South Face Route- Half Dome

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Messages 1 - 20 of total 31 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Roger Brown

climber
Oceano, California
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 24, 2008 - 10:42pm PT
Heard someone is on it.
elcap-pics

climber
Crestline CA
Apr 24, 2008 - 11:44pm PT
Yo Roger... are you coming to the valley to do some fixing this spring? Hope so... enjoy hearing your stories and adventures...
Tom
Roger Brown

climber
Oceano, California
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 25, 2008 - 09:16pm PT
Tom,
See you 1st Week of June. Most likely GPA again :-)
Roger
Brandon

Trad climber
Santa Maria, CA
May 3, 2008 - 11:21am PT
Yeah, Dave Nettle and I were on the Harding route last weekend. It took us 4 days. Very nice rock on the upper dome. Modified hooks are manditory for the hooking pitches. There's also quite a bit of nailing starting with pitch 7. Roger Brown did a huge public service by replacing the original FA bolts with ASCA 3/8" SS. One of the exciting parts of the route was that it has the rescue/epic stigma that I kept in the back of my mind the whole time. Also descending the cables hand-over-hand with a 80lb haulbag was exciting too. I wonder how many ascents this route has? Roger said he got the 7th back in 1997.
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
May 3, 2008 - 12:07pm PT
Thanks for the report Brandon. Hard to believe even the Harding route has been done so little. How much of that thing do you think would go free for a Huber or Caldwell?

peace

karl
chossyslab

climber
May 3, 2008 - 12:36pm PT
know where i can find a topo for that route?
james Colborn

Trad climber
Truckee, Ca
May 3, 2008 - 12:41pm PT
Huber and Caldwell?

Brandon, did you guys free many of the pitches?
Three Cheers for the unsponsored climbers that kick ass. I know a few people that climb so freaking hard and have a family or work during the week. I can only imagine if they climbed everyday what they could achieve. They seem to squeeze every second out of free time and when its time to climb they are on.
Nice one!
Brandon

Trad climber
Santa Maria, CA
May 3, 2008 - 02:52pm PT
We used both topos from the Reid and the Meyers books. The Reid topo seemed to be more accurate. As far as free climbing on the route: Pitches 1-5 were freed by Sean Jones(.10a, .10c, .11c, .12c, .12a). Pitches 6 & 7 have too much lichen on them to be freed, plus you would need to hammer pins for pro, I seriously doubt they will go free. There is a possibility that the Great Escape Hatch(pitch 8) would go free. It would require insane chimney skills to do the traversing bombay chimney. Once again the pro is predominately pins. I liked this pitch the best.
Pitches 9, 10, & 19 would go free for sure. I bet a few other pitches above pitch 10 would go free, but there is no pro for free attempts. You aren't going to feel too good about doing free moves off a fixed bathook or rivet.
Flanders!

Trad climber
June Lake, CA
May 3, 2008 - 02:56pm PT
Hey Roger,

Didn't you and I do the 5th ascent, just after Walt's solo? That was a great route, typical of Harding & Rowell. I remember the bat hook holes being covered with "corn flake" lichen and needing to brush the wall to find the holes. It was a good time with you on that one!

Doug
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
May 3, 2008 - 05:27pm PT
Hey Brandon--any pix of your ascent? Would love
to see them and more details. . .Thx!
Roger Brown

climber
Oceano, California
Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2008 - 10:41pm PT
Doug,
Yea, it was the 5th. It was starting to sprinkle a little as I followed you up that first pitch. The first pitch of a great adventure. I remember Walt telling us how to modify the hooks. Told the story about how he got up out of the arch and realized he had the wrong hooks. Back in the Vally that same night making hooks, then back to finish the route. But, that was Walt:-) I let Brandon and Dave use our hooks.
Roger
WBraun

climber
May 3, 2008 - 10:44pm PT
Jody

You don't know klaus or coz. I'm not going to get into this argument, but it goes far deeper than you will ever understand from this Internet discussion.

I've lived with these guys for years and my life depended on them at times, more so with coz.

Try not to be so hard on them as it's not what you think .....
Flanders!

Trad climber
June Lake, CA
May 3, 2008 - 10:52pm PT
Roger,

what do you make of all this SFHD discussion? A few ego's? A few thoughtful comments? Somewhat amazing that folks spent this much time discussing this. Maybe you and I need to go up and check out these routes for ourselves? Got any time?

Doug
Roger Brown

climber
Oceano, California
Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2008 - 11:27pm PT
Doug,
The present deal is for me to work 2 more weeks, then get the "lay-off". My boss is cool, I can go whenever I want. So I guess anytime. Whatcha got in mind?
Roger
WBraun

climber
May 3, 2008 - 11:41pm PT

Jody, I don't have very good command of english language nor how to speak like most here. But it's in here below and you'll have to do the best you can to understand what I'm trying to say.

Maybe it makes no sense.

In the beginning the pure waters of the river flowed freely into the ocean. All the citizens along that river understood to keep it clean and respect it because all the denizens along that river depended upon that pure water for their lively hood and strength.

They had great faith in that understanding the greater deeper knowledge of why the river needed to stay pure.

In time due to degeneration and loss of this great knowledge the denizens began to fight over that purity in that clean spirit of life force within that water.

It became all about the "I" "Me" more and more. The river became damned, and it's spirit and life force became subdued just as ones own blood lost it's own oxygen rich blood cells and disease could take hold. The arm told the head it wanted to become independent. The legs started to fight with the upper body, and so on.

The denizens became weaker and weaker along with their clear thinking due to the river losing it's spirit.

Men and women of great vision could "see" what the future would bring by losing that pure clean spirit within that water.


jstan

climber
May 3, 2008 - 11:59pm PT
Very thoughtful indeed.

I read this as:
That river is the life itself that we ride while searching for those things that make us weak. If we but find them, we will arrive at the ocean whole and young.
Brandon

Trad climber
Santa Maria, CA
May 4, 2008 - 12:05pm PT
Doug, I was mixed up. Yes, Roger told me that you guys got the 5th ascent and that he knew of at least 7 ascents so far.
Below are a few pictures.


Cleaning the 4th pitch


Looking back at the belay while leading the Great Escape Hatch.


Another shot looking down on pitch 8.


Clean open face on the upper half of the route.







bachar

Gym climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
May 4, 2008 - 12:37pm PT
Creating "routes" on rap is like the Federal Reserve creating "money".

Pure knavery...
Blowboarder

Boulder climber
Back in the mix
May 4, 2008 - 01:45pm PT
" Creating "routes" on rap is like the Federal Reserve creating "money".

Pure knavery..."


John, I have no more business discussing rock climbing with you than I have discussing economics with Milton Freidman but I see one major difference in your analogy.

A rap bolted "route" doesn't harm anybody. The idea of such "routes" obviously harms those who don't agree with the stylistic ethics upon which it was created but the route itself does not. It just sits there, waiting to be climbed, chopped, or not.

The Fed, on the other hand, is responsible for more pain and angst among American citizens than all the terrorists in the world.

Great Depression...Check.
70's Era Inflation...Check
Current SubPrime Crisis....we'll wait to Check that one as all the ingredients in this vile stew boil up.

Cheers,

Pasha
wildone

climber
Where you want to be
May 4, 2008 - 02:05pm PT
Awesome photos, Brandon. Do you have any more?

As an aside, I went up a year or two ago to drop ropes from the rim for Brandon and my buddy T-Balls. The next day, I could see him moving up those two consecutive pitches of OW/chimney with my naked eye from over by the lodge! The first pitch of OW took me like 2-2.5 hrs. He did it in like 10-15 mins.
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