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Frenchman Coulee Guidebook

Original Post
Brenden Sullivan · · Tacoma, WA · Joined Nov 2013 · Points: 682

Hello PNW climbers! My name is Brenden Sullivan, I am currently the writing the 4th edition of the Ford and Yoder’s - Frenchman Coulee: A Climber’s Guide. I am happy to say it will print next month! BUT I still need more photos to truly bring the book to life. We will be accepting any photos you think are worthy up until April 1st and then it’s off to the printers! Please send your photos at to:FrenchmanCouleeClimbers@gmail.com

Make sure to include name of: photographer, climber, and route. Thank you!!!

Cosmic Charlie · · Washington · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 0

What great news - Can't wait to see the final product!

Khoi · · Vancouver, BC · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 50

WWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I've been eagerly awaiting this announcement for years!

Can't wait to get my hands on it!!!

My buddies and I will be there mid April to celebrate a birthday - I guess the book won't be available for purchase until few weeks after...

BTW, any word on the next edition for the Tieton River Canyon guidebook?

Kyle Elliott · · Granite falls · Joined Jul 2015 · Points: 1,738

Very good news! I look forward to it.

may I suggest a website or blog for updates and/or errors and omissions, post-release? Viktor Kramer does this with his books, and it could be helpful. 

Eric Roe · · Spokane · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 16

Awesome!  Can't wait for Vantage to be more accessible and user friendly, I was just thinking recently that it could really be a popular crag if the word got out.

brian n · · Manchester, WA · Joined Sep 2016 · Points: 87

Don't know if you've used the search feature in MP for photos. There are some good ones. You'd have to track down the posters for permission, etc... Not as easy as just getting them sent to you.
Here is the link to "More Top Photos" restricted to just Vantage pics:
https://www.mountainproject.com/featured-photos?sort=Popular&type=All&locationId=105792231

Dan Cooksey · · Pink Ford Thunderbird · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 365
Eric Roe wrote: Awesome!  Can't wait for Vantage to be more accessible and user friendly, I was just thinking recently that it could really be a popular crag if the word got out.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm......  

Tine Jansen · · Seattle · Joined Jan 2018 · Points: 0

Thank god! The wayfinding in our current edition is some of the worst we’ve seen. We look forward to seeing an actual map or photo of where the trail to riverview point starts. And ordering the crags from west to east, instead of in whatever random order the author felt like that day.

Thanks for doing this! Where are you releasing the books for purchase next month?

Mongoclimb · · Seattle, WA · Joined Dec 2014 · Points: 0

Aye! I kept my lip zipped and hoped this wasn't an Apr fools joke. So where  can I get one? 

Brenden Sullivan · · Tacoma, WA · Joined Nov 2013 · Points: 682

Feathered Friends in Seattle will have them May 1st!

Dan Cooksey · · Pink Ford Thunderbird · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 365
Brenden Sullivan wrote: Feathered Friends in Seattle will have them May 1st!

Who wants to camp out? Maybe make some marshmallows and sing Kumbaya?  I’ll clear the sidewalk of needles and human feces beforehand. 

F Loyd · · Kennewick, WA · Joined Mar 2018 · Points: 808

Online Source?

Anthony L · · Hobo gulch · Joined Jan 2015 · Points: 20

Anywhere on the eastside going to carry them?

Tine Jansen · · Seattle · Joined Jan 2018 · Points: 0
Brenden Sullivan wrote: Feathered Friends in Seattle will have them May 1st!

Awesome! I’ll be the first one there.

Jplotz · · Cashmere, WA · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 1,315

5/1 today.  Any book sightings out there?

dug1ross · · Vancouver, CA · Joined Jan 2010 · Points: 15

IF you enjoy loose rock and toppling towers this is the place to be...........Wear your helmet always and leave your pets at home....Sadly, there has been many crushed mammals over the years.

Dan Cooksey · · Pink Ford Thunderbird · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 365
Jplotz wrote: 5/1 today.  Any book sightings out there?

I called FF in Seattle prior to walking over.  They will have them I’m this afternoon after 2:00pm, assuming they are in the UpS shipment. 

Chase G · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jun 2017 · Points: 169
dug1ross wrote: IF you enjoy loose rock and toppling towers this is the place to be...........Where your helmet always and leave your pets at home....Sadly, there has been many crushed humans over the years.

Even fake ones! Article from 2003:


"It seems a sick joke was commited at Frenchman Coulee, a basalt cragging area near George, Washington, that only recently saw the death of famed adventurer Göran Kropp (see Passages, No. 219). In late November 2002, unknown pranksters either toppled or took advantage of the natural toppling of a notoriously unstable, eight-footthick, 80-foot-tall hexagonal column that held the route Positive Vibrations (5.11a), a 10-bolt sport climb.

The culprits used the fallen pillar to stage a "climbing accident," at some point attaching a life-size dummy to two of the route's bolts with static line. Visiting the Coulee roughly a week after Positive Vibrations was destroyed, a pair of climbers came upon the carnage, assumed that the crushed dummy - which was partially visible under the rockfall - was a human victim, and called in a rescue.

"From the way the route fell, they had to have used a jack," said one of the climbers who happened upon the dummy, which he described as having a wooden frame clad as a climber, with a fleece vest, a harness, and rock shoes. "[The pillar) cleared the trail and went into pieces, like it was deliberately pried."

The hoax wasn't revealed as such until after four Grant County deputies, one of whom injured his shoulder and wrist after slipping on talus in the coulee, responded. (The climbers who found the dummy only approached to within 20 feet it, an action for which they were criticized by journalist Rich Landers of the Spokane, Washington, paper The SpokesmanReview, who suggested that " ... maybe we should be wiring roadkill on popular climbing routes to desensitize the weenies out there.") While Frenchman Coulee has been the scene of past bolt wars between sport climbers and trads, it is unclear whether this incident was politically motivated or simply an instance of sheer bad taste.

"There's definitely been history there," says Andy Fitz, Washington state regional coordinator for the Access Fund. "The coulee seems to attract people who are given to extremes to begin with. I've worked hard for years to try to keep things on an even keel out there. [The incident] is intriguing, but also frustrating."
Word count: 369

Copyright Cowles Enthusiast Media May 1, 2003"
Jplotz · · Cashmere, WA · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 1,315
dug1ross wrote: IF you enjoy loose rock and toppling towers this is the place to be...........Where your helmet always and leave your pets at home....Sadly, there has been many crushed humans over the years.

Yes!  This is marketing gold.  Can we please post this permanently on the main Frenchman's MP page?

Brenden Sullivan · · Tacoma, WA · Joined Nov 2013 · Points: 682

Hey everyone! Sorry! I almost forgot about this MP post... Anyways, due to a few unforeseen events and negotiations with our printers we are about two weeks out... The book is being printed as we speak! And will be available at Feathered Friends very soon! Feel free to join the FB group - Frenchman Coulee Climbers - for more frequent updates. Sorry for any inconvenience. Cheers!

Michael T · · WA · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 602

Looking slick! I'll update when they hit the floor.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Pacific Northwest
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