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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 16, 2012 - 03:44am PT
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Last weekend I got out a bit too. Friday night we got on Cream Of White Mice
Nina and Kyle at the P1 belay
Kyle sends the last corner on p3/4
Pulling the overlap
Jamming to finish
Everything went pretty well but I decided to climb the face crack instead of duck into the easy corner. I'm not really sure why but after the runout traverse I guess I zoned in on the first protectable feature I saw. After 10m or so I end up on this little ledge below a black Barley bolt and some 10+ ish looking slab moves.
It was hot and those moves looked pretty rough plus I had come up here to follow the original route so I deked back right and did a pretty cool jamming reach back into the original corner. I got up to the last crux move and my fat fingers were not giving me very good purchase in the little pocket and my right foot just didn't want to stick to the slab.
I tried the move over and over again but could not bring myself to commit, my brain was stuck. Eventually after 20 minutes or so of this non-sense I downclimbed a little and snuck around the right to finish up to my own shame. I guess I wasn't quite on point after working all day and frying on the slab in the late afternoon sun.....
Saturday Ben and I hit the reset button on our previous weeks plans of Borderline. We were both pretty darn stoked, Ben's said he's been waiting 10 years to jump on this thing.
As I was belaying Ben up the first pitch another party arrived and asked me what we were doing. I told them Borderline and when I inquired about thier plans they quickly replied "Daily Planet". I was pretty impressed since it didn't look like they had much of a rack with them and certainly no aid gear...
Ben called me to watch him as he was trying to negotiate the 10b crux, and one of the gentlemen says who are you climbing with? "Oh that's Ben!" He says, Ben R? and I nodded. He calls up, "Hey Ben it's Mike!" Ben says "No way, I heard you were out here!" Small world.
They followed us up the first pitch and Mike was hot on my heels the whole way. It was funny because having him there waiting for me made me commit to the moves that much faster and I got the reachy slab crux very easily, and ran up to the belay. After the sort I got the next lead, and ducked out on the 5.8 right variation successfully and ran up to last little slabby bit before the belay which was surmounted without much difficulty.
Mike decided to do the 11c pitch in it's entirety which was very cool to see.
He commented that it was pretty hard until you figured out that key hold!
We swapped leads and Ben set off onto the left face of the badge. Somehow when I looked at my phone it was 2:00pm allready. I couldn't believe it had taken us 3 hours to rack up, hike and dispatch the first two rope lengths. I've simuled the Chief in less time. Ben did pretty good on the 10d pitch, but couldn't quite free the crux.
I followed and with Mike on my heels again I flowed pretty well to my own surprise through the traverse. I freed the crux and got up to my first roadblock aka Ben's gear. He sank it in there good. He was nutting his cams and it made them quite the *bitch* to get out. So here I am in the middle of the wall fighting to hold on to my greasy jam and fish this overcammed nutted cam. I'm cursing Ben and Mike is right behind me on the last move of the traverse, trying not to fall off because he is laughing his bag off so hard.
After fighting several more similar placements I finally gave in to the dark side and took a hang to sort yet another cam out. I ended up leaving it because I was fighting for so long that Mike suggested he give it a shot. The crack widened a bit and the cams got easier.. Thank god :)
I got this shot of Mike at the top of the 10d pitch
At this point the sun came out and it was my lead. I dispatched the 10a without to much trouble, And brought Ben up.
Looking up
Ben had left the bottom of the tagline at the last belay so I figured he was going to want to rap at that point...
We rapped to the last anchors then twice more to edge of the badge. The last one is a 55m free hanging doozy with an old rope fixed to it.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 16, 2012 - 11:18am PT
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Nice link supafly! Thanks!
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 16, 2012 - 11:50am PT
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Tami- Can you comment on the origin of the name for Cream of White Mice? A little birdy told me it might not have anything to do with horses?
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thekidcormier
Gym climber
squamish, b.c.
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Aug 16, 2012 - 12:04pm PT
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Creamed on by a white mouse
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Hoser
climber
vancouver
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Aug 16, 2012 - 12:31pm PT
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I cant believe you guys finally got on borderline and didnt finish the route....the bolted 5.9 layback above is chill then its just a few slab moves and you can rap off into the gully below polaris in two 30m raps.
Next time
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Relic
Social climber
Vancouver, BC
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Aug 16, 2012 - 12:38pm PT
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Oh nice, thanks for the beta there Hoser. That would be great to only have to bring up one rope to get off from there. Who in there right mind would want to bail before a nice delicious offfff widddth?!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Aug 16, 2012 - 12:53pm PT
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the bolted 5.9 layback above is chill then its just a few slab moves and you can rap off into the gully below polaris in two 30m raps.
Or climb another easy pitch, scramble over to the arete, and finish up the Angels Crest.
Who in there right mind would want to bail before a nice delicious offfff widddth?!
Well, if you're the kind that does want to bail in that situation, look closely at Mike's picture. The original path we took did not include the OW, but went around it to the right. Technically a fair bit harder, but a lot easier on the body.
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Hoser
climber
vancouver
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Aug 16, 2012 - 03:16pm PT
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its not an offwidth cause you layback the thing, if you get into it then well its a bit of a struggle
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Lasti
Trad climber
Budapest
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Aug 16, 2012 - 05:13pm PT
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This is a pretty cool Squamish Story.
Written by none other than Hamish F.
Retold by Jason Kruk of De-compressing Cerro Torre fame.
http://vimeo.com/47592057
Not sure if this has been posted here before. If it has, sorry.
Lasti
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Relic
Social climber
Vancouver, BC
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Aug 16, 2012 - 09:48pm PT
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Thanks for that video Lasti! I had no idea there was one for this. So that's where Hamish has been hiding, huh? IN THE BOULDERS!!!!
Great narration Hamish. Total respect. You are a class act.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Aug 16, 2012 - 10:17pm PT
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That is a cool vid for sure & very nice narrative by Hamish, very humble. It inspired me to flip back a ways & read his harrowing account of the FA. The remote drone camera angles are pretty cool too! Sadly I was hoping for more footage from the crux pitch. Awesome short either way.
Thanks for the pics Mike! What ghost said for next time, 1 rope & top it out! I think once upon a time I did the pitches of borderline up to the ledge with Ben as well, can't remember what else we did but distinctly remember those first few pitches.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Aug 17, 2012 - 12:00am PT
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So, I just spent an evening in the pub with Eric Hirst, one of the two people with whom I spent years cleaning and climbing Borderline. He says no, we did not originally bypass the OW to the right. That the hard bit I'm thinking of is above that.
F*#ked if I know. He's not as old as I am, and should have a clearer memory. On the other hand, he's become a Sport Climber, so shouldn't be trusted no matter how good his memory is.
Maybe one of you able-bodied active climber types should tow me up it on the Labor Day weekend to refresh my memory. Because I know I never set knee, shoulder, or chicken wing in that off width thing, and that there was some really nice 11a face climbing up there somewhere.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Aug 17, 2012 - 12:36am PT
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There's definitely some nice slab climbing above the OW.
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Fish Boy
Trad climber
Vancouver
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Aug 17, 2012 - 01:32am PT
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Sure is, crux of the whole route imo.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 17, 2012 - 11:13pm PT
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I cant believe you guys finally got on borderline and didnt finish the route....the bolted 5.9 layback above is chill then its just a few slab moves and you can rap off into the gully below polaris in two 30m raps.
Next time
Who in there right mind would want to bail before a nice delicious offfff widddth?!
Ya.. It was pretty hot that day and then the sun hit us. Ben was all stoked after the 10d pitch but after baking in the sun belaying me on the next 10a he probably changed his mind. I was pretty glad too because I was kinda feeling the same way and we were both out of water by that point.
Ohhhh, dear. Let's just leave it at the route name being a play on the famuss Brit route A Dream of White Horses and say that anything beyond that would be TMI :-)
Sorry Tami, I couldn't resist... Thanks for confirming :)
I think once upon a time I did the pitches of borderline up to the ledge with Ben as well, can't remember what else we did but distinctly remember those first few pitches.
It wasn't you that went up The Daily planet with him was it? He told me his big whip story on that one..
Maybe one of you able-bodied active climber types should tow me up it on the Labor Day weekend to refresh my memory. Because I know I never set knee, shoulder, or chicken wing in that off width thing, and that there was some really nice 11a face climbing up there somewhere.
Hunh.. funny I checked my 01 guide and it doesn't even list the last two pitches. They don't show up till the 05 guide.. there is definetly a 10d face pitch after the off-witdh. I would love to climb it with you! I don't know about leading every pitch tho.. I think I can ;)
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Aug 17, 2012 - 11:31pm PT
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Hunh.. funny I checked my 01 guide and it doesn't even list the last two pitches. They don't show up till the 05 guide..
It's easy to think of climbing as just a fun and challenging activity done on rocks, with some local climber collating a bunch of information into a guidebook every few years. Unfortunately, the whole process involves human beings, and interpersonal relationships, and becomes personal/political very quickly.
Get a couple of beers into me, and I'll probably be willing to talk about it. Or, if you're in a hurry to understand some guidebook basics, go talk to Perry. Or any of the other old guys who you've come to know through this forum.
For the record, I think we finished Borderline (i.e. took it all the way to the point where it connects with the Angels Crest) in 1997. It was no secret. But as you say, it didn't really get into the guidebook for many years. How odd.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 17, 2012 - 11:44pm PT
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It's easy to think of climbing as just a fun and challenging activity done on rocks, with some local climber collating a bunch of information into a guidebook every few years. Unfortunately, the whole process involves human beings, and interpersonal relationships, and becomes personal/political very quickly.
Funny, this hit home thanks to recent events. Apparently the bottom of Sandra's Dirty Rope was a variation to one of the other climbs bitd, so a local Smoke Bluffs guide author is choosing to leave it out of his new guide.
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Fish Boy
Trad climber
Vancouver
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Aug 18, 2012 - 01:02am PT
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Politrix!
That third pitch "10d" is nowhere near 10d. More like 10a. For me anyway. I found the offwidth considerably more challenging, and I actually seek out the things to climb. Then that bolted thing afterwards felt 11a for sure.
Sick route anyway, did a couple of weeks back, and then did Bullethead East with "The Gift" start and offwidth finish, and think they are both equally great ways to spend climbing time.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 18, 2012 - 02:06am PT
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That third pitch does have a couple tough face moves but the crack above is hard 10a for sure.
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