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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 19, 2008 - 10:18pm PT
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i decided to write up tr's of all 21 big walls i climbed this year and post them here.
dirtbag-aaron.blogspot.com
I reccommend starting at the bottom and scrolling up as they are in chronological order from there. check em out and tell me what you think.
Aaron
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2008 - 10:33pm PT
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he is from california, works construction, surfs and climbs. i feel terrible but i cant remember his last name. not ted hansen from the ms.
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 19, 2008 - 10:45pm PT
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aaronj
How's your shoulder? Rich is here, and just did Zenyatta.
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2008 - 10:49pm PT
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im super psyked he did the route with alik. both super cool dudes and a great route. hope the descent wasn't too gnarly, hands down the worst part of a winter ascent in my opinion.
i started physical therapy yesterday. 5 weeks out since surgery. probably another 5 months before climbing but thats ok. im expecting a full recovery and return to climbing by this summer. as of now i can almost reach above shoulder level. the worst is over. thanks for the concern werner
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 19, 2008 - 10:57pm PT
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Good to hear that you're recovering.
I felt bad that you hurt yourself, and good luck to your physical therapy.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Feb 19, 2008 - 11:42pm PT
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"By doing so you face a 120 foot fall when you leave the anchor and a 230 factor two fall if you whip near the end of the pitch. Rule number one is don't f*#k up and fall."
This is definitely not for me.
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elcap-pics
climber
Crestline CA
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Feb 20, 2008 - 12:32am PT
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Yo Aaron... I read every one of your climbs... I was fortunate to get shots of a lot of them too... anyway I enjoyed your writing style and got to relive some of the good times from last year through them... thanks Bro and best wishes for a speedy recovery.... see you in the Glory Hole this spring, or summer, or whenever you are well enough to come on down...
Tom
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billygoat
climber
3hrs to El Cap Meadow, 1.25hrs Pinns, 42min Castle
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Feb 20, 2008 - 01:33am PT
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21 walls in a single season! Hot damn. That's gotta be some sort of record.
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Hannah89
Trad climber
Vancouver Island
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Feb 20, 2008 - 02:08am PT
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Hey Aaron,
Really excellent to read about all your climbs! I knew you had a stupendos season, but twas really nice to read about it. Sorry to hear that your shoulder is going to be out for so long, good luck mending.
Peace
Hannah
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poop_tube
Big Wall climber
33° 45' N 117° 52' W
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Feb 20, 2008 - 02:43am PT
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AARON!
Wuddup Hommie
Kia here
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2008 - 12:34pm PT
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hey hannah! good to hear from you, are you still in yosemite or canadia?
kia, whatup homie? hows the working life?
tom-hows life at home? thanks for all the photos this year. ill be there even if im still busted up, what else am i gonna do?
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Stanley Hassinger
climber
Eastern US
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Feb 20, 2008 - 01:42pm PT
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Aaron,
Sounds like you had quite a season. Way to go!
Stanley
(We met several summers ago, and again this past summer right after I did the Shield w/ my buds Jeff and Peyton. Jeff and I rode down with you to Coilers for Tom's birthday in June(?) of 2005).
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the Fet
Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
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Feb 20, 2008 - 03:22pm PT
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"Zodiac:
The plan was simple, use the loop belay system. Not the standard continuous loop soloists use. This works more like a rappel when you pull the rope through an anchor but from above. The system works like this-tie into one end of your rope, thread said rope through a rap anchor or leaver biner, tie into other end of rope, climb the pitch backcleaning everything!! and then pull the rope from above, rethread the rope and repeat. I used this method for almost the whole route. By doing so you face a 120 foot fall when you leave the anchor and a 230 factor two fall if you whip near the end of the pitch. Rule number one is don't f*#k up and fall."
Whoaa!
Edit: I see munge quoted abouve as well, but it bears repeating.
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'thelittlebrotherthatcanhighlinelikeamofo'
Trad climber
bay area
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Feb 21, 2008 - 02:37am PT
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Haa! Good times broski! Nice narrative.
"This time the first pitch was exciting. I was digging in the bag for something not really belaying well. Corbin was running it out as usual but then screamed falling. I had easily 30 ft of slack out just laying on the ground, oops. My first instinct was to grab the rope with my hand so I did. I held the fall in my left hand on a 9.4 mm rope without ever locking the grigri. It wasn't very hard and i only got burnt a little, Corbin was fine!"
I think my exact words, all in succession were, "WATCH ME, FUUUK, FALLING!" and it was a 9.3...
Anywho, we make more good times when you heal. Make it speedy dude!
Bump: theres some rad reading in there.
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Feb 21, 2008 - 01:04pm PT
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"In a shove"
LOL!
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 21, 2008 - 04:34pm PT
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hey corbdawg, im psyked to get on with the proj this summer. you know the one...
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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Feb 21, 2008 - 05:00pm PT
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Too bad I'll already have sent the proj by the time your shoulder heals Aaron. Maybe you should start cranking on the physical therapy and stop lurking on the Taco so much. ha!
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Feb 21, 2008 - 08:49pm PT
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Damn, thats quite a list of routes for one season! Way to keep at it, Aaron!
Hey, you climbed the Porcelain Wall in 2006, at the same time as Dave and Nick, right? That wall went seven years since the last ascent and there were no second ascents until you guys went up there. Do you know anything about Daves route? Have you seen a topo? Where does it start and where does it go? How many holes? What did you think of Strange World? Got any other Porcelain info that you would like to share with us? Nice job up there!
Hey Nick, are you out there? Got any stories for us?
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Clayman
Trad climber
CA, now Flagstaff
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Feb 21, 2008 - 09:04pm PT
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what up aaron!! badass dude, hope you heal quick dude...i gotta watch my back around you, you might steal the little bro away..hahaahah. you guys are sending!
see you in may dude
clay
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Kristoffer
Big Wall climber
Blue Jay, California
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Feb 21, 2008 - 09:17pm PT
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Nice one Aaron, very proud! Maybe Ill see you around the ditch some time this season.
Zephyr
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pimp daddy wayne
climber
The Bat Caves
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Feb 21, 2008 - 09:24pm PT
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Aaron, you da man! Hope to see you @ the Titanic for some old fashion bullshitin this summer. Peace man.
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Ragz
climber
Tartarus, black hole of the internet
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Feb 21, 2008 - 10:04pm PT
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Your Psych is contagious.
I'm fondling my gear right now :)
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 21, 2008 - 10:13pm PT
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hey er-body.
clay-i won't steal him forever just for less than 24 hrs at a time! haha
wayne- what up homie! im always down for that! hope to see you this spring
minerals-yeah the porcelain rocked! one of my fav solo experiences, thanks for putting up such a stellar route! strange world was rad, by far the most natural route ive done, only 30 holes on the route and almost every belay had 2-3 bolts. the right or flight was hard but i still coulda chopped one rivet! steep as f*#k and good aid. 9 days on route with tons of storms.
i don't know much about daves route but i know the hole count was less than when hell was in session.
it was awesome to be up there with nick simul soloing right next to me. great wall but i totally botched the descent and ended up on the wrong side of the falls in spring and had to back track and wander around for hours dying of lack of beer and ice cream.
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nicolamartinez
Big Wall climber
Brazil
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Feb 22, 2008 - 12:58pm PT
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Yo guys, Iīts been I while since I posted here last time... Yeah, we had lotīs of fun on the Porcelain Wall. We went up there once with no gear to check the aproach, Aaron still had his gear on the top of El Cap, he climbed Native Son... Me and Dave started hiking our loads to the base, set up a nice base camp to the right side of the wall... Got all the water we needed from a snow bank and started fixing. Daveīs route, House of Cards, starts by Sargantana... I fixed till pitch 4, Kohl and Takedaīs anchors had just the bolts, no hangers, the first and second pitches were all mossy and wet, the upper pitches on the slab were kinda hard, specially the one before the tree. a bunch os blind beaks a couple of rivets and a huge hook traverse, it didnīt end there, I still had to bust some free moves on a loose flake and trhow a sling on the loose tree, it took me 4 or 5 tries to get the job done, once I climbed up the small tree I had to throw another sling on the stronger tree and hoping not to take a whipper on the slab, that wouldnīt be nice. Dave decided to wait for his friend Matt while Aaron and myself kept moving camp... From the tree above the thing got very steep, I had to climb the tree and get to the first rivet, as the thing got higher my biggest concern was to fall on the tree. The A4 pitch was also scary and higher up I got to this wide, loose, massive and sharp blocks pointing at me and hollow... The A5 pitch was short, about 35 or 40 meters, felt good on it, some loose and flaky rock to get to the bottom of the big roof. A couple of pitches of blank rock and a massive rivet ladder, good job for those drillers, I had a hard time hooking the hangers with the tip of my fingers and on the top step of my aiders. The highlight of the route was the Yellow Planaria feature, got really strong updrafts that day, my ropes were flying over my head and my bags were going all over making things harder... Oh that yellow feature, 60 meters of a big suffer fest. the corner was blind I almost ran out of blades and beaks, I fell on a fixed head 3 moves from the anchor, it was getting dark and I didnīt, I thought I was going for the big ride but an upside down knifeblade, somethimes I thank God I was born lightweight, had to jummar up back to the pice hoping for the thing not to pop, replaced the head and got to the anchor, this one was alright, all the hangers were there, I decided to clean in the dark, forgot my water bottle and had to clean and haul with my mouth dry as f*#k... Got the day off the next day to enjoy the view and my body was really sore. f*#king smashed my finger placing a circle head to get to the big ledge. Got a storm and couldnīt really climb again. The pitch above the ledge started with a big traverse on a big flake nad going up some rivets and a bunch of hooks climbing the "death block" to get to the anchor. Last pitch was just hard topping out, everything was wet. Couldnīt really see much up there, was foggy and snowing. Misse the trail on the descent, Aaron toped out 2 days before I did and the same thing happened to him, I spent 9 hours with a 80lbs bag on my back, I always overload myself, got to the other side of the falls, could see the tourists but couldnīt traverse, was a big epic, but I lived, oh yeah when I got to the bus stop they were not running anymore, had to walk one more mile to Curry and hitchhiketo camp 4. The monkeys sent. Peace you all and sorry if it was too detailed pitch by pitch. Good job for the firs ascenters, that was one oh the hardest things Iīve climbed. Fun though.
http://www.nicolamartinez.blogspot.com
http://www.susannalantz.com RIP 03/18/2008
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 22, 2008 - 01:38pm PT
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that was great fun wasnt it nick? we had a supergood hang at the base. the snow melt gave us all our water so that was good. i remember watchig nick try and get to the tree, throwing a cam on a long sling while pimping a layback! i was way gripped watching that! remember when i dumped the ledge after blasting and lost the bong in the bergschrund! the sewer pitch was running with so much water drowning was a concern. i got totally hosed becuz my stuff was on the summit of el cap still after an april solo of native son. i went back to get it right after topping out and the fixed lines were gone! so i tried to do the falls trail but the snow was over my head. no dice. went back up to the east ledges with a borrowed rack and rope to try and climb the east ledges but luckily cedar and renan were fixing it! then i could contiue my shuttle of gear directly from the summy of el cap to the base of the porcelain. i believe it was like a 5 day turnaround!
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Darnell
Big Wall climber
Chicago
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Feb 22, 2008 - 02:33pm PT
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Aaron, 21 walls in one year is way proud!! The torch has been passed!!
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nicolamartinez
Big Wall climber
Brazil
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Feb 22, 2008 - 03:02pm PT
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Nice one Aaron... Thankīs for the addīs on the TR bro, so much to say... That was a sick ascent for all of us... It was epic for Aaron to rescue his bags from the top of el cap, I remember watching you on Native Son from the meadow, you werenīt moving cause of that storm... Remember you got your bags from the top and hiked to the base of the Porcelain to join us, you were psyked and not f*#king around... The ringtale cats were there, The tube of fun. You dropped your device and went all the way down to get it, Iīm glad you found. You found Eric Kohls beak with his initials on. Aaron kept falling and screaming like a mofo, the placement didnīt want to stick, but you kept trying and got things done. The huge blocks we dropped from up there, there was one that even hit your haul bag... Lotīs of storms... Hope to simul solo something again, was thinking on going highr up and move camp to half dome. Peace and keep adding memories from the good seasons. N
Rich, Iīll never forget the cyclops eye and you waking me up, sumsum bioatch... Hope youīre doing good bro. Peace and much RESPECT. N
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Feb 22, 2008 - 03:06pm PT
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THIS is what ST is all about! You guys rule!
Hey, I dont mean to hijack your thread, Aaron. Should I start a new thread on the Porcelain so that we can discuss it more, instead of clogging up your proud 2007 season thread? Mind if I copy your Porcelain posts into the new thread? Nick, is that OK with you?
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 22, 2008 - 03:14pm PT
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yeah for sure dude go for it. ill wait to elaborate on the hand. thanks rich and nice work on zm!
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nicolamartinez
Big Wall climber
Brazil
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Feb 22, 2008 - 03:24pm PT
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Go for it... Nice talking with you all guys. Peace Nick
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Feb 22, 2008 - 09:25pm PT
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"After a fitful few hours of sleep we continued on the west buttress escape instead of the grovely, disgusting finish to the Dihedral wall proper."
What? You don't like grovelling up chimneys filled with dead trees?
"My first four routes of the season had taken a huge toll on my body. My hands were a mess and I was forced to rest for two weeks until I could heal up."
Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
"We had a unique perspective on our friends Pete and Kate on WSR so we decided to chill for the rest of the day. It is surprisingly easy to laze away the day on a 10x20 granite perch a thousand feet in the sky. We milled around on the ledge and scoped the next days climbing until darkness fell and we settled in with only a rasta-bivy bag each to keep us "warm."
Dude! You guys looked SO MISERABLE up there! Kate and I thought for sure you were gonna bail, and we were surprised the next day to see you send it! Nice!
Sorry to hear about your shoulder, dude. When you take chances and push the envelope, you substantially increase the risk. Good luck in your recovery, and thanks for a great read.
Cheers,
Pete
P.S. The Captain looks very cold, nasty, formidable and intimidating today.... brrr..... I hiked up to the base yesterday and the water was just pouring off.
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Feb 23, 2008 - 09:04am PT
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Thanks for posting up about your inspiring and most impressive achievements Aaron. While hiking down to the valley floor along the base of El Cap last fall after hearing some of these stories from you I was shaking my head in amazment.
May your shoulder heal quickly.
Look forward to seeing you in the Spring!
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Feb 23, 2008 - 09:20am PT
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Sweet thread!
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aaronj
Big Wall climber
KY
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 23, 2008 - 12:50pm PT
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its cool to see climbing related content on a climbers forum, eh?
thanks for the props er-body, just doing what any monkey should do!
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| Messages 1 - 35 of total 35 in this topic |
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