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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 15, 2016 - 07:17pm PT
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The variant finish to Sheep Ranch through the Cyclops Eye that Xaver and I climbed in 1989 just got its third ascent: PTPP, Chris Trull, and Jon Rigg.
Here's the account of the first ascent as I was able to post in real time while they were up there. Also great foto from Tom Evans.
Hii Ppppt (pass the pitons and piss Pete)
you guys looking good on the Heartland. Barbella and team true badasses. Hey, I wanted to tell you the story of the Cyvlops Eye Finish as you approach the big roof looming above you.
Like 14 Peter Zabrok, Max Jones and 12 others
Like · Reply · 29 September at 10:49
It was a dark and stormy night....
Just kidding. the story starts with my reintroduction to the big walls after a 3-year hiatus from big walls (but not a break from unclimbed desert spires!), October, 1989-- half dome rescue 1986 In May.
Like · Reply · 29 September at 10:51
f I didn't really plan to get back to big walling, but within a day or arriving I was hiking my final load up to the base of half dome for the first ascent of Kali Yuga With Walt Shipley.After that, I climbed a fast linkup with Rick Lovelace, then Xaver, who had been soloing the first 4 pitches of Sheep Ranch, got burned out on soloing and asked me to join him.
Like · Reply · 2 · 29 September at 10:54
Ihad always wanted to do an El Cap right side triple direct, finishing up the Cyclops Eye roof, but most of the new stuff had recently been incorporated into a number of new routes in that area. so I proposed Xavier and I create a direct finish to sheep ranch by going out the roof. Xavier, of course, was game.
Like · Reply · 29 September at 11:02
Battery dying...
just fyi, second ascent in 1999, Ken Sauls film shoot, me and a young Nathan climbing while ken filming Timmy O solo the Sea. Nathan led the roof. Took me about 10 hours on first ascent but had faulty harness that choked me every move,also just prior to A5 gear sling/chest harness combo (can you guess what prompted the design?). Maybe an xtra rivet or two on roof because of gear issues. More later, hopefully. Good luck!
Like · Reply · 4 · 29 September at 11:06
Ben Maxfield
Ben Maxfield Tell more^ can't wait for heartland team gets up to the eye!
Like · Reply · 1 · 29 September at 11:40
Paul Gagner
Paul Gagner Cool shot of Xavier above, John!! BAMF's the both of you!!
Josh Mucci
Josh Mucci Awesome!
Like · Reply · 1 · 29 September at 14:45
Roo Wyda
Roo Wyda · Friends with Peter Zabrok
Great story, can't wait to hear more... (grabs popcorn)...
Like · Reply · 1 · 29 September at 14:54
Roger Putnam
Roger Putnam · Friends with Rob Munge and 50 others
Amazing history!
Like · Reply · 29 September at 15:29
As mentioned it took me 10 hours to lead the roof, mostly because I was getting suffocated by the harness I was using(it had some floating leg loop design borrowed from a hang gliding harness design which wasn't adjustable and didn't work.
Like · Reply · 30 September at 14:38
This was after a 5- pitch long day the day before which brought us to the lower reaches of the cyclops eye ledge system (we were ready for a real ledge). I had taken an 80 footer on one of the Sea pitches, it was rated a4 but I was climbing it fast as if it was a1 (it felt easy after some of the pitches on the sheep ranch) and threw a claw hook an an encyclopaedia size flake, and the flake ripped and I fell head first ripping two rivets and stopped upside down well below Xaver's belay, head only a few feet above a skull crushing ledge (no helmets back then). I immediately hugged back up and did some serious a4 hooking around the now missing flake.
Like · Reply · 2 · 30 September at 14:44
Should be jugged above no hugging at that point in time.
Like · Reply · 2 · 30 September at 14:45
Anyway it took the morning to set up the proper belay in the deepest part of cyclops eye and move the bags etc so it was late when I started the pitch and I didn't finish til way past dark. Xaver decided to clean it in the night with headlamps and he took his time singing and sometimes cursing and he didn't get back to our camp at the base of the eye until 2am in the morning.(I immediately rapped off after placing the anchor above in the lip of the cyclops eye roof
Like · Reply · 1 · 30 September at 14:49
The next morning I jugged back up and started hauling the bags. Once they were in clear air with nothing below them all the way to the base of El Cap, xaver asked me if the rope was fixed and as soon as I confirmed he launched out from the deepest part of the eye and came flying out, probably another 50' horizontally out from the hanging bags. Definitely made the south seas rope swing seem miniature.
Like · Reply · 1 · 30 September at 14:53
The problem was (besides not telling me he was about to swing out causing quite a shock when I saw him plummet out in space) was as he made the dozen or more pendulum swings back and forth, he got horribly tangled with the haylulbags with its usual accoutrement of dangling gear racks, portaledge being flagged, and packs hanging along with the haulbags. It took ages for me and him to get the ropes free and clear again! Good fun.
Like · Reply · 2 · 30 September at 14:57
Roo Wyda
Roo Wyda · Friends with Peter Zabrok
Epic...
Like · Reply · 30 September at 15:01
Peter Zabrok
Peter Zabrok Wow! I read aloud for breakfast! Thanks Deucey!
Roof is not called Psycho Killer Variation, correct? What is roofs proper name?
Like · Reply · 1 October at 01:25
Michael Davis
Michael Davis Peter Zabrok, you have to do the Cyclops swing!
Like · Reply · 1 · 4 October at 13:48
The roof just called "Cyclops Eye Direct". Or maybe "Deucey's Eyeball" to go with Deucey's Elbow, that famous route by Walt Shipley. (Psycho Killer pitch the name of a bolted variation on Sea of Dreams, 2nd ascent by Price in late 70's--nothing to do with Sheep Ranch or Cyclops Eye-not sure where Sloan got that misinfo).
Write a reply...
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Oct 15, 2016 - 09:48pm PT
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good story!
winging off that roof must have been wild!
80 footer on the Sea! I'm telling ya, Mucci had it right, subsequent ascents are fricking hard!
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Oct 15, 2016 - 10:03pm PT
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Wow, epic times and El Cap dreams
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2016 - 10:26pm PT
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just cleaned it up a bit. Hard to copy and paste from Facebook! Should have the whole story now...
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JohnnyG
climber
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Oct 17, 2016 - 06:44am PT
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xaver asked me if the rope was fixed and as soon as I confirmed he launched out from the deepest part of the eye and came flying out, probably another 50' horizontally out from the hanging bags. Definitely made the south seas rope swing seem miniature.
Haha that is awesome. Posts like this (in it's entirety) are why I come to supertaco. Thanks!
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 15, 2017 - 05:26pm PT
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...just came across some pics that describe a mis-translation of the original topo, which I have been meaning to post since last fall.
I kept hearing how the "original" topo was wrong, but it was actually the first published topo that had an error in its copy by showing an apparently impossible left traverse.
Here is the actual "original" topo that I annotated on the Sheep Ranch topo from Reid's guide:
This shows the pitch above the roof going slightly right and up to a little roof, then tension-traversing right. I suppose the arrow I drew was confusing--I was trying to reference that I redrew the belay at the top of the roof so it was more accurately placed in relation to the Igloo).
Here is the topo as published in Erik's guide, with Chris Trull's annotations after climbing the third ascent. Erik shows a left traverse, which apparently was a showstopper for the third ascent.
And here is the way to describe the two new pitches Xaver and I did (courtesy Chris Trull):
The issue is that the variation Xaver and I did in two pitches gets to the same place (the Igloo) as 6 pitches on the NA--how to fit both variants on the same page?
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 15, 2017 - 11:38pm PT
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Nah, we didn't have youtoob nor Tom Evans back then, so it didn't really happen...
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Jan 16, 2017 - 07:10am PT
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I've got some photos of the Cyclops Eye bivi ledge from when my friend Brian soloed up to there via Nightmare on California Street. I was surprised at the size of that roof system. I believe he did a "5.9" pitch on the right side of the roof after leaving the bivi.
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