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| Messages 1 - 18 of total 18 in this topic |
rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 2, 2009 - 10:20pm PT
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Last Friday I drove down to Southern California. A friend was getting married in San Bernardino on Sunday, and I wanted to get some climbing in, since the drive is pretty long.
On Friday night I hung out with ksolem and his better half Barbara. We had a long dinner and commiserated about our current gimpiness :) I really enjoyed their company. Please wish Kris well, as he is having some rough time with recovery, but he is going to be ok.
Saturday morning I got an early start and went to meet my friends Steve and Laura in Idyllwild. We hiked up the talus highway to the north face of Tahquitz. Our goal was ]Hard Lark (5.7) ..
Steve leading up (note snow near the base)
Laura following first pitch (someone likes orange :)
Me following .. second pitch ?
At another belay
Routefinding was interesting .. we may not have been completely on the route noted in the book, but Steve kept the climbing aesthetic.
Me showing my best side ..
There were some 5.7 - 5.8 moves, so we couldn't have been too far off .. in the meantime, clouds gathered.
Getting ready for some slabby fun ..
Looking up at the fifth (?) pitch
Doesn't look like it's going to rain, does it ? Well, the clouds lowered ..
And as we arrived at the last belay, the raindrops started. I fished out my rain jacket ..
Steve led the last 5.3 pitch in the rain. We heard a couple of thunderclaps, and there was some small hail. We headed up as quick as we could ... as we neared the top the rain tapered off and the sun came out.
Steve had no issues with climbing in the rain, but I don't think he likes lightning :) By the time we got up to the top and unroped we were already drying off.
Hey, is that who I think it is ?
We took a gully down, and Steve pointed out various Tahquitz landmarks such as the friction descent, Open Book (the first 5.9 in North America), Left Ski Track (5.6), Lunch Rock and other notable climbs. We returned to the car via the Ernie Maxwell trail.
Sunday at the wedding I was seated nearby a group of 3 who had climbed Open Book on Saturday and like us had been caught in the storm. Fish stories were swapped and characters were assassinated :)
I'll get to posting about Holcomb Valley a bit later ..
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
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Nice Rhyang, haven't been to The Big T yet....Good heads up and fun pictures.
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F10
Trad climber
e350
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Nice photos, luckily you didn't get rain any sooner. Pretty amazing rock. I like the sychronized climbing photo, you should have been in orange also! On a serious side looks like you are doing great, way to go. Get the Holcomb photos up, James
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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The Sierras of SoCal, complete with afternoon thunderstorms!
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dogtown
climber
Cheyenne,Wyoming
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Nice , I must ask? What is with the Helmets? Why? Can…… Them….. No…… Rock…… Fall…….. Stick with Us…. and go Old School, Man....
Dog.
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Barbarian
Trad climber
slowly dying in the OC
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Moose Alert!
Good to see Laura (Moose Tracks) on the Topo.
Laura is hugely active peakbagging on the eastside. One of the truly cool people. Thanks for Sharing Rob!
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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alpine value in effect nice.
great smile
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
the greasewood ghetto
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That moose girl is seriously killin' it all over the Inyos and southern sierra year round . Good trip / photos .
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 3, 2009 - 03:56pm PT
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Sunday night my friend Pavel was serving as a groomsman (I think that's the term :) and we had talked about climbing something while down there. His wife Vendula was still recovering from a skiing accident about 6 weeks ago (broken leg), so we wanted to go somewhere with an easy approach.
I hadn't been back to Big Bear Lake for 6 years, and was eager to check out the climbing at Holcomb Valley Pinnacles. Kris had called it "the miniature golf of climbing", but after Saturday's adventure on Tahquitz Rock I could deal with that :) So we met at the Big Bear Discovery Center on Monday morning and headed out.
The area apparently has a whole bunch of fairly short climbs, not unlike Jtree or the Alabama Hills (which I haven't been to, that was Pavel's opinion). I brought gear, but we ended up just clipping bolts.
The walk up to Coyote Crag was relaxed and we started on Coyotes at Sunset (5.8-) which Pavel led. I guess Vendula took pics of me with my camera, and pics of Pavel with theirs .. here I am cleaning -
The rock seemed to have really nice edges mostly. Next door I decided to lead Bye Crackie (5.7) -
This was really fun, though way too easy for Pavel :) A couple of lines over he led Golden Poodle (5.9+) which I tr'd -
My elbow is still kinda futzed and pullups are difficult, so I was trying various footwork combinations on the more sporty climbs.
Next up was (I think) Golden Spike (5.10b) which Pavel led like a champ. I gave up shortly after this though -
From what I can tell in the guidebook he also led High Noon (5.10b) .. I definitely couldn't do that one, instead opting to tr Black Magic Poodle (5.9) nearby.
Wow, I was pretty worked after that. We went around to the left and checked out the Gold Wall. I led Gold Standard (5.6) while Pavel looked bored :)
The formation just behind Coyote Crag, the Doc Holiday Wall, was pretty impressive. Pavel led Pistol Pete (5.10b), Quick on the Draw (5.11a) and Doc's Holiday (5.10d). I didn't even try the 5.11a, and the others I only made it up not very cleanly :)
We had to get back to the Discovery Center by 5pm since that's when they lock the gate, so off we scurried in the Llama Mobile. The day was pretty nice, and warm in the sun.
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justing
climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Looks like an awesome trip Rob. That is a beautiful looking route at Tahquitz.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Kick ass!!!!11!!
Nice to see you recovering well and gettin' 'er done! Some sharp end too!
That route looks f*#king sweet!
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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Great Routes at both places. Here's my friend Albert on Golden Poodles, we were there for the first time a couple weeks ago.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 3, 2009 - 11:33pm PT
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Thanks all ! It was a really fun trip.
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10b4me
Ice climber
Rustys Saloon
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Rob,
your are not the first person to get off route on Hard Lark.
Holcomb is a fun place to climb.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 4, 2009 - 10:14am PT
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I actually wasn't leading at Tahquitz -- just enjoying the company of friends, getting used to the rock (my first time there) and having fun.
Steve leads harder than 5.7 - 5.8 and has probably been climbing there for decades, so I think he was more interested in aesthetic climbing than staying "on route".
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MooseTracks
Mountain climber
Bishop, CA
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Rob: Great pics from the Holcomb Pinnacles. I haven't been up to BB for a long time, either, although it's almost as long as a commute for me as it is for you now!
I had a great time climbing with you guys Saturday, even if the whimper mode in my brain couldn't get turned OFF!! Sheesh, what a baby I was. But I have to remember: WIMP = Woman Improving Muscular Prowess!! I will be back there to play more in the future!
Hope to climb with you again, Tuolumne soon?
-Laura
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 4, 2009 - 03:46pm PT
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Laura, it was great climbing with you ! We should definitely go climbing in Tuolumne .. but what's up with this crazy weather ? Did you do some kind of snow dance last winter that went horribly awry ? :)
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MooseTracks
Mountain climber
Bishop, CA
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Hmmm... I knew I had to work on that one move...
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| Messages 1 - 18 of total 18 in this topic |
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