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Brutus of Wyde
climber
Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA
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anybody remember "Preface?"
Any of it still above the rubble?
20-foot ankle-breaker mantle before the first bolt...
Glad I didn't fall... boy was I stupud.
brut
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NoRushNoMore
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - May 10, 2007 - 05:36am PT
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Brutus, mantle is gone so as a first bolt
Warbler, I think I have a pic of that corner you are thinking about. Boy was it dirty. I was pulling grass and dirt out to place gear ;)
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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May 10, 2007 - 06:55am PT
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I can agree with the idea of not replacing bad bolts next to the OW, and even chopping them away, if they're unsafe.
Good gear is available today, as it were.
Plus, drilling bigger holes for bigger bolts next to a perfect crack sends the wrong message. Everything done in the Valley can be seen as setting the Status Quo, and, as such, the Valley routes need to be held to the highest standard, always.
When OW cracks are treated like sport routes, with bolts for quik-clips, the whole gestalt of the sport sags, like an animal taking a bullet (plagarism, here).
There is something to say for leaving the pitch as it was when done first. But, if the mid-pitch bolts are dangerous, it makes sense to remove, and not replace them. Especially if the crack takes modern gear.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 10, 2007 - 10:30am PT
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Just like runout doilies that can be used to cover up excessive bolts on slab climbs to regain that pristine look and feel, the answer here is ambiance hangers. These reproductions of antique and unreliable bolts features powerful magnets that allows the leader to toss them a few moves ahead so that they affix themselves in the appropriate metal filled positions. The ambiance hangers sway in the breeze and you can clip them for nostalgia sake knowing, as you used to, that they won't hold anything. The mock uncertainty completes the spell along with the twisted nail heads to snag your rack! Everybody's Happy! LOL
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 10, 2007 - 12:25pm PT
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I like to wait for Fall to do things in rock-fall zones. For
some reason I think things stabilize by then. So hats off to
going over there in the Spring!
With that, we did it last Fall. Surely one of the very best at the
grade. I found that the first pitch is not buried, as people seem
to think. I also think that the first pitch (actually, the first
two combined) are not so bad--some loose stuff, but "creative" 5.9
climbing--certainly gets your attention.
The hangers at the first belay (below the corner) are a bit smashed,
but surely OK. You could replace them, maybe after the next rock
fall :p. After that, you head over to the corner and as Karl sez
above, I think you're in the safe zone from there up. So really,
you run up the first pitch as fast as you can, then you can relax.
Some day I'll have to try that airy "5.8", here's the 5.11 variation:
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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May 10, 2007 - 12:34pm PT
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K-man, the airy 5.8 version is kick ass fun.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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May 10, 2007 - 12:40pm PT
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"Ambiance hangers," surely a trend for the future!
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 10, 2007 - 01:09pm PT
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Can't get much more "ambiance" than original Harding hangers.
Tough choice for the rebolt team: do you leave the originals,
replace them, or what. For sure, they weren't worse than those
two bolts in the 5.8 chimney below the Narrows.
PS. Nice solo Werner.
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Bart Fay
Social climber
Redlands, CA
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May 10, 2007 - 01:21pm PT
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Found this over on Mtn Project:
By Greg Barnes
Dec 28, 2006
rating: 5.10d
Note on the chopped bolts on the last pitch: we actually only chopped 1 bolt in the offwidth section, the other 2 had fallen out previously. We chopped 2 bolts next to splitter smaller cracks as well: a bolt next to perfect 2" crack on the 10c hands pitch, and the first bolt on the last pitch, which was right next to a perfect 1.5" crack. These bolts next to bomber hand cracks served as a good reminder that cams didn't exist when the route was established, and we couldn't in good conscience replace bolts along a perfect crack that just happened to be 4-5" instead of 2".
This generated a fair bit of controversy at the time (ended by the rockfall), but Harding never would have placed those bolts with modern big cams, and anyone who doesn't want to bring a couple big cams for the last pitch can rap before it -- you rap the route either way.
This is a sweet climb, hopefully the rockfall zone will stabilize itself!
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 10, 2007 - 01:36pm PT
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... I headed inside the chimney and thrutched for my life. I was getting soaked with slimy goo and every inch of progress entailed a stout effort ...
Karl, a most excellent read on Wild Thing. I can't wait to not try that thing.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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May 10, 2007 - 05:06pm PT
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if i recall correctly, off white and galen k. were on top of the folly during the big '83 earthquake and they said the whole tower was moving back and forth and some friends they had plugged into a crack were either getting smashed from the contraction or falling in after the cams tipped all the way out as the crack widened.
scary like "whoa!"
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 10, 2007 - 05:29pm PT
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Thanks radical.
I love it when my buddies see pics of themselves cruxing. Then they
realize that I don't use a Grigri ...
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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May 10, 2007 - 05:54pm PT
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cool thread. I especially like the Wild Thing stories and pictures. Although I did the Good Book at least twice, I used to do Wild Thing every season in the mid to late '70s. I think it was the name as much as anything.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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May 10, 2007 - 07:35pm PT
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The Good Book is a good (stout!) climb, but man, what a crummy, anti-climatic "summit."
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 11, 2007 - 02:18am PT
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As we turn the lights down low this evening, a little Batso lullaby for your enjoyment...a personal momento from when he played the Leaning Tower Lounge back in 1961. He threw it at me from on stage.
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quasitrad
Trad climber
Corvallis, OR
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May 11, 2007 - 03:17am PT
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Yeah, a #5 camelot on that last offwidth pitch is (or should I say "would have been") a good idea. For a while, there was a long sling hanging from one of the lower belays with some writing on it. We couldn't quite make out the faded writing. But when we got to the last pitch we looked up and realized the bolts were gone. It was my good buddy Norm's lead and he sucked it up. Thanks for the pictures, everyone!
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apr
Trad climber
Oakland, CA
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May 14, 2007 - 02:43am PT
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My partner and I did it in June '04 and August '05. No rock fall from above at any time.
There is a loose section on the first pitch. Place the belayer off to the left side. Leader trends *carefully* right of choss.
There were flattened bolts at the top of the second pitch. However, there is a better set in a more protected position.
Even in August, seepage was an issue on three: a little wet at start (careful with baby frogs.)and a bit more in the middle.
When we did the last pitch, bolts were missing and a survivor deserved to go. It was old, half out, and purely historical.
One each of big cams will do. The last half is the business. You can lock in well and leapfrog a #6 Camelot.
The top anchor was sketchy. We lassoed rock with web. You can stretch the first rap to the top of pitch three using two 70M.
MAGNIFICENT ROUTE!!!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Aug 22, 2009 - 12:04pm PT
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The Good Bump!
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Aug 22, 2009 - 12:56pm PT
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Good bump indeed, I must have been out of the country and missed this first time around. Interesting to read all the comments about those bolts. We did this megaclassic route in the late 80s and the bolts were still there on the last pitch. We had one #4 Friend which fit totally tipped out near the bottom, and that was it. But my recollection was the bolts weren't even 1/4 inchers, I recall thinking they looked like 3/16 and not even good enough to dare to step on certainly not to bother clipping, though I desperately would have liked some help and pro on the OW. At that time the only prudent plan was to run it from the #4 all the way to the belay, cheered on by adrenaline and whatever other biochemical aids you had on hand, it was a pretty exciting lead. I'm totally unsurprised to see Greg's post that two or more of them just plain fell out - not even as good as ambiance hangers (great idea).
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okie
Trad climber
San Leandro, Ca
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Aug 22, 2009 - 01:33pm PT
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Has anyone done this route this year? I did the 10d lieback pitch in the 80's. I think it's about time to go back and finish the route... Looked at it last spring but the first pitch was soaking wet (too early). I remember there's one spot on the crux pitch that seeps water. I think this is always wet in that one little spot.
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