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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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You know, I might just do that...thanks. I was on two of those Bugaboo trips and actually managed a first ascent with Rob. I remember Rob could hike circles around me...and he used to eat a head of lettuce like an apple.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 2, 2012 - 10:45pm PT
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Yesterday Fish Boy contacted in the morning to go climb. We decided that Chek would probably be dry,
so I called Relic and I met the fit bus at the end of the well graded road to the upper parking lot.
We decided to warm up on the two easy "multipitches" Charlotte's web and Emil and the Detectives. These routes are
easily led in one pitch and the former is better than the latter at 5.9.
Relic on Charlotte's Web 5.9
We went and had a look at Forgotten Wall and then someone said "The base of the grand will be dry, let's go do Exasperator!"
Nick hadn't hit it yet and had a small rack so we went and hit it up.
Nick starts out on Exasperator 5.10c
Getting some gear in before the crux
Bypassing the chains with a nut
That's one long pitch!
He chose to hand traverse to the anchor!
But paid for it dearly.
We top roped it to save time since it was allready sprinkling.
Relic
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hamish f
Social climber
squamish
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Well it doesn't get much better than that. On my first attempt I only made it 25 feet off the deck; had to sheepishly lower off a stopper cause I didn't know how to jam. A little embarassing.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Haha & how long after that were u solo down climbing it in approach shoes Hamish!!
Edit: cool photos, again, always. Thanks!
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Relic
Social climber
Vancouver, BC
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Poor Fish boy, only like 10 feet from the anchor and his foot popped on the slick, freshly rained on slab. Oh well, blame it on the rain. Gotta love those just barely squeak out a bonus climbing day before the rain pours down days.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2012 - 09:57pm PT
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your pics are pretty awesome! i'm heading out there this summer, hoping to learn how to place gear & get up on the chief!
Thanks climberyogi! Ya the chief is cool. Lots of good moderates in the bluffs to train on and on the apron to multipitch on! Western Gold looks like a cool video.
Hamishf- I was quite impressed myself. The first time I got on that pitch I managed to scrap my way to the anchor but just barely. Then I somehow managed to get to the top of the next pitch on tr. But not clean.
This time I almost got it clean but my stupid finger is still bugging me a bit and my foot work wasn't the best but neither was the spitting rain.
Ryand and Tami, thanks for the compliments. Since ya'll liked em so much, maybe a couple more?
Nick on Exasperator. Me in a tree.
Putting in some pro
Stretching it out before the top
gf got any more details to go with that story? sounds like a fun climb!
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2012 - 10:01pm PT
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I know Andy is thinking.. Hmm he went to the base of the grand, did he take any Java Jive/Teabag Tango pictures??
Yes! and if you weren't, Surprise! :)
The 7 feet, the Hand Jive, and the trouble-with-words thing prompts me to ask about a line in the McLane guide from 2005:
"Make a 7 1/2 foot dyno down into Java Jive (13a)."
I can't see the body language that goes with that.
Teabag Tango on the right, Java Jive on the left.
Close up
Any hardmen in the house? Marc? We should shoot this!
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Hoser
climber
vancouver
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Java Jive p1 is such a great climb, too bad it has that ankle breaker second bolt clip
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hamish f
Social climber
squamish
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Ya, way to go: such a primo crack. That pic. taken from the tree of Nick leading... that's where I backed off from on my first attempt.
Definitely a little-leaguer.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2012 - 10:38pm PT
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How old were you then hamish? I never even attempted it till i knew i was ready.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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(MH posts obscure and lengthy story here, more or less copied from a Squamish history thread, about early free ascents of Exasperator, including murky climbing and p'terodactyl photos, but none about gondolas. Polite but somewhat muted applause follows.)
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Fish Boy
Trad climber
Vancouver
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Great photos Mike, cheers. Look forward to touching rock again with you guys again.
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hamish f
Social climber
squamish
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I knew I probably wasn't ready so I attempted it anyway. Tender age of 13 I believe.1978.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2012 - 10:58pm PT
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Funny mh. :) this would be a good time for a link to said story.
I thought perydactles just followed you everywhere? Thanks for you efforts on the gondola thread. How is the land swap i proposed going? ;)
"I knew I wasn't ready so I tried it anyways."
The mark of a great adventurer. Thank you again for inspiring me not to be so calculated.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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OK, here's a story. The first time I did Exasperator (the first pitch) was in early 1974, in rain and snow. We kicked steps up about the first third.
The second time was with Eric. He soloed the first pitch, trailing a rope, got to the belay, threaded the rope, and self-lowered. Then I top-roped it. About a week later Eric and Dave cleaned (a bit) and freed the second pitch. (With 50 m ropes, you had to do it in two.) The second pitch then featured two or three helpful shrubberies.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2012 - 11:09pm PT
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Fish boy thanks! Weather looks good this weekend! Let's hit er up!
Mh- ya i can see a few shrubberies being helpful for sure! I'd never linked the two till the other day. It is spectacular!
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MH2
climber
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Nice going, Big Mike, photo-, climb-, and stoke-wise.
I like Java Jive and have been on it several times, though only doing the second pitch twice.
Teabag Tango is beyond my comprehension let alone ability.
The next one over, Miss Led, is a different story. The guide puts it 15m right of Java Jive. FA 1973 by Hugh Burton, Jim Sinclair and Jeannine Caldbeck-in-parentheses; FFA Perry and Hamish in 1982. I started up it thinking 12a might be doable but rapidly regressed to A0. Above the bolts there was an exciting because poorly protected traverse left to a dike. Then the dike, which is God's way of saying, "CLIMB HERE", goes up to a large tree, the same tree we go to on Raindance. After getting you to the dike, the McLane guide says "Mostly bolts." We took that to mean the protection for the dike. We were wrong. There were no bolts on the dike. God must have also said, "NO BOLTS HERE." The "mostly bolts" I guess refers to the climb overall.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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There are several versions of the first ascent of the route, and its name. IIRC, Gary Brace freed or nearly freed the bottom bolt ladder, c 1975.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Miss Led was always fun. Well, it was fun before it became a 5.12 free climb. But Andy's comment about the leftward traverse reminded me of hearing from my first Squamish climbing partner that a friend of his had fallen from that traverse and sliced open a butt cheek on one of the bolt hangers below. I remember them being the home-made kind featuring thick aluminum plate bent at a right angle.
As the story went, the slice was serious enough to require stitches. I think the victim's name was Les Priest. Anyone remember him?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Phil, and Len Soet, did what was probably the first clean ascent of University Wall in 1977. Not sure exactly what they did, but that was the story.
Les was a forceful character, IIRC quite active in union/progressive causes. Someone said he'd moved to Smithers at some point.
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