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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 29, 2017 - 10:09am PT
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Reading the post about the recent fatality on Cathedral Peak reminded me that a couple friends reported the other day that they encountered a large loose block on the upper pitches near where the various Lark routes converge on the North Face of Tahquitz. I believe they said this block looked to them as if it could have recently come loose and lodged precariously in that location.
Both climbers have experience climbing on that part of Tahquitz and yet this thing scared the hell out of them.
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 29, 2017 - 11:02am PT
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The surfboard flake has been dangling up there for years, if that's the one in question. Maybe it isn't, as it's a completely unattached flake resting on a slope more than a loose block.
Yes that could be it. I'll try to check with my friends and get back.
I personally haven't been over to that part of Tahquitz in a while.
Soon hopefully nature trundles the thing when no one is around.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Aug 29, 2017 - 11:16am PT
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Granite is, for most, the preferred rock to climb. Unfotunately, solid though it may be, it sometimes fractures into potential death dealing missles.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Aug 29, 2017 - 12:46pm PT
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Loose blocks all over, whodunnit and long climb have lines on them all weekend and each have a massive block or two ready to blow, not to mention all the choss nearby
The real scare is when people get off route high up on the face, it's one thing to document each and every loose block on known terrain it's another for stuff that's just hanging around off route
If you kick a softball sized rock from anywhere near the top it can land hundreds of feet away from where you might think it can go
My best advice would be not to climb underneath other climbers at tahquitz, hard to do when we have our tics and things we really want to climb that day but its the best way to avoid rock fall at that crag IMO
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Aug 29, 2017 - 12:53pm PT
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My thought is to go up at night, check the base for people, leave someone at Humber Park and rap down and trundle it. When I read the OP it sent shivers through me. Yes, we cannot remove all objective hazards, but removing a known hazard on a popular route makes sense to me.
I don't take rapping at night lightly, but have many times thought my friend and I should have done this on Sahara Terror.
To steal Ron Gomez's closing thingy,
Peace.
edit: My best advice would be not to climb underneath other climbers at tahquitz,
Yeah and don't drive on LA freeways to get to work. Sounds good in theory. My friend and I were always first on the rock for the reason mentioned, but it is not always possible. I don't know the details of this specific incident, but in our case it was my party (first on the route that day) that was the source, not someone above us.
But I agree, do not climb under someone on routes known for loose rock. We frequently went elsewhere if we were not the first on the rock.
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Podunk Climber
Trad climber
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Aug 29, 2017 - 02:14pm PT
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Just a reminder from the past. Big blocks sometimes move without any apparent help and the debris they've been holding back for years is just a dangerous. The following was on Supertopo about 8 years ago - the event described here occurred many decades ago:
Ah, Tahquitz!
It’s not like it was a short drive from LA. You had to really love Tahquitz to drive out to Idyllwild after work on a Friday evening , hike up to the base of the Green Arch, lay out your sleeping bag, sleep through the night, get up early so that you could climb the Arch, get back in your car and be home in time to watch the UCLA-USC football game.
Or the Sunday morning that McLean and I, having spent the previous sunny day climbing at Tahquitz, with Michael and Valerie Cohen, crawled out of our sleeping bags to Cohen’s berating of the weather gods. It looked like it would snow any minute – no climbing that day for Cohen! Russ and I, however, decided, “a little snow, a little ize, it eez nussing” (a favorite McLean Hermann Buhl imitation).
So up we went to do the Trough in a blizzard. Half way up the route, with Russ belaying me from Pine Tree Ledge where he was anchored to a huge pillar of granite, Russ yelled up, “Are you in a good place?” I wasn’t. In fact, I was trying to figure out how to get across a ten foot section of verglas in my Kronhofers. I answered back that I was not in a good place. The wind was picking up and communication was difficult. Russ yelled back that I had better find a “good place” quickly. The block to which he was anchored was moving. I cautiously backed down to a sheltered gap between the face and a huge boulder. Just as I fell into the gap I heard the horrible sound of an immense rockfall. It took a full 30 seconds for the noise to subside. Then total silence except for the wind.
Russ are you okay? No answer. Again, Russ are you okay? No reply. Finally a weak voice from below in the gloom, I’m okay.
What happened, Russ? I had not felt a thing on my end of the rope.
Can’t explain now. Got to get back on the rock. Can you belay me?
Yeah, come on up. Several minutes later Russ climbed into view. He was a mess. Blood all over his face, his clothes in shreds, his right arm limply dangling at his side. He had been dragged off the ledge by the huge rock pillar and had fallen, accompanied by tons of rock debris, to the end of the rope. He was temporarily unconscious and when he came to he was dangling in space staring at his belay rope. The sheath in front of his face had parted, and exposed in front of him was the rope’s core. Two of the three internal braids were severed and he was suspended by the one remaining braid. When he was able to get his feet back on the rock, he tied off the exposed portion of the rope and climbed to my location.
Russ was on the verge of going into shock. He had lost some teeth, he had a badly cut arm, and a broken nose. I managed to belay him up the remaining pitches and down the icy slabs, around the Rock and back to Lunch Rock. I took him to the fire station in Idyllwild for first aid. I can still hear the crack when they straightened his nose. After the repair, we headed back to UC Riverside where the Cohen’s were living.
Russ could probably tell the story more accurately, but that’s the way I remember it. He survived, but required some expensive dental work.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Aug 29, 2017 - 02:17pm PT
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Thanks, Podunk. I could produce the photos again for the curious.
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Tom Patterson
Trad climber
Seattle
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Aug 29, 2017 - 02:21pm PT
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My best advice would be not to climb underneath other climbers at tahquitz, hard to do when we have our tics and things we really want to climb that day but its the best way to avoid rock fall at that crag IMO
Spot on, GDavis. As many times as I've climbed Tahquitz, the spook factor for the loose stuff has always been there--even before I appreciated what it could do. And I also appreciate very sympathetically that you understand that better than many.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Aug 29, 2017 - 04:59pm PT
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Peace........John!
Hope yer well Brother
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Aug 29, 2017 - 07:47pm PT
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My best advice would be not to climb underneath other climbers at tahquitz,
One of my first leads was up The Trough. I did not let a party pass us. I caught a lot of sh#t about that but I didn't get there super early so I could have a party climbing above me.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Aug 29, 2017 - 09:16pm PT
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It amazes me how many times I've been up at the base of Tahquitz and come across somebody, guidebook in hand, looking up for their route. Of course they have no clue where they are or where the climb they are looking for is.
One of the first things "how to" books or schools should teach is to study the crag from a distance so when you are up close and personal you are aware of the big features and have a clue where you are.
Being off route on a crag like Tahquitz is not exactly the recipe for success...
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Aug 29, 2017 - 10:26pm PT
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holy hell Podunk!
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Aug 30, 2017 - 05:44am PT
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Good god, what a story Podunk. Glad everyone survived.
Thanks for the heads up Ward. After breaking my ankle I'm finally getting on the rock again and doing all the easy Tahquitz climbs I know. East Lark is slated for this weekend. Although there is scattered loose stuff all over this area, it sounds like this block is over where Hard and West Lark come together. Does that sound about right?
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Alois
Trad climber
Idyllwild, California
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Aug 30, 2017 - 09:19am PT
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FWIW, Nothing much has changed on the rock in the last 40 years.
What has changed is the numbers of climbers one can find on Tahquitz every weekend.
The rock is at times overrun with people. So from someone who is up there couple times a week:
Never climb below another party. Find another route if the one you are trying to do is occupied.
Learn your route well before you get on the rock. Getting off route on Tahquitz can be quite problematic.
Start early to be the first party on the route
If you can, climb mid week. During the week, there is hardly anyone up there.
BTW Tahquitz is today considered just another semi-urban crag. It should not be. it is truly alpine in nature and one needs to approach it from that point of view. The winter snow cover can be significant and weathering is in process all the time. Be aware, things can and do come off...
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Aug 30, 2017 - 09:55am PT
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Podunk.... great story.
Alois.... so true- except way more people who don't know anything about "the alpine" it seems.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Aug 30, 2017 - 09:58am PT
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Granite is, for most, the preferred rock to climb.
To each his own I suppose - I personally find it quite boring.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Aug 30, 2017 - 10:37am PT
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Photos to go with "Ah Tahquitz" above. Pitch numbers refer to those following Pine Tree Ledge.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Aug 30, 2017 - 10:48am PT
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Don.
Thanks for posting.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Aug 30, 2017 - 10:59am PT
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Love the before/after pictures!
Peace
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Aug 30, 2017 - 11:19am PT
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Thanks Don, great pictures, amazing quality. Proves that what does not kill you only makes you stronger.
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