Hall of Mirrors

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Matt M

Trad climber
Alamo City
Nov 3, 2011 - 10:44am PT
Pretty sure this isn't the 3rd ascent. A roommate of mine about 10 years ago said he did it in the late 90s I think. I won't throw a name out since I could be mistaken but will drop an email to him and see what the story is. He called it a "career highlight" and described climbing with different shoes on each foot for some crux pitches.

Awesome it's getting some more attention though! Way to go after EVERYTHING Alex!
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Nov 3, 2011 - 12:19pm PT
Thanks to Clint and Chris for the rehab work!
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Nov 6, 2011 - 08:36pm PT
If you ever wondered exactly where Hall of Mirrors goes on the Apron, this should show you.
So many hard pitches up there, and p13 is especially beautiful/impressive!

It was a great adventure day trip up there on October 30 with Chris.
As Chris mentioned above, we replaced/placed new stainless 3/8" bolts with single ring hangers at each anchor 6 to 16 (all courtesy of ASCA or borrowed from the boxes Bob Steed bought last year, plus 3 of Chris's), and Chris replaced the Steel Wall p6 crux bolt in the dark.
Here's my photo trip report:
http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Hall-of-Mirrors-rebolting-October-30-2011/t11249n.html

Matt M:
Please post up the details if you get them (you also mentioned this in the 2008 thread).
If your roommate was Jonny Woodward or John Bercaw, that was the 2nd ascent in 1992.
The info I have on repeats is here:
http://www.stanford.edu/%7Eclint/yos/longhf.htm#apron

Or see the more complete 2008 thread on Hall of Mirrors:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/527185/hall-of-mirrors
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Nov 7, 2011 - 12:45pm PT
wonderful accomplishment!



...

(brings back memories)

i wonder about our old 1/4" bolts on The Smile?

Kamps and i were planning to push on up the right side of Perhaps and then on up to the rim, but ran out of daylight and never got back to it

...

also wondering about rappel bolts on the left side of Goodrich?

there are some small ledges there, to the right of your pitch 3 number; where Jim Baldwin and i were hanging on two 1/4" bolts; and he threw a horror show temper tantrum about hung-up rappel ropes; and i had to hand-over-hand at dusk up a single stuck 5/16" goldline rope to free it...twice

Jim Baldwin and i did that route on the left side of Goodrich on the day before he was killed on the East Face of Washington Column. i declined the invitation to do that with him; but Royal was recommending we go back and do the right side of Goodrich in a couple of days

...

Clint, are you able to extend your photo composite over towards Coonyard?


photos taken 9/18/11 hiking to Half Dome for my son's birthday:




Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Nov 8, 2011 - 01:40am PT
Tom,

> i wonder about our old 1/4" bolts on The Smile?

Roger replaced them in 2009.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/912351/Bolt-replacement-2009
(includes a couple of my photos, climbing The Smile in May 2009 and replacing a couple of the bolts).

> Kamps and i were planning to push on up the right side of Perhaps and then on up to the rim, but ran out of daylight and never got back to it

That first pitch off The Smile is quite steep and blank for a few moves (5.11b friction).

> also wondering about rappel bolts on the left side of Goodrich?

They were old when I last used them, but Roger should have replaced them in 2009. The last report I heard said maybe some were gone, but there was a gap between anchors where you downclimb 3rd/4th class. So I'm not sure at present what their state is. It is always the way I've rapped from Goodrich. Last time I climbed out via Galactic Hitchhiker, though.

> Clint, are you able to extend your photo composite over towards Coonyard?

Yes. All those composites are from xRez:
http://www.xrez.com/yose_proj/yose_deepzoom/index.html
For the Apron, I use the view from the top of Half Dome.
Here you go:

Do you think the Sacherer-Cochrane Direct followed the left-leaning, left-facing corners above Coonyard?
Matt M

Trad climber
Alamo City
Nov 8, 2011 - 05:35pm PT
Matt M:
Please post up the details if you get them (you also mentioned this in the 2008 thread).
If your roommate was Jonny Woodward or John Bercaw, that was the 2nd ascent in 1992.
The info I have on repeats is here:

Clint,

My buddy prefers not to put a name out there. Not a huge fan of publicity or more so, internet forums. I take him at as his word though.

That said he did provide this:

I assumed several others had done it before me based on the various colors of fixed webbing left all the way up it.
I know several others who have done it up to pitch 10.

I also recall him talking about wearing both a smearing shoe and edging shoe for the mostly sideways crux pitch. I can only assume he means pitch 9. He described it as climbing up and sideways all the while "falling". If you stopped moving you would come off.

He also brought up the question of if that rock fall had changed the lower pitches at all such that AH's ascent would be a FA of the altered route? Any signs of significant change?

MM
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Nov 9, 2011 - 02:03am PT
Matt,

Thanks for what you were able to tell us.
Too bad he doesn't want to use his name; that makes it harder to keep a history, but maybe few care.
Got a month/year for the ascent, though? I think you said late 90s.
Any description from him on what the 13th was like?
Did he lead everything and partner used ascenders?

Personally, I don't think different colors of webbing implies different people climbed it. For example, I brought booty slings with me to leave. Most of them were different colors.

The rockfall of 5/2009 appears to have removed some bolts, like the crux bolt on p6 (Steel Wall), and the anchor at (5). So Alex climbed via the Springtime Dry Variation. I don't think missing the original p4, p5 is significant in terms of repeating the route, as all the hardest pitches are on p8 and higher. But they are classic friction pitches, often done in the 80s to The Hang, and their bolts will be restored.

 Clint
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
bouldering
Nov 9, 2011 - 03:21am PT
Assuming somebody did the route with MattM's mystery man - maybe he'd be willing to talk about it. Except for wearing 2 different types of shoes (which sounds effective) the story seems a little fishy the way it has been presented so far.
henny

Social climber
The Past
Nov 9, 2011 - 11:12am PT
Coz,

JW is of the opinion that the 9th is the crux. It seems that Alex implied the same.
Bruce Morris

Social climber
Belmont, California
Nov 11, 2011 - 06:31pm PT
Coz-

All who have done the entire route say that the "Unfinished Ninth" is the crux pitch. But there are so many variables like heat and the friction co-efficient of different kinds of rubber. But the consensus seems to be that the 9th pitch is the hardest on the route. JW told Al Dude that it was, yes, .13. But I bet there aren't that many hard friction pitches out there to compare it to. It does seem that if you can "stick" the 9th, you can certainly do all the rest.

"Too soon old, too late smart"
Bruce Morris

Social climber
Belmont, California
Nov 12, 2011 - 03:08pm PT
Only one problem with that, Cosmic, is that sticky rubber has a tendency to "ball up" on glacier polish and in the process, roll off. Can't really say for certain until you take a pair of shoes with that rubber up there. If the temps are too high, sticky rubber will start to slide down the face, resulting in little bits of rubber tearing off and functioning like ball bearings under your feet. The rubber on Contacts was great to smear with on the lower pitches, but on the upper pitches of the H of M they didn't edge that well. However, if the rock is dry, clean and cool, this new rubber might be amazing.

Time for some field trials!
Roger Brown

climber
Oceano, California
Jul 3, 2012 - 01:00pm PT
The bolt replacement on the "Hall of Mirrors" was completed yesterday. We still have ropes fixed to the top of the 13th pitch. We will leave the ropes in place for probably another week. All the ropes except one are dynamic. The ropes are kinda snug anchor to anchor so they don't get blown around. Feel free to Mini-Trax or whatever, just leave the ropes as snug you found them when you are done.
Roger
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jul 4, 2012 - 10:10pm PT
Great work Roger and thanks for your ongoing efforts.
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jul 5, 2012 - 04:18pm PT

Bumpity bump for a classic test piece !
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Jul 5, 2012 - 05:19pm PT
Now there is a 5.12 the free soloists aren't lining up for!
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Jul 5, 2012 - 05:32pm PT
Nice work, Roger.

John
cultureshock

Trad climber
Mountain View
Oct 18, 2013 - 04:51pm PT
Bump!

Anyone get on this thing? Stories of recent ascents? Failures? Bailures?
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Oct 18, 2013 - 06:35pm PT
It's pretty easy to just go over there and check it out.
15 minute walk to the base.
The first pitch is glassy and runout - you can see all the bolts,
so you can see what it's like.
If it looks good, try it.
If you get stopped, no big deal, you just rap down the route.
If you are not sure about your slab skills, try something easier first,
like Sailin' Shoes.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jan 3, 2014 - 12:34am PT
It would be big fun if Woodward and Honnold would chime in and compare notes on the "hardest Grade VI in the world."
Edge

Trad climber
Boulder, CO
Jan 3, 2014 - 10:33am PT
Anyone get on this thing? Stories of recent ascents? Failures? Bailures?



Around 1984 I swapped leads on the first five pitches with an exceptional face climber/ranger (at the time) from Devils Tower named Lynn Wolfe. When it became my turn to lead the first 5.11 pitch (at the time, P5) I hucked off twice; the second time losing my glasses and getting the wind knocked out of me in a backwards tumbling fall when my foot slid into a bolt; this after maybe 340+ feet of sustained climbing with far too few bolts. We retreated shortly afterwards, and I still consider that one of my climbing high points and finer on-sights, due to the poor/scant conditions of the bolts and the commitment required.

We were both wearing Boreal Fires at the time.
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