Mt. St. Helena Crags - Fire Damage Updates

My girlfriend Kim and I spent a couple days this last week climbing at The Bear. The left wall (kidnapped to Rampage) seems fairly unaffected by the fire. I felt comfortable with the bolts and the holds. The soot factor on these routes is also pretty low. the rest of the cliff is sooty and there are a lot of small, 1/4" flakes peeling off, bottom to top. The 2nd pitches are ok. We spent several hours cleaning Uncle Tom, 3-star Arete, Mark's Moderate and Black Hole Sun. We also replaced several of the blackest bolts. I broke the old wedge anchors with considerable effort only to find fresh metal beneath the sooty surface. Hmmmm. My take-away is that the bolts are ok. But i could easily be wrong! We plan on replacing many more to err on the side of caution. On Uncle Tom the big flake below the 2nd bolt fell off easily, but the new sequence is awesome and just a bit harder (12b i think). I did my best to get these routes all cleaned up. Some traffic should have them as clean as before after a few ascents. My fingers are crossed that the other routes on the wall will also be back in business after some similar tlc. It would be so cool to organize a cleaning/rebolting day there soon with a bunch of people! I really think the Bear could be back in shape after a day or two of hard work with 10 people or so. Here is a trip report from Kim:

Nice to see you up there Jim. I'm in for a work day - how about this Saturday? 

Ed that sounds good to me. I have a bunch of bolts on order that should arrive Friday. 

Looks like Sunday is the better day.

Looking to head over there Saturday and from what I can gather from the feed is that some areas are safe aside from mild exfoliation and other areas are awaiting rebolting.  As someone new to Mt. St. Helena, could someone give me a list of routes I should 100% avoid (that I otherwise wouldn't because they aren't completely sooted)?  Additionally, are people just using a standard steel brush to clean the rock?  What tools can I bring to help a little with cleanup on my way off of a route?

Any and all help is appreciated! Thanks!

Hi Josh, I think the Bubble and the Far Side are good to go. You won't need cleaning tools at either of those. The Bear has a few routes on the left side of the cliff (see post above) that are mostly undamaged. The other routes at The Bear need cleaning with the exception of those already cleaned. Many of the unclean routes will require creativity to access the anchors, either by climbing them in their current state or by traversing from neighboring anchors. If you're there Saturday and want to clean, you could climb black hole sun and traverse to the next anchor right, drop a fixed line and start cleaning. Gentle scrapes with a hammer take the loose flakes off.

Anyone know the condition of The Satellites (e.g. the Hailstone)?

Hi David, I've heard that Hailstone and the Satellites are ok. But I haven't seen for myself.

After doing some work on the Bear Cliff this past week, I'm NOT comfortable telling folks to go climbing there yet. There are plenty of other areas that are ready to go: Far Side, Bubble, Hailstone, and Satellites. The Bear Cliff was most deeply affected and should be avoided until the rehab work is complete. (No Maureen, this isn't a conspiracy). 

Jim is right that the Bear's left most lines are least affected. My routes Kidnapped and Silverado Squatters are virtually the same as before the fire while Rampage is perhaps slightly harder. Everything Right of that is a work in progress with the exception of Marks Moderate, a chimney that is now covered in soot! I spent several hours cleaning Treasure Island and sadly, most of the critical small holds were already missing or just fell off in my hands. Several of the other hard routes have also changed dramatically. If you do go, take a helmet and expect some rock fall.

Personally, I'm reluctant to discuss the situation on a public forum. Assume that anything you write will be read by land managers who hold your access in their hands. 

Does anyone know how Table Rock is at the moment?

It's awesome that you're getting out there to assess your routes on bear cliff, Jerry D! It's nice for me to see that our opinions match on the status of the rock under those routes. So much fracturing that goes fairly deep on that end. I stuck my nail file in a few cracks just to check it out.  I'm thinking of what some big rain could do there. The science of fire ecology is an amazing subject.  You know what's better about this forum is that most people post under their given names so it's clear who's opinion is being professed ( note I'm nearly refraining from using other more colorful terms for professed....touted, pandered, extolled, hawked). In any case it's good to see  the effort to bring bear cliff back safely rather than obliquely. 

PS: it's low tide but the skiing is awesome! C'mon up

No reference at all to scraps but I did like your comment about it. Not sure what you mean.. but I do get that drunk posting can be fun.

Hey friends,

I may have missed this somewhere in the forum but what’s the status of table scraps? I’m looking to head there mid April. Thanks

Hi Jensine, Table Scraps wasn't burned. Some bolts have been replaced recently. It's in good shape, but always check the bolts to make sure they are tight. Rebolting is ongoing there.

jimi thornburg wrote:

Hi Jensine, Table Scraps wasn't burned. Some bolts have been replaced recently. It's in good shape, but always check the bolts to make sure they are tight. Rebolting is ongoing there.

Thanks for the update! Appreciate it

A typical Rawl 5-Piece bolt, blackened by the fire.

This new chain anchor replaced a dicey array of three bad bolts on the ledge above Marks Moderate.

Wow, that's rad! Thanks for taking the time!! Please post on MP if you ever need help in the future.

Evening everybody. Been a while since this thread had any activity. Yes, I've read the entire thread. Yes, I fully expect to get absolutely roasted regardless.

Just wanted to check in on any status updates at MSH. I am considering going up Sunday. I am particularly interested in the more moderate crags of the area, namely Far Side, Hailstone and the Bubble.

A big thank you to those who have been rehabbing the area post-fire, and thanks to anyone who can provide any fresh intel.

Hey Lee,
All those crags are good to go.  I think only feelin' your oats and better eat your wheaties at far side have some fire damage/soot.  Not sure about bolt integrity on those climbs.

If you go to Hailstone, I wouldn't recommend going straight up from the bubble.  go to the bear, then across and up to Hailstone or across from the upper end of the far site.

Also, the bear cliff is mostly rebolted and cleaned.  I  can probably track down the list of climbs that were cleaned and rebolted, but it should be somewhat obvious what routes were rebolted with new ASCA bolts.

I heard that the Kimball canyon trail was pretty much wiped out.  Trail gnomes have a re-route from turk's head.

Finally, BACC and Rock Ice & Mountain Club are putting on an Adopt-a-Crag this Saturday, May 5.  Anyone headed up to climb on Saturday say hi and sign up for a future BACC adopt-a-crag event in the bay area.

Hey y'all, I was planning to join  on saturday but work called me in for the 5th and I can't. If you have the time please post re: safe climbs / safe approaches after making contact w/ BACC and Rock Ice and Mountain Club and the other rehabers. I hope to be up there sometime soon for climbing and for cleaning