Upper Sentinel Falls-Second Ascent

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Rick A

climber

Boulder, Colorado

Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 15, 2007 - 12:39pm PT

Chappy recently posted the story of Kevin and Mark’s groundbreaking (icebreaking?) first ascent of the upper Sentinel Falls back in 1974.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=352279&msg=352979#msg352979 The second ascent of the upper falls, by Tobin Sorenson and me, is an amusing sequel.

It was late winter and lots of regulars were already in the valley for the season. I recall that Tobin’s dad happened to be there too, camping with the Sorenson family. I think it was on Mark or Kevin’s advice that we approached the upper falls by skiing up the road from Badger Pass toward Glacier point using light gear: three pin bindings, leather boots and narrow cross country skis.

We pitched camp on a snowy balcony at the top of the falls, spent the evening admiring the view, and got up at dawn to descend to the base of the upper falls. This was my first winter camping experience and in the morning we learned that our bright orange “ tube tent”-imagine a long, heavy duty garbage bag with one end cut open and rigged with a line through the center - was not well-suited to use in the winter. Our down bags had soaked up all the water from the torrents of condensation running down the inside of the plastic.We weren’t concerned, though, because the temperature in the morning was mild and we had slept comfortably through the one night we planned to bivy. We didn’t think twice as we wrung the water out of the bags and jammed them into the stuff sacks.

The three pitches went well except for the disconcerting sound of water rushing under the ice; but the ice seemed pretty solid as the tools sank in it, not at all like it might just fall off at any moment…So we weren’t too worried, even when we had to climb around a giant hole in the ice about halfway up. Here, the waterfall was all too apparent, cascading in plain sight, and the thickness of the ice could be seen to be 1 to 3 feet. We skirted this gap on a couple feet of ice still stuck to the rock sidewall on the left side.

After we got to the top, we, retrieved our packs, put on our skinny skiis, and headed down, towards the valley. We didn’t realize it, but just after we finished the last pitch, the entire icefall collapsed into a mound of semi-frozen rubble, much to the dismay of our friends in Camp 4, who were keeping an eye on us. In the meantime, Tobin and I , oblivious to the destruction of our recent climb, were going down what we thought was the Four Mile trail to the valley, but it was impossible to see where we were because of gathering clouds.

The descent started out with fun, long ski traverses, linked by kick turns, then we started falling frequently as it got steeper. It was a laborious process every time to get back on our feet, anchored as we were by our packs and with little support from the flimsy gear. It got progressively steeper until we began regularly setting off huge rolling snowballs that accelerated down and out of sight. When we finally saw that the slope cliffed out below us, we knew we were screwed: halfway down to the valley, with no way out except to reverse course back up to the rim . This turned into a hellish sidestep and posthole affair and we reached the rim just at dusk with the clouds closing in and snow swirling around us. We were now lost , but we knew we would hit Glacier Point and the road back to Badger Pass if we went east along the rim of the valley. We finally did find Glacier Point just as it got dark..

A miserable night was ahead.. Our down bags were useless; we were soaked and very tired. We had cooked our one can of beans the night before, and we had only a little fuel left for the Bluet stove to melt snow. There were a couple of cross country skiers spending the night at Glacier Point, and one who had pitched a tent in one of the summer tourist shelters took pity on us and invited us to stay with him. He even let us have some of his soup and hot chocolate (if you are out there, benevolent skier, many thanks, even to this day!) Tobin and I shared, head to toe, the drier of the two lumpy sleeping bags and it was the coldest night I ever had.

We slogged back out to Badger Pass the next morning and then drove down to the valley. Back in Camp 4, it was touching to see the relief on the faces of our friends and Tobin’s father, who had put together the collapse of the falls and our failure to return, to arrive at a tragic conclusion. We also learned that Tobin’s dad had reported us missing to the rangers and a search and rescue operation had been started.

After the rescue was called off, the rangers summoned us to their office to chastise the boys (I was 19 and Tobin 18) who caused the call for a rescue. In the ranger office, I was having none of it, insisting that we had done nothing wrong, except perhaps to misjudge the descent route, but they gave Tobin a harder time because he was at a moral disadvantage. He had been rescued the year before on the Cobra, and the rangers considered him a repeat and reckless rescue abuser.

I was chilled to the core for several weeks afterwards and my last memory is of Largo, clad in jeans and a t -shirt, making fun of me for wearing my wool hat pulled down around my ears and a down parka on a warm spring day weeks later, while we loitered outside the store.

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber

Livermore, CA

Apr 15, 2007 - 12:44pm PT

wow, that was quite a story... climbing waterfalls always made me anxious, the idea of drowning as a climbing death, ugh...

and the impermanence of the ice, the second anxiety...

thanks for the story Rick.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Apr 15, 2007 - 12:50pm PT

And who said grand alpinism couldn't be had in CA?

Excellent epic tale Ricky!

Out of curiosity, what caused Tobin to need a rescue on the Cobra? That route has always fascinated me; like just about every Tobin adventure.

Tarbuster

climber

right here, right now

Apr 15, 2007 - 12:52pm PT

Nice Lil' story.
Damn that Largo in his jeans & t shirt anyway.

Shoot, that reminds me boys, The Cobra, now there's a proud looking line that must get very few ascents.

Mimi

climber

Apr 15, 2007 - 12:58pm PT

Thanks for the post Ricky. Great story.

rmuir

Social climber

the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.

Apr 15, 2007 - 01:42pm PT

Excellent retelling, Rick. That one gets better, every time!

Should you need a good recounting of The Cobra, you might enjoy reading Mike Graham's story about Tobin, Snake Charmer, on his website at:
http://www.stonemaster.org/.

chappy

Social climber

ventura

Apr 15, 2007 - 09:08pm PT

Rick,
Great story Rick. I had never heard it. Its fun to relive those early, formulative climbing adventures. It was almost the ultimate Yosemite ice climbing nightmare--having the thing fall off while you are on it. That thought has passed my mind more than once while iceclimbing in the Valley.

ron gomez

Trad climber

fallbrook,ca

Apr 16, 2007 - 10:08am PT

Great story, always love to read an epic involving Tobin, in a sense...always good to remember old times and old friends. Vive Tobin!
Peace

climber

East of Seattle

Apr 16, 2007 - 12:41pm PT

Great Story.
Multiple nightmare scenarios. Scary.
Thanks for posting.

Largo

Sport climber

Venice, Ca

Apr 16, 2007 - 04:31pm PT

Sounds good now but it wasn't when it was happening. I was in ranger HQ trying to figure out how to go searching for my climbing partners who apparntly were dead. Not a good time -- till they showed back up.

JL

Zander

Trad climber

Berkeley

Apr 16, 2007 - 11:57pm PT

Wow, What a story. Thanks forposting.
Zander

Fuzzywuzzy

climber

suspendedhappynation

Aug 22, 2010 - 04:38pm PT

Rick -

Missed this earlier.

Your tales are fantastic - thanks.

TC

SteveW

Trad climber

The state of confusion

Aug 22, 2010 - 04:49pm PT

Jeez, Rick, I hadn't seen this before.
Talk about an adventure. WOW!
Thanks for sharing!!!!

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 22, 2010 - 09:00pm PT

Great epic story Ricky! Winter alpinism in Yosemite with the folks back in camp! Almost surreal with the collapse.

TripL7

Trad climber

san diego

Aug 22, 2010 - 09:19pm PT

Rick A- "And he had been rescued a year before on the Cobra..."

And later that Spring he and Mike G. were rescued off of the Prow. A couple friends and myself went down(slogged through a foot of fresh snow)to the base of the WC to see if it was dry, and were surprised to here cry's for help from above. It turned out to be Mike and Tobin in t-shirts and jeans, after a long night. We hiked back and alerted the rangers and Chris VanDevere(sp) rapped down to assist their exit.

edit: a friend and i were going to do the SFoC the next day, and just decided to take a look, otherwise they would of froze their asses off another night. I can still picture Tobin jumping up and down on the slopping ledge, and slapping/hugging himself...and pleading for help!!