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Gene Pool
Trad climber
A trailer park in Santa Cruz
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 25, 2007 - 01:41am PT
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Below is a slightly expanded el cap trip report that Floride suggested I post in a new thread so it might reach a wider audience. Hope you enjoy the photos. It was a blast.
Thanks Nanook for checking to make sure we were ok up there. You got it mostly right. The gear on Zodiak is Gene's. Zak is solo on the shortest straw - just to the west. On Friday when everthing began to thaw some ice started getting a little too close for comfort so Wigball rapped to the ground for a few hours until things settled down.
In case you want visions of pitons and ice fall to replace sugar plums, here are a few photos from my brother and my first wall together.
The preparations begin - I was really wishing I had a band saw
Free climbing on pitch 2
Cathedral Rocks!- pre storm
The conditions worsen
How overhung is this part of El Cap?
Another view of the weather shadow we were living in.
My brother leading pitch 4 a couple moves before taking a 40' fall when a head pulled inches from a bolt. Luckily he was smart? enough to not clip any of the heads below so he didn't have to replace any of them. I can't say I would be so brave, but it is a bold example to follow.
My brother belaying me on the killer pitch 5
Cathedral rocks a couple days later
This one is for a friend who isn't sure if she wants to try climbing after she saw an advert in a climbing mag of bloodied hands.
Pitch 5 from the belay with Wigball in the distance preparing to 'journey through the brain' on the shortest straw
Friday and the Sun is out!
My bro with my custom made french press model xmas stove from wigball - thanks santa.
I must not be much of a climber because my favorite day was this day where we sat out the worst of the storm reading and drinking coffee and whisky.
During the storm, I peeked out and saw wigball who was much more exposed to snow and ice than we
The camera didn't capture much of the snow, but it was amazing to see a curtain of snow falling 100' out from us
The storm breaks...and the ice starts falling from the rim
My brother grumpy on a wet pitch 8 with tons of rope drag. Mike "slack!" Me "do you want more than 10'?"
And the top!
Our hasty full moon bivy stamped out at 10pm - it felt like 3am when we ate lentil soup and candy while falling asleep.
Half Dome was a beautiful sight before the reality of the descent hit home
The way down was definitely the hardest, most dangerous part of this trip. 8 hours of dragging two bags each down the icy east ledges only to find the road to el cap meadow closed. But at least we made it home for xmas! Barely. Good luck to wigball who will be on the wall for a while longer. Thanks to Wigball, Peter and Rich for lending us gear.
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Dec 25, 2007 - 01:42am PT
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Nice job hardmen!!! Killer pics.
You said in the other thread this was your first time up the Captain?? A winter ascent nonetheless. Very proud!
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marky
climber
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Dec 25, 2007 - 01:58am PT
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enjoyed reading that, thanks
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sweatyballs
Trad climber
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Dec 25, 2007 - 02:08am PT
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Awesome work fellas with killer pics to boot! Congrats, mike
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Dec 25, 2007 - 02:28am PT
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Very nice fellas. My first el cap route was also the Trip in winter. I think my trip was in 82. Once again, well done. I suffered on that descent. Worst I'de ever done. cheers.
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Ammon
Big Wall climber
El Cap
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Dec 25, 2007 - 04:55am PT
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CONGRATS!! You guys are contending with BURT BRONSON, seriously!
Niiice pics.
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Mr. D
Trad climber
West Coast
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Dec 25, 2007 - 07:54am PT
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SUH-ICK! nice work guys. what a trip!
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Dec 25, 2007 - 09:50am PT
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Man, the top looks scary with all that snow! How were the final few pitches? And what about that last bit up to the rim, above the ledge with the big tree-bush?
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Dec 25, 2007 - 12:04pm PT
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big white bump for the abominable snowmen
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msiddens
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Dec 25, 2007 - 12:35pm PT
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Totally enjoyable TR. Thanks for sharing!
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billygoat
climber
3hrs to El Cap Meadow, 1.25hrs Pinns, 42min Castle
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Dec 25, 2007 - 12:39pm PT
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Nice work JP and Mike! Looks cozy up there.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Dec 25, 2007 - 12:59pm PT
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Thank you - looks like an excellent adventure. Did you have a fire on top, to celebrate, or was it too late for such? It would seem a poetic thing to do - top out, warm yourselves by the fire under the light of the moon. But I guess you were pretty tired. :-)
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Gene Pool
Trad climber
A trailer park in Santa Cruz
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 25, 2007 - 03:09pm PT
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No fire on top. We were too tired. We heated up soup from our sleeping bags. I don't know if other people have had the same problem, but there is a rock horn that is perfectly situated to catch the haul line on the last pitch. So I had to rappell down and figure out what was going on and after all that, I just wanted to crash.
The last couple pitches were wet, but doing them at night meant that there wasn't much ice. In the morning, they probably would have been hard. Ivo was nice and offered to drop ropes to us if we got stuck by ice, but luckily we didn't need to take him up on the offer.
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pimp daddy wayne
climber
The Bat Caves
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Dec 25, 2007 - 03:31pm PT
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Nice work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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10b4me
climber
1/2way between Yos and Moab
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Dec 25, 2007 - 03:54pm PT
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thanks
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Dec 25, 2007 - 04:16pm PT
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sick!
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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Dec 25, 2007 - 04:17pm PT
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Cool stuff. That looked bold up there in the winter. Thanks for the TR!
Merry Xmas!
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Dec 25, 2007 - 04:53pm PT
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so good
*cross posting to bigwalls.net
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Dec 25, 2007 - 06:27pm PT
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Very cool. Nice to have done it in winter conditions. Big props to both of you!
Levy
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OhYeah!!!
Trad climber
Sacramento, CA
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Dec 25, 2007 - 11:55pm PT
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Just to clear things up. It was not our first wall, it was our first wall together as bros. I had an awesome time with my bro and I appreciate all the support we got. This includes the phone calls that said "I hope you guys bailed, cause there is a huge storm in Yosemite right now," the warnings before we left "you guys are nuts," and even the occasional shout from the valley floor while we were on the wall that said "You guys are gonna die." Thanks so much, Mike.
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Dec 26, 2007 - 12:12am PT
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Ivo was up top offering to drop ropes?? Classic. What was Ivo doing up there? Finishing up a climb himself?
Winter wall monkeys....burly!!
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Dec 26, 2007 - 12:02pm PT
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I was thinking the same thing! What the hell was Ivo doing up there??
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Duke-
Trad climber
SF, aka: Dirkastan
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Dec 26, 2007 - 11:02pm PT
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!TR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Dirka
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Dec 27, 2007 - 01:02am PT
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Stout...
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Mick K
climber
Northern Sierra
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Dec 27, 2007 - 03:42pm PT
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Bump for Winter ascents
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YetAnotherDave
Trad climber
Vancouver, BC
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Dec 27, 2007 - 06:36pm PT
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Great TR, love the 'weather shadow' pics
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Dave Tapes
Trad climber
Silverado CA
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Dec 27, 2007 - 11:42pm PT
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Nice job guys, I spent Christmas day on the Trip back in 1985. The last 48 hours on the wall it was storming big time. I remember topping out in freezing rain. Reading your account really took me back.
thanks
DW
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Dec 28, 2007 - 12:07pm PT
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Jean Paul! You and your bro Rock hard. Outstanding...You told me you were gonna go, but then the weather came in and I thought you'd a probably bailed. But NO! Sweet success is yours.
Up and Away!
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Mr.T
Big Wall climber
topanga
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Dec 28, 2007 - 12:25pm PT
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did I hear somebody call you the "Sac" boys? that's almost as cool as the "Cane" brothers.....
Ladies, beware of these two!
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pc
climber
East of Seattle
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Dec 28, 2007 - 12:48pm PT
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Excellent report and effort! Thanks for sharing.
pc
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coldrainsnow
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Dec 28, 2007 - 02:05pm PT
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Bump for Mr. T's awesome video TR, complete with inspirational quotes and olde E video montage... nice work wiggie, it looks like you still fought a good fight.
will we see you in Jtree at all this year or are you going to be beating down some public school kids?
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Mr.T
Big Wall climber
topanga
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Dec 28, 2007 - 04:39pm PT
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BOTH!
(should be in JT mon-fri, freeeeeeclimbing!)
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salad
climber
San Diego
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Dec 28, 2007 - 06:36pm PT
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cool vid zak
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paganmonkeyboy
climber
mars...it's near nevada...
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Dec 28, 2007 - 07:29pm PT
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"I must not be much of a climber because my favorite day was this day where we sat out the worst of the storm reading and drinking coffee and whisky."
Actually, I think this puts you up there with the greats...;-)
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Dec 28, 2007 - 08:11pm PT
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Gene pool - great TR...thanks for the pix. Brings back memories - I did the third ascent with Ron and Dale waaaay back in the day. 5 days, 4 bivys and we froze our butts off on the last bivy 'cuz we got caught in a freak spring snowstorm and didn't have enough warm stuff. Looks like you guys were well prepared but I know it must have been pretty darn cold up there.
Congrats, jb
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Wade Icey
Big Wall climber
Indian Caves, CA
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Dec 28, 2007 - 08:59pm PT
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Exxxxxxcellent.
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coldrainsnow
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Dec 31, 2007 - 02:47pm PT
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bump for NYE!!!
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Jonny D
Social climber
Lost Angelez, Kalifornia
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Dec 31, 2007 - 04:10pm PT
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hey mr bachar,
anyway you can dig up some pics of that 3rd ascent for us?
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David Nelson
climber
San Francisco
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Dec 31, 2007 - 06:59pm PT
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Great TR, nice to read while I was warm!
Now that you have warmed up a bit, can you give us more detail about the technical aspects of the winter ascent?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Nice alpine gusto guys!! And way to pull out that camera. Thanks for posting up.
Hoooo Man JB, I didn't know that you did many of those big tapping routes. I did the fifth ascent with Mason Frichette from Boulder just after Eric Weinstein and Glenn Randall in 1977.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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We didn't have a camera...
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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Thanks for the inspirational TR SWeeeet and congrats.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Great job on the climb, and great TR. You guys are ready for Alaska or Baffin, now.
-Jello
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Dave Tapes
Trad climber
Silverado CA
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Jeff, I seem to remember wearing mountain boots on the climb and taking a pair of crampons and a ice axe. We didn't have to use the ice gear but I recall leading some kind of 5.6 slabs in the pouring rain, in mountain boots! We topped out late in the day and spent a cold wet night on top. By the time we got down we were soaked to the bone.
DW
ps Jeff when are we going rideing!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Here's my old green Meyer's guide topo annotated by Eric Weinstein. The 'scarry' [sic] note written in wiggly letters next to the headwall pitch is my favorite notation. When I did that pitch, no placement on the entire headwall was capable of holding a hard fall. Things are a bit different these days.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Thank you, Steve. In reply, here's a photo of Eric, taken by Dave Nicol in 1975 or 1976.
Edit: I'm fairly sure that Eric was first to free one of the pitches on the Trip, but don't know which one. An undercling or layback?
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kuan
Sport climber
CA
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Mike,
You effin' badass. Let me buy you a celabratory beer next Tuesday, when the beer is cheap...
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Wow, this thread refuses to die for how many posts it has. So, if jb did the third in 197? and Steve Grossman did the fifth in 1977, I wonder where my ascent fell in the numbers? My buds and I did it in Feb. of 82 or 83. I can't quite remember. Does anyone even keep track past five ascents and does anyone even care. Being a lesser climber that doesn't get out much and is reliving any past glory, however insignificant, I'm somewhat curious. Flail away boys, My ego can take it.
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