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yo
climber
Mudcat Spire
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May 22, 2012 - 09:29pm PT
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If I had a nickel for every aid climbing thread Worrall came into and acted baffled about aid...
...I could could buy another beak!
Or maybe like a bigass cordalette, or another sticker for my helmet or something.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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May 22, 2012 - 09:30pm PT
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So Richard, you be up there tomorrow? Wednesday? I may be in a position to lend you moral support....
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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May 22, 2012 - 10:18pm PT
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If Kevin wasn't ocassionally baffled by aid I would worry about him. Of course, he has always been able to free climb where some might choose to aid.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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May 23, 2012 - 09:44am PT
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Next up ....
Followed by a mass hysteria shatting attack on their equipment.
It would be great to see some sweet climbing shots. Be safe Richard, have fun. That's a ballsy choice for routes regardless.....Wow.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
merced, california
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May 23, 2012 - 10:17am PT
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IF this ain't a TROLL
The Fischer Ski Towers over-all aid rating is A4.75. There is a complex formula involving the number of towers, the number of and frequency of deaths which are then fed into a computer and the results are printed, then shredded. They are shipped off to the Moab Dump. Where this shite all belongs.
The fact there are holes being gratuitously drilled into them will have no effect on them; they will end looking like that huge-ass turd in a few millennia anyway, so why not hurry the process?
Keep drilling, you bastards.
Kevin, let's fergit these apes and I'll buy you a Red Bull.
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madbolter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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May 23, 2012 - 08:13pm PT
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Yeah, I'll be leading tomorrow, Thursday. Load humping today.
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madbolter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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Jun 23, 2012 - 12:39pm PT
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Lots has happened in the last couple of weeks. I had to go home for a family reunion, but I'm back on the heap now, and about 3/4 of the way up it.
I've been finding new, exciting tactics by the FA team. It turns out that they were also drilling custom holes, pounding wooden pegs into them, then sawing the pegs off flush and driving them when they were done, rendering them useless. Pics of these on the blog.
At their "anchors," I'm finding typically two deeply-drilled bashies. If you're gonna just drill into blank rock, why not put something reasonable in the holes, like bolts at anchors? Oh, right, to keep the hole count down, and to be able to claim, "We placed no expansion bolts at anchors." Yeah, right. Retch, gag.
David Palmada, the FA team leader, left a comment on the site. Google Translate wasn't much help, but I gave him my email address, as it seems he wants to talk. That exchange, if it happens, should be very interesting.
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
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Jun 23, 2012 - 12:59pm PT
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What blog?
Link please...
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hoipolloi
climber
A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi
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Jun 23, 2012 - 01:56pm PT
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Maybe check out 'Not So Soft' over on Cotton Tail.
My friend (who did the FA about 15 years ago) and I went this past February and I lead the first pitch, but we bailed, alas. Time constraints and his motivation dwindled, understandably so, I was surprised he wanted to repeat a route he remembered as being hard and scary when he did the FA. (Those who have climbed there know, it seems like it's not really a place where one gets psyched to repeat hard routes).
The first pitch was awesome, great thin beaking, with spicy free climbing ~130-140 feet. When they drilled, they did the proper thing and filled it with 5-piece. I think there were 1 or 2 bolts to get off the ground to the feature, then its almost all beaking with a few cams. There were two bolts on the pitch, one I couldn't find, so I did a few scary ultra thin beaks. Embarrassingly, after I moved past the crux (what was the crux for me) I looked down and had knocked a plate of mud off to reveal the bolt that I couldn't find burried under the mud. Maybe..A3+ (maybe A4?), you know how it is, hard to tell when leading. I think by the 'fall potential' type Aid grade there were some A4 falls should one find out.
The next pitches looked exciting, but pretty good. It joins the saddle of Briar Rabbit after 5 fairly long pitches.
That place really is spectacular, I know a lot of people don't understand why you would climb there, but the climbing is intricate and really complex. Even when aid climbing, it requires good free climbing skills to boot, technical aiding skills and a strong jedi mind. I look forward to going back...
I have some photos of the pitch and route around here if you want them.
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madbolter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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Jun 23, 2012 - 07:55pm PT
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Blog is....
http://www.conclusivesystems.com/danger
Pics of some example wooden pegs are in the June 19th post. Many other pics sprinkled around in the posts.
Yeah, the "intricate" nature of climbing is for real. Just thinking through how to establish rope-runs that will work (as few "rubs" as possible)isn't easy. The Titan is very "corrugated," with many, many "ripples" that make it quite difficult to fix ropes without lots of rubbing. I'm double-roping my fixing, due to experience with significant sheath damage after a single jug (and I'm not a "bouncer" by any means). The thought of being "rubbed through" and thereby rubbed out despite my best efforts is not nice! So, I run a Gibbs on the second rope.
The FA team had no sense of route-finding, as my final topo will show. There really is no "line" here, so the whole game with the SA is to stay as close to their route as possible (either right on it, or within 20 feet, so I can see everything), while taking the most sensible line through the bulges and ripples (something they did not do). If you're just going to drill your way up, then at least pick a sensible line! The FA team often just drilled their way out and over the largest bulges in the area, while going 10 feet to one side or the other would have cut the problem in half. It's like they had some thrill with going out over the widest parts of the ripples.
I'm NOT happy with what I'm doing here, but the SA can be nothing else. At least once I'm done, the thing will be repeatable by anybody that wants a fun clip-up route with a bit of A3 mixed in here and there. It's honestly just sad that the FA team forced something to go there at all. There's no "route" here, that's for sure!
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bergbryce
Mountain climber
South Lake Tahoe, CA
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Jun 23, 2012 - 08:44pm PT
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Those sawed off pegs are screwey.
This keeps getting weirder the higher you get.
Thanks for the report.
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Da_Dweeb
climber
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Jul 28, 2012 - 05:26am PT
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Hey Richard, I'd be interested to hear your conclusions now that the climb has been completed. Any chance of a TR in the near future?
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madboIter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 7, 2012 - 07:33pm PT
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Yes, it's been a project getting settled back in and picking up all the loose ends that developed during this ridiculous project.
I'll be updating the blog very soon, along with a pretty detailed TR.
The short answer is that it was a bashie ladder except for the top 180 feet, which had an A1/A2 crack system. I bypassed many bashies and retrofitted the whole route with nice "rivets" that should last decades. So, at this point, the route could be done quickly with a bunch of rivet loops and a fairly small rack (although there are some WIDE) and flared sections in places (up to 12"). Except for a couple of very short sections of A3, it's an A1/A2 route. The amount of drilling the FA team did has to be seen to be believed! I mean, even my many pictures all the way up the thing fail to do justice to a line of big holes that are drilled every 18 inches. These guys were "heroes" only at the anchors, where they often thought that two drilled bashies was an "anchor."
The only "danger" is that in many, many places you can't take even short falls without getting munched. I was scared at times even on A3 because of the constant potential landings (usually onto rock-embedded, aggregate ramps). That face is corrugated in a way that is really hard to describe. You do NOT want to have even one beak tip pull and drop you onto that stuff. Also, it's a fairly remote spot, and few hikers get out that far, so you'd be hanging there for a long time before even having the hope of some help. It would be a real pity to get crippled on an A2 section. LOL
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Da_Dweeb
climber
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Cool.
I'll keep an eye on this thread and the blog for pics then, grats on busting another hyperbolic route rating.
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jeff_m
Social climber
700' up
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Aug 10, 2012 - 02:25pm PT
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Great thread and blog. (Sounds like you have the potential to start another CSI franchise: Climbing Scene Investigation.)
It turns out that they were also drilling custom holes, pounding wooden pegs into them, then sawing the pegs off flush and driving them when they were done, rendering them useless.
Seriously though, the truly disappointing aspect of all this is the premeditated planning with the intent to deceive. How many hours were spent thinking up the wooden dowel/peg tactic, practicing said tactic, bringing the saw, hiding the evidence all to report to the world (yes, I know it's a small world) that they did something of note? Seems like they gambled on no one ever wanting to SA; I guess they didn't plan on Richard calling their bluff.
Good job.
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Rivet hanger
Trad climber
Barcelona
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Sep 14, 2012 - 06:10am PT
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Come on men!
Give up s---ing your dicks (one each other, I mean; yourselves are not possible, too short).
How can you support Mr. Jensen?
You say Pelut's style is not Tower's style, but you support a dude who bolts a route? Rivets, bolts and nice belay chains shinning under the Utah sun? Yeah, now the whole world understands what Tower's climbing style is!
By the way, Pelut and Ester have opened a new route on Kingfisher and made the SA of Weird Science...
P.S: Use vaseline!
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Sep 14, 2012 - 02:08pm PT
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TRON!!!!
BWhaHWHAHAHAhahahahHAaH!!!!
Silly Spaniards.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 14, 2012 - 02:55pm PT
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Effing gachupines effed up S America, effed up invading England, effed up
their country, and now they've effed up our country?
Professional Eff-ups!
Should have known from the get-go the route was bogus with a name like that!
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michaeld
Sport climber
Sacramento
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Sep 14, 2012 - 03:40pm PT
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Why do you have two usernames?
Madboiter and madbolter? Why not use just 1?
The FA's look like tools in that video.
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