Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 13 of total 13 in this topic |
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 22, 2005 - 01:08am PT
|
ok Bruce wrote in the Bob Kamps thread about Curve Like Her... and asked if anyone had done it... no replies (http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=63904#msg64493);..
But it is on my list of Tuolumne climbs (no where in SuperTopo though) and today was the beautiful blue-sky day to go up and do it... so I thought...
I have a million explanations why it turned out bad, but bottom line was it is runout and technical and I didn't have it in me.
Second pitch is the deal and things start shortly above the commodious belay ledge ending the first pitch... a very tame first pitch.
Up from this ledge are a couple of nice horizontals which take an ok piece, and then in the corner there are a bunch of gear possibilities. Higher I spied a fixed pin jammed into the corner, where the thinning crack admits no real good protection. As the Reid topo shows upon close inspection the thing every Tuolumne climber knows, that corners and cracks are features to climb face next to. The first objective of this part of the pitch is to make it over to a flakey feature, a little 5.9 bit.
Jeeze! up and down lots of times working out the face moves on the bits of edges and smearing. Then finally go up to the pin, grabbing the decomposing flake it is hammered in behind and clip it, then up a bit more to get an alien into another scar.. ok, now we just have to get across 10 feet to the flake... oh man on little slimy edges with no real hands, and stuff breaking off... a left foot step through gets me the body position I need to be able to grab the flake with my right hand and step into the dish with my right foot, and I'm there. Having lost it as I make the moves I cursed Kamps, which I appologize for, but if he hadn't been so very good at this sort of thing...
OK now the fun part. After underclinging the flake another 10 feet, then stuffing in a couple of rather large cams, I sight the next bolt... the only bolt I can see. I don't know why Bruce said it has two bolts, maybe one is on the next route over? But I know I am supposed to traverse over right and up to this bolt, did I mention it was a Leaper hanger? an old bolt, then work up from there to the next corner without anything in.
Up and down again, same sort of edges and slimy feet, I just couldn't get comfortable with the idea of that runout today. So for all you out there looking for booty, I left a stopper, a new sling with a ring on it, and a 25 year old Chouinard 'biner on the fixed pin...
... I half expect that stuff to be there next time I go up to fire the route....
So, all you out there who thought it inappropriate at the time to respond to Bruce can now... anyone done it?
|
|
bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
|
|
|
Aug 22, 2005 - 03:23am PT
|
I don't know how Kamps/Higgins did the route but after clipping the aforementioned pin, it is 30+' of creaky, sneaky face climbing(5.9) up and right of the dihedral to the first bolt (of course, a 1/4" Rawl buttonhead). I don't remember if there is a second bolt on this pitch, that might have been it, but from that bolt the angle eases a bit and you run it straight up to a stance where you intersect the dihedral.
The next pitch starts out as 5.8 hands then traverses right into a sort of crack/groove which turns into an arete. This pitch, past the dihedral part, is also runout but not as hard (5.7/5.8).
Bruce
|
|
MikeL
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
|
|
|
Aug 22, 2005 - 01:42pm PT
|
A friend of mine did it a few weeks ago, Ed, and he thought it was a sandbag, too. I've sent him this thread URL, and I expect he'll reply to your post.
ml
|
|
bspisak
climber
|
|
|
Aug 22, 2005 - 10:36pm PT
|
Yep, been there done that, no more than a month ago.
I have to laugh, because what you describe as a decomposing flake was probably what was left of the hold I pulled off as I started out on the face! Good way to set the tone for the rest of the pitch, almost pitching off backwards before the "real" climbing starts. By real, I mean above the place you bailed. That flakey stuff you describe? That was the clean part of the climbing I ended up on.
As far as bolts, I agree with Ed, I only remember one bolt as well. However, I must admit, I didn't get close enough to see if there was another one out there across that sea of polished gold slopers. After heading that direction and faced with the choice between that rusty leeper hanger on a vintage quarter incher, I decided I'd leave my fate to the protection possibilities in the dihedral itself.
The climbing up that part of the face into the dihedral (which at that point is more of a roof), was definitely not 5.9. At least not by today's standards. (Sure, back when 5.9 was the limit...) In fact, the only information about the route I can find on the web calls it 5.10c (www.bobkamps.com) However, specific ratings on this type of climbing are meaningless. 5.9/5.10, whatever. (Unless of course, you're a 5.9 climber - then you might care!)
Definitely one of those climbs that sticks with you for a few days and makes you feel more alive than usual. These are the experiences that truly define my time as a rock climber. That's why I cringe whenever there is talk of retro-bolting old runnout lines. Why don't we just grid bolt everything in Tuolumne? Hell, let's bulldoze the ski slopes while we're at it. Gotta make them safe as well. I may never climb the B/Y, but I certainly say leave it for those that can. Keep the sharp end of the rope sharp, and the feeling of living alive. Sorry, I digress. [Dismount soapbox.]
Not much left to say, but did that pitch as one long stretcher to within 20-30 feet of the top. That last part of the dihedral was awesome! But, not belaying lower, left nothing but rotten rock as an option. So, out across the face again to get to the flakes out right. Definitely another DFU section, and again, somewhere in the 5.10 range.
And, of course, it aint over till it's over. The last 20 feet of climbing was some slippery 5.whatever above an ankle breaking slab with no pro. Perfect end to the whole experience. Seriously. Nothing like the one that keeps coming at you.
Glad I did it. Wouldn't recommend it for everyone.
Brian
|
|
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 23, 2005 - 11:35am PT
|
Thanks Bruce and Brian! "sneaky face climbing" is the best description I have heard.. yet like a moth to the flame I feel compelled to go and do this route... ugh. I am sure once I have my head and body back I can rise to the necessary sneakieness for a Kamps/Higgins climb. The usual "jedi mind tricks" to get to the bolt just weren't working for me...
|
|
Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
|
|
|
Aug 23, 2005 - 12:22pm PT
|
Hey Ed, Out of all the Kamps/Higgins routes in the Meadows, why are you fixated on "Curve Like Her?" Other than it's a good name?
|
|
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 23, 2005 - 12:50pm PT
|
Roger, no fixiation, but a simple answer...
...it is easy to fall into a sort of habit doing particular routes and types of routes that you like. For me it is difficult to improve if I just do what is comfortable and "easy" for me. On the other hand, I am not a very disciplined individual, so having a rigourous training schedule just doesn't cut it... what I need in general is a plentiful dose of arbitrary problems, sort of a stocastic sampling of climbs in and around the level I want to consoldate and push up to....
to that end I made a list of all the 5.10a and below climbs in Tuolumne Meadows using the Falkenstein/Reid guide of 1983, which has notable climbs by grade and type in the back. I felt that I should be able to climb anything on that list... at the 1983 rating (no revisionist history for me!).
It is a list of about 120 climbs, I can post it here for those interested...
Totally arbitrary, but when I need to decide, it is easy, just pick a list climb. I am not a total slave to the list, but I still believe in its value to provide a climb I should be able to do without allowing me to weasle out of it with lame excuses... the authority of the list is absolute, I should be able to climb everything on it...
Now another nice feature of the list is that it gets you out and around the Meadows to some fine obscure places not on the popular tour, and gives you a flavor for the varied climbing. Some of the routes have not been done in a long time, and some of them are lost or in areas of such easy ground that the first ascent logic is not apparent (or relevant).
But being a basically weak person, I have done a lot of the easier list climbs and left some of the harder ones to later, which is starting to be now... so "Curve Like Her", beside having a particularly good name, and being a Kamps/Higgins route, is on a cliff I haven't climbed (The Shark) and is a 5.9 outing (if you can pick that 5.9 route out of the sea of 5.10-5.11 through which it sneaks) which I ought to be able to do.
If I am fixiated, it is with The List... any of my partners would attest to that...
|
|
Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
|
|
|
Aug 23, 2005 - 02:43pm PT
|
So do you ever cheat and pass up stuff on the list becuase it looks really bad or is a long hike for a short bit of climbing?
Otherwise it seems like a sensible approach to stay out of the vortex of deciding what to climb next.
I'll take a look in the 83 guide and think about climbing all 120 routes.
|
|
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 23, 2005 - 03:14pm PT
|
Cheat all the time... look at a route, "naw, not today" or like last Sunday, back off (helps with the bail skills!)...
but hiking isn't a problem, some days are just hiking days... low energy, but you want to climb something, so let's go out and do that half pitch List climb that is a half hour into the woods if you don't get lost.
You usually don't find a crowd out there... so beautiful to be in the blue sky, green and brown forest, salt and pepper granite... the smells of the pine, the sound of the streams, the birds, the feel of the rock.
So what if you aren't pushing your limit. It's good to be alive!
But the list is always there, you can't cheat it... either there is a tick mark next to the route or not. And it is always "not" if I don't send the route clean and free... no matter how many tries.
Hoodwink is yet to be ticked... didn't do it clean (by a long shot). So I'll be back there too...
|
|
Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
|
|
|
Aug 23, 2005 - 03:59pm PT
|
I understand the first ascent team didn't do it clean, either. He, he, he.
So is my route, "Peter, Peter" on your list? It is 5.10a.
I was going to ask, but I think you answered, do you have a method of gaining suragate ticks. Pre-Martin Luther buyoffs, so to speak. There is a long history of coaxing young strong climbers onto the sharp end: "Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. It's only 5.9 and it's bolted." Hey, nobody said that you had to lead every pitch.
Here it is in downtown Cleveland. Perfect summer weather. Lake shining to the horizon, dotted with sail boats. From my 32 floor window it is picture perfect.
And not a Dome in sight.
-:(
|
|
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 23, 2005 - 04:55pm PT
|
In fact "Peter, Peter" is on The List... and it is unticked as of today... so sometime soon I'll be able to give you an up-to-date report of its condition.
As for getting a "stronger climber" to do the hard parts, well, that is a part of trad climbing... like trying to figure out if your partner can count pitches correctly and then trying to loose at Rouchambeau if the hard bits are on an even pitch...
But karma always gets you in the end... it's all fun. We have our strong days and we have our weak days. As long as everyone knows that it works out. Sometimes I am climbing stronger then ever, sometimes I am weak sauce, I climb climbs to match my partners and my mood.
Also, it's not like we climb The List every weekend, sometime the team isn't a match for the task, or we're introducing someone to the Meadows, or one of us is damaged and into rehab routes.
I do feel blessed that, although I cannot see the domes from here, I can ride up to the Altamount Ridge and on a good day spy the Sierra Crest only a very few miles to the east.
|
|
Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
|
|
|
Aug 23, 2005 - 05:00pm PT
|
Yeah, it is flat out our way.
The little hill to the East of Cleveland, where I live, is the last real hill until you get to the Mississippi. All ground down by the glaciers, just like Yosemite, only horizontal.
And then there are no more hills until you get to the Rockies. So I guess that from the boss' office, on the other side of the building, on a clear day you could see the Rockies.
Ignoring the curvature of the earth.
|
|
| Messages 1 - 13 of total 13 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!