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wstmrnclmr
Trad climber
Bolinas, CA
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May 22, 2012 - 12:08am PT
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Not to mention that if Jay came off, he would have ended up in my lap.....a true rock and a hard place...way to go for it!
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Captain...or Skully
climber
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May 22, 2012 - 12:12am PT
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I thought a couple of the follows up high as hard as the lead. Unclip to face a big swinger if you pitch. Incentive? Well, yeah.
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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May 22, 2012 - 01:29am PT
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The North Apron is not only my favorite climbing area (with what has to be the most beautiful stone, viewshed...having the whole Apron to yourself), it's one of my favorite places in the world.
Cat Dancing is indeed a true intro to both technique, and the runouts. I drafted a TR a while ago, but have yet to post it. I guess this would be the appropriate Thread...there are a few suggestions to help deal with the necessary headroom. The 1st bolt must be at least 50 feet up...and one of the several cruxes is the single step up to make the clip.
Recently (about 15 years ago), a couple of Sport Routes were established; these are also useful warm ups to become familiar with the stone character, with PG ratings.
Ramer, .10c, is 60m of sustained, easy 5.10 with a couple of well defined crux moves...and about 15 new bolts.
Just past Cat Dancer is a 25m pedestal, with a nice 5.8 on its left, Dunkin' Donuts; then Ennui on your right, with one, frustrating and shoe edge shredding 5.11 move or two, before moving up sustained 5.10. Both were obviously bolted top down. Ennui's 2 5.11 moves are right off the ground...and it's certainly easy enough to traverse over from your left to access the fine 5.10 above. Not worth a lead, really just a TR. Yeah, I used the razor dime stem to destroy my shoes a couple of times...but Mr. Willie made his smear stick.
These are rest day routes - they will not help one deal with the runnouts, which are some of the defining moments of the Apron. But the Apron is just a nice place to be. I noticed the nice photos of Quicksilver were taken when the face was in direct sun - a phenomena which only occurs a few days out of the year! This is a place were you can climb during a Valley July, no sweat!
Black Rose of Death became Black Primo because it's so quality...ascending a diorite intrusion which clearly aligns with the NA on The Captain. I never got quite good enough to let the dogs out on this gem, nor Jigsaw...nor, honestly, anything right of Orange Peel. In fact, in over 30 years, I've yet to witness a single party on any Apron route, except Quicksilver - once.
BITD, we did stuff in EBs. Fires stick well, too. Did an FA with Burk of a single pitch which branches right from the 1st bolt of Ticket to Nowhere. I thought the crux was the traverse right into the base of a dirty dihedral. Turns out the the 1st bolt of the Ticket, at .10c, is the guidebook's crux. There was a bail sling off our 1st bolt for at least 20 years - I've always wondered if they got suckered into climbing direct to our own bolt. But, have no fear that we defaced MCR with a worthless route - that was the summer Scott spent on Pieces of Eight, and not only did he lead as much as he could on the Apron and the NE Face, he decided to venture into junk terrain, so as to become as intimate as he could before establishing a Grade IV+ in a premier location.
This is an authentic and deeply atmospheric place, the silence occasionally interrupted by stonefall from the headwall hooting past.
BUT YER GONNA DIE!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
merced, california
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May 22, 2012 - 02:32am PT
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Sor gut, mein brots.
The Mike Borghoff, poetic consultant to Steve Roper, once told me:
Hold on, more rope. Take it up, wait a sec, oops."
I'm faking it but I did, in fact, climb the Flakes with a real flake.
I don't care what line you lay out, can you manage that run-out?
Worral did it night before last, he's really slow but he climbs really fast.
I got a brand new pair of Cathedral Rocks, you know which routes go free.
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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May 22, 2012 - 03:41am PT
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Black Primo is the best route over there, IMHO, steep, consistent difficulty, ultra good stone, but most of all it's THE line that sweeps up the slab to the ledges above.
No question about it!
Thing I like most about diorite is how it forms those perfect squarecuts...with a texture like 600 grit wet or dry sandpaper.
Almost trained enough for it to step out of my binos and onto what may be the world's finest slab/face. I guess I just ran out of years. 5.11 is one thing; runouts another. Runout 5.11? Proud.
As I meant to post, and will eventually, was mention of all of those sucker mini dihedrals,uniformly blind - won't even accept a Knifeblade, a Beak - nothing.
No upper body strength required (except during occasional Iron Cross bridging). I've led hard friction pitches with a broken arm. But the concentration! As soon as mental fatigue strikes, the sequence just melts back into the matrix. And you're done.
btw, do you, or does anyone, know about the pitch above the stance common to Quicksilver and Freewheeling? Topo's pretty vague about it...just a dotted line, with less than the usual pro.
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wstmrnclmr
Trad climber
Bolinas, CA
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May 22, 2012 - 02:38pm PT
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Has Black Primo been re-bolted?
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wstmrnclmr
Trad climber
Bolinas, CA
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May 22, 2012 - 09:19pm PT
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Funny you should mention that Warbler. I started in the climbing game late (thirty one) and my son was born at that time. It's always been that dance between the risk and leaving a son father-less...and there are recent examples of some of climbing's finest leaving children behind. But the places you go in your body and in your mind, especially after finding a gem like the Middle Cathedral Apron, are those lures too undeniable to turn from. How much more time in this climbing game do I have? I'm not quite done yet but hopefully I'll walk when it's time....
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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May 23, 2012 - 12:58am PT
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Yeah, did Quicksilver and Freewheelin' in the mid-80's with the ex-wife. couple of the best, most memorable days in the Valley I've ever had. Late spring, perfect conditions, we were cold! Unreal rock, unreal moves...those routes were way more then just climbs, they were surreal, they were experiences. We were all dialed in on Middle at the time, and were able to just enjoy the routes for what they were. Pure Joy. Good job, you guys. I remember having to concentrate a lot. I remember the kalediscope of colors. I remember getting to the pitch where that marvelous photo of Warbler was taken from Yosemte Climber and going, "Hooo Man...I'm here..." I remember the feeling of satisfaction and relief upon hitting each belay! And I remember some of those belay being sketch...fixed pins? Quarter inchers?..probably my imagination. Long, long time ago. If I were gonna recommend ANY face-climbing route in the Valley to someone who had just one opportunity to climb there, a desert island route, it'd probably be Quicksilver. Holy sh#t, what a great climb. I wish every climber on the planet an opportunity to do that route!
EDIT!: HA! I remember climbing up and down, and up and down, and up and down, before going for it on really runout 5.8 or 5.9 section of Freewheelin. P3 or 4? Long runout section after a traverse? Hell, gonna havta hire a ropegun and get a TR on that thing, just to enjoy it one more time...
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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May 23, 2012 - 01:13am PT
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Has Black Primo been re-bolted?
Apparently, lots of the classics have been repaired (read: not retrobolted). There was an xlnt thread not long ago about the Team who rapped down from the high traverse line, above the N Face, to do the heavy lifting (literally! - like a half dozen ropes).
One day, I wandered up there, just to hang. And there was a fixed line from the headwall to the base of Tears of Joy. I silently cursed myself for not bringing up some ascenders - I could have TR soloed up to the headwall. Must have been a part of this terrific project.
Memo to self: always carry ascenders when out hiking by myself. Jugged 2/3'rds of Standing Rock in Monument Basin, simply because they're kind of useful to get back over the White Rim (once you've rapped in); there just happened to be a party topping out when I approached the Tower's base. Later, I gave the Arizona party $50 in gas money, and sent them some 8x10 photos of their summit pitch. Just don't jump on someone's fixed lines; it was a real buzzkill to find someone and his g/f in a portaledge on top of our 1st day fixed on Touchstone.
You might consider Freewheeling the lower half of a Direct MCR North Face.
Don't recall any FP's anywhere on the Apron; just Leepers and homemade. But, that was some time ago.
I'm also haunted by the fact that I didn't recon a potential link from the top of Bottom Feeder (or the route to its right) to the top of Cat Dancer when I had the chance - I bet it goes.
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Land of God-less fools
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May 23, 2012 - 12:33pm PT
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Warbler & KabalaArch,
Thanks for all the good route info and background!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Feb 19, 2015 - 08:10pm PT
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Middle Cathedral content...
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 19, 2015 - 08:36pm PT
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Jay Wood wrote:
Fixed pin on the first pitch- not from FA? Correct.
My partner Bob placed that piton (it has his standard green paint),
when we did a direct version of the first pitch a couple of years ago.
I recall thinking at the time that it may be too close to Quicksilver
and lure people over to clip it.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Feb 19, 2015 - 08:42pm PT
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