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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Bonatti Pillar on the Aiguille de Dru. First Ascent Walter Bonatti, 1955. The pillar fell off in the big rockfall Anders refers to above.
I did it in 1976 with Dewi B., then from Wales. Really enjoyable route and I was sorry to see it go.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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I did the Center Route to El Cap Tree about five months before the first two pitches fell off.
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Chief
climber
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Mark,
How goes the training for Freerider?
You have to get up yer butt there for the rest of us old farts who will NEVER DO IT!
PB
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BooDawg
Social climber
Paradise Island
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Who was the last to chimney behind Psyche Flake on HD's NW Face? Hennek & I were talking about how all early parties chimneyed behind it, pushing outward. When did the heavy snows take it down? Spooky, thinking about how we'd climbed it...
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Chief,
So far so good although I've yet to touch rock this year. I'm at my fighting weight and am feeling real well. In late April I'm going down for a recon as high up on Freerider we can go in a day and back down again. We're planning on heading up on it on Memorial Day weekend (along with 500 of our best friends). I'll start power training soon on my Nicros HIT wall.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 3, 2010 - 06:16pm PT
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How about the story of RR climbing Tantalus crack with a hand full of pitons? is that true? Royal sometimes stops by here, and maybe can comment. The FFA of Tantalus Crack was probably by Al Givler in 1968 - not Jim Madsen. Gordie, Neil et al can likely confirm. Early on I heard that Robbins did the second free ascent, during his visit to Vancouver in spring 1971. He must have had only one or two days at Squamish. I doubt that either Al or Royal got any protection worth mentioning - maybe a 6" bong near the bottom, or a bong endways somewhere, and higher up you can apparently put things in blindly, in the crack at the back. When I saw Steve Sutton lead it in 1975, he did it unprotected from the start of the main crack, in about ten minutes.
A bit about the history of Pipeline at http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=204679
There's more at the following threads, though you have to look - includes Greg's memories of Pipeline.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/668163/Climbing-at-Squamish-in-the-1970s-TR
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/849758/Squamish-Climbers-the-80s-Photos
And here's a cross-link to a somewhat related thread, in case it's being sought:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1134167/Most-precarious-spire-ever-climbed
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Boo Dawg,
I was wondering about Psyche Flake myself. I was on the summit in August of 1968 when a couple of climbers finished the regular NWF. I was unaware of the Flake's departure until they told me about it.
I also wonder who made the last ascents of the Undercling Pitch, not to mention the Gong Flake on Lower Cathedral Rock. The Undercling Pitch's demise surprised me. I've never been near the Gong Flake but, from what I understand, its fall was always expected.
John
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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i did a first and last ascent of a fun V5/6ish boulder problem in gualala. i brought my buddy out to repeat it and it was gone. a big winter storm made the gualala river mouth open wide and it ate it (took it out to sea)!
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laughingman
Mountain climber
Seattle WA
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Dec 28, 2011 - 01:40pm PT
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The west and southwest face Aiguille du Dru gets destroyed by rockfall every decade or so...
Several routes on Troll Wall in Norway also no longer climbable due to rockfall....
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 28, 2011 - 04:34pm PT
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Yes, there was a big rockfall on Trollveggen in 1998. A good part of the middle section of the Rimmon (English) route, from 1965, fell off. One theory is that it was due to melting of permafrost within the cliff. The route, and those adjoining it to either side, haven't been climbed much since.
There's a new book out by Tony Howard, who was on the FA of the Rimmon Route - called "Troll Wall". (He also founded Troll Equipment.) Based on his notes of the climb, made soon afterward, with an introduction and afterword. Well worth a read. I don't know if there's a similar account by any of the four Norwegians who did their route at much the same time, but got to the top a day before the English. Despite news media nonsense, they were all quite friendly, and laughed off the idea that it was a race.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 28, 2011 - 04:57pm PT
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I'd wager the 'chunk' that fell off the Caroline Face of Mt Cook is 5
times the size of the whole Dru!
Pretty sure the routes on Willis Wall change pretty regularly (weekly?).
After a 20 year absence I barely recognized some of the regular routes on
the south side of Rainier although that was global warming, of course.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Dec 28, 2011 - 06:14pm PT
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How about that big slab of rock that used to be the start of the east face of Bugaboo Spire?
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Dec 28, 2011 - 06:27pm PT
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I climbed that route at Vantage just before it was tipped over as well.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 19, 2012 - 06:13pm PT
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Did the compressor take the drop?
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Jan 19, 2012 - 06:38pm PT
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Guess a FA of mine with Bob Kamps is more or less gone: Punch Bowl, right side of Glacier Point Apron in Yosemite. I hear rock fall took out several protection bolts. Seemed like a good route at the time. Maybe if and when rock stabilizes it will get reconstituted by a future generation.
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Jan 21, 2012 - 09:02am PT
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We might mentiion Psyche Flake on Half Dome. I believe
Robbins and Rearick made the last ascent of it (and third
ascent of the route), before it went. There of course is
the scary possibility that another party was at the fourth
ascent when the flake blew...
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Jan 21, 2012 - 11:01am PT
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It turns out that hairiest route I have ever been on was El Cap Tree Direct. Did it about a few years before most of the route disappeared from the face below the tree. It was the strangest experience on the climb to be nailing this straight-in crack for 100-120 feet that was expanding actively and actually consequently turned into A3 pretty quickly as the pitch went on. Looking at El Cap, but not really looking at the near details of our situation, we hadn't a clue. We were sure young-and-dumb as they say, and kept banging away. That rockfall later on was one of the worst off El Cap in memory and yeah the route is gone.
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Dave Davis
Social climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 21, 2012 - 01:17pm PT
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At Index Mead Hargis and Jay Ossiander did a really difficult nailing route that went up the blasted out quarry section right of the lower wall. Near the top it nailed over an enormous overhang.One particularly wet winter the entire overhang sheered off flush with the wall. Those huge blocks lying on the ground just as the lower wall turns up toward the quarry belong to that former overhang. Pretty safe to say they got both the first and last ascent.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 21, 2012 - 01:37pm PT
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Mr Lucky...
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