our second day out - Brock (lurker) and Ed at the top of Sunblessed:
And a scenic shot.
Tami likes to mock my knocks (knees), but they haven't prevented moderate athletic achievements.
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kinnikinik
Trad climber
b.c.c
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May 15, 2009 - 09:49am PT
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way to nail the weather!
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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May 15, 2009 - 10:10am PT
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Looks like such fun! Wish I could get back up there...
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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May 15, 2009 - 10:23am PT
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Cool stuff.
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goatboy smellz
climber
dirty south
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May 15, 2009 - 11:05am PT
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Looks like it was a very clean and polite trip.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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May 15, 2009 - 11:10am PT
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Nice stuff. Look like some awesome routes.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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May 15, 2009 - 11:39am PT
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I don't believe those shots were at Squeemish, I see shadows and dry rock!
ps
Anders, is your orthopedic condition a result of or a genetic predispositon to excessive stemming?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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May 15, 2009 - 11:59am PT
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Thanks, Tami, then that confirms my suspicions about why his family got kicked out of Norway. How the hell can you ski like that?
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MisterE
Trad climber
One Step Beyond!
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May 15, 2009 - 12:00pm PT
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Nice TR!
No pictures of Tami sitting in the car with pencils in her eyes?
;^P
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 15, 2009 - 12:03pm PT
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there are days in Canada that are mostly sunshine and relatively dry
As if we had affronted the gods, there was rain on the upper parts of Sun Blessed even though there didn't seem to be any source of rain above... not much rain, but perhaps a reminder that it could start any time it wanted, with or without clouds.
We were sun blessed, and of course, we only climbed where we could find dry rock. It seemed that there was a lot of traffic on The Apron, though the streak marks were running. That didn't appeal to any of our rope-guns... and in negotiation with the rope-guns, they are happy to follow anything you want to lead.
Thus no wet climbing.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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May 15, 2009 - 12:20pm PT
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Ed, you went to the Troller Pub, but the photo is of Trolls Restaurant, which is just a couple doors down the street - I don't blame you for confusing the two cause I grew up there and it confused ME until I reached drinking age.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 15, 2009 - 12:51pm PT
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Several people in my family have knock knees. It doesn't seem to slow us down very much. Being a gentleman, I will refrain from drawing attention to Tami's....
Troll's (the restaurant) and the Troller (the pub) are next door to each other, and owned by the same person. It's a bit of a pun, in that (I believe) the owner is nicknamed "The Troll", plus Horseshoe Bay is a working harbour, with lots of fishboats - trollers/trawlers. Given my heritage and such, and trollaphobia on SuperTopo, we thought it would be good for Ed to have a picture.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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May 15, 2009 - 12:58pm PT
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Great TR, thank you!
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TKingsbury
Trad climber
MT
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May 15, 2009 - 01:20pm PT
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Awesome stuff Ed!
Thanks for posting up!
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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May 15, 2009 - 01:50pm PT
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I like Tami's "meth Lab". There's some nice color around her abode. Who is the artist?
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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May 15, 2009 - 01:55pm PT
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Great Report, Ed. and I'm glad MH put in a picture of
you doing some climbing!!!!
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Vulva, Wyoming
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May 15, 2009 - 02:29pm PT
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I look on robustly.....
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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May 15, 2009 - 03:14pm PT
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the troller--
many many good memories.
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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May 15, 2009 - 03:33pm PT
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Ed - I was expecting a story of how you went to Canada and physically dominated, laying waste the land and the rock...
But this will do!! LOL
Cool TR...
Thanks for the pics...
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 15, 2009 - 08:33pm PT
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This thread has it all. Climbing at Squamish. SuperTopo mini-fest. Variety. Sunshine. Trolls (several species). Crazy Canucks. No sushi, though it's readily available here.
The Wide Fetish gang should note that there is an unusual concentration of offwidths at the Cirque of the Uncrackables. March of the Kitchen Utensils (5.9). Scimitar Left (5.11a). Scimitar Right (5.10b). Bop til You Drop (5.10b). Boogie til You Puke (5.11b). Big Mouth (5.11b). Hidden Oomph (5.10a). Though all require an energetic walk, and so may be out of range for some.
Others of the harder Squamish offwidths: Pipeline (5.10c), Hypertension (5.11a), Split Beaver (5.10b), Tantalus Crack (5.10b), Yosemite Pinnacle Left Side (5.10b?) and so on.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 15, 2009 - 09:01pm PT
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This thread does have it all !
I'd love to get to Vancouver, perhaps with Ed, maybe to seek audience with The Tami ... and climb sure.
But does this thread have :
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 15, 2009 - 09:48pm PT
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Tarbuster, I didn't mention marmalade because there was this piece of paper I had to fill out on the way back... but I did seem to have something much like what you show when I unpacked my kit. Debbie was very excited...
...and we should make a time to go up there together, definitely... that would be wild fun!
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MH2
climber
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May 16, 2009 - 03:28am PT
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Ed is an interesting person on many levels. He got up some good climbs at Squamish.
Mighty Hiker’s coordinating efforts are much appreciated.
Unaccountably, I did not take many pictures of the visit. Some may recognize this:
Of course it rained. A little.
But Squamish also tried to look pretty for Ed. From the highway:
Ed, Brock, and Mighty Hiker are out of sight up around the right of the Chief (backside).
A cloud is sneaking up on them.
Mighty Hiker’s grades for offwidths are not to be trusted.
The guide makes the same mistakes.
Off-widthers will know not to trust ratings.
Another wide monstrosity, mentioned elsewhere by climbingdropout, the not-too-often climbed Public Image (~center):
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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May 16, 2009 - 10:38am PT
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Excellent trip to a place that’s been on my list for decades. Thanks for the inspiration, Ed.
Good to see Anders back in his native habitat, after finally meeting him in Joshua Tree. I propose a toast to “moderate athletic achievements!”
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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May 16, 2009 - 11:40am PT
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Awesome, Ed! Good May weather too! Nice to see you kept your priorities in line up there.
I'm looking forward to seeing you back down here. I scoped our 5.4 proj. last weekend. Looks great. Don't know how to get there. ;-)
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 16, 2009 - 02:33pm PT
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If the customs people are snoopy about marmelade, it's usual to simply say that it's for medicinal purposes. Which in Roy's case may have some truth - he seems to have tried darn near everything else. Though customs are usually only interested in fresh fruit, not the processed kind. This year's batch was made with some of the famous jstan oranges, and hopefully his trees have survived the recent fire.
On our first day's outing, we were guided by Cairns. The second, by what are apparently known in some U.S. regional dialects as "ducks". Lord love a duck, but Ed says that Americans have trouble with dipthongs. Very odd - we call them cairns, a fine old English word, and up north they're called inukshuks, an equivalent Inuit word. In Norway, they're called "varder", which has the same root as the English "ward" - it means something that marks a route, but with connotations of protection and warning.
But then, I once ran into some people from the U.S. south who kept referring to "shivs", which in context had no meaning. It turns out they meant "sheaves", or in English pulleys. I believe that "sheave" means a side plate of a pulley, not the whole thing.
Hopefully we'll see more SuperTopo visitors up here this year.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 16, 2009 - 02:55pm PT
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Andy got a picture of my little martian cyclops friend... I'll post up some stuff from its memory dump soon. But it is a beautiful day here...
Also, the cairns thing, which I had noticed also, Anders, that we were guided by the same on both days... when you say "diphthong" to some from the US, it evokes quite different images... ask locker...
in pursuing this line of thought we learn about "Canadian English allophony," where does that take us, eh?
Melissa, yes on the project.. I think the approach is the obvious one, though the details are all important... we need to figure out a date. My schedule is getting a bit more flexible with a bit of lead time...
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Dirka
Trad climber
SF
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May 16, 2009 - 03:53pm PT
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Whoop Whoop! Go Ed. (I swear that guy never actually works... Oh Going to a conference... what, there are rocks there too!)
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 16, 2009 - 10:24pm PT
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Ed admitted that he got on the organizing committee for the conference, to ensure that he would "have" to attend, whatever last minute crises they came up with at work. Pretty clever tactic. He did well with the weather - it can be fairly unstable at this time of year.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 16, 2009 - 10:50pm PT
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I didn't have a way of getting on the committee, they chose me, but hey, when you have lemons, make lemonade. PAC11 is in New York City, I wonder if I'll be on the committee again... sounds like a 'Gunks squeeze trip to me...
and Dirka, I don't actually know why they pay me either...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 16, 2009 - 10:58pm PT
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Here's to "moderate athletic achievements" (Rick A) & "having to attend" (Hartouni via Anders)
And MH2 & this ??? Beauty !!! ...
Of course it's a Public Image.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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May 16, 2009 - 11:14pm PT
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effing Trolls...
at least i got to put
pipeline
&
public image
on the list.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 18, 2009 - 01:43am PT
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no one liked the video?
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MH2
climber
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May 18, 2009 - 03:06am PT
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I liked it.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 18, 2009 - 11:46pm PT
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Thanks, Ed! I couldn't get it to work on my admittedly three year and no longer state of the art computer. I was able to look at stills from the video, but even after giving it several minutes to download, no movement.
It should be "Little Smoke Bluffs", although it's possible that Canadian pronunciation led you to think there's a "y" in there.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 18, 2009 - 11:55pm PT
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A few months ago, someone painted some conspicuous red graffiti at the top of the Penny Lane cliff. Some at the top of the piccolo trumpet route, some at another spot 50 m left. Neither right on a climb, but both very visible. Yesterday, suitably armed, I set out to do battle with the right hand one, which had apparently foiled professional painters and other experts. I had 15 litres of water (rinse, slurry), a can of some hideous spray stuff call "Goofoff" (http://www.goof-off.com/);, a long handled BBQ scrub brush, and some climbing gear in case of need, given that I'd be working at a clifftop.
Here it is, before.
Working away diligently, supervised by Brian M - also photographer.
After:
Here it is from a distance, after. Both graffiti are visible, but you can see which one was worked on. We suspect a few months of weathering should fade it quite nicely.
I suspect a pressure sprayer would help, but no easy way to get one there with enough water.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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May 19, 2009 - 01:02am PT
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A small portable sand blaster running off a compressor at the base would be more effective and less toxic than Goofoff methinks. Not easy but effective. Just an idea.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 19, 2009 - 01:18am PT
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We did some sandblasting years ago. It worked quite well, although it's not exactly subtle. In this picture, we had road access, plus about 30 m of hose. Not feasible where I was yesterday, unless there's a backpack size sandblasting apparatus.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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May 19, 2009 - 01:21am PT
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Anders,
That's what I was getting at. I have one that only weighs about 40 lbs loaded with sand. It's the size of a backpack. You could easily haul it by hand. You would need to re-load it several times perhaps. But by hauling it up then you only have to run your air hose up.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 19, 2009 - 03:00am PT
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The one we had ran from a compressor that had to be towed behind a vehicle. Fairly short range. Do you know who makes the backpack size one? Is it completely self-contained, and how much does it weigh? If it's really of a size and weight that you can carry it to and use it in awkward spots, it would be very handy. Do fuel and sand and water go up separately? Using it while hanging from a rope might be interesting, I'd like to learn more. Unfortunately, there are other places at Squamish it would be of use.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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May 19, 2009 - 01:30pm PT
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How did I miss this one the first time ? Sweet !
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nutjob
climber
Berkeley, CA
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May 19, 2009 - 02:37pm PT
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Good entertainment as usual!
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 19, 2009 - 04:25pm PT
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Thanks, Reilly - I'll let the powers that be know of these useful devices. Do you have the backpack size (smaller) one, or the bigger (rolling) one? What kind of sand do you use in it, and how much does it weigh? Or do you use the glass beads they advertise? How quickly do the parts wear out? For the backpack size one, how does it generate the pressure, or is there some mini-generator built into it?
The backpack size one looks like a very handy gadget to have.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 19, 2009 - 11:22pm PT
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Nice. A portable sandblaster might even be nice for restoring rock texture on a few climbs that are ultra polished, like Church Bowl Tree?
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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May 19, 2009 - 11:42pm PT
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Hey Ed and Mighty,
Looks like fun up there!
Zander
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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May 20, 2009 - 01:07am PT
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Anders,
They all have to have air: 6 cfm for the little guy and 9-18 for the bigger depending on the size of nozzle used.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 20, 2009 - 01:15am PT
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It sounds like it's getting more complicated. Do you still need a compressor, plus hose to connect it to the apparatus?
The places that need work are mostly hundreds of metres from anywhere accessible by road, and can only be reached by fairly rough trail. So what's needed is a sandblaster (even if modest) that can be carried on the backs of 1 - 3 people, and that's entirely self-contained. If it included a small generator, a backpack unit, connecting hose, the applicator nozzle, and of course sand, that would be about right.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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May 20, 2009 - 02:15am PT
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OK, I'm typing this reallll slow:
All sand blasters are just basically a reservoir and a valve system. No such thing as an all-in-one. They all need a separate compressor.
The little guy would be your best bet as it only weighs 35-40 lbs loaded with sand (prolly only 15 empty). The compressor it requires would be fairly substantial as it would have to be an integrated gas-powered compressor. One that size would run you about $500-600 (Amerrycan). They make 'em like a wheel barrow but you wouldn't want to drag one more than you had to as the wheel is pretty small. Two guys could drag one a half mile if you held a gun to their heads. An educated guess would say it weighs 120 lbs. If I were going to do it regularly I would replace the wheel with a bigger one or possibly two. So you drag it to the foot of the crag and then you schlep the sandblaster up the crag dragging the 3/8" air hose along. A 50' air hose prolly weighs 7 lbs. so 200' of hose would not be that tough to maneuver. I mean this is pretty light compared to hauling the standard issue pig, eh? One more caveat is the sand. They don't have any lightweight sand but a 90 lb bag will go a long way. You just need to find some young guns who want to get buffed or some wimps to haul portions.
Just add sand and ENJOY!
PS
Y'all could pretend to be modern-day Maestris!
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 20, 2009 - 01:10pm PT
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Thanks, Reilly! I just knew that a self-contained backpack size sandblaster was too good to be true. To dream....
Back to Removall (if I can get some), Goof-Off, elbow grease, and water.
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