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cultureshock
Trad climber
Mountain View
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2011 - 05:11pm PT
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Yes Please!!! Guess that seals the deal about which route to try. I can jam green aliens pretty well.
Good work!
 Luke
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jsj
climber
Boulder
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So that is day two of a three week trip and things are just going to go downhill unless I pick something new. OK, Air Swedin it is. I tried it a couple times, but there's something I seriously hate about this route. It's not the fact that there's potential for huge air time on tiny gear. It's not even the fact that it's at Battle of the Bulge.
It's the fact that it's on top of Swedin Ringle - one of the worst routes in Indian Creek.
Then something interesting happened. I got distracted. Now, perhaps it's presumptuous for me to say this, but I'm going to speculate that the real challenges at Indian Creek are the 12+'s. Maybe downgrading Ruby's would actually imply that it's harder than it is. So, I got distracted. And not only was it not a 5.13, but it also wasn't in the "sure bets" section in the back of my guidebook, which I had been religiously ticking away at. This is how it happened:
On an early trip to Indian Creek I went to the Cat Wall and got totally bouted on Johnny Cat. Since then I had reason to believe I had improved at this size (I had sent Moonlight afterall), so I went for revenge. The thing is, I arrived at the chains and decided (as on Swedin-Ringle) they didn't belong there. But at least people weren't topropping the sh#t out of Johnny Cat after hangdogging their way up it or, worse, swinging over from 3 AM. What lies beyond the chains of Johnny Cat? A huge, maybe 20', roof followed by a long headwall. It's called Tasmania, it's 5.12+, and it is mind-blowingly out there.
This is how it goes: Once you climb past the chains you have super burly underclinging with hard-to-place gear. The problem is the wall your feet are pasted against is sloping away and downwards and it's just a little bit silty. This is terrifying, and when you're out there, cheek or forehead groping against the roof for traction and considering the consequences of a blown clip and a fall, it becomes very apparent that Johnny Cat is actually quite slabby. Several times I'd place the cams but couldn't get the rope clipped before a foot would explosively skate off and I'd nearly pitch. Somehow I'd stay on and frantically clip and exclaim something like "oh my God I almost died!". Did I mention this happened several times? My belayers ate that sh#t up and I aim to please. I eventually solved this problem by having two cams pre-clipped to the rope via long slings; I'd just unclip them from my harness and shove 'em in.
Above lies creative stemming, liebacks, jams, a huge knee-jam cavity that accepts a 3.5 Camalot but not really a new #4. Then things get hard. There are a couple knee-scums and shallow hip-scums, then it's 0.4 Camalots in a flare tapering to Green Aliens all the way up the headwall to the anchors. I thought I could jam Green Aliens. Not these Green Aliens. Clipping the anchors was a crux. A foot higher would make the route 5.13, a foot lower would make the route 5.12. As it was? I don't know.
So what about Air Swedin? God damn. Tasmania is Bad-Ass and no one climbs it!
For a couple days I had been sending the route if I counted the top as my last piece - placed one foot below the level of the anchor. My partner said I should just rest at the Johnny Cat anchors and send from there. Somehow that didn't feel right to me. But climbing is sometimes about making compromises so instead of a quickdraw I hung a shoulder-length sling from one of the Metolius Rap Hangers and we headed back to camp for the evening. To this day I still feel guilty about it, but it was March 31st and my time at the Creek was coming to a close.
The next day the gate to the Cat Wall was padlocked shut. A sign was posted indicating raptor closures. Hmmm it would have been nice if they had posted the sign before the morning of the closure. Even 24 hours notice would have prevented me from leaving my rope and rack up there and, more importantly, that shoulder-length sling - flopping about in the breeze like a banner declaring my mediocrity.
I should say I love Indian Creek and am usually quick to argue that there are actually not enough regulations there. Apparently I'm borderline something called a "deep ecologist" because I would rather see the whole place shut down (to myself included) than see it get destroyed any further. I know that makes me unpopular, and I'm sorry I actually scolded you for not using a wag bag that one time. I also don't understand why people go to Indian Creek to camp in big turkey-eating, drum-beating, bro-brah, chicks-in-down-and-ducktape posses... seems kinda anathema to the desert. But I guess I'm a hypocrite cuz I use chalk and sometimes I do need to borrow 5x 0.4 Camalots. And don't get me started on Swedin-Ringle... OK, back to the story.
So it was the spirit of the law that day (I don't think the raptors planning on moving into the knee-jam cavity were upset about the delay) and the bad influence of my partner (she said something like, "F*#k yeah we're going up there and you're getting your sling down after you send the sh#t out of that route!"). It was a long walk but it gave me plenty of time to go over the crucial beta: You will be pumped out of your mind but you should still try to clip that sling no matter what.
I don't know what was more satisfying: Climbing Johnny Cat like it was 5.7 or the gritty, bloody battle - ugly and absolute - played out on the headwall of Tasmania. Only 12+? Maybe.
Maybe not.
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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so how 'bout that Swedin Ringle! And the Air Sweden? The R is for Rad!!
Just messing with ya. Thanks, those are good stories.
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jsj
climber
Boulder
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Key beta on Disco Machine Gun is to take, not fall =)
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Cool stuff!
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Anyone have a link to the famous Handsome B header photo sequence on (off) of Ruby's?
My search turned up dead pics.
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anees
climber
temporary exile from the land of enchantment
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If Puma hasn't been downgraded from 12- yet, it should be. It's the only "12" I've ever had any success with at the Creek.
Wrong criteria, that's what makes this "insecure"* rating happen in the first place. It's Okay, you Are worthy...
Heh... it's both tough and amusing to be told that you suffer from "fundamental emotional immaturity" (Bridwell's explanation for the insecure downgrading). Here I thought I was being objective and honest. Maybe it's insecurity... but I really did think that a less-than-vertical crack with bomber fingerlocks and decent feet (i.e. Puma) just wasn't as hard as other IC 12s. Maybe it's just that Puma is not quite so purely splitter and enduro as most 12- routes there.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Or that your hands fit, that's what they always tell me.....
I was commenting that a lot of people at all kinds of places do that. "IT can't be X, because, I can do it". Again not a valid criteria. It assumes you always climb the same, no ups and downs, etc.
There were a bunch of climbs in Vedauwoo, Horn's Mother, Boardwalk, and in it's grade bell crack, that were rated way low originally of this scheme, and now are stiff for the grade at a higher rating.
the Ruby's crater sequence is something to see, but so is that Bad Brains whipper poster!
Johnny Cat suits my finger size, woot!
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Cool pics!!!
I think that belayer in the video was just as freaked. Seeing the gear rip and the climber come raining down on you.
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Trashman
Trad climber
SLC
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I love Indian Creek and am usually quick to argue that there are actually not enough regulations there. . .because I would actually rather see the whole place shut down (to myself included) than see it get destroyed any further.
mostly agree w/ you here, so it's worth noting that Pink Flamingo is a no go due to petroglyphs(the "flamingo"). not sure if the anchors are still there,(heard rumors of some of the FOIC crew pulling them), but the route should be avoided in any case.
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jsj
climber
Utah
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I've heard the pink flamingo petroglyphs were actually made in recent, recorded history, but I could be wrong. When I looked at them they (the bird and the sun next to it) appeared very different than any other petroglyph I've seen in the desert. Namely, they are etched much deeper into the rock than you typically see, and the designs are unlike any others I've seen. I'm no expert though.
I'd love to hear from a real anthropologist as to whether or not they're authentic. Whether they are or not they're fantastic.
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MisterE
Social climber
Cinderella Story, Outa Nowhere
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Great stories, jsj.
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Tork
climber
Yosemite
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Ya Josh, fun read!
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Chinchen
climber
Way out there....
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Awesome thread!!
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GOclimb
Trad climber
Boston, MA
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Mar 10, 2011 - 12:41am PT
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Yours truly heading into the offwidth on Pussy Wuss Crack.
GO
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bjj
climber
beyond the sun
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Mar 10, 2011 - 04:19am PT
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No photos, but on my last trip there years ago I did a full moon onsight of supercrack, and the next night, me and 3 buddies did a moonlight ascent on the Kor Ingalls on Castleton. Got drunk as hell on top and slept up there until sunup. Still pretty buzzed during the rappels and hike back. Good times.
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o-man
Trad climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 10, 2011 - 05:12am PT
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Mar 10, 2011 - 11:16am PT
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It was a different game before "Friends" came along!
Boy aint that the troof.
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GOclimb
Trad climber
Boston, MA
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Mar 10, 2011 - 11:58am PT
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The user known as Freerider posted this but never identified what it is.
Anyone know?
GO
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