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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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I have to admit that despite picture after picture clearly delineating the completely lack of gratuitous pleasure associated with all this "wide" business - it does have a perverse sort of attraction if you look at them long enough. Definitely an anti-monkey activity; more like squeeze slothery.
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scuffy b
climber
The town that Nature forgot to hate
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Joe, I've been wondering about the "inexplicable" appeal myself.
I learned a little way back when but somehow managed to minimize
my exposure to wide stuff for a really long time.
I don't know how much stock to put into this, but here goes:
Here we are in our mid-50s. We're not going to the hardest thin
crack climbs of our lives; that happened long ago. Same goes with
almost any aspect of climbing.
Over the next season, I'll probably be able to say, several
times, "That's the hardest OffWidth I've ever done in my life."
How big a factor is this? Who knows?
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Well, other than the epi chimney, I've never climbed anything wide that I can think of offhand, certainly not like anything you folks have been posting. I need to come down and get an initiation in this peculiar and obviously ancient art. These seem like the sort of things the old blue Robbins boot would have been good for.
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hoipolloi
climber
A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi
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Feb 11, 2010 - 03:55pm PT
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great thread bump!
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
شقوق واس
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Feb 11, 2010 - 04:30pm PT
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Thanks, Hoi Polloi, I'd missed that one.
Is he still up there?
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nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 04:57pm PT
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Steve-O, post up to let us know you're still alive!
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
شقوق واس
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Feb 11, 2010 - 07:01pm PT
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He's in there someplace....
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 08:20pm PT
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Between the OP and today's bumping of this hilarious thread, Donini or someone posted on the first, or an early, free ascent of the gnarly OW on Basket Dome, recounting one of the all-time great calls from a second: "up rope, I'm not moving!" Seems very applicable to these photos of Fat Merchant. If someone can find the link to that thread, post it up. It was a good one.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Pebble Wrestling.... Badly lately.
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Is there a good reason why you don't simply stand up and face climb next to that stupid crack? Looks pretty low angle and you could always step to the other side if the going got tough.
Not that this would help your offwidth skills but it would get you out of this particular predicament.
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PellucidWombat
Mountain climber
Berkeley, CA
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Looks pretty low angle
It's not all that low angle. It would probably be a much harder rating than the OW? More like 5.10+ face climbing at the easiest compared to a 5.10a OW?
BTW, you can see bolts for neighboring face climbs in some of the pictures.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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the pitch leans out,
so your friction means to oppose the downward pull in the crack, which is not overhanging,
but you also need to resist the outward pull, which is definately overhanging in it's orientation (not apparent in these photos)
pretty desperate as you reach the crux at 60' with no gear
and the crack narrows to just-narrower-than you can drag your hips thru,
so you gotta move out to the very edge and flap a knee out there as
you look at the hungary talus and memorial cairgn a ways below.
switching into lie-back mode has never occurred to me. no f*#king way.
thank you for the photos trad.
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
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^^^^
I agree with that statement 100%. Exiting the marginal security of that gaping maw for some fictional thin crisps out on the edge would be an epically unfortunate event at best.
I always face the other way, and go nearly horizontal with my left leg facing down for the knee bar. At least the chicken wings in this thing are bomber and it's every bit of 5.10b.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Mar 19, 2014 - 01:09pm PT
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Fat bump!!
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