1981 - Little Smoke Bluffs, Castle Crags, Fairview Dome

Little Smoke Bluffs
Location of the Little Smoke Bluffs
My Flickr site for more pictures - 

Corina Acheson

Here, Corina Acheson climbs up one of the many short routes in the bluffs. It is a great practice area.

Chuck McCafferty

Whenever you talk to a mouse, always hold it close so you don't have to shout, besides they are short sighted.

Outer Space - Snow Creek Wall - Leavenworth - Washington State
Location of Snow Creek Wall

Chuck leading on the chicken heads.

Outer Space is a great route on Snow Creek Wall. The upper part is very steep but littered with chicken heads and hand sucking cracks.
In the picture here, Chuck is leading on the upper part of the climb.

Castle Crags - Northern California
Location of Castle Crags

Chuck and Keith with Mt. Shasta in the background.

Chuck, Terri, and I packed our gear into the Volkswagon van and headed for California. We had phoned the ranger's station in Jackson Hole, and found that the Tetons had fresh snow, so Grand Teton was out. We thought we would head for California. On the way, we did some climbing in the Castle Crag area of northern California. Mt. Shasta is in the background of the picture above.

North Face of Fairview Dome - Yosemite - Tuolomene Meadows - 
Location of Fairview Dome

video of the climb.

The route follows the obvious crack system.

What other "50 Classic Climbs" could we choose from? I seem to remember that Peter Croft extolled the virtues of Fairview Dome, especially the part about it not being that hard. I liked that idea. :-)
In the picture to the left, I am at the base of the climb

Chuck doing another fine lead.

The valley itself was too hot for serious climbing (not that I do serious climbing) so we went up into the Tuolomene Meadows. The route on the north face of Fairview Dome was spectacular. The first pitch was as hard as any other, being awkward to go from the initial crack over to the one you had to continue on. Protection was always good and the rock solid. It was also good to be the first on the climb in the morning.

Keith

I did my usual great job of seconding. Chuck did his normal great job of leading. The middle part of the climb is quite steep, but the cracks, chicken heads, and ledges were a pleasure to climb. A highly recommended climb.
This picture is taken just after the short overhanging section and where it starts to ease off.

A great view on top.

What a sense of accomplishments. It was very nice that we had got an early start and had been the first on the climb, even though it was very chilly to begin with.
The walk off the backside was very easy.

A sense of accomplishment.

Chuck had done his usual great job of making the challenging parts look easy, and I had thoroughly enjoyed belaying him.
We had a great sense of achievement.