Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 9, 2012 - 07:49am PT
Heading up the wall in a couple hours with kieran and nate(a.k.a. Browniephoto and thesoloclimber)!!
Our plan is to climb Zorros Last Ride(V 5.8) A3+) into Lost at Sea(III 5.8 A3+). As far as we know Lost at Sea has only had 1 repeat attempt and that was by me and fishboy.
The stoke is over whelming!
I tried to solo Zorros a couple months ago... and retreated half way through the traversing nail straight up under the roof pitch.. time for redemption!
Pre spray photos comming after a couple cups of coffee
damn it Kid! I was supposed to work today. Now I have to wait breathlessly for the live feed update. Thats the final straw . I'm upgrading to I phone.
Hey while your up there, have a close look at the bolts and rivets. There was a bad batch of 1/4 inchers going around back then and a few wound up on the hooking pitch. Dave Lane was watching Daryl with binocs one day, standing on a little bolt after a nice long hooking section when - pop! Away he sailed, just pulling up short of the lip of the roof!
We expect a live report of every bolt inspection and a go pro of any whippers
Forgot to finish my whiskey and water last night... got called out by my wife. drinking it now... MMM whiskey for breakfast, that oughta get rid of the anticipation shakes.
its a familiar feeling this morning, pre adventure stoke, normally nate busts in the front door, but today we gotta go pick him up in horseshoe bay.
kierans out scavenging more water bottles, and Im going to pick up some reefer momentarily.
It should be noted that we are ascending fixed lines to below the roof, in order to maximize use of our time frame, plus we have all already free climbed the first 5 pitches before.
That looks like a sweet line. Thanks for the blow by blow, Luke, I wasn't sure how much more politard spew I could handle. All is right in the universe now.
Oooh yeah..... The three sketchiest climbers in Squam attempt some A3+ where only one of those has any real aiding experience.
By the way, I have two surprises for you guys..... One is for us climbers, but the other is gonna be shared with everyone ;)
Luke, you got your speaker?
hey mike
the mark of zoro pitch that includes the hooking is not that big a deal relative to the pitch under the roof iirc
Be sure to test those old bolts -daryl took a big whipper on the second ascent attempt.
hey boys, ya know not too long ago, before twitter and Iphones, we used to keep you wall rats company by getting liquored up and going out to the parking lot with a rifle or two. For old times sake you don't mind flashing your headlamps for us do you?
Too bad you aren't on the lesbian -the first ascent party lit a fire on lesbian ledge and had a hot dog roast complete with toasted buns, mustard and ketchup.
Not only are the original bolts on Zorros bad, but also there is a huge problem with failures under light loads for the belay bolts which have already been replaced. See CAJ 2002 issue for accident report details and route advisory.
Check and make sure there is a tiny "H" stamped on the end of the 3/8" studs at the belay, if not don't trust them with more than 150 lb's till you have drilled all new holes and replaced all the Stations.
Sorry I meant to tell you sooner. Sleep well, if you can ..... sleep at all
I'm surprised anyone went up there without parachutes.
The Squamish Big Walls guide put together by MM and JF indicates that all the Zorros bolts have been upgraded to nice fat 3/8's.. If i know Luke, the boys are cooking dinner as he fixes a pitch right about now....
+1000 Chief!! Tell the Bridwell story!! For us youngsters....
NFR here. Pretending the stories of bad bolts are just to scare us. We got some tunes bumpin. Getting cozy, and now that the wind has died down, it ain't too bad. BK was that you shining the spotlight at us? We thought it might be the police freakin out.
Bmacd, you jealous yet?
Oh Bruce I guess u didn't hear that MM actually reinforced the faulty Chinese bolts by lining the holes with the foil from chewing gum wrappers and overtorquing them. Should be bomber now.
OK, so I drove by at about 6:30 and could see a headlamp, probably just under the roof. I flashed my headlamp at them, FWIW. It was +5 and windy, so they'll be doing the dreaded triple spoon stack for sure.
Once upon a time there were three little bears who went climbing. There was Luke-bear, Kieran-bear, and Nate-bear, aka Brownie-bear. They set off on a nice morning...
First they stopped for a safety meeting, to put on their "Friend of the Chief" buttons, and to correct spelling errors. Also to check if Ryan had snuck along. While walking through the enchanted forest...
While hiking through the forest, the three bears were assailed by trolls. There was the Bruce-troll, the Greg-troll, the Hamish-troll, and the Jim-troll. "You're going to die" said the cheerful trolls, unaware that this is a childrens' story. "The bolts are going to break, you're going to freeze, you should just wait until they build their idiotic gondola, plus we envy you all your fun". Pretty grumpy bunch, eh? The intrepid trio continued despite the trolls, and soon were at the base of the wall, where they rehydrated, had another safety meeting, and sorted their eleven bags of stuff...
Then they had to make a big decision. Who was going to lead the first pitch, and would any spoon pitons be needed? Plus would there be cocoa and marshmallows with their bedtime story? Would Squamish SAR be called out because some non-climber saw "a light on the wall"? Disregarding such existential questions, they set off. Big Jim was there, in spirit anyway - don't leave home without him! They hadn't climbed far when the pink fingers of sunset began to caress the horizon, and the street lights began to come on. Our brave heroes needed a roof for the night. Where could they find one?
While hiking through the forest, the three bears were assailed by trolls. There was the Bruce-troll, the Greg-troll, the Hamish-troll, and the Jim-troll. "You're going to die" said the cheerful trolls, unaware that this is a childrens' story. "The bolts are going to break, you're going to freeze, you should just wait until they build their idiotic gondola, plus we envy you all your fun".
Haha Anders, literary gold right there! Unaware that this is a children's story lol!
The threesome was also worried about nocturnal attacks from peregrine falcons, and tired from vertical freight-handling, but was relieved that Luke-bear's honed sasquatch sense revealed that none of the creatures were in the vicinity, although it is ideal habitat. Still, you can't short, medium and long fix all night, and besides not everything was broken and needed fixing. The team had some more to eat. Suddenly the light went on, although it was dark. There was a large granite roof overhead, which was just the ticket. Their room might lack walls and a floor, but it had a darn good ceiling! Plus a view that couldn't be beat.
First pitch of the adventure was short and brutal Maneuvering from the 2nd last anchor on 'moving to Montana' up under the roof was quite tricky and scary. Involving rotten rock and lots of hooking...
Bmacd, I have two dull bits and they are both at home
Our brave heroes had endured many hardships and perils in their Quest. Finally princess Tami arrived, to succour them. "Portaledge portaledge, on the wall", she said, "Who is the fairest of them all?" And no, she added, I'm not Fishing for an answer. If you want witty repartee, talk to the evil stepmother.
Wipe the nocturnal emissions from your backs get your asses up and let's see some action.
The best days start with coffee weed a cig and a shot of AlBerta Springs rye so have some breakfast and someone get on lead.
Mike I only threw the Cup comment in cuz I love ya guys and well quite frankly I find its home being LA offensive as well. The cup should never reside where it doesn't snow. FACT!
Good morning Internet friends the three bears survived the night, despite a minor portaledge malfunction that woke the trio unexpectedly. Going to get climbing after some coffee and breaky on the pitch that sent me home crying to mommy.
Nate had a dream that the heli snuck in and picked the whole ledge off the wall.
Hmm.... Svelte, ripped, irresistibly handsome and care free does seem superior. damn it Mike why'd you have pop my bubble?
I wonder how the batteries are holding up? Thats an awfully brisk outflow wind out my window.
And I hope they don't sleep in too long. Winter is coming - like, tomorrow. Anders tale may take a dark little twist. I've never really thought of the Chief as the Eiger but where they are its close enough. The Luke Tosser traverse, Cliff Swallows nest bivouac, The Rather Difficult Crack, Traverse of the Clods..... approaching storm, the whole town and internet community waiting breathlessly as the drama unfolds..... Cow bells in the meadow below
Now If we'd had just a little fore-sight and had given the green light to the cog railway to the summit, there would be a hole blasted in the wall right about there and we could rescue them easy.
The three little fuzzy wuzzy bears awoke from their cozy, cuddly nap - it wasn't time to hibearnate yet. It was yet another bluebird day in Squampton, where the sun always shines, except maybe on planning processes. They checked carefully for p'terodactyls, trolls, sasquatches, Werners, peregrines, and other monsters, after first clearing their heads with some coffee. It turned out that the fairy princess had only been their imaginations. But WHAT imagination! Anyway, they were hooked on the wall, alert to poisoned apples, had put on their magic slippers (but no magic underwear - sorry, Mitt), and were ready to continue with the ride of the Valkyries and other Wagnerian stuff that Bruce-troll had warned them about.
U guys finish on bellygood? Nathan is staring at the sunny rocks across the valley, definitely yearning. Don't worry boys, just a few more hrs till the sun!
Our intrepid heroes struggled valiantly on, slaying real and not so real demons and monsters in profusion. The rock ran red with the blood of the beasts, or was it the rays of the setting sun? No matter, the incoming Rain of Doom would wash the wall clean. Hopefully though it would not wash the bears away with it - they had kilometres to go before they slept. Or at least some hooks and bashies and stuff. Hopefully the time would not come when they cried to the princess in her tower on Dance "Tamipunzel, Tamipunzel, let down your fair hair!". She might cry out "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", fearing that the big bad wolf had escaped from Idaho and was hiding in one of their haulbags. "My, what big footfangs you have" she'd say, before being devoured.
To be continued, perhaps much later ... bedtime stories needn't just be at night.
Luke is nearing the bolt ladder, once we're past the lip of the roof we should start making some real progress.. Phones are dying and the sun isn't on us yet..
The suspense was almost too much to take. How were the three bears, the eleven little pigs, and princess Tami doing? Were they getting past all the monsters and obstacles? Stay tuned!
So we decided to push the push to a siege. Turns out it gets dark pretty early this time of year, which makes climbing multiple pitches a day hard. TKC took longer than anticipated for the roof pitch, and got scared of bathooking in the dark. I got frustrated with the slow progress, as I was comparing aiding to free climbing, and Brownie just didn't care.
So we came down. However the high point is fixed, and luckily there aren't usually lineups for this route.
I thought for those that have done grade V climbs on el cap that using petty siege tactics on a mere grade IV was not acceptable at least that's what this video tells me, I'm sure you've all seen it but seems like there could be a lesson in there:-)
So we came down. However the high point is fixed, and luckily there aren't usually lineups for this route.
Lightweights.
Wayno and I are about to head north. It's 8 pm now, so I figure we'll be parking the car below the Chief about midnight. Probably take us a couple of hours to hike to base and jug your lines, so what's that? About 02:00? Somtehing like. And given that you guys probably won't get up until 08:00, and then you'll spend another two hours over breakfast, and at least an hour after that just getting yourselves to the base, we'll have plenty of time.
In fact, I reckon we'll probably be up and over the top by the time you guys get anywhere near your fixed ropes, so everything will probably look just like you left it, and you won't even be able to tell that we aced you.
Perry, you scared the buhjeeezzuss out of us. What a bold line, I got two bolts out the mark of zorros pitch and ran out of juice, the previous pitch was mentally taxing and long. Rope is fixed.. Will continue with updates of our siege effort some time in the new year.
Luke, you really need to go up there and sit out a serious storm. After that, you'll be shaving every day. Nothing puts things into perspective better than good old Mother Nature screaming in your face.
Winter Wall Seige in the great canadian north. Endurance, boldness, suffereing. Its like the Russians on Ak Su. The koreans in Everest. This is better than Big Brother season nine. Keep the feed comin'!
I simply can't wait to see the first part of The Hobbit. The first real book that I ever read, and a classic bedtime story. Full of imagination, and better still opening on December 14th. I'm not sure if there will be any princesses in it, but there'll certainly be trolls, dwarves, hobbits, wizards, elves, and other neat stuff. Who wants to do a field trip to see it?
Sieging is a Squamish tradition. Fix a pitch, pub, two weeks later fixthe next pitch etc.
Luc had his haul bag rigged up like a scarecrow complete with a jacket and pants so that when he left it hanging/fixed at his highpoint it looked like a body. He got told he had to stop that after one too many 911 calls from tourists.
Let us know!