Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 21, 2009 - 03:31am PT
|
Done deliberately; planned in advance. Characterized by fully conscious willful intent and a measure of forethought and planning.
Why would anyone intentionally climb A3 choss at Pinnacles?
I have no clue. But maybe one just feels the momentum?
Part of that momentum that carried me when I was younger was reading about Jim Bridwell. I had never met the man, but had read enough that the idea of this man, bigger than life, that Largo and others had described meant a lot to a young impressionable climber.
I decided to be a part of Johntp's efforts to repay that "idea," no in reality that man behind the idea, for the inspiration he has provided to myself and countless hundreds either directly or indirectly.
You should too...
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/990887/Jim_Bridwells_Hammer
At Pinnacles Jim had established a route in 1965 called Premeditated with Craig Little. The 1974 Chuck Richards guide to Pinnacles called this route "evil" with loose and rotten cracks and rated it 5.5 A4. Chuck may have gotten it right.
Brad Young's comprehensive guide calls it 5.5 A3...
With the hammer in hand...
...Mucci and I made plans deliberately to do this route and headed to Pinnacles early and put it to good use. The telling of the tale is still coming together for me as I can't really believe I didn't take a whip on the chosstastic rock. And there is much to tell!
For now, think on this: intentionally going up this crack...
___
Part 1 continued...
Or, How to be a Pinnacles Pirate?
"The sea was angry that day, my friend." - George Costanza
If one wants to be a pirate, understanding the seas the stars and the seasons is critical. I knew it wouldn't be effortless as soon as the sun started to come up. As the old adage goes "Red in the Morning, Sailors Warning"...
Clearly, other native Pinnacles Pirates had not fared as well as we would.
The base of the route is a 'kill zone' with detritus from raptors showing that death was ever present in this forgotten corner of the Balconies formation. This is on the West Side of Pinnacles, just to be clear. Not that little gulch on the East Side where bolts are close together.
The churning sense that something could go wrong was ever present. At one point it would make it self felt in my gut, but you have to stuff that away or benefit greatly from your climbing partners. You see it started like this with the best of intentions. I mean how hard could '5.5' be in the first 30 feet before you get the first bolt...
Hammer in the gear loop, free shoes on and knowing where the replaced bolt was from mtnyoung and feral rat's previous ascent gave some courage, but as soon as I got on the big knob above the sling and heard how hollow it was the snail eye got the best of me. Not enough climbing on Pinnacles rock. This was the first day of the Pinnacles season for me.
Luckily Mucci was there... no, actually deliberately. I had talked to Mucci about doing this rediculous adventure several weeks back and he had been on Pinns rock more recently and had a good lead head about him.
Taking a different line he lead us up thru the middle of the knobs, right of where I am in the pic, and pushed thru steeper terrain on ok knobs, delicately pulling on one big serving plater shaped knob that looked ready to fly. Totally in stride he established the high point and set the tone.
For my part, it was time to get comfy and get in the stirrups and start placing gear like this...
The first piece above that initial replaced bolt was a baby angle nailed sideways to the hilt. After hammering it home and not hearing it ring or 'sing' as they say, I put some weight on it. sproing! it shifts down. lovely! hammer hammer hammer with Mjǫllnir. again test it, ah, it is holding. sh#t guess I have to bounce test it now. jingle jingle jingle goes the gear. not slipping, but not entirely confidence building either.
the nearby piece after that is two hybrid aliens equalized in powdered milk. I'm not yet thirsty but visions of chalk dust over my head as I contemplate the ride fill my cranium.
one piece at a time I tell myself. time accelerates, and becomes meaningless. As much as it is a construct of the mind, it has no value at this moment. I'm mostly wrapped up in my own 'dirty old man' laugh, as my girlfriend calls it. I'm laughing at how silly it seems. "What's the next piece," I ask myself?
I get in another decent piece, or what passes for decent at Pinnacles then hit the last bolt. Whew! A1+ and I'm fried! Actually the crack turned out to be better than I envisioned it. Both Feral and Mtnyoung indicated this before, but I see what they mean. The bat guano in some spots seems to have almost case hardened the inner crack by weathering. Slowly I pull thru the left trending lower section to here...
It's not like a got moving fast at the base, but I would have thought my movement was faster. The shadows are already long. It is the end of day one and I've moved only 80ish feet. But I'm alive, and uninjured. The slow pace and deliberate assemblaged of each piece of gear as the absolute best I could get in that 2 to 3 foot radius was purposeful.
One unique piece was an angle that was almost slotted under a flake but hollow behind and underneath. It was in sideways but only grabbing rock in the middle. Mucci pulled that one out easy later.
Mucci lowered me and after getting some decent gear in a wide section. I set three cams and backed up off a fixed angle after hammering it home from where it was.
With the sky trending darker we picked up and headed to Passion Play where Mucci replaced the upper nasty bolt with the Bird's Hammer.
It was sticking out a half inch on a 3/8" compression bolt. Now it's a bomber Powers 3.5" sleeve anchor reusing the same hole. Solid work Mucci!!!
That night was epic trying to find a place to camp. An old bivy site had been fenced off and a new one found, but it wasn't conducive to a good night's rest. We made alternate arrangements after some grub and a beer.
The next morning dawned beautifully. Coffee, a hike, and a jug to the high point put me at the base of the "A3" section. Having now been used to the rock the day went well I think, but again slowness was an attribute to emulate. Thorough and contemplative placement of the pieces. An offset nut here, a hybrid there, a couple more fixed pins and continued copious use of Yates Screamers. Quantity does have a quality all it's own. It's called mental security. But who knows, the whole mid section of flake could have levered off with the right amount of pin use. Who knows?
And that's the point. This ain't granite....
We switched to Mucci's hammer this day as the hammer head had slipped the day before from using it on the bolt. Care being the better part of preservation, we opted to use it also so that it wouldn't be so heavy to hit pins in. You won't believe how heavy it is and the longer shaft...well let's just say this is a 'manly' tool and maybe my britches ain't big enough. That's ok, though.
One of the criterias of the day was to have fun. And we were, if a bit on the twisted antiquarian side.
A good shot of the crack... you decide, but think about it...
A really nice sinker I got in...
After getting thru this section, I fixed off the lead line on the anchor, utilizing the crack as a back up, as the rock around the loadstone was not entirely solid.
Mucci in action pulling the gear...
Note the shadows at this point. Again, with late start hike and gearing up and moving slow the rest of the pitch took me most of the afternoon. Each piece an exacting science in geology and physics. Pressure and time reflected in gear.
So was it A3? Hell yeah, I'm checking that off in the book. But did I make a lot of what i thought were good Pinnacles placement, yep, way more than I would have thought. It's steep and fearsome for me, and the uninitiated to Pinnacles rock AND uninitiated to aid probably shouldn't start on this one.
We only made it to the first belay in this pic, but it was a superb experience.
Pinnacles rarely if ever is a let down with sunsets like this...
There's more to the tale. Minutiae and meaning. Absurd laughter filling the air over the palabras floating up from well meaning parents below telling their young ones to stay off the rocks and out of the caves. But I can add that later. There a more pics too, but how much can a person take of choss?
Well, we're going back up so Mucci can play on the thin cracks up on the 2nd pitch...
|
|
Captain...or Skully
Social climber
Top of the 5.2-5.12 Boulder
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 08:31am PT
|
Looks positively chossalicious.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 08:48am PT
|
awaiting with bait breath,
So the mighty hammer has passed your way....
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 09:11am PT
|
Another hunt for the prehistoric women begins.......
|
|
mrtropy
Trad climber
Nor Cal
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 10:38am PT
|
Part deux
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 10:43am PT
|
There is no 12-step program for "chossaholics" that I know of.
You just have to go get the choss-fix.
|
|
PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 10:51am PT
|
Because it's there has always been a good enough reason.
|
|
kev
climber
A pile of dirt.
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 11:43am PT
|
I heard my west side bivy site has been poached...How it go?
kev
|
|
mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 01:57pm PT
|
Nice start Munge!
I did get the feeling we had the bird with us.
We are gonna have to get that mojo back for part two!
|
|
lars johansen
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 02:01pm PT
|
Go for it Josh!! Steve and I took one look at it about 25 years ago and said Forget It. Call me with all the juicy details.
lars
|
|
Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 21, 2009 - 03:32pm PT
|
added more above
|
|
mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 07:27pm PT
|
Nice trip report (so far). Premeditated is a very serious route. The whole Bridwell's hammer thing is a great concept. Bumping this up so you'll hurry up with the rest.
|
|
Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 21, 2009 - 08:13pm PT
|
man oh man, the pressure for TRs is brutal around here.
will work on it this evening, for now another image...
contemplating the gear
Machete Ridge in the background
|
|
goatboy smellz
climber
लघिमा
|
|
|
Dec 21, 2009 - 08:22pm PT
|
Less chit chat more tap tap ;)
|
|
Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 21, 2009 - 08:23pm PT
|
hahaha
|
|
T Moses
Big Wall climber
Paso Robles
|
|
|
Dec 22, 2009 - 02:38am PT
|
The suspense is killing me! MORE, please!
|
|
Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Dec 22, 2009 - 02:55am PT
|
They're a hard crowd to please, Mungeman. I tell ya, ya pore yore hart oot ovver eh TR, en itt fallls of Page Uno toot sweet!
|
|
ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
. . . not !
|
|
|
Dec 22, 2009 - 03:42am PT
|
Props . Looks crazy out there .
|
|
Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 22, 2009 - 04:17am PT
|
thx, just finished adding in the core of the rest in a bit of a hurry in the original post.
|
|
mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
|
|
|
Dec 22, 2009 - 12:40pm PT
|
This one is shaping up nicely Munge!
Big props for sending that Friable Fissure! Munge was in the "Mudzone" complete with laughter and snickering that was barely heard at the belay, a true sign of a man on a mission.
Hard to rate a crack like that, compared to anything I've done in the Valley. Yeah there were some "Good" Placements for pinnacles but a few ledges and bulges to avoid if one were to "descend Rapidly" If you know what I mean.
A3 at pinnacles has it's own special shrine, one that few have mettled with.
Now we got the second half of the business, the all time pinnacles nailing pitch! HAAA!
Lotsa Iron coming up for that pitch!
Munge- let's bring back that super psych for P2!
Mucci
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!