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billcoe_
Mar 27, 2009, 3:47 PM
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On the hex thread, I realized that our experinces and areas are so different that we are almost not discussing the same sport.
People rack up different sized shovels around here at certain places. Do you do this at your area?
See the big one in the lower pic that has a sling on the handle for racking? There are smaller sizes that get carried more frequently on the harder routes as no one but a Noob carries a big shovel for a hard route...we all can't be in Yosemite and places like that where the cracks are long, parallel and dry.
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epoch
Moderator
Mar 27, 2009, 3:54 PM
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I have racked a garden trowel and a smaller pry bar on a few climbs. This, along with three different sizes of brushes.
There's no shame in it!
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Valarc
Mar 27, 2009, 3:57 PM
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These pictures are useless without green and red arrows.
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hafilax
Mar 27, 2009, 4:13 PM
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I've been told that old ice axes are good for cleaning out mossy cracks Squamish style.
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k.l.k
Mar 27, 2009, 4:24 PM
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If that was my area, I'd quit climbing.
Although it gives me a good deal of insight into some of your posting habits.
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acorneau
Mar 27, 2009, 4:34 PM
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What's the best pro for moss?
  
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hafilax
Mar 27, 2009, 4:44 PM
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Spectres if it's frozen.
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dobson
Mar 27, 2009, 4:55 PM
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hafilax wrote: Spectres if it's frozen.
Or maybe a warthog.
Sucks to be you guys. I'd just climb with ice tools. Dirt would matter much less when your pick gets through it. When frozen, moss is really fun to climb.
All the "gardening" I've done was accomplished with a small knife and my nut tool.
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jpetsch123
Mar 27, 2009, 9:24 PM
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duct tape
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fxgranite
Mar 27, 2009, 9:27 PM
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I wonder if the moss softens the blow when you slip on said moss....
Or is the shovel for just digging graves at the base of routes like that?
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jeepnphreak
Mar 27, 2009, 9:45 PM
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I have never racked a shovel, just a nut tool.
OUr rock never have moss and growth like that on them. It too dry, my favorite craig has lot and lots of cacti and poison oak at the base.
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jeremy11
Mar 27, 2009, 10:03 PM
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That is sweet. I call it Vertical Bushwacking. Twice I've had to top out just digging my hands into the dirt. Kinda scary, downward pressure only. Probably normal for your area.... Also, burrowing through thick spider webs - and that was on a sport route! Digging dirt out of a crack, while aiding up it, only to have ants come out and start eating me. Gotta love adventure climbing, even when it is short!
I still haven't brought a shovel up yet though.
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sandstone
Mar 27, 2009, 11:04 PM
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Love the photos, I can relate. Style points for doing the cleaning ground up!
I've never racked a shovel, but I have racked a folding hand saw, a crowbar, a sawed off broom, a garden trowel, and of course a nice selection of brushes.
The old Chouinard alpine hammer, with the "gardening" pick, is an awesome FA tool. I've dug out many cracks and pried many blocks with that thing. One time I even used it for climbing a steep dirt top out.
Rapping with a chainsaw hanging from your harness is also a treat not to be missed!
[No one get their panties in a wad, it was for cutting a big dead tree that was dangling dangerously from a big ledge halfway up the cliff. I ruined both the chain and the bar getting all the roots out, but the results were worth it. The biggest job was cleaning up the base of the cliff afterward.]
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robdotcalm
Mar 27, 2009, 11:15 PM
Post #15 of 36
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Where were those pictures taken? What's the route?
Cheers,
Rob.calm
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lofstromc
Mar 27, 2009, 11:34 PM
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I have no interest in climbing something like that.
Ugh.
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bill413
Mar 28, 2009, 12:02 AM
Post #17 of 36
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sandstone wrote: Rapping with a chainsaw hanging from your harness is also a treat not to be missed! [No one get their panties in a wad, it was for cutting a big dead tree that was dangling dangerously from a big ledge halfway up the cliff. I ruined both the chain and the bar getting all the roots out, but the results were worth it. The biggest job was cleaning up the base of the cliff afterward.]
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mr.tastycakes
Mar 29, 2009, 2:02 AM
Post #18 of 36
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k.l.k wrote: If that was my area, I'd quit climbing.
my thoughts exactly (no disrespect to the OP). I'm impressed by the effort some people make to climb outside.
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kobaz
Mar 29, 2009, 3:49 AM
Post #19 of 36
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At first I thought "Man, are those pictures even real? It looks like the land that time forgot, where the cliffs were overgrown with pastel colored shrubberies and moss."
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Hammertoes
Mar 29, 2009, 5:36 AM
Post #20 of 36
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Those pictures take me back- early 70's, virgin shale, mud impacted basalt and granite up north under the moss. I really don't miss those Northwest climbs to no where. But it makes me laugh to see it still being attempted and to know 'the dude' abides!
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moose_droppings
Mar 29, 2009, 6:04 AM
Post #21 of 36
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On really grungy routes I'll rack a #2 Union with the always handy #1 tile spade. Anything worse the TNT comes out.
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tradrenn
Mar 30, 2009, 8:18 PM
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Dear God, WTF is this shit ?
Reminds me of Onterrible.
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clee03m
Mar 30, 2009, 11:26 PM
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Wow, my guess is that either the area is dismal or first ascent is really important to some folks. I will try to remember the word "shovel" when I want to start bitching about climbs polished to a sheen.
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graniteboy
Mar 31, 2009, 12:30 AM
Post #24 of 36
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Nope. I try not to get involved in shoveling pound after pound of vegetation, dirt, fungus, and god knows what other living stuff off of my first ascents.
I kinda figger, if you hafta stoop that low to get an FA on what appears from your photos to be a 5.5 sort of climb in your area ( I'm assuming Portland/Dalles/etc in your case) , you'd probably be better off going buildering in the downtown region. Might even get some climbing in that way, instead of spending the day tossing dirt on your belayer.
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bill413
Mar 31, 2009, 12:37 AM
Post #25 of 36
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Now that's why belayers should wear face shields with their helmets!
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