Mescalito Route info?

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Yakbutter

Social climber

Bend Oregon

Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 5, 2014 - 06:15pm PT

Anyone been up Mescalito this year that could share route condidtions with me. Headed to the Valley in less than a month and looking for recent condition reports.

Much appreciated!

Chief

climber

The NW edge of The Hudson Bay

Sep 5, 2014 - 06:52pm PT

Can't speak for it's current condition as it's been 37 years since I did it.
One of the nicest lines on El Cap.
Have fun!

Grippa

Trad climber

Salt Lake City, UT

Sep 5, 2014 - 07:03pm PT

heads, offset nuts/cams, fixed belays, great exposure, booty gear so have the follower pack a hammer and strong nut tool to extract gear. don't ask for anymore beta since you'll crush the route. go up into the unknown. what do you have to lose?

Kalimon

Social climber

Ridgway, CO

Sep 5, 2014 - 08:49pm PT

Git 'er done or butter your yak . . . It is 2014 for chrissakes! Don't forget to write home now!

Wayno

Big Wall climber

Seattle, WA

Sep 6, 2014 - 01:07am PT

Can't speak for it's current condition as it's been 37 years since I did it.
One of the nicest lines on El Cap.

Ditto. Thirty for me.

When I did it in April, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We did have to stop every day on the bottom half from showers that formed from dripping snow-melt only at a certain hour of the day. The sun had to be up long enough to melt enough drip-water and also warm the air to create an updraft to carry the drops over to us from a couple hundred feet away. The coolest pain-in-the-ass that I have ever experienced.

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Sep 6, 2014 - 08:52am PT

We probably misunderstood the supertopo, but linking 12 and 13 did not reach leading or cleaning with a 60M cord. It will reach for hauling or jugging.

BASE104

Social climber

An Oil Field

Sep 6, 2014 - 09:04am PT

33 years ago for me. Wonderful route. We did the Hockey Night start, which probably isn't any harder than the regular start. There is a heinous, bat sh#t filled wide crack after Hockey Night joins the original WEML start, though. Easy to aid, but full of guano.

I think Russ Walling has also done Hockalito. He may have a topo over on Fish Products website, but it is a pretty old one.

It goes up one of the prettiest parts of the captain, and the rock is consistently good.

It boggles my mind that it now goes clean. Our copperhead rack was about 75 strong back then.

Never too hard, but hard enough to be fun.

The Bismarck is overrated. Just lieback the thing for that 10 wide feet at the top of the pitch. If it were in the Camp 4 boulders, children would scramble up it.

Take a bunch of pics. I have very few pics from those days. Back then the route would only get done once or twice a year from what I could tell. The PO was considered a better route back then. Now the PO is a line of fixed heads I think.

One of the fun pitches in the middle of the route:

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Sep 6, 2014 - 09:06am PT

Holy frig! 75 heads BITD.

The best A2 on the Big Stone. Climbed frequently, so nothing too hard or scary. Bring extra beers as it's a long route.

BASE104

Social climber

An Oil Field

Sep 6, 2014 - 09:12am PT

Pete,

Look at the pigs. That wad of silver stuff tied on at the top is the head rack. We used over half of them. We used a lot of them on the Hockey Night start, which was the 3rd ascent.

BASE104

Social climber

An Oil Field

Sep 6, 2014 - 09:18am PT

Does anyone know if that giant loose block, which is the belay stance, on the 3rd or 4th pitch of Hockey Night has been trundled?

I took a fall there. Stuffed a number one friend behind it, which looked A1, and when I standed on it, the Friend opened up the crack and spit me out. I had been back cleaning on a rivet ladder and took a 30 footer. Russ told me that he reached down and pryed the thing loose with his hammer. It was huge. Many tons. I'm not sure if it was the correct block, though.

I always fall on A1 stuff. No kidding.

Yakbutter

Social climber

Bend Oregon

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 7, 2014 - 04:20pm PT

Awesome to hear about the early ascents! Thanks guys really appreciate it. Photos are killer.

Would like to hear from recent ascents as well. Either way I think it's going to be a blast!

thekidcormier

Gym climber

squamish, b.c.

Sep 8, 2014 - 07:00pm PT

Speaking of hockey night in canada.. Has any one who lurks a thread like this been up there relatively recently?

One of the first ascentionists had already posted up thread and base claims the 3rd ascent, but has any been up there in the last decade?

The route really piques my interest as I have tremendous Respect for all 3 first ascentionists and love repeating routes of the dudes I look up too.

So any beta would be greatly appriciated on the quality of anchors and any warnings of potential hazards.(EI: death blocks)

Chief

climber

The NW edge of The Hudson Bay

Sep 9, 2014 - 12:05am PT

At the risk of a bit of thread drift, Hockey Night in Canada, aka the Hockey Dawn or Hockalito had aspirations that eventually became Space and Tempest.
We named the loose blocks in question, The Penalty Blocks.
Things got too hollow sounding for our liking past a sister feature to The Seagull we named The Blackhawk so we "escaped" into The Dawn via the original WOEML wide bat guano pitch.
Miles of bad rivets, several nonexistent belay anchors, three days of storm, then a 7.5 shaker near the summit.
Pretty thrilling stuff for us frostbacks.

Hockey Night was basically a four pitch rebuild of the WOEML start and IMHO, not worthy of note as an FA.

Back to Mescalito, the stuff of dreams then and now.

WallMan

Trad climber

Denver, CO

Sep 9, 2014 - 12:26pm PT

We climbed Mescalito three years ago. A fair amount of fixed gear on the route back then - we were able to climb it clean.

Great great route! Trip report, pictures and video here:

http://germanguitars.com/trips/mescalito/

Wally