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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 7, 2007 - 11:56am PT
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Had this one on my list for a long time.
So Goatboy stacked the rope.
Gained an excellent position out left on the aręte, explored stretchy moves out to the right and cast off into multiple bulges set with in-cut edges and finger flakes, …lay backed off a solid lock at the crux, swung up into a hanging slab and continued dancing upward with tasty exposure.
We missed the belay, carrying on from bottom to top in one pitch; got some rope drag but it didn't spoil anything.
Immensely entertaining!
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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Nice Trip Reporticita. It looks so sunny and warm there.
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guyman
Trad climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Nice, good to see your getting out.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Sounds like a route where one had best avoid latter day strain.
cheers Roy! Git some!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2007 - 01:05pm PT
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Terrific route Oli,
Got any memories from that one?
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graham
Social climber
Ventura, California
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looks pretty cool Roy, thanks for sharing.
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Ricardo Carlos
Trad climber
Off center, CO.
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Roy
Very nice, it's time for FIs I see
Well it looks like the cooler weather has arrived for today anyway.
Climbing this morning in South Platte we only saw one other party.
I also saw two cars belonging too other climbers below Cynical Pinnacle.
My car said 45 but felt like 65 in the sun OH so perfect was today
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2007 - 05:28pm PT
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From Rossiter:
From Roach:
Rap off the back one rope.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Nice one, GB and Roy. Couldn't have picked a finer day for it.
You reminded me that that one's been on my list for a long time too.
I remember Oli recomending it highly. Hey Pat, chime in here with the first ascent story.
Rick
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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I like W. C.'s retort when offered a glass of water...
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Hey Tar,
Looks like a fun climb. Thanks for reporting in.
It looks like the series of bulges at the top might be tricky.
I usually have trouble with bulges.
Goatboy, good to read your name out and about.
See y'all,
Zander
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Alex Perry
Trad climber
California
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Pat don't let any diseased spirits keep you from talking to all the rest of us who totally appreciate you. Remember the Einstein comment about great spirits receiving opposition. I can't believe that climb is only 5.8+.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Thanks, Tar, Rick, Alex, Graham, others...
That climb is a tiny one but slightly intense. My partner was Tom Avery, and at the time people were combining names a lot, you know, such as the Chouinard-Herbert..., and so we combined our names, Avery-Ament, and considered Avery-Ament Slab but thinking about it got to playing with that... until A very Ament's slab happened. Royal would have liked the pun probably, or not liked it (which may be the more desired effect). I remember placing a bolt right at the bulging crux by placing a knee chest level under a down-hanging flake. To my surprise, with this knee-lock, I could easily let go with both hands, where otherwise the climbing is delicate and somewhat tricky. I suppose now it's possible to get all sorts of Friends and things under some of those flakes. That one bolt was the only protection, if I recall, for the whole route. Oh, maybe there was a small nut somewhere else too. It is just a nice place to climb, beautiful position. I often went up there, pretending to be a beginner again, to re-live my youth (some of the best memories of my life).
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Oli,
When was that route put up? Could it be that was the very first use of what is commonly referred to now as a "knee bar?"
Definitely never heard of anyone using a full knee bar to establish a bolt placement GU.
thx for the route name explanation too.
cheers,
Munge
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graham
Social climber
Ventura, California
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Good story, I never heard of a knee bar to place a bolt either!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 8, 2007 - 10:51am PT
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The knee bar was very obvious and it was quite steep at that particular point, maybe just less than dead vertical.
The Goatboy was following, and I looked down at him as he reached that point and said "hey, how did he place that bolt? Check it out, can you drop your hands? Because I saw a handy knee lock there, right under the bolt..."
Not your average Flatiron east face.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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The history is a bit strange. It was done in 1969. I usually can remember well these various climbs, but this one eludes me a bit. If I recall correctly, I think Tom and I tried the route, and it started snowing or something. When I got the bolt in at the crux the rock was soaking and white and icy. And it was either grab the bolt and paw a way up through the snow or lower. So I went up somehow but grabbed the bolt. Then on a sunny day I returned with Tom Menk and Bob Hritz and climbed it without problems, claiming the free ascent that Avery and I were perfectly capable of doing without the snow. I see in the guide that there are two bolts on the crux pitch, one lower down, and then a bolt at the belay at the top of the first pitch. Rossiter's description seems all wrong.
As for the knee lock under the flake, that was a convenient discovery. Tar, sounds as though you figured that out right away. Some might not see it. I was good at finding ways to wedge or stem or whatever to let go. I once did a tough stemming boulder route with John Gill in Lost Canyon near Pueblo, and he told me quite a few guys could do the route as a big, muscular power move. I wasn't strong enough to do it that way and so invented the stemming version. He told me later that several very much stronger climbers than I could do it the normal one-arm pull-dynamic way but couldn't do it my way. It always made me happy to know there is a place in the climbing world for people with less strength but a little creativity.
A Very Ament's Slab is a nice little climb, probably not done all that often. The real route to do is behind WC Fields to the west and uphill, on the west overhang of the next pinnacle, a route called Soarks that I did with Tom Higgins in the mid-1970s -- wildly overhanging and scary (likely 5.11). We forgot the hammer, so I placed a bolt using a stone from the scree slope. I placed the bolt on an overhanging wall, held on by my forearm jammed between two small protrusions of rock. I could free a couple of fingers of that jammed forearm to hold the drill and was able to let go with my right hand to hammer with the rock. I dropped the rock once or twice, and Higgins would tie another onto the rope that I would have to haul up. That was a feat.
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Alex Perry
Trad climber
California
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Nice accounts of finding ways to let go with the hands while on steep climbing.
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Soarks continued ...
And after laughing and laughing at our hammerless stupidity, watching Pat blam with a rock, it was my turn. Off I went up and right, getting a bit out there, not laughing anymore, not quite getting the pro in I should have to protect Pat for the last traversing part he would have to follow, maybe because my eye was too much on a young nymph watching us, then a cranky pull to finish it and, uh, now Pat was facing one of the longest pendulum falls of his days should he not make it, but he did, but I forget if the girl made a little smile.
Looking back to 1979 American Alpine Journal, I find this reference to Soarks for a clue to the weird name: “Pat Ament and I climbed a new route on the ridge just south of the Third Flatiron. It is an overhanging pinnacle surrounded at the base by poison ivy. The climb was done on July 4 and originally called 'Sparks.' A report in Mountain misprinted the name and the name stuck. NCCS I, F10.”
11, 10 … I don’t know. More important was the wild ivy, hammer at home and leggy, perching girl ...
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 9, 2007 - 07:41pm PT
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Yup,
Gonnah go find that Soarks, with or without the leggy perching lass, probably gonnah bring a real hammer...
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Oct 10, 2007 - 01:35pm PT
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Soarks was done on a day so hot your hands felt as though they were placed in a bucket of hot water every few moves. My hands don't sweat that much (though I like chalk), but that was humidity and heat beyond humidity and heat. Tom made those lost moves in his usual bold style, moving out under the overhang, getting in a marginal nut. If I recall, the nut fell out just as he was on the hardest move, but there was still a sling around a strange-looking flake. I never saw the girl, but at the moment of following I didn't care about any girl. It was titillating enough moving out second under that overhang, looking at a swing of about 80 feet if I came off. The swing would have gone out into space, then around the corner to the south, and Higgins was telling me he wasn't sure if he could hold me or if his anchors were any good. It was airy, and there were gliders floating over the mountain -- adding to the hollow stomach sense.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Oct 10, 2007 - 01:58pm PT
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Good stories past and present.
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L
climber
A chartreuse glider in an azure blue sky...
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Oct 10, 2007 - 02:38pm PT
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Thank you, Pat, for those endearing and thoroughly entertaining historical recaps.
And Tarbaby--excellent thread!
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Oct 10, 2007 - 02:51pm PT
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And Tarbaby--excellent thread!
Things would be less excellent around here without him, there's no doubt.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Oct 10, 2007 - 02:52pm PT
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Good stuff!
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cowpoke
climber
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Oct 10, 2007 - 03:39pm PT
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Wow, threads like this are what make ST such a fabulous place to lurk. sincere thanks to Tarbuster and Oli.
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Alex Perry
Trad climber
California
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Oct 11, 2007 - 11:38pm PT
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Why isn't this thread still going? Nothing better than when you get those two, Higgins and Ament, going, about their climbs. Thanks to Tarbuster for starting this. Some more to say? Or did the subject switch (to Soarks) kill it?
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Oct 17, 2007 - 02:10am PT
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There is another climb of mine in the area, up north a little from the backside of W.C. Fields, a short, overhanging crack called Fail Safe. It's so steep it's almost a roof and really seems preposterous when you're under it starting out, but hidden holds make it surprisingly climbable. I first led it with Gordy Ryan, then did it with lots of others, Jim Erickson one day, then Henry Barber (he was barefoot), and others. Anyone done it? I would imagine it might be 5.11, but who knows?
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Oct 17, 2007 - 09:25am PT
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Why isn't this thread still going?
I'll keep reading it, if it does. Pat, Roy, Tim, others .... Got more photos of forgotten flatirons climbs? I used to love those hills.
Pat, doesn't High Over Boulder tell the story of Jim E's big soloing fall?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 17, 2007 - 11:57am PT
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Well, thanks all for the kudos.
It is fun to set these things up and watch/listen as Pat & Tom knock 'em over with detailed accounts.
Personally, I really enjoy following the links in the chain, back to the genesis; somehow it completes a sense of encounter with these climbs.
The back sides of the Flatirons hold all kinds of steep terrain; there is a vertical 5.4 on the back of the third flatiron called the Winky Woo; pretty cool for the grade.
Then there's a 10.D called Pentaprance, a very prominent corner: I get the feeling it's hardly ever done (certainly not by me, not yet). Of course there's Death and Transfiguration, one of the most well-known, which I have done a bunch of times.
I don't have any pictures of that stuff, but I intend to go get a look at the routes Pat mentioned (Soarks, Failsafe) and more...
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Alex Perry
Trad climber
California
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Oct 18, 2007 - 01:46am PT
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Erickson was soloing a lot, went for a steep 5.8, perfect hand jam near Death and Transfiguration. His hand slipped out of a perfect jam. He fell to the ground twenty five feet, broke both legs and an arm, if I remember, crawled down the long scree slope. He was whimpering and about to go into shock when some lady hiker heard him who was walking the Royal Arch trail far below. Ament did another good route on backside of Third Flatiron, very upper west most wall, Saturday's Folly all free.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2007 - 01:51am PT
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Death and Disfiguration.
It doesn't look so great...
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Alex Perry
Trad climber
California
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Oct 19, 2007 - 02:49am PT
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It is just a short route way down the wall east from Death & Trans. A good lesson maybe in what can happen if one gets too casual at soloing. Erickson sometimes just fell off, did a huge whipper off Black Walk almost to the ground on first free ascent. Good climber, endurance type forearm strength, but now and then got out of the zone or something.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 8, 2007 - 12:00pm PT
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Chiloe,
"Any more forgotten Flatiron climbs" you ask?
I was thinking this would be just the thread for such things. (Oli we'll get to Soarks I assure you). Goatboy and I just picked one off last week: The Mere Wall on the south face of the Finger Flatiron. One of the old guard, John Auld, recommended it and said it was stiff and necky as 5.8 goes, so it hung out there on my list for some time.
The Finger Flatiron is the long thin rectangular slab in the center of the photo, the south face would be around the left edge, and it is difficult to photograph the stature of the Mere Wall:
The climber encounters two leads, each one graced with multiple sets of moves both puzzling and committing, which slowly unlock fairly steep terrain mixed with finger buckets, head walls, tantalizing traverses, and spirited steep friction passages; all conducted under the duress of very sparse protection and the everpresent stimulating run out:
Oli?
And by the way, we climbed the northern edge of the East Face of the Finger Flatiron as our approach, which Rossiter notes was soloed by Erickson, and perhaps by you? (I see no mention of that solo by you in your High over Boulder). This was a pretty cool run out with some heady and committing moves right out there on the edge...
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Hey Roy,
sorry I missed you in Boulder, but my companion is enjoying welcome sobriety so we took a pass on the Sun.
Still the next morning we had breakfast just south (Walnut Creek?) with Alison and Dale and were discussing Hankster's downtown Denver landing technique when the culprit himself stumbles by with dirty laundry!
Sorry you missed it, but then Mark and I were sorry Oli couldn't show at the SushiFest. Oli, where were you?
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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That red Fountain Formation stone looks and climbs like nothing else. Wish I got back there more often.
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Hardly Visible
climber
Port Angeles
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Great stuff Roy, glad to see you and Goatboy out having some fun.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Roy,
I spent a lot of time up in them their hills, know every face of rock and every grassblade. I'm just now thinking of a time Steve Wunsch and I spent a whole day walking (no climbing) up among those pinnacles, with my big dog Blue along (a huge blue-merril collie). Blue's hip went out at one point, and I had to carry him a very long way back down home, like carrying a huge sack of potatoes. I climbed so many things up there I didn't even bother mentioning a lot of them through the years. At one time in the early 1960s Dalke and I were trying to climb every little pinnacle on Green and Bear. Then I did the same thing again with various other friends. I've spent many a warm night up there, just sitting on some rock beneath the stars...
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goatboy smellz
climber
लघिमा
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Aug 15, 2014 - 03:17pm PT
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Despite the flood last year some of those grassblades held up from the downpour. Did a quick repeat when we were back in town and it's inspiring how the more things change in town the more the Flatirons stay the same.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Aug 16, 2014 - 10:58pm PT
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I did a lot of routes that hardly seemed worth a mention in a guide, though later I regretted that I did not document all of them. Did anyone ever try that slab directly above and to the west of Square Rock? Larry and I climbed that one, and I think I mention it in the guide. It had a hard move on it in one place, as I recall, and Larry was in good form.
One time Larry and I were dropped off in Eldorado, hiked up to the Maiden, climbed it, and it was a hot summer day. We were out of water now but continued north up the rugged ridge to Devil's Thumb. We climbed both east face routes, up that overhang. Then, totally dehydrated we hiked to the top of Bear Mountain and finally down into Bear Canyon. Then to Larry's house in what was Table Mesa then. Big fields where there are houses now, and cows often chased us... But that was quite a summer outing.
Alex mentions Saturday's Folly free. Yes that is a good route. It is a bit contrived, though, in that we made it off limits to get more than an arm length to the right of the classic piton crack up the headwall. That made it a much better route and harder. But you could go right a bit and find it quite a bit easier...
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goatboy smellz
climber
लघिमा
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Aug 19, 2014 - 02:27pm PT
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Did anyone ever try that slab directly above and to the west of Square Rock?
More than likely, both Roy and I and many others have been on the hunt to climb all of the Flatirons and that one could be any of these.
The bouldering up there is phenomenal and is a great place to get away from crowds, most of the bouldering is still undocumented and between 3rd classing the east faces and farting around on the overhangs it's probably been tread over by someone.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Overhanging ground up, honey-badger-don't-need-no-hammer-so-he-drills-with-a-rock bump. Who in their right mind decides to proceed in that situation? Big smiles :)
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