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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 16, 2008 - 08:55pm PT
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Sick, watched those guys taking some huge whippers over there...
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Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
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Oct 16, 2008 - 09:02pm PT
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Freaks man.
Crazy freaks.
Which leads me to my next question:
How many Freaks are there out there in the world today?
I mean crazy freaks, not just freaks.
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James
climber
Leavenworthless
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Oct 16, 2008 - 09:03pm PT
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Where does Leo's Prophet route go? It's wanders through BUBS? Did they go a similar way? It'll be cool to hear more about their ascent. Nico's been over on that side of the Capitan with Ivo doing Lost in Translation.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 16, 2008 - 10:17pm PT
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Luv' it!
Go boys 'n girls GO!!!
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couchmaster
climber
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Oct 17, 2008 - 11:01am PT
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Sweet stuff!
Ha ha - these guys look like they were having a pretty good time.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 17, 2008 - 11:28am PT
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Kate and I were on KAOS when these guys repeatedly tried to free the wall. They made many attempts spread out over the weeks. I really enjoyed their music, too - they played duets some nights with a recorder and ukelele or banjo. And man, did they ever toss off a lot of rock, some really huge rockfalls.
They fell off - a lot. Huge whippers, which I mostly didn't see because by the time their curse reached me, they were already dangling on the end of the rope. I did knott see them free the wall, but would be interested in knowing if they succeeded, and how they defined their success. For instance, did both guys climb every pitch free, or just the leader?
It's also worth noting that at this point in time, their blog does not claim that they have yet free climbed the wall, so one wonders where Rock & Ice's uncomfirmed report comes from?
I would suggest you contact Tom "Ansel" Evans, who keeps his telescope on the El Cap Bridge and who watches and photographs climbers - perhaps he has a better idea?
So if Nico and Sean have freed the line - good on yas, mates! And if not, well, keep on keepin' on. Sorry I missed meeting them on the bridge.
Cheers,
Pete
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 17, 2008 - 12:12pm PT
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According to Tom's daily reports, the last time they were seen up there was when we were topping out ZM. I saw one dude take this huge 70ft whipper about midway up the route. Then he yarded back up and finished the pitch without re-leading it, they hauled the bag and moved on from there. So I was wondering, are they claiming that as the free ascent?
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 17, 2008 - 12:24pm PT
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Yeah Matt, that was only a few days after we topped out, too. They are certainly very talented free climbers, hiking the first few pitches quickly and efficiently, simul-climbing great bloody long distances.
But there was that steep bit in the middle that continuously gave them trouble.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Oct 17, 2008 - 12:30pm PT
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"According to Tom's daily reports, the last time they were seen up there was when we were topping out ZM. I saw one dude take this huge 70ft whipper about midway up the route. Then he yarded back up and finished the pitch without re-leading it, they hauled the bag and moved on from there. So I was wondering, are they claiming that as the free ascent?"
I guess that's questionable, but since it's not like they were dogging bolt to bolt, it's more free than a lot of free ascents. Pretty bold too.
Think about it, often when somebody puts up a free knob route in Tuolumne, they rest on hooks to place the bolts and even rest on hooks between the bolts. Free or not?
There's always a shade of gray. Let's see what they report. If they are clear about their style, then it is what it is and somebody can try to improve on that
Peace
karl
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Oct 17, 2008 - 12:40pm PT
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How about that evening trundle? That sounded big...
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seamus mcshane
climber
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Oct 17, 2008 - 12:43pm PT
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Leo's Prophet is/was an attempt at Bad to the Bone, a Jay Smith and Lydia Painkiher creation.
Lydia was brought up in the Thief/Jobee thread.
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Holdplease2
Big Wall climber
Yosemite area
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Oct 17, 2008 - 02:03pm PT
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The rockfall coming from the free climbing was intense. Thankfully it wasn't a busy time for any of the routes right of Zodiac or folks approaching the East Buttress. Some rockfall came with warning, some with just simul-screaming as microwave and what looked like refrigerator sized blocks cutting loose.
Our friend who was soloing a route at the base probably about sh#t himself when several of these came down at once. From our vantage point it was easy to see that the rock impacted about 50 feet back and 75-100 feet climbers left of where he was (estimates, would you agree Pete?) but from the climbers vantage point he nearly sh#t himself, based on his reaction.
-Kate.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Oct 17, 2008 - 03:28pm PT
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There's some secondhand info about it on Will Stanhope's blog - that may be the same report that R&I is quoting.
http://willstanhope.blogspot.com/2008/10/el-cap-i-tan.html
Nic and Sean's last post is from Oct 4, a couple weeks ago. This is more recent suggesting that they went back up and freed it?
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 17, 2008 - 05:34pm PT
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Going for gold, just before the 70 footer I mentioned above.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Oct 17, 2008 - 05:56pm PT
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Amazing. You always had to wonder whether climbing was going to advance to the level where people would be freeing these awesome lines. Back in the 70 and early 80s, people would talk about the possibility of 5.15s and freeing stuff like this, but it seemed so futuristic.
Having done a few big aid lines, you could always see how a bold person might free sections, but whole routes?
Absolutely amazing.
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dogtown
climber
Where I once was,I think?
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Oct 20, 2008 - 11:36pm PT
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SICK !
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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Oct 21, 2008 - 12:28am PT
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PTPP - What does it matter if one or both freed the route? Unless you have to categorize this climb or the climbers for your own purposes. What those purposes are, I'll never know. But I still see PTPP as Wall Guard, what with (coming close to, and possibly more than) 350+ nights on the great rock he should be the one to go to to answer these question.
So we don't know what's what?
This post started out as a prelim (IMO), and should be taken that way.
IMO - If a couple of dudes headed up uncharted territory to see if they could free some portion of El Cap then they get my nod of approval. Night trundles, rock falls, and general cleaning of the route, I would hope, would be seen as the beginning of yet another great climb located on El Cap. Plus, taking multiple 70+ foot whippers... That has to earn you a little street credibility.
1O
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