..."Milestone"...'bout time for this one, no?

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hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 17, 2015 - 01:44am PT
karl baba called out for "old geezers" to write up some FA stories, Warbler responded:



Jun 5, 2007

Karl really does have a good idea, even though most people aren't taking him seriously, I'll start with the last, and maybe the best Valley FA I've done.

Sometime in the mid seventies, after Bridwell did Straight Jacket on Basket Dome, he told me about a long straght in crack system on the wall right of that route and near the arete of a massive right facing arch that dominates the southeast face of Basket Dome. He was really excited about it at the time, and said he thought you might be able to faceclimb to it, or that I might be able to.

Went up the Snow Creek switchbacks 30 years later to scope it out. Schwacked almost all the way to the base and saw potential for a start. Couple days later walked up Tenaya Canyon and way up the talus past Half Dome with some glasses and my camera. Began to see a line from the lowest point of Basket Dome up through some disconnected features, to three giant ramps that switchbacked nicely toward the crack system Bridwell told me of. From the end of that three hundred foot crack a weakness appeared to lead for five or six lower angle pitches to the top of the dome. Careful inspection of the photos I took that day led me to believe a route was there, and that it might not even be that hard.

There is a route there now, but it's kinda hard.

It took my partner Sean Shannon and I three trips to the Valley and some twelve days of climbing, bolting and working the route, before it was ready for a ground up ascent,

Not a ground up "trad style" ascent but more of a redpoint. With a trad flavor. We did start at the ground and climbed up, for two days, on the final ascent.

We tried to do a true ground up ascent, but what I was hoping to be 5.9 or easy 5.10 pitches at the start turned out to be four good 5.11 pitches in a row. Thin face crux on the pitch off the ground. Pure crack in a bombay flare, tight hands to rattley fingers to offsize pod on pitch two. Arches style thin, relentless, 11.d edging on pitch three. A tricky routefinding problem with a vertical step on pitch four.Two days of climbing and the hard looking part was still way the f#ck up there.

Rapped to Valley, went to SAR cache, got six static ropes from Werner and a ride back to our car at Porcupine Flat, hiked back to the rim, bivied, and rapped 1000 ft down the top of the climb to check it out, and determine if it would be doable. Living in San Diego with a wife and kids kinda takes the adventure ability down a notch or two.

Looked good...real good, but hard. The "hand cracks" Bridwell told me about were arrow cracks, with a few fingerlocks here and there. The rock was excellent, the position the cracks took spectacular.

Returned a year later, rapped down and did the upper five pitches, starting at the last belay on the crack, perched on the lip of a forty foot roof at the end of the massive 600 ft arch. What was to be pitch fifteen was 5.11 face right off the belay followed by linking small corners and arches up a rolling slab to a splitter crack finish and a good ledge.

Pitch sixteen meanders after a steep lieback flake, to a mantle, that places you below an 11d slab with three bolts, some dime edges and not much else, that gets you to a flake system, the belay comes after 180 ft.

Pitch seventeen has two easy 5.11 sections and ends liebacking a four inch thick flake separated from the wall by three or four inches. Super clean. The belay is standing on the flake where it becomes a thin ledge with a deep clean crack behind it.

The flake system continues up and right toward the summit of Basket Dome, but pitch eighteen follows the plumb line of a Tuolumne style black streak. All bolts, one cam in an overlap near the top of the 10.a pitch. Sweet slab climbing, perfect rock, way up there.

The belay below the last pitch is positioned below the steepest bulge in that zone and the climber mantles a big ol diorite knob with a stopper behind it, clips a bolt and does some thin 11a moves in a stemmy bowl to immediately easing rock and a big belay tree nearly at the dome's summit.

On the drive home we decided to do whatever we had to do to link these upper five pitches with the lower four we did a year before.

Our third effort we allowed ten or twelve days in the Valley. The ramps I had hoped to follow in the center section of the route were ruled out due to a thirty foot long, eight foot high blade of vibrating stone sitting with its ass end on the ramp and its snout cantilevered out in space. We found a route around this obstacle, that led us up into the bottom of the huge arch, and happily to a perfect bivi ledge atop pitch eight.

From our previous high point of four pitches we did a short 5.8 pitch to the base of a vertical straight in, straight up thin crack -120 ft 11.d. A desperate flared barndoor lieback start to pumpy fingers and hands, then up a steep stem corner with tiplocks to an exposed flat belay ledge positioned in the center of a 200 foot long arete.

Here the crack of pitch six becomes a ramp/hand traverse that turns the arete and leads back into a deep bowling corner that is the start of the huge arch above. This 5.10 pitch finishes on a handrail traverse with exciting distance between cams to a stance below roofs and a vertical corner.

Pitch eight (11b) liebacks a thin crack to hands through a roof, then up a steep leaning offsize with a bomber edge to more roofs, and finally the bivi ledge.

Two gnarled scrub oaks, each with a sleeping spot below, share an inspiring view of the Northwest Face of Half Dome, and a view straight up the unclimbed arch.

Pitch nine downclimbs a ramp to the left, down mantles a ledge, easy 5.11, to an easy ramp that rises to the arete of the arch and an airy three bolt belay.

Pitch ten is bouldery hard 5.11 moves sideways off the belay to a 1 inch thick flake that miraculously winds its way forty feet up the steep wall toward the three hundred foot crack system. The belay is atop the end of the flake.

Pitch eleven is the route's crux. Desperate face climbing left off the belay reaches the crack after twenty five feet. Good jams and fingerlocks disappear after twenty feet, and the angle steepens.

At this point we made a decision that will surely be controversial. The crack would take A1 arrows or A3 stoppers. At the time the 00 cams had not come out, and even those would have been hard or impossible to place in the leaning crack. We bolted it, rather than fix pins. Given the length of the route and the diffculty of the climbing on the pitch (12b) in comparison to the majority of the route's climbing, we decided it was the way to go.

After the pitch's 12b sequency, super thin crux, are forty feet of sustained 5.11 high body tension moves ending at a diorite knob that allows a shakeout. More thin crack leads to a band of giant holes that march across the face in a quartz band. Rather than follow the crack into the holes, the route exits left to the far left hole, a six foot high mini cave with a sandy floor.

At this point two parallel cracks are leaning at about a 30 degree angle, roughly paralleling the arete of the arch that was exited far below, and inching closer and closer to the edge as they rise. The cracks become unclimbable where they pass through the bulge above the holes, but some thirty feet higher again become climbable.

Fortunately, the far left hole belay positions the leader within a few steep moves of a dike that pops 3 inches out of the wall. A mantle places the boots on the lip of "The Crack Sniffin Dike". An exciting sixty foot 5.11 traverse brings the leader back to the coveted crack and a two bolt belay.

Pitch thirteen (The Hangnail Pitch) begins with good fingers for twenty feet to the end of that crack. At this point the crack system is double, so the leader moves down and right (5.11) to the neighboring splitter. Here his feet are about ten feet from the lip of what has become a forty foot roof below (the arch). Eighty feet of continuous, leaning 11d arrow crack with 00 cam pro brings the climber to the belay and even closer to the roof's lip. This amazing, laser straight splitter is the only flaw in the slab for nearly two hundred feet to the left. The leader should carry some prussiks on this lead as a fall and a pulled piece could mean a Touching the Void situation.

Pitch fourteen is easy 5.10 and becomes almost horizontal at it's end, with the leader's feet at crack level and protection placed by leaning over and peering into the crack at your feet. The belay is at a point where the four pitch crack system, "The Bridwell Cracks", finally disappears around the lip of the arch's roof.

The last 5 pitches I've already described.

Every belay on this route has two stainless bolts. All bolt protection is stainless, 90 bolts total. Six pitches have no protection bolts. Three pitches have all bolt protection. Most of the bolts on this route were placed on the lead, but not all. Some hero could have certainly done the route ground up, but we were happy to do it as we did. It's a good, hard, classic route, Great variety, quality rock, awesome positions and exposure, a line that starts at the very bottom of the dome and follows a mostly obvious route to the summit.

The final ascent we did with a bivi atop pitch eight. The days were getting longer and hotter, and we didn't want to be on the crux pitch in the midday heat. Because we had been working the route, we were able to stock water on the ledges, making hauling easier. We bivied on the Valley rim at a beautiful site behind Basket Dome near the stream that falls down it's East gully. An hour descent put us at the base, and we waited til 11:30 to allow the 11d third pitch to be in the shade. Arrived at the bivi just at dark. Summited the next day at sunset. No falls.

The way to do this route is in a day if possible. Bivi on the rim, leave your sleeping gear, crack it to the base, send the route and return to camp, a fifteen minute walk from the topout. Rapping off above the dike pitch would be tricky, so it's a committing challenge for a one day ascent. Spring has the advantage of water in camp and at the base. Car to camp is two hours. The topo should be in Reid's new guide. The cracks and the upper part of the route are easily seen from Mirror Lake near Basket Dome's skyline.

"Milestone" V 5.12b 19 pitches FA Sean Shannon, Kevin Worrall May, 2004

take it from me, (or jesse c. young) you don't want to let too many decades go by ...

http://youtu.be/PXIsaGlOmug

"hesitation stopping, hesitation shoe.
lord now these hesitatin' women get me
hesitation blue! tell me how lo-ong ... shall i have to wait?
can i grab you right now sweet mama, or must i ... hesitate?"
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Apr 17, 2015 - 05:44am PT
Hoh man Kevin, (& Sean!) that's the stuff!!
bob

climber
Apr 17, 2015 - 06:25am PT
Milestone is one of the best routes I've ever been on without a doubt. The setting, the climbing, and the right partner made the best of experiences.

Started just after sunrise and finished just before dark with huge smiles on our faces.

Big route with stacks of good sh#t.

Mr. Worrall and Mr. Shannon sure did it up on that one!!!! Go get some!!!
coolrockclimberguy69

climber
Apr 17, 2015 - 06:45am PT
Basket Dome topo overview by Clint.
bob

climber
Apr 17, 2015 - 06:49am PT
PIcs of some of the upper pitches from Cultureshock


hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 17, 2015 - 07:20am PT
jump on it hooblie

haha... ya, i'd be honored just to slide down it t. this was more of an "assignment" type post. and the exceptional use of the shift key ... that's respect!

edit: a better word choice might have been "incitement. "what with mr. hocking being an educator, assignment came to mind. nerves i guess.
as for pics, a serious photographic effort by an accompanying crew would be a great tribute, but i said slide down ... maybe jug up?
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Apr 17, 2015 - 07:36am PT
Whoa.....that's a good morning read to get the juices flowing.......or, more realistically, just pull another cover up under your chin.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Apr 17, 2015 - 07:58am PT
Please
Please more !
The way to spew and rule the roost !
Great re- post!!
bob

climber
Apr 17, 2015 - 08:51am PT
I was only 40 (a youngster right?) when we did it and just happened to be fresh from finishing with a new route on Fairview that has a crux pitch of 12+ less than vertical.

I seemed to be well trained for Milestone by default and my partner Jake Whittaker is always fit and ready whether he is climbing much or not. Zen master he is. Lucky man I am to have a climbing card like that in my pocket here and there.

I read that write up (multiple pieced together?) so many times before we went up there. We had tried in 2010 and made it to the crux pitch and had to bail with a fat storm tossing lightning everywhere. Yikes. So we had the first 11 pitches checked out before we did it in its entirety.

Thanks for that route!

rick sumner

Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
Apr 17, 2015 - 10:19am PT
One hell of a route Warbler. Even being eight years ago, that put you in your early to mid fifties. Judging from my perspective at my current age, about the same as yours, that's a near super human effort.
mikeyschaefer

climber
Sport-o-land
Apr 17, 2015 - 10:36am PT
Looks and sounds amazing. Been on the list for awhile.
k-man

Gym climber
SCruz
Apr 17, 2015 - 11:10am PT
Great looking route, great writeup.


The topo should be in Reid's new guide.


Don't make me cry ...


(But I did recently run into Eric, and his precious milk-carton box!!!)
bob

climber
Apr 19, 2015 - 02:11pm PT
Well, if my memory can recall anything here it is Kevin.

p1. 11b less than vert. It seemed a boulder problem. 11- seems right.
p2. Crack baby!!!!!!! It could be Yosemite 10- to 11-.
p3. 11d is on. Very continuous edging. I fell in 2010 and cruised when we did the whole route later. I was a dime machine though.
p4. Funky move. 11a seemed right, but hard to rate such a deal. Funky, but quick.
p5. 5.8 easy as pie and fun.
p.6 11c/d is good, but if one has the sequence wrong it would be nice to be very strong.
p7. Fun! 5.10 seemed easy at this point and on this route it is comparative to the rest.
p8. The initial section was wet the first time, but totally doable regardless. Dry the second time. 11- is on. Its a bit strenuous. I think it to be a reverse version of Mary's Tears.
p9. Funky, but necessary. It is way harder if reversing it, which we did in 2010.
p10. SOOOOOOOOOOO just barely enough to make it doable. This was "the missing link" it seemed to us which made this route go. It didn't seem to us there were any other options. You lucked out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rating seems on.
p11. This is where we retreated from in 2010. Upon our return Jake did it with one fall and I fell a few places, but was rushing with fear of building clouds (memories of before). I was a weenie and wanted to keep going. Too bad. Another reason to go back.
p12. Spot on. My style
p13. so so so so so so so good!!!!!!! 11d
p14. don't remember. It must have been easy feeling. At this point anything felt easy after al the rad thin stuff.
p15. sure
p16. not an issue. Hard to rate
p17. yup. FUN!!!!!!
p18. seemed 5.2, but its not. Anything was easy at this point.
p19. same as 18.

Basically, after pitch 13 everything felt cruiser. We had it in the bag. Even some 11d boulder problem on 16 seemed cruiser. We had officially seasoned ourselves for anything less than vertical at that point. Thats what the route will do to you in a day. At some point its just floating and hoping. On the day we did the whole route the only falls taken were on the crux pitch by both of us. Wooo hoooo!

Again, thank you for the route you two. Great effort and this route should very much be climbed. Its off the hook.

Bob J.
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