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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Good post but I,for one, agree that the Royal Arches is not a great route but deserves to be sampled once.
As a pimple faced teen with a piton hammer stuffed in the back pocket climbing it with your long gone buddies, it was the greatest route in the world.
Great post kingtut, in the late sixties we took off up that thing late of course. It was hotter than all hell and like most folks back then hydration was something we knew little about other than no one wanted to carry much water. I think we had a quart between the 3 of us and it was well into the 90's.
Parched and unable to speak we reached the Valley late in the day with my tongue feeling like a sun dried tomato. Stumbling through the last remaining talus all three of us see sitting on top of a rock a freshly cut half a watermelon. We momentarily look at each other in utter disbelief. After the quick validating glances which confirmed its reality it was broke into rough thirds and devoured as quickly as a dropped hot dog witnessed by starving Labradors.
Every time I think of that watermelon I can't help but believe some picnickers must have seen us kids stumbling down through the boulders and oak leaves, quickly left it there and hid to see our reaction.
Great fun we have in these mountains eh? DMT you crack me up, great story.
Charlie D.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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I never met a climb that I didn't like. Even that chossy guano coated OW was stupid fun. Royal Arches, in particular, has made for boatload of smiles for a boatload of people.
Lovable fun
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Nice post.
My first trip to the valley was spring of '77. I had maybe three years under my belt climbing at Smith. Had 5.7 down and was scratching at 5.8. But keep in mind the longest climbs at Smith are only three pitches long.
Arrived in the valley late and Joe and I took off for RA the first morning.
Cold morning had us wearing jackets but after one pitch we were sweating so we threw them back to the ground. Light and fast. 19 pitches later the sun is setting as we manage the pine needle traverse. Found our way to the rim with one flashlight but couldn't find NDG so collected wood and spent the sub freezing night in a cave stoking the fire. Still perhaps the biggest adventure I've had in the mountains. :)
PS. 30 years later I did the climb again with my 16 year old daughter. She wrote an essay about the climb which helped her in part to get into Princeton. Got to be a classic.
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Ryan Evans
climber
Mammoth Lakes
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Arches dude! Is it the quality of the climbing or the QUalITY of the route? I mean THE jams man!
Traditional climbing man freedom of the hill proving ground or a dirtbags romp up before cleaning the TOILets?
Seen a solo'er or two slip and slid up that start. A good check to see if you got your head on, or do you? getting to the top of that slick ol' chim chimney a little HIGHer of the ground then expected more than once. wel'p that over with time to hike for a while.
Some where early on arches above one of those MOVEs my friend called down for the rope. "you want me to throw you the rope? uhhhhhh and what belay you off a hand Jam???" So i throw the rope down. "OK ok wait a second now and let me climb higher" Just above was a tree in this crack, straddled that tooth pick and hip belayed. YIKES! Only had quick draws on the rack for Crest Jewel. Praise Jah for those tree's scattered up the route!.
speaking of trees how about the sandy ledge with the bush for shade! man whata place to catch some zzz's as the sh#t show climbs higher. Sat there with a buddy and darkly wondered if chimney sliding buddy was gonna make it, a hand appears"Woo glad to see your gripped face! The fun is up next!"
What a silly place for a rope swing right?! wonder when that other tree branch is gonna sNaP!
Nothing like 1000+ feet of air when you look down between your legs. All with a tasty refreshing gift from mother earth at the top before skidding and sliding your way down the eroding hell that is north dome gully. all in time to clock in late.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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A partial post of mine from an older thread.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1816393&msg=1816393#msg1816393
The year was probably '71.
The time I had climbing the Arches with the boss's younger brother was a good nice everyday blue sky fast no problems up at six, back by twelve deal. I could not refuse, really, to take the squirt, all of fourteen and going on pure glee because he had gotten away from his brother, whom I will only call an as#@&%e one time and be done with it. Asshole doesn't deserve to be lambasted by me. He was in a Chevy ad once, though, that I remember noticing in the mid-seventies. There's the happy family guy and the happy family all over-joyed to be seeing the Yosemite in the USA in their Chevrolet.
The "boss" was Tom Williams, who bossed Len Singer in the Mtn. Shop, who bossed yours truly. His brother even thought he was an as#@&%e. His brother was cool. I told him that as a condition of the climb, he had to do the first chimney with no top-rope. This is a sure way to tell whole worlds about the ones who will do it because you say so. It always helps to explain that using the rope is a waste of time and they gotta coil it when they finish. Then they gotta carry it and the rack. Just flock them if they mess about. That sh#t don't cut it. This little Williams kid was fast and fearless. We did a fast ascent w/o pushing it. It was a bus-man's holiday for me. Tom, as#@&%e that he was, bought me a sixer of Schlitz.
I love the look on people's faces when they confront the slab at the end of the Arches. Lots of people are intimidated by exposure like that.
If it makes any difference, I heard Kim Schmitz relate, about his lovely GF Martie: "She does 5.7 that hairs me out, man."
So there it is, friends. It's probably had more misadventures on it than most climbs of its length and difficulty.
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Mar'
Trad climber
Fanta Se
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Oct 12, 2016 - 03:57pm PT
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haha!! Yay!!
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Oct 12, 2016 - 04:24pm PT
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Fall 1972, Steve Fish (high school climbing buddy) and I, RRs (no EBs or sticky rubber), swami belts, and of course... the rotten log.
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