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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 26, 2015 - 11:01am PT
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I had a fun trip to Indian Creek with Greg Cameron last month and we met a couple of guys from Vancouver on the crack next to the one we were on.
The subject of Greg’s legendary first free ascent of Pipeline at Squamish came up and one of the Canadians said it is still considered an intimidating test piece, probably underrated at 5.10 d.
All the more remarkable since Greg free-soloed the route, on- sight back in 1979.
It got me thinking about how few solo first ascents there are and I could only think of the following, offhand.
• Greg Cameron: FFA Pipeline . Squamish
• Jim Erickson: FA Blind Faith, Eldorado Canyon.
• John Bachar: FA Edging Skills or Hospital Bills, Tuolumne
• Pete Cleveland: FA original route on Superpin, Black Hills
• John Yablonski: FA of Spiderline, Joshua Tree
Others?
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Nov 26, 2015 - 11:19am PT
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Didn't Conrad Kain OSFS Bugaboo Spire?
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rick sumner
Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
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Nov 26, 2015 - 11:23am PT
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JGILL probably has a lengthy list.
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wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
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Nov 26, 2015 - 11:47am PT
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Probably not quite up there in the realm of Pipeline, but Mick Fairchild's on-sight free solo of Smoke and Mirrors was very impressive. Located at nearly the very top of Redgarden Wall, looking up at that featured face and going for it sans rope seems to me very committing. It has since had a bolt or three added with Mick's blessing, and when I repeated it several years ago, my hands were sweating pondering doing the route in that style without knowing how good the features on that face would be. Turns out it's .10a but the features are obviously small when viewed from below.
I've asked Greg what he was thinking when he did the FA of Pipeline, and he basically said he was confident it would go, and if not he could down climb. Says a lot about the wide crack master Greg is to even believe what he told me. My buddy who just wrote the crack climber's technique book has told me that Pipeline is probably .11a, and while the crux is short, it apparently is steeper than vertical for several moves. I haven't done it, but it is another onsight free solo FA that has a position that makes me sick to contemplate.
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john hansen
climber
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Nov 26, 2015 - 12:11pm PT
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How about David Breashears ,Perilous Journey?
He was tied to a rope, but placed no pro.
Does that count?
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dhayan
climber
culver city, ca
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Nov 26, 2015 - 12:17pm PT
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Tobin Sorensen did Tobin's Dihedral at dome rock. Didn't Reardon do some notable ones?
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Nov 26, 2015 - 12:19pm PT
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Alan Nelson: FA of Granite Garden, Dozier Dome, 5.9, 3 pitches if you were to use a rope, 7/86
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Nov 26, 2015 - 12:37pm PT
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Michael Reardon did a free solo 5.12 at the Needles, Shikata Ga Nai.
Here's his email which describes it:
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 12:11:08 -0500
From: michael@freesoloist.com
To: Clint Cummins <clint@stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: Shikata Ga Nai at Needles
Hi Clint,
Thank you for the kind words! It's always great to hear from others who enjoy the Needles as well.
"Shikata Ga Nai" is a project that I've been looking at for a couple years now, but had to train up accordingly.
The name is Japanese and translates basically to, "there is no other way". It's located to the right of "Predator"
and follows the obvious line/arete under "Nautilus". It starts with 100+ feet of 5.10 scrambling through bushes/trees
with the occasional smear move. At the big ledge, follow the 250+ foot gorgeous arete
(Thomas Kranzle repeated this pitch on a 300 foot TR and was a littled annoyed that I rated it 11d,
which is why I'm willing to go to 12a). No cheating and going onto the face holds with buckets (not to mention that
there are a few loose holds there). After that, you'll be right near the base of "Nautilus".
Follow 100 foot arching low angle crack (5.9?) to a ledge. From here, stay on the ledges until reaching the base
of an obvious line of tufas that stretch for 200+ feet up to 5.11.
That final pitch is about 200 feet to the left of "Iceberg"/"Lifeboat". You top out on the other side of "Shazam".
A really fun line and except for the second and last pitches, easy to protect.
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BrassNuts
Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
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Nov 26, 2015 - 12:56pm PT
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The onsight free solo FFA of Sooberb on the West Ridge in Eldo by Jim Erickson is quite impressive - the 5.10c crux 3rd pitch is funky and burly!
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Nov 26, 2015 - 01:29pm PT
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Wasn't the Casual Route first free soloed by Charlie Fowler?
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Nov 26, 2015 - 02:40pm PT
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Great thread. One could add with or without being intoxicated on some various controlled substances at the time.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Lassitude 33
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Nov 26, 2015 - 02:40pm PT
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Josh, as you would suspect, has quite a few of these given the oft short nature of the climbs.
Tails of Poodles 10a
Fatal Flaw 5.9
Nuts Are For Men Without Balls 5.8
and tons more.
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Nov 26, 2015 - 02:52pm PT
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Well, I'm sure there's a long list of these by Paul Preuss in around 1911-13. His Wikipedia biography states he made 1,200 ascents, 300 of them solo, and 150 FAs (many of those solo?). Alas, he fell off an attempt at a solo FA. Walter Bonatti solo FAed the Bonatti Pillar on the Dru (which, in an ironic twist, almost the whole route fell off the mountain later). It was a roped/And some others.
Expanding the scope a bit beyond modern short rock routes, there's always Hermann Buhl, Nanga Parbat; Rheinhold Messner, solo FA of a new route on the north or NW face of the Droites and any number of other mountain routes I'm sure.
Lots of them when you start to think about it. Probably the earliest known isn't an FA but a solo first descent, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who got down Scafell via the Broad Stand, a ledge/gully system with some actual climbing moves, in 1802. Supposedly he got lost and once he realized this wasn't the trail he was committed (to continuing).
Not only were all these early soloists using really poor equipment, they didn't have the mental advantage of knowing what is possible, or not.
That said, Perilous Journey and Reardon's e-mail up a few posts really are cause for a change of diapers.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Nov 26, 2015 - 04:14pm PT
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Blazing Buckets, 5.10 Reeds Pinnacle, Yosemite FA solo
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 26, 2015 - 06:51pm PT
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Greg
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Nov 26, 2015 - 08:23pm PT
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It got me thinking about how few solo first ascents there are There are piles in Tuolumne, Vicious Thing was really early on. Good number of other multi-pitch like Solitary Confinement and the 3 Alan Nelson solos right of that. Alan Nelson did others, Terrorist is a 5.10 free solo on Lost Wall, Fool's Gold is a long 5.10a slab (later retrobolted into Plagiarism - that slab left of El Condor - I don't think Grant knew about the previous free solo FA?). Lots of shorter (more in the 80' range) free solo FAs by various folks (especially Alan Nelson) if you look at the FA list...
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KP Ariza
climber
SCC
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Nov 26, 2015 - 10:32pm PT
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I did the unroped FA of "West Side Story" 5.10b and "Jughead" 5.8 off of a large terrace up and left of the five open books in Yosemite Valley. Bolted, led and named two years after the fact by Tucker Tech.
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RyanD
climber
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Nov 27, 2015 - 07:50am PT
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Pipeline finally received its second free solo this year by young Marc.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 27, 2015 - 08:12am PT
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There's film of Dan Osman doing an on-sight free solo FA in The Needles of California. 5.11+ left-leaning crack and undercling.
Maybe on Djin Needle, and might be in Moving over Stone II.
It's worth watching. I couldn't find it on YouTube.
I made an on-sight free solo of a blank face to the right of Mike's Books second pitch. It starts off the big ledge, Intersection Rock, JT. I never named or reported it. (Craig Fry and I were tandem soloing Mike's Books at the time. Once on the big ledge, I started "bouldering" to his right and just kept going). Bob Gaines then did it with no pro, trailing a rope, then his buddy retro bolted it for the "FA". Why not. Elija's Coming, (second pitch), 5.8.
There's got to a be a ton of these!
(not the Dano version, ha ha)
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 27, 2015 - 08:42am PT
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If we beat the bushes, I bet you some Earl Wiggins free solo FAs will pop out.
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RyanD
climber
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Nov 27, 2015 - 08:54am PT
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Yes! That Dano footage is in masters of stone 2 I think as well. Bolder display of power I think is the name of the route. Such a good name!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Nov 27, 2015 - 09:23am PT
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oh, that Unicorn... I was thinking more like this solo
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ryankelly
Trad climber
Bhumi
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Nov 27, 2015 - 09:44am PT
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Urban Dictionary definition of Unicorn, kind of works for the "Mountain Unicorn" discussion:
Unicorn
The rare creature who is able to give you the thing you always wanted but thought you you could never have.
"You fell in love with a unicorn. It was beautiful, then sad, then sadder. I laughed, I cried, I puked in my mouth a little. And honestly, I kind of get it."
by lilyrosa July 31, 2013
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bob
climber
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Nov 27, 2015 - 09:52am PT
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 27, 2015 - 10:12am PT
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This kind of behavior was right in Walt Shipley's wheelhouse.
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wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
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Nov 27, 2015 - 11:14am PT
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If I'm not mistaken, Charlie's free solo was the FFA of the Casual on the Diamond, for which he caught some sh#t for clipping a long sling attached to his harness into a fixed pin at the crux. Seems like doing a FFA free solo could be just as, if not more daunting than a FA. One would think Charlie knew that the climb had not yet gone free by some pretty damn good climbers.
I've said it before and I'll say it again in regards to Pipeline. Grug (Greg), what were you thinking?!!
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Tung Gwok
Mountain climber
South Bend, Indiana
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Nov 27, 2015 - 05:58pm PT
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Not sure if it is an FA or not. Climbed a line on the face of Eagles Peak in my Rockports during a break in a conference at the Air Force Academy. Probably 5.7. I was out walking, looked up and saw a decent line. The face receded back, so I figured I wouldn't flame out my arms.
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DrDeeg
Mountain climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Hermann Buhl, Nanga Parbat (1953)
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Blakey
Trad climber
Sierra Vista
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They are far from uncommon in the UK, many of our outcrops lend themselves to that short crazy burst of nerves and energy.
Pete Livesey did some hard solo FAs, I'm aware of a couple in the Lakes. Brian Kellet's contribution to climbing on Ben Nevis Is often overlooked, between 1943 and 1944 Kellet, a conscientious objector, on sight soloed 25 new routes on the Ben up to 5.8. It must have been very quiet, and very lonely. He also soloed loads of other established routes up there.
Steve
P.S. Soloing Pipeline as a FA seems certifiable!
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 9, 2015 - 01:13pm PT
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More out there than I expected. What makes Pipeline so significant is that it’s still considered damn hard 35 years later, even using a rope and monster cams.
Responding to various posts above:
• Perilous Journey counts! Just like Superpin does. Both Brashears and Cleveland trailed ropes, but I don’t think many would quibble that they weren’t were free solos. Except maybe Brashears, an ethical purist if there ever was one.
• Jim Logan and Wayne Goss did the Casual Route free before Charlie Fowler soloed it, if my memory serves.
• How could I have failed to mention Preuss? There is a great thread here about him and his incredible soloing career.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/999560/Paul-Preuss-Our-Founding-Father-Of-Style
• The Bonatti Pillar was a rope solo by Bonatti , and mostly aid climbing, so that doesn’t count.
• I used “unicorn” in the trendy sense meaning “extremely rare”, like in this article about Silicon Valley unicorns:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-unicorns-became-silicon-valley-companies-1426861606
• The unnamed ice climb above reminded me of Jon Krakauer’s 1978 solo first ascent on the north face of the South Howser tower in the Bugaboos, The Big Hose. Saw a reference to a modern ascent recently on the Gripped magazine website:
Tani and Yamada warmed up on The Big Hose D+ 5.9 M5 WI4, which was first climbed solo by Jon Krakauer in June of 1978. The “Hose” climbs an obvious line on the east face of South Howser and is considered one of the most classic alpine routes in Canada. • Blakey- British outcrop solos don’t count: over here we call that bouldering.
I kid, I kid! Couldn’t resist it.
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Blakey
Trad climber
Sierra Vista
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Rick,
You are right, many are now highballs done
With a comfort blanket of pads. But BITD they weren't
We were young once, and climbers......
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originalpmac
Mountain climber
Anywhere I like
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Edward Abbey, The Knife Edge in the Sandia Mountains was an free solo FA.
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RyanD
climber
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No Alex, he had done it on a rope prior to.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
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I onsighted a full pitch of liebacking on an obvious dihedral near Snow Creek CA (N. of San Jacinto) one time. Waded thru waist-high weeds to get to the base (that is not to say it had never been done, huh).
Thankfully, the exit moves were about 10 feet of nice edges going through an arch, but the couple of minutes it took to do the whole line scared the living f*#k outta me.
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Gunkswest
climber
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Dec 12, 2015 - 04:44pm PT
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Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia
(reportedly the tallest coastal mountain range in the world)
NE Ridge of Pico Ojeda 5.5 AI2
FA (free solo) Todd Swain 01-1984 with two bivis
Climb the very prominent NE ridge of Pico Ojeda (18,012 feet; 5,490 meters). The first ascent involved a bivi about 500 feet up at an obvious tower and then another atop the ridge and about 1,000 feet below the summit.
The rock crux was at roughly mid-height on the ridge and involved laybacking up a right facing corner and then mantling onto a down-sloping ledge that was covered with powder snow (while wearing plastic boots and carrying a pack - 5.5 never seemed so hard). The most difficult ice was mixed climbing around some free-standing towers on the ridge that were below the rock crux.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 15, 2016 - 12:13pm PT
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I was recently reminded of this one.
Jon Krakauer accomplished another free solo first ascent in addition to The Big Hose in the Bugs.
In 1977 he made the first ascent of the East Ridge of the Devil's Thumb, after first attempting the (still unclimbed?) North Face. It is one of the all time great, "way-out-there" climbing adventures, described beautifully in his book, Eiger Dreams.
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couchmaster
climber
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Jan 15, 2016 - 02:15pm PT
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Earl Wiggins free soloing the second ascent of Scenic Cruise in the black and getting off route and doing a 10D FA variation ranks up there:-) What a mench. I'd heard of an outrageous Solo FA that Messner did in the Dolomites. Supposedly a 2000' unclimbed face that Messner called (ie translated to 5.9) but was much harder, but haven't been able to confirm it via internet and the guy who told me the story isn't around, but I suspect it's true, Messner was a good rock climber in his youth.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Jan 21, 2016 - 04:29pm PT
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Hey so I just saw this thread for the first time (and you probably thought I was just being bashful). I'm glad, of course, that fellow climbers still look up to my Pipeline ascent. Funny thing about those Canadians that Rick mentioned is that one of them had recently climbed Wild Turkey, my other FA at Squamish, and he was also employed by one of my best climbing partners from BITD, Rob Rohn.
Anyhow, all I want to say is this: Offwidth climbing is easy, comedy's hard, and Earl Wiggins on-sight (2nd) ascent of the Scenic Cruise, though technically not qualifying for the subject, is the most amazing rock climbing feat of this kind in my book.
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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Jan 21, 2016 - 05:09pm PT
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Pipeline looks sick. And I guess if you are a mutant ( :) ), off widths are easy enough to OSFS.
33 years ago I did this (see link below), but it probably qualifies more as a high-high ball. I did a couple others, but that one filled whatever void I was trying to fill.
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/stone-they-rejected/105825119
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Jan 21, 2016 - 07:04pm PT
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Since this thread has been bumped up again, I'll follow up on an earlier post from the OP. OK, the Bonatti Pillar isn't quite the same, having been a roped solo. But I'd dispute that standard as applied to, say, Jeff Lowe's Metanoia. Roped maybe, but belayed? I doubt if anything would have held. Sort of like a long version of Perilous Journey, given the medium.
Probably most of the notable rock routes in the category have shown up here by now, but the title says "mountain" so I'd tip my hat again to tons of real mountain solos that may not have entailed the level of technical moves, but certainly required every bit as much mental focus and physical staying power: Jeff Lowe on Pumori (I think it was), don't know if his climb of Ama Dablam was an FA, Nicolas Jaeger on Taulliraju, many of them.
I've read something about the Messner solo in the Dolomites that is mentioned a couple of posts ago. It's real, just can't remember the route or even the mountain. But huge, and with plenty of alpine VI on it if I recall correctly. His route on the Droites was hard in all realms, and moreover those alpine routes are subject to stone fall.
Great idea for a thread.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Jan 22, 2016 - 11:48am PT
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 15, 2016 - 12:13pm PT
I was recently reminded of this one.
Jon Krakauer accomplished another free solo first ascent in addition to The Big Hose in the Bugs.
In 1977 he made the first ascent of the East Ridge of the Devil's Thumb, after first attempting the (still unclimbed?) North Face. It is one of the all time great, "way-out-there" climbing adventures, described beautifully in his book, Eiger Dreams.
if I recall correctly, it was the first solo but not the first ascent, despite what Jon says in Eiger Dreams.
FA of the east ridge was Beckey et al. in 48?
FA of the integral east ridge was Culbert, Douglas, Starr in 74? Early 70s anyway. Cats Ears may have been 74 and this one a year or two earlier
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Jan 24, 2016 - 08:12pm PT
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How about Tomo Cesen supposed solo of a new route on the South Face of Lhotse? Did he ever admit it was a lie? Even though he aided a part, per his account.
Were there many other solo first ascents on 8000m peaks?
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
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Jan 24, 2016 - 09:02pm PT
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I bite my lip.
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Jan 24, 2016 - 09:18pm PT
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There's a one pitch route on Moro Rock in Sequoia called "Guitar Man." 5.10a, originally a free solo by a guy named Jackson in 1987 and then four bolts were added later. It's a popular TR area now.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Jan 24, 2016 - 10:19pm PT
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I bite my lip.
I read a giant article about it in an old magazine. Very well written, without picking a side but providing a lot of information which makes the whole Lhotse climb seem like a big hoax. Along with the North face triple and the 'solo of the Jannu's North Face.' In an article about the Russian route on Jannu, the Alpinist does not mention his route... http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP08/climbing-note-jannu
But as far as other 8000m peaks, how many major first ascents were done solo?
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smith curry
climber
nashville,TN
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Jan 25, 2016 - 08:15am PT
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Jello has done a number of big FA's unroped
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smith curry
climber
nashville,TN
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Jan 25, 2016 - 08:16am PT
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Seems like Charlie Fowler was on a tear as well in the years preceding his death
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Ian Parsons
climber
UK, England
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Jan 25, 2016 - 11:55am PT
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I've read something about the Messner solo in the Dolomites that is mentioned a couple of posts ago. It's real, just can't remember the route or even the mountain. But huge, and with plenty of alpine VI on it if I recall correctly.
This, possibly?
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=187788
It starts at the ledge atop the first 16 pitches of this:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=162663
His FA account suggests the odd bit of backroping on the upper wall, and some aid on the VI+ pitch near the top - so not entirely free solo; damned impressive, nonetheless - especially in big boots in 1969. "Damned impressive", of course, is sprinkled liberally throughout Dolomite climbing history! There's a piece about Messner in Rock & Ice #115 - May 2002 - wherein the author, Dougald MacDonald, describes his own weather-aborted attempt on the route.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Jan 25, 2016 - 12:24pm PT
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Jello has done a number of big FA's unroped
Elaborate! This is the thread for it :) Maybe post a link to a few stories if they are not only in the old magazines, but in online format as well.
Over the last several months I have been skipping through a lot of the older magazines. A TON of SUPER cool stuff in there. Stuff one does not expect to see...
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smith curry
climber
nashville,TN
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Jan 26, 2016 - 05:22am PT
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Asteroid Alley Mt Andromeda (Canandian Rockies)
S Face Ama Dablam (not positive it was free solo)
I'm sure these's a bunch others--- Maybe Jeff can elaborate...
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smith curry
climber
nashville,TN
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Jan 26, 2016 - 05:24am PT
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Mugs did a couple of big FA's in Antarctica solo
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rick d
climber
ol pueblo, az
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Jan 26, 2016 - 06:02am PT
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Vitaliy
8000 meter solo WITHOUT oxygen (but with team on lower section) was Herman Buhl on Nanga Parbat in 1953, 25 years before Messner's repeat of Everest. Plus, he bivied overnight above 26K ft standing on a ledge with no bag/tent,
Then went on to do the FA of Broad peak (sans O2) in 1957.
Set the pace for fast and light decades early.
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Jan 26, 2016 - 06:17am PT
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And,
as a younge man - Herman Buhl on a bicycle, soloing the spires of the Dolomites,
This is a foggy memory
from years ago, things that I read - out loud to - to cure my stutter,
at the insistansce & on the knee of Fritz W....
Edit: I missed it. So I added at the same time as Survival,
Stories of Paul Pruess also.
Paul Preuss (climber) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia › wiki › Paul_Preuss_(climber)
Paul Preuss (spelled Preuß in German; pronounced Proyce) (19 August 1886 – 3 October 1913) was an Austrian ...
Mountains
Johnny Watermam?
rock
Derek Hersey?
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Jan 26, 2016 - 06:17am PT
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Well, I'm sure there's a long list of these by Paul Preuss in around 1911-13. His Wikipedia biography states he made 1,200 ascents, 300 of them solo, and 150 FAs (many of those solo?).
My thought exactly as I started this thread.
Actually, I think the whole idea is way more common than suggested in the OP. Just thinking of history and how climbing has evolved. I think many of us qualify in some way.
My own certainly didn't turn into great classics, but there was one on a wall at Horse Ridge in Central Oregon, where my friends below were certain would be my last moments. Also a beautiful little basalt cliff above the Deschutes River that I wrote up in N00b Near Death Thread, and also a tottering mud tower at Smith, while on p..p..p..pp.pp..pp..PIZZA TOPPINGS in the moonlight that no sane person would climb in daylight.
Of course the routes that compare to Pipeline, or the Reardon thing in the Needles...now that's rare air!!
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2016 - 10:02am PT
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Earlier, Oplopanax took issue with my statement that Jon Krakauer made a solo first ascent on the Devil's Thumb. I did err when I said it was the East Ridge of the Devil's Thumb, but I was right about the solo first ascent.
A very reliable source informs me that he made the first ascent of the south east face, a line independent of the ridge that Beckey climbed during the first ascent of the mountain. It was done in the spring, so it was primarily an ice climb.
It was first reported in Ken Wilson's Mountain Magazine.
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Jun 10, 2016 - 10:32am PT
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Isn't rapping to advance aid?
;)
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The Alpine
climber
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Jun 10, 2016 - 02:44pm PT
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I believe Dean Potter Onsight solo fa'ed some 5.13 in Utah called King Tut and also a 13+ called the Crippler. Both at Mill Creek.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Jun 10, 2016 - 03:23pm PT
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Pete Cleveland? Seems like, besides the S Dak needles, he did some difficult FA's in the Devil's Lake area solo?
Gill on the Thimble. Yikes.
//Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia
(reportedly the tallest coastal mountain range in the world//
I hear that from time-to-time. Tops out at 16k feet or so? St. Elias is spittin' distance to the ocean and 18k? Dunno.
Paul Preuss for sure.
Flying Dutchman on the Sail in LCC by Jack Roberts. Damn thin and rated 5.9 at the time. I think the kids call it 5.10c now. Good route. Not a boulder problem! Edit to add: 1976.
A solo FA that's always impressed me is the Exum Ridge in the Tetons. Glenn "never a bad word or a twisted rope" Exum in 1931? Reclimbed it again last summer (I'd solo'd it in 1985 and didn't give it much of a thought...ahhh...youth) and thought...yowser. That step across move kinda got my attention more than I'd remember...
Waterman's climb on Hunter? Maybe self belayed...
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Jun 10, 2016 - 07:59pm PT
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Did one myself-
Wouldn't call it a unicorn though...
perhaps a donkey with a lump on its forehead.
Moist-n-Meaty 5.9
Basically a highball v0- boulder problem to an easy topout at 80ft or so.
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Aeriq
Social climber
Location: It's a MisterE
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Horny Horse Bump.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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The FA of the South face of Takar-Go East
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Eric Beck
Sport climber
Bishop, California
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Werner Braun (Wbraun here on ST ) first climbed Werner's Wiggle (5.8), July 1971, on Lembert Dome. Jeff Dozier and I did the 2nd ascent and added several bolts. This was interesting in that back then, Werner had no formal knowledge of rock climbing and did this in work boots!
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Reeotch
climber
4 Corners Area
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No sh!t!?
Werner's Wiggle, that thing is a total friction fest. It's the Water Crack's big brother . . . Sheesh, you people are crazy . . .
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DrDeeg
Mountain climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Jan 27, 2019 - 08:04pm PT
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Got to include Hermann Buhl's first ascent of Nanga Parbat in 1953, "free solo" from the highest camp over unknown terrain. On the way back, he spent the night above 8000 m standing on a sloping ledge. In 1957, he did the first ascent of another 8000+ m: Broad Peak. On the same expedition he died on Chogolisa when a cornice broke.
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johntp
Trad climber
By decision or indecision we are where we are.
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Jan 27, 2019 - 09:33pm PT
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How about Vitaliy M's sole of Widows Tears (oops, not a first aseent, but still impressive). Jeff Lowe soloed a few ice climbs as well.
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jan 27, 2019 - 09:34pm PT
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There are many versions of free solo first ascents . . . Buhl's are hard to comprehend even in this time.
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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Jan 27, 2019 - 11:17pm PT
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Edward Abbey, The Knife Edge in the Sandia Mountains was an free solo FA. I did some research on early Sandias climbing awhile back, and I'm pretty sure someone was there before him. Abbey was born in 1927, and it seems that the easier Sandia formations were regularly climbed by the early 1930s (and first climbed possibly as early as the late 1800s). Indeed, the first Sandia climbing fatality was on the Knife Edge in 1938.
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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Jan 28, 2019 - 06:34am PT
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"Gymnastics" (5.9) in Taylor Canyon north of Gunnison was solo first ascended.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
sawatch choss
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Jan 28, 2019 - 10:18am PT
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To clarify on Dean's thing in Mill Creek (King Tut?): he worked out a v7-ish new highball start into an established 11+ which he had previously climbed, and it thus was an "onsight free solo 5.13" only in the sense that he never weighted a rope. I believe it was the folks who wrote the Wild Things ad copy who gave it that appellation.
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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Jan 28, 2019 - 01:39pm PT
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That "someone" that solo'd the FA on Gymnastics was Mr. Nick Danger himself, just so ya know.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Jan 28, 2019 - 02:57pm PT
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This one too, though in summer
(shaded line at left)
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Oldfattradguy2
Trad climber
Here and there
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Jan 28, 2019 - 06:11pm PT
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Bumper sheep, 5.6 , Lamoille Canyon, NV by yours truly, we bolted it at a later date. Guidebook came out at some point and renamed it.
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couchmaster
climber
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Jan 28, 2019 - 09:13pm PT
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Holy crap, that Wayne Wallace read is pretty good. Badass solo of Logan. Thanks for the link off! First time I climbed with Wayne, he was like 14 and climbing (ie, leading on gear) 5.10. Kid just walks up and asks" CAN YOU BELAY ME ON.....XXX"".
"Uhh, sure, whats your name." lol
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