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Messages 1 - 27 of total 27 in this topic

Glaidig

Trad climber

Menlo Park, CA

Jul 16, 2007 - 04:33pm PT

Wow! The first time my climbing buds and I get noticed at the Taco Stand and we're 'dickin' around...sheez. Yeah, the third pillar is a killer route with great views! Hey khanom, I'd be really appreciative if you could send me a pic or two.

Cheers,
Guy

rockermike

Mountain climber

Berkeley

Jul 16, 2007 - 11:07pm PT

In that first foto, which is the 3rd Pillar? My guess is the farthest one?

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

sorry, just posting out loud.

Jul 18, 2007 - 09:59pm PT

khanom, which pitch is that party on?

seems so small now that i'm seeing a pic.

that' probably the start of the last pitch and my eyes are trippin.

Glaidig

Trad climber

Menlo Park, CA

Jul 18, 2007 - 11:17pm PT

The picture shows two of us at the top of the 4th pitch while we were in the process of bringing up our third. I must admit that we were a bit twitchy with the clouds spitting at us and looking a little angry. I guess our "alpine start" wasn't quite early enough!

Guy

Karl Baba

Trad climber

Yosemite, Ca

Jul 19, 2007 - 12:35am PT

peace

Karl

Wade Icey

Big Wall climber

Indian Caves, CA

Jul 19, 2007 - 11:46am PT

walleye, why ya climbin blindfolded?

snakefoot

climber

cali

Jul 19, 2007 - 01:09pm PT

classic, strong work

now i just hike up and throw a tr on the last pitch and do laps, great leisure day and view

LongAgo

Trad climber

Jul 19, 2007 - 06:08pm PT

One of my favorite routes in Meadows area - wonderful hike from meadows to moonscape to get there, then long, long views east across the desert zooms your heart. And, lo probability of finding crowds.

Those considering it should know getting to the base from the plateau can be tricky. It goes down some loose rock and can be a bit wet or even snowy depending on time of year. No big deal considering the adventure to come.

Tom Higgins
LongAgo

scuffy b

climber

The deck above the 5

Jul 19, 2007 - 06:10pm PT

Tom, I hear you're getting out more these days?

bluering

Trad climber

Santa Clara, Ca.

Jul 19, 2007 - 06:21pm PT

Is the top of it as loose as it looks? Looks like the top-out blocks are ready to go!

climber

Jul 19, 2007 - 07:01pm PT

Zander

Trad climber

Berkeley

Jul 19, 2007 - 07:44pm PT

Look at that beautiful last pitch!
It was a pitch and a half from the top when the lightning started. We bailed. We sat around under a rock at the base for hours as the hail built up 2 inches deep, then three. We had to hide under a rock for another hour about half way up the "approach" buttress. I had left my shoes out and they had filled up with hail. I gotta go back for that last pitch.
Zander

Roger Breedlove

climber

Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Jul 19, 2007 - 09:15pm PT

Great picture Chris. That last pitch is stellar. This is a snapshot of one of the sections lower down.
I have to believe that the other formations that Khanom asked about have been climbed. I have vague recollections of hiking up there with Dennis Hennik and someone else and trying one of the features to the left (south). What we thought would be fairly easy going on a lower angle slab was too hard to do all free, so we backed off and hiked out.

Roger

Mr_T

Trad climber

Northern California

Apr 24, 2010 - 01:21pm PT

Great photos of an amazing route!

One interesting aspect they catch - many climbers don't wear helmets.

tuolumne_tradster

Trad climber

Leading Edge of North American Plate

Apr 26, 2010 - 02:01pm PT

definitely one of the finest routes on the planet
here are some 'blast from the past' 80s vintage scanned slides...Eric Collins with war paint...sans helmet
Eric Collins on the sharp end
Mandatory summit photo
Commuting home after a hard day at the office

CF: that photo looking down on the final pitch is awesome

rhyang

climber

SJC

Apr 26, 2010 - 02:04pm PT

Beautiful shots ! Someday ..

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Apr 26, 2010 - 02:15pm PT

Nice shot (posted almost three years ago) Roger!
I thought it was a really fun route.

i have it from the source that last pitch is no longer "the best 5.9, in the World!"

tuolumne_tradster

Trad climber

Leading Edge of North American Plate

Apr 26, 2010 - 02:36pm PT

please Jaybro...enlighten us

Fat Dad

Trad climber

Los Angeles, CA

Apr 26, 2010 - 08:02pm PT

As awesome as that route is, I love that approach over the Dana Plateau. One on the coolest places I've been.

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Apr 26, 2010 - 08:05pm PT

Sure, when confronted with his own words, Ricardo Leversee said, "That was a very long time ago...."

le_bruce

climber

Oakland: what's not to love?

Apr 26, 2010 - 08:23pm PT

Me and Rockermike went up there a few summers back and had a blast. Neither of us had a camera but someone sent these to Mike:

Delicate section on the last pitch, before the steep and killer blocks:

Chalking up for THE pitch:

Long shadows from the summit:

Lots of blocky, shattered rock up there, as you can see to our left. I'll second whoever was commenting on the beauty of the plateau - it sticks with you, for years.

Edit: In the top photo of my post, top left side of the pic, you can see the flared chimney feature from Roger Breedlove's photo. Fun pitch.

I think any leader has the overwhelming feeling of "I don't want to fall here!" when they run into the crux section. I fell, tiny nut held, got it next try. Still wouldn't want to fall there next time...

There's a small boulder problem off a ledge on the last pitch that doesn't really take pro - wouldn't want to fall here either, and it's not 5.9.

noshoesnoshirt

climber

Arkansas, I suppose

Apr 26, 2010 - 08:24pm PT

philo

Trad climber

Somewhere halfway over the rainbow

Apr 26, 2010 - 08:25pm PT

That is some kind a wonderfull.
Thanx for keeping these threads alive.

tuolumne_tradster

Trad climber

Leading Edge of North American Plate

Apr 26, 2010 - 09:25pm PT

what I remember is the shadow of the pillar grew and become more ominous throughout the day as we approached those last 2 steep, exposed, sphincter-puckering pitches.

gonzo chemist

climber

Crane Jackson's Fountain St. Theater

Apr 26, 2010 - 09:46pm PT

Great thread. I'm glad someone dug this up...reminded me of a super fun weekend.

A couple years ago my friend Darshan and I were headed up to the Whitney Portal with the goal of climbing Mithril Dihedral on Mt Russell. On the way up the portal road a friend's car broke down. His passenger was a Dutch guy cruisin' around California for a few months climbing. The conundrum was that this Dutchman needed to get back to his car, parked up in Tuolomne. So we agreed to put Mt. Russell on hold and keep headin' up the highway. After a late night encounter with the tool, and a few hours of shut-eye, we woke up to beautiful blue skies.

We stopped at the Mobil station and bumped into another friend, who needed a ride into TM with a plan to solo the Matthes Crest. So here we are, 4 people, with packs, climbing gear, sleeping bags, etc. in a compact car.

After dropping the fellas off, it was time to figure out what to climb. 3rd Pillar it was...

There were a few parties on it already so we started out on some alternative pitches and linked up to the rest of the route higher up. What started out as a bummer the night before, turned into one awesomely fun day of climbing...

-Nick