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o-man
Trad climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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May 18, 2011 - 05:28pm PT
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This thread is worthy of a bump!
I did Air Voyage with Peter Prandoni many years ago.
We really hadn't climbed anything on that wall past Goss Logan and were kind'a lost. We decided to just follow our noses until we found something that would coincide with various scribbled topos and descriptions we had gathered from friends.
I remember I was leading a moderate pitch when Peter yelled up to me," Guess what route we're on?"
I responded," Well?"
Peter yelled" Air Voyage!"
I yelled back, "I always wanted to do Air Voyage."
We were both seasoned in the Black and had a fairly good sized rack so we went for it.
I made two mistakes that made the climb harder than it had to be. One was that I didn't eat enough on the route. Second was I tried to double up the pitches in this off width chimney section and had trouble getting an adequate belay set up and that cost energy and time.
The rest of the climb went well. I remember some great crack climbing leading up to that real hard off width crack.
Peter lead the hard off width pitch and he just motored it. I was very happy to second it and know that I wouldn't have done as good if it had been my lead.
We made good time after the crux off width but it was getting pretty late when we got to the "Womb Crawl". Peter went out a ways on that horizontal chimney and turned back and left the rack with me and then he swiftly slithered across with no trouble at at all. We then hauled the rack across so I didn't have to grovel with it ether. I remember taking a second and looking down from the middle of that pitch and I believe that was the most exposure that I can remember in the Black even with the dwindling light.
When I got to the belay I just motored for the rim I can't remember how hard or long that pitch was all I know is that I didn't put in much gear and I didn't stop till I reached the rim I'm sure that we were simal- climbing quite a bit of it.
When I got close to the top I started hearing a voice yelling,"Is any one down there?" I yelled back,"Yeah,I'll be there in a minuet!"
When I topped out there was a guy in a ranger suit and he had a very excited look on his face. He told me that the rangers on other rim had spotted us with binoculars. He mentioned that we were in trouble because we hadn't signed in for the route.
All I could tell him was, "Man, we just did Air Voyage!" "What a route!" I was so stoked!
I found a large dead tree and tied off to it and started belaying as fast as I could. I wasn't able to keep up with Peter and talk to the ranger at the same time so the end of the rope came up and no one was tied into it. Now the ranger had a real puzzled look about him.
Just about that time Peter showed up solo with all that gear haphazardly draping from him.
Peter had untied from the rope after getting tangled in it when I was setting up the belay feeling that it was inhibiting his movement.
The Ranger was a really nice guy and he didn't give us a ticket. He was new to the north rim of the Black Canyon and very relieved at not to have to put together a rescue that night.
He then dropped by our camp later for a beer.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 18, 2011 - 08:10pm PT
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Nice story! I had never heard of another account of climbing Air Voyage. I wonder if the ranger was Brent?
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o-man
Trad climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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May 18, 2011 - 08:22pm PT
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I met Ranger Brent several times in the Black and remember some great stories that he told. One of those stories involved a former Mouse-ka-teer/beach blanket bingo star and a tandem bicycle.
The Park Ranger we met was a new fellow that had only recently taken the post on the north rim.
There is a lot of good material written by some of my all time heros in this thread and it's sequel.
Each post is worthy of review. They remind us that,Jimmy Newberry's line, "It's always desperate in The Black" is more often than not true.
I also think that grug's opening post of this thread (where he shared Brad Whites account of when he and Derek Hersey did Air Voyage)is real good.
He also mentioned in that post another old friend of mine Clean Dan Granduski.RIP Derek and Dan
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Jan 31, 2012 - 01:11pm PT
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This is from ALPINIST 37.
___
Namesake
Diagonal Will or Swallow Wall?
Phil Broscovak
I sensed the heat rising even before I could discern any brightening to the gloom. Tom Pulaski and I were perched on a ragged blob of pegmatite, more than halfway up a massive Black Canyon wall. It was the spring of 1978. I’d just survived my first unplanned bivy. Blood encrusted my rugby shirt from a stack of rocks that had collapsed the day before gashing my chest and breaking three ribs. We’d brought next to nothing—no helmets, no pins, no hammer, no bolt kit, no headlamps and no additional clothing. Throughout the long night, Tom kept me distracted from the pain and cold by doling out one raisin every hour, while regaling me with against-all-odds epics in which raisins were credited for the heroes’ survival. As dawn approached, the last raisin turned to a stringy pulp in my mouth. Between us all that remained was a single swallow of water. b
We’d reached this spot the previous day with sufficient time to top out, but no idea of where to go. Thus far, the most common words we’d exchanged were “ROCK!” and “On Belay, DON’T FALL!” Retreat down such terrain was not an option. Ahead, the wall presented two possibilities for the last 800 feet. To the left, the large dihedral system we’d been following rolled over into huge roofs that drooled with rotten fangs. To the right, a fractured overhang obscured what looked like endless unprotected pegmatite. Neither had much appeal. The stone was so loose we felt sure we were climbing a first ascent. It seemed better to wait for morning here, rather than risk a worse benighting in the unknown chaos above.
During the 1970s, the Black Canyon remained a mysterious realm, and its few climbers closely guarded any information. Tom and I had no idea that we were facing the same bleak choices that four others had already confronted. In 1967 Jim Logan and Wayne Goss had gone left, completing a fearsome route they named the Swallow Wall (V 5.7 A4) for the last sips of water they shared on their second day. Eleven years later, Bryan Becker and Ed Webster angled right to make the first free ascent of the wall by the line they called Diagonal Will (V 5.11+ X).
At sunrise, without a word, Tom also picked the right-hand line. It took his indescribable willpower to diagonal away from the terrifying but obvious route and to breach the overhang into the unseen vastness above. The next several pitches represented some of the most sublime terror I have ever encountered.
So what’s in a name (or two)? For reasons I still can’t explain, I’ve now done this route twice.
Both “Swallow Wall” and “Diagonal Will” seem like fitting descriptions of those experiences.
I credit raisins for my survival.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 31, 2012 - 01:21pm PT
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I credit raisins for my survival.
Don't be so damn humble, Philo. I'm sure the presence of two Polaks had a lot to do with it!
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Jan 31, 2012 - 04:16pm PT
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LOL!
As Zappa said...
"Dumb all over a little ugly on the side"'
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Sparky
Trad climber
vagabond movin on
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Jan 31, 2012 - 06:33pm PT
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Brent! Where you at?
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steveA
Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
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Jan 31, 2012 - 06:53pm PT
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Never saw this thread before.
Just the thing to raise the spirits!
I talk with Jimmy Dunn often and just want you all to know he is alive and exudes good vibes. A Black legend!
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Jan 31, 2012 - 06:55pm PT
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^^^ Absolutely ^^^
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Jan 31, 2012 - 10:17pm PT
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WOW!
Thank you for the tales.
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Kalimon
Trad climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jan 31, 2012 - 10:36pm PT
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Philo and Zappa Bump!
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Johnny K.
climber
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Jan 31, 2012 - 11:10pm PT
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This is an amazing thread,thanks!
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skywalker
climber
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Jan 31, 2012 - 11:27pm PT
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Ya know, this would make an interesting Alpinist Mountain profile...Robbie made a strong effort to capture the flavor there. The stories have always lived up to my own experiences there. Its not a mountain but rather a mountain in reverse. It is an intimidating but amazing ditch. A place I'm always thankful to be out of but crave the journey through.
Bump for the post!
S...
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Its not a mountain but rather a mountain in reverse.
Well said.
"It's always Desperate in the BLACK!"!!!!!
-Jimmy Newberry
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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My only climbing goal this year following rotator cuff surgery a couple of weeks ago is to do a Black Canyon route.
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scuffy b
climber
heading slowly NNW
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Surgery go well?
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The Larry
climber
Moab, UT
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I love the Black.
Journey Home with JP
Keeping it green on the Russian Arete
The first route I did in The Black was Scenic Cruise.
Everything was going fine. I did take a while
leading the crux pitch. Well it got dark and we
were still climbing. I got up into a 5.8ish crack
and started to get pumped trying to fish in a piece.
I tried to down climb to a rest and slipped. The
rope was behind my leg and I flipped upside-down.
My warm hat and headlamp fell off into the abyss.
I belayed my partner up and instead of a headlamp
all he had was A red single LED key-chain. That
wasn't going to get us to the top so we settled in
on a 6 inch wide ledge until the sun came up.
That was my first and only unplanned bivi until my
next vist....
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Surgery seems to have gone well, Scuffy. The doctor says I should be playing the accordion again in no time.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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It's always something in the Black.
So, on Saturday, still not able to climb yet because of January shoulder surgery, I decided to do a little reconnaissance. I hope to do Atlantis some time in the near future. It's down Prisoner of Your Hairdoo Gully, certainly one of the more stangely named gullies in the Black. I'd never been down it and thought it would make for a nice little morning outing.
Going down was relatively uneventful, even though the gully makes the SOB and Cruise gullies seem like escalators. About 3/4 of the way down, you just can't avoid the poison ivy, although avoiding as much as you can factors big in the actual path you take. After scoping out Lost Cities, I headed down to the water and up canyon just a bit to study Atlantis.
Being down at the water in the Black Canyon is a pretty sensational experience, and that's exactly what I was after. But the god-awful return journey beckoned, so I set out back up, focused mainly on not dislodging big rocks and avoiding getting any part of my upper body in the poison ivy jungles. About a third of the way up, I dislodge a 3-ft-diameter boulder which wants to crush me but instead, after some deft footwork, merely bends the fingers of my left hand 180 degrees backwards. My whole hand subsequently puffs up to twice its normal size.
Realizing that I likely broke a finger or two, I remembered that I would have to reverse a little 40 foot rappel at about the midway point in the gully that I had "batmanned" down. Another 20 minutes of scrambling brings me to the rappel spot. Turns out, with a little work I was able to climb up with one hand a little to the left of the rappel. The rest of the hike out went without incident.
It's always something in the Black.
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Ouch! So much for the accordion.
Heal up man. The River she calls.
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