Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
cultureshock
Trad climber
Mountain View
|
|
Just wanted to get some input by putting lines on a photo. Does this look about right?
I was on top of North Dome last weekend and could see easy looking XC travel over to Basket dome.
Once over there it didn't seem so obvious how to get down to the base. Is some of it 4th class? Kevin said:
The bivi site is visible at the very top of your low res photo in the open, flat terrain above the smaller dome. From the bivi, descend to the east behind the smaller dome, then follow its base back to the west. The gully below the east wall of Basket Dome is kinda sketchy.
I'll probably be trying to make another trip this weekend to scope out the route and hopefully go to the base of the dome. Gotta capitalize on the 120 staying open!
 Luke
|
|
Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 4, 2012 - 06:06pm PT
|
Cultureshock person, if you are seeking info on the approach to Basket Case, the FA came from Tenaya Canyon in one of the worse approaches ever performed in the western hemisphere. Subsequently, Bridwell and Klemens and than my party came from above, off the Tioga Pass road, diverting from the trail to follow the western and then the southern surfaces of the dome, staying as high as reasonable, traversing high to get to the base of the dihedral you climb, not below it.
By the way I am not sure this climb has had any other ascents; it seems a shame as it is a safe and gorgeous climb whose difficulties slowly mount through the pitches. A great classic. Should you fail to do the crux (quite likely) you can aid it easily, as our very own Donini did back in the early seventies. Whatever you do, you will not EVER want to reverse the approach.
Kevin's superb route may also be lacking attention; I don't think there has been a second ascent...and it is one of the Valley's great lines. And to think he did it when he was forty.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
Report back on this, if you would cultureshiock, I'm developing a renewed intrest in it.
|
|
bob
climber
|
|
Milestone..........ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Bob J.
|
|
Zander
climber
|
|
Cultureshock,
Approach is line 2 in this photo, I believe.
Z
|
|
cultureshock
Trad climber
Mountain View
|
|
Thanks Zander. That seems to make sense for Basket Case. I was thinking that you might come in from the other side for Milestone... Not "1" in your photo but further towards Watkins.
Bob J, you have been on MileStone correct? Did you approach per "2" in Zander's photo (like for Basketcase) or something more like 1 or to the right, like I showed in my photo above.
Thanks for the note Peter:
Whatever you do, you will not EVER want to reverse the approach.
I was thinking it wouldn't be so bad to reverse the approach if you don't have any gear... I assume it's just really time consuming bushwhacking?
Here is an Xrez version with the left approach approximation. Seems I drew the horizontal (in yellow) part on a higher "ledge" system than Zander (now in green). Ah the power of ignorance...
Luke
|
|
Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
|
|
I meant to go up on that one because it was the only old school off width that I never did. But I broke my leg in the summer of 1976 and when I went back to the Valley the only guy who would go up was Yabbo, and he had already done it - with who, I can't say. Maybe Dale or Kauk. I don't know anyone else who has done that route, and it had to be the best off width line in the park. Probably still is. Must be an entirely different experience with big cams.
Great article by Peter.
I did a bunch of climbing with Drummond that year - including the 2nd ascents of Free Wheelin' and Quicksilver. He was very skilled on the open face, and could run the rope with the best of them.
JL
|
|
bob
climber
|
|
Luke, we came in on the blue line in your photo one time, but closer to the mini-dome in the gully butted up to it. Its smooth sailing and definitely the way to go. I've gone up, down, and even across and back from Snow Shed (sp??) trail. Warbler did a really nice description of it in his Milestone write-up.
Get on it
|
|
Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 4, 2012 - 08:27pm PT
|
Larg, I bet it was Dale. He was WAY more motivated then Kauk, and he really dug offwidth. It is hard to imagine that in his day, he would never have done the route.
Culture, you use the upper of #2 in your latest image. Do NOT take the lower of your #2. When you get out of the little brush-choked chute between the dome and that little crappy forested arete prior to traversing to the actual base of the route, it becomes completely clear what to do--- you traverse over to it on very easy 3rd class, following the path of least resistance. At no point should you be 4th classing anything to get to the base of Basket Case; it should all be elementary. If you get into real climbing or anything risky, you are off route.
Zander, your line is drawn too low for the traverse; see Culture's upper #2 as noted in this post.
What is so awful about the BC approach? The brush is dense and very deep. At times we were walking on top of vegetation that was 5 feet deep and would fall through it at times. And all the brush points vigorously downhill, making uphill progress much much more icky. And there is quite a bit of this, you are at 6500 ft or so and higher, a direct southern exposure, no water, and some miles from the road.
Granted it is a terrific place to be, the summit. Like Watkins. So as a mere hike....I can imagine a whole lot of other things to do for hikes other than these two approaches..but as we are all saying, the several climbs are flat-out world class climbs.
EDIT: My Basket Case story reached its final and best form this last year (2011) in Alpinist Magazine; I think Issue #33.
|
|
Alexey
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
|
|
Peter, thanks for the Great story, I probably reading it third or fourth time after every bump.
But only now I realized that number of assents for this route can be count on one hand ..
Donini and TM
Bridwell and Klemens
Haan and Ward
Dale Bart and ?
anyone anymore?
|
|
Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 5, 2012 - 11:26am PT
|
Mighty Anders, the "big corner just right of Basket Case" is Straight Jacket and the Scott-Child variation, routes from the 1970's. The gigantic (2nd) corner further right of Basket Case is just to the right of Kevin's Milestone (Orion) route (Milestone plays out on the beautiful smooth face verging on that huge corner/arch) this huge dihedral is not a climb yet, nor the awesome east face of Basket Dome even further right---the mini-wall rising above that crazy steep gully running up toward the summit.
|
|
cultureshock
Trad climber
Mountain View
|
|
|
Jan 10, 2012 - 12:47am PT
|
Thanks for all the comments and advice.
I had a great hike and found the base via the gully Warbler described. On the way down, i took a bit of a detour by going away from basket dome instead of towards it... OOPS!
The East Face sure is spectacular. I was pretty hard pressed to see anything that might be free climbable. Perhaps better eyes/binoculars are in order.
I might write more later, perhaps in another thread with photos.
Luke
|
|
Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
|
|
|
Jan 10, 2012 - 01:12am PT
|
Luke... Great shot of a rarely seen face!
|
|
Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 10, 2012 - 07:52am PT
|
Interesting! Here you also get a better idea of how hideous the bushwhack is down along the East face to get to Kevin's route start.
|
|
karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
|
|
|
Jan 10, 2012 - 11:50am PT
|
that looks like it could be a sport climbing crag! our own ceuse!
|
|
karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
|
|
|
Jan 10, 2012 - 01:06pm PT
|
hey luke, how long did it take to get to the base?
|
|
cultureshock
Trad climber
Mountain View
|
|
|
Jan 10, 2012 - 03:02pm PT
|
So I went the "long" aka wrong way, on the way down. It took me about 2 hours to the base from the car. I ran most approach on the trail then had to hike the rest due to cliffs/steepness and route finding. It just over 2 hours on the way back since I knew where I was going. Over 2000 feet of elevation gain from the base of basket dome back to the car.
The GPS data is here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/140223667
Lap1 is where I left the North Dome trail on the way down
Lap2 is where I met up with the correct approach (midway down the gully).
Lap3 is near the bottom of basket dome where you would go across to climb Milestone/Orion
Lap4 is the top of the "sub dome" ie the top of the approach gulley.
Lap5 is where I met back up with the trail.
From lap 3 to lap 4 is golden. A good way to get from subdome to the base and vise versa. I still didn't get the XC travel from the North Dome trail to the top of the sub dome quite right. It's hard to see and not quite obvious where the least amount of shrubbery is. I thinking I did better on the way down (leaving at Lap1) but just turned the wrong way when I got near the steep part.
Luke
|
|
Alexey
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
|
|
|
Nov 21, 2012 - 07:51pm PT
|
This great tread should be bump with story of 5-th free accent with 21century camelots..
|
|
Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 21, 2012 - 08:06pm PT
|
Alexey, I would love to read subsequent ascent reports too, but there are so very few that have climbed this great route.
Twenty-first century protection (Camalots, etc) would not make this climb really very different. It is not a protection challenge at all. When you are doing the crux, you are only about 10-12 feet above your protection and on a smooth vertical to overhanging wall. If you did put a large cam in at the crux, it would have to be deep. The temptation to pull on it would be terrific, too. The challenge is the offwidth climbing itself, those special few feet that are out of view of the belayer and up around the corner you have turned.
Modern big pro, however, does substantially change Twilight Zone; Left side of Slack; right and left side of Hourglass; Crack of Doom; Excalibur pitches; Narrow Escape; probably Edge of Night, for instance.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!