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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Hey, is this English Hanging Gardens?
It's been way to long for me to say, but I think one of us said it was in fact.
Photo borrowed from Off White or BVB:
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Nope, Tar, I don't believe that is EHG.
(Nice of you, however, to give attribution. Check with sources. That route doesn't look familiar to me.)
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Hey Roy: that's Frank Noble on The Wasp (5.11c or so) at Mission Gorge in San Diego. My shot, but BVB scanned it from the snapshot, so you're right on both counts I reckon. Galen may have even been the one who developed that roll at the community college, so it's a full on team effort.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Thx Sand for posting the old OLD topo.
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Brutus of Wyde
climber
Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA
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Fast forward the Wayback machine to about 6 years ago...
Took my mother (Then in her 80s and on oxygen) out in a canoe from the picnic area to the rock. She had been a huge canoe enthusiast in her youth and her eyes were sparkling like a pre-teen on a carnival ride.
Meanwhile, Nurse Ratchet and my daughter walked over to the rock with climbing gear.
Got my mom out of the canoe, and got her (and her oxygen) over to one of the picnic tables near the rock. From there she watched her granddaughter do her first ever lead, of the Trough.
That was the last time my mother ever got in a canoe, but she remembered it with great happiness right up to the end of her life.
Brutus
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Very nice Brutus.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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I've only climbed at Big Rock 2 times in the '90s. Great stories guys. I'll have to go back and do some more. Very interesting history :-))
Hilarious story by Bachar regarding Largo's spatula. Classic.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Scrounged up a few old shots I took of my buddy, Dave Hersey, on a 70's vintage ascent of Let It Bleed (the blank face between the two squiggly, yet parallel dihedrals in the upper portion of the face). At the end of the day, it's all about good friends.
Here's the Big Rock itself...
Dave laces up his EB's real snug-like for Let It Bleed:
"Watch me here...even though I'm clipped with a couple o' 'biners into a solid 1/4 incher!"
And he's off...
A few years later, my little bro, seconding on (I think) Cheap Thrills:
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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which one is this? I've forgotten. goes thru the roof, I think.
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Chaz
Trad climber
So. Cal.
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I think it's just called "The Roof".
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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thx chaz
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Knob Central
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I am pretty sure that English Hanging Gardens is one of those routes where it is a big advantage to be short. I have done if a few times with no issues and kind of felt it was 11c ish for my height. We spent some quality time there but I haven't been back in many years.
Back in the early 80s Mike Waugh and I were going to do OZ in TM. A friend of ours wanted to come along and thought he was qualified because he had done a 10d at Big Rock. He found out that Big Rock routes just didn't apply much to climbing in the real world and had to get lowered off the route when he couldn't do the 10d crux on OZ. Of course, the fact that Waugh wouldn't give him a back belay might have had something to do with his fear of failure.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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May 10, 2007 - 09:20am PT
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Yeah, Riley...it's the black water streak/smudge right of the crack.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jun 17, 2007 - 02:56am PT
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There's also a Big Rock near Calgary, a large glacial erratic sitting on the prairie. Of spiritual significance to the First People, of artistic and festive significance to local teens, and offering some bouldering.
It will be no surprise that there's a well known brand of Albertan beer called Big Rock.
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HighGravity
climber
Da Boonies (Aka Nuevo), CA
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Jun 17, 2007 - 10:43pm PT
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Still a great place to climb, just 5 min from my front door. Edger Sanction is one of my favorite routes to do laps on. And great bouldering all over the hillside, just takes some walking. The bad thing is the state is "closing" it while the leaky dam is fixed. I woulder how many times I'll be stopped, only to tell the rangers "I didn't know it was closed."
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Jun 17, 2007 - 10:47pm PT
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spent a day climbing at Big Rock shortly after the earth cooled - led a couple slab/edge routes there both rated 10a, i think - did this w/ Brian Pottorf who I climbed with a bit off and on back then (he had week days off) and was a friend of Largos. The BR routes were cool and remember thinking it was a fun place.
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My Name Is Drew
Big Wall climber
Dogtown, LosAngeles, CA.
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Jun 17, 2007 - 11:33pm PT
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Trouble with photographs taken from the ground at Big Rock is they always look even lower angle than they actually are already lol.
Saw John Long there many years ago. I was kinda green but he generously congratulated me on a fine lead.
On another occassion my partner and myself decided to practice aid at Big Rock by top roping a not so popular area where we could restrict ourselves to hooking; simply move the jug up with each move. Well nobody told me the hook moves were gonna take me far afield of my line of descent so when I pulled I went bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk.
DOH.
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HighGravity
climber
Da Boonies (Aka Nuevo), CA
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Jun 18, 2007 - 11:07am PT
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Its not yet officially closed, but the plan is to start some time later this year. There is a huge renovation of Lake Perris underway and the road to Big Rock will be closed for contruction traffic. But, there are others ways in!
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michaellane
climber
Spokane (spo-KAN), WA
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Jun 19, 2007 - 01:28am PT
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I remember Big Rock fondly, although it doesn't come immediately to mind when I think of climbing areas I've been to. It's an underrated area, really.
I had one of those climbing career highlights there. I onsighted Raw Deal and felt like a goddam hero. It was the hardest thing I'd ever flashed. I remember those old bolts were shite and I had to tighten the skinny nuts by hand as I climbed past them. I was really scared and super pissed about that, I recall. Now, though, I'm glad they were spinners. Makes the memory all the richer.
God bless Big Rock.
--ML
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