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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Oct 22, 2007 - 01:11pm PT
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Thanks, scuffy_b. Yeah, it was hairy, Tom. As I sit here thinking about it, I could have done a better job with my night-before preparations than drink several beers. My second fall, especially - I feel like I overreacted balance-wise when that hold gave way. I won't be so arrogant the next time I climb in the Black.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 22, 2007 - 02:42pm PT
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Wild ride Greg!!! Glad that you are recovering well and chose to post up your misadventure. 75' tops my personal best (worst??). Yikes!
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Ura
Big Wall climber
Okinawa
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Oct 22, 2007 - 04:38pm PT
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I read Pat Ament's book Stories of a Young Climber, with an account of some fearful Black Canyon route where he is strung out 150feet above belayer in a horizontal position between two walls, must reach up into a hole, let legs drop free into space, pull up into hole and so forth. That is on Chasm View, right?
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lcoyne
Big Wall climber
Byron Bay, Australia
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Oct 22, 2007 - 06:48pm PT
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Greg,
What a story! That's pretty game going back for second helpings after taking a big whipper, I'd be headed straight to the nearest sport crag.
If you reread your post carefully you may find a somewhat subliminal message which completely explains the first fall. I quote: "I attempt to lieback off the only holds that aren't loose and place my left foot on a DESCENT smear."
You've climbed long enough in the Black to know better than to use one of the dreaded descent smears!
On another note I'll be stateside in April so hopefully we can catch up and climb this time around.
BTW, which gully did you use to access the Gothic? I would have assumed the preferred approach would be via SOB.
Best, Leonard
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lcoyne
Big Wall climber
Byron Bay, Australia
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Oct 22, 2007 - 06:50pm PT
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Ura,
Yes, that is Ament's Chimney on N Chasm View, possibly the most daunting chimney on the planet (certainly looks that way).
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 22, 2007 - 07:15pm PT
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Jeepers Greg,
Glad your flight time was relatively inconsequential.
(And that arm today?)
How's it go?
"There are old climbers & there are bold climbers..."
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Oct 22, 2007 - 07:22pm PT
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hey there... great pics, and great post tarbuster, and everyone... thanks for the share... or, i'd never know about black canyon..... where is this place...??
think i will go look it up, too...
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Oct 22, 2007 - 07:28pm PT
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HaHaHaHa. Pretty funny Leonard. That explains things as well as anything else. The ol' descent smear looking like a decent smear...2nd time I fell for that this month!
Thanks Tar. My arm seems alright, but Iv'e got a twinge in my lower back that's worrying me. May have a check up just tomake sure that everything's, you know, unbroken.
Edit- Took a gully from the top - don't know the name of it.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Oct 22, 2007 - 07:58pm PT
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Yikes, Greg,
That's serious air.
Glad to hear you're ok.
Rick
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Oct 31, 2007 - 07:06pm PT
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Wow Greg, that's quite sobering. Sometimes it takes a couple dingers for reality to penetrate the wise old noggin...I'm glad there's no bits of Sistine Reality inside yours.
A friend of mine was on the Hallucinogen Wall that weekend... they got pounded by that storm. One guy's brand-new, borrowed (!) Metolius ledge -still had the tags on it-- was flung against the wall and broke, leaving him flying sideways off his daisies. Once they reeled him in the three of them spent the next 18 hours huddled in a doublewide until the weather cleared up enough to permit retreat.
My friend Scott and I thought this a good a sign as any to climb the route ourselves-- a pretty uneventful trip that left me with two impressions:
first, early ascents of this thing must have been very difficult--where we pulled on long strings of fixed heads, someone must have had to get up high and put them all in. The experience had to have been way, way different. Not to mention the hooking pitch... I'd love to hear about how this thing was BITD from you, um, more experienced fellers.
secondly, free-climbing that thing is inspiring and rad! There was chalk in some amazing places. Nice job there, Jared and Ryan, and thanks for replacing all those bolts.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 09:08pm PT
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Well, this one is more tinkertoys than freeclimbing but an adventure none the less. From Summit Nov-Dec 1980. Take it away Wild Bills!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 31, 2007 - 09:14pm PT
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Right on Steve,
And thanks for putting out all this great historically relevant print material for us! This effort really notches up the quality of the experience are on the forum.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 10:17pm PT
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My pleasure Roy. And just when you thought the thread was safe, Aye Carumba-----Banditos!! From Glenn Randall's superb Vertigo Games, 1983. The gift that keeps on giving......
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Dang-Grunkee! glad it turned out more or less okay!
Hang on to your organs and other body parts, we have still have yet to rope up together!
Boogaloo, '08 is just around the corner!
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Leonard Coyne is one of my heroes. I have heard of him through all the years and never got to climb with him, though.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Where we OUGHT to rope together is in the Black, Jaybro. OWs 1,000 feet up. On the other hand, I'm thinking of working on my ping-pong game instead of climbing. I suck, but in a way that's not likely to get me killed.
btw, turns out, nothing broken...just sore.
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reddirt
climber
subarwu
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my intro to the black this summer... ya gotta start somewhere, right?
stopped by to check it out for the first time while driving from Moab to Boulder...
as a relatively newbish eastcoaster, I was just thankful to even have laid eyes on it... To this day, most of the people I climb with locally still have never heard of it.
I don't think anyone one can comprehend how great it is unless they've been there in person. For some reason, I got a little fixated on the place from the moment I first heard about it. I felt lucky just to be there, even if I didn't have a partner.
After getting to Boulder, I was lucky enough to get hooked up w/ a partner... a pretty solid one at that ; P
until next year?....
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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I have ascended a fair number of routes in the Black almost all of them in the pre-cam days. In all that time the Canyon scared me enough that falling never seemed like an option. I have in fact only had two falls off those walls both from ripped hooks.
The second one was a terrifying but harmless wiff off the Hallucinogen. But the first was a doozie of a plummet off of the Hooker. I was climbing into the unprotected pegmatite crux with my friend and partner Dave Henritze belaying. I was feeling controlled and confident even though my last piece of a pro, a good wired stopper, was with every move up quickly fading from sight. There was still a long way to go before good pro would be available which I must say really sharpend my awareness. Soon I came to the climb's namesake the dubious free-pro hook placement. I didn't have any tape to secure the little bugger but I placed and clipped it any way. As soon as I started to move on the nasty thing started to wiggle and pivot. I thought that can't be good. The oh so brilliant idea came to me that I should "set" it in place. so I slowly eased my weight on it relieved to see it actually holding. Then I bounced on it a little while still holding on the rock. It stayed put. So I put a good solid drop on it to try and somewhat fix it. The little metal devil immediately ripped hitting me smack in the teeth. I proceeded at an alarming rate straight down the wall head first. Did I mention that in those days to save weight only the belayer wore a helmet. Well this was obviously not a good situation. I started thinking of all the things I hadn't screwed up at yet and it seemed I had a looong time to think.
I am not at all sure how long of a fall I took But it was far and away the most air time I have ever logged. I ended up hanging in space still head down alternately staring wide eyed at the river directly below and My belayer directly to my left. Dave had never seen me fall before and didn't expect it I am sure. So I don't know which of us looked more like a deer in the headlights but his eyes were fairly bulging out of his head. Mine were only kept in place by the glasses strapped to my face. Well as it all worked out I was absolutely un harmed and un scathed. But very very dazed! My family jewels had been sucked up so hard that I thought I felt them squeezing my Adam's apple out of the way. Needless to say we retreated.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 1, 2007 - 02:27pm PT
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Hey philo,
What's your name?
We both live in Boulder (Ned for me really) and were apparently both in CA in the mid-late 70's.
(ie Your 2nd ascent of Figures with Maria)
Just curious.
Roy
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Reddirt- they don't get any better than Sargent Rock!
Philo- great story from the days when we were all nuts! Always memorable when you fall past a belay stance! Yahoo!
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