mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Not beta, but I can't help but comment: Holy cow, Ed H, 80m rope??? Where'd you get that thing? At this rate, pretty soon the Nose will be a 3-pitch route with a bit of simul.
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LowNRight
Trad climber
CA
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We did the FOBIAD last weekend. The .10c is five stars. That was the best of the five climbs. The bolt at the .10c would have been nice but a .33 alien (black) will fit in the under cling on the left. If you don’t mind a possible pendulum fall a better 3/8(blue) or .5 alien (green) will fit in the crack that’s on the right. There’s a good stance there so you can take your time and think about if you want to fall on a marginal .33 alien or penji fall on a better bigger cam.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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I think there are a couple of bolts being discussed... one is protecting the crux on Werner's Ant Tree the 5.10c pitch that can be a variation to pitches 1 and 2 on The Surprise. This bolt is gone because it was not a part of the FA.
The third pitch of The Surprise is the "5.8" pitch which is quality.
The bolt on the p2 traverse (we did it in one pitch, however, with an 80m rope) of The Surprise is still there.
Finish with the 5.10a variation... this is a lot better than the traversing end.
I haven't done it yet, but by all reports do this in three pitches, 5.10c, 5.8, 5.10a for a "five star" classic climb.
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NYZoo
Trad climber
Gunks
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In a posting below it mentions that the bolt is gone on the traverse.. Another post mentions it still being there.. Anyone know if it is still there or not? Spicy climbing if the bolt is really gone...
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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There is an old 1/4" bolt on the traversing p2 which has a Leeper hanger and is out of the rock quite a ways. I wouldn't trust this much, probably should be replaced.
The final "tight hands" crack on p3 can be avoided by moving right and running out a bit of climbing on features, if you have run out of the appropriate sized gear. This final crack bit is technical, and takes 0.75" and 1" gear.
There is a single bolt at the end of p3, so you also need gear for the belay anchor.
The 5.10a finish on p4 is the absolute way to go. You can sew that puppy up with smallish gear. It is a great finger/small hands crack! And probably safer than the delicate friction/balance traverse on the original route...
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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I have done all three variations, and the 10c is very good. Speaking of hornets, I've been attacked on Caverns years ago.
But nothing was as bad as when Ed Barry, Dave Hitchcock and I were headed up to the Braille Book and a swarm of HUGE hornets attacked us. I had eight stings and the f*ckers also bite. Not nice and I am allergic to bee/hornet/wasp venom. My left hand swolled up to the size where I could do any off-width if I wanted to as a fist jam at the time.
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del cross
climber
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"We were climbing Commitment on Sunday and a party to the right of us on the Caverns were attacked by Hornets."
That party was on The Surprise, not The Caverns. A woman stepped on a yellow jacket nest and received a number of stings/bites.
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Senor Pinche Wey
Big Wall climber
OB
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We were climbing Commitment on Sunday and a party to the right of us on the Caverns were attacked by Hornets. The leader sounded pretty upset and was stung several times. I don't know any more details but WATCH OUT for hornets!
I know this isn't the route forum for The Caverns I just want to make sure that people got the word.
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clustiere
Trad climber
berkeley ca
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Yeah the bolt was gone so I avoided the ant trees. Why was this chopped?
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ccampb
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Those two stoppers are mine. A little misread of the topo (and not looking hard enough at the actual rock) had me showing up at the crux without the necessary thin gear to protect it properly. That, plus a missing bolt, and back to the ground I went.
I definitely wouldn't recommend falling on them -- I thought they were good enough to lower off, but not much more.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Seems like the crux move could be heady w/o the bolt, but not unreasonable. There is good small pro to be had at the top of the lieback. But if the nuts are fixed, how bad can they be? Cables frayed, something like that?
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Impaler
Social climber
Berkeley
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I climbed the direct start variation yesterday. It's a great route from start to finish. The bolt at the 10c crux has been chopped. You can still see where it was. There were two fixed stoppers at the top of the dihedral that looked very marginal. If you use those don't fall and clip in with long runners. Otherwise, you'll experience some horrendous rope drag. I also suggest not using the pin that is right above the 10c. It only creates more rope drag and is cracked. Surprisingly, the bolt at the second belay was still there (right next to a perfectly good crack). 3rd and 4th pitch are best linked with a 60 m rope.
Vlad
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stella
climber
cali
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If you do this route, do the Werners Ant Trees variation. Five star route this way. First pitch lieback with a balancy crux move (with a bolt), beautiful double hand cracks on second pitch, and a fingers splitter for the third pitch. Last pich is forgettable but the rest is awesome.
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Duke-
Trad climber
SF, aka: Dirkastan
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Its the goods!!!
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caughtinside
Social climber
Oakland, CA
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Ok, I suck. I just stayed in the corner, and did the dirty 5.8 way. Traverse? Who knew?
Anyway, I found myself 30 feet above a rusty 1/4" bolt, with my next piece another 20' below that, pulling around a blind corner. Thrilling.
As my partner said to me when we topped out, "That was bullsh#t, dude."
but then we continued on up selaginella, a much nicer route!
i was trying to describe what we did to a guy later on:
"We were trying to do the Surprise" and then told him what we did.
"Oh, you did the Surprise all right, you did the Old Surprise."
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Star-rating goes for the direct (Werner's) start. Doing it this way gives an awesome first and last pitch, with ok to good pitches in between.
Good pro all the way up, and Werner's has some really fun moves on it. The .10+ crux is protected by a bolt.
A climb I'll repeat for sure.
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Mei
Trad climber
SF Bay Area
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Did this on May 15 after a wet winter. When the Caverns was soaking wet, this route was perfectly dry.
Follow the topo carefully and don't miss the traverse to the right at a tree with slings. While we were high up on the route, one party missed the turning point and continued up following the corner. According to my partner who communicated with them by shouting, the corner above the turning point did not look good and the party had to back down. There are slings above the turning point that are deceiving as they make you think the climb continues up, but from what I saw, they are most likely bail slings left behind by parties who got off route.
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Chris McNamara
SuperTopo staff member
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The normal parking area for this climb, The Lower Yosemite Falls parking, is closed permanently. This means that to climb an routes and Five Open Books or Sunnyside Bench you need to park either at the Yosemite Lodge or Camp 4.
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