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Chris2
Trad climber
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Dec 12, 2008 - 04:33pm PT
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bvb that is an awesome photo of the route...I always prefer black and whites...thanks
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scuffy b
climber
On the dock in the dark
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Dec 12, 2008 - 04:48pm PT
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Hey, Roger, I even thought it was a right-facing corner,
so what do I know?
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2008 - 05:02pm PT
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I wouldn't say that Jeff,
I thought that the crux bit on the 6th was right off the belay with a steep shallow left facing corner. Once the angle dropped back a bit you could get into the main right facing corners that form the bulk of the pitch. I remember those as being just regular climbing. But the bit off the ledge was short but hard. Does that sound like we were on the same climb?
Having said all that, what is most notable is that I did that pitch 35 years ago. What I remember is very clear, but that is not the same as saying it is correct.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Dec 12, 2008 - 05:56pm PT
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A little reference material to refresh memories.
Info from the Yellow Meyers guide, 1982
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Dec 12, 2008 - 06:01pm PT
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Adapted/digitized from a drawing by Al MacDonald in the 1964 Yosemite Guide by Steve Roper.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Dec 12, 2008 - 06:41pm PT
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love the art Steelmnky... the sun is rising a little bit more north than usual to get those shadows if I remember things correctly!
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Chris2
Trad climber
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Dec 12, 2008 - 06:44pm PT
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Awesome steelmnkey I just saved that topo and plan to turn it into a poster! Very cool.
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Dec 12, 2008 - 06:46pm PT
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It seemed like everyone in Camp 4 had a hand, at some point, in the "first ascent" of CPF.
I remember when Roger finished it off, we all stormed up there to repeat it, and we all did all seven pitches including the Chickenshit Traverse. It didn't become popular to only do the first five pitches till years after Roger's FA.
I thought the first seven, the direct start and direct finish would all become mega classics because they featured great climbing and were not super hard (root stunt notwithstanding). I was wrong on all three counts. I doubt one party in fifty climbs the first seven, and it sounds like the direct start and direct finish see little if any traffic at all. Pitches 6 and 7 and the Chickenshit Traverse are all very much worth doing, but they involve that sketchy kind of combo face and crack and stemming, off wires for pro, that spook folks these days.
Go figure . . .
JL
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dec 12, 2008 - 08:10pm PT
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"but they involve that sketchy kind of combo face and crack and stemming, off wires for pro, that spook folks these days."
"Go figure . . ."
I’ll field that ball:
1) Things like that spooked folks in “those days” too.
But getting spooked and hanging in was one of the crucial layers in the cake, eagerly devoured by anyone at the table.
2) The idea of doing a few pitches of anything, then bailing, somewhere along the line became normalized and this gave credence to the spirit of quitting, which has its own backwards allure, shored up as it is with the idea of convenience.
 Pretty much just stealing a kiss and moving on.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dec 12, 2008 - 09:25pm PT
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(Yes yes, to kiss and tell, I too have done just the first five pitches a bunch of times, ropeless even, um, except for the rappels)
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Dec 29, 2008 - 07:55pm PT
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Have you done it since the route lost the root?
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Dec 29, 2008 - 08:30pm PT
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Probably not hard for DNS to distinguish between "rout" and "root"/"route". :-)
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dec 29, 2008 - 10:43pm PT
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*discursive chatter bump*
Well not exactly Anders,
I pronounced them both "root", so it is surprising.
I've learned that if I want it to recognize and spell route I have to say "rowt".
(And yes I know that is how most people typically say it, but not me because I'm rowdy,
But that is no reason for us to dive into a rout over it)
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Dec 29, 2008 - 11:01pm PT
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Roy- I was curious if Kevin had a before and after perspective from several trips up the upper pitches.
From the original Meyers Green guide, this topo.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dec 29, 2008 - 11:15pm PT
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I thought the whole thing about the root was just something Largo effected for good story, concerning the direct finish.
heh, heh, heh...
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Dec 29, 2008 - 11:18pm PT
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Does that mean the story may not have been well-rooted?
I suppose that next you'll be telling us that one can't hit a golf ball from El Cap Spire and land it in the meadows.
O tempora! O mores!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Dec 29, 2008 - 11:18pm PT
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The root of deception......
Excellent story, Roger! I keep coming back to it.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 1, 2009 - 04:55pm PT
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It has taken me a long time to find and scan the sources I promised on the naming of the CPoF. While I only remembered the winter notes in Mountain 25, showing the Frêney face of Mt. Blanc and reporting repeat ascents of the Central Pillar of Frêney, it turns out there was, on the same page, a note on the adoption of clean climbing in Yosemite.
The previous issue, number 24, in November 1972 notes three ascents of the Central Pillar, indicating its difficulty. The cover of 24 also shows what real climbing was in 1972: Whillans Boxes pitched on at Camp 4 on the South West Face of Everest during the 1972 European expedition. (Just as an aside, Robbins said of Whillans: “There is no one else I would rather be with an a desperate situation in the mountain. Unless only one of us were to survive.”)
In January of 1973, Mountain 25 showed winter climbing in Scotland on the cover, just to make sure that uppity Americans didn’t get any ideas that we knew anything about real climbing. The picture shows the crux pitch of Glover’s Chimney on Ben Nevis.
Inside there is picture of the Frêney Face on Mr. Blac that shows the Central Pillar, right up the middle. It was first climbed in 1961. But more interesting is the long note on Yosemite Valley that starts on the previous page announcing that nuts are being adopted for protection, instead of pitons. Yvon Chouinard is listed as an American correspondent but the writing is almost certainly Ken Wilson’s. While the tone sounds a little strange to us today, the facts and their importance are correct. One of the most interesting bits is the note at the end on Bridwell’s second ascents of Peter Haan’s Left Side of the Hourglass and Mark Klemen’s Cream. Unfortunately, I don’t have the earlier Mountain’s that noted the first ascents.
Of course, we have our own Camp 4 in Yosemite. We are so resourceful that we drive our cars right in: we don’t need no Whillan’s Boxes marring our alpine experience.
Shown: me sorting gear. Rik Reider inspecting my stuff. Ray Jardine serenading. And Jim Erickson passing through. George Meyers, who had enlisted Rik and me to climb the CpoF for his photographic benefit, took both of these pictures. It was one of George’s first forays into climbing pictures, which in turn launched his publishing career.
As you can see, the Scottish have nothing on us: we have snow on our routes just like Ben Nevis.
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Roger,
I think you mean Jim Erickson not Eric Erickson. Great thread!
Bruce
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