working of the first free ascent of Mescalito

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Messages 41 - 60 of total 74 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
TKingsbury

Trad climber
MT
Aug 14, 2009 - 10:57am PT
Really nice! Thanks for the heads up!
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Aug 14, 2009 - 10:58am PT
A ten year project, hmmmm....I guess that leaves me out.
can't say

Social climber
Pasadena CA
Aug 14, 2009 - 11:02am PT
Completely amazing to me.
Impaler

Trad climber
Munich
Aug 14, 2009 - 12:48pm PT
Holy schit! Amazing!
GDavis

Trad climber
Aug 14, 2009 - 01:01pm PT
Chris McNamera, belayer to the stars!
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Aug 14, 2009 - 02:48pm PT
It looks kinda steep and smooth up there in places!

(photo by Corey Rich)
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Aug 14, 2009 - 03:50pm PT
I would pay Tommy to let me go up there with him just to belay and watch!
k-man

Gym climber
SCruz
Aug 14, 2009 - 06:02pm PT
I was going to hot-link one of those Nikon photos, but decided to just point:

http://nikon.net/Images/en_US/Learn-And-Explore/2009/Capture-Your-Moment/Climbing-El-Capitan/Media/el-capitan-main-006.jpg

This is a RAD picture of C-Mac!!!!
cultureshock

Trad climber
Wall Climber Wannabe
Aug 14, 2009 - 06:09pm PT
Also very cool that Kevin Jorgeson is going to work with Tommy on the route in the fall.

http://kjorgeson.blogspot.com/2009/08/progression-sneak-peak.html
altieboo

Boulder climber
Livermore, Ca
Aug 14, 2009 - 06:49pm PT
The video that Nikon has on their site of Mescalito is perhaps the coolest video that I have ever seen.
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 16, 2009 - 12:14am PT
i didnt even notice there was video at first... cool!

three different ways to see the video

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=115918102902&saved

http://nikon.net/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Tips/fx50m2eb/1/Aerial-Ballet.html#tab=2

http://nikon.net/Images/en_US/Learn-And-Explore/2009/Capture-Your-Moment/Climbing-El-Capitan/Media/Nikon_El_Cap_Final_640x360.flv
Brian

climber
Cali
Aug 16, 2009 - 12:22am PT
That is a great fecking video! I hope he makes more progress in the autumn.
Gobee

Trad climber
Los Angeles
Aug 16, 2009 - 07:15am PT
Yahouza Tommy, that's one heckof a Flying Dynosore move!
the kid

Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
Aug 16, 2009 - 11:48am PT
i am all about free routes on el cap.
however...

i do think that the amount of bolts added to the aid/free pitches needs to be minimal.
otherwise all the aid routes will be much less committing.

while Coz and i were on the Muir and it's variations, we did not add ANY bolts to existing Muir wall pitches.

food for thought, go Tommy!
ks
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 18, 2009 - 11:48pm PT
here is the latest from the wall

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/journal/climb/athletes/bd-athletes-kevin-jorgeson-and-tommy-caldwell-attempt-a-new-free-route-on-el-capitandispatch-4
'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
Nov 19, 2009 - 12:14am PT
Well, that's all fine and dandy. But who knows what's really going on up there?

So how many bolts have been added? To what pitches and in what location please?

And are these bolts now next to the existing aid cracks, now effectively chicken bolts?

I do knott know the answers to these questions, which is why I ask. Jerry Miller and Tom Evans - can you please share what you have witnessed through your giant lenses regarding bolt addition? You've been up there Chris Mac - what's the scoop?

I really hope Tommy hasn't bolted the snot out of El Cap like Todd Skinner did on Dihedral Wall, but has instead attacked the free climbing in the spirit of Sean and Nico on The Secret Passage or Alex and Thomas Huber on their various free projects. Those guys climbed sick, hard, runout routes without adding any new bolts next to the aid lines [although they sometimes added bolts where they climbed on brand new terrain] and I have personally witnessed those guys taking huge whippers.

Adding bolts to an existing route just to make it easier and safer to free climb is LAME, and should not be tolerated under any circumstance, especially in the Centre of the Universe on one of its most popular faces.

Peter Zabrok
Ontario, Canada
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Nov 21, 2009 - 06:01pm PT
Pete,

Maybe the ideal solution for an El Cap route (like Dihedral Wall) which would see very few free attempts, but quite a few aid ascents would be for the free folks to use removable bolts like the Fixe Triplex.
That way, they remove them after they are done (unless other folks are lined up to try freeing it).
Future free climbers can bring their own box of Triplex bolts to put back in the holes, while they are working the pitches on TR.
And the aid climbers are not tempted to clip the bolts from the free version, because they are no longer in place.
adventurous one

Trad climber
Truckee Ca.
Nov 21, 2009 - 06:22pm PT
"Future free climbers can bring their own box of Triplex bolts to put back in the holes, while they are working the pitches on TR.
And the aid climbers are not tempted to clip the bolts from the free version, because they are no longer in place."

That is a great idea! Especially for a route like this. Unlkely this route would see a second ascent in our lifetime (asuming he completes it) Someone who is one of the strongest climbers in the world is not going to spend months / years working a route for the second ascent when there are a limitless supply of 5.14+ / 5.15 waiting for a first ascent for someone with that kind of talent.
No sense in wrecking a great aid route with "chicken bolts" that would only serve as a memorial to a great free climbing effort. Anyone that would consider investing the time in repeating a line like this could certainly take the time to re install the bolts.

Hopefully that is an idea that will catch on before too many aid routes are lessened.

And good luck Tommy, certainly one of the most impressive (rehearsed) free climbing efforts of all time!
luggi

Trad climber
from the backseat of Jake& Elwood Blues car
Nov 21, 2009 - 08:52pm PT

Tommy... you my friend have the "Hootzpa" shalom and pound that son of a bitch climb to the ground....
'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
Nov 25, 2009 - 07:39am PT
That sounds like a brilliant idea! Can these bolts be easily removed?
Messages 41 - 60 of total 74 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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