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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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Oct 30, 2008 - 08:14pm PT
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Return to the Stone Age or the Calderwood/Robbins variation of Bridalveil East?
Looks like you can see the chimney system of Bridelveil East just to the right in the first photo. That makes me suspect Stone Age. However, looks to be alot of traversing in your photos. Which makes me believe it's some sort of variation, like the Robbins/Calderwood.
But what do I know?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 30, 2008 - 08:21pm PT
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Salamanizer got it!
It's the Robbins/Calderwood variation to Bridalveil East.
Peter Haan calls it Bridalveil East - Aqua var.
I've been wanting to try it ever since he described it as a cool old 5.8 to do in low/no water.
le bruce and nutjob's "Let's Charge the Midget Chimney!" report from last spring reminded me again:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=579217
So Ken Duncan and I got on it last Saturday. It was a good adventure.
Pretty committing - you would have to reverse traverses and leave gear to rappel back to Bridalveil East. There was also a blank section in the trees after the Hand Traverse, but maybe we missed something in the dark - I did a rope throw and batman.
Return to the Stone Age is on the face of the buttress just left of the Bridalveil East chimney system.
Note: the photo overlay line in Meyers/Reid is incorrect - too far to the right.
The Roper description is correct, and the Meyers/Reid topo is pretty good, except it does not include the Aqua variation.
"terrifying chimney system", "appalling chockstones", and "exhilarating hand traverse" are quotes from the Roper 1964 guidebook.
I'm not sure about the exact location of the Midget Chimney; perhaps Melissa or others can confirm or correct....
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Oct 30, 2008 - 08:41pm PT
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Clint these photos are great. Me and Nutjob had no inkling of where we were going when we tried Bridalveil East, but your excellent pictures above pretty much lay it all out. What was your vantage point for the long vertical shot, taken somewhere above?
So from your pic it looks like the line fires straight into the obvious chimney on the far left of my pic below, would you agree with that?
Edit: I'd love to see more photos of your day if you have them. And was the chimney terrifying, the chockstones really appalling, or are those just names?
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Oct 30, 2008 - 08:42pm PT
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I think that's pretty close on the MC. It was 20 odd years ago, when I did it, and my partner (Walt S) isn't around to ask.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Oct 30, 2008 - 08:47pm PT
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Thanks, Jaybro. You can see I'm not leading that way in the photo above. We got pulled into what you have to admit is a virtual buffet of crack and corner systems out right. Only downfall of going for any of them is that the water is going to get you. The climbing was great until it got too wet.
We turned back at this ledge - Clint or Jaybro or anybody who's done BE to the Midget, do you remember belaying on a ledge like this, with a bunch of tat in a chimney feature above?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 30, 2008 - 08:50pm PT
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le bruce,
You and nutjob were exactly on route for Bridalveil East - that first pitch is 20' right of the main chimney system, as described in Roper. Pitch 2 starts in the left chimney above the belay/rappel slings, then diagonals left to the main chimney system. I'll post more photos in a separate trip report with a proper title! They include photos of your ledge (dry, though).
Here is the full trip report for Bridalveil East - Aqua var.:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=712080
The long vertical photo is taken from Wawona View, I think - I poached it from a google image search.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Oct 30, 2008 - 08:57pm PT
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Perfecto, thanks Clint. I look forward to your writeup, and the appalling horrors it may or may not contain.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Oct 30, 2008 - 09:14pm PT
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We never knew if we were on route or not, until we got to the obvious 3.5" chimney.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Oct 30, 2008 - 09:21pm PT
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I tried to find this magic 5.8 route and got lost and did an accidental maybe first ascent
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=40071
Any guidance on how to start this thing? There's a big pool near the base of Bridalveil. where is it relative to that?
Really 5.8?
Recommended?
Peace
Karl
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lars johansen
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Oct 30, 2008 - 09:50pm PT
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Lots of fun Clint. I took an epic fall on the Peanut 2nd pitch 30 years ago. That's how long it's been since I've been in that neck of the woods.
Best,
lars
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Oct 30, 2008 - 11:11pm PT
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How totally cool that you (Clint) dug this route up!! I was cruising through the photos and was getting this huge deja vu experience since the "name that route" thing was not solved. I did that route (Aqua Variation) back in 65. Really fun route. A Karl and Ed H. route type of thing for sure. These guys have to go do it! Or drag my Haan Ass up there as well! So Loved It. So cool how you end up climbing a few feet to the left of the actual falls.
best, see some of you at the Nose thing next week, ph.
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CAMNOTCLIMB
Trad climber
novato ca
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Oct 31, 2008 - 10:27am PT
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cool pics and another route to try
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