frog

[joe]

want to check out those stars.  do you need 2 ropes to get off the frog?

[mudworm]

Where are those self-proclaimed masters of mud when it comes down to real information? Hello...   Anyone got an opinion?

[Brad Young]

This self proclaimed Master of Mud was at Pinns climbing until late last night. (Did a DES route there - Are You OK - among others yesterday. Wow, this certainly takes climbing on crud to new levels).

Joe, many of the routes on The Frog are walk offs. Get a Grip is a half rope rappel/lower off. The routes that end up on the common belay are longer than half a rope, so two ropes to rap directly to the ground. BUT, using one rope is easy too. The topo shows that if you move east and do one short rap, you can walk off South Side Shuffle from there.

[joe]

thanks for the beta.
look forward to checking it out.
j

[joe]

a couple of thoughts after a day at the frog yesterday:

first off, once again kudos to BY for a job well done.  first chance to use the new guide, excellent in every way.

also after hearing about Get a Grip a number of times, I was stunned to find a route of that high quality out there.  unlike loveline, which also gets 3 stars and is much looser, Grip was totally solid.  I was trying to think of another route in the monument that it compares to and the closest I could come up with was Wet Kiss.  you don't usually get such large solid holds on a climb of that grade.  congrats to DES and CC for finding the line and putting it up.

know anyone that got a rope stuck by trying to pull it through a rap ring without untying a knot at the Frog?  yeah, found a rope, get them to contact me and tell me what route it was on and what color it was and I can make arrangements to get it back to him/her.
also bootied 3 biners on 3 different routes(!)

finally, this may be an unwelcome idea, but...
what think you of an adapt-a-crag day at the monument, enlisting NPS support, to basically clear a single trail to the hand and subsequently to the frog.  sure with repeated visits you can eventually minimize bush whacking and stay on the existing trail (much overgrown in many spots), but I contend that it would actually reduce environmental damage. 
many of you are probably aware of the work done at Dozier Dome over recent years.  well some of those folks (who will go unnamed since I'm not sure of the legality of what they did) cleared out an excellent trail which not only reduces damage created by trampling through the bog/marsh, but cuts 10-15 minutes off the approach to what will be a very popular destination in the years to come.
some of you are probably also aware of one of our Pinns route setters (excuse me Brad, establishers, first ascenders, finders/putter upper?) clearing out poison oak behind the monument on the way to fringe dweller.  public service or menace?.
anyway, I digress.  if this sounds like a good idea, we might be able to get a couple of group camp sites donated, maybe a keg from a brewery (seabright), support from access fund/rei, etc.

[mynameismud]

ok

donated keg from a brewery (seabright).

[mungeclimber]

The NPS has already done this sort of work with trail builders on the West side up to the Citadel.  Unrequested?  Don't know. Nice couple of guys. Get up early, work work work, and viola, new climbers trail updated. 

Now, could be that the trail is bunk, could have been done better, but clearly the NPS is of a similar mindset, that namely, a good approach trail could minimize long term impacts.

[Brad Young]

Joe, true story about Get a Grip: Clint and Dennis rated it 5.10a, with ONE star. I climbed it and thought it was one of the 25 best routes in the Monument. And I thought "10a my ass." Mr Mud allowed how maybe it might be 10b, which I lashed on to. But one star? That came from Clint. He felt that he couldn't give his own routes more than one star!

Veto.