Squamish Photos and Stories

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MH2

climber
Aug 31, 2014 - 09:00am PT
Tim Auger on Kiddie Korner in the 60s. Photo by Tony Ellis?


Thanks for settling the location question, hamie.
Tricouni

Mountain climber
Vancouver
Aug 31, 2014 - 09:41am PT
"Bedroom eyes"? That could be me...
hamish f

Social climber
squamish
Sep 1, 2014 - 07:52am PT
Free solo U-wall
2 hrs ish, car to car

Holy BEEP!!!!
Chief

climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
Sep 1, 2014 - 07:56am PT
Exactly!
Hoser

climber
vancouver
Sep 1, 2014 - 08:37am PT
Did you see Marcs reply?

Had to make one last day trip up Slesse, solo. The triple link-up.
East Pillar 2 hrs
Navigator 1hr 15
NEB 1hr 10min
Chief

climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
Sep 1, 2014 - 09:06am PT
Outstanding!
That's the scheisse right there!
Chief

climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
Sep 1, 2014 - 09:28am PT
OK, so on a far less heroic note, here's a Squamish soloing story.
Back in the day, when I considered a certain amount of third classing an obligatory part of my regimen, I was at Murrin and after heading up to the Horror's Wall via Genesis for a couple laps on The Milk Toaster decided to climb Washington Bullets.
I was never big on on sight solos and had in the past, dialled this gem and climbed it unroped a few times.
Now the key phrase here is, in the past.
I headed up the initial moves in the cool of the late afternoon reviewing the mental archives for a recollection of the crux moves thinking it was pretty solid.
Well, I committed to the crux and quickly realized I didn't have it dialled at all and ended up hornswoggled in the middle of the business.
A wave of fear washed over me and I climbed those last few moves in a substantially less than controlled manner and wobbled on to the top having more survived the route than climbed it.
I sat there for a few minutes, nigh nauseous at having made such a mess of it and coming way closer to making a mess in the boulders than I wanted to.
It still stands out as one of my closest calls and the stupidest things I'd ever done.
Don't think I've climbed that route since, at least not unroped.

There you have it.
Chief

climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
Sep 1, 2014 - 10:04am PT
Well Tami, like most of us who post here, you're definitely not immune from occasional bouts of egregious (and vapid) windbaggery either!!!... :)
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Sep 1, 2014 - 12:16pm PT
As RushMaster Yabo once said "I get really strong when I start to shake."

How do you spell ADRENALINE!?!

Hard to have fun in a five alarm fire! LOL
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Sep 1, 2014 - 12:41pm PT
A wave of fear washed over me and I climbed those last few moves in a substantially less than controlled manner and wobbled on to the top having more survived the route than climbed it.

What's always seemed weird to me is the difference in mental/physical response depending on whether things go to sh#t while soloing (as Perry just described), or whether it happens on a roped climb where there was no intent to put oneself in danger.

You solo something and wind up almost losing it, and the response is what Perry describes -- nauseous at almost dying so stupidly.

But think about the times when you've climbed into a situation where you realize you've suddenly entered the solo zone and find yourself in the same pickle. Maybe you can't get pro where you thought you could, and the climb gets too hard for you, and you've just messed up an irreversible sequence, and you'll hit the ground or a ledge if you blow it... but somehow you go way inside yourself and find the strength to pull through.

And the response? I don't know about anyone else, but for me it's always been kind of a feeling of being proud of myself for holding it together and finding mental or physical strength I didn't know I had. Instead of the shame felt when the same thing happens during an intentional solo.

Weird.
Chief

climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
Sep 1, 2014 - 01:47pm PT
Ghost,

I've had a few less than edifying experiences with a rope on too.
Some day I'll share the story about Henley Quits in 76.
Now that was stupid!
MH2

climber
Sep 1, 2014 - 01:55pm PT
I had the same experience as Perry on Washington Bullets. With the difference that I was roped. For me a good lesson for my older self to not trust my younger self.
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2014 - 07:12pm PT
Very nice posts indeed. Thanks for the stories Perry and Tami!

I was totally wrong the other day about Glenn's photo... Shows u how much time i've spent at the bulletheads lately. I was up there today.

Phil on Slot Machine
hamie

Social climber
Thekoots
Sep 1, 2014 - 09:15pm PT
"2 hrs ish car to car." I think that it took us 2 hrs ish summit to car! UWall now seems to have also [with Serra V] reached Mummery's stage three, "An easy day for a lady".
Has anyone done a sit-start yet? Maybe leave that crumb for the next generation.

Chief. Is Henley Quits the same as Stichter Quits [aka Black Tide] at J Tree?
hamie

Social climber
Thekoots
Sep 1, 2014 - 09:29pm PT
One day I was foolishly run-out on Tryfan. As I reached the crux, with no pro for miles, the rain and hail began to pound down. I tried the crux several times, with no luck. The rock was turning to snot, my fingers to ice and my arms to jello. I looked down, and wondered if it would be better to jump off, or to try again and fall off. I tried again, and finally found something for my tips. Lesson learned? It ain't over 'til it's over.
hamie

Social climber
Thekoots
Sep 1, 2014 - 10:04pm PT
That's true Tami, but it didn't usually hail in July. It's not Alberta.

Here's a pic of my friend Tom, taken on the way down.


Yes, that's rain pouring down the rock behind him. Next stop--hitch hike to the PYG in the Pass.

Tom and another old climbing partner Dave joined me on the Camino in Spain earlier this year. A reunion of sorts.
Tricouni

Mountain climber
Vancouver
Sep 1, 2014 - 11:20pm PT
Hamie, do you have a photo of you from that era?
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2014 - 11:26pm PT
Classic pic Hamie!!

Gf- Stewarts computer is fighting him! Anyone know any computer wiz's in Courtnay?
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Sep 2, 2014 - 02:24pm PT
Wales in the rain; I have a few memories of that too :-D

Likewise. First time there was the day after a howling storm. Trees down on the roads and everything soaked. No problem according to my host, who said "Well it's not actually raining now, just a bit of breeze, so we'll be fine. Maybe just climb the normal descent route. It'll be a bit wet, but no problem."

Bit of a breeze, my ass!

A bit wet, my ass!

About a hundred feet up the descent route (which was a fairly stout 4th class chimney), even my friend had to admit defeat. The chimney was a waterfall, and not only that, but the wind was so strong that the water was flowing upward. No sh#t. The only time I've ever seen rain falling up.
Oplopanax

Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
Sep 2, 2014 - 02:39pm PT
I looked down, and wondered if it would be better to jump off, or to try again and fall off.

I was larking about on some rocks at Lighthouse Park once, not at Juniper Point but closer to the lighthouse, just east of Jackpine. I climbed up a cracked dyke that ran for 50 feet or so off the beach. About 40 feet up I found myself in a situation with wasps in the crack above me and, when I tried to downclimb, also wasps in the crack below me.

I tried to psych up for the 40 foot jump off into shallow water and thought getting stung would be the better choice. Then I thought that getting stung and pitching off for a 40 footer onto barnacles would also be pretty bad. Fortunately there was a small tree on the other side of the gully about 4 feet lower than me and seven or 8 feet away and a foothold on the dyke nearby in the right direction so after weighing the options I switched feet on the dyke and made the orangutan leap sideways and down across the gully and latched the tree at full extension as I fell by it.

Whew.

In hindsight you can carefully slot your fingers in next to wasps and as long as you don't pinch them they don't really seem to get too worked about it.

Canary at Castle Rock and the 10d next to 13 Shutouts at Skaha are both climbs that seem to have wasps or yellowjackets fixed permanently in place thru September and October. Later on in fact I got zapped by a yellowjacket in the soft fleshy part right between the middle and ring fingers on my right hand while backing down from a buzzing crack on Canary.
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