Tech News . . . January, 1997Tech News . . . January, 1997WWW edition of the newsletter sent to Technical Section Members.
Tech News Editors: Trish Botsko and Teri Kazama.
Well, another exciting year is beginning. I thank the "elected" officers for their support. However, we need help coordinating Programs. We thank Bob Wendell for extraordinary talents in bringing in some big names for us but, at the November Tech Section Planning meeting, we concluded that the efforts were probably not worth it. So if anyone is interested in arranging simple and easy slide shows, programs, or, . . . please contact Tom Maceyka.
Good Climbing!
Dear Hardcore:
I can't imagine anyone wanting to have his name dropped from the tech section mailing list. I really look forward to receiving my newsletter every other month. When it finally arrives in my mailbox, it's the first piece of mail I open and read. I keep every issue. I don't know what I'd do without it.
- Needs a Life
Dear Needs a Life:
I can't imagine anyone wanting to quit the tech section, either. Then I was reminded of all Nate's BRCS grads who are experiencing their first winter of climbing. These months, these rookie members may think they have some good reasons for quitting. They don't. Here's a list of lame excuses I've heard so far, and my response to them:
1. The experience of gym climbing just isn't "paradise"... Who claims it is?
2. They just don't appreciate the deep-freeze while their partner screws around with ice tools... Well, learn to lead ice and you won't be spending most of your time trying to stay warm. (This excuse does not apply to Rookies too smart to try ice climbing in the first place!)
3. Rock climbing, mountain climbing and ice climbing (or canyoneering or anything else technical) isn't all it's cracked up to be (is there a pun here?). What this really means is that you joined thinking that finding "a good belay" was a sexual references. . . and you haven't gotten any since joining the tech section.
4. They think they've learned enough knots to keep sex interesting for awhile .... HA!
5. Climbing is better in the warmer months. . . Well, first of all, no one enjoys climbing at J.T. (that's Joshua Tree) in the middle of August either.
Secondly, get some cash and head south or to the desert for climbing in warmer climates (a la Gary Neben, article below). Third, if you're broke and you really really really want to climb in the winter months... Mat Bozek is anxious to meet you. But a word of advice: bring your own gear!
Fourth, you don't have to climb in the winter months, there's plenty of other things to do, as evidenced by the photos of some tech section members who are demonstrating the true sport of backcountry skiing.
Now, on the other hand, I can sympathize with someone in that painful situation where your girlfriend takes a job in another state. Do you, contrary to all male socialization, concede that you'd rather be WITH her than without? Of course you do. But you're right, Needs a Life, it's hard to imagine...
And one last word, to those for whom climbing or socializing with climbers ain't their thing and they simply want out of the tech section (reference excuse number 3 above), I hear the volleyballers are looking for members. I also hear they do things indoors with kneepads and netting. And, unlike us climbers, they like to slam their bodies onto the ground. So, if finding a good belay had sexual overtones, think about volleyball!
- Hardcore
- by Gary Neben
Every Christmas my company shuts down for a week. Gee, that's too bad. Guess I'll have to do a road trip ... My wife, Janet, and I stuffed all of our gear and dog into the car and took off for Southwestern Utah, or the Dixieland of Utah as they like to call it. Our destination was St. George.
It turns out that St. George is a wonderful staging point for many surrounding climbing areas. Vegas is 1 1/2 hours away and then a short additional hop to Red Rocks, but there is so much climbing immediately around St. George that we never considered going to do the Vegas scene.
One of the fun things about going to a new area is that you can tick off the area classics. I'm talking about the five star routes - you can always come back and do the two star routes. This gave us an intense and awe inspiring sampling of the types of routes St. George offers.
We were chomping at the bit to do something after ten hours of driving so we went to The Black Rocks, a sport climbing area a few miles out of town. It's like a small Table Mountain except the rock is basalt. We cranked seven pitches in about 3 hours, enjoying the sun and solitude. Most of the pitches we did were high quality and fun. (You could also top rope anything there, if you had a mind to.) Yea, we were styling on good, hard rock - doing what we like to do.
Another day we went climbing in Snow Canyon, a much more traditional area in the local state park. The climbing was all sandstone so we had to switch mental gears from hard edges to soft and smearing sandstone. But man, what routes! We ticked off three routes. One was almost pure
friction and another ascended a black-varnished face for 150 feet. Two of the climbs were wonderfully exposed, not so much from any runout but, rather, from the situation you find yourself in.
Coincidentally, the current issue of "Rock & Ice" (delivered to our door one day before we left) carried an article on a classic route in Snow Canyon. We were hoping there would be climbing down there, but this last minute information gave us confidence that there indeed was climbing and it told us where to find guides. The climbing gods were watching over us.
There are literally over a dozen more climbing areas around St. George. Two well known areas are the Virgin River Gorge, 25 miles south of St. George, and Crawdad Canyon at Veyo Pool Resort, 18 miles north of St. George. This last one is interesting. It is the climber's park you may have heard about, a privately managed sport climbing area with routes from 5.6 - 5.13.
There are two inexpensive guidebooks, i.e., pamphlets, "Snow Canyon Select" and "Too Much Rock Not Enough Life." Both are authored by Todd Goss and both are available at the Outdoor Outlet in St. George. I do recommend stopping at the entry station in Snow Canyon to look at the more complete guidebook by Goss. For example, it has much more information on pro for some of the routeliks.
We capped off our trip by stopping at Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Escalante on the way back. We did some hiking in each of these places to get a feel for the areas, but it was too cold to do any climbing. In Zion we saw a poor sucker 1/3 of the way up a wall with a porta-ledge, soloing the wall. It must have been 25 degrees that day when we were there. His porta-ledge was vibrating so badly you knew he had to be shivering inside.
Good trip, lots of climbing, sun, family, and a new area ... what more can
you ask for with a week off at Christmas?
- -by Brett Roggenkamp
The annual New Year's pilgrimage to Ouray was well represented this year. Twenty eight people, some with the Tech Section, some not, made their way down to the San Juans for a holiday of winter sports activities. The warm weather was welcomed by all after last year's blitz of stifling snow fall which put a damper on everyone's activities. By the end of the weekend, most everyone seemed to be fulfilled with a generous allotment of ice climbing, back country skiing, skiing/boarding at Telluride and even a spurious attempt or two at winter peak bagging in challenging conditions.
Ice falls in the Telluride area as well as the Ice Park in Box Canyon (right out of Ouray) provided abundant opportunity for those who climbed ice. The ice was somewhat on the wet side from all of the warm weather but generally provided nice conditions for easy tool placements. It was reported that Box Canyon is getting overrun with climbers. I guess that's not hard to imagine with the worldwide publicity it has received in recent years. There were stories of people getting nailed on the deck with ice fall, people thrashing around in the stream after breaking through the ice and even a report of a dog getting cramponed. But the best story comes from the likes of the Reeder and Mayceka duo. It seems Tom backed off on his tools on a hard line (don't know what grade) because of suspect conditions. He backed off on his tools because he didn't trust backing off on the screws he placed. After a top rope was set up, Dave proceeded with his attempt. Somewhere in the midst of the climb, the pillar Dave was climbing snapped off at his midriff and left him hanging by his tools with his feet dangling in space. Thank God for top ropes. Lucky no one was below.
The back country skiing at Red Mountain Pass was superb. The coverage was excellent and the snow was stable and of good, consistent quality. It was so warm that one had to remove their hat and gloves and push their sleeves up while climbing uphill. Although Red Mountain Pass boasts abundant terrain, much of it was pretty well trashed by the end of our stay. We tackled a peak (unnamed on the topo) that had never been previously attempted by anyone in our group. In past years, the lack of coverage or the specter of avalanches had prevented anyone from venturing this direction. But this year was different. The snow was stable and there was already someone else's tracks on the peak! After gaining the ridge top and taking a short break, it was time to have some fun. Taking the steeper segments one person at a time and staying tight with the existing tracks, we worked our way down the undulating flank. The combination of the snow depth, snow quality and pitch of the slope gave one the sensation of free falling into the turns. Truly an experience to be remembered.
The New Year's celebration took place at the Ware House as it did three
year's ago. The usual struggle to stay up until midnight after generous amounts
of activity and libations. The Ware House provides an excellent vantage point
for viewing the midnight fireworks display that is orchestrated from the
amphitheater perched above the town. The fireworks seemed to be of better
quality than previous years and the town seemed to be more alive with
spectators as well. Everyone relished the roiling echoes off of the canyon
walls, not to mention the gratuitous champagne hiccups that complemented the
experience. New Year's Day capped the end of our stay. Some made a beeline for
Box Canyon to get their last licks in prior to departing while others were
content to hit the road. Another year down and time to gear up for another
round of climbing challenges for 1997.
HAPPY CLIMBING IN '97!
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Last Modified June 6, 1998 by Keith Jensen .