Trip Report
Roseanne (Fairview Dome): "Excellent, but runout"

by Trad
Monday August 22, 2011 12:42am
Roseanne: "Excellent but runout" says Reid and Falkenstein (4th ed).

This is not the first Roseanne TR on Supertopo. I thought it was going to be, but then I did a search and discovered an excellent mini-TR by Russ Walling in the Mike Waugh appreciation thread. It's spot-on.

Russ Walling's Roseanne mini-TR

That TR can't be improved upon but, nevertheless, here are a few more pictures and comments on the route.

Last week my friend Eric and I met up in Tuolumne Meadows and hung out at the campsite talking about route possibilities, looking for something neither of us had climbed yet. "Roseanne" came up, and the next morning found us on our way to Fairview Dome where after a bit of minor searching we arrived at the base of the route. My version of the route topo:


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It was still in the shade and we opted to start from the top of the 'first' (5.3) pitch, which wasn't hard to scramble up especially considering that snow still covered half of it!

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Credit: Trad Muenter
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The first pitch was a good attention-focusing warmup lead and here's Eric coming up afterwards:

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Credit: Trad Muenter
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Meanwhile at the anchor I eventually relaxed enough to look around and discover that I skipped one of the bolts. (Somehow I forgot the topo showed 3, not 2, bolts on the first pitch.) Oh well, why clip a bolt when you can place marginal gear underneath a loose flake?

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Credit: Trad Muenter
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Eric led the 2nd pitch and here he is coolly making his way towards the right-facing corner, just after clipping the 2nd bolt on that pitch.

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Credit: Trad Muenter
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The Earth steadily revolved on its axis and the sun's rays swept across Fairview Dome.

The good news: Sunlight enhances all the little features and knobs on the rock surface and makes it look less scary.

The bad news: Sunlight reflects off of the slick glassiness of the rock surface and makes it look more terrifying.

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Credit: Trad Muenter
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I was back on lead for the 3rd pitch. The first bolt was not TOO far out but I felt better girth-hitching a sling around a miniature knob anyway that Eric said later never would've held. (Details, details...) After the bolt, though, there was nothing to be seen for a loonnnnggggggg ways up. Anywhere. Nada. I wandered back and forth looking for tiny hope-giving knobs and making my way slowly towards a sloping seam where I was elated to place not one but TWO small cams. WHOO-HOO!

Still no 'next bolt' in sight, even though there was one clearly marked on the topo. (I double-checked. It's on page 151.) The unrelenting search-and-find tiny-knob ordeal continued until finally I spotted a rusty old bolt. SELL MY CLOTHES I'M GOIN' TO HEAVEN! After that it was (somewhat) easier ground past a series of sloping ledges to the (much newer) anchor bolts.

Here's the view down from the 3rd belay. (For some reason this picture reminded me of an old SNL sketch...)

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Credit: Trad Muenter
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Looking at the roof above it was hard to believe it was "only 5.3". Maybe there was a topo typo and it should say "5.13" instead? I had to find out, and managed to talk Eric into letting me lead the last pitch. Amazingly enough, that huge, imposing roof actually IS relatively easy. If anything, the crux of the pitch is probably the face section just getting up to it.

Looking down from the ramp that forms the roof:

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Credit: Trad Muenter
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What a great route! Roseanne is excellent. But runout.

  Trip Report Views: 3,943
Trad
About the Author
Trad Muenter is a climber from northern CA.

Comments
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
  Aug 22, 2011 - 12:55am PT
this is on my list for September! Great TR - thanks.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
  Aug 22, 2011 - 05:51am PT
Great stuff.

Fairview Rocks!
le_bruce

climber
Oakland, CA
  Aug 22, 2011 - 02:32pm PT
The good news: Sunlight enhances all the little features and knobs on the rock surface and makes it look less scary.

The bad news: Sunlight reflects off of the slick glassiness of the rock surface and makes it look more terrifying.

Got a good laugh from me. It DID look more frightening in the accompanying photo. Good climbing is full of these good news/bad news scenarios.

Great TR, killer pics, 10/10 SNL ad-libbing.
spyork

Trad climber
Tunneling out of prison
  Aug 22, 2011 - 03:19pm PT
Tom,

Awesome TR. Haven't seen you for quite a while. Hope things are going well.

Steve
nutjob

Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
  Aug 22, 2011 - 03:36pm PT
That shark sketch was an oft-quoted classic in my family!

Candygram.... loved it!
Chateau Rico

Sport climber
Davis, CA
  Aug 22, 2011 - 04:52pm PT
Not: "Candygram for Mongo??" That's totally what that picture reminded me of!

Good job you two! I didn't get sweaty palms following your trip report, maybe because I'm finally too old! Meantime, I can totally detect Eric's ballet-like style in those photos! And I can almost smell your feet, Tom!
LongAgo

Trad climber
  Aug 22, 2011 - 06:55pm PT
There are not many routes in Meadows of this quality without climbers lining up for it, but here it is. It always was one of my favorites given the location, rock quality and the way it finds its path over beautiful features. I did it three times as I recall, loved it each time and never had to wait for anyone on it. Well, maybe it will get a bit more traffic now with the pics showing what a gem it is, but one hopes not too much.

Tom Higgins
LongAgo
MaxJ

Trad climber
Boulder, CO
  Aug 22, 2011 - 08:32pm PT
Nice Tom!
Zander

climber
  Aug 22, 2011 - 08:54pm PT
Nice Tom!
Z
micronut

Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
  Aug 22, 2011 - 08:59pm PT
Way to get off the beaten path. Sounds like a proper adventure that!
caughtinside

Social climber
Oakland, CA
  Aug 22, 2011 - 09:19pm PT
Trad... still rad! Thanks for the photos, words, wit and psyche.
Charlie D.

Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
  Aug 23, 2011 - 12:12am PT
"Excellent, but runout" indeed! Good job Trad, years ago while trying to muster courage enduring neck pain looking up at that overhang along comes Bob Kamps who glances up and tells me, "its a stiff 5.9", well that did it, we were out of there! Finally got up the thing this spring:
Old school 5.9 might be another way to describe it, thanks for posting.
neversummer

climber
30 mins. from suicide USA
  Aug 23, 2011 - 04:04pm PT
NICE !!!
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
  Aug 23, 2011 - 04:36pm PT
why can't every granite roof have holds/a ramp like that...
leonardo

climber
davis, CA; Sardinia, IT
  Aug 23, 2011 - 09:19pm PT
Way to go!
thanks for posting.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Aug 23, 2011 - 11:30pm PT
Nice, beautiful rock!
bathsnake

climber
  Sep 2, 2011 - 10:26am PT
Nice description, but there is no way that this is an authentic 'Trad' trip report without a mention of his famous black/blue alien hybrid
Trad

Trad climber
northern CA
Author's Reply  Sep 5, 2011 - 11:33pm PT
Nice description, but there is no way that this is an authentic 'Trad' trip report without a mention of his famous black/blue alien hybrid

Interesting that you mention that because while I distinctly remember BRINGING the blue-black hybrid, I don't recall placing it even though Eric says he cleaned it from the flaring diagonal seam midway through the 3rd pitch. What can I say? Maybe it was a subliminal placement? (I think I was more focused on looking for a bolt at the time.)


He also reminded me that he placed the hallowed cam between the 1st and 2nd bolts on the second pitch. (It's the piece attached to the runner near the center of the TR photo; 1st bolt is on the left, 2nd bolt is out of sight, immediately in front of Eric).

http://www.supertopo.com/photos/9/25/214026_16048_XL.jpg

bathsnake

climber
  Sep 6, 2011 - 02:44pm PT
A subliminal gear placement: Trad's third-favorite kind?
Dirka

Trad climber
Hustle City
  Sep 6, 2011 - 08:42pm PT
Looks like you made the run. Tfpu
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
  Feb 7, 2018 - 09:01am PT
why not... it's warm enough around here to open up The Meadows so we can go stink-buggin' again!

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