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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 31, 2011 - 05:35pm PT
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Now that I have a second story via Bruce Morris of taking THE BIG ONE on Tightrope, I have to start a thread about this Apron thriller. According to the yellow Meyers guide Tightrope was finished in 1975 by Vern Clevenger and Tom Carter, et al. I would be curious who all was in on this route!
I am shamelessly fishing for stories about this route. I did it in the late seventies and thought it was the best 5.11a/b friction route on the Apron. Pitch 5 as drawn features an angling runout along the edge of a big arch that has solid 5.10 smearing way out. Kinda like Grack Marginal on steroids. I didn't even want to think about taking that fall but several folks have and will hopefully help me get something in the boat on a Tightrope!
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mastadon
Trad climber
crack addict
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Jul 31, 2011 - 06:10pm PT
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Bill Zauman and I had a total epic on this route in the mid to late 70's. I had just turned the roof on the 5th pitch when thunder clouds boiled over the top and started to hail/rain on us almost immediately. There's a reason the rock is so smooth as it's a water runnel. We had shorts and t-shirts on. By the time we hit the ground we both were hypothermic. Bill wasn't able to manipulate biners so I had to set up his rappels and basically push him off and hope he could clip the anchors. Never went back.....
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 31, 2011 - 06:23pm PT
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It will be interesting to see how many parties finished it. John Steiger was my partner with possibly a third...I'll ask him.
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nature
climber
back in Tuscon Aridzona....
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Jul 31, 2011 - 06:31pm PT
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sounds like someone should retro bolt it so the masses can enjoy this classic ;-)
TFPU
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 31, 2011 - 10:15pm PT
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A couple of Futuristic Little Utility Bolts and the sucker's pedestrian...
Better get up there and taste the rust right now while the buffalo still roam.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jul 31, 2011 - 10:25pm PT
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Rust? Roger and I replaced all the bolts in July 2009 with 3/8" stainless except for the upper 3 on p7.
We couldn't seem to find anyone to lead it in midsummer when we had the ropes fixed.
We approached from far above - had ropes fixed to Perhaps and traversed left above a huge roof, then rapped down on a several ropes tied together and tensioned left. Getting the ropes back down from that thing when we were done was quite a chore. :-)
It does look pretty nice, sadly I don't have the skills to climb it.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=912351&tn=0
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tom Carter
Social climber
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Jul 31, 2011 - 11:15pm PT
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Clint
Thanks for the tough work of upgrading the pro.
Started out with Chuck Cochrane and me for the first two pitches.
I was in until pitch 6? Then Vern grabbed someone ... Who?
TC
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tom Carter
Social climber
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Jul 31, 2011 - 11:17pm PT
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Clint
Thanks for the tough work of upgrading the pro.
Started out with Chuck Cochrane and me for the first two pitches.
I was in until pitch 6? Then Vern grabbed someone ... Who?
TC
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2011 - 10:57am PT
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Clint- I wasn't sure if you guys got to the top of that one...glad you did!
Did the route end as drawn in the Meyers topo or were any more pitches visible above?
Tom- Did any of you guys take the ride on #5 working it out?
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tom Carter
Social climber
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This just "in" from Vern:
"Thanks for being in touch .... but who knows why or with who I went back!!!"
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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I have some old photos but they're prints and I have to get them scanned. I'm in Hawaii but will try and do this when I get back in Sep. Vern was climbing quite strong back then, doing a lot of new routes up in Tuol. as well.
JL
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2011 - 09:10pm PT
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John- Did you lead #5 and finish the rest?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Steve,
> I wasn't sure if you guys got to the top of that one...glad you did!
We only replaced one bolt on the top pitch (p7; for some reason I called it p9 in my old report). That one bolt is barely off the belay. The original belay anchor was 2 fixed pins in a LFC (not 2 bolts as the topo might suggest).
So there are still 3 bolts above on the pitch to replace. So, yeah, a little rust up there but the remainder of the route has pretty new SS bolts.
> Did the route end as drawn in the Meyers topo or were any more pitches visible above?
I did not see any extended anchors above on the route. I did see the next bolt, quite a ways up, and another bolt above that. I don't remember if I saw the highest bolt shown on the topo, but I do have a high point marked with a yellow dot on the overlay, which suggests I saw a loweroff sling up there. We were wondering if we found somebody to lead to that last bolt, if we should double it, or if it would be feasible to extend the pitch. There is a steeper headwall above which would stop the friction climbing at some point (probably within 200 feet). But there are arches/cracks, so who knows? :-)
You can see where the headwall starts, because the sun angle on the rock changes:
We also found a nearby route which is not shown on the topo.
It had 5/16" bolts, so it was likely done around 1988.
p1: goes up p2 of An Udder Way for the first 3x, then goes straight up where that route goes right. One new bolt, to a 2x anchor; looks 5.10?
p2: 5x, out slightly right then up, to a 2x anchor.
p3: 3x, reaches the anchor at the end of the 5.10b traverse on Hoppy's Favorite.
p4: 3x, traverses left to an LF arch, then 2 more bolts and looks smooth and unfinished. This pitch heads in the direction of the anchor atop p5 of Tightrope.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Again, nice work Clint and Roger. I've been slowly going around checking out your work. It was a joy to climb Shakey Flakes, Sailin' Shoes, Rambler, Ocher Fields, and some others. Now I think I'll check out this one.
Recently went over to do Transistor Sister--I always wanted to try that thing, but was afraid to go into the Demilitarized Zone wasteland after the rock fall. But Joe D. said he cleaned out the crack last year and that it was fun, this year I did the same.
The point: The face routes in that area look Primo! And they all have nice bolts now, so back I'll be. There is one in particular, a .12b, that looks most impressive, unbelievable vision had the FA of that route, it traverses out onto beautiful golden ripples of nothingness. Wild at Heart is what I'm talking about. (Not that I have those skills, but Man-O-Mighty, that thing is beauty!)
Also, I wonder if Slam Dance has ever seen a second. For some reason, somebody keeps pulling the hanger off the first bolt. Odd that is.
So few slab climbers these days...
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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My partner, Jeff Vance and I, attempted Tightrope in the spring of 1978. We got past the crux pitch and up to pitch 7. For some reason, Jeff wouldn't go down a bit from the belay to start the last pitch. He was trying to climb straight across from the belay and it was blank, blank, blank. I was so blown from the earlier pitches that I wasn't about to jump on the sharp end.
So we rapped after doing 6 of the 7 pitches. Vern was waiting for us at the base and came over and put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'a lot of good climbers have been shut down on the last pitch of Tightrope.'
I still think that if you climb down a bit from the belay the start of pitch 7 looked a lot easier.
Some more thoughts.
There was no protection on the 2nd pitch of the climb and the last 50 feet or so was 5.8+ friction. That means that you could hit the ground from almost 300' up if you blew the last moves to the belay on pitch 2. I think I got to lead that pitch twice.
Pat Timson was leading the devious friction on pitch 3 (underrated in my opinion at 5.10b) when he looked down to see that he had failed to complete his tie in knot. There was no way he could let go to finish his knot so he was basically soloing the third pitch.
And yes, in my opinion, this is the best route on the Apron.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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I remember leading the first 6 pitches of Tightrope back-to-back, including the 5th pitch with the long fall over the roof, and feeling twisted for days afterwards. Feeling different, as the French would say, outre, OTHER. No place on that route where you don't have to concentrate 100% of the time. The consequences of a mistake would not just be in your head. My partner, a total stranger I'd grabbed out of the C4 Parking Lot, never wanted to get on the sharp end. Dave Austin had told me about the route and suggested I go do it (while skillfully withholding the missing detail about his huge fall over the roof). When I got back to the Parking Lot Dave asked me about whether I'd enjoyed the route? I told him about my fall and then he told me about the same ripper he'd taken at exactly the same point. That was when we both discovered we were into the same kind of crazy things, things that other people thought of as crazy, but we both enjoyed.
I seem to remember that on the crux 5th pitch you pull over a roof, clip a fixed pin, then walk a ramp directly above the roof drop-off, until you reach a small sloping stance where you have to jump up and grab a friction mantle hold. If you jump and miss, you're air bound. I missed the first try and can still see the coils of rope below me in the air as I arced over the roof, stopping just about adjacent with my belayer who I could wave to. A truly amazing fall! But the best part was yet to come. Going back up and jumping and making it on the second try. The 5.11 crux above there is academic with the bolts right at your waist. I'm sure my recollections are blurred in the same way combat experiences are altered in the memories of soldiers who were actually on the ground and taking fire.
PS- Didn't do the 7th pitch tho.
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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The crux on Tightrope is a very greasy set of slab moves off a very good ledge. I guess you could jump and try to get high enough to the good holds, but I just bouldered it out a couple of times before everything stuck and upward I went(following). My partner, on the sharp end, did the same.
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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That is a very vivid description Bruce.
Apron falls....WHOA!
Great thread.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
bouldering
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There was no protection on the 2nd pitch of the climb and the last 50 feet or so was 5.8+ friction. That means that you could hit the ground from almost 300' up if you blew the last moves to the belay on pitch 2 ... Pat Timson was leading the devious friction on pitch 3 (underrated in my opinion at 5.10b) when he looked down to see that he had failed to complete his tie in knot. There was no way he could let go to finish his knot so he was basically soloing the third pitch. Cool!
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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I think you'll notice on the Tightrope topo that the crux 5th pitch really has two cruxes: the nasty one with the big fall potential over the roof, which is 5.10 something, and a second harder section up near the end, which is the true 5.11b crux. You don't notice the second crux so much though because, although it's harder technically, it doesn't have any long fall potential. You can take your time and boulder it out at your leisure. But that's certainly not the case with the first hard bit where there isn't any second chance or room for failure. Seemed at the time that the fall I took was about 45 feet or so, but it may have been only really 35 ft. Experientia docet!
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Cool thread. Unfortunately I have nothing to add on Tightrope, but any Apron climb with Vern usually has an entertaining story. Ask Vern or Dale about their first time up Grack Right, and Vern's threat of using a belaying knife.
John
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 13, 2011 - 03:24pm PT
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Tightrope
I'm up on the tightwire
one side's ice and one is fire
its a circus game with you and me
I'm up on the tightrope
one side's hate and one is hope
but the tophat on my head is all you see
And the wire seems to be
the only place for me
a comedy of errors
and I'm falling
Like a rubber-neck giraffe
you look into my past
well maybe you're just to blind to - see
I'm up in the spotlight
ohh does it feel right
ohh the altitude
seems to get to me
I'm up on the tightwire
flanked by life and the funeral pyre
putting on a show
for you to see
Sing it Leon!
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Clu
Social climber
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Aug 13, 2011 - 04:50pm PT
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JEleazarian, David Moss was the 3rd on that trip with Dale and Vern, that's where I heard this story. Something about trying two ropes together...? Chose to decline Dale's offer to do Patio Pinnacle. Charles.
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Aug 13, 2011 - 04:50pm PT
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love the threads like this one
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Aug 13, 2011 - 07:32pm PT
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Charlie,
You're thinking of the Dike Route on Pywiak. David and Dale were part of that team of three, but I can't remember now who the third was, except that I'm pretty sure it wasn't Vern. Dale got off route and ended up leading to the end of two ropes tied together (and beyond, it turned out) with nothing in.
I first heard about that a few days later at Indian Rock, where the scene was described to Galen Rowell. All Galen could think about was "Wow! He could have taken a 600 foot roped fall!"
John
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Aug 13, 2011 - 10:58pm PT
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Not to hijack this thread, but I remember an ascent my partner Jeff and I did of A Mother's Lament in 1978. I was leading the first pitch (in the small dihedral) and it was really wet. I put in a stopper at my waist and promptly slipped on the wet. As I was plummetting to earth I remember the jerks as my pieces began pulling. The only thing that kept me from a 100' grounder was a Forrest copperhead the side of a pencil eraser.
Needless to say, I was toast for a few pitches, but we finally got to the crux of the route. A variation to the 5.10c wandering crux pitch had just been put in by, I think, Bruce Morris(feel free to chime in) that avoided the long traverse out left and then back right to the belay. With a new bolt, you climbed straight up to the belay (well, that was what we thought).
My partner Jeff, one of the most underrated slab climbers of that era (late 70's) went up, clipped the bolt and then ran it out about 45-50' straight up on moderate 5.10. Barring his way to the belay was a very blank looking 15'. He just couldn't get the psyche to launch out on it so he down climbed back to the belay.
To get up the nerve, we rapped to the top of the Calf and then climbed up to the belay via the Calf Continuation (5.10b or so). Jeff then reclimbed up to the blank section and sent it. Following, the blank section was at least 5.11b maybe 5.11c; the leader doing those moves 50 feet out.
We were so amped from that effort that I flew up the next pitch(5.9) which basically had no pro and one quarter inch bolt as the belay. Also, there was no real ledge. You had to weight that bolt. Rik Reider later told me how dull their drills were at that point and he thought those bolts were pure sketch.
Anyway, in my excited state, I had Jeff climb up to me. He was plenty surprised, and rightly so, to see one bolt. He decided to rappel first, it didn't really matter who did. If that bolt popped we were both dead. When he got to the ledge at the bottom of the pitch and the good anchor there, I would have given just about anything to trade places.
No room for jealousy here. I gingerly rapped to the ledge. The rest of the descent went without incident. We were pretty spent emotionally on the walk back to the car. I don't know of anybody who has done the crux pitch the way we did. What I like to say about that 15' blank section 50' out from the bolt is that you were hanging on nothing and going for nothing. My palms are sweating just typing these words 33 years later.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Aug 15, 2011 - 02:26pm PT
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Would like to claim credit for such a horrendous variation on the crux of "Mother's Lament", but I'm afraid I never put that one up. Must have been by some anonymous slab 'Master'?
I did put up a second run-out pitch from the top of "Dead Babies" that runs up right and ends at the top of the second pitch of "Mother's Lament" that's not in any guidebook. I did it with Eric Mayo in October 1984 or so. Anyone ever repeated it? When I started the lead off the "Dead Babies" anchor there was a 3/8" bolt out and right about 25". I clipped it, did a big runout, drilled a second bolt and then ran it to the second belay of "Mother's Lament", rapping down from there.
There are obviously still a lot of mystery pitches with strange histories over on the Apron that have never been documented or written about. Maybe someone should write a history of the Apron that delves into all these dark passages?
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smith curry
climber
nashville,TN
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Aug 15, 2011 - 05:20pm PT
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WOW... Just WOW!
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Aug 15, 2011 - 08:32pm PT
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Bruce,
"Your description here seems right: I remember on the crux 5th pitch you pull over a roof, clip a fixed pin, then walk a ramp directly above the roof drop-off, until you reach a small sloping stance where you have to jump up and grab a friction mantle hold. If you jump and miss, you're air bound ... The 5.11 crux above there is academic with the bolts right at your waist."
Got to say I stood there looking at the jump for some time and the potential fall, then somehow crawled to the hold on way tiny stuff. It's certainly the gripper moment on the climb, especially compared to the little 5.11 crux above. But also agree with another poster warning about the second pitch - not too hard but no pro I can remember. So while the route goes over beautiful rock in great positions, one must be very careful or pass on this route.
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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tom Carter
Social climber
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Aug 16, 2011 - 02:44am PT
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Chuck Cochrane remembers leading the 3rd pitch like it was yesterday.
Know Vern lead the tough stuff.
I do remember that lower pitch and falling a bunch on the 6th?
Had no idea so many notables had been up there!
TC
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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Aug 19, 2011 - 07:05pm PT
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Got shut down on the 3rd pitch of Tightrope by rockfall; a football exploded about 3 or 4 feet away, at my level, and, well, you can't exactly run away. That was just a year or 2 before the big avalanche transformed the entire area into scorched earth, and I haven't been back since.
Tom Carter and I - yes - there is "the Other Tom Carter" - had just finished up on The Calf when we ran across Chris Cantclimbwell and Bruce Morris on Dead Babies, whic proved to be a very seminal climb for the 2 of us. I remember Chris being so into the Zone that he skipped a bolt in the lower and sustained edging bit. Bruce, for his part, was complaining that "Contacts and chalk don't mix" ...we had no idea what he was talking about, because we were new to The Valley, Pinnacles lads really, and still climbing from Roper's Green Guide.
After Chris and Bruce split, we bouldered out to the first Dead Babies bolt easily enough. "What happened to 5.10?" The hardest we'd climbed was Pinnacles 5.9.
After training on No Fall Wall at Indian Rock all winter, Tom and I...actually just Tom, as I got hailed off right at the crux, sent it...before we had ever climbed any "official" 5.10.
I got my chance to lead it after I'd moved to Bishop. A fractured arm had kept me on the proverbial couch all year - equestrian accident. Day before I'd dayhiked up to Red Lake, beneath Split Mountain, a charming 5,000 foot walk in the park. Next day, Sunday, rockslide had closed the road between Crane Flat and 140, so I had to detour around Coulterville, adding a mere 100 miles or so to my "drive in the country."
The Plan was to screw around on the Milk Dud...harnessed, I bouldered up to the 1st bolt on Dead Babies. Clearly, this was a low gravity day, and I called for some draws, a rope, a belay. With my arm I couldn't even manage a single pull up - but I sent!
A cool Ranger let me drive direct up to Crane Flat in the Sunday dusk - it seemed that there'd been some rockfall at Reed's blocking just one lane. Cool!
That was the only climb of that particular season...and for some reason, I recall it as one of my best seasons!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 26, 2011 - 12:47pm PT
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Speaking of slabbage...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 25, 2012 - 02:56pm PT
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Bump for Ze Beeg One!
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wstmrnclmr
Trad climber
Bolinas, CA
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Nov 25, 2012 - 03:31pm PT
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Steve...how did you log a post for 11/26 above one for 11/25? A neat time travel trick?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 25, 2012 - 04:41pm PT
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364 degrees of separation...
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couchmaster
climber
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S Ledge Rat, that's pretty impressive free solo downclimbing apron climbs.
Dr Feelgood to Mr Natural use to be one of my favs on the Apron. The rockfall really makes you think of your own mortality though and I haven't done it for a while. Went and led Son of Sam with my boy recently with wrecked shoulders last time down and was eyeing that rockfall talus just uphill warily at the base. Whew. Too close it seemed. I was fairly concerned where we were, that stuff is huge and scary. I got worked enough on SOS that I didn't even try Lonely Dancer which may have been a good thing when you are in a rockfall area. I saw that Reid had downgraded SOS to 5.9 from 10a. Makes one feel old:-) Was happy to get out of the rockfall zone, even if we were just on the edge of it.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Feb 10, 2018 - 12:47am PT
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Bruce Morris wrote: There are obviously still a lot of mystery pitches with strange histories over on the Apron that have never been documented or written about. Maybe someone should write a history of the Apron that delves into all these dark passages?
I know Pat Timson put up a route (maybe with Mastadon) on the Apron with not very much pro for either the belays or the pitches themselves. I seem to remember one of the belays being on hooks.
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mastadon
Trad climber
crack addict
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Feb 12, 2018 - 06:49pm PT
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Don’t try to drag me into a Timson horror show, Bruce. Hooks belay? I may be stupid but I’m not dumb. OK, well maybe I am, but not that time. Pat was probably with Crawford.
Have you seen or spoken with Jeff Vance lately? You still working?
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Feb 12, 2018 - 08:23pm PT
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Don’t try to drag me into a Timson horror show, Bruce. Hooks belay? I may be stupid but I’m not dumb. OK, well maybe I am, but not that time. Pat was probably with Crawford.
Have you seen or spoken with Jeff Vance lately? You still working?
Don,
Jeff is living up in the Santa Cruz Mountains and is a big mountain biker these days. His middle daughter is big on climbing. I retired from hi-tech about 20 years ago and just try to stay out of trouble though that can prove to be pretty difficult at times. Man, those days in the Valley and the Meadows were so much fun!!!
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Feb 12, 2018 - 10:04pm PT
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Another amazing Apron route of this caliber is Mouth to Perhaps. Big ripper potential on this one as well.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Feb 12, 2018 - 11:10pm PT
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I love Apron stories.
Cast off into the ocean of granite with not much more than a zen like focus to save you.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Feb 13, 2018 - 12:34am PT
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It's only a two pitch route and I think it was only rated 5.9, but Flakey Foont was a pretty unique Apron climb. Only three bolts total for two pitches, mainly because the slab was just too smooth to stop and drill. So, you just shuffled upwards on time-delay smears. If you moved too slowly you just slid back down to the start. The higher up you went, the consequences of that slide became more and more painful. The technique became known as "foonting."
Several ST threads have discussed various aspects of this climb.
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Evel
Trad climber
Nedsterdam CO
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Feb 13, 2018 - 04:10am PT
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Man. Flakey Foont was my very first route in the valley. Hello!
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Feb 13, 2018 - 08:21am PT
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Flakey F. was never 5.9 in the old EBs. More like mid 5.10. And it felt like if you popped, you might go into a skid-tumble for MILES. I remember doing this with Kevin W. and thinking we were basically soloing the whole mo fo. An Apron classic because it was so improbable. Glass.
Other routes I liked over there were Green Monster, Calf with continuation (dime cranking on perfect rock), first 4 pitches of Hall of Mirrors, Mr. Natural, and Apron Jam. Always wanted to try and free Perhaps but never got round to it. We went to the Apron for rest days and never focused on it as prime real estate. First time I climbed Coonyard Pinnacle (in high school shod in PAs), I fell off it.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 13, 2018 - 05:43pm PT
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> Green Monster
I don't recognize that Apron climb.
Has it been renamed?
What is it near?
Left of The Calf?
[edit:]
Thanks, henny - I bet he did mean Green Dragon.
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henny
Social climber
The Past
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Feb 13, 2018 - 06:47pm PT
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Not to speak for John, but maybe he meant Green Dragon?
Green Dragon makes for a nice outing when linked with Mr. Natural. Good variety combining the two.
Lucifer's Shoes is also a good link between Sailin' Shoes and Lucifer's Ledge. A little on the hard side but good.
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Bruce Morris
Trad climber
Soulsbyville, California
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Feb 13, 2018 - 10:10pm PT
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Lucifer's Shoes ?
Is that a continuation off the top of the 4th pitch of "Sailin' Shoes"? Know there's something up there, but wasn't sure about where it went or how many pitches there were?
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TLP
climber
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Feb 13, 2018 - 11:20pm PT
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...time-delay smears.
LOL!
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Feb 14, 2018 - 01:48am PT
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Green Dragon
pix overdue Always having fun!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 14, 2018 - 02:13am PT
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Roger and I replaced the bolts on this, and one formerly broken bolt on Sailin' Shoes a couple of years ago.
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Feb 14, 2018 - 09:12am PT
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Yeah. Green Dragon. Felt like Suicide Rock.
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Bruce Morris
Trad climber
Soulsbyville, California
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Feb 14, 2018 - 01:34pm PT
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Roger and I replaced the bolts on this, and one formerly broken bolt on Sailin' Shoes a couple of years ago.
Thanks Clint!
I remember looking up at what was to become "Lucifer's Shoes" in 1978 and realizing it was going to turn out to be 5.12 friction, forgetting about it. Good thing someone with Johnny's skill set tackled it.
That must be some route. Sailin' Shoes, Lucifer's Shoes, plus Lucifer's Ledge. There's a continuation too? Keep you on your toes for quite a while.
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Inner City
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Feb 14, 2018 - 03:47pm PT
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I am absolutely loving this thread! Happy Valentine's Day..
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Feb 14, 2018 - 05:23pm PT
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Historical and hysterical thread!
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henny
Social climber
The Past
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Feb 14, 2018 - 08:14pm PT
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Hey Clint/Roger,
Thanks for replacing the bolts on Lucifer's Shoes!
It was 5.12 friction. The third bolt gave us quite a fight. You were just far enough out that it seemed far enough given the difficulty. Took us a few hours to get it in. Several falls from the stance (haha) trying to get started. It became quite a chore having to do the crux over and over to work on the bolt. At one point JW became desperate enough to try hooking on friction. Right. Predictable result.
Funny how it is, once the hole started it went quickly. JW powered the rest of the pitch in one clean go drilling the remaining bolts and anchor, simply because he didn't want to do the start again. Great effort. Due to hand drilling he tweaked his shoulder in the process and it off/on bothered him for years. We still laugh about it. Sort of. [edit: just talked to JW, he says it still bothers him at times]
Fun route. Yeah, going to the top of Lucifer's Ledge makes it quite a few good pitches.
Edit(s):
Where was the broken bolt on SS? Now that Clint mentions it I vaguely remember something like a broken bolt. Or at least I think I do.
I did Green Dragon maybe 10(?) years ago and the first couple of bolts on P2 were gone. Didn't look like rock fall damage because they were broken slightly below flush to the rock. Any idea about what transpired with those bolts? I found it rather odd, almost had a chop aura to it.
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henny
Social climber
The Past
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Feb 15, 2018 - 07:31am PT
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Thanks Clint.
I forgot you mentioned something in the previous thread and got a little lazy in not looking it up myself to check.
You are an amazing keeper/source of information.
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| Messages 1 - 58 of total 58 in this topic |
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SuperTopo on the Web
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summer 2007: Roger and I fixed ropes down from Lucifer's Ledge. Then Roger replaced all the bolts he could find on reachable routes. (We also pulled many added bolts from Angel's Approach p1).
Let us know!