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Lost Arrow
Trad climber
The North Ridge of the San Fernando
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Apr 16, 2007 - 02:07am PT
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Glad to hear that you got down ok. Scary.
Jeff
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
concord, california
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2007 - 02:22am PT
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thanks Logan. At the time you guys passed I was still optimistic we were going to make the descent.
Logan: what time did you guys get down?
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Apr 16, 2007 - 08:10am PT
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Vic, I agree with the others, thanks for the story and the fortitude for telling us about it.
The gully can be a b*tch. The first time I had to descend it was back in Spring 1973. My high school climbing buddy Steve and I did the Arches and we made it down all right but it was tricky as I recall.
Hopefully your son will want to climb the Arches again someday.
Cheers
Patrick
EDIT
Off topic and thread drift
Wow, I remember going to the Ski Hut, it was a cool place. I'd go and ogle the goods and occasionally buy something. The upstairs/loft always seem to be cool even if it was hot outside, kind of strange. It was on the same side and not far from Oak Barrel Winecraft.
A typical Saturday would be first stop The North Face (in order from coming off Highway 24 from Lafayette), then the Ski Hut, then Oak Barrel, then Class Five and then Sierra Designs, with the occasional stop at "Whole Earth" store (I think that's what it was called).
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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Apr 16, 2007 - 10:21am PT
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Great report! thsnks so much for sharing it. I was one of the parties that was rescued off of El Cap after that storm in Oct. 04'. In the 18 or so years of climbing in the Valley I had never carried two way radios on any other of my many, multi day climbs. The radio proved to be a key piece of gear when we became in need of assittence from the park service.
I am curious what percentage of climbers carry radios on climbs this day and age, and what percentage of climbers in need of YOSAR have them. Werner?
How old is your son?
Really glad everything worked out for you guy.
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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Apr 16, 2007 - 10:58am PT
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Brutal. Great story, thanks much for posting.
Hindsight is 20/20 so it's easy for you to pick out what you might have done differently, but the bottom line is you made real time decisions that got you out safely.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
concord, california
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2007 - 11:44am PT
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T2: Sascha is 21 and he's been climbing with me on and off since he was very young but he is a novice to multi-pitch climbs and this was his first climb in Yosemite.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
concord, california
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2007 - 11:56am PT
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Thanks Gary. It was not easy for me to ask for help but under the circumstances it was the right decision.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 16, 2007 - 04:36pm PT
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Vic,
matches would have been nice to have as well. The lightest bivvy protection. I usually forget them, though, since I don't smoke and only rarely cook.
cliffhanger,
Snow Creek Trail is an extremely long distance. Much easier to hike crosscountry up east near the rim and descend the Falls Trail, which we did my first trip up Royal Arches in 1977, after my partner said he had heard bad things about North Dome Gully. It is still a long hike. I recommend the rappel route, with a single 60m rope.
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the Fet
Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
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Apr 16, 2007 - 05:57pm PT
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Great write up, thanks.
It sucks to epic, but think how much more memorable it was because of it! You guys will never forget it, and it makes for a killer story. (silver lining) Also you were prepared engough and made enough smart choices to get down ok, that's what really matters.
There was another thread recently and someone asked "what have the (climbing) rangers done for you?" I've read posts here complaining about Lober and maybe some of his actions are not the best, but here he obviously was a great resource and help.
RA is 15 pitches. People tend to forget that is a lot of pitches for a day. I'd guess more epics happen on RA than anywhere else in Yosemite.
My 2nd time on it with an inexperienced friend, we got about 1/2 way from the top of the climb to the gully, it was getting dark, when my friend ran out of steam and wanted to bivy. We had no food or water and light clothes. We argued for a few minutes and he got more and more out of it (mumbling/not making sense)until I slapped him accross the face and went drill sargeant on him, yelling "NOW MARCH!" etc. We just made the death slabs before the light faded and got to the valley in pitch black. On the horse trail my friend looked me in the eye and thanked me for slapping him.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
concord, california
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2007 - 07:17pm PT
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the Fet: Keith Lober is a NO nonsense, hardened YOSAR veteran. He & Dill ran this operation like a well-oiled machine. Lober had the Gully wired. I'm sure he's been in many situations where he took risks because of someone else's mistake. In fact, I put Lober and the 2 rangers at risk because I over-estimated our abilities.
One of the climbing rangers was relatively new and it was his 1st time up the Gully. He was happy to be training under Lober. The other ranger, who assisted Sascha, had a lot of patience and gave Sascha good, clear instructions as we were descending.
By the time we made it to the switchbacks near the bottom and it stopped snowing we relaxed and started joking with each other.
I was impressed and humbled by the whole experience.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Apr 16, 2007 - 11:56pm PT
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TTster,
I've been down the North DomeGully twice, once at night, but in good weather. I can imagine it must have been really scary at night in a storm. Kinda makes me shiver!I'm glad you guys are OK.
Zander
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Logdog
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Apr 17, 2007 - 12:20am PT
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vic-
We got back to the car around 4 o'clock, I think. I believe I saw you or your son just past the penji, mabey thats where he took a fall. When the storm hit the next morning, and it started snowing outside the Caff, we threw the towel in and headed home. I'm sorry you woke up on top of the North Dome Gully! I remember my first time down the gully, we had topped out on the south face of washington's collumn at sunset, and made it all the way to the scetchy traverse just as it got pitch-black. Having heard lots of horror stories about the "death slabs", we decided to bivy. Next morning we made it down ok. It sounds like lots of people have a story about the NDG. I'm hittin' the Valley tomorrow morning and will be there for a week or so if your around.
-peace
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Anastasia
Trad climber
California
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Apr 17, 2007 - 12:30am PT
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Thank you for being so candid about your experience. I am very glad that you and your son are well. Please know your story is helping a few of us plan better for our own attempts. (I took notes.)
Anastasia
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unnamable
climber
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Apr 17, 2007 - 12:49am PT
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Vic:
I'm glad you and your son made it down ok. North Dome Gully is so treacherous.
When I was benighted on the top of Royal Arches several years ago with my dad we got really lucky - dry, warm weather and the next morning we went down the falls trail, running from mosquitoes.
Thanks for sharing a great story.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Apr 17, 2007 - 04:01am PT
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The Key to the Royal Arches Benight Night is to stop early, and then, stay the night.
If you're running so late you can't get down the NDG before dark, you need to reconsider: camp out on the rim.
The upside to stopping before it gets dark is the ability to find the campsite and firewood.
The downside to charging the descent is getting stuck, in the dark, in a scree field above danger, and then having to decide whether to rope up, run, or just camp out, out in the open.
You'll want to stop early, find a good place, bivi, and then walk down tomorrow.
The idea here is, while it's still light, you know it's three hours+++ to the valley, but only two hours' worth of light.
You camp it out, safe.
You don't try to walk down the NDG, at night.
You'll want to climb Yosemite another day.
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WBraun
climber
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Apr 17, 2007 - 11:05am PT
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3 hours down NDG? WOW!
Me and Middendorf once in 15 minutes.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
concord, california
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 17, 2007 - 11:15am PT
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Tom: that was one of the decisions that I regret making. We passed an excellent bivy spot under a large boulder where we could have spent the night, built a fire and waited out the storm.
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