Biggest big wall?

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Porkchop_express

Trad climber

Currently in San Diego

Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 14, 2010 - 02:11am PT

What is the longest wall? Is there a consensus or is it still waiting to be discovered?

Studly

Trad climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 03:19am PT

Great wall of China is the longest.
Now if you're talking about highest walls, which of course you are,....I'm not sure....Trango Towers maybe but I'm sure there is bigger walls in the Himalaya..

Porkchop_express

Trad climber

Currently in San Diego

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 14, 2010 - 03:33am PT

Ah. Correct, I meant highest top to bottom, not just above sea level or lengthwise...Thats pretty interesting to know that the "big one" may still be out there.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

sorry, just posting out loud.

Jan 14, 2010 - 03:34am PT

Everest?

Porkchop_express

Trad climber

Currently in San Diego

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 14, 2010 - 03:37am PT

Well I was thinking more of a sheer rock cliff type of situation. Something akin to some of the walls on Baffin or Trango. I knew I should have anticipated the tricky semantics better...

goatboy smellz

climber

लघिमा

Jan 14, 2010 - 03:48am PT

The one you haven't finished.

Wayno

Big Wall climber

Seattle, WA

Jan 14, 2010 - 04:01am PT

Once you get past the snide remarks, somebody usually coughs it up. Mighty hiker and Ghost are both traveling and I'm sure they would have some input. I bet Jello knows. Steve Grossman probably has an idea. C'mon you guys.

Tom

Big Wall climber

San Luis Obispo CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 04:05am PT

Troll . . . . 8-)

Shrug

Trad climber

The hell that is the midwest...

Jan 14, 2010 - 09:40am PT

"Mount Thor, Baffin Island, Canada; 1,370 m (4,500 ft) total; top 480 m (1,600 ft) is overhanging. This is commonly regarded as being the largest purely vertical drop on Earth at 1,250 m (4,100 ft)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Thor

Or... Trango Towers, the tallest nearly-vertical drop on earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trango_Towers

Norton

Social climber

the Wastelands

Jan 14, 2010 - 09:58am PT

The Rupal Face on Nanga Parbat is almost 15,000 ft. in vertical gain from glacier to summit and is the longest face on planet earth. The peak is amongst the 14 8000m peaks and is heralded as one of the most dangerous mountains on earth.

Others you may google image:
The North Face of Jannu
Peak 4810
Ak Su
The South Face of Anconcogua in South America is 8000m of vertical gain from glacier to summit.
Thalay Sagar
Ama Dablam
Any Side of K2
K7
Latok I, II, III
West Face of Gasherbrum IV
Uly Biahu
The West Face of the Great Trango Towers
Shipton Spire
Kachatna Spires in Alaska
Fitzroy in Patagonia

TKingsbury

Trad climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 10:11am PT

Was searching around to see some pics of some of this stuff and found this site...

check it out

http://www.climbandmore.com/climbing,0,6,0,mountains.html

Rhodo-Router

Gym climber

obsessively minitracking all winter at Knob Hill

Jan 14, 2010 - 12:33pm PT

The biggest Wall is the one in your mind
You think its all about some stupid rok
when will you learn its not about the walls of this world.

help! Werner has taken over my brain

pitonslammer

Big Wall climber

Piton Land

Jan 14, 2010 - 12:55pm PT

-Northwest Face of Great Trango
-Several walls in Baffin Fjords, I don't think Thor is 4100 feet vertical.

I wonder what the tallest mostly vertical to overhanging wall is in the world?

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Jan 14, 2010 - 01:13pm PT

I think the only way to have an objective biggest wall is the one that is vertical for the largest distance, i.e. Mount Thor.

Most overhanging walls are overhung on the top and less than vertical on the bottom. If you drop a tape measure straight down to where it touches rock below and measure it I think that's probably the best objective measure of the biggest wall or cliff in the world.

If you start talking about walls less than vertical where does it stop? 80 degrees, 70 degrees? Clouds Rest has a huge face but it's not a wall. I guess you could have categories for biggest wall of 80-90 degrees, etc. but 90+ degrees = true cliff.

From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremes_on_Earth#Greatest_vertical_drop

Greatest purely vertical drop 1,250 m (4,101 ft)
Mount Thor, Auyuittuq National Park, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada

Greatest nearly vertical drop 1,340 m (4,396 ft)
Trango Towers, Pakistan (summit

What is "nearly vertical"? It's not a pure measure like vertical drop.

goatboy smellz

climber

लघिमा

Jan 14, 2010 - 01:15pm PT

Changabang would be a good objective,
then you can tell random chix you know how to top out on Changabang.

http://www.climbandmore.com/climbing,214,0,1,mountains.html

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Jan 14, 2010 - 01:26pm PT

If you're talking about rock walls as opposed to mountain faces, that rules out things like Nanga Parbat and Mt. Logan which dwarf pretty much everything else on this planet.

Like Silver, I've seen some things on Baffin that are pretty huge. The maps aren't (or weren't, back then) very detailed, and most peaks outside of Weasel and Owl Valleys weren't named. But yes, there are walls there with at least 4,500 ft of relief. And of course Mt. Odin has almost 7,000 feet of rock, but it's not all in one sheer wall.

Closer to home, Mt. Combatant in the Waddington Range has a massive drop down into the Tiedemann Glacier. Greg Child and Greg Collum climbed an all-rock route there that has to be about 5,500 ft. Insane undertaking with hard aid, hard hauling, hard free climbing... I think they called it Belligerance. You can probably google it.

Never been to the Karakorum, but I know there's huge walls there. And who knows what's tucked away in western China?

Also I remember reading in Mountain in the late 70s about some Spanish climbers getting their butts kicked on a mountain in either Pakistan or Afghanistan that had 9,000 feet of relief with a lot of it on rock. Wasn't a single sheer cliff, but it was being presented as the biggest rock climb in the world.

Of course all of these pale in comparison to the cliff we're developing a few miles east of Seattle, which is easily the biggest, hardest, and most beautiful rock wall in the entire universe. Or at least in the universe of my mind.

goatboy smellz

climber

लघिमा

Jan 14, 2010 - 01:32pm PT

Fall City has the biggest wall?

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 01:40pm PT

What is the longest wall? Is there a consensus or is it still waiting to be discovered?

on Mars...

pitonslammer

Big Wall climber

Piton Land

Jan 14, 2010 - 01:49pm PT

Thor is not 4100 feet, this is a fact. People saying it's that tall don't know or like to exaggerate. I'm thinking it is more like 3300-3700 vertical relief.

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 02:08pm PT

EC- how big is Tehipite from the rope up at the bottom to the top of the dome?

Oplopanax

Mountain climber

The Deep Woods

Jan 14, 2010 - 02:11pm PT

50 15 26 N 123 52 11 W

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Jan 14, 2010 - 02:22pm PT

Thor is not 4100 feet, this is a fact. People saying it's that tall don't know or like to exaggerate. I'm thinking it is more like 3300-3700 vertical relief.

A fact? You measured it? It was only 3500 ft? Plus or minus a couple hundred for where your tape measure didn't quite reach?

Well, I wouldn't want to contradict someone who actually posts on the internet, so I guess all I can say is that it must have shrunk some since I was last there. Back then, the summit elevation was 5,495 ft, and the valley floor was about 500 ft. so total relief is just under 5,000. Take out the lower-angle stuff at the base, and there was still something like 4,000, or a bit more, that qualified as Big Wall.

Lambone

Ice climber

Ashland, Or

Jan 14, 2010 - 02:25pm PT

Polar Sun Spire looks like the biggest truly vertical Face to me...but what do I know.

mojede

Trad climber

Butte, America

Jan 14, 2010 - 03:16pm PT

Oplopanax's wall based on his Lat/Long. co-ords:

pitonslammer

Big Wall climber

Piton Land

Jan 14, 2010 - 03:32pm PT

Some dudes rappelled it and said it was almost 3300 foot drop. Still more rappers said about the same. Another dude said it was about that too and he climbed it. He also said that they did it in 20 pitches with 60m ropes and had some decent traverses. I've never climbed it just passing info along. I have the Baffin Guide somewhere, I'll look for it and see what it has to say.

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 04:12pm PT

Tom,
I looked at my notes and In the Niche of Time on Tehipite (sans traverses) is about 3,630 feet from rope-up to the summit. Since, there had been a route established by Nettle/Thau, et al that is most likely 4,100 feet, rope-up to summit (it starts near the very bottom of the south face).

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 04:24pm PT

A new route on that thing? Is there a trip report somewhere. I read your on the niche of time, sounded epic.

Someday I plan to get down there, maybe not for tehipite but to search for more. There sure seems to be a lot of rock in that valley.

Heck, if I ended up just fishing, swimming and wandering around, I'd probably be happy.

Good to see Tehipite in the running on this thread though.

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 04:39pm PT

Tom,
I could never get any specific info (like a topo), as Dave N. is pretty guarded about it. Leversee started the route in about '98. 'Almost got the axe from a loose block. I think it got finished in around '01 or so by the aforementioned party and it is entirely free. There are plenty of good cracks, but for a huge mutha like that, most don't link-up well for other big routes. I do stand by that ItNoT is the steepest big wall in the backcountry to date and has not been repeated and will never be freed as it has a pitch or two like The Shield.

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 05:59pm PT

I talked to a friend who had done the becky route on tehipite. He said the route wasn't very good. Becky was a master of finding grainy rock as far as I can tell.

4100 for their route keeps tehipite in the running. As for niche, it may well be the steepest big wall in the backcountry. What else is there? Something on Angel Wings? Bubbs creek isn't overhanging? Those are the real big ones that I know about, though some one on the Taco had shown some big route on Balloon Dome.

That Baffin stuff looks incredible, and incredibly blank for the most part.

I hold out hope that there is another enourmous hunk of granite out their in the world somewhere that tops the known stuff. I don't know why.

Wait a minute, how about limestone?

Any of you canadian rocky types know of some big walls? How big is that north twin in the other thread? It looked steep enough to be a big wall?

Klimmer

Mountain climber

San Diego

Jan 14, 2010 - 06:21pm PT

Here is a great reference to answer this question:

By continent, the tallest cliffs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff

In South America you have Patagonia, like Cerro Torre, and in Venezuela you have 100s if not 1000s of Tapui or Tapuies(sp?). The Land of the Lost.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepui

There is soooo much to do that hasn't been done yet it boggles the mind.

The tallest in the Solar System would more than likely be on Mars. I wonder how tall that escarpement at the base of Olympus Mons is?

Edit:

Oops! Just found the correct answer . . . from the wiki resource above:

The highest cliff in the solar system may be Verona Rupes, an approximately 20 km (12 mile) high fault scarp on Miranda, a moon of Uranus.

Wow! 12 miles high! A moon of Uranus called Miranda. Cool.

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 07:39pm PT

No wikipedia love for tehipite either, though plenty of smaller cliffs make their list.

David Wilson

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 08:55pm PT

ec, tom,

any pictures of that big face on tehipite or your route ec? angel wings is only about 2k and bubbs creek about 1k - right? they aren't contenders, but nice to see that tehipite is considered

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 09:03pm PT

Tom,
Angel Wings, 'Just a Rock in the Park,' which is on about the tallest part of the cliff chimes in around 2K; steep, but not overhanging.

Bubbs, Crystal Bonsai is around 2,400; steep, but not overhanging.

The stats people probably see the moniker 'dome' and look the other way on Tehipite.

edit: Tehipite Dome

David Wilson

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 09:26pm PT

nice write up ec

where do you think nettle's route goes? did he write it up for the AAJ?

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 10:27pm PT

I didn't realize Bubbs was so big. That's about half dome size.

Mojede- where is that google pic- where did those coordinates lead?

So after all this do we have a winner for tallest big wall?

Mt. Thor? Some unknown on Baffin? Tehipite?

David Wilson

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 10:38pm PT

tom, i don't think bubb's is that big. we tried that crystal route, or one just to the right and very close, before leversee in 80'. we weren't looking up at 2,400'. correct me if i'm wrong, but i say 1500 max of actual climbing

mojede

Trad climber

Butte, America

Jan 14, 2010 - 10:42pm PT

Tom, I just messed around in Google Earth until the given Lat/Long was pretty close--zoomed in to see what was around and guessed that that formation was what was meant.

A farther back screen capture:

Porkchop_express

Trad climber

Currently in San Diego

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 14, 2010 - 11:07pm PT

Interesting to see Tehipite turn up on here. I always found it pretty enchanting. I would be down to go wander around there and climb some stuff.

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 11:26pm PT

Some day I will get to Tehipite Valley. It's been burning its way to the top of my mind for a few years now. It will happen.

I've never seen bubbs, I climbed up a ridge on Mt. Bago when I got snowed off of Charlotte Dome to get a look.

There is supposedly a really long 5.7 on Mt. Bago or Bubbs. Anyone ever do it?

By the way I am obsessed with these hidden gems of the sierra. If I was a sponsored climber or had time and money, I wouldn't go freeze my balls off over seas, I'd get some mules or llamas to pack in a months worth of supplies into the Sierra. Tehipite would be numero uno, but that's only because a bunch of other folks beat me to my primary objective off of Tower Peak.

bubble boy

Big Wall climber

T100

Jan 14, 2010 - 11:35pm PT

Seems like for it to be "a wall" we assume aid (or very hard free) climbing and relativel easy hauling....? I think "has the wall been base jumped? is a good question. It says something about the steepness. I know El Cap is played out, but it's easy to overlook that which we have in our own back yard. People don't go to those wild places for more vertical gain, they go because they're wild places......

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 14, 2010 - 11:42pm PT

Can it be based jumped is an interesting standard, but with wing suit who knows? I once saw a guy jump off lover's leap. Dan-o came by the boulders and told us to come up and watch.

I'm thinking big walls means big cliff of fifth class rock climbing. I guess that would mean some long easy ridges count, but so be it. It's climbing so why not discuss it, and hopefully show pictures.

David Wilson

climber

Jan 14, 2010 - 11:44pm PT

tom, tower peak - really? bubb's creek is an amorphous, ignoble, pile. tehipite dome looks great though. apparently loaded with rattlesnakes on the approach. more info, a good line, and a plan is hatched...

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Jan 15, 2010 - 12:41am PT

Maybe some other pics later, but for now, here's a side view of Mt. Thor. Summit is 5,495, valley bottom is a little over 500, so total vertical gain is a bit under 5,000. I don't know what the cut-off point is where you say the approach ends and the wall starts, but you can probably get some kind of clue from the picture.

Obviously, there isn't 5,500 ft of "big wall." Equally obviously, there's more than 3,500. I haven't climbed it, so I can't give any personal beta on how much was wall and how much was approach, but from the time I spent under and around it, I think that somewhere around 4,000 is probably reasonable.

deuce4

climber

Hobart, Australia

Jan 15, 2010 - 01:04am PT

This link has it almost correct:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremes_on_Earth#Greatest_vertical_drop

Except that Great Trango is purely vertical with the measurement given. The lower half of The Grand Voyage was steeply overhanging almost the whole way, and the upper buttress is pure vertical, with a total vertical distance of 4400' (measured on rappel--I calculated each rappel length by noting the rope left over after each rappel).

The summit entailed another 600' of steep alpine climbing--probably 400' vertical distance (not to mention the additional 3000' TD alpine climb approach to get to the base, which might also be considered part of the climb).

I think the Norwegian Buttress on the Great Trango is probably the world's biggest "cliff", as it is at least a 5500 foot rock wall; the lower half is pure rock 75-80 degrees steep, while the upper 2200 feet is pure vertical.

Here's some more pics:

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 15, 2010 - 01:25am PT

Does Duecy have it? Does Thor measure up?

David Wilson, the Tower peak stuff is aka the watch tower. it's not big wall but it is a cool buttress here's the link from a bunch of people of whom I am very jealous.

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=938401&msg=944238#msg944238

climber

Jan 15, 2010 - 03:37am PT

John, I think you're right on with the G Trango. Yikes!

Tom, here's a pic of Leversee and my route on Bubbs, Crystal Bonsai:

Bubbs Creek Wall

Caveman

climber

Cumberland Plateau

Jan 15, 2010 - 11:22am PT

Vertical drop, or as cavers would call it, freefall at Thor is 3325'. Revised to 3250' after measuring used rope length again. The people that got 4100' at Thor pulled the rope away from the base of the cliff to extend the rappel. caveman

pitonslammer

Big Wall climber

Piton Land

Jan 15, 2010 - 12:52pm PT

Thor is not 4000 feet tall where the aid routes climb it. One of the routes next to Midgard Serpent was done in 18 pitches, some of them really long.

John, too bad there are huge seracs on that steep wall on the right side of the cliff. Or is that thing so steep it wouldn't matter? Here is sick video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xMtGiwLcsA

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Jan 15, 2010 - 01:26pm PT

Thor is 3325'. Revised to 3250' after measuring used rope length again.

If they took the rope down then measured it, I wonder if they took into account rope stretch when measuring. A static rope that long would probably stretch a good 100 feet when rapping it.

Since "big wall" is hard to define. How about what is the longest 5th or 6th class existing route in the world? Norwegian Buttress?

Except that Great Trango is purely vertical with the measurement given.

Duece is it vertical where a rope hanging from the headwall wouldn't touch for 4400' or is it 4400' of non-continuous vertical, i.e. because it's overhanging on the bottom a point 4400' feet up is directly over the point below but a rope would touch the upper headwall because it's not overhanging?

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 23, 2010 - 09:28pm PT

ec - no need to post links for me. I've been checking out your site for years.

aspendougy

Trad climber

Los Angeles, CA

Jan 23, 2010 - 11:32pm PT

That tallest building in the world in Dubai is 2,700 ft. If it goes bankrupt, someone could buy it and make an awesome indoor climbing gym. Can you imagine indoor climbs of 2,700 feet or so? Of course, I think you'd have to gut out the innards. Too bad they didn't think of that before they made all the condos that aren't selling. I hate the cold weather in all those other places.

deuce4

climber

Hobart, Australia

Jan 24, 2010 - 05:02am PT

Fet, I reckon the East Face, the face to the left of the Norwegian Buttress as you are looking at it from the Dungee Glacier, is at least 4000 of pure vertical where the Grand Voyage travels. The start was a bit kicked back, then got steep, some of the pitches on the lower half of the Grand Voyage overhung 30'-40' per pitch. Then the upper Gollum's gully (the last 300' to the snow ledge) kicked back a bit, then the upper half on the north buttress was pure vert.

gumbyclimber

climber

Jan 24, 2010 - 06:01am PT

The tundra hill just leading from the river to the base of the talus at Thor certainly accounts for at least 500 feet. The talus itself is at least 1000. If they were 700 and 1200 then the wall would come in at 3,600-which I'd say is a pretty close estimate based on 20 60m pitches. Rappelers have reported 3500-3850. The posted photo is slightly deceptive based on the angle it was taken from (near the Caribou glacier moraine, I'd say) and the base of the wall is about 40% up from the bottom of the image (very near where the hill in the right foreground meets the edge).

Ricardo Cabeza

climber

All Over.

Jan 24, 2010 - 07:47am PT

Not the biggest, but one of the scariest/coolest in the lower 48.

I was scared out of my mind about rockfall just hiking to the base to check it out.

The canyon is maybe twenty feet wide on the approach, and the boulders were ALL covered with scars from recent rockfall.

The domes in the foreground are about 300' tall, to add some perspective.

gunsmoke

Trad climber

Clackamas, Oregon

Jan 24, 2010 - 10:53am PT

Regarding Thor, some years ago (perhaps ten or so) I read an article about the first rappel of Thor. The team had a static rope of 5000' (as I recall) spun just for the purpose of the rappel. They recoiled the rope into smaller coils and walked as a group up the back side. They reported an overhanging rappel of 995m before touching anything (the talus slope, as I recall). I also recall being disappointed that the true vertical height was less than 1km. The rappel that wikipedia uses to put the height at 3250 seems to be a later (1996) effort which was designed to break the previous record for longest rappel. Here's a cool link on Thor: http://ultima0thule.blogspot.com/2009/11/mount-thor-nunavut-mountain-for-thule.html

gunsmoke

Trad climber

Clackamas, Oregon

Jan 24, 2010 - 11:02am PT

See page 3 for an article on the 1995 rappel of Thor: http://www.caver.net/pbss/holenews/pbss6-95.pdf

Dropline

Mountain climber

Somewhere Up There

Jan 24, 2010 - 11:11am PT

East face of Mt. Dickey on the Ruth Glacier in Alaska, 5300'.

http://books.google.com/books?id=vo08yl7BbScC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=wine+bottle+ruth+glacier&source=bl&ots=1IsxCTfOnu&sig=idLOvybcyZKpkYWU62QFntIIjP8&hl=en&ei=KnBcS-S_IoWQlAfw2NGrDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=wine%20bottle%20ruth%20glacier&f=false

Synchronicity

Trad climber

British Columbia, Canada

Dec 14, 2011 - 03:54am PT

Bump for big walls! Any new candidates?

elcap-pics

Big Wall climber

Crestline CA

Dec 14, 2011 - 10:56am PT

I hear that the South face of Lhotse, the 4th highest Mt in the world has a 10,000ft drop and it overhangs much of the way. I haven't seen it of course.

laughingman

Mountain climber

Seattle WA

Dec 14, 2011 - 11:01am PT

North Face of the Jannu

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Dec 14, 2011 - 11:22am PT

This is a shot of Mt. Odin, taken from Weasel Valley just a few miles from the fjord-head -- i.e. it's pretty easy to get to. Valley bottom is at sea level, summit is 7,020, and there's not a lot of elevation in the approach.

It's not one continuous vertical wall, but it's granite from base to summit, and mostly real steep. It has been climbed, but I think only by gully and ridge. I don't think anyone's tried to do it the hard way. Most people just march past, intent on the big-name objectives up-valley.

Just for reference, the smaller peak on the left, which had no name when I was there, tops out at about 4,500. Which is to say it's almost half again bigger than El Cap, and it looks pretty steep to me. Gives some idea of the foreshortening of Odin. The inukshuk in the foreground is the arctic circle marker.

And for those who think Mt. Thor is not that big, that it's only 3,000 ft or so, here's the west face, taken from the summit of Mt. Tyr, across the valley. Valley floor here is probably around 400 ft. Summit is over 5,000. You do the math.

These are just a couple of things that are easy to get to. There is close to 700 miles of stuff like this, in a range called the Penny Highlands. One valley after another, endlessly. If you dropped Yosemite Valley in there somewhere, you'd never find it again. Or think much of it if you did. (Not to dis Yosemite Valley, but just to point out that there are other places in the world with steep cliffs.)

Edit: That face on Jannu is almost unbelievable.

Caveman

climber

Cumberland Plateau

Dec 14, 2011 - 01:04pm PT

"And for those who think Mt. Thor is not that big, that it's only 3,000 ft or so, here's the west face, taken from the summit of Mt. Tyr, across the valley. Valley floor here is probably around 400 ft. Summit is over 5,000. You do the math."

Thor may be 8000' tall but it took 3300' of rope to reach from top of cliff to the base of cliff/top of talus in 1982. In 2006 cavers took another long rope and rappelled from top to somewhere down the talus. They achieved a longer rap by tensioning the rope out away from the cliff to get more distance down the talus. In 1982 we were looking for pure freefall drop. We could have done this also as we had 1 mile length of rope. Our estimates were approximately 3300 ft freefall.

deuce4

climber

Hobart, Australia

Dec 14, 2011 - 04:35pm PT

Always found this fairly amusing. The route we climbed on Great Trango is overall steeper than vertical (the lower half was overhanging, while the upper half is pure vertical), and is 1350 meters (measured by total length of rappels). The Norwegian Route is less than vertical for the first half, but is well over 1500 meters.

The east face of GT is overall steeper than Thor. Some pundit calling it "nearly vertical" is pretty laughable.

laughingman

Mountain climber

Seattle WA

Dec 14, 2011 - 04:48pm PT

Aksu in the Pamirs

Bhagirathi III

Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber

San Francisco

Dec 14, 2011 - 05:19pm PT

Did anyone mention North Face of Devil's Thimb (unclimbed). 6000ft.
http://mistyfjordsair.com/06photos/devilsthumb.jpg

johnkelley

climber

Anchorage Alaska

Dec 14, 2011 - 05:48pm PT

Jim Beyer soloed new lines on both Trango Tower and Mount Thor, ask him.

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Dec 14, 2011 - 05:54pm PT

I think you really need to define "longest" wall to get an accurate answer.

continuous vertical drop:
I think pure continuous vertical drop is perhaps the easiest objective measurement. If you drop a rope and it hangs free, where does it touch the rock below. It sounds like Thor is currently the record holder that has actually been measured by this standard.

overall vertical drop:
The East Face of Trango sounds like the largest vertical drop, but perhaps not continuous. It sounds like the top is vertical (however even if is was overall vertical I would think protuberances would touch a fee hanging rope interrupting a pure vertical drop) but then the Gollum gully is less than vertical (interrupting a continuous vertical drop?)then the lower half is overhanging, bringing the overall steepness of the wall to vertical (making up for less than vertical in Gollum Gully) but not continuous.

After this it gets subjective.

Longest big wall by 5th class climbing:
Who defines 5th class? What if Honnold solos it? :-)

Longest big wall of at least 80 or 85 degrees?

Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber

San Francisco

Dec 14, 2011 - 05:55pm PT

Did he do it in a push? Did he BASE jump from the top?

Gene

climber

Dec 14, 2011 - 05:56pm PT

Jim Beyer soloed new lines on both Trango Tower and Mount Thor, ask him.

Are you sure about the Trango part of that statement? I've never heard of that.

g

laughingman

Mountain climber

Seattle WA

Dec 14, 2011 - 06:03pm PT

Latok 2 as a huge big wall

deuce4

climber

Hobart, Australia

Dec 14, 2011 - 06:12pm PT

I believe Beyer did a bold route up a imposing wall across the valley from the Trango Group (on the Dungee), but I'm not sure if he ever wrote it up--maybe in the AAC--would have been before 1992. Don't think he ever climbed GT or Nameless.

Regarding Great Trango--for those who speculate without ever having seen it--if you were on the East Face, perhaps 30 meters down from the summit rim (the summit rim is rounded and kicks back a bit), and dropped a carabiner, it would land about 30 meters out from the base after falling 1200 meters. When we began our route, there was a massive rockfall from somewhere about 3/4 up the face. We saw these blocks-each the size of a VW combi van--spin slowly above us, getting larger and larger--we could tell they were falling straight above us, as they were only getting bigger without any side motion. We figured we were cooked, and bowed to brace death. But they landed about 25 meters directly out behind us, in the Ali Baba Couloir. A huge, momentary blizzard ensued. They were directly in line with us, but luckily, the wall overhung.

That's how I know it is an overall overhanging big wall.

You can read about the rockfall here: http://bigwalls.net/climb/Grand.html

Gene

climber

Dec 14, 2011 - 06:18pm PT

Beyer is bold, no doubt.

On Uli Biaho Nick Cradock's New Zealand party was successful, and in the Baltoro Cathedrals Jim Beyer (USA) claimed a solo ascent of Thunmo (5 866m). From a camp on the Dunge glacier he started with three difficult aid pitches, taking three days. These were fixed, but the face above was climbed alpine-style; he took nine days to climb 600m of 'big-wall' rock and l000m of mixed ground, in all graded VII 5. IOd A4. This sounds like the most extraordinary feat of the season.

http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1990-91_files/AJ%201990%20238-241%20Karakoram.pdf

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Dec 14, 2011 - 08:15pm PT

John that's badass. I read the Grand story years ago. One of my favorite TRs of all Time.

You could just update the wikipedia entry if you wanted. You have first hand experience that could improve the accuracy of the article.

deuce4

climber

Hobart, Australia

Dec 15, 2011 - 12:04am PT

you know, I think I did a few years ago, when the claim of "nearly vertical 1250 meters" appeared, but it was re-edited by some Wikipedia "expert".

After some study and having been to each region, I reckon it goes like this (tallest vertical drops):
East Face Great Trango (4200') (total vertical to summit=4400')
Polar Sun Spire (3800')
Thor (3300')

Storflor

Mountain climber

Trondheim

Feb 26, 2013 - 02:07pm PT

Troll wall-Norway is over 1000m and is Europe biggest wall, think the elevation is 1.7km.
and it is vertical/overhanging

Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber

San Francisco

Feb 26, 2013 - 02:23pm PT

The South Face of Anconcogua in South America is 8000m of vertical gain from glacier to summit.

Don Paul

Big Wall climber

Colombia, South America

Feb 26, 2013 - 02:29pm PT

Most of the world's biggest walls are in Pakistan, but are not named in this thread. Most are mixed snow and ice, like the Rupal face, not nice clean faces like Thor etc. Bhagirathi 3 gets my vote even if its not technically biggest.

Myles Moser

climber

Lone Pine, Ca

Apr 13, 2013 - 02:08am PT

Whoops!

Caveman

climber

Cumberland Plateau

Apr 13, 2013 - 04:23pm PT

"you know, I think I did a few years ago, when the claim of "nearly vertical 1250 meters" appeared, but it was re-edited by some Wikipedia "expert"."

Deuce4, I tried to correct the 1250 m claim also but wiki was quickly re-edited. I imagine certain folk access that page frequently to check on things.

Oplopanax

Mountain climber

The Deep Woods

Apr 13, 2013 - 05:18pm PT

The biggest big wall is the one having the most meters.

ms55401

Trad climber

minneapolis, mn

Apr 13, 2013 - 05:22pm PT

what would West Face of Torre Egger be? 4,000 ft? less? more?

climbski2

Mountain climber

Anchorage AK, Reno NV

Apr 13, 2013 - 07:21pm PT

Just wait till the Ruth Glacier melts out! Guess I was born a few centuries early.
3Km Bigwalls coming soon to a warmer planet near you!

Patrick Sawyer

climber

Originally California now Ireland

Apr 13, 2013 - 07:57pm PT

Vitality beat me to it.

North Face of Devil's Thimb (unclimbed). 6000ft.

I worked the summer of 1977 on boats out of Petersburg and Kake. Saw Devil's Thumb several times. I do not know if the North Face is the largest/longest, but is it climbable? Didn't Charlie Porter try?

Patrick Sawyer

climber

Originally California now Ireland

Apr 13, 2013 - 08:32pm PT

Locker, the biggest wall we all of have to scale, is the last one.

Now my wall is...

...some people have advised me to put Jennie into care and get the hell out of Dodge.

My former editor advised such and said he'd pay for the one-way ticket back to California.

I cannot do it. It's a wall that I have yet to scale, her care. I am still climbing towards giving her a quality of life. I just cannot bail. Not on her.

But... just imagine, the North Face of Devil's Thumb. Fred Beckey would be proud of me.

North Face of the Eiger, the Norwand? A good training ground for the Devil's Thumb. Okay, altitude, is not much of a problem, but 6,000 feet of rock and ice? And the unpredictable weather of Southeast Alaska?

I could bail on that if things went wrong.

But I will not bail on Jennie.

Patrick Sawyer

climber

Originally California now Ireland

Apr 15, 2013 - 05:44pm PT

So true and touché.

Norton

Social climber

the Wastelands

Apr 15, 2013 - 05:49pm PT

Devils Thumb:

First ascent 1946 by Fred Beckey, Clifford Schmidtke, Bob Craig

The Northwest Face has seen many failed attempts; at least three teams have died on this face. In 1977, author Jon Krakauer successfully climbed the East Ridge of the Devils Thumb, a feat described in detail in his book Into the Wild.

[edit]

S.Leeper

Social climber

somewhere that doesnt have anything over 90'

Apr 15, 2013 - 08:07pm PT

glad to see this post on the front page again!

kaholatingtong

Trad climber

Nevada City

Apr 16, 2013 - 01:24am PT

^^ by into the wild he means Eiger Dreams, but yeah.

Teddy TT

Mountain climber

Shizuoka

Jul 13, 2014 - 02:39am PT

I think G Trang's Azeen ridge or DoDo Kopoid's ridge are the longest and biggest rock routes in vertical gain in the world.

Mullet

Big Wall climber

Nice, France

Jan 3, 2018 - 08:29am PT

Biggest in Africa - Mnt Mulanje 1500m (1200m climbing)

Don Lauria

Trad climber

Bishop, CA

Jan 3, 2018 - 09:49am PT

Here's my contender. When in the Karakoram in '75, we spent a lot of time gazing at Masherbrum. While bivouacking at 17,000 feet on Lobsang Peak, Dennis Hennek mentioned that the 10,000 foot NE face was still unclimbed.

Here's David Lama's comment from a recent attempt:

It's one of the hardest unclimbed routes left in the world – sort of like climbing the Eiger, with a Cerro Torre on top. It's at high altitude, starting a 4,800m and finishing at 7,821m. To compare this climb to Cerro Torre, it's twice as big, and it's twice as high - it's much more complex, you're on the wall much longer, the descent is much more difficult, and since no one has tried it, there's no way to learn from someone else mistakes. Oh, and it's also more remote – base camp is four or five days from the next village.