South Face of Half Dome

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Messages 21 - 36 of total 36 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
aldude

climber
Monument Manor
Mar 9, 2006 - 02:45am PT
DREAMY - thanx Bryan. Are there big bolts for the free climbing? How close to Autobahn? Crux free - edges, smearing or dikes? Gettin CHARGED!!
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 9, 2006 - 12:11pm PT
Bryan, Thanks - looks like a great route. Surprised it doesn't see more traffic in cooler weather...

Klaus, who's the hottie?
sling512

Trad climber
Chicago
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2006 - 02:35pm PT
Are those 3 dikes left or your route part of any routes? They look pretty pronounced in this photo!
bringmeshelter

Social climber
la la land
Mar 9, 2006 - 02:55pm PT
the 3 dike triangle... I was unable to find any pics to go with klaus's goal.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 9, 2006 - 03:00pm PT
The hell with those other routes! Who's the hottie?
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 9, 2006 - 04:05pm PT
What, if anything, goes up in this neighborhood?

healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 9, 2006 - 04:30pm PT
Wow, that is a hell of a rock fall slope! Lots of big stuff. Would have been impressive to see that face delaminate. Looks like it may have happened in just two or three events.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Mar 9, 2006 - 04:42pm PT
healyje wrote:
>What, if anything, goes up in this neighborhood?

Autobahn, Fast Lane. -- see Klaus' answer in his 11:40am post above. Just look at the topo in your trusty copy of Meyers/Reid, Reid, etc. The upper half of your green line looks like it's on Autobahn. But I could be wrong; I haven't been up there.

Thanks for sharing the nice photos, Klaus.

Compare with Chris McNamara's photo of the SW face; Autobahn and Klaus' route are on the far right margin, I believe:

aldude

climber
Monument Manor
Mar 9, 2006 - 04:55pm PT
Hmmm. Looks vaguely familiar. West of Starr King? Cashner and I got 4 pitches up central line in 1990. After two horrendous 1/4 inch horror shows attempt ended on big loose flake in near darkness with much 5.11 to go. I think Chapman and Worral later established an 8 pitch 5.10 to the left. Could be mistaken though.
Largo

Sport climber
Venice, Ca
Mar 9, 2006 - 05:39pm PT
I once hiked up to the South Face and scoped those dikes and walked all around that face and thought: That's the future. It's one of my greatest disappointments that I never organized a group to really have at that face. If I could ever have gotten Darrel Hensil, Kevin Powell and Rick Accomazzo together (all skilled at on-the-lead, high angle slab climbing/bolting) and a big stack of quarter inch bolts, we might have been able to do some nice stuff on that face. Those dikes are fantastic to look at. A skilled team with enough time and the right prep. could possibly do a stack of routes on that wall. But it'd be a ton of work and you'd be taking some king sized whippers in the process. On really hard, bolt protected open faces, you're lucky to do two pitches a day--which involves at least a dozen bolts hand drilled on the lead.

JL
Roger Brown

climber
Mar 11, 2006 - 09:16pm PT
I was up there replacing the 37 FA bolts above the arch last summer. I'm to lite to climb it and was doing it on rappel when I found a two bolt anchor fifty feet or so to the east of the Tri-clops. It had some way old webbing on it. The bolts were 5/16 so at the time I just assumed Walt and Dave placed them after hitting a dead end when they were putting up Southern Belle. This thread has re-kindled my curiousity. Anyone know anything about this anchor?
Roger
teamwhipper

climber
Bay Area, CA
Apr 3, 2008 - 01:34pm PT
What is that mysterious dome (not Half Dome) photographed by Klaus? As AlDude and the Warbler note, it's slightly west of Starr King. In addition to the routes they mention, I know of at least 4 other lines on it, ranging from 5.9 to 12d. They were established from 1984 through perhaps the mid '90's. At one point, I thought Galen Rowell had climbed on it as well, but in an Indian Rock conversation much later, he told me he hadn't climbed on any of the similar domes in the Illouette Creek drainage. We called that dome Dome Baez in 1984, when we established Diamonds and Rust (left side of dome as pictured; 10c chickenheads) and some 5.9 all gear line reminiscent of The Surprise on the right side. I can't remember at that point if the AlDude/Warbler lines had been done, although I remember seeing signs of their passage in later years, when we established a short 11d route and a 12d line not as far to the left.

I think I established roughly 60 pitches on the multitude of domes in this drainage, and Dome Baez is certainly not the best of the 9 domes out there. The rock on some of the other formations was very reminiscent to me of the stone on the back side of Half Dome around Autobahn or the east side of Watkins--- that delicious gold varnished stuff crossed by great dikes and spotted with chickenheads that is arguably some of the nicest quality stone in the entire park. I was always surprised that so much amazing stone so close to so many climbers was so unvisited. With the exception of the few parties doing the standard Starr King route or headed out to Mt Clark (and going right through the heart of the area), I think virtually no one visits. 60 pitches doesn't even scratch the surface of the opportunities out there. And there's even some great bouldering blocks as well. Cheers...

Nate D

climber
San Francisco
Apr 3, 2008 - 02:36pm PT
teamwhipper,
Cool to hear of your activity in that area. Being dome obsessed, I've often stared at topo maps and satellite images of the smaller domes in that area, wondering if they were still virgin. Never laid eyes on them in person, and it may be years before I visit. However, I'd love to know even just the names you called them.

 pt. 7734, I'm assuming this is the one in the picture by Klaus. Dome Baez?
 pt. 7669 just south of Starr King
 the longish south facing dome/wall just southeast of Starr King
 pt. 8312 quite a bit further south.
I'm sure there are more...

Feel free to email me, if preferred. The rock sounds similar to some of the best atop Shuteye Ridge.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Apr 3, 2008 - 06:07pm PT
it if wasn't for the regulations and rangers that place would be awesome. might be worth it one of these days.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Jun 15, 2012 - 06:46am PT
Here's a prelim overlay of Dome Baez (we were too busy replacing bolts on Starr King to go to the base of this and locate the routes/bolts precisely):
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Oct 19, 2014 - 12:03am PT
The Lost Again topo is in the 1993 Reid "Big Walls" guidebook, too.
Messages 21 - 36 of total 36 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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