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Roger Brown
climber
Oceano, California
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 23, 2008 - 03:53pm PT
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On August 14 with Clint leading and me following we got our ropes fixed on Glacier Point Apron. My daughter is comming over today to show me how to post the pictures I took. Our ropes go up the right side of Monday Morning Slab to three pitches above the Coonyard. On the 15th Clint was off on another adventure and I started hauling up more rope and replacing bolts. Then on the morning of the 16th I had a little mishap. I managed to get down ok and with Kendall (local climber who just happened to be at the base) helping, I was able to get packed up and back to the parking lot. I was treated at the Clinic and sent on my way. I am home now and it may be another week till I can get back up there. So...... all that rope and the stuff at the base is my stuff. I left my ASCA signs at most of the anchors and at the base, but nothing with my name on it. After a week, the gear at the base may look a little abandoned. If any of you are climbing there, maybe you could dust things off and rearange the stuff hanging in the big bush so it looks a little bit more recent. The Clinic called yesterday and informed me that there are no broken ribs, so that should cut recovery time in half. YEE-HA, life is good.
Roger Brown
(I hope this is readable, the meds have me a little more goofy than usual)
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
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Aug 23, 2008 - 04:17pm PT
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Sorry to hear about your spill. A buddy just injured his rib from a missed step, and a jerking recovery motion. Not too fun.
Go easy on the comedy.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 23, 2008 - 08:01pm PT
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Sorry to hear of your mishap, Roger - broken ribs, even without any other injuries, are no fun at all. What happened?
I'm too far away to do anything about your ropes and gear. Perhaps you should contact Jesse (if you haven't already), so he knows that the ropes and gear are there, and why. Otherwise, the NPS might remove them. Jesse may also know someone who could help with getting the gear consolidated, and keeping an eye on it.
Reposted, in case Jesse is now off work, though he hasn't been around ST much lately.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Aug 23, 2008 - 08:09pm PT
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oh Roger, you have all the fun :)
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Aug 23, 2008 - 11:14pm PT
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roger what did you do?
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Aug 24, 2008 - 12:59am PT
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ah, broken ribs. There is pretty much nothing you can do. The two things that hurt the most are laughing (bummer) and getting up from a prone position-- oouch.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 24, 2008 - 01:53am PT
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Take care of yourself Roger!
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elcap-pics
climber
Crestline CA
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Aug 24, 2008 - 08:43pm PT
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Careful Roger... you are the man with the plan..... keep it up Bro!!
Best wishes Tom
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Aug 25, 2008 - 04:59am PT
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I hope you're healing up well, Roger!
Here are my photos to go with Roger's.
Some of Roger's photos are in his "Photo Test" post:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=660274
Apron view from the parking lot, morning of August 11
Roger following p1 of Monday Morning Slab Right Side
Roger belays p1 of Coonyard Pinnacle
Following Coonyard p3
Roger belaying p4
Typical Rohrer anchor on the central Apron rappel route (often doubles as belay anchor on Coonyard)
Following p4 (crux 5.9 traverse)
Following p5
Original(?) anchor atop Coonyard Pinnacle (fortunately there was a good bolt nearby)
Roger reaching Coonyard
Belaying from Coonyard
Clipping one of Layton Kor's original (1960) 1/4" Star Dryvin bolts on the Coonyard to Oasis extension
Roger leaving Coonyard, 3:30pm.
Shortly after this, my haul of the fixed line jammed, and I went down it to free things up.
As it turned out, it was jammed right at the ground.
I got a couple more ropes from Roger's car so we could continue further,
then hand-over-handed back up the fixed line with my miniTraxion.
Roger at the belay above Coonyard, after I returned, 6pm.
Clipping old slings on a fixed pin before cutting them to clip direct
Pitch with several tree climbing and branch-grabbing moves
Heading down the fixed ropes, 8pm.
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nutjob
Stoked OW climber
San Jose, CA
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Aug 25, 2008 - 05:12am PT
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You guys kick so much @ss. I am totally going to make use of your new bolts.
And Roger, I hope you heal up soon... taking one in the line of fire for community service, now that's dedication!
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aa-lex
climber
Livermore
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Aug 25, 2008 - 05:45pm PT
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Sorry to hear about the injury Roger. Heal up soon!! Great work on the apron too! Nice to see people keeping things safe.
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J. Werlin
climber
Cedaredge
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Aug 25, 2008 - 07:58pm PT
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Many thanks for all your work, gentlemen.
I hear you on the ribs, Roger. Three weeks into my own recovery. Get off those pain killers as soon as you can so you can tell what's going on. I saw someone who does Cranial/Sacral work as well as myofascial, helped ALOT, particularly with breathing and a rib that was out.
Good luck, mate. Patience.
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kev
climber
CA
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Aug 25, 2008 - 08:07pm PT
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Sorry to hear about your mishap - best wishes for a speedy recovery. My pop broke a rib in a fall (not climbing related) two years ago and it took him a while to recover so the bruised rib(s) sound a whole lot better to me than breaks...
I'd also like to say thanks for helping keep us safe!
Your gear should be safe - especially since it's marked but posting it hear helps to spread the word.
kev
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Aug 25, 2008 - 08:48pm PT
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More KUDOs to The Team!
I won't be up there until this weekend...let me know if you still need assistance.
Also, speedy recovery to you Roger! We NEED you ;-)
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BBA
Social climber
petaluma ca
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Sep 13, 2008 - 12:25pm PT
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When I did the first pitch of Coonyard with "Little" Joe McKeown in August 1960 I placed two bolts purchased from "The Dolt" in LA. They are the ones with the screw on nuts. That cured me of bolting forever. We made Coonyard the next day with no more bolts, and in October Jeff Foott and I almost made the Oasis, about two pitches short, with no bolts. We descended in complete darkness and on the traverse back Jeff, following, had a spectacular rolling pendulum type fall from which his hardware threw sparks around as he clanked over the granite. It was pretty neat, and he wasn't hurt much. Then Chouinard and Kor went up all the way to the Oasis placing bolts. I never understood this as Chouinard was against bolting (I thought) and so I chopped the one he put in on the third pitch of Coonyard. I took a bunch of falls on the first pitch, but they consisted really of slides, and getting hurt on the Apron is a big surprise to me. So now I'm an old guy, and I think the efforts at making things safe is good. However, someone needs to come up with an extractor so you don't have so many holes in the rock, or the old stuff needs to be drilled out.
Great pics. Much better than Little Joe took. They make it look steep which should impress my grandsons.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Sep 13, 2008 - 12:33pm PT
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Hope you are recovering well, and thanks for the good work !
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 13, 2008 - 12:45pm PT
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Welcome Bill!
Any more reflections on old school friction climbing?!?
The Roper Green Guide description. What aid did you guys leave behind for Chuck and Frank?
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Roger Brown
climber
Oceano, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 13, 2008 - 01:35pm PT
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BBA,
Thank you so much for your first ascent report. No bolts other than the ones at the top of the Coonyard, (rap anchor) and the bolted anchors for the next 2 pitches have been replaced. The Kor bolt shown in Clint's photo will not be replaced. We will only replace those 2 bolts on the first pitch as shown on the topo. We try real hard to replace only first ascent bolts and sometimes we get it wrong. Also we take a lot of pride in removing the old bolts and re-using the old holes. If the old bolt is broken or we break it upon removal, we punch it down into the hole and do a patch job. Using epoxy and small stones we can do a pretty good job of hiding the damage. Clint is up there today checking my gear left at the base and the ropes. My rib damage turned out to be way worse than I thought. 5 broken, 3 complete with displacement and misalignment. The damage was that bad probably because of the huge rack of stuff I was carrying. Hangers with double ring hangers are really heavy and I had a lot of them on the big-wall rack along with all the bolt removal stuff and the cams. The first couple days of one of these projects involves hauling a lot of stuff to the high point and I was planning to do it in as few trips as necessary. But thats all history now. I am healing fast, off all meds, and finally sleeping in a bed again. I will be at Face-lift a week from Monday and plan on GPA a week later. I got in a hurry and made a stupid mistake and got off lucky. "When in doubt, lower out" Sorry about the spelling:-)
Roger Brown
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Joe
Social climber
Santa Cruz Mountains/Los Gatos
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Sep 13, 2008 - 04:31pm PT
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glad to hear that you are healing Roger.
really appreciate all you do for the community.
be safe out there.
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BBA
Social climber
petaluma ca
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Sep 16, 2008 - 05:47pm PT
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For Steve Grossman - The only hardware left on the route for Sacherer and Ostin was the two bolts on the first pitch. Glacier Point Apron is such a low angle that exposure was not an issue. On descents we didn't leave pitons but draped things over protruberances and often walked down carefully, usually just hand over hand then flipped the rope off. Pitons and such were too expensive. Old school friction climbing was to understand physics, the resolution of forces and coefficients of friction and then go for it and hope for the best, something which Sacherer and I talked about ad nauseum.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Sep 16, 2008 - 06:34pm PT
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BBA,
I think what Steve meant was:
"Where did you use aid on the first ascent?"
I'm curious, too. My guess is that it was a big pendulum on pitch 4.
But I'd like to know the real answer!
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Roger Brown
climber
Oceano, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 16, 2008 - 09:32pm PT
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BBA,
I have a quick question also. Can you tell by Clint's last photo where your high point was in relation to ours? I know we were off route because our rope was anchored to one of the 2 bolt anchors of the "Glacier Point Rappel Route" (note sign in bush at anchor 75" below high point and my position) I put our signs on everything so there is no question who owns all the junk scattered around up there. We were also only a couple pitches from the Oasis and finished our descent after dark. All information is a big help in determining first ascent bolts from others. I sneezed today and it didn't hurt!! I will be back up there next Monday. Life is good,
Roger Brown
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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Sep 16, 2008 - 11:32pm PT
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Howdy Roger, We meet last year in the meadows and I could tell you were hardcore Ol' school Navy ( My Father in law is also, 12 years Korean Conflict). Your hard efforts are greatly appreciated by those who have an idea of the amount of "Hard" Phucking work it is to replace bolts but will also be appreciated for generations of up and coming climbers, Thank You, Sir. You have done an incredible community service.
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msiddens
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Sep 17, 2008 - 01:48pm PT
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Ouch, cracked ribs are a PITA. I did a few of mine years back and everything hurt, including breathing. Luckily, time heals. As for the work, awesome job. So many fond memories of GPA and Coonyard remains on the to do list.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Sep 19, 2008 - 10:25pm PT
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Cool!
hey Roger Hope U Can fix this "Impossibly Diminutive slab".
Didn't think chouinard could get into a closed out.
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Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
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Sep 19, 2008 - 10:59pm PT
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That last picture is one of the best angles I have ever seen.
Awesome.
That dude is buffed, is he an ex seal or something?
I hope he isn't on the juice.
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couchmaster
climber
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Sep 20, 2008 - 12:22am PT
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Rodger, can you share with us what happened? Thanks.
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Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
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Sep 20, 2008 - 12:43am PT
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Nothing happened.
What's with all the ambulance chasers around here?
Sheesh, someone falls, and before he gets picked up by the meat wagon, we already have a complete analysis underway, WTF?
Hey, if I break something, please do not analyze why without prior written consent from the Slick Rick, thanks.
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Roger Brown
climber
Oceano, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 20, 2008 - 02:08pm PT
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Couchmaster,
There was a bit of discussion about that at the wedding party last night. It was pretty much concluded that it was just "pilot error". Being so used to using a 165'-200' static rope, I badly misjudged the amount of actual slack I would encounter when I stepped off the belay ledge to start the penji. I was using the new 600+ with at least 400' out. The rope also may have been hung up on something which caused a secondary drop right in the middle of the attempt to stay under control. At any rate I knew I was losing the battle and was prepairing for the tumble when I ran out of slack and slammed to a stop, back first. With enough slack it would have been a bit of a tumble/roll and I probably would have come out better. The impact was pretty violent ( I was moving really fast) and I figure I got off lucky. I am just an old Hippy that believes in karma, and I work at keeping mine on the good side:-) At any rate I am healing at a fast pace and will find out Monday if I can jug my ropes. I am betting I can. If not I will start back a week later after face-lift. Looking forward to seeing a lot of past face-lift faces and meeting some new ones. I will be back at my camp in Yellowpine monday morning. Today I get to put on a Tux and walk Amy down the isle. Life is good,
Roger Brown
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Sep 20, 2008 - 02:30pm PT
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congratulations Roger! best wishes for the soon-to-be-weds!
And it's good to hear that you survived your mishap with relatively minor injuries. I think the risks you and the other rebolters take plying your craft is a greatly overlooked aspect of this important service.
I'm looking forward to seeing you next week at the Facelift.
Have fun today!
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Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
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Sep 20, 2008 - 03:55pm PT
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more gamma:
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Sep 20, 2008 - 04:23pm PT
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Thanks for doing such a great job of replacing those bolts, which didn't exactly look bomber when I was up there in 92. Your photos really brought back a flood of memories Clint. What an amazing view that is from the Oasis.
Hope that your ribs are healing nicely Roger. I was hit on my motorcycle by a careless driver in Feb and suffered a similar inury, which I thought was fully healed, but aggravated on the Diamond in July. Almost ready for a return to El Cap soon.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Sep 21, 2008 - 03:30am PT
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Thanks, Wayne.
It brought back some memories for me, too. The only time I had done Coonyard before was in September 1977, back in the days of EBs, on my first trip to the Valley. I remember how screwed my follower was, on the crux traverse, facing a long swing if they blew. I also remember rapping down the Rohrer anchors, but since we were young kids winging it, we only had one rope. But we had heard about this "Apron Rappel" technique. I sent my partner down single line to the next anchor. He anchored one end of the rope. Then I rapped on the uneven rope. When the short end of the rope went through my device (OK, carabiner brake), I wrapped it around the remaining strand a few times. Then I just rode it down on the friction of one strand around the other! (Note: I recommend bringing 2 ropes instead....).
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Sep 21, 2008 - 11:39am PT
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Clint wrote: I wrapped it around the remaining strand a few times. Then I just rode it down on the friction of one strand around the other!
YIKES!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 21, 2008 - 11:45am PT
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Classic Apron rappel! The normal rules don't apply to that place and everything you know is wrong. Good spot for the Swiss arm rappel if things are getting a bit too furry.
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Roger Brown
climber
Oceano, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2008 - 11:54am PT
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Hell Couchmaster, I am old. Wedding was great. Last party, breakfast party, will be here this morning. After 3 days of partying I am starting to feel my age. Have to get back to replacing bolts to get some rest:-) Yea, I use a big Wally for all bolt replacement work, and will buy the new one when it becomes available. For its purpose, it is the best pack I own. Got the Face-Lift stoke going, can't wait for tomorrow. YP ETA 10:00,
Roger Brown
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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Thanks again for all your work Roger.
A friend and I climbed up to Point Beyond a couple weekends ago. I was very happy to be able to clip the nice shiny bolts/anchors.
I wanted to go to Lucifer's Ledge but I apparently ran out of courage at Point Beyond when I was looking up at the 5.9 slab pitches.
BTW - are all the protection bolts from the ledge at point beyond up the last two pitches to Lucifers Ledge all good? I couldnt quite tell from the ledge while looking up. I could only spy two of the bolts.
Steve
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Steve,
I haven't been back on Angel's Approach since Roger did the replacement work, but his method is to only replace the original bolts. Added bolts will usually just get left "as is", but on that particular route, we identified a series of added bolts with Cassin hangers which were targeted for removal. I believe there were other added 1/4" bolts which he may have left as is. I remember counting 11 bolts on the first pitch, and my annotated topo from the mid-1980s shows only 5. The added bolts were rather disgusting. I did not clip the added bolts.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Oh man, nice. A little bump from 2008.
Thx again Roger!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Lance(?),
Your photo looks like Flakey Foont, just right of the first 5.9 pitch of Regular Mouth.
You can see Perhaps up and left of you.
We replace original bolts only. Runouts stay as is.
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Thorgon
Big Wall climber
Sedro Woolley, WA
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Stellar work, as always! Greatly appreciated by your peers, obviously!
Rock on,
Thor
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Flakey Foot, I remember looking at that. First bolt you could see with a good pair if 10x25s. Right next to Slamdance, IIRC...
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