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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 22, 2007 - 04:19pm PT
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It’s 6:00 a.m., May 20, 2007, and I’m looking down to the bottom of the Black Canyon as George (Lowe) begins the first of 11 rappels that will place us at the beginning of our climb. The weather is a little foreboding with overcast skies. It actually rained on us a bit at 4:00 am. We were forced to move into the tent to catch our last hour of sleep.
The Flakes (Grade V 5.10+) has always held a special place in my heart as one of the finest lines I’ve ever laid eyes on. If you’ve ever gazed across the canyon from the North Chasm View wall, you couldn’t help but pick out the beautiful crack system. I’d done the route back in 1992 or 1993 with Mike Pennings. We had gotten to the start from the other side of the canyon, which had its own adventures.
Tic, tic, tic… George has a hard time finding the 2nd rappel anchors. This probably costs us a good ten minutes. Not good. I’m hoping for no more than two hours to get down. I’m thinking that we need all of the time we can to get up the 14 pitches we need to climb before dark. I’m almost certain that we will have to wait out some rain at some point. Tic, tic, tic… We make another mistake on the rappel that costs us another 15 minutes. George ultimately sniffs out the correct route and we find ourselves at the bottom of the Flakes (well technically, at the bottom of the Astro-dog start to the Flakes). All we need to do is pull down the rope from the last rappel. Argggh! The rope is stuck. We both pull on it as hard as we can and we manage to move it inches at a time. This goes on for 20 minutes before we get the rope down. Now, I’ve got two huge blisters on my fingers. Time to start the route. It’s 9:00 am… one hour later than planned.
It feels good to actually climb. The first pitch is a long 5.10 hand and fist crack – my lead. While I am belaying George up the 1st pitch, two climbers intercept our belay, coming down the Astro-slog. I make small talk with one of them…we exchange names. On hearing my name is Greg, he asks, “Greg Cameron? … You and I did the Flakes together back in the early 1990s!” Sure enough, it’s Mike Pennings… Black Canyon adventurer/speed climber. I had forgotten his name, not to mention his face (but his...fez...looked familiar). We had done the climb before he made a name for himself, and, well, I just forget stuff a lot. Suddenly, a lot of things make sense though… he was the fastest partner I ever climbed with. We had blazed up the Flakes in probably 5 or 6 hours. So he and Johnny Copp are going to attempt a new route today – near the Falcon Wall.
The climbing goes a little slower than I would like, but uneventfully for the first 4 pitches. Just beautiful, clean crack climbing up a flawless flake system. Now it’s time for the infamous 5.9X bombay chimney. I tell myself that I had easily done this before, but there’s something about knowing that you are going to have to go 120 feet with no protection that gets the adrenaline going. After about 80 feet, the chimney pinches down. I attempt to traverse to the outside of the crack and actually get stuck for just a bit at my chest. I have to down climb just a bit more and then squeeze to the outside of the crack. Whew! I just fit. The claustrophobic feelings pass. The pitch is over.
Pitch 7. My lead. The rock suddenly becomes very dirty, bushy, and relatively hard to protect. A good long section of intricate 5.10 is unlike anything else on the climb so far. It’s dirty, but so interesting. George follows and leads the next pitch which takes us to the bottom of the crux pitch, the infamous rotten chimney. The first three quarters of this pitch is on as rotten rock conditions as I’ve ever seen in the Black. Somehow, the gear seems pretty good, however, and only the occasional 5.9 and 5.10 move is actually required in the rotten section. A much cleaner hand and fist crack appears near the top of the pitch, and this involves stout 5.10+ moves to negotiate.
George follows the pitch and upon looking up at his next lead, laments that it looks like more of the same. But it turns out that the next pitch is more straight-forward than it appears and we are now just easy pitches from the top. Two pitches from the top we run into Mike and John 3rd classing the easy upper pitches from their new climb. We exchange pleasantries and they go on ahead. One last 5.9 chimney and we top out. It’s 8:00 pm. Too late to fly back to Denver in George’s plane, but we’re feeling awfully good. We spend the night at a motel in Montrose and fly back to Denver the next morning. Another Black Canyon story for my quiver.
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goatboy smellz
climber
colorado
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May 22, 2007 - 04:37pm PT
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Right on Grug!
That's gotta feel great flying high above the weekend traffic.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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May 22, 2007 - 05:53pm PT
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Richard Aschert...Cancer survivor and one of my best friends on Astro Dog.
Bad-ass Howie Doyle on the upper section of the Scenic Cruise.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - May 22, 2007 - 06:51pm PT
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Nice little TR there Greg.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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May 22, 2007 - 08:04pm PT
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Alright Greg! Glad to here somebody's getting after it...weather's been pretty goldurn dicey of late.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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May 22, 2007 - 08:23pm PT
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Thanks Greg,
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Roman
Trad climber
DC
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May 22, 2007 - 08:25pm PT
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So amazing... Some of you are truly inspiring.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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May 22, 2007 - 09:36pm PT
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Great route and great TR...Greg.
I be there on 6/15 to celebrate my 54 birthday.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 22, 2007 - 10:20pm PT
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Hey, thanks guys. Pictures to follow. Got some good ones, I think.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 23, 2007 - 01:46pm PT
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Some pictures from the Flakes trip.
The Black Wall near Mt Evans from the air in George's plane.
At the Montrose airport.
Rappeling into the Black Canyon. The first rappel of the Astro-slog.
Me leading the third pitch.
George leading the pitch after the bombay chimney.
George leading the 8th pitch.
Our view of the North Chasm View Wall.
The top of the South Chasm View Wall.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - May 23, 2007 - 01:58pm PT
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Nice taste of the Black Canyon.
Fun perspective of the Mt Evans/Black Wall area too.
I need to picture myself leading that full pitch no pro chimney on The Flakes and then get up in that thing...
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dirtineye
Trad climber
the south
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May 23, 2007 - 03:06pm PT
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BUmp for climbing thread
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 23, 2007 - 03:23pm PT
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Go do it, Tarbuster. This climb is as good as the Scenic Cruise, only a bit more burly.
By the way, George is doing this stuff at the ripe old age of 62. Although any Grade V in the Black Canyon is a pretty good goal all by itself, we are treating this climb as one on the "Road to the Stoned Oven".
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goatboy smellz
climber
colorado
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May 23, 2007 - 05:56pm PT
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Thanks for sharing Greg.
So have you asked George if he can make the Vedauwoo gig in August?
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 23, 2007 - 06:11pm PT
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Thanks Goatboy. Turns out, George is going to be somewhere else on that weekend.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - May 23, 2007 - 06:25pm PT
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"Go do it Tarbuster?"
Dude, Greg, this is the internet, where big routes fit onto a 17" monitor and talk is cheap as Coors Light.
Thanks for the comparison to Scenic Cruise; Flakes is a great looking line but will have to wait.
Journey Home; maybe, like if all the stars and scars line up real nice, that's my big goal for The Black this year.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 23, 2007 - 07:48pm PT
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Tarbuster, after witnessing what I, uh, witnessed at the Woodson shindig regarding what you can and can't do as a climber...I'm inclined to believe those stars (and scars) are gonna line up for you.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Old's Cool hardfeller Jeff on the Scenic Cruise yesterday:
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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George Lowe is an overrated ancient hack...
-Jello
-errrrr......hi, George....:-)
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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No epic stories, just a cool day in June (!) this week:
Touching down after the Scenic traverse.
After the business, it's time to relax
Escaping the second-day route. It went from spring to summer overnight, and we switched plans from the Russian midway down the sweaty SOB.
Oh yeah: one minor event. Arrived at the base of the SC to discover that my climbing shoes hadn't made it out of camp. Nothing that a round-trip up the gully wouldn't cure. My aerobic scene is kinda lacking, anyhow.
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