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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Jan 14, 2010 - 11:42pm PT
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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.
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David Wilson
climber
CA
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Jan 14, 2010 - 11:44pm PT
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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...
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jan 15, 2010 - 12:41am PT
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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.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Jan 15, 2010 - 01:04am PT
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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:
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ec
climber
ca
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Jan 15, 2010 - 03:37am PT
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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
 ec
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Caveman
climber
Cumberland Plateau
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Jan 15, 2010 - 11:22am PT
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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
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pitonslammer
Big Wall climber
Piton Land
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Jan 15, 2010 - 12:52pm PT
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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
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Jan 15, 2010 - 01:26pm PT
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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?
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Jan 23, 2010 - 09:28pm PT
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ec - no need to post links for me. I've been checking out your site for years.
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aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Jan 23, 2010 - 11:32pm PT
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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.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Jan 24, 2010 - 05:02am PT
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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.
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gumbyclimber
climber
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Jan 24, 2010 - 06:01am PT
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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).
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Ricardo Cabeza
climber
All Over.
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Jan 24, 2010 - 07:47am PT
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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.
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gunsmoke
Trad climber
Clackamas, Oregon
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Jan 24, 2010 - 10:53am PT
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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
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Synchronicity
Trad climber
British Columbia, Canada
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Dec 14, 2011 - 03:54am PT
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Bump for big walls! Any new candidates?
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elcap-pics
Big Wall climber
Crestline CA
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Dec 14, 2011 - 10:56am PT
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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.
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laughingman
Mountain climber
Seattle WA
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Dec 14, 2011 - 11:01am PT
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North Face of the Jannu
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!