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WBraun
climber
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Aug 23, 2009 - 09:47pm PT
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This guy had to drill his way up .....
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Aug 24, 2009 - 01:10am PT
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Steck Salathe '74 with Rubideaux Wilson. Then solo on the S. Face of The Column '75, clean.
You may not consider the SS a "big wall" but to us in 74, well.....it was. Clean, as well.
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Poofter's Froth, Wyoming
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Aug 24, 2009 - 01:23am PT
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Hey Werner..... Is that DogLips????
or you?
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OR
Trad climber
So.VT.
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Aug 24, 2009 - 10:33am PT
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Zodiac in 1993 with Willy Benegas. It was in early March, 40 degrees and pissing sleety/rainy stuff. If you know the Benegas Bros you know that bailing off El Cap is not an option so i kept my mouth shut! Turned out to be one of the most memorable fews days of my life. Epic! After that I stoped being concerned about the little bullshit things in life that used to bother me. Hard to explain but but somehow empowering. So stay with it Bro. Pick another less traveled route with a patiant partner and take you time. Hang the ledge early and enjoy the view!
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Aug 24, 2009 - 11:38am PT
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My first was the Prow in 81 with Forest Rade. We were so new, we didn't know about fixing, we didn't have any cams and we had the pleasure of sleeping on both those shitty ledges. We got in Electric Ladyland right after that when Gary Slate asked up after his partners had bailed. Then it was the Zodiac in 81 and Hockey Night to Mescalito in 86
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Aug 24, 2009 - 11:56am PT
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Same with me Kevin. A couple of laps on El Cap and I decided the only aid I wanted to do was the odd bit on new alpine routes.
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Euroford
Trad climber
chicago
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Aug 24, 2009 - 01:11pm PT
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first wall was the dunn/westbay on the diamond in 06. after that i'm pretty much hooked on that sort of thing. have been back on the diamond and/or longs every year since, but not yet again in the same fashion.
i've tried to get out for similar alpine climbs on hooker and keeler needle, but life has just happened to get in the way since.
that first big climb was great, had a nice mix of way fun hangin in the sun and WAY epic t-storms with lightning racking the ridge. good times!
getting pigs up and down out there is a bitch, though i still recommend it.
heres the report i wrote up at the time:
http://www.bigwalls.com/forum2/index.php?topic=129.0
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Aug 24, 2009 - 02:31pm PT
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I went up on the Triple Direct in May of 1974. We spent the night on the ledge above Mammoth and got snowed on. We continued on the next day and got snowed and rained on at Gray Ledges. After spending 24 house sitting on that little ledge before we rapped off while it snowed and rained on us.
I went up and climbed the Salathe successfully three days later.
I was 18.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno
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Aug 24, 2009 - 02:44pm PT
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Leaning Tower - October, 2000. The only reason I went was cause my friend Cat needed a partner and her desire to do this thing was infectious. So, after about 15 minutes of jugging, hauling and aiding practice on a big boulder, I strapped on the WAY overfilled haulbag (110lbs) and we started the approach. In the dark. Neither of us had ever been on the approach trail. Yeeeeah....
Hours later, we made it up to the base only to find these 2 f*#ktards had spread their sh#t all over the bivy, taking up the entire thing. I slept holding a small tree root, with my feet wedged against a rock (to keep from rolling down the hill), Cat did about the same. There is really just no other place to bivy up there. At about 3AM, I finally had enough and went up to the bivy and started moving their sh#t. They whined a bit, I told them, "Tough shit".
So, the next morning, we hit the base of the route at about 6:30, to find a soloist had come through in the middle of the night and jumped on the route. As well, the 2 guys at the bivy had become three. We figured we'd wait it out. Things were moving REALLY slow tho. At about noon, Cat finally decided to bail, so we carried all that crap back down. She bailed from the ditch, while I stayed and did some climbing. I was climbing across the valley and would occasionally scope the base of LT to see how things were going. at 5:30 in the afteroon, the team of 3 morons STILL had a guy on the ground, all still on the first pitch. Good call, Cat.
I swore I'd never carry all that crap back up to do a wall again... Apparently I lied.
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F10
Trad climber
e350
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Aug 24, 2009 - 03:16pm PT
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Steck Salathe, in 75
Have to agree with dee ee, felt like a big wall back then, especially to a 19 year old
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Jobee
Social climber
El Portal
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Aug 24, 2009 - 03:31pm PT
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South Face of Washington's column 1979, partner was an Australian who swore his way up the cliff and especially enjoyed calling me the c word, I was absolutely appalled, yet we pressed on.
He had a gall stone attack on the upper pitch's, and was in great distress. I having no medical experience secretly enjoyed his suffering because I hated his vulgarity and did not realize the seriousness of his ordeal. We arrived on top at dark then descended in the morning, I carried the bag down north dome gully and at a rest point set it on a wasps nest! I am stung no less than 20 times, my partner is so terribly i'll he can only watch in disbelief as I crash through the woods like a wild boar yowling in pain.
He heads to clinic, I to the safety of my terrace tent cabin in curry village.
When removing my doubled kneed Chouinard trousers I am swarmed by bee's who had flown up into the fabric, and I am stung three more times.
That night I learned the meaning of licking one's wounds; I stuck to free climbing for a good long while before embarking on another wall; it was 1985 and that is another tale.
Jo Whitford
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 24, 2009 - 03:54pm PT
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After a winter spent climbing all the aid routes around Eldo, the "big-wall experience" came
together for me in 1971. I followed Bridwell's campfire wisdom that you should climb 3 grade
V's before attempting a grade VI:
Finger of Fate, Titan (6th ascent)
The Prow
Obviously 4 Believers, RMNP (2nd ascent)
The Nose
Lost Arrow Direct (4th ascent?)
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kevsteele
climber
Santa Barbara, CA
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Aug 24, 2009 - 04:11pm PT
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1990 - doing The Shield with Kevin Brown. Brought a bag of coveted mint milanos which were snatched up by the ravens (think they were ravens) as we looked helplessly down on Grey Ledges while we fixed a few pitches above..Led the roof and triple cracks. Awesome photos on Velvia film looking back down the headwall at Kevin coming up.
The next week I bungeed the rolls of film to back of my motorcycle and rode 10 miles to the process lab - got there and the bag was GONE! Never found the film. Had to keep doing walls and document the evidence, never lost another roll (or CF card...)
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Aug 24, 2009 - 04:13pm PT
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I've posted my first 'wall' TR before, but here it is again:
http://www.camp4.com/words/index.php?newsid=375
When I read it now, I'm a little embarassed about the importanced that I gave that experience. And I'm also sad because no climb has ever been as meaningful since. I don't think I've ever pushed myself as close to my personal limit again (although my personal limit is in a different place now.)
Some missing prologue: I seriously did not belong on any wall, but I was clueless about my own lack of skill. The only climb I'd done in the Valley was After 6 (and it was pretty epic), but I figured this would just be like 4 After Sixes. My wall experience was limited to what I read in Middendorf (i.e. no leading or cleaning ever). Given my extreme gumbitutde, I'm proud to have at least gotten to the top and helped my partner suceed with his vacation climbing plans (w/o anyone getting hurt or anyone other than my partner getting seriously inconvenienced).
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AKDOG
Mountain climber
Anchorage, AK
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Aug 24, 2009 - 04:28pm PT
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West face of leaning tower with Russ Walling in 1979 or 1980?
To train we aided the Pirate at Suicide.
Friends told us, the climb was no big deal, just wonder up to the base about noon and start climbing, they assured us we would be on Ahwahnee ledge in a couple of hours, they also advised us a half gallon of water would be plenty.
Things did not go as planned; we arrived at the dead tree by the base and it was crawling with biting ants. I had never jugged anything as steep as that first pitch and had to figure it out on the fly. Thinking that bolt ladders would be easy, I got spanked in how bad bolts could be with bent studs, missing hangers, pulled bolts, holes with a copper heads pounded in with only a few viable cable strands left, etc.. We ended up doing most of the last pitch to Ahwahnee ledge in the dark using a home made headlamp Russ had fabricated.
The next day also went slower than planned and we ended up spending a night on top. We had run out of water, but being spring time you could hear the water falls in the distance which just seemed to make us thirstier.
No one else was on the route, overall a great first wall adventure.
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bringmedeath
climber
la la land
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Aug 24, 2009 - 04:33pm PT
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Mescalito in 04, had done like one 3 pitch aid route before that and some random single pitches. I liked bouldering more than anything that year. I just bought all the stuff and found a partner online. It was hard work and I had a decent partner but did my share of the job.
You will send next time for sure! Just get motivated. I've bailed my fair share of times but it is always a lack of motivation. I mean wall climbing is just vertical manual labor... which sucks at times. If I made it up the stuff I did, you can easily do it too! Get back to the valley and go for it again.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Aug 24, 2009 - 05:58pm PT
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"NW Face of Half Dome on hexes and stoppers;.....1978....31 years ago...... "
This is becoming a trend: NW Face of Half Dome...1979...age 16...but my newly found buddy (age 17) from Camp 4 had three of these really cool things called Friends, a 1, 2 and 3. The cable ended up busting on the 3, so we had to wing it with only two.
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PP
Trad climber
SF,CA
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Aug 24, 2009 - 06:05pm PT
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south face of the column, made every mistake possible except for dieing, major sufferfest. Biggest mistake was doing it on july 4th with temps in the 90+range. Second mistake was not backing off when we were 3 pitches above dinner ledge with no water left.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Aug 24, 2009 - 06:24pm PT
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West Face Leaning Tower 1983 with Steve Araiza. We tuned up by doing the Bishops Balcony Aid Roof-I fixed a spoon and a cup on the route
We fixed a menu on Pitch Three that we stole from the Four Seasons Restaurant- We hoped people would enjoy a little reading with their mountain experience
I remember the Evil Tree and the great bivvy at Ahwannee ledge- Throwing a bag of sh#t off and watching it fall for a very long time
It rained on day two and we stayed dry- the rain was about 30 feet out from the wall
I lost my nerve on the last pitch and asked Steve to lead it
We were slow and got stuck for a 2nd bivvy at the top
I remember driving back to Camp 4 and being about as happy as I'd ever been in my life- It felt so great having completed that climb!
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jfailing
Trad climber
A trailer park in the Sierras
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 24, 2009 - 06:28pm PT
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Melissa - awesome story! It's personally inspiring to say the least. I can identify with many of the emotions you felt leading up to and on your first wall, as I felt exactly the same way in many respects.
Another dilemma on my attempt was that I had never jugged before (I finally figured it out about 8 pitches up). Also, there was a gallon of water for three dudes climbing 10 pitches in ~85 degree weather... drinking Cobras the night before didn't help either.
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