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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Apr 30, 2014 - 12:45am PT
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Tom Kasper designed and manufactured his 9" and 12" Valley Giant cams specifically for our ascent of Excalibur. They worked perfectly - superb craftsmanship.
I wonder if he still makes them? You should get some, Arturo. I have one 9" VG I could loan you, for some beers and a few schlepps to the base.
The 2x4's that people refer to here are metric chunks of wood, 2cm x 4cm. You place them between the cam axles to thermomogulate the receptors and thus mitigate the thermoflex reaction that E describes above.
Here's Tom with his Valley Giants on Excalibur:
Nice route, Excalibur.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Apr 30, 2014 - 01:11am PT
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Awesome stuff Pete.
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Apr 30, 2014 - 05:10am PT
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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So can you get by on Excalibur with just a single VG9? The topos only show a few spots with >6". Anyone have comments about how bad the 5.8 no pro really is?
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Drunk spiderman is a real help. Thanks for that...
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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I'd loanya my niner there Moof, but I'm a bit outta your trajectory it seems.
speaking of woodblocks though....
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Thanks Mike!
I think we'll have 2x 6", and 2x 7", and a 9". I'll bring a couple wood blocks and go for it.
Any suggestions on the pin rack? The ST one is pretty beefy, even calls for 1/4" nuts (really?!).
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Excalibur was my 17th El Cap route, back in May 2002. It seems like only a season or two ago - where has the time gone?? I remember it as being a lot of fun over really good rock, with NTB hauling for the left side, and plenty of easy pitches with nothing really hard at all.
I've never tried the wooden block trick, but I would sure like to have at least two #9's VG with me for the long sections of wyde. In 2002 the bolts along the wyde bits were pretty bad - I wonder if they have been replaced and upgraded?
I would think that the "new" big Peckers would take a lot of the bite out of the old crux nailing pitch P6, but you may still have to make eight hook moves in a row at its top.
There is a huge and virtually unknown/invisible-from-the-ground cave at the top of 10. You could climb up into there to bivy during a storm, and would never feel a drop of water.
Frosty's Claustrophobic Bivy is also a one of a kind place on El Cap, or anywhere else for that matter. I won't tell you exactly what it is, except that it has an area of one hundred square feet, and a volume of one hundred cubic feet.
We did have hybrid Aliens with us, but my notes also mention using sawed-offs in quite a few places. But big Peckers can often replace sawed-offs, just tapped into the bottom of the hole. Incidentally, I usually keep detailed notes, so if anyone is heading up this route [or any other] on El Cap, email me and I can send you some beta.
Cheers, eh?
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Feb 10, 2016 - 04:14pm PT
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Thanks Pete!
The notes are a little nuts, but quite helpful.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Feb 10, 2016 - 06:07pm PT
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Dru Marquardt and I climbed it ( excalithe, actually) in June of '88 or '9, without wood blocks. It was a free attempt and we had big Yates cams.
Anyone know if that was the first block free ascent of those lower Wyde pitches?
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TrundleBum
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Feb 10, 2016 - 06:23pm PT
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I swear I've got one that I found at the base area half a dozen years ago...
That I helped John Rutt make/cut in Camp-4 30 years prior :)
I aught to give it to the museum. I bumped into it the other day and it's getting pretty dried out.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Feb 10, 2016 - 06:31pm PT
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Photo Trundle? A Rutt block would be a historical gem, to some of us!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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bump for width & good stuff
Where has Trundlebum gone, btw?
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Gunkie
Trad climber
Valles Marineris
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Wide gear is fun and dangerous. Gave myself a gash above my right eye while messing around with a BigBro. Didn't brag about that until now.
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