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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 26, 2012 - 01:38pm PT
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Ron also has some ballast above his belt buckle that keeps him in balance.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Oct 26, 2012 - 01:39pm PT
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Jeremy, yeah, on a good day... I'm starting to shrink already, I used to be 5'2.75" but now I'm really 5'1.875" at best!
I can relate! I was 5'5" but now it's about 1/2" shorter -- and shrinking. I learned early that I had to get into the highest steps possible in my aid slings (See how old school I am? None of this aiders stuff.) Unlike you, Mark, my arms are short, though, so I use an extension arm, consisting of an old-style Chouinard Cliffhanger in an old-style Yosemite Hammer to make particularly reachy clips.
Incidentally, Robbins (who was not particularly tall himself) was quite proud of the bolt ladders he put in on Tis-sa-ack and The Prow, and bragged about them in his write-ups of their first ascents. Also, on The Prow, there were occasional marginal aid placements between a few of the bolts.
John
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2012 - 01:42pm PT
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Like chris mac said in once of his aid articles, "no fooling around...get up in those aiders fast!". practice this mantra while leading and you'll get faster super quick.
+1
efficiency helps a lot. I saw a lot of improvement in the speed 1st to 2nd wall. On my first wall I did not see how it was possible at all to do more than 4 pitches of aid per day lol. Walls are interesting in a way.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 26, 2012 - 01:44pm PT
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Keep that wall urge under control Vitaliy....you seem destined for the mountains.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
the crowd MUST BE MOCKED...Mocked I tell you.
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Oct 26, 2012 - 01:48pm PT
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V,
Have you ever heard of "Tee'ing" off?
Ron O. has a clean climbing video floating around that shows this technique in action.
I suspect there is a video on youtube.
If you cross one foot in front of the other in your top step, it stabilizes the stance.
It doesn't work for overhanging, as far as I know, but it really does help on vertical to less than vertical.
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m_jones
Trad climber
Carson City, NV
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Oct 26, 2012 - 01:49pm PT
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Yes I wondered that as well. Last year on South Seas the bolt ladders seriously worked me. I was aghast at how much actually! had totally forgotten about the total body strength required to top step on a 95 degree wall.
I found this year that clipping my chest harness to my harness helped me top step easier plus from climbing a bit this summer had regained some of the core strength specific to climbing.
We joked that you pretty much had to climb full time just to be fit enough to climb occasionally!
Still - remarkable on the first ascents the work required to drill!
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2012 - 01:49pm PT
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Keep that wall urge under control Vitaliy....you seem destined for the mountains.
It would be nice to combine mountains, ability to free climb harder terrain (than i can now), and wall skills. Than I can finally complete that Latok climb! ;)
Have you ever heard of "Tee'ing" off?
no
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 26, 2012 - 01:52pm PT
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You're the man...that puppy (Latok) needs some closure!
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2012 - 01:55pm PT
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for now im jk about Latok of course...I am sure it will be done by someone before I get enough skills/balls to go there.
How hard does one need to climb to give it a realistic attempt? That ridge is beautiful.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 26, 2012 - 02:00pm PT
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The skills must be there but TENACITY is the word....oh, and throw in a little luck.
Who knows, it might still be there for you....it has been 34 years- who would've thunk.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Oct 26, 2012 - 02:10pm PT
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Talk about speed, I heard those two rocked Wet Denim yesterday!
I was told The Reticent has extremely reachy ladders. Brother A said he could barely reach 'em at all, and he's no shorty. Gerby had a technique, I suppose.
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cliffhanger
Trad climber
California
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Oct 26, 2012 - 02:14pm PT
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It could all be explained by the use of balance placements. These are intermediate placements, only able to hold a few pounds, so you can pull yourself in one direction or the other, or to pull you into the wall. Tiny copperheads (hooks too) are excellent for this. Yanking the head when cleaning will often destroy the small flake that was used, making it all a mystery to a later party.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2012 - 02:25pm PT
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had to bump Latok thread since it is mentioned. But seriously, how hard would the rock ratings feel? Would one have to lead at least solid 5.11/wi5 before thinking of going there?
this move ya do where ya step high way up in your top step - and ya sort of leverage with your fifi or a quickdraw and ya pop way up done that a few times. Hard to do if terrain is even slightly overhanging.
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Oct 26, 2012 - 02:28pm PT
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Yup… Gerberding, Middendorf, etc.
But I’m not buying any of this 15 or 30 minutes to place a bolt or a rivet on a ladder. No way, especially if placing rivets of any sort. Should be maybe 5 minutes per rivet, 10 minutes max if you are lazy and slow and are placing longer 1/4” bolts. If you are quick, a machine-head rivet might take about 2 or 3 minutes to place. High-speed steel drill bits have been around forever; it’s not exactly new technology.
Mark, go check out the 4th pitch ladder on Cataclysmic Megasheer on the S. Face of HD. ; )
Another reason why the scars are so close together on Serenity is that once a placement became so scarred and ‘boxed-out’, it became more difficult to use. So, climbers resorted to using a much thinner pin in a new placement, which of course, suffered the same fate as the older placements. With time, the crack was basically turned into a line of square holes.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 26, 2012 - 02:37pm PT
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It's not so much the difficulty of individual moves Vitaliy. We were all on the cutting edge of climbing for that era. You need to be able to summon up something near your A game each and every day. You need to be able to stay alert and focused even when desperately tired or dealing with atrocious weather and conditions. We had to make 85 single anchor raps in bad weather, while tired and with no food....and, not have one of them fail.
The more time you spend in the mountains, the more obstacles you overcome, the more ready you will be for such a climb.
It's not about the parts; rock and ice climbing ability, experience, endurance, ability to suffer, ambition, tenacity, strategic planning, focus....it's about the sum of the parts, and, most importantly, your PARTNERS.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 26, 2012 - 02:40pm PT
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Ron...it was a compliment, you always amaze me!
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2012 - 02:59pm PT
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Thank you for the post, Jim. Climbs like that is what climbing is about. You guys succeeded to get the best experience out of that route, that's for sure. Not a happy end, but a true experience. Something you are proud to give your best and survive you know? Awesome posts on those other threads.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 26, 2012 - 03:02pm PT
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Well I guess I need to use emoticons that wink.
A year ago (and more) I was packin' around a bit much.
Look, you do the geezer crack climber thing and I'll do the wall/remote/drill thing. Kay?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 26, 2012 - 03:03pm PT
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Yeah...let's divide and conquer!
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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Oct 26, 2012 - 03:49pm PT
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hyper-psyche
and homemade buscuits.
vitality,
you gotta stand on the shoulders
of your's own vitality,
which is upon substances
such as wayward dreams
and anti-understandings.
vertical is merely
the step-master of infinity.
you already got everywhere tamed,
so walk bravely up your fabric ladder
and poke god in the eye.
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