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hamie

Social climber

Thekoots

Apr 12, 2012 - 02:28am PT

"The name was his [Hamie's] too."
No, I can't take credit for that. The name came from Jim Baldwin, who had spent a ton of time in the Valley. It refers to a 'Yosemite-type-pinnacle', which is not really a pinnacle at all, but an exfoliation flake which is separated on both sides, but still lays against the face. The Split Pillar is a perfect example. Reed, Rixon's, Slab Happy etc are examples from Yos. I think it's a great name, as it reminds me of our early and current connections with the mother ship. What would they do, or not do in the Valley was always a major consideration. Good call, Jim.

They do have some normal pinnacles down there. Here is a pic of 15/16 year old Phil Bircheff doing the first of the four raps off Phantom Pinnacle, a great route, and a real pinnacle. A technical miscalculation here almost cost me big time.

hamie

Social climber

Thekoots

Apr 12, 2012 - 03:13am PT

Everyone has doubtless had their fill of YPLS by now, but.....

If I have read all of the posts correctly, I believe that at the crux pitch there is now:
.....a 2 bolt station
.....a protection bolt
.....a fixed pin
.....a fixed sling, which is often used for aid, as well as pro.

At the time of the FA obviously none of that stuff was there. We may have slung a tree, but I don't recall one. We didn't place any pins, or clip any bolts, and we definitely didn't hang around lassooing chockstones and using them for aid. I don't think the lead was bold. Off-widths, chimneys and squeezes were commonplace, and I suppose we were quite good at them. Perhaps the fact that my g/f was watching, and eager for a FA, helped me along.

In Don Whillans' recent biography, The Villain, his biographer tells the story of his first visit to Yos in 1966, aged 33. Whillans was unfit and overweight, but only a few years before had been one of the best mountaineers and rockclimbers in the world. His specialty was overhanging fist jams on gritstone. He found Pharoah's Beard, an average 300' 5.8 layback crack/chimney climb to be "desperate", because he was not used to that type of wide crack.

Here is a pic of Jim Bridwell climbing a feature quite similar to YPLS. It's a flared bomb-bay chimney, which narrows to a squeeze, at about 5.8
with not a lot of gear. Fairly typical of the time.
Please chop the bolt, and remove the manky old sling. The fixed pin should compensate for any tree which we may have used. Thanks.

EDIT. 7.48 am. Since I no longer climb at Sq, it is not really appropriate for a cranky old man [or two] to enforce/interpret the rules. If the majority feels a bolt is now necessary, so be it. However the pin, and esp the sling should go. That was then, and this is now. We had our fun, now it's your turn.

Big Mike

Trad climber

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 12, 2012 - 02:47pm PT

MH- No Helmets. Since both Luke and I typically climb without them we forgot them at home that day. I did think about grabbing it before I left the house but then forgot in my rush. Relic did though, it got stuck at one point and he had to do the moves with his head hanging out of the gash.

You could definetly fall on your belayer. We couldn't even really get into the squeeze until after the chockstone. We were using the edges and the wall and foot in the squeeze. I fell three times (on tr) before getting into the beast.

You could move the belay down, but it breaks up the pitches quite nicely and Bruce did a good job making a nice stance on the cedar. Luke got a piece in some suspect flakes before the bolt and swore he wouldn't use it but when he got there the inevitable happened.

If I have read all of the posts correctly, I believe that at the crux pitch there is now:
.....a 2 bolt station
.....a protection bolt
.....a fixed pin
.....a fixed sling, which is often used for aid, as well as pro.

Hamie- Almost. The fixed pin is on the first pitch at the top of the flare after you first get established on the pinnacle. Before the hand jamming.

If you look at the picture again, the first piece is a cam stuffed behind a suspect flake, then the bolt, then the tat on the chockstone. The word "often" might be a little out of place. I am pretty sure we were the first party on this climb in years.

Unlike in your day Off-widths or Awful-widths as Tami would say are no longer commonplace. There are people who specialize in them though, and I suspect that some stiff mountain boots would help in the squeeze. Luke certainly seemed to like his approach shoes.

You may not have thought your lead was bold sir, but I would have been shi$$ing my pants in your position.

As to the fixed pro, it will have to wait until STUCK goes back for the redpoint. Hopefully with BK and Ryan D, to bring the Big Bros, and after a nice hot spell to dry it out.

Thanks for the pics! The one of Bridwell is awesome!

BK- I think you are right! A nice stiff mountain boot would jam in there nice. Maybe I will have to get a pair of camp 4's like Luke's for that pitch.

Big Mike

Trad climber

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 12, 2012 - 03:32pm PT

Mh2- Thanks for the compliment. :) I always enjoy your pictures also.

Mighty Hiker

climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Apr 12, 2012 - 04:35pm PT

If I'm not mistaken, Hamie's photo is of the FA of Church Bowl Tree, in December 1965. Hopefully not damaged or buried by the recent Bishop's Terrace rockfalls.

RyanD

climber

Squamish

Apr 12, 2012 - 04:58pm PT

Please don't bring hockey into the climbing thread!

Cool photos again everyone! Thanks for sharing!

Scrubber

climber

Straight outta Squampton

Apr 13, 2012 - 12:36am PT

Apart from secret passwords, handshakes and decoder rings, applicants should have to have climbed at least seven out a series of select climbs, including

Any two of the gullies.
Sunshine Chimneys.
Crap Crags.
Kneewrecker Chimney.
Yosemite Pinnacle, Left Side.
The Flake.
Slab Alley.
North North Arete.
Colon.

also: you forgot Satans Slit

Done 'em all with the exception of Kneewrecker!

BWAHAHAHAHAHA !!! (maniacal laughter emanating from deep within the coastal rainforest)

Big Mike

Trad climber

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 13, 2012 - 01:34am PT

Kris when did you do ypls? Recently? How did you find the pro?

Tami- You said you climbed ypls too. Was it with Peter? Did you free it?

Big Mike

Trad climber

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 13, 2012 - 02:46am PT

YPLS is the Awful width Tami. Tantalus is the right side. Which looks AWESOME!

Relic

Social climber

Vancouver, BC

Apr 13, 2012 - 09:36am PT

YPLS is the Awful width Tami. Tantalus is the right side.

Don't worry Tami, Mike's brain got rattled inside the chimney. Put down the pipe Mike. YPLS is not an off-width. I think you're getting old MR. Albatross. I mean you were just on it a few days ago!

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Apr 13, 2012 - 10:38am PT

Those things are made for the desert

I used one at Squamish once. The Green size. Bought it for a specific move on a specific climb that I had high hopes for. It did its job, allowing me to aid through one of those wide crumbling seam things that are too shallow to be called cracks. Felt like an A5 timebomb, but it held my weight long enough to get me to the next placement.

The climb didn't live up to my hopes, though, and has probably long since returned to obscurity. And the green BigBro was returned to the closet never to be used again.

Big Mike

Trad climber

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 13, 2012 - 02:21pm PT

Guess I must be confused as to the meaning of off-width. I allways thought it was bigger than hands and smaller than you can squeeze yourself into. Which I guess makes YPLS a chimney. At least we got another kick ass story out of it! :)

Bruce- Nice pics indeed! As to kicking my big bro protection out while trying to sling a chockstone on YPLS, doesn't sound very appealing.

So here's the question. If a big bro doesn't work and we chop the bolt and tat, will anyone climb it? Does it matter? Would you rather have a few repeat the FA experience or keep the climb clean with traffic? (Not that many would anyways but certainly more!)

Scrubber

climber

Straight outta Squampton

Apr 14, 2012 - 12:14am PT

Kris when did you do ypls? Recently? How did you find the pro?

Nah, it was 8 or 9 years ago. Long before it was cleaned. I climbed it with Fern. She was always game for a thrashing adventure. We did Green Thumb together too.

YPLS was interesting because you couldn't see what was coming because of all of the cedar bushes growing out of the corner. You'd tunnel through one, then have 15 or 20 feet of visible corner before the next shrubbery. The squeeze part was HARD. Mossy, but dry, and you couldn't reach the cracks in the back for pro. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get myself into it. IIRC, eventually I laybacked the outside for 10 or 15 feet until I could grapple a chockstone into submission and squeeze into the wider part. One of the old guard later told me that they fit in better wearing a swami instead of a bulky harness with all kinds of crap hanging off the back and a big knot in the front. It seemed tighter than the Harding Slot to me.

K

MH2

climber

Apr 14, 2012 - 12:36am PT

Whew!

Yes, Peter Haan has also recommended going back to a swami belt for wide cracks so as not to have gear loops and to be able to slide the tie-in knot around to the side.

Relic

Social climber

Vancouver, BC

Apr 14, 2012 - 01:18am PT

Ya it is tight squeezing into it to begin with. My helmet got in the way so badly that I thought of either using a helmet jam, or hucking it off the cliff.

Big Mike

Trad climber

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 14, 2012 - 01:40am PT

Thanks Kris! Would you rather do it that way? Or clean like it is now?

Ya, my knot got stuck. It was a B$%ch getting into and off the chockstone.

Time to play, "What climb is this?"

hamie

Social climber

Thekoots

Apr 14, 2012 - 10:15am PT

Yes, harnesses etc would make it more difficult. We tied in directly with the rope, as swamis were still in the "Whatever will they think of next?" category.