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Capt.
climber
some eastside hovel
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Jun 23, 2014 - 09:57am PT
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Wyo-Buzzkill on your theft situation too. To me it was the feeling of being violated more than the gear loss.
But yeah,back on topic-Tent Peg is awesome.Have a framed pic on my wall of it. I think I've actually done it like four times. One time Sturgis was goin' on and all these Harley folks kept stopping on the road below us and pointing. It was quite fun and funny! :-)
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DWB
climber
Madison
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Jun 24, 2014 - 08:33pm PT
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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Jun 24, 2014 - 08:49pm PT
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Wow . . . what happened to the nice thick forests I remember from 50 years ago?
;>(
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jun 24, 2014 - 08:57pm PT
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They cut all the trees down to save the forest.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Jun 24, 2014 - 09:16pm PT
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Mountain Pine Beetle infestations. Infested trees have to be removed. Forest has to be thinned to allow for healthier tree growth.
It will be generations before it looks like it did when we were there John.
Since this picture from 2009 lots of trees had to be removed from Custer State Park. Edit: in view of Mike's comment below, make that "were removed."
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/blackhills/landmanagement/?cid=stelprdb5113978
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jun 24, 2014 - 09:44pm PT
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I think some of the trees would have survived.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jun 25, 2014 - 05:09am PT
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"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"
Well not really. It's the Beatles invasion, but I couldn't resist....
It's Truly a changed place!
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jun 25, 2014 - 06:13am PT
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Take that picture today and a lot of the green will be gone. As they cut them down. Machines have driven all over next to the needles highway and many trees are laying chunked and laying on the forest floor in huge piles of rotting timber. Which is worse? I am not sure, but the place doesn't seem as special anymore. A match would have worked better.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Jun 25, 2014 - 08:53am PT
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Station13 nine years ago
Station 13 now
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jun 25, 2014 - 12:10pm PT
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crazy horse right now.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jul 13, 2014 - 01:38pm PT
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Got into the Cathedral Spires yesterday with WYOrockman and his buddy. Always thought this was the Wild Man Traverse but unsure.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 13, 2014 - 02:27pm PT
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I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Jan Conn in the company of Paul Piana. In the course of preparing for this interview I came across this wonderful book authored by Lindsay Stephens specifically about the routes done by Herb and Jan Conn during their time actively climbing here from 1947 on.
Fred and Heidi Knapp published this wonderful guidebook through Sharp End Publishing and they were gracious enough to hand me a copy so I would like to promote this book to those of you that love the Needles and the unique climbing and history that this powerful place has to offer. Herb and Jan Conn established over 215 free climbs up to 5.8 in difficulty using an 80' rope and crepe-soled canvas boat shoes. They usually downclimbed from these airy summits occasionally leaving a piton to protect the moves.
Truly unique and unconventional folks and it was a delight to meet and get to know Jan after missing her last year when I traveled up with Bonnie Kamps after the Diamond Reflections event in Boulder.
More on Herb and Jan on the memorial thread for Herb.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1740864&msg=2434385#msg2434385
Paul Piana says howdy to his friends here on the ST! We had a fun walk around in the drizzle after wrapping up the interview with Jan and sending her home with a strawberry-rhubarb pie from the classic pie shop in Custer.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jul 13, 2014 - 02:52pm PT
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Did the Conn Route on Rubyatt(Spelling) a 5.8 that felt about 5.10 off the start of the second pitch. Lindsey's book has a lot of the maps handed down from guidebooks over the years so if you can't get touch the sky it is a good alternative and a good book in its own right.
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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Jul 13, 2014 - 04:25pm PT
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I was on Rubaiyat only once. I friend and I had just driven out from Georgia about 1957 - before the Interstate system - and I remember starting up that second pitch (a shallow chimney or crack?) and putting in a pin I think, threading into it and moving up many feet, then looking down aghast at the rope hanging free all the way to my friend. Apparently as I moved past the pin (bolt?) I had brushed against the karabiner and the rope slipped out. My friend was petrified and refused to go further, so I roped or climbed down somehow (I don't recall that part)and we got off the spire. That was to be our warm-up climb in the Needles!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 13, 2014 - 05:37pm PT
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John- Jan still remembers coming across your name solo in a few summit registers and wondering about just who this bold John Gill fellow was.
So few people climbing there BITD that evidence of traffic was conspicuous.
"Two cats in an untended fish market" by Herb's account with a lifetime's worth of first ascents ahead and dozens of miles in Jewel and Wind Caves after that.
I got to look at the Thimble again and thought of you crimping away on that lovely little fin.
Warmest Regards from the Black Hills.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jul 13, 2014 - 06:19pm PT
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Down climbing the last move would certainly be exciting as it is off a ledge 150ft up. One thing about the beetle kill of the trees is that now you can see it very well.I think this spire is often overlooked because it is so low on the hill. It is one of the bigger spires in the Needles with no easy 5th class route on it. This route checks in at about 300+feet with very sustained climbing.
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WyoRockMan
climber
Flank of the Big Horns
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Jul 14, 2014 - 12:58pm PT
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What a place! So magical and mysterious. Thanks for the couple days of climbing Mike.
Lessons learned about CSP:
1) Not really the place to go "off the couch", unless you have really like the humble pie.
2) YDS system is different here. Instead of the hardest move dictating the grade of the pitch, the hardest move is discounted. If it is 5.8, that means most of the pitch is 5.8, minus the .10 moves.
3) Point 2 probably isn't true, but gees, it sure feels like it.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jun 19, 2015 - 09:56am PT
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Needles Bump
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!