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wstmrnclmr
Trad climber
Bolinas, CA
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Oct 21, 2011 - 01:31am PT
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Slab climbing's alive and well
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Oct 21, 2011 - 02:55am PT
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Slabs are still bitchin', and always will be.
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Toerag
Trad climber
Guernsey, British Channel Islands
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Oct 21, 2011 - 08:00am PT
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Some interesting limestone slabs around the famous climbing town of Arco in Italy - do a google image search for 'corno di bo' 'parete zebrata' or 'placche zebrata' A lot fo the routes retain the oldskool 'hunt the bolt' character, but some have been retro-bolted - one pitch originally done with 1 bolt now has 10!
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Oct 21, 2011 - 08:25am PT
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This one was amazing. Ground up. Ran out of bolts and thought, "I'll just climb up to the next stance and see what it looks like." I drilled the hole and thought, "There is only one more crux and I can see the tree where I'll end it..." Half way through that next crux my pants rejected me high-stepping onto a big edge.
I took a 40-footer. Would have been fine if that tree hadn't been there! I had my drill on my back and it caught on an 8 inch limb. When it caught it pulled the gear sling up and squeezed it onto my ribs, separating the cartilage from the lower two. Finished the climb and all that but as the adrenaline wore off I realized I had to hike out. Every time I bent over that cartilage would fold over and send my whole abdomen/serratus into spasms. Very long hike through a boulder field and then a 3-hour drive to home. My ribs were super jacked up for a month.
Fat Matt's Rib Shack.
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guyman
Trad climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Oct 21, 2011 - 10:07am PT
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Weather is getting cooler.... time to go gauge some friction.
About a 1/2 mile away is this one, named The Gold Standard- 12.C???? The temps must be down around 50 or you dont stick.
Drillin...
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Oct 21, 2011 - 10:16am PT
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Slab climbing is something else. I have seen heavy, not to say fat, climbers outperform strong slim 8a overhang climbers during slab climbing. Someone has said: "During slab climbing we are all equal".
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Oct 21, 2011 - 10:57am PT
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I always loved slab climbing. Or maybe is was just those beautiful sunny California afternoons in Tuolomne Meadows, and those monster run-outs, that got my blood pumping.
Almost all of my free-soloing was on slabs. Here I am free-soloing Patio Pinnacle on Glacier Point April (circa 1978). Notice no rope - I used to down-climb the routes, not rap off. What a dumb ass.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 21, 2011 - 03:01pm PT
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Cool - glad to see someone is using those bolts that Roger replaced a few summers back!
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Oct 21, 2011 - 03:04pm PT
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For you Crest Jewel and Table of Contents fans....
Here is Dan Dingle and Michael Lucero doing the first ascent of Cucamonga Honey on Lembert Dome back in 1979
And here is Dan Dingle (right) in the Camp 4 parking lot (circa 1980)
Dan was a phenomenal climber. When we did the NB of Middle Cathedral, he led the 5.10 pitch in sneakers. When we climbed Higher Cathedral Spire he didn't even bring rock shoes, did the entire climb in sneakers.
Dan had asked me to help him Crest Jewel and the Table of Contents. I don't know why I didn't hike up to North Dome with him - must have been a chick distracting me.
I thought that Table of Contents was a contrived route - we had spent a lot of time bouldering the start of the route. I guess time has proven who was the genius.
An old photo from the climb Hoppy's Favorite on Glacier Point Apron, circa 1980. Do they sell Hoppy's Favorite milk in Yosemite anymore? Is the climb still there, or was it a victim of the rockfall?
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Oct 21, 2011 - 06:49pm PT
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Sierra Ledge Rat, that Patio P. shot just made me soil myself....
I love slab and have done some monster runs that would be near solo, but down climbing them too? Was it hard to drag your sac along??
That 1980 parking lot shot is big too. My era there for sure, but I was always hanging big with the Oregon crowd. Remember Lesher's brown bread van by any chance??
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Oct 21, 2011 - 07:41pm PT
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I love slab-climbing.
The Sound of One Shoe Tapping (5.8). The crux to me was climbing above not-so-great pro to get established on the upper slab portion (Dont blow yer gear, you'll ledge-out). By J-tree standards the slab section is pretty straight-forward if you're used to Josh slabs.
Stick to What? is another classsic in the area. And Double Dip is good for the grade at 5.6
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okay,whatever
Trad climber
Charlottesville, VA
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Oct 21, 2011 - 08:17pm PT
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I agree... I think slab climbing is tremendous. Balance, self-control, and so on make it so much different than hauling up steep cracks, which I used to enjoy, but haven't done for a while (I'm 57).
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Oct 22, 2011 - 08:48am PT
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Sierra Ledge Rat, that Patio P. shot just made me soil myself....
I love slab and have done some monster runs that would be near solo, but down climbing them too? Was it hard to drag your sac along??
That 1980 parking lot shot is big too. My era there for sure, but I was always hanging big with the Oregon crowd. Remember Lesher's brown bread van by any chance??
Was the van a big box-looking thing? Parked near the exit of the parking lot?
My brother and I were such poor climbers (figuratively and otherwise) that we couldn't afford to leave gear behind when we bailed. So we down-climbed everything instead of rapping off. We got really good at down-climbing, and I think it made us much better climbers. So, for me, down-climbing was fairly natural.
I used to get in a hurry and rush, I was always forcing myself to slow down and pay attention when I was free-soloing.
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wildone
climber
Troy, MT
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Oct 22, 2011 - 08:58am PT
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Sierra Ledge Rat, you made my heart rate increase a fair bit with that photo! I'd scroll back up and look at it again, but I'm scared to. Seriously, I'm scared of seeing that photo again dude. And is that a chalk bag dragging on the rock or is it your gigantic balls? I think the latter.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Dec 11, 2012 - 04:07am PT
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Sla-bump
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 11, 2012 - 04:41am PT
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Speaking of Dan Dingle
There is an AMAZING and moderate new route on North Dome that is clean and beautiful, just need a little aid on bolts in a couple short sections (really short)
never hear of anyone doing it.
CHeck it out
http://yosemiteclimber.com/Nataraj.html
Peace
Karl
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Allen Hill
Social climber
CO.
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Dec 11, 2012 - 04:48am PT
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Dec 11, 2012 - 09:00pm PT
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Anyone done Demimonde 5.11c The Royal Arches Serenity Crack Area FA 1991, Eric Mayo, Andy Roberts, Dave Caunt, Rick Harlin?
Ed, I did the second ascent when Eric brought me over there to rate "Demimonde" for him. No falls, on site, no hangs. That's back when 5.11c slab was easy for me. I could actually tell the difference between 5.11b slab and 5.11c slab. Remember it helps if you're confident and real aggressive, the results of slab climbing daily for a couple of years. Practice is the key.
Today? Are you kidding? Hah!
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Dec 11, 2012 - 10:44pm PT
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