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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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I've only ever spent one day there...
Butt shot of me on Dominion:
Harding's Chimney:
Pony Express:
Veiw from the top:
These are from last summer. Beers in the truck were about 150 degrees when we got back. Also, rattle snakes were out in force! Fun place.
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Tattooed 1
Trad climber
Sebastopol, Ca
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Here is Taurus 11b. It will be my favorite when I get it clean on lead. So close last time.
Tim
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Trad,
Are those my feet on Self Abuse? I know you guys were standing at the base. Then it got dark and I finished by headlamp.
I love Sugarloaf. I learned to climb there. Woo Hoo!
Zander
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Taurus - great route, hard to climb; I fell this day and haven't been back yet.
Perfect hybrid alien at Fracture's crux. Who says they were made strictly for front range and pin scar climbing?
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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I have so many great memories of climbing at Sugarloaf.
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Trad
Trad climber
northern CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2010 - 10:08pm PT
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Are those my feet on Self Abuse? I know you guys were standing at the base.
Actually (ahem) those are MY white-socked feet from the one time I led it. It would've been an onsight flash, too, except that I fell 3 or 4 times grovelling through the crux and climbed it a couple times previously on toprope. (details...)
I did manage to find a picture of you and Bob from that day, though. It might even be from your camera because it was in a folder called "ZanderPics".
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Kupandamingi
Trad climber
Berkeley
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How many times can you have fun doing the same old routes? Many my friend...many. Bryce you still haven't got that thing? We better head up soon.
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North
climber
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Greg,
Was up there today. Good stuff. Looks like someone put two bolts in the traverse of Grand Delusion. Or maybe they've always been there and I just never noticed???
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Max working on Hooker's Haven the day we freed it.
The gear was all placed on aid and was all pitons. We were doing the crux off a stack of a Lost Arrow and a knifeblade. We called it 5.12a back then. I don't know what it's rated nowadays but I hear it's been retrobolted.
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oldcragster
Gym climber
WA
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Mar 10, 2010 - 12:00am PT
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Trad, thanks for the thread. Seeing these photos certainly brings back many memories for me. I was one, admittedly, who never tired of any of the routes. Have probably climbed Pony Express at least 60-70 times and enjoyed every effort. The first guide to Sugarloaf appeared in a very early issue of CLIMBING, maybe 1969? I wrote it, at the request of Bob Grow, and the photos were taken by a photographer friend - not a climber. Climbers like Warren Harding, John Orenschall, Steve Roper and others were the first there, going back to the fifties. My first climb, the East Chimney, was in April 1967. In the late 60's when I climbed a lot there, it was rare to see other climbers. My wife Cindy and I met climbing there with different partners in 1988. Sugarloaf is very special for many of us. It was one of the first places that I climbed with my first climbing partner, Bill Stall [who died a year ago]. As novices, we had some wonderful adventures on the rock. Harding's Chimney was particularly challenging for us at the time and one certainly couldn't afford to fall on it. We were tying into 1" nylon wrapped several times around the waist, wearing knickers, mountaineering boots, and using pitons only. I have few photos of the place, so really appreciate seeing the pictures. Thanks everyone.
Gene Drake
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Mar 10, 2010 - 12:10am PT
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Gene,
How's it going? I hear life has been tough lately.
Mark
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oldcragster
Gym climber
WA
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Mar 10, 2010 - 12:24am PT
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Hi Mark, I'm living vicariously through your posts here. I'm doing OK. GD
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mugalug
Trad climber
elk grove, ca
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Mar 10, 2010 - 12:44am PT
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great pics! fingerlock, fracture, taurus, self abuse, tm's, hyperspace, pony x. what great cracks.
definately bummed the last couple of times at the number of bolts and the number of people.
if you bolt it, they shall come :(
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Kupandamingi
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Mar 10, 2010 - 12:56am PT
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With a few notable exceptions the recent and excessive bolting has produced little in the way of good climbing. Some retro-bolted stuff like Blue Velvet were tamed for the masses and resulted - for better or worse - in a great climb being climbed far more often. I'm sure Hooker's Haven doesn't see much traffic even with the added bolts (great shot of the first ascentionists Mark).
The true blight are the hordes of new marginal routes added on outlying boulders such as those up around the left side from self-abuse on mid-way rock....slab routes cleaned aggressively to create crimps (and climbs). I suppose there is an argument to be made that those areas weren't getting climbed without the bolts, but that seems an even weaker argument than the one for retro-bolting Blue Velvet to me.
I hate to drag this appreciation thread down into a bolting debate, but mention it in response to the prior post and the lack of appreciate (beyond self-appreciation)associated with the recent bolting trend
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Mar 10, 2010 - 04:21am PT
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Sugarloaf was the site of my first date with my wife, about 23 years ago. We were going to have a conventional date, but I was headed up to the Loaf beforehand. I invited her along, and she was happy to get out of Davis. That was the day I first led Taurus, and my partner claimed it was because I was trying to impress Montse. Maybe. Later on we went around and set a toprope on Pony Express so she could have a try. She could hardly get off the ground. I was thinking "oh oh, this doesn't look too promising!". Not too long after, she was leading Fingerlocks and the Fracture.
At some point later on, I had been working on Beast of Burden. On a redpoint attempt, she was belaying me. I made it through the crux, and was on my way to the anchor, when a foot popped. I hung on, though, but... oh shit! the rope came tight and pulled me off! She thought I was going to fall, so she reeled me in. Very amusing.
Lots of good times there. On two separate occasions partners lost their wedding rings, but they were found.
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Branscomb
Trad climber
Lander, WY
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Mar 10, 2010 - 10:42am PT
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I spent a lot of time there when I lived in Placerville. Loved it a lot and learned a lot. Thanks for the pictures, brought back some good memories.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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Mar 10, 2010 - 10:59am PT
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what about this testy little 5.9
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Trad
Trad climber
northern CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 10, 2010 - 10:02pm PT
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Fang! Well that certainly brings back the memories. Very first route I ever climbed at Sugarloaf. Only 5.9 - how hard can it be? I got first shot at the lead but chickened out and backed off, so my partner went for it but slipped and gashed her calf open on the sharp rocks at the base of the finger crack. Looked like a trip to emergency for stiches.
No way, she says. She patched it with climber's tape and kleenex, and insisted on climbing for the rest of the day despite risking her promising career as a leg model.
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oldcragster
Gym climber
WA
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Mar 10, 2010 - 10:15pm PT
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That's a great shot of 'Hooker's' roof too! Compare the photo of Max Jones starting the problem. Try as I might, I never did succeed on 'Hooker's' but did 'the Fang' with a couple points of aid first few times. Remember being impressed when Jim Orey made FA....long time ago. Great start pitch to Harding's Chimney.
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franky
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Mar 10, 2010 - 10:26pm PT
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Ahhhhhh man! no sugar loaf for me. Hey Tom, I'm going to be in the valley in April if you want a partner for something! (might make a trip to Utah in there, don't know yet)
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