incredible hulk new route: Wind Shear

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alpinist

Trad climber
tahoe city
Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 7, 2014 - 04:20pm PT
Incredible Hulk Wind Shear, 5.12. FA sept 2, 2014 peter croft, dave nettle and andy puhvel

Peter had been eying this line for some time. the big question was how to gain the "hanging crack" to the right of Airstream and then how to work up and through those wild roofs that dominate the upper section of the wall. wild stuff to consider, but over the years some fairly improbable lines had panned out for us on the Hulk so we dove in with a determined but humorous blend of confident uncertainty!

Peter, Andy Puhvel and I went in there August 26-28 for a three day session to push the route and clean up corners and thin finger cracks that make up a large percentage of the route. Everything fell into place and the hanging crack was reached by a stout sequence of steep but positive face moves protected by 2 bolts.

On September 2nd Peter and I went back in for a day dash to climb the route from start to finish, with Peter leading the way with no falls and me making all sorts of noise on the follow. The one change we made on the Sept 2nd push was to establish a belay just below the roof pitch crux rather than make it a looong pitch. Besides giving a merciful break in between two very sustained sections, it reduces some serious rope drag and pinching potential at the lip of the roof. recommended!

The line is steep, varied, sustained, well protected, follows logical features and is pretty much independent. We more or less added the "Power Ranger" start to Wind Shear since that 2 pitch climb has never really been part of a bigger route since I climbed it with Mike Carville in the early '90's. So if you start on Power Ranger and finish on the final pitch of Positive Vibrations the route stacks up at one pitch of 5.9, two pitches of mid 5.10, five pitches of 5.11 and five pitches of 5.12 to the Venturi raps. Or continue on to the summit with a few more pitches.

Lots of options to duck in and out of the route for select pitches if desired as it weaves around next to Positive Vibrations and shares a couple of belays.

Cheers!
Dave Nettle

phylp

Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
Sep 7, 2014 - 04:33pm PT
I just LOVE seeing this stuff, even though I'm not and never will be strong enough to climb it. By your taking the time to describe it, I can picture it.
"Tiny wires, tiny cams" - love it.
Congrats on your new route!
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Sep 7, 2014 - 04:58pm PT
Good job Dave! How about a new 5.11 for us old folks.
JakeW

Big Wall climber
CA
Sep 7, 2014 - 05:08pm PT
Thanks Dave! I'm psyched you put up this route. It's been my number one reason to go climb on the Hulk again...other than doing laps with my girlfriend. Just as you guys have been eying this line for a while, so have the rest of us! Complete with shared PV belays and everything. Like all the other routes you guys have done on the Hulk, thanks so much for doing all the hard work so the rest of us busy and less motivated and organized dorks can go have fun! Now I just have to get fit enough to carry the baby I'm soon to have up there!
HighDesertDJ

Trad climber
Sep 7, 2014 - 06:13pm PT
5.12 "power stemming" by Peter Croft, eh? I can't even imagine. Nice job, guys. Keep em coming. And share some pics if you have any.

bob

climber
Sep 7, 2014 - 06:57pm PT
Awesome!!!! Nice work.

Soooo Jake, shall we take our fitness to the Hulk instead? Can you pull it off?
Gagner

climber
Boulder
Sep 7, 2014 - 07:18pm PT
Looks bitchin!! Way to go Dave. Maybe I'll see you in the ditch in October….?
RP3

Big Wall climber
Twain Harte
Sep 7, 2014 - 08:17pm PT
Looks amazing. Thanks to all of you folks who have put in such hard work up there. It does not go unappreciated!
ryankelly

Trad climber
el portal
Sep 7, 2014 - 09:39pm PT
thats real, real cool
this just in

climber
north fork
Sep 7, 2014 - 09:45pm PT
Great job, would also like to see some pics if you guys took any.
Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber
San Francisco
Sep 8, 2014 - 11:45am PT
KABOOM!

WELL DONE, AWESOME STUFF!
limpingcrab

Trad climber
the middle of CA
Sep 8, 2014 - 12:04pm PT
If only I could climb something like that...

Thanks for sharing and inspiring!

Impaler

Social climber
Oakland
Sep 8, 2014 - 01:07pm PT
WOW! Thanks Dave! That looks incredibly sustained! Great job on this route - it looks like another gem!
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Sep 8, 2014 - 01:10pm PT
No pictures, no pictures, no pictures.......


I guess you have to sell it to the ragazine first.
alpinist

Trad climber
tahoe city
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 8, 2014 - 06:23pm PT
This time around it was all climbing, scratching out cracks and other manual labor fun...and there are no really good pix! I usually make it a habit to bring along the camera, but we only had 3 days this season to make this route happen as Peter is heading off on other adventures and I've been gone most of the summer... this was our only window this year to get it all done and then we only had ONE day (Tuesday Sept 2) to climb the route in a push (Reno to Reno/ Bishop to Bishop) and no time for snapping shots!

The other factor is that this route is pretty steep and it's real hard to get any good shots IF you are either climbing or belaying (which we both were) So I passed on taking butt shots (sorry Peter) and stuck to the task at hand! In a way it was kind of liberating to just climb and not even have the option to think about shooting pix...

This would be a fantastic route to shoot if another team was on Positive Vibes at the same time...you could pretty much swap cameras at the base, then walk away with wild pix of your Wind Shear/Positive Vibrations ascent when you exchanged the cameras back on the top! Hmmm...

here is one of the few pix showing the route ahead with a good view of the hanging crack and the wild roofs above on our line. Also note the perpetual shade on the lower half of this route so bring along something more than your velcro slippers, tank top and dolphin shorts this time of year! And the name Wind Shear is not just figurative...have fun!

cheers!

Dave


peter croft

climber
Sep 8, 2014 - 07:19pm PT
Nice of Dave for apologizing for no butt photos of me but I say thank god.
I mean really, who wants even the tiniest of bottom shots in even the weeniest of publications (or forums).
Here's a pic of Andy making short work of some big moves. Don't be deceived by the scale - he has about a twelve foot wing span.
Just full fledged fun with two great friends.
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Sep 8, 2014 - 07:21pm PT
the weeniest of publications (or forums)

pegged!!!

good route, Peter. Thanks for the stoke.
le_bruce

climber
Oakland, CA
Sep 8, 2014 - 07:55pm PT
A photo worth carrying to the next page:


Muy chévere.
pvalchev

Social climber
Truckee, CA
Sep 8, 2014 - 10:43pm PT
Looks amazing, thanks so much!!!
HighDesertDJ

Trad climber
Sep 9, 2014 - 12:10pm PT
Supertopo fears no butt shot.
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