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Chinchen
climber
Way out there....
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Aug 22, 2010 - 03:29am PT
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Great pic Aldude!
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gonamok
climber
aging malcontent
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Aug 22, 2010 - 06:48am PT
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rap bolt my ass... climb it right or leave it for somebody who can
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Hendo1
Trad climber
Toronto
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Aug 22, 2010 - 08:22am PT
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Mighty HIker nails it.
It all begins in vastnesses of the human imagination. I'm standing down here. I look up there. I feel a sense of dissatisfaction. I want to be up there. I think to myself, "I truly believe it would be fun getting up there. I wonder if it's possible to pull that off."
Here's an exercise in imagination. Take your guidebook, but don't read up on the routes. Study the spots in the photos where no routes are given and ponder whether it's possible to climb there. Does anything catch your fancy? Do you feel drawn to anything?
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Aug 22, 2010 - 08:46am PT
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This is the true story of how one was started (posted here on ST several years ago):
Kevin and George and I just decided that we would go look for something new to do. We went to Middle and started walking from near the CPoF towards the West. I suggested that we walk along the north face. I think that we walked all the way over to “The Flakes.” I think that George had climbed the fist pitch of part of the first pitch of what would become “Mother Earth” (he didn’t have a concept of the route going beyond that point at the time.) Without more than a clear desire, we just decided to climb the middle of the North face Apron. I gauged the distances from left and right and looked up at the whole face and declared the starting point of “Freewheeling” the middle. George asked me why I didn’t start up the obvious little corner about 100 feet to the left. My response: “That is too obvious a place to start a route.” That corner became the start of the second route on the Apron, “Quicksilver.”
Then you look for features and bolt stances. Stay away from third chromosomes; it throw the whole XX:XY relationship into disarray.
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hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
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Aug 22, 2010 - 08:51am PT
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leaving the shore, like mighty said, "casting off" nicely captures the spirit of the thing.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1001383&msg=1001627#msg1001627
the reward built into run outs on the fa is that one might craft the route, as regards pro placement, somewhat differently after consideration.
for instance i've wondered if diverting the line to pick up a thin wire is always in order even if the search for it certainly is.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1033771&msg=1033849#msg1033849
one more chance to sing the praises of developing good downclimbing skills, and a quiet mind that is not driven by haste.
and to add to kevin's post (what? no down key? just <,^,> ... on a face climbing thread? oh, here it is: ! ) side light,
that moment where shade is ripped from the face, can be a revelation, along with side view as well.
proper respect to the warbler. the man who picked the lock, left the door ajar for this sojourner.
the image applies to crack climbing as well, and alpine for that matter, but i've always thought of the climber's eye
as somewhat akin to the jeweler's looking through his loop, turning a gem and in the case of a cutter,
making judgements ever so exquisitely about natural weakness, pondering before taking action.
desire, or maybe something else, pulls us into the world behind our loop,
to course intimately through finest pieces of cut stone on the planet
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perswig
climber
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Aug 22, 2010 - 09:04am PT
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^^ A delicate mix of patience, observation, and commitment? Little room for thuggery, it seems.
Nice pics, and a Rush reference - bonus.
Dale
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Aug 22, 2010 - 09:58am PT
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In Fremont Canyon, a few years back, you'd make sure the battery in your Bosch was completely charged. Drilling by hand on some of the uber-steep routes was impossible, without a Bosch drill many of the now-classics would not exist. Always from the bottom up, however....
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Aug 22, 2010 - 10:06am PT
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Now Kevin got it right! Well put...the essence of face climbing!
Peace
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BooDawg
Social climber
On the Road, Pacific Slope
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Aug 22, 2010 - 10:37am PT
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Yes. Kevin, Anders, and others have it right.
Snow clinging to the Apron was a key to seeing where Lucifer's Ledge would go. In fact, it was the snow that revealed the existence of Lucifer's at all.
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Ensonik
Trad climber
Montreal, Quebec
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Aug 22, 2010 - 10:41am PT
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This is in reference to Tami's wonderfully creative post... YYZ is the code that pilots use to Identify Toronto International Airport. I can add to that by saying Geddy and Alex would be proud of Tami's abstract thinking.
Meanings inside of meanings inside of meanings.
I had taken it to be that YYZ is a song by Rush which is a Toronto band.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
SoCal
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Aug 22, 2010 - 11:43am PT
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Michael, When we climb on Labor Day I will show you the way. I'll hand you the drill and point to the rock. ;-)
A slab route, or any route, is a work of art. Human interface with the stone. The line will reveal itself.
That's the way I do it. It happens differently for different people and for different routes on different days.
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Aug 22, 2010 - 11:44am PT
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:09pm PT
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Slab routes get put up in desperation when there is nothing else to climb. I should also say that I feel desperation when I climb them.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:19pm PT
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Jim seems grumpy today. I guess it's hard to concede that an on-sight first ascent of a slab, or face, may be a bigger adventure than following a crack, where you're usually fairly sure of protection.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:22pm PT
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Damn MH, you've got my number!
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Thorgon
Big Wall climber
Sedro Woolley, WA
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:39pm PT
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Hand drill, run outs and prayer!!! LOL
Thor
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:39pm PT
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there's a rumor going around Tuolumne that Donini's guest room is open to all slab climbers. Just have to show your calves at the door...
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:45pm PT
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Did I actually see Donini concede a point to Mighty Anders? Well it is Sun and miracles do occur.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Aug 22, 2010 - 01:15pm PT
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A delicate mix of patience, observation, and commitment? Little room for thuggery, it seems
Folks should check out Ron Carson's routes on Dome Rock, California Needles area.
Carsonogenic. Carsonoma (perhaps unrepeated?) Chemotherapy, and the easiest of the lot at a mere .11c is Skid Row.
You'll need patience, commitment, observation and thuggery... these routes are full on power slabbing. And there is no mystery as far as where the line should go - they all follow obvious features.
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DrDeeg
Mountain climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Aug 22, 2010 - 02:00pm PT
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Jeff Foott deserves a tribute here for the solo FA of Patio Pinnacle on the Glacier Point Apron in the mid 1960s. Not a free solo (!) but an elegant, intricate line with a few bolts.
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