Wall of Early Morning Light

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Ammon

Big Wall climber

The Ditch

Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 27, 2004 - 04:17pm PT

Karl Baba suggested this trip report being a separate topic because of how disturbing the situation is.

I will avoid saying any names but all of this destruction happened a few years ago while “someone” was putting up the “hardest route on El Cap”. This kind of behavior should be unacceptable to the climbing community.

Cheers, Ammon

(Report by Hans Florine)

We started at 6:29am on Tuesday.

The bolts on the first pitch have been chopped. I free soloed the pitch, not recommended unless you have Bacher or Schneider like prowess on thin granite. The bolts at the second anchor were hammered flat, we tried to pry one up but it broke the hanger.

The first bolt on the 3rd pitch was hammered down, albeit it looked old and beat anyway. The first fixed head in the crack on this pitch appeared to have been hammered on until on one very small dapple of wire was holding it there. Brian and I admit to being paranoid sometimes if warranted, but not in this case, we really think some one left this head there purposely f*#ked up dangling by one metal thread.- meaning it looked like someone hammered the wire until it was down to just the thread.

Although rivets do break occasionally it appeared as though they had been purposely chopped in a few places on the route. Brian and I placed six rivets on the route, but only because that is all we had and we were very imaginative in other spots and got by.

We replaced two rivets on the 3rd pitch bringing it back to doable.

On the 8th pitch going over to Mescalito I ran into rivets with the heads just sitting on their shafts as if someone had cut them off and just lightly glued or mashed the head back on to have it sit there. Here there was four or more rivets removed, I had to pendulum over to Mescalito and climb that pitch leapfrogging and back cleaning for 40 ft.

On the 12th pitch I encountered a place where three rivets in a row appeared to have been chopped. I could not get through it by adding one rivet, I had none. I climbed up Reticent to a belay and then pendulumed BARELY enough to lasso the next rivet in line.

At pitch 13 the route joins New Dawn to the top. From there up there was plenty of hard climbing but we did not encounter anything that seemed to be purposely whacked.

I dropped my helmet from the anchor at pitch 21, presumably all the way to the ground. My name is in it, please return it if found! ( love to send it back to Petzl if it's not in working shape.)

Brain led three times and I led three times, Brian led for about 15 hours and I for 12 hours. Kinda cool - I led 12 pitches and Brian led 15. - we kept to an hour a pitch. We topped out at 9:29:57 am. And stopped the clock where a "normal party" would have walked off.

Hans

nature

climber

Flagstaff, AZ

Aug 27, 2004 - 04:29pm PT

Avoid naming names?!?!? How the hell are we suppose to know who to beat to a pulp? ;-) Maybe that was your intent (to avoid such violence).

Ammon

Big Wall climber

The Ditch

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 27, 2004 - 04:36pm PT

Haa haa, No.... I just gave enough hints to give it away.

DIMITRIBARTON

climber

Aug 27, 2004 - 05:16pm PT

Thanks for the post Ammon and Hans. It really sucks to here this sh#t still goes on in the Valley. I've had more bolts chopped on routes that were projects or established than anyone in the parks history. Last summer some bolts were chopped on Drug Dome that survived the bolting wars of the eighties. There are more than 45 chopped bolts there and I can name names from those days. Bacher, Kurt Smith, Dave Schults, Ron Skelton are some of the guilty. Part of the problem is right here in this forum. If you look at the threads from the past one will see many posts from bolt choppers that brag about how empowered they feel after going to their local crags and chopping. One is from a Jodi, a cop from S.LO. As a nobody in the climbing world i've never had a chance to tell the real history of the bolt wars but I have read crap from Rock and Ice, Pat Ament and H. Zak A. Hubers books that are total bullshit and don't tell the real deal, not even close. So my advise to you guys is to use your name and tell these chumps that are still chopping that they suck. Royal should be proud that people feel so empowered when they emulate him, what a sacklicker!!
NAME NAMES this will help point out to all what idiots these chumps are!!!

Oh yeah, almost forgot, you guys are bad to the bone!!!!!

Karl Baba

Trad climber

Yosemite, Ca

Aug 27, 2004 - 05:41pm PT

Anybody have an idea of what would motivate somebody to do such a thing to a fine El Cap route? We know why Robbins chopped it but that's history, and he certainly didn't bobby trap the rivets.

My mind is reeling about how screwed up the actions depicted by Hans Email are.

Peace

karl

Slabby D

Trad climber

B'ham WA

Aug 27, 2004 - 05:50pm PT

Attention?

Elcapinyoazz

Mountain climber

Alaska Beyotch!

Aug 27, 2004 - 06:10pm PT

C'mon ya wanks, enough beating around the bush. Everyone knows JIM BEYER is who we are talking about. When he put up Martyr's Brigade back in '02, he definitely was doing some chopping up there too. Go read his account in Alpinist Vol 1:

Beyer wrote, “I drilled a lot of bolts, but chopped about an equal number on surrounding routes. Creating hard pitches, destroying pathetic bolt ladders (Early Morning Light) – it seemed to balance out in the end.”

Is he responsible for ALL the stuff that Hans and McCray report? Likely so, but I guess only he knows for sure since he was up there solo. So now that the "mystery man" element is gone from the story...carry on.

DIMITRIBARTON

climber

Aug 27, 2004 - 06:20pm PT

Beyer deserves some attention from a few knuckles. He chopped other bolts in the Valley in years past and thinks he's Gods gift. How about we gift that pussy a few fists.

Elcapinyoazz

Mountain climber

Alaska Beyotch!

Aug 27, 2004 - 06:36pm PT

Beyer was in C4 the night he got down from that route. I distinctly remember him being there as I was having some drinks around a fire with some friends from Durango (they knew him from Durango). It was about the third week of May as I recall.

I only mention this because that was 2 1/2 years ago. Surely WOEML has been done a hundred times since then. I'm surprised that if this was JB's handiwork that it hasn't become an issue before now. BTW, I'm not defending anyone, just seems odd is all.

Ben Rumsen

Social climber

Neatherworld, USA

Aug 27, 2004 - 07:01pm PT

These are the types of actions that make climbing suck these days.
Someone should break this guys hands with a sledge hammer, and end his career forever ( and I'm not kidding in the least ). That is THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS's suggestion. What town does this clown live in?

" I only mention this because that was 2 1/2 years ago. Surely WOEML has been done a hundred times since then. " good point, we'll discuss it after the lynch mob is done.............

Ammon

Big Wall climber

The Ditch

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 28, 2004 - 02:27pm PT

The route doesn't get done that often. As many years I've been hangin' in the Valley I've only seen a couple of parties on the route. So it wouldn't surprise me that nobody has been up there for a few years.

Here's a pic of some of the destruction.

bigwalling

climber

Aug 28, 2004 - 05:06pm PT

One word: LAME! Whoever did it is a complete jerk. That is just an act of vandalism.

bigwalling

climber

Aug 28, 2004 - 05:12pm PT

Oh by the way, Beyer's line doesn't touch alot of those areas. It would have been a fair bit out of his way. It is closer to Hockey Night, and then it joins mescalito near the end of the seagull and climbs it for a ways. So for Beyer to chop the said rivets, he would have had to lower down and do it or something.

Max

Social climber

Santa Cruz

Aug 28, 2004 - 05:28pm PT

I have seen similar destruction after a beyer cleanup on Zodiac. Flattened hangers, sketchy heads, and missing rivets plagued the route, although nothing close to the sort of mayhem on WOEML.

Though I myself have done a bit of chopping (re:drug dome), my feelings on those sorts of actions are very far removed from those of Beyer and also from Dmitri's portrayal. In my opinion chopping is only good when it renders the route more clean and aesthetic than before. Beyer's antics go in the opposite direction, even going so far as to endanger future parties. I have replaced just as many, if not more, bolts than I have removed, and I always try and remove all traces of the hole.

Have you been up on the drug dome route this season Dmitri? If you need some bolts I've got a few. You can usually find me down in the ditch.

So much can be said about this controversial subject, but I have to get back to work. Can't we all just get along??

Max

maculated

Trad climber

San Luis Obispo, CA

Aug 29, 2004 - 02:54pm PT

Umm, I'm going to have to come to Jody's defense since I saw him mentioned here. Jody is actually rather FOND of bolts from what I've seen - and unless something has changed he would never even try to get up Wall of Early Morning Light.

Ammon

Big Wall climber

The Ditch

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 30, 2004 - 12:43am PT

UUhhhhh...... Nobody mentioned Jody's name.

Matt

climber

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 30, 2004 - 12:39pm PT

umm, i'm going to have to come to the defense of buggs buny too, since i also saw him mentioned here-
it's true that he can be a wascal wabbit, but on the whole, he is a vewwy vewwy nice wabbit, and he mostly hangs out in holes and on the ground, and unles something has changed, there is no way he is going up the wall of early morning light!

DIMITRIBARTON

climber

Aug 30, 2004 - 01:22pm PT

I mentioned Jody regarding previous threads about chopping. BEYER seems to be the one that could have done this. And thanks Max for the your view of chopping. I have a lot of respect for the honesty!! Back during the bolting wars there was no civil dialogue whatsoever. It's refreshing to have climbers discus this subject in a forum such as this. The vandalism on the WOEML is way over the top and Karl had a very good point... what could motivate someone to do this weirdness. The history of such actions are quite relevant, so this is why I brought up the subject of some of the written history. If you read the Ament book about Robbins, Royal says a few things that are just as closed minded as the vandalism on WOEML. And it's about stuff that went on in the Valley way after his time and he was very misinformed. This spew allows some to feel justified for other wacko actions. And climbers like Max spell out their own reasons for chopping and not all will agree but should respect. I really don't think Royal knows why he chopped WOEML and it's history. But don't disregard history, there could be insight that could help find the reasons why this happened again.

ricardo

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

Aug 30, 2004 - 01:34pm PT

.. there is nothing that can justify purposedly beating cables until they are ready to snap, or chopping rivets and then placing them so they will hold a small ammount of weight ..

.. thats criminal negligence ..

ricardo