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Tricouni
Mountain climber
Vancouver
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Hi Tami:
Do any of the Canadians have a shot of Tombstone tower - that tottering tower of dung inbetween Ledge & Ledgelette ? IIRC it's a no-pro 80' 5.9 death climb done by - who else - Dick Culbert ....around 1968.
Tomstone is not choss: it's actually pretty solid. FA was in 1958 by Culbert, John Owen, and Elfrida Pigou (a very strong part), by the overhanging S ridge (difficult shoulder stand or aid). Arnold Shives, Frand deBruyn and I repeated that route in early 1961, and I don't think it's been done since.
Bob Woodsworth (my brother), Peter Thompson, and I climbed it by the north edge, now the standard route. This is one lead ~00 feet with the hardest stuff (5.9 according to Kobas) at the top, with no or dubious pro. I think the route has been done a couple of times since.
Bob was one of the best of the young Vancouver free climbers in those days (before Smaill et al), certainly one of the boldest. The year after, Bob, with Peter Thompson and Mike Wisnicki did the first ascent of the main tower of Mt. Fee, mentioned by MH above. This was, according to Peter and Bob, highly terrifying. The peak had been attempted several times before by the likes of Dick Culbert and Jim Baldwin, with no luck.
Fee is the core of a young, eroded volcano. It won't be around for long. As Dick Culbert rhymed:
Why wait? Extrapolate!
Fee is scree to be
Glenn
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 1, 2010 - 10:36pm PT
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Picture of a picture. I knew I would find a use for that guidebook. It is a little top heavy and looking a little um...flacid.
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Tricouni
Mountain climber
Vancouver
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The Pillar by Falkland Lake in central B.C. Poorly consolidated gravel with a huge capstone held on by squat. FA 1962 by Dick Culbert (who else) and me. Frightening. I have a photo somewhere. Second ascent about 1966 by George "Gimicks" Headley a couple of years later. I think it's fallen apart now... I should go up and have a look.
Glenn
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Trigger Finger in Peshastin Pinnacles. It fell over the day after we climbed it. We had 10 guys hanging off the 2 bolts on its summit swinging around. It was 1978 and we were young and stupid.
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Andy, that mud King Pin looks just about as sketchy as it can get.
JL
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Tricouni
Mountain climber
Vancouver
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Hi gf: Culbert, Bob, and I weren't on Pyroclastic. I might have pics from an attempt on the Vulcan's Thumb, though. Vulcan's Thumb: now that's REAL choss.
Glenn
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Pryoclastic's first ascent was in May 1971, by Ross Wyborn, Fred Douglas and Roger Chicoine. With a valiant assist by Ross' dog Buck.
There was a true winter ascent by Bob Milward, P. O'Reilly, Peter Rowat and Greg Shannan in 1982.
Like the Rockies, probably the best time of year for such climbs is in March/April, during cool clear weather.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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mike,
Yes, Turkey Monster has been climbed many times.
I have climbed a couple things up there, but not that.
It's supposed to have a good 10a route on it!
Some of the rock up there is actually a lot better than it looks.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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And here are photos of Tombstone Tower, shamelessly taken from A Climber's Guide to the Coastal Ranges of British Columbia, 1965. Photos probably taken on the ascents Tricouni refers to.
The tower is on the south side of Ledge Mountain, which is about 10 km southeast of Squamish, and part of the Sky Pilot/Habrich group, which are visible from Squamish and the Chief.
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Tricouni
Mountain climber
Vancouver
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Minor correcton: the left photo was taken by Monty Lasserre. It's from the gap between the Ledgelette and Ledge that Tami mentioned. North edge route faces camera.
The right hand photo was taken on the 2nd (and last recorded) ascent of the south ridge, 1961. A very young Arnold Shives dangles on parachute-cord slings beneath the overhang. We had trouble with this overhang, our soft iron pitons, mostly the old "verticals," didn't take too well. All 3 of us had a go at it before Frank deBruyn, age 16, finally finished it off.
Tami, on that nauseating trip, didn't you continue up Ledge from the gap above Tombstone?
Glenn
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wbw
climber
'cross the great divide
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The spires upthread in Cody would certainly be precarious as the rock quality around there is crap!
While I wouldn't argue that AZ's Totem Pole is necessarily the most precarious, when I climbed it back in '87, I remember being shocked at looking into a horizontal crack that splits the formation, and seeing sky on the other side. This crack is roughly 2/3 of the way up a spire that is around 400+ feet tall. I remember that the tower is perhaps 15 ft. in diameter at that place, so I figured out that the Totem Pole is actually two distinct pieces of rock, one stacked on top of another. Yikes!
Bjornstad called it the skinniest, tallest spire in the world in his original guidebook, even though he did not reveal specific information about the tower due to its location on the Navajo Reservation.
If the Totem Pole were not composed of some of the finest quality Wingate, that bad boy would surely have tumbled by now.
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Tork
climber
Yosemite
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Tombstone Tower looks precarious because of its cigar-like profile. This appearance might also be enhanced if the observer had been smoking something, but not a cigar.... I climbed the north edge in the mid 60s with a couple of lady friends, Sheila and Mave, and would give it a 5.6 max, with bomber rock and lots of gear where needed. Sheila was a complete novice, and she cruised it. Mave on the other hand was the best female climber in the province for years, until the arrival of.....drum roll please......wait for it.......you guessed it.......Tami Knight. None of us had brought a pencil, so we signed the summit register by pricking our names in the paper with a pin, or something similar. Unfortunately none of us had brought a watch either, but that's another story. There is an old adage which says that a route devolves from "The hardest climb in the range" to "An easy day for a lady". This route appears to be morphing in the opposite direction!
We took a look at the Falkland Lake Pillar in the early 70s, and it was pretty scarey. Definitely a contender for a podium finish in this contest. "We came, we shuddered, we left", as some Roman guy once said. I have photos of both these pillars, but have lost the programme which enables me to reduce the pixels enough to post them on ST.
Another area which has not been mentiond yet is the 'Touch and Go Towers', another Culbert destination, and another Culbert name. Who would have guessed it? I have never been there, nor do I plan to go. The name is enough to freeze the blood of any mere mortal, or anyone with a drop of common sense. It would appear that Utah and BC have a lock on all the crappy rock in North America. Is there ANY good rock in BC? Yes, of course, there's that big cliff near Squamish, or Whistler or somewhere. Or is that down in Washington?
SECRET TIP OF THE DAY
Upthread, about post #13 by Malemute, is a shot of a small tower in the Vowells. Behind the tower, in the immediate background is a line of smallish rock peaks. These peaks are collectively called 'Climbing Ridge', and only the summit on the far right, the north peak, has been climbed. The several prominent buttresses are also unclimbed [obviously], and are larger than they appear, as this photo was taken from approx 8km or 5 miles away. So if you're interested in first ascents and new routes, check it out. The trick will be in the approach.... Good luck, it will come in handy. Cheers, H.
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Tricouni
Mountain climber
Vancouver
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Tombstone Tower looks precarious because of its cigar-like profile. This appearance might also be enhanced if the observer had been smoking something, but not a cigar.... I climbed the north edge in the mid 60s with a couple of lady friends, Sheila and Mave, and would give it a 5.6 max, with bomber rock and lots of gear where needed.
5.6? If you say so... the 5.9 call came from Kobas, who did it some years later. I agree that the rock is pretty darn good, but Bob did have trouble with pro. Rock is pretty good in the whole Sky Pilot area; a lot of people don't like it, though, becuase it's not Habrich. Such is life and geology.
I've been to the Touch-and-Go Towers many times, most recently 5 or 6 years ago. I've got some stories on those things. Later. Rock is choss.
Best.. Glenn
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Thanks, Glenn - proof that our towers are rottener and scarier than the ones in Utah, even if they're a bit harder to find. And a photo of you, maybe for the "Who the Hell are All You People" thread - though a bit dated. :-) I wonder if the thing is still there?
Touch and Go Tower stories would also be welcome - all the climbers at Squamish every sunny day, not imagining the exciting challenges just across the river. Although people have been doing stuff on the slabs and faces to the north, on the west side of the river.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Wow, that's some world-class choss for sure!
Good thing that thing has a sombrero to keep the
rain off! It should be called The Wicked Witch of the East.
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Hi Glenn
Maybe all the cracks fell off before Kobas got there! The Pillar is way more repulsive than I remembered. Definitely top three. Congrats on a hideous ascent! Or is that heinous? You both had balls of steel for that one. Cheers H.
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