Discussion Topic |
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 27, 2007 - 10:39am PT
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Here are some pics of an ascent of Jolly Roger I did with Erik Eriksson last month. We started with a third person but he didn't make it 'cause the wheels blew off his bus!
This is the infamous 6th pitch with runout free climbing leading to a reported A4+ aid section. In reality, the aid wasn't too bad after all but the free mantle at the end was spicy!
Another view of pitch 6. The mantle is above the frame of the camera, you can just make out the footholds that lead into the mantle to the bolt, and pheww!.
The first hard pitch, # 11 . Wild hooking near an arete leading to thin heads and around the arete back into the Heart ampitheater.
Another view of the first hard pitch, # 11 . Wild hooking near an arete leading to thin heads and around the arete back into the Heart ampitheater.
The Golden Doubloon pitch. A 120 degree wall with a seam like that on a football arching up & out the Heart ampitheater for a 190' pitch.
This is from midway on the pitch looking up at the belay which was right at the lip of the steepest part of the pitch. The bags were free hanging and swung around constantly in the wind.
Heading up the 12th pitch, it was cold and windy almost the entire time we were up there.
Looking across the top of the Heart over towards a climber on the Salathe Wall
Looking down mid-pitch from the 13th pitch. Thank god for portaledges, the belay station Erik is hanging at was at the lip of the ampitheater and everything was free swinging!
Here we have joined with Sunkist for some easier pitches. Note the talon hook left in for protection!
Pitch #17 the ramp. Hooking and more fun into the upper corner which gobbled beaks & peckers like mad. I believe 17 beaks went in on this pitch alone!
Another view of pitch 18. PTPP gave me a topo that said to stay Right at the pillar above. Don't listen to this nonsense!! That pillar is the loose crocodile head I mentioned elsewhere in this thread. It almost expanded off the wall with me riding it down Dr. Strangelove style!
18th pitch- A3+ heads & beaks up to easier climbing.
Black Diamond makes a good 'biner. Looking back down pitch #16.
The thin beaking of the upper part of pitch #17. Those things will hang on the barest of bumps in thin seams, shallow placements to be sure but they held bounce tests so you get on it, or not.There is a ledge seperating this from the lower ramp that you wouldn't want to hit if things went wrong. This is the "break every bone in your body" if you fall section.
Amazing waves of bronze & tangerine colored stone on the Golden Doubloon pitch. Very steep, very stout, very nice!
Looking down the 18th pitch, note the bronze colored crocodile head flake. It was loose as f*%# and almost came off when I tried to move on it. It pulled out a good 3 inches from the wall and several of my cams tipped out and fell down the crack. Yowza!!!
Edit*
Revised pics:
The so called "body-cleaving" pinnacle mentioned by Pete begining the 11th pitch.
Another shot of the A4 hooking ramp on pitch 17. Note the glacier polish? on the slab.
Hauling above Little John in perfect weather.
Thin expanding flakes on the 13th pitch, old A4+, modern A3, due to modern cams & offsets.
The Captain's Quarters ledge.
The top at last. Even though the sun was out, it was windy & cold. Here, I'm breaking down the haulbags at the final belay tree.
Pitch 20, off the Crow's Nest, a tiny stance with a slung horn incorporated into the belay.
The Seven Seas pitch, an A2 beauty that bore the signs of some recent free climbing attempts( ie- chalked tick marks at key holds & gear placements. There was also a modern sport anchor above with a line of bolts entering & exiting some steep, wild looking rock.
A climber on the Shield.
Pitch # 13, which is the joining point with Sunkist, and passes belay #7 of Sunkist and goes all the way in a long pitch to what is belay #8 but on the J.R., it is numero 13.
Looking down pitch 16 from the point where J.R. & Sunkist diverge.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 27, 2007 - 10:41am PT
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Man, you guys just keep going, and going!
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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Oct 27, 2007 - 11:52am PT
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The Fake Blinny expressed it perfectly
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Holdplease2
Big Wall climber
Yosemite area
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Oct 27, 2007 - 11:53am PT
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Bill and E, congratulations! Those pitches look amazing(ly thin!)
Ya know, I was ready for some excitement when I opened the thread, but I think you are really asking too much of us when you expect us to be able to handle the *free climbing* in the First Photo this early in the morning.
Thank you for posting all of the great pictures.
-Kate.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 27, 2007 - 11:53am PT
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I hope Bill is just taking a break from the editing [which takes a HUGE amount of time in a post like this] and will soon re-arrange the out-of-order photos and add lots more photo captions so everyone else knows what's what.
I hope there are a few Tom Evans telephoto pix available to splice in, too.
Superb recognizable photos from what is probably my all-time favourite El Cap route, which we climbed eight years ago. I have tons and questions and comments, but will wait a bit. Go Bill go!
Yes, Kate - you'll need a Rope Gun for a few of the pitches. My partner Jon Fox talked about 5.11x handslaps up and left of Mammoth, so I'd like to hear about that. And also the body-cleaving pinnacle - I wonder if Erik bypassed it somehow?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 27, 2007 - 12:14pm PT
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Those are damn nice pics!
How many days on the wall?
I was guiding the Salathe when Xavier Bongard was soloing the route.
He let out quite a yelp after finishing some hair ball lead,
As we were working left past the Heart, maybe in the vicinity of the Gold Doubloon...
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Holdplease2
Big Wall climber
Yosemite area
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Oct 27, 2007 - 12:20pm PT
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Pete, trust me, I have no plans to climb Jolly Roger! YEOW!
Plus, its on the wrong side. If you fell, you might land in Fresno, which would only add insult to injury...or v.v.!
:)
-Kate.
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graham
Social climber
Ventura, California
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Oct 27, 2007 - 12:31pm PT
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WOW that was frigin great!
Thanks for showing
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 27, 2007 - 12:48pm PT
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Thanks for the nice comments! I'll post more pics & comments later but I am busy at work this morning. More to follow for sure!
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 27, 2007 - 01:06pm PT
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Sick!
Thanks for posting your pics, I have allways wanted to see close ups of this route. Congrats on your climb!
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Oct 27, 2007 - 01:08pm PT
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Sweet!
Great stuff, thank you.
Zander
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lars johansen
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Oct 27, 2007 - 01:13pm PT
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Probably the best big wall photo TR ever, on this forum. Truly amazing!!!
Best to ya
lars
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nita
climber
chico ca
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Oct 27, 2007 - 01:25pm PT
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Great Pictures!!!!
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
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Oct 27, 2007 - 02:57pm PT
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Good one guys!
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atchafalaya
climber
California
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Oct 27, 2007 - 03:04pm PT
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Awesome. thanks for posting the tr.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 27, 2007 - 03:21pm PT
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A nice report!
Y'all see any, you know, like pirates or anything up there? Just wondering - Hallowe'en is coming soon.
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Youshouldbeashamed
Gym climber
hell
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Oct 27, 2007 - 03:29pm PT
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That was an amazing TR thanks so much to both of you.
It is just to bad that PTPP didn't fill in his own captions to these pictures, since he apparently wants you to know he has also been there as well. Hopefully he will return with his questions and comments he promised, so we can hear more about his, i mean your trip. Then "everyone else" will know what went on up there.
It is someone elses chance to shine and like usual the spraymaster wants to talk about himself.
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Euroford
Trad climber
chicago
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Oct 27, 2007 - 04:04pm PT
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soooo coool! thanks for sharing!
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elcap-pics
climber
Crestline CA
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Oct 27, 2007 - 06:25pm PT
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Yo.... from a guy who knows just a little about photography... I got to say these are some of the best big wall shots by climbers I have ever seen on this forum...WAY TO FCUKING GO LADS!!!!
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climbrunride
Trad climber
Durango, CO
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Oct 27, 2007 - 07:20pm PT
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Great pics! That looks awesome! I'm inspired for sure.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 27, 2007 - 07:38pm PT
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Great job Levy and Erik. Glad that you made it without incident and with lots of excitement. Can you believe that Xavier Bongard soloed the second ascent? I was very glad to have company working that one out.
I would like to hear a detailed report on the state of the route these days but that can certainly wait a while. There were absolutely no enhanced placements on the FA and beaks were not in the picture. Charles lead the Gold Doubloon using only the smallest of heads (six in a row!) pushed deep inside the coin's fragile edge with a long thin Bugaboo on the most subtle and impressive lead that I ever saw him pull off.
I am curious about the 190' lead given that we had 165' ropes on the FA. Some jerk probably decided to take the bite out of an A5 section by establishing a belay in the middle of it. I certainly hope not but don't see the upper belay being repositioned amidst the expanding nonsense on the pitch above the Doubloon. Looks like a lot of bolts have sprouted up at the belays. Thanks for posting up and congrats on doing one of the proudest lines ever.
Anders- Other than the Pirates of El Cap fantasy that Charles and I used to entertain ourselves, The Jolly Roger name also derived from an incident high on the headwall when a blue Collins belay seat slipped out of a hole in the back pocket of my Patagucci climbing pants. It disappeared with the wind followed by my curses only to show up two days later tantalizingly close to us whirling in the ever present breeze. "Yarrr, and ye be hoistin' yer colors and the Jolly Roger before we be comin' aboard," we both roared.
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Duke-
Trad climber
SF, aka: Dirkastan
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Oct 27, 2007 - 07:40pm PT
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Sweet TR! Lots of beautiful pics. I really liked the BD biner picture.
Thanks,
-Dirka
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TradIsGood
Half fast climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Oct 27, 2007 - 07:59pm PT
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Beautiful!
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WanderlustMD
Trad climber
Lanham MD
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Oct 27, 2007 - 08:37pm PT
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Incredible shots!! Great job on the route.
What kind of camera did you use? Are you a photographer or a very skilled point and shooter? Either way, they sure turned out great!
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 27, 2007 - 08:47pm PT
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Steve Grossman- I think you're mistaken about the length of your ropes back then. Many, let me repeat that, many of the leads were in the 175 to 190' range. The 6th pitch for instance, a full rope stretcher, my partners had to undo the knots from the belay to give me enough rope to tie in with. Same with the Golden Doubloon, the 17th pitch ramp, the 11th pitch, 13th pitch(which combines 2 pitches of Sunkist), and perhaps more, I'll have to check my notes later but I am at work right now so I don't have my info with me.
The next to alst pitch was also memorable. Long, long reaches, hard to place beaks in weird placements and tough to see rivets in the rock made for a stout finish.
There were only 2 or 3 enhanced(ie:drilled!!) hook placements on the entire route. I have heard that some parties may have filled in some of these holes over the years. Many of the belays had old rusty 1/4" bolts and 1 single, old 3/8" rawl but some belays did sport a Petzel longlife bolt or some other modern bolt anchor.
I'll write more when I return home tonight.
Levy
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couchmaster
climber
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Oct 27, 2007 - 09:11pm PT
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Looking forward to it, and thanks for sharing.
I'd encourage PTPP 's to share stuff too. (and encourage youshouldbe to STFU with the negativity)
Sweet pics!
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catfish
Trad climber
los angeles, ca
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Oct 27, 2007 - 11:30pm PT
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Very nice job boys! And, Levy, thanks for all your patience while I figure all this aid business out. It's all just a matter of time...
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Hummerchine
Trad climber
East Wenatchee, WA
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Oct 27, 2007 - 11:39pm PT
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Photos made me want to cry, they are sooooo awesome! Thank you!
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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Oct 27, 2007 - 11:44pm PT
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Great photos and report Bill. It was cool spending what little time it was with you guys before you left the Valley.
What do you mean "the wheels blew of his bus" Please elaborate.
Hehehe :)
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 28, 2007 - 11:00am PT
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Bump. I added a bunch of new pics above.
Somw real nice ones, some mixed in w/ the others, some posted at the end. Enjoy!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 28, 2007 - 01:47pm PT
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Levy- the 165' ropes are a fact. Several pitches are rope stretchers. ZM went up the previous year and there was a big controversy when they used extra long ropes without disclosing it and caused Todd Bibler and Catherine Freer to have an epic while on the first repeat because they had to add several intermediate belays with a meager bolt kit.
The original station below the Gold Doubloon had only one 3/8" split shaft with a Leeper hanger next to conventional gear in the crack leading directly to the Doubloon itself. If you climbed by any more than the single bolt connecting the cracks on that lead then something has been altered. All of my belay bolts were 3/8" until we ran into drill holder problems up high. The belay at the base of the last pitch has three 1/4" bolts and is the only exception. The station at the end of the Doubloon was so wildly exposed that even Charles was compelled to place a fattie (his first on a wall route!) I used to ride him endlessly over the bolt quality issue with little effect.
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Oct 28, 2007 - 01:55pm PT
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Hi Levy,
That looks like one of the really great El Cap routes and leave it to you two guys to bag it.
Nicely done, as usual.
JL
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ec
climber
ca
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Oct 28, 2007 - 02:08pm PT
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Awesome! The JR is bad ass.
Many moons ago, Richard Leversse, Todd Vogel and I attempted a 2nd ascent of the JR. Leversee got to that infamous mantle and it was wet with water seeping from above! Needless to say, he popped for a short one a bit higher up and hit his arm on the only bolt out there. Bailed. Probably a good thing he did that, since a day later it snowed like hell for several days after.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Oct 28, 2007 - 02:51pm PT
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mega-duty thread - excellent stuff
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 28, 2007 - 02:55pm PT
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Hey guys,
I climbed Jolly Roger in the fall of '99 with my friend and erstwhile partner Jon Fox, whom I have seen only once since. If anyone knows where he is, I'd love to email him and say hi. As far as I know ours was the eight ascent, and I found the climbing pretty darn hard in places. I think Jolly Roger is my favourite El Cap route, which says a lot as I've climbed 33 so far.
I don't remember seeing any enhanced placements anywhere, except in the three pitches that are shared with Sunkist. Someone accused me of drilling on this climb, but I didn't, at least on any pitch. I did add one convenience rivet to hang a ledge from at the top of 10 I think on the right side of the Heart, because at the time I didn't think it was a bad thing. I no longer do this, however. Sorry, Steve.
The third pitch was my lead, and I took a fall when I clipped into someone's perfectly placed "timebomb" head, just tapped into the crack hard enough to support your weight, at least long enough to get onto it - the bastards! That was the first and last time somebody "got" me.
I loved the fourth pitch - I used duct-taped Talons on Screamers for pro. Evidently I placed a few heads, as you see below. The face is not too steep, which makes the micro edges seem reasonable. I remember some reachy topsteps, and you have to keep your balance!
Jon led the next pitch - a 7-inch 5.10 crack - completely free by pushing a #6 Friend above him for pro as he climbed. Wow! One wonders how many still have that skill. He also led the next pitch, the long low-angle "bumpy" face you see in Bill's pictures above with damn near a hundred-foot runout on solid 5.10 ground. There is a pretty spicy mantel at the end, and I seem to remember hearing about someone [Aischan Rupp?] taking either a huge whipper from it, or else downclimbing. Anyone know for sure? [Aischan was a wicked hard hardman who died on the Matterhorn]
Jon led the first two pitches above Mammoth Terraces, which were both really hard. He described the first pitch not as 5.10, but as 5.11x with these handslap moves palming up an arete thing. I would like to hear Steve's and Bill's take on that pitch. Jon completely free climbed the second pitch above Mammoth at about 5.10. He said the 5.8 chimney was rather harder.
One of the definite cruxes for me was the third pitch above Mammoth, where the hard stuff begins on top of the little pinnacle you see Erik standing on. There was a bolt or rivet, but then I had to hook. The problem was, there were no edges to hook within reach! I got up as high as I could, but still couldn't find anything. I distinctly remember duct-taping a pointed Cliffhanger onto the end of my hammer, and scraping it around to try to find something - anything! - that would catch. After about fifteen minutes of frustrating insanity, I could find only one thing. So I joined my two aid ladders end to end, and climbed up and up and up, to find my little hook barely caught on a little kinda-rounded-kinda-flat edge about 1/3 the size of my baby fingernail. Yikes!
I kept thinking that if I blew the move, I would fall straight onto the top of that pinnacle, and it would split me in half from stern to stem, as it were. Eight years later my hands are still sweaty as I think about it.
Duct-taping a hook on the end of your hammer might be the only "legit" way of using a cheat stick. Thoughts? I describe this in detail because I wonder if that's how Steve and Erik did it. After I finished the pitch, I looked around, and it seemed to be the one and only way to climb it.
I also led the Golden Doubloon, which is over 110 degrees in steepness. In fact, so steep is this pitch, that Bill's photos are not oriented correctly. Look at the angle of the dangle of Erik's aiders - the pitch is so steep, Bill couldn't imagine turning the camera far enough to get the plumbline straight! So it's actually quite a bit steeper than it appears on the photo.
My notes describe expanding nailing with some beaks near the top. Great value pitch!
You join Sunkist for the next couple-three pitches, and the climbing suddenly becomes so much easier that you think you've just turned from a rutted muddy bush road onto the interstate highway. Sunkist is a frickin' brilliant route, too - possibly the best A3 on the Captain, and it rarely gets climbed. I don't get why this is so - it ought to be super-popular.
The A4 ramp to the A5 corner was at the time a full-on PDH - DFU pitch. I was stuck for a couple hours on the ramp, trying to figure out what to do. I was unable to find anything that my hook would bite on without peeling off - it was like trying to hook a Kellog's corn flake. Eventually I found a bat hole, which was only reachable by standing in the hero loops of my aiders. I say this because I wonder if the bat hook hole was added after the first ascent? I suppose its addition is conceivable if whatever nubbin of choss Steve hooked here happened to later bust off. At the time I was there, there was no other way to do the move without the hole.
The A5 corner above was way stout, too. I made about 25 consecutive head moves, most of them in parallel equalized placements about one or two inches apart, and most of the heads being #0 and #1. So I might have placed around 40 heads. I had a couple lead heads that some Spanish climbers gave me, and I really liked them. Nate Beckwith said that if you blew it on this pitch, you would break every bone in your body when you hit the ledges below the corner and above the ramp. In the photo below, you see some of the actual heads that Jon cleaned from this pitch:
I read above that this pitch now takes beaks? That surprises me, because at the time a beak wouldn't fit, only heads. Just when I thought I had finished the pitch and could cruise to the belay, I had to negotiate passing a super-loose block. I think it's one of the hardest pitches I've ever led. I am very curious as to how it has changed since I was up there. I didn't know head placements could evolve to beaks - I thought it usually happened the other way round. Thoughts?
Jon led the penultimate pitch, and reported more hard Talon hook moves, another real A4 section. The rivets were at the time very hard to find as they were mostly covered with lichen.
Brilliant route - tell us more, Bill and Steve!
P.S. If you're interested, you can click here to [url="http://img233.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jollyrogertopoingiftf3.gif"]see my Jolly Roger beta sheet and notes.[/url] I've got notes like these for most of the routes I've climbed, so if you're interested in doing something, drop me an email and I'll see what I can give you.
Cheers,
Pete
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John Moosie
climber
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Oct 28, 2007 - 03:12pm PT
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Thanks for the report and the pics. Super cool.
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raymond phule
climber
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Oct 28, 2007 - 03:58pm PT
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Great thread! Thanks.
I am pretty sure Aischan Rupp downclimbed from the mantle on his first try.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 28, 2007 - 04:16pm PT
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The pitch below the Doubloon had one of the most exciting moves that I ever pulled off and featured a ring angle claw with the nose of my Yo hammer through the ring. It was a long reach to a blind shelf and so steep that I had to commit before eyeballing it. As I swung from the claw and moved up, I was horrified to see that it had gained purchase on a sloping ledge about two inches in width. There was no going back down and the claw tip steadily travelled towards the inevitable with a slow grinding path as I dangled below.
I grabbed my third aider with a Chouinard Meathook and weighted it just enough to hop the skating claw into a much better spot at the very back of shelf. Whew! The claw tip had about 1/2" more to skate as I pondered the thin white scratch mark and shook my head!
I continued hooking out left and took an exciting fall on to a 1/4" buttonhead when a Michener novel sized flake sheared off just short of the belay. The rock was so steep that the plunge loosened the bolt and I gave it a tap back in. Charles thought the section rated an A5 grade and I couldn't argue.
For the record, duct tape on granite is BS technique IMO and using the hammer to extend your reach is entirely fair game. One of the disadvantages of hammerless climbing is the loss of that additional reach which I use to maximal advantage.
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Holdplease2
Big Wall climber
Yosemite area
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Oct 28, 2007 - 05:35pm PT
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Hey Levy:
A couple of questions for you, if you have time:
It looks like a lot of your pieces have short 5/8 inch webbing loops...fatter than "usual" tie off sticking out rather than a biner or skinny tie off. I'm wondering if:
* You do this rather than adding a biner to pins like arrows, blades, and angles to reduce stress on the piece if you fall?
* These placements are peckers and you are using the webbing thru the hole on the pecker because it has a higher breaking strength than the wire that they come from?
* These are just a bunch of pins that went in part way, they needed tie off, and you guys use the fatter stuff because its more secure?
Thank you so much,
-Kate.
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Oct 28, 2007 - 06:27pm PT
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Super Job Bill!! Give my thumbs up also to E when you see him next. Awesome!
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yo
climber
The Eye of the Snail
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Oct 28, 2007 - 06:32pm PT
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Very proud tick right there. Thanks for the TR, Mr. Bill.
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Gene
climber
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Oct 28, 2007 - 11:28pm PT
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Bump
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WBraun
climber
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Oct 28, 2007 - 11:33pm PT
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Beautiful, just beautiful.
Thanks Levy
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duncan
Trad climber
London, UK
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Oct 29, 2007 - 08:59am PT
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Many thanks to the OP for those amazing pictures. Good effort by Erik and Bill, and Steve and Charles of course. I also feel a tiny bit of sadness looking at them as JR is the best El Cap route I never did. I had a peek at bits of it from Sunkist, and it looks even better than these fabulous photos suggest. I love the idea of the gnarly free-climbing on it too …and it keeps the riff-raff off! One of the reasons why it’s still in very good shape, by the sound of it, for a 28 year old super-classic?
As Raymond says, when Aishan Rupp first tried JR he got half-way through the mantel, thought better of it, and down-climbed the whole pitch. He went back with Odd-Roar Wilk and finished the job in ’96. Aishan died descending easy ground on the Matterhorn that winter. He had just simul-soloed the North Face with a good pal of mine, my 90s Yosemite climbing partner. Aishan had critics here but he was a generous friend to us. I badly wanted to try JR, but other things intervened and it didn’t happen. I still have Aishan’s very detailed topo and can remember his pantomime performances of that blind move with hook taped to hammer. I planned to take a shaving mirror to periscope the placement! Aishan was also very impressed with the A5 corner of the 17th. I think the “You break every bone in your body if you fall off that pitch” comment might have been his originally; I can hear it in his Schwarzenegger accent.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Oct 29, 2007 - 11:17am PT
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Awesome pictures. Made my day so far.
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TKingsbury
Trad climber
MT
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Oct 29, 2007 - 11:45am PT
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Wow. This is a rad thread.
Great TR
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 29, 2007 - 12:26pm PT
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Compared to a lot of the free climbing that I have done on my other El Cap routes, at 5.9, that mantle is really pretty trivial. It has a reputation mostly because of an inaccurate topo that Charles released early on that showed a big swing over to the field of bumps rather than a short section of thin face climbing protected by a bolt (right near Galleon Ledge) leading to a long horizontal traversing weakness that actually has some gear placements at its end. Rusty Reno did the big swing indicated, climbed right past the protection and popped off the move, leading to his now famous 100' dive. Nothing against Rusty but Alex Lowe, his partner, would not have had any trouble with that mantle move and those guys would probably have bagged the second ascent.
When they came down, Rusty was giving Charles a ribbing over a couple of drilled hook holes that they encountered on the lower section of the route. It became obvious immediately that Team Arctic Sea (Duane Raleigh and Tom Cosgriff) had buggered the route on their attempt the previous season. They got to the base of the Gold Doubloon pitch and finally realized that they were in over their heads. When I excitedly confronted Duane about his experience to their high point, he wouldn't make eye contact and down played everything about the climbing. Something clearly was wrong. When I asked him why they had retreated, he replied that the "rock was wet." As Bill and Erik can attest, that is rather unlikely in that awesome spot and wouldn't matter anyway.
A lot of route buggering was going on at that point in time by aspiring parties that were too good in their own minds to fail or retreat with any sense of humility when a proud route got the best of them. Pretty disgusting really and I decided to stop releasing topos because I felt that they take the mystery and hence the respect away from wall routes and encourage people overreaching their abilities.
I am sure that many people think that I am a jerk for that position but that was the situation. I have very little respect for parties that are willing to lower the bar and needlessly chisel or drill while on a repeat.
Duane and Tom were willing to drill a couple of pitches up rather that find Charles or I to find out about the route. They came back to camp and began to start rumors that we had used cheater sticks once they were stymied by the climbing that eluded them and chose to drill past it. Duane and Tom never did another ascent of note in Yosemite that I can recall after folding on the JR.
"Better we raise ourselves than lower the climbs" has always been the core of my traditional climbing ethic.
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NBB
Social climber
Boulder
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Oct 29, 2007 - 02:30pm PT
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I am also a little interested in the beaks thing on that ramp pitch. I feared one day that thing would be A1 for someone with a string of fixed heads. Makes me wonder if they were hooking dead heads with those beaks. My partner worked hard on cleaning that crack. We left that pitch with a lone dead-head, better than we found it. It wasn't one of ours. There weren't any drilled holes on the ramp that I recall. I do recall some free climbing around there.
It's a pretty fun route. Not the hardest thing around, not the easiest either. Kind of hard to find interesting and sustained aid on El Cap w/o also climbing a bunch of choss, but this route seemed to be an exception.
Can't wait for this rig to get Supertopo'd - ha!
Brings back some memories! Thanks for the comments, Steve.
 Nate
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 29, 2007 - 04:54pm PT
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Hey Nate,
Welcome aboard. Been lurking long?
I'm glad to hear that the hook move above the pinnacle was one of the most exciting ever for both Steve and Aischann.
Haven't seen Odd Roar Wiik in a while - what's he up to these days?
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Quaken
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Oct 29, 2007 - 05:15pm PT
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Does anybody know if Continental Drift has had a second yet?
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E
Social climber
Tujunga CA.
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Oct 29, 2007 - 06:47pm PT
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I thought this route was cool so I'm postng up on this one
from my notes on the pitches that I lead.
#2 pretty decent A4 with shitty z-mac rivits for pro guys crawling all over you on the heart rappels.
#4 1 enhanced hook, no duct tape.
#7 short to heart ledge,no big deal.
#9 no 5.11, took the pitch down low and aided thru the "5.11 handslaps" no problem.At least 200' long this one.
#11 fully reached all hook moves without assisted reaching apparatus(longest ever thou) "body cleaving pillar"? pure hype!
#12 Modern A4, this ones sweet.
#17 Ramp pitch-no enhanced hooks,200' long,2 bolts only low on ramp. Upper corner was devoid of a single copperhead when i led thru this section(used many beaks here driven into old copper and aluminum blown swedges) 18 beaks cleaned from this lead.
#19 continuous pitch with hard swing right to a hand placed beak. the end of this pitch is NOT A2.
#21 Lots of 1.5 and 2" cams on this pitch.
#22 another long pitch with hard to see rivits, pretty run hooks and reamer finish to get to the anchor.
#23 10 feet of aid then 5.6 freeclimbing to perfect summit tree.
This route is one of the better quality routes on el cap,Sea of Dreams my be more continuous and therefor slightly harder IMO.
Erik Eriksson
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yo
climber
The Eye of the Snail
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Oct 29, 2007 - 08:37pm PT
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Well damn, I was about to get worried until I read #23.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Oct 29, 2007 - 11:16pm PT
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Great looking route and very nicely done.
Hi Erik, long time. Great to see you getting out, and in a big way!
Rick
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Oct 30, 2007 - 12:48am PT
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Not bad:
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 30, 2007 - 01:42pm PT
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Hey Levy and E, I'm still curious what kind of camera you are shooting with?
I am in the market for a new one and your pics came out sweet. Is is a point'n shoot or SLR?
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 30, 2007 - 10:45pm PT
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Lambone- I'm shooting with a Cannon Powershot, I'm not sure what model, I'll check later but it's a 7.1 MP unit and I find that shooting on the manual settings produces better pics in the "vivid" mode. It really makes the colors jump out.
B W Kate- I like to use the 9/16" webbing for tie offs for the higher strength. The 1/2" cuts too easily when jammed against the rock by a pin and hammered in, which I sometimes rig before hammering the pin. I do use 1/2" as well but mostly for keeper slings or for equalizing beaks, heads or other body weight palcements. For anything that might catch a fall, I try to use the 9/16".
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 30, 2007 - 10:53pm PT
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The main reason Bill's photos look so good is that not only are they big on the page, but they are also huge in the memory - lots are 4-500K in size. Many of the photos around here are one-tenth that.
And her name is "Batgirl" now!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 12:12am PT
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Erik- Glad that you had good time up there. As per your notes...
#2 Don't know where the Zmacs came from because we sure didn't use them and neither should anybody else. They are designed to hold signs not climbers.
#4 My first lead on the route and the second place that Team Arctic Sea chose to drill when a Logan hook on my hammer pick one move out from a keyhole stud was the ticket. Where was the enhancement because TAS worked a couple of edges higher up too?
#9 Lead this one before evacuating Charles in 110 degree heatwave. Don't recall desperate freeclimbing but the rest of the pitch went at C4 because I had time to fiddle with it while Charles languished.
Charles chose to carry Coke instead of water on a lot of his routes and the caffeine kicked his ass on this one. He kept babbling and pointing up toward the rim as I carefully got him down to the ground. He was convinced that a spaceship was coming over the rim and was going to vaporize us with a deathray. All that from a little nosecone shaped block way up there! Truly scary episode. When we climbed back up to Mammoth Terraces, we found that the rats we had been battling almost won the contest by chewing clear through one of the two 1" webbing straps on the haulbag!
#11 Body cleaving pillar LOL what a bunch of hooey. What wimp came up with that alternate name for a belay stance!
#12 Golden...Was the rurp still there just before the lone bolt connecting the cracks? Charles was almost finished drilling a hole and snapped the bit sitting on that rurp! He realy wanted to melt down and have a good thrash but he would lost a day's work if the delicate, novel thick end of the Doubloon had also crumbled! He calmed down with a little patient encouragement and finished the hole. Once he could actually see into the upper crack, he suddenly found religion and blurted out,"these copperhead placements were made by God!" A couple of godly little heads higher the crack finally opened up to good stopper size but he was so in the zone that he placed only a single dainty little wire before moving on. I guess he just didn't want the party to end and it wouldn't until he drilled his first 3/8" bolt at the impossibly steep belay station. The rope was so tight that I had to down jumar the entire pitch after cleaning it and didn't even look at the next section of hanging flakes above, which was the most uncertain area of the route scoping from the ground. Tomorrow would come soon enough!
#13 Relatively straightforward cam placements in and among the looseness but I didn't like the prospect of travelling alongside any of the flakes and so didn't clip into anything until I drilled a bolt to protect a dandy little rurp seam and had the first rurp chip out leaving only about 1/8" of contact depth on one side! The Captain's Quarters on Sunkist was sweet relief from the yawning depths below.
#17 Made to order hooking pitch with only one Leeper buttonhead, as I recall, leading to a huge corner with an incipient little crack in the joint. "Oh God, well just go until you get stopped," I thought while I hung a bunch of clearly useless gear weight from a claw on the last big flake for no good reason. Nothing better that a single #3 head for pro but mostly microwires and a few tiny heads almost all the way to the belay. A5 with a bad landing, the real deal and my best lead ever on aid. No less frightening working a bunch of deadheads with beaks for you guys! Yikes!
#19 The double pendulum pitch that could actually be a quad if you did the two to reach Chickenhead Ledge on the Magic Mushroom! So steep was the stone, that in order to drill a 3/8" bolt for the belay at the Crow's Nest, I had to take off all the racks and push them against the wall to provide a tiny bit of resistance while I stood on the toetips of my Robbins boots, heels in the air, trying not to flap off sideways into space with a raucous clamor in tow!
#21 The Seven C's are the multiple rooflets on this fine pitch that took only one hammered placement.
#22 We were getting really antsy to get off by this point and Charles did a beautiful lead on tiny heads. He still feels that he messed up yet another A5 pitch by drilling prematurely but we were out of food and running low on patience. Charles lowered off before completing the lead and we spent a hard night. Charles told me the next morning that he usually dreamt of sex but that night he dreamt of food. I wept to see him so reduced LOL.
All of our drilling equipment was jammed with broken bits and the next morning we knew that we were in trouble. Only one fragment of a drift pin remained and if we were not able to clear a driver, we couldn't finish the pitch. I had the better hammer arm and we carefully huddled around the least hopeless looking Rawl driver tucked into a tiny weakness lest we drop it. With a couple of solid blows suddenly the tapered shard fell away into space and the morning hush exploded into a loud roar. Now we had chance!
I went up to finish the lead in my freeclimbing shoes and promptly took a 30' dive onto a keyhole hanger when my sealegs wobbled out of a dirty scoop! All that air went rushing by but it woke me right up and I battled to the belay and promptly placed three 1/4" bolts knowing that I could manage the rest of the slab above. I lead through and we were both stumbling around punch drunk on the top in short order. We had done our best and been rewarded by the Captain's good grace.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 31, 2007 - 12:54am PT
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Steve: Thank you! Excellent story. Got any more?
I dream of having everyone around a big campfire some time, maybe at the FaceLift, telling all their wonderful stories.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 01:04am PT
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Tales of Sunkist stone and Big Wall Pete......
This classic shot features the Gangplank and dihedral on pitch 17 below and right of Pete. Sunkist looked like a knifestroke from below. Bring back any memories Duncan?
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Holdplease2
Big Wall climber
Yosemite area
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Oct 31, 2007 - 01:15am PT
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Thank you, Bill.
I'm already looking forward to pics from your next TR, so you guys better dial in another photogenic fright show for the spring!
-Kate.
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 31, 2007 - 01:30am PT
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Kate- you're welcome!! BTW - nice job on your send this summer! I'll have to put Reticent on my list. It takes a cool swath of stone.
Steve- What great stories! Your tales give a more thorough understanding of what you & Charles went through up there. IMHO- this was a visionary, cutting edge route and you guys did a most proud job. You guyus must have really strecthed the rope on those pitches with a 165' because both Erik & I spoke about this last night & we feel 200' ropes mandatory for this route. The rope must've been seriously tight if you had to down jug the rope on the Doubloon pitch. How did Charles manage to pull up the rope against so much stretch? Did he extend down the belay with runners?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 02:51am PT
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Other than climbing all the way up to the top of the station to maximize the available rope which was a common technique back then, no other tricks were employed. I recall the lower out on the Gold Doubloon pitch being exactly half of a ropelength at 80' and being about 40' out from the back of the Heart Recess! I thought about it for a minute before I let go of that rope end to be sure.
Thanks for the praise. We knew it was a great line and when Xavier Bongard soloed it and the Wyoming Sheep Ranch and confirmed the difficulty of the JR, I think it was as hard as anything ever done at the time because none of the difficulty was manufactured with chisel or drill. We filled every hole and the route kept its old school A-5 rating for a very long time.
When Team Arctic Sea came down from their little misadventure on Half Dome, in order to create a smokescreen for a generally chiseled and botched route (confirmed by the second ascent), they drastically under rated several pitches with respect to the rating system then in place. Things were slow at the Deli and soon Shipley and company were fairly frothing at the concept of "New Wave" ratings that were absolutely unfounded and inaccurate. This stupidity led John Middendorf to propose his unfortunate "comprehensive" rating compression foolishness and the Personalized Rating System (PRS) was off and running to the detriment of all. Sorry Deucy, but with all due respect, that move was a poor one historically and has led to nothing but confusion world wide. But that is another thread entirely...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 10:22pm PT
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As the classic Fishprods ad queried "Big Wall Pete- Fact or Fiction?!? You be the judge....
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 31, 2007 - 10:36pm PT
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Um, hi. I'm the wimp. Above that pinnacle was probably the hardest hook move I've ever made, as described above. I was sure if I blew it, I'd hit the pinnacle and get hurt. I was pretty scared.
"A5 with a bad landing, the real deal and my best lead ever on aid. No less frightening working a bunch of deadheads with beaks for you guys! Yikes!"
Concur! Might have been my best lead [it's hard to remember 'em all] however at least I felt in control on that one and not too scared. I ended up finishing in the dark which may have lessened the exposure and hence the fear. But I've felt a lot more scared on other leads!
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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Oct 31, 2007 - 11:01pm PT
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This is the best thread in a long while. Thanks Levy!
Steve: It is really cool to hear your detailed stories on establishing such an elite (feared by most) route.
E: "Yea Bro" thanks for speaking up sharing your thoughts and notes and not just being a lurker
Walleye: Did Epi and crew get plucked from Sunkist? I kind of recall this, please refresh my memory and tell more.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 11:04pm PT
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I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 31, 2007 - 11:09pm PT
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Steve- WORD! You said it best. Thanks again for the stories of when it was all going down.
T2- Thanks bro! Can you believe that E finally posted up? 'Bout time!!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 11:23pm PT
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Pete- I was way too focused on keeping that claw from skating off to pay any mind to what would happen afterwards. Didn't feel the gom jabbar lurking. Best not to let the imagination run wild in the calculus anyhow.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 31, 2007 - 11:25pm PT
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Great thread! With both the modern trip report with digital pics, and the details on the original ascent (and the early repeat attempts) by Steve! Thanks for sharing this great stuff. Clearly still a classic testpiece.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Steve - you're right! I probably didn't get scared until after I was back on safe ground, and looked down.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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I'll have to see if I can get Charles to participate in the fun. We have never met to exchange slides from our climbing together and it is long overdue. I will dig mine up and post when I get the time and I know that he has some great shots. Where does the time go?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Walleye wrote:
> Little Big Wall and Perrin jugged out of there on Eppersons lines and never finished the route.
To elaborate slightly, there was a big rainstorm and the exit chimney/face turned into a waterfall. So they chose to self-rescue on Epperson's fixed lines. Story in Climbing magazine a few years back.
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Bump… for WOW factor!
Super-cool thread with great photos!
It’s neat to see pics of features like the Golden Doubloon after looking at a line in the guidebook for so many years. So THAT’S what it’s all about…
Thanks guys!
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mojede
Trad climber
Butte, America
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Good archive bump--fine read with tasty visuals, thanks for giving the front page something of substance that deals with the issues sans soundbites and links.
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Lost Arrow
Trad climber
The North Ridge of the San Fernando
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Man you guys rock. What I would give just to get up the Big Stone again.
Juan
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Awesome tr, and thread! I was just reading my wall guide last night and for some reason got the Jolley Roger into my head as a route I'd want to do. And now I read this.
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L
climber
Malibu, baby....in a Cheetah shirt
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I'm with mojede--good bump.
Great photos, William! Man, that looks fun...and scary as shite!
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marky
climber
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Unreal. The photos are astounding.
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MZiebell
Social climber
Prescott, AZ
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Bump
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Bump for some really great photos.
Bill - thanks for writing the captions, as it adds a lot to the post.
I think if you edit the post to put all of the photos in order, it will really add a lot! It's hard to follow what's where. I know, it's a lot of work, but I hope you will...
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poop_tube
Big Wall climber
33° 45' N 117° 52' W
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Mar 19, 2008 - 03:03am PT
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NAAA HHHAAA AAAAA IIICEEEE
AAAAAARRRGGGHHHHH
OOOOOH
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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No Obama here...
Just rad climbing!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 25, 2008 - 11:10am PT
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Harrr! There be no use fer politickin' on the high seas. Hang em from the yardarm maties, sez I! Bump
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Sep 25, 2008 - 11:55am PT
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RE:
"pretty run hooks and reamer finish to get to the anchor. "
I can't imagine what a "reamer" finish might consist of...(?)
can you please clarify?
LOL!
Great thread, awesome climb.
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NinjaChimp
climber
someplace in-between
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Sep 25, 2008 - 12:40pm PT
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"The Seven Seas pitch, an A2 beauty that bore the signs of some recent free climbing attempts( ie- chalked tick marks at key holds & gear placements. There was also a modern sport anchor above with a line of bolts entering & exiting some steep, wild looking rock."
The chalk is probably from Tommy Caldwell's and Justen Sjong's ascent of the "Free Magic Mushroom". They referred to it as the Seven C's because they protected it with the new C3 cams from BD. Don't know about the sport anchor. I'm pretty sure Tommy said he didn't add bolts but he wasn't the first to recon the route for free climbing potential.
Thanks for the TR
-Justin
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Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 25, 2008 - 12:50pm PT
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No doubt it was from the attempts to free Magic Mushroom last year. That T.R. was from 2007 and on this year's trip, Son Of Heart, I could see more chalk tick marks & such. I do believe that the 7 seas pitch is one of the cruxes, at 5.13D/5.14A.
I saw some marks which were just a simple tick mark & others that were shaped like an arrow, pointing to key gear placements, I believe but that is just my guess.
Is it OK for climbers to mark the rock to provide key beta for crux sections? The Huber brothers had marks on El Nino indicatiing what gear went where, etc. The roof atop the Son Of Heart corners had a bunch ot tick marks too. It's a 5.13B undercling pitch and looks very difficult but how far should one go to free climb a pitch? Are chalk marks OK but painted ones not?
Just wondering.
Bill
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 25, 2008 - 12:59pm PT
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The Seven Seas are the seven C's are the seven little ceilings on the pitch as originally named. Great pitch that took only one hammered placement on the FA, my lead.
Thou shalt not trash the place- werd!
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Sep 26, 2008 - 11:37pm PT
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Sweet bump,
Great TR.
Zander
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Double D
climber
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Sep 27, 2008 - 12:37am PT
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Looks like a beautiful route...great photos!
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Captain...or Skully
Big Wall climber
Nunya, America
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Sep 27, 2008 - 01:43am PT
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Just gotta man up, sometimes.....
or something.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 25, 2009 - 03:15am PT
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Bumpety bump. One more post and we'll be at 100.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Feb 25, 2009 - 03:38am PT
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Missed this the first time around. BAD ASS.
EE and friends are the true long term badasses of big walling. Up there with Bridwell for shure.
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Ammon
Big Wall climber
Capo Beach
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Feb 25, 2009 - 03:40am PT
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BADDASS PHOTOS! Thanks for sharing... brings back so many SWEET memories. Cheers!
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east side underground
Trad climber
Hilton crk,ca
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Feb 25, 2009 - 10:42am PT
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love those big wall tr's- you guys are badass
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Mar 22, 2009 - 05:49pm PT
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!!!!!!1111
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Aug 29, 2009 - 12:06pm PT
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More Golden Stone!!!
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Fogarty
climber
Back in time..
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Aug 29, 2009 - 10:06pm PT
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Levy, you & E sure get it done!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 28, 2009 - 11:48pm PT
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I just finished writing an account of the FA for a Stonemaster project. Now it's time to raid the slide box for images that nobody has seen outside of Tucson!
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
obsessively minitracking all winter at Knob Hill
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Oct 29, 2009 - 01:13am PT
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BRING IT
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Oct 29, 2009 - 02:11am PT
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Steve's account of the FA on JR is epic. Keep your eyes open for "Wall Rats," which will cover the great nail ups world wide, from Baffin to El Cap to Pakistan and beyond...
JL
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imnotclever
Sport climber
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Oct 29, 2009 - 10:23am PT
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I love the picture of the head and the biner. It'd be only cooler if the head was a little more visible.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Oct 29, 2009 - 11:44am PT
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Awesome pics Bill! Loved looking at them. Keep em comin'
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Oct 29, 2009 - 04:33pm PT
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I know nothing about aid climbing, but this was awesome! Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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Esparza
Trad climber
Westminster, CA
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Oct 29, 2009 - 05:10pm PT
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Yikes.... That is some heads up climbing mates! Great photos and great climbing. I can only imagine the skill and head strength one must have to get up that. How many days did it take? Thanks and cheers!
Mike
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Oct 29, 2009 - 05:18pm PT
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Yeah I missed this one first time around too. Great TR! Awesome climbing there.
Roughly how many ascents have there been of the Jolly Roger?
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Dirka
Trad climber
SF
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Oct 29, 2009 - 08:37pm PT
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Holly Cow! Proud send and thanks for all the beautiful pics.
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426
climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Oct 31, 2009 - 03:13pm PT
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Ho man! Argh, nice pix.
Still looking to hear from Jon Fox, one of the Jolly Rogers (Rogerers?)
Bueller?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2009 - 09:46pm PT
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I would guess that the JR has somwhere around a dozen repeats at the minimum.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 31, 2009 - 09:49pm PT
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Jon Fox and I made the eighth ascent in '99 - still waiting to hear from that bad boy, too. So what now, a dozen? Fifteen?
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Gobee
Trad climber
Los Angeles
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Oct 31, 2009 - 09:57pm PT
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Rock Solid My Brothers!
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Oct 31, 2009 - 10:00pm PT
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F*#king Awesome my friends!!!!!!!!!!!
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TripL7
Trad climber
'dago'
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Oct 31, 2009 - 10:10pm PT
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Aye, aye mates.
Sail-on!
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Fuzzywuzzy
climber
suspendedhappynation
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Jan 26, 2010 - 02:00am PT
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Pate thanks for the bump as I had not read this.
Fabulous TR and totally great posts from SG etc -
Thanks,
TC
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Jacolelcap
Trad climber
Chicago, Denver/ Poland
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:54pm PT
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Me and Robert Sieklucki from Poland did the 9-th ascent, next to PtPP. Thanks Pete for some beta (haha, better after 10 year then never). We have another friend with some photo gear Jacek "Malory" Lupina. For Malory we fixed 6 or 7 ropes above Mammoth Terraces on Sunkist and prepare another 2 belay from the top. Plus we supply some water, food, cigarettes, beer, ropes and portaledgeat a the end.
Most of the pictures disappear somewhere in Poland except few. Also some move still is not finish.
That last photo was taken after 2 rappels from the rim, on ours 9-th day,
the one before last.
Jacek Czyz
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Feb 10, 2010 - 05:56pm PT
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I dig that shirt man!
Nice pics, SOOOOO Steeeeep!
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Jacolelcap
Trad climber
Chicago, Denver/ Poland
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Feb 10, 2010 - 06:16pm PT
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I dig that shirt man!
Nice pics, SOOOOO Steeeeep!
Thanks.
It is my favorite shirt made by my exwife. Even now after 10 years, exactly tomorrow, I will wear it for my last, 52 & 53 colorado's 14ers.
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
شقوق واس
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Feb 11, 2010 - 03:56pm PT
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Bump it up for the Beth.
And other wild & varied Monkeys. Cheers!
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MisterE
Social climber
Across Town From Easy Street
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Apr 18, 2010 - 04:47pm PT
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Bump.
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noshoesnoshirt
climber
Arkansas, I suppose
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Apr 18, 2010 - 09:11pm PT
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Freakin' sweet
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Kalimon
Trad climber
Ridgway, CO
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Aug 14, 2010 - 09:24pm PT
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BUMP!
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Aug 15, 2010 - 03:08am PT
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"Reamer Finish"
So classic.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Aug 15, 2010 - 11:48am PT
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Nice shots Jacek! Your friends went to some trouble to get them, too!
Thanks for posting!
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Jingy
Social climber
Nowhere
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Aug 15, 2010 - 12:06pm PT
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Great stuff!!!
looks like you guys did that thing twice...
after the top out photo...
there's more action down below...
Great stuff..
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 26, 2010 - 01:06pm PT
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The classic Bill Hatcher shot of Toto soloing the second ascent of the JR.
Climbing October 88.
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Oxymoron
Big Wall climber
total Disarray
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Sep 26, 2010 - 05:35pm PT
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That ad is classic. And I usually don't like ads.
Ahoy!
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Yafer
Trad climber
Chatsworth, California
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Sep 26, 2010 - 06:50pm PT
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Nice one Bill...Always like to see the homeboys excel
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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Sep 26, 2010 - 07:05pm PT
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Sweet Tr...Been on the Salathe but gheez.....Smokin climbing in the land of the free, that's what dreams are made of, thanks.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 17, 2012 - 09:24pm PT
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Harrrr! Shiver me timbers, we be casting off matey!
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gonamok
climber
dont make me come over there
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Feb 17, 2012 - 11:15pm PT
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killer pics, that thing looks skeery as hell
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| Messages 1 - 131 of total 131 in this topic |
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