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James Durbin
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 12, 2003 - 02:56pm PT
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Hey,
I was wondering about some of the more obscure routes on the south west face of el cap. In Don Reid's old book Horse Chute and Horse Play are both rated A3 and Magic Mushroom is A4. Does anyone have any beta on these routes, and do the ratings still hold? Let me know if you got any info.
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Bishop, Ca.
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Feb 12, 2003 - 04:47pm PT
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Horse Chute is a giant POS.... even Hugh Burton agrees.
Do the Mushroom instead.
Russ
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James Durbin
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2003 - 05:49pm PT
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How difficult would you say Magic Mushroom is (more or less)?
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Ben Rumsen
Mountain climber
Sacramento, CA
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Feb 12, 2003 - 07:57pm PT
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What makes Horse Chute worse than say Dihedral Wall, Russ?
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Bishop, Ca.
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Feb 13, 2003 - 01:39pm PT
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Chris is correcto.... HC has probably 3 good pitches, with one of those being superb.
Dihedral has history on its side.... besides that, it is probably only a bit better than the HC. (only done the first 5? to HC)
Mushroom (as I've been told) is like A2+ and is a burly-er version of the Shield. It gets good reviews from most everyone.
Russ
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Ben Rumsen
Mountain climber
Sacramento, CA
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Feb 13, 2003 - 02:48pm PT
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Thanks Russ. I was curious as I climbed Dihedral Wall my first time up El Cap and enjoyed it overall ( it too has one grassy slime pitch on it ) and I didn't see why Horse Chute would be much worse. But I've enjoyed most of the walls I've climbed ( they're all just different IMO ).
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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I didn't really like the top of Magic Mushroom that much, which was a surprise. From the ground, it's a striking and obvious line. But when you get up there, it kinda sucks - the corners are really awkward! You get a nice clean-aid crack, but it's so bloody deep in the corner, you end up making these short aid moves because you can't stand tall, the piece is so deep in the corner. Bloody awkward, I didn't like the route much. There are so many better routes in the area, like Sunkist! That bugger is brilliant, man.
The McTopo for the top part of the Mushroom sucks. I sketched it properly, and can scan it and send it to Chris if he reminds me when I get home. In fairness, the McTopo was drawn by Nanook, who told me he climbed from Grey Ledges to Chickenhead Ledge in a day, and did the sketch from memory. So it's not so good.
I'll let you know about Horse Chute and Horse Play as we're headed up that way.
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duncan
Trad climber
London, UK
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Sunkist is a fine route. There are no bad sections or long ledge falls. The headwall has 3 excellent pitches and it's fabulous to be up there in the evening, still in the sun whilst the rest of the crag is dark. If you counterbalance haul you get to dangle over the lip of the Heart roofs, slowly rotating over 1200' of nothing, thinking how amazing Jolly Roger looks. P18, just after it joins Son of Heart is one of the more out-there spots I've been to on El Cap. Take a large cam for the chimney like I should have done first time...
The All Time Aid Crack
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couchmaster
climber
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Ha Ha! Anything worth saying once is worth repeating 4 times Kevin:-)
Take care:
Bill
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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Adam Stack (possibly the Huberbaum, someone regardless) spent awhile on the route a few years ago freeing a majority of Magic Mushroom. Bring your dancing shoes Dan.
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Brutus of Wyde
climber
Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA
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Yuppers, a lot of those flares on the Shroom should go free.
Great route.
The one section that was originally rated A4 is not too bad at all.
The groove pitch on the lower shroom will certainly get your attention at 5.9!
Brutus
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Greetings Sir Duncan,
You are one determined gent after that epic 100' fall on your first solo attempt! Did you have a partner on the second go round? To everyone that whines for a rescue at the first sign of trouble, note that Sir Duncan extracted himself and withdrew from 2000' up with a broken arm! That sort of display of raw guts and grit is what gets you a K as a climber. Glad to see you posting mate, even if blushing a bit.
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Gunkie
climber
East Coast US
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That sort of display of raw guts and grit is what gets you a K as a climber.
'K' as in strikeout?
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duncan
Trad climber
London, UK
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Hey Steve, thank you for your kind words!
Getting off the thing wasn’t too bad. Straight down would take you over the Heart roof, but you can do a diagonal abseil-tension traverse across the grey band into Magic Mushroom. Once there, it’s straight down to the floor.
I went back up on my own in 1996. I couldn't try it any other way. I was a bit slower and a lot more frightened than in 1984, but sometimes that's a good thing. I made it to the top, thinner but in one piece.
I like it here. I’m meeting lots of old friends. I also get to swap Funk recommendations with JB, which is beyond cool as far as I’m concerned.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Duncan- Did you get the first solo of Sunkist? Good job in any case. The ST is big fun. Come for the funk, stay for the folks. Cheers
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Hey Duncan,
Sunkist is one of the best routes on El Cap, and it hardly ever gets done because it's not in the McTopo guide. It was my only my sixth route or so, and it's really not that hard. Definitely want a couple big cams for that one section.
So tell us what happened when you broke your arm - sounds pretty epic! Only Steve seems to know what happened.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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The Magic Mushroom climbs the Shield without the crowds.
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duncan
Trad climber
London, UK
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Sunkist 1984 – A retro trip report
By early July I had been climbing non-stop for four months and had the frightening confidence of a twenty-three year old that had just soloed the Steck-Salathé and climbed The Nose in nine and a half hours (1). I fancied an aid route to top off the season, something on the west side for a change. A couple of friends had recently made the second ascent of Sunkist and raved about it, so that was my choice. Most climbers had left The Valley by this time which meant soloing. Unfortunately it also meant gear scrounging possibilities were limited so I set off with a light rack (2).
The first day on Sunkist felt like a continuation of The Nose. Pitches flew past, the climbing straightforward and fun. The self-belaying and cleaning all worked smoothly. The haul-bag, much lighter than usual, was almost a pleasure to deal with. I counter-balance hauled, almost too effectively on the last pitch of the day. As I ran down the cliff, the bag suddenly swung free from the rock and shot upwards. I ended up dangling far out in space over the lip of the Heart roofs, slowly spinning and bouncing, suspended from a single, frayed, 9mm rope. The Salathé slabs, greying as the evening shadow crept up the face, rotated leisurely a thousand feet beneath me. The exposure was overwhelming. A lonely copperhead sprouted from the roof, showing the line of Jolly Roger. It looked wild.
Sitting in the hammock, building burritos for dinner, I watching the line of headlights crawl along the valley floor. It was a warm Friday night and the campsites would be filling up with weekenders. I had managed eight pitches, far more than I had anticipated, and glowed inwardly. Another day would see me onto the headwall. There was one other party on the Salathé Wall, head-torches occasionally visible far below. Otherwise, I had the cliff to myself. I felt totally comfortable with this and blissfully happy.
The following day the climb continued to fly past and I soon found myself at the base of the chimney-offwidth. Above, I could see the headwall for the first time. A slice of golden granite, the only flaw a thin seam rising for hundreds of feet. This was what I was here for. But first, the chimney-offwidth. Every great Yosemite route has it’s grim wide-crack; Sunkist’s starts amiably enough as a secure squeeze chimney and I made steady upward progress. No protection unfortunately, none of my gear was wide enough to fit (3). The chimney gradually narrowed and I thought my number four Friend would work in the off-width section a little higher up. After some fifty feet, the crack tapered, forcing me out. It bulged awkwardly, the situation was becoming precarious and I was committed, fast loosing energy just trying to stay in contact with the rock. I stuffed a Friend far in the back of the chimney, it stayed in place but I could not tell if it offered any real security. The crack was narrowing all the time and in another two or three moves I would be able to reach the sanctuary of fist-jams and good protection. Only ten feet more to the belay. I had to find some way of feeding more rope through my clove-hitch self-belay system, but couldn’t free the rope with one hand. I placed another number four Friend as high as I could. It was near the limit of its range but looked like it should hold and I no other options. I clipped in and eased my weight onto it, focussing totally on the four cams. It held...
...but only for a moment. I watched two cams shift slightly. Then I was off. There was the subtlest tug on the rope as the other Friend pulled. I felt like I was observing the whole event from a distance, watching someone fall a long way; long enough to count the seconds it took. I saw myself bounce off the wall like a pebble skimmed on water. I hit the end of the rope with a crash of iron, cart-wheeled about, the horizon jerking violently. The rock slammed into my side. Then all was still. I hung motionless. My chest was a little painful but otherwise I seemed to be in one piece. I looked up to where I had fallen from. A bright red smear appeared on one of the lenses of my glasses, contrasting the blue sky. It was a long way back up to the belay, but I rigged Jumars without thinking and climbed. I unfurled the hammock and eased myself in carefully. Other bits of me were beginning to hurt now. I could feel a grating sensation from my ribs against the tight nylon of the hammock that was breathtakingly painful. My left ankle was beginning to feel tight inside its boot and I couldn’t move my left wrist or elbow.
I considered the options: go down or wait to be rescued. I decided to rest up and see how I felt the following day. A direct descent was out of the question as I would end up over the Heart roofs so I wanted to have a full day for any retreat. I was also a bit concerned about the blood from my head, thinking I might be concussed. A friend had died retreating from Shivling after being hit on the head, somehow he had become detached from the rope when nearly down. I wanted to wait a while and see how I felt.
Early the next day I set off and managed to make a long diagonal tension traverse and pendulum into Magic Mushroom. I knew I could get down from there. I fixed the rope, jumared back up and abandoned my tinned food, wedging it into the chimney (4) and cut loose my haulbag. I managed a straight-forward descent, hobbled to the road with a couple of rescue guys and checked into the medical centre.
(1) The NIAD was first and last route I ever did with Romain Volger. If anyone has any memories or pictures of Romain, I’d really like to hear from them.
(2) One of the advantages of owning very little big wall gear is that you are not tempted to take too much crap. Dr. Piton would probably not have approved! With hindsight, going up with only two #4 friends was just the wrong side of that fine line, but at the time I considered myself a bit of a wide crack stud (well, for a Brit anyhow). I thought I could climb out of nearly any trouble, an attitude waiting for an accident to happen. I was so lucky that I had a rope on when the inevitable occurred.
(3) In 1996, I borrowed a Yates Big Dude. I used it here, for one placement on the entire route. I felt it was well worth carrying.
(4) See ‘Climbing’ issue 136.
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Scrunch
Trad climber
Provo, Ut
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dude, sick.
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