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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 22, 2007 - 10:15am PT
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Just did "Sweet Jesus" on Sunday with my good friend Bruce. I'd never done it before and thought it would be a good "warm-up" climb to get used to Tuolumne again...
Hats off to Tom Higgins and Chris Vandiver! Whew....one of the stoutest 5.9 climbs I've ever done. Bolts are all shiny new replacements with ASCA stamps.
I couldn't even tell if I was on route in some spots cuz you can't see the next bolt in many places. The new Reid guidebook was wrong about the third pitch belay as well.
Anybody got some cool photos of this TM classic? I could only find one pic on Tom Higgins' website...cheers, jb
http://www.tomhiggins.net/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=9&page=view&catid=1&key=16&hit=1
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 22, 2007 - 11:16am PT
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Did you do the One Toke Over the Line direct variation on the upper pitch instead of the long traverse out left?
That picture of Vandiver on Higgins' site captures the feel of the route.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Knob Central
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May 22, 2007 - 11:28am PT
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Where's Sweet Jesus?
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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May 22, 2007 - 11:50am PT
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Imagine doing Sweet Jesus or any number of routes in Tuolumne or at Suicide in Kronhoeffers, that hard rubber, as opposed to having the high powered sticky rubber climbers are at an advantage to enjoy now. I can't imagine some of those down-sloping knobs we got Kronhoeffers and Cortinas and Spiders to edge on (we didn't have much friction or sticking power with those shoes). I remember first trying a route in Tuolumne with the new Fire shoes, and I literally could walk up things that were borderline desperate for me before. This is not to take anything away from today's great climbers, rather just to remind the new spirits that some of the old guard were pretty capable and bold. My often-partner Higgins always wore those custom glued Kronhoeffers, where he expoxied the inside upper leather to make it a little stiffer. Still, that rubber was stone age... compared to now. Taking it back to a time before Kronhoeffers, imagine again the earlier shoewear. Kronhoeffers were the amazing state of the art when they came out... and really allowed for some harder climbing. They say the shoe doesn't make the climber, and I guess I fundamentally agree, but a good shoe certainly does help.
Pat
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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May 22, 2007 - 12:06pm PT
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I did (or tried) to do that route in '83 with Kevin Fosburg. I was unable to pull the moves and had to batman up the rope to the bolts. Kevin fell at the crux once or twice. I remember him saying that he liked to be in the lead because it made him climb harder. What a great attitude!
Is that on medlicott dome? Seems to me there were some stout routes in that area
murf
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More Air
Big Wall climber
S.L.C.
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May 22, 2007 - 12:10pm PT
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I remember backing off of Sweet Jesus back in the 70's...just too runnout. Sure looked like a good line though.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 22, 2007 - 12:37pm PT
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One time while I was wearing EBs, by buddy yelled:
"You've finally found a friend in Sweet Jesus!!"
We rapped shortly after.
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nboles
Trad climber
fremont. ca
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May 22, 2007 - 01:10pm PT
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I made the "good warm up" mistake a couple of years ago, before shiny bolts (BSB)
It was real 5.9 back when 5.9 was something, hard and scary for leader and follower.
The Reid guide has an extra belay. The Alan Nelson guide has a good topo of this climb. You can Lead pitches 3 and 4 (Reid 3,4 and 5) as one. When you are at the top of the second pitch you wonder if Yabo's variation is less run out. Did 'One Toke Over The Line' get some big shiny bolts.
norman
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John Vawter
Social climber
San Diego
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May 22, 2007 - 01:23pm PT
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I've done it twice, with ('84) and without ('74) the Toke variation. I have to say that I like the original route much better. The third (IIRC) pitch is killer, and that's the one you miss if you take the variation. It wanders gracefully out to the left, up, then back right, on steep knobs and is more in keeping with the rest of the route: runout. In fact, I skipped a bolt on the variation because it was more trouble to clip it than it was worth. I felt a little cheated even. Kind of like the difference between Piece of Grass (full value), and Golden Bars (just another steep face), where the bragging rights go to the climb with the lower rating.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 22, 2007 - 01:49pm PT
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nboles - You're right, I ended up combining pitch 3,4, & 5 (in the brand new Reid guidebook) into one to get to the ledge in the dihedral.
John Vawter - For sure pitch three is the classic - no bargain for the follower either...if they fall after the second crux, there's a hefty pendulum to be had. One Toke looked good too, but I wanted to do the classic route. A long time ago, I always wanted to on-sight solo it - glad I didn't!
Oli - Glad I had sticky rubber. When I was at the crux, I was thinking about the shoes they must have been wearing - then I felt a little better...5.9+, yeah!
There was even a 'poot' biner on the second bolt of the first pitch..I can see why - from there you can't even see the third bolt yet! Oh yeah, the third bolt is now a rap station??? That kind of threw me off a little. I thought it was a belay station for a while, then I kept going (and going, and going) until I got to the real 1st belay. Was that originally a rap station on the first ascent??
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Maysho
climber
Truckee, CA
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May 22, 2007 - 02:01pm PT
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Tried to lead the first pitch when I was 14 years old, backed down sensibly. Imagine that route in the context of few other steep lines in that area, and so improbable looking, mid 70's. The next route to the left was Shambles, and that was put years after Sweet Jesus. Grew to appreciate it a few times as a special route for special clients, (witht the One Toke variation) and did it with Tarbuster once I recall.
Peter
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Nick
climber
portland, Oregon
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May 22, 2007 - 02:08pm PT
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I have great memories of doing it back in 76' with Shawn(rip) and Pope. Perfect sunny day, everyone was climbing well and it went down real smooth. We even did the One Toke variation. Shawn had lots of good photos, not sure where they went. Last year, watched some kids do the first pitch after failing on the 10b pitch of Ciebola, man I was gripped watching them, old bolts and shakey sixteen year olds. Yikes. Glad the bolts were replaced.
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wildone
climber
Isolated in El Portal and loving it
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May 22, 2007 - 02:14pm PT
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Protection aside, does Sweet Jesus feel harder than Cibola?
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AKDOG
Mountain climber
Anchorage, AK
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May 22, 2007 - 02:24pm PT
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Did Sweet Jesus the summer Mountain magazine came out with a Tuolumne guide, I think it was in 1977 or 78? My first trip to Tuolumne. After climbing Sweet Jesus we sought out many of the Higgin’s routes. Another of his routes I remember was Fairest of All on Fairview, I remember a pitch on Fairest with a long runout only to get to a ½ in spinning bolt to add to the pucker factor. Tuolumne is just awesome, will be going back this summer for the first time in 15 years.
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wbw
climber
'cross the great divide
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May 22, 2007 - 02:52pm PT
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This morning, while reading the thread about the folks looking for someone to lead them up Snake Dike, I was thinking that the Internet has had an amazing (and often very strange) effect on the communication of all things climbing. After reading this thread I am really in awe.
We have MR. Bachar, who is truly one of the giants of our obsession, "speaking" on this thread in a way far more mortal than I ever could have guessed he would speak. (You've been one of my heros for 25 years.) We have MR. Ament "speaking" of what climbing was like at a time before many of us (not me) were even born. I cannot imagine climbing a run-out Tuolomne route in the shoes he described. (They seem to be plenty challenging with modern rubber.)
By the way, Eldorado is another traditional area where a rating of 5.9+ can be translated into . . . .buyer beware.
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Anastasia
Trad climber
California
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May 22, 2007 - 04:30pm PT
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bump...
I want to hear more about this climb.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 22, 2007 - 04:35pm PT
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No, the third was not a rap. Party foul.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 22, 2007 - 05:24pm PT
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My first time up it, with Eric Erickson & Craig Fry, early summer of of '80, we arrived at Yabo's One Toke variation and it was my lead. I had sworn off weed, like really made a good run at it, like hadn't toked for a WHOLE two weeks. Eric demanded that if I were to get lead rights on the pitch, that I was absolutely required to suck down a solid inch off the skunk bud spliff he'd just rolled, so that's what I did and and up over the line I went.
Another goofy ascent was with Maysho in '87. Peter, you might remember, maybe it was as two parties of two with Shelley & Helga; well there was somethin' funny going on there with our rope skills on pitch one, like simul leading to make use of the waning afternoon light, and bolt sharing? I remember the girls didn't approve...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 22, 2007 - 09:05pm PT
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Oli- the amount of concentration, grit and drive needed to establish bold face routes pre-EB's has always been a source of inspiration. Back when it was tricky rubber so much more attention to foot position and weight distribution was needed to avoid calamity. The Meadows was a perfect proving ground, not so much lichen and grunge on those gleaming slabs. My footwork has always benefitted from starting out in stiffer shoes. Blue RR's, a blue Mammut 11 mil rope and a blue Joe Brown brainbucket. Into the blue.
Cat's Paw Brand rubber ring a bell as a popular option/upgrade?
Glad to hear the spice is still in clean slab religion.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 22, 2007 - 09:07pm PT
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Yes, I think the ASCA changed the third single bolt on the first pitch into a double bolt rap station for some reason. Greg, what's the scoop?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 22, 2007 - 09:12pm PT
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Cats Paw = green dot.
All those routes put up in prior lugged soled stuff had to be a different game indeed; the picture that has been posted of Kamps on Fairview Dome's Inverted Staircase, edging about in Cortinas, helps tell the story.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 22, 2007 - 09:17pm PT
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The only advantage of that heavier footwear was better ankle protection but the stiffer rubber acted like a good wax job so you would take off with more gusto!
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Anastasia
Trad climber
California
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May 22, 2007 - 10:25pm PT
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Bump again...
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nboles
Trad climber
fremont. ca
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May 23, 2007 - 12:45am PT
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A sort of bump. Reading this thread, I realized that many of my best climbing memories had something to do with a Higgins and friends route. The Vision, Never Wrack Point, Old Goats and my all time favorite early season warm-up's the Eunuch.
Alas the Eunuch got erased.
norman
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 23, 2007 - 09:46am PT
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Good link Ed - thanks.
The notes could be helpful (but not in this case) as it seems the guidebooks are getting worse each time. In the New Reid Guidebook, the third belay is wrong and the first rap station is not shown. There is an easy ledge leading left from this "new" rap station, so it almost looks like it could be the 5.8 traverse on the second pitch thereby further confusing the onsight leader (me in this case). The Reid Guide also does not tell you what rack to take - I brought a pretty full one (glad I did).
I kind of miss the old verbal "topos" that tell you what's up and what to look for!
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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May 23, 2007 - 11:42am PT
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I always loved climbing with Higgins. It was a regular tradition for us each summer. One time he couldn't make it, so we did a new route just to the right of Nerve Wrack Point and named it Higgy Stardust. Tom liked the name. My young companion, Gray, a full foot taller than me, was into David Bowie music... Gray and I climbed Gray Ghost with Bachar, a beautiful line with great climbing. One day I got the idea of making a little film of climbing in Tuolumne, and Higgins thought the Vision would be a good route, photogenic. I brought my protege Christian Griffith, 14 at the time, to be Higgins' partner, since I'd be filming. Tom Frost came along as my partner in the film process. Frost and I soloed up some route to the right of the Vision, to get above. We were tied together, and I had some gear, in case I needed to clip into something, and it started getting thin and tricky, espcially with a 50 pound Nagra taperecorder hanging off my right side, so I put a nut in and clipped in the rope, thinking Frost was belaying. I made some move, looked down, and Frost had gotten tired of waiting and was racing up the rock about fifteen feet below me. He was carrying the big camera. I had to chuckle a bit at this Laurel and Hardy sort of scene. By the way, when I did Inverted Staircase with Kamps, I was amazed at how easily he climbed that steep crux slab pitch in his Cortinas. I was stronger than he, but no one could quite turn a thin slab pitch into such a Sunday stroll. All edging, mind you. You don't smear much of anything in Cortinas or Kronhoeffers. All those climbs, now that I think about it, had at least some little "sweet Jesus" moment. Wish I were there right now...
Pat
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 23, 2007 - 03:54pm PT
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I remember finding a pair of Kronhofers in 1976 and testing their friction on Parabola in the Quincy Quarries. They were better than EBs on this route. Maybe there were some microflakes which caught on the little lugs to help out. Of course Fires stuck much better than both as we all know.
Eunuch is not erased. I did the original version, and I still do it the same way - just ignore the bolts added on "Boltway". "Just Say No".
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nboles
Trad climber
fremont. ca
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May 23, 2007 - 06:39pm PT
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I have led the Eunuch by skipping the 4 added bolts. Its not the same climb, the bolts are there if you get uncomfortable. The commitment is gone and the commitment was the point. Yes, its easy 5.7 or 5.8 (if you believe the newer books) and I have been climbing run out slabs long enough to still find it easy, but when I first did in the late 70' with EB and 5.8 being my led limit. It took everything I had to start up .... that climb has been erased.
norman
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Gene
climber
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May 23, 2007 - 07:08pm PT
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Shame about Eunuch. It held my full attention BITD.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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May 23, 2007 - 08:15pm PT
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I thought Eunuch trended right where the belay is? To the right of "boltway" some 20 or so feet?
"New Reid Guidebook" ??? I thought Falkenstein was the only author on the recent one? Based on prior conjoined book topos anyways, but for second I was thinking that there was a different book.
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nboles
Trad climber
fremont. ca
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May 23, 2007 - 09:50pm PT
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Nope, Boltway drilled right over the top it. The 5th bolt up was the only bolt on the first pitch of the Eunuch. After you clip that, its go up and right on fun 5.6 to a bolt anchor then 2 more fun pitches up. The last two pitch are what you do if you take
Table of Contents to the top. The 'climbers' who put up Boltway, could stayed to the left of the Eunuch. The climbing would't have been much harder but they just didn't care.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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May 23, 2007 - 10:33pm PT
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I was just up there last weekend with Gary Carpenter, we were doing laps on Stately Pleasure Dome... Hermaphrodite Left to Boltway, Hermaphrodite Right to Eunuch and Great White Book... done those all many many times.
I can't really tell the difference between now and then.. yes, the added bolts take the typical Tuolumne runout fact down a bit, if you don't count the fact that the old bolts are really old and could be replaced... What is the second pitch of The Eunuch is easy but still runout like it always was.
Lots of bolts have been chopped off of Stately Pleasure Dome in an attempt to restore those climbs back to the "old days". I ran into TM Herbert at the top of White Flake once when I was looking around for a belay station... seemed to recall someone had put a couple of bolts in, but couldn't find them. TM helped me out, but it was obvious that they were gone, he seemed to remember them too. TM complained "why are people chopping the bolts? this place isn't for the hardmen, it's for mere mortals like you and me." I was bemused.
There are plenty of 5.7 test pieces in Tuolumne Meadows, and while I am annoyed at the contrived line of Boltway (I usually take the more "natural" 5.8 variation) it just an annoyance. Nothing to get knickers in a ringer... maybe minerals would disagree. Marty Steiger around to defend the route?
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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May 24, 2007 - 06:00pm PT
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Thank you John for the hats off to Sweet Jesus. And to Pat for memories of my favorite climbing ground. And to all for showing the energy and passion of what's it like going onto those great, sweeping knobby walls, sometimes all the way up, sometimes not. Maybe most important, it appears John is well enough to climb again. Fantastic and hope pain and any immobility are gone.
What to say? Well, yes, the old green dot neoprene soles were pretty slick, in spite of sanding them as I did when new. And the welts on the Kronhoffers were not very integral to the upper - they didn't stick out, but had some separation. I epoxied that junction to fill the gap and reduce bending when edging, but the epoxy cracked and needed constant redoing. The result never came close to a modern shoe. It meant we looked at the rock differently - lots more edging, less smearing.
Chris did the first part of the third pitch, then I did the rest. I was so excited to get over the little crux and start climbing rightward, I didn't think much about the second swinging off the crux. Chris rightly yelled, "Hey, what about me?!" And so in went the bolt to protect the second but there still is some swing potential there. Years later, I did the route again with Bruce Cooke (after which the Cooke Book is named) and Tom Fukuya and Bruce was very happy to be in the middle to get both a top and back rope. Maybe that's the trick.
As for how the route wanders around some and is run here and there, we always looked for cracks, ledges, indents, black streaks, any place we hoped would get us up with holds and protection possibilities. Sometimes we read the rock right, other times not so right. And, in the backs of our heads were the greats of the time and times before who impressed upon us the bolt was last resort, a scar, a blotch to be minimized. On top of that was the fast setting sun and the demands of hand drilling from sometimes bad stances. So, the results are there, sometimes great, sometimes mediocre, sometimes perplexing and scary, but locked inside as the best stuff of life one still carries around.
Thanks to all for rekindling the memories!
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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bobh
climber
Bishop, California
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May 24, 2007 - 08:00pm PT
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Hi Tom!
I've had four run-ins with this route:
1973 -- Armed with a description that said "look for some bolts right of Chartres" we ended up on what would later become A Wrinkle in Time, which was at that time an incomplete bolt ladder leading nowhere. We fell a bunch, thought it seemed harder than the Lament (10a), which we'd done a week before and was the hardest thing we'd done. We decided this probably wasn't the route we were looking for, bailed, never did figure out where Sweet Jesus was.
1974 -- Did it with Clevenger and Bill Nickell. Vern had already done it, so he showed us where it was. Fun, uneventful.
1981 -- Did it again to do One Toke. Uneventful until it poured rain as we were descending back to the base.
2004 -- Did it again, via the One Toke. Scary old bolts. Longware hangers? Kudos to ASCA for fixing this beauty. Climbing was even better than I remembered. Tried to cram gear into the little folds below the second(?) bolt to back it up.
Based on the positive comments regarding the original variation, I guess I need to go and do that again. This is really a good route, steeper and more featured than a lot of Tuolumne slab climbing. It links natural features/weaknesses up an improbable wall -- a Higgins trademark, IMO.
Roy, if you guys were both leading off those bolts at the same time, you're a kook.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 24, 2007 - 09:27pm PT
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Cool history Tom - I was wondering how you guys broke up the leads.
I dig doing routes like this. You have to think like the leader did on the first ascent to "read" the route and where it's going...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 25, 2007 - 10:56am PT
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Thanks for posting Tom. It is curious to reflect back on the old attitude about bolts. A bolt used to represent a certain level of personal failure or weakness as a last resort to allow passage or a secure stance on a climb. Drilled protection occupied a position antithetical to the rest of the tools used to protect the leader to the extent that bolting was not even considered to be a climbing activity by many. Something more akin to a foxtrot with Mephistofeles. The drive to avoid bolting turns new routes into an adventure in exploration rather than a paint by the numbers overlay with respect to the outcome.
In my own climbing, the decision to place a bolt always centered on the legacy of boldness left by climbers like yourself, Bob Kamps and Frank Sacherer. Am I fit right now? Could somebody else do this section in better style? There was an honest and generous attempt to leave alone what one could not climb in good style on a given day knowing that immediate need could easily eclipse all other considerations if allowed to.
By alligning my mindset with that of my bold and inspiring predecessors, I could more fully appreciate their experience and acccomplishments. Historical grounding has also kept me from doing foolish or inconsiderate things to the climbs of others.
Climbing history is the gift that keeps on giving. These old and bold routes and the stories behind them are the gilded threads in the tapestry.
Edit: Who put up Boltway?
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Greg Barnes
climber
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May 25, 2007 - 12:22pm PT
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Just back from the Meadows, the mosquitos just started coming out at Lembert parking yesterday, but nowhere else (OK, saw one by the road below DAFF).
Roger must have accidentally replaced a doubled pro bolt. Those are pretty common on the older routes (I think Roger removed 3 or 4 doubled pro bolts on just one route, Nerve Wrack Point). He'll be really bummed about that, he tries very hard to restore routes to the original state. He was rapping in from the top, and I remember him telling me that he was having trouble matching the topo and the various routes/stations. He got a bunch of retreat biners off of Sweet Jesus, the route was littered with them! Roger spent many days replacing nearly the entire right side of Medlicott, and has worked harder than perhaps anyone as far as sheer numbers of bolts replaced. He can hang out all day pounding away with a hand drill, for days on end.
In any case, sounds like we need to remove/patch one of those bolts and replace the other with a regular hanger (I'm assuming that there are rap ring hangers?).
As far as Eunuch - the spinning 1/4" bolt with a Leeper hanger (5th bolt on the Boltway) is the original. The other bolts are mostly 5/16" buttonheads with stainless SMC or the "big Leeper" late-80s hangers (I still don't know precisely who made those), most of which have been beaten flat and re-straightened. It's really a shame that the Boltway wasn't done 20' left of the Eunuch, that would have been an independent line (and then straight to the thin crack on the next pitch instead of the strange bolts out right).
And while we're talking about original bolts - does anyone know the heritage of the 1/4" bolt at the 2nd belay on West Crack (by the tree about 40' above the roof)? I keep forgetting that it's even there (I never belay there), but noticed it yesterday and it really ought to be either removed or replaced - there's an outward pull on a old thin SMC hanger. It looks a lot like the old bolts on Sunnyside Down.
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Greg Barnes
climber
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May 25, 2007 - 01:26pm PT
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The mention of the Eunuch reminded me of a question I had for Tuolumne folks. Years ago, I chopped the old rusty bolted anchor ten feet right of the crack at the top of Great White Book - it was dangerous, but not needed at all, and experienced folks were building trad anchors while inexperienced people were belaying off the old bolts.
However, a friend of mine who's been climbing in the Meadows since the '70s said that that anchor was placed not for GWB, but for Dixie Peach, Mosquito, etc that come up the face, and that the bolted anchor shouldn't have been removed. I've done a few of those routes, and there's a belay scoop with OK pro (kind of hollow) about 40' right and down from where the old bolts were.
There's a small sloping ledge that's about 20' right and a bit down from where the old anchor was, and my friend suggested replacing the chopped anchor with a new one over there - far enough from GWB that climbers on that route wouldn't even see the anchor, but close enough to the original position so that people coming up the top of Dixie Peach and the other routes would have the anchor.
Any comments? I'm in no hurry to do any pounding, but I am feeling a bit guilty about chopping that anchor and leaving Dixie Peach, etc. climbers hunting for a missing anchor.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 25, 2007 - 01:27pm PT
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I doubt that bolt on South Crack is original. I don't recall any mention of it in written descriptions, the best prima facie evidence for bolt originality on old routes. They rarely escape mention.
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Greg Barnes
climber
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May 25, 2007 - 01:49pm PT
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The bolt on South Crack was off-route, about 15-20' above the logical weakness. It was a 1/4" thread-head split-shaft with a stainless SMC hanger. People would sometimes retreat off that single 1/4" bolt, but more often they would clip it, traverse left to the corner, place pro, and the follower would be faced with a nasty pendulum potential. In any case, I removed it years ago & patched the hole.
Interestingly enough, TM Herbert once asked me to add a bolt on-route about 20' below where that bolt used to be.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Knob Central
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May 25, 2007 - 01:54pm PT
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Greg, your proposal for replacing the belay anchors for Dixie Peach sounds good. I know of a couple climbers that end up sort of stuck in the middle of nowhere without them last summer.
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Nick
climber
portland, Oregon
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May 25, 2007 - 04:57pm PT
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I put in most of the bolts on the third pitch of Sunnyside Down. As I recall, the last bolt placed on the route was used to protect the step over onto the razor thin flake that leads to West Crack. A standard nut anchor was then used. Sunnyside is not that great a route.
I did Dixie Peach to the top with my daughter last summer and was surprised to find the anchor on the outside edge of the Great White hike gone. Not that big a deal, but it was there in the 70's and is really convenient.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 26, 2007 - 01:52pm PT
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South Crack was put up as a clean first ascent by Robbins - no bolts, no pins - if I remember correctly???
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Greg Barnes
climber
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May 26, 2007 - 02:15pm PT
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I think South Crack was done to the end of the crack, then rappelled off of pitons, for many years, then TM Herbert did the FA of the slabs. Eventually the pins fell out or were pulled and everyone continued up.
Tom Higgins let me know that the bolt on p2 of West Crack just appeared one day in the '70s, and was not original. I'd prefer to remove it, but it's been indicated as a belay bolt for decades of climbing guidebooks. Anyone have opinions on removing it or replacing it?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 26, 2007 - 02:41pm PT
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Royal wrote an article called "Save South Crack" way back when that used the route as a call to arms to cease using hammered protection on this and other routes that had been reasonably done without force. I don't have a TM guide to check the FA party. If RR did it clean on the FA, as with The Nutcracker, his point would have been that much stronger.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 26, 2007 - 03:31pm PT
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FA of South Crack: Gordon Webster and Frank de Sausurre, 1965.
I remember the Robbins article, "Help Save South Crack", in Summit magazine, as described by Steve.
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Greg Barnes
climber
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May 27, 2007 - 08:22pm PT
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Roger tells me that there might be an even more confusing situation with that first anchor/3rd pro bolt. He's pretty sure he replaced a 4 quarter-inch-bolt anchor with two good bolts, and patched the other two holes (this would be easy to check by searching for the patched holes).
Assuming that the bolt count on the first pitch is correct at 3 pro bolts and a 2-bolt anchor, then there'd be several possibilities:
1) JB just missed one of the bolts (pretty darn easy to do with stainless steel bolts & hangers in Tuolumne) - and Roger says that the 2nd bolt on the first pitch is up and right, not up and left as the Reid guide says, so that would be even more likely.
2) the 3rd pro bolt was doubled by someone, and then later others added even more anchor bolts (bolt kits were somewhat common even on established routes at one point)
3) a pro bolt is missing (even modern bolts can be sheared clean off by rockfall/avalanches)
However, I think we might need Tom Higgins to sort this out, especially with the old Roper guide not even mentioning a bolted belay at all on the first pitch. However, he also doesn't mention bolts at several upper belays which are bolted. Here's what Roper's '76 guide says:
"Sweet Jesus. 5.9. This excellent route goes up the right side of the golden wall mentioned in the preceding description. Begin climbing on rippled rock which rises steeply from comfortable ledges. Several bolts protect the first long lead, which ends at a small ledge with a crack. Next, climb easier rock (using a vertical crack for protection) to a two-bolt belay. Traverse down and left about 40 feet; then climb up a bit to a belay ledge. On the next pitch climb past a bolt to a belay ledge only 50 feet above the belayer. Next, climb past two bolts and then head up and right over easier rock to the base of a long, left-leaning arch. A short traverse right allows access to the right-facing dihedral visible from the road. Follow this to the top."
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Brutus of Wyde
climber
Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA
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May 27, 2007 - 09:07pm PT
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LongAgo --
Green Dot soles. Haven't thought of those things for decades. Thanks for stirring the memories.
Brutus
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nboles
Trad climber
fremont. ca
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May 27, 2007 - 10:38pm PT
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More food for thought
From Alan Nelsons Guide 2nd edition 1982
Sweet Jesus 5.9+
Begin Cimbing on rippled rock rising steeply from comfortable ledges. End on a small ledge with two bolts. Climb easier rock to a bolt belay. Traverse down and left 40', then up to a belay ledge. Climb a 50' pitch past a bolt to a ledge. Climb past two bolts until possible to traverse down and right to a left leaning arch. Pray the second doesn't fall, unless the like 80' pendulums. Traverse tight into a right-facing dihedral and follow it to the top.
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bobh
climber
Bishop, California
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May 30, 2007 - 08:20pm PT
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Regarding the bolt above the overhang on West Crack, Greg asked:
*
And while we're talking about original bolts - does anyone know the heritage of the 1/4" bolt at the 2nd belay on West Crack (by the tree about 40' above the roof)? I keep forgetting that it's even there (I never belay there), but noticed it yesterday and it really ought to be either removed or replaced - there's an outward pull on a old thin SMC hanger. It looks a lot like the old bolts on Sunnyside Down.
*
Based on Nick's description, I'd guess it's on Sunnyside Down. I belay there when I'm doing West Crack and I expect that the follower is going to struggle on the overhang, so the bolt (backed up by a cam or two) serves an additional purpose beyond being a protection bolt on Sunnyside Down. Anyway, it's about as far from West Crack as the Blown Away bolts. My vote would be to replace it.
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scuffy b
climber
The town that Nature forgot to hate
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May 31, 2007 - 10:50am PT
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I got to do Sweet Jesus on the 77 solstice with Big Al Bartlett
and Big Robb Dellinger. I was more scared than I expected to be.
The boys were razzing me pretty hard, but we all did just fine.
I was climbing in Directissimas with EB soles taken from a pair
of bobh's worn out shoes.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 31, 2007 - 11:08am PT
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nboles - hmmm....from Alan Nelson's guidebook it sounds like maybe the third bolt on the first pitch was originally a belay? Maybe that's why there are two bolts there now?
It is a good ledge after all even though it is a short pitch. If I was doing the first ascent I may have stopped there as well. There's a tricky section going straight up (5.8) or a possible traverse left to a corner (corner looks tough however). Much further up is another belay where the unprotected 5.8 traverse goes left and "One Toke" continues straight up.
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Dick_Lugar
Trad climber
Indiana (the other Mideast)
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Jul 10, 2009 - 08:43am PT
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Sounds like the perfect name for this climb...I can hear the leader's saying this over and over as they climbed it. Gotta love Bachar's youthful enthusiasm in this thread, and all his threads for that matter. And a Brutus of Whyde post on here to boot...what a great climbing archive!
Frank
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Ghoulwe
Trad climber
Spokane, WA
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Jul 10, 2009 - 09:02am PT
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Greg:
I believe the big Leeper-style hangers that you're referring to were made by Mark Houston (sp?) in San Diego in the late '80's or early 90's. I'm sure Juan Maderita can confirm or correct me if you were interesed in being certain. He only made a few batches that I'm aware of.
I bought quite a few of these hangers from Mark and placed many of them on routes in Northern Baja. They were a bit beefier stock and had a much more generous biner hole size which helped being able to clip 'em if you happened on one with a sling threaded through it.
Eric Barrett
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jul 10, 2009 - 10:14am PT
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I have always been suspicious of climbs rated 5.9+
Lots of sandbag potential
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Jul 10, 2009 - 11:00am PT
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Thanks Eric. I had heard of those "big Leepers" years ago as DMM, but then someone corrected that and called them HME, but maybe that was supposed to be MHE (Mark Houston Enterprises maybe??).
Regardless, despite the rust, they are thicker than the thick Leepers (there are 3 generations of Leepers, 0.062" thick, 0.080", and 0.090" if I remember correctly), and I don't know of any cases of the Houston hangers breaking. Actually I think that there were nearly no cases of the last generation Leepers breaking (other than due to rusting away in wet climates), but it's super hard to tell them apart without a caliper.
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Jul 10, 2009 - 12:08pm PT
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Even 20 years or so later i remember this route with a certain clarity that comes from being underpowered and so much a noviciate on a route above my head. To stupid to know better. 5.9+ means 5.10~ Jeebus, i'm sweating even realling the episode. Double pits to chesty!
Footgear: Kamet
Partner: Paul Crafton
Temp: just that cool, crisp morning Medlicott feel that makes you nauseous but not quite pukey. 5 degrees warmer and you would hurl
Relative humidity: .0007%
The bolts are widely spaced iirc. Each clip seemed to have a very hard move "just before" which I must have squandered minutes, felt like hours up there. Yates screamers. Only needed 3. Crafty was silent as I whined, whimpered, doubted, cursed, prayed and cajoled myself. On these leads some partners will give no encouragement which was perhaps appropriate.
After doing 2 pitches Crafty did throw up. I felt on the verge for the entire climb, each belay calming enough to quell the rising bile. Even though he was following, it was "too hard and scary" to continue. I can't recall various shenanigans to rappel off but do remember swinging on the last rappel and simultaneously jumping, rapping off the end of the rope, holding one end and Crafty catching or preventing a serious crater onto ledges below. We walked away and I'll never be back...there are bold climbers, there are old climbers........
Gene Drake always claimed that old rubber was superior to new fangled crap because it didn't roll. I remember that Kamet rubber being rather bricklike in chemical composition and not sticking like glue but definitely providing a platform for the edges and knobs.
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Ed Bannister
Mountain climber
Riverside, CA
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Jul 10, 2009 - 12:56pm PT
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426
I was reading this thread because it may have been Bachars last comments on the forum, or anywhere. I designed some of the Kamet shoes in cooperation with the staff at the factory, and introduced the brand to the us market. You are excactly right about the intent of the rubber compound, the goal was to be as sticky as Fire, but better at edgeing. At that time Charles was still using the softer gummier stealth rubber, which you had to keep out of the sun at stances. Lated C4 came along which was stickier, and still held an edge, get Charles to tell you how he discovered that rubber, it's a fun story.
Ed Bannister
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Jul 10, 2009 - 12:59pm PT
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Certainly it worked for me and the rubber lasted forever ...Forever! . I eventually poked my toe through those shoes, I'll try to dig the photo up sometime.
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Les
Trad climber
Bahston
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Jul 10, 2009 - 01:23pm PT
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In all likelihood, I'll never climb this route, but Sweet Jesus, I enjoyed the hell out of reading this thread. Makes me realize how much I'm going to miss JB's presence here.
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henny
Social climber
The Past
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Jul 10, 2009 - 04:11pm PT
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"I have always been suspicious of climbs rated 5.9+" and "5.9+ means 5.10~".
Funny how that is. Climb long enough and you'll learn that 5.9+ might as well just be "sandbag+". No difference.
I enjoyed the hell out of reading this thread. Makes me realize how much I'm going to miss JB's presence here.
I second that.
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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Jul 10, 2009 - 06:37pm PT
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John would cuss a storm when he was being sand bagged. I heard some nice phrases over Sweet Jesus which was the ultimate compliment he could give a climb. Still makes me smile when I think about that.
AF
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
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Jul 11, 2009 - 01:05pm PT
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We did this last weekend.
I had done the first pitch before, on a hot afternoon. You know- when you touch the rock, your hands immediately sweat, and there is a count of 4 between when you weight the foothold, and when you grease off?
It was a gripping (or lack of grip) experience, complete with whining and moaning.
This time, a nice morning, we did the whole climb, and had a good time. We did the .10c direct variation, but the traversing original route would have been better value, I think.
Second pitch
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Barbarian
Trad climber
slowly dying in the OC
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Jul 11, 2009 - 01:31pm PT
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I backed off Sweet Jesus in fall 1980. Too scared to go on.
"5.9+"
I've only put up two FAs in Yosemite. I rated both of them as old school 5.9+. One is now considered 10b, the other 10c. One has a bolt where the original lead was run out.
Yep. That old school 5.9+ is grade to be respected.
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