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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 1, 2009 - 05:12pm PT
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Thanks Bruce. I corrected it.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Check out Jim Erickson:
Goofy footed as all get out, missing an arm, remaining hand passing time on his johnson.
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DJS
Trad climber
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Mar 19, 2009 - 08:45pm PT
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Bump
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DJS
Trad climber
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Mar 19, 2009 - 09:09pm PT
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Bump
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 31, 2009 - 11:59am PT
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Since I have now figured out how to use OCR software, I can post readable text from the Mountain 25 notes I posted above, which summed up the shift that occurred in the early 70s.
As Mountain notes, the all-free, all-nut ascents were the rage of young modern climbers (the best ones!), and Charlie Porter's big wall ascents are treated as the exception by Ken Wilson, Mountain's editor. I think this was pretty accurate in 1972.
The notes on Jim Bridwell's second ascents of Mark Klemon's Cream and Peter Haan's The Left Side of the Hourglass point out the importance of these climbs in pushing the free climbing standards of the time. However, I don’t think that Ken's comment about Jim's ascents breaking a psychological barrier holds water--everyone was still scared to death of both of them (the routes, I mean).
Valley vignette:
On a fine day, Jim asked me to go bouldering with him. It was an odd request because Jim didn't have much interest in bouldering, and my interest in bouldering was limited to finding nice sunny flat ones near the Merced where I could create romantic enticements in my search for the meaning of life.
But, how could I refuse.
I assumed that we would go to the standard boulders with all the caulk marks that ended near the Mountain Room, but Jim started off towards Manure Pile Buttress. I pointed out a few interesting looking boulders, which we passed. Then I pointed out that most were covered with moss and had bad landings. Jim persisted, telling me that he thought there was a good place just a bit farther towards Manure Pile Buttress.
Finally, we arrive at a giant stack of three boulders, two on the bottom, and one on top, with a cave like space between. In the cave, the top boulder and one of the bottom boulders formed a straight up, horizontal edge that ran out the along the edge of the cave. I was thinking in terms of a roof jam crack and noted it had a fairly sharp edge but was a horrible width. Also, the rock was covered with moss, pine needles and dirt. And the floor of the cave was boulder strewn and uneven.
What a glorious find, I think to myself.
As I stood and watched, Jim climbed back into this embodiment of the perfect bouldering cave, and from a crouch, reached up with both hands and grabs the edge and underclings out of the cave, moving from right to left. He doesn't try to find foot holds--just pure gut busting underclinging.
When he gets to the end, he steps down to the ground and suggests that we go back to camp.
Sometimes, being with Jim was like channeling the Delphi Oracle.
A few days later, Jim did the second ascent of Peter's Left Side of the Hourglass
Text from US climbing notes, Mountain 25
"Yosemite emphasis swings to hard free-climbing as nuts replace pegs. Charlie Porter repeats Tis-sa-ack, solos Dawn Wall and climbs Zodiac on El Capitan.
"A very satisfying change has taken place in Yosemite climbing during the past year, in that nuts are being adopted for protection, instead of pitons. For some years now, climbers have carried a token set of nuts, using them when they felt it was safe to do so, but thwacking in a solid pin whenever the going got rough. Now, however, at least among the best free climbers, pitons are only used as a last resort; or, better still, the hammer is simply left in the camp-ground, collecting dust. The new game is the ‘all-nut’ ascent, and a book has been started to record them.
"Exactly why nuts should have come into their own after being in the background for so long is not altogether clear. It is probably due to a combination of the obvious damage caused by repeated piton insertion and removal, the many articles that have pointed this out, and the fact that, quite simply, it is an idea whose time has come. Certainly, it has introduced a new element into local rock-climbing, and people feel that the use of nuts not only enables them to understand the irregularities of the rock more completely, but also helps them to climb better. The idea is taking hold in other areas of the country, for piton damage is endemic, and all this speaks for an intense interest in free-climbing.
"Indeed, aid-climbing — even using nuts instead of pins — is very much on the way out in Yosemite these days, and many of the best young climbers don’t even bother with it. Not surprisingly, this has led to a lessening interest in the big wall climbs for which Yosemite has been so long renowned. Of the bigger routes, only the Nose and Salathé on El Cap, and the Direct on Half Dome (on which British climber Alan Rouse broke his leg), have achieved any degree of popularity.
"Significantly, the many new routes of the last few years on El Cap still await second ascents: there is little interest in them.
"There are, however, exceptions to all trends, and Charlie Porter has been quietly doing his thing. Accompanied by Jack Roberts, he began by making the second ascent of Tis-sa-ack, on Half Dome, a route that had repulsed some five repeat attempts. He then went on, this time solo, to make the third ascent of the Wall of the Early Morning Light, or Dawn Wall as it is universally known. He did not, however, take the original route, where many bolts have been chopped in the early part, but rather went up the right side of El Cap Tower, the route favoured in the early attempts. This notable effort took him ten days, and he is reported to have chopped a number of bolts that he deemed unnecessary, in the upper sections.
"It is not intended to belittle this achievement, but it should be pointed out that among the hard core of young Yosemite climbers the Dawn Wall is a subject of extreme disinterest they do not consider it to be a legitimate route.
"Finally, with Gary Bocarde, Porter started up the Salathé/Muir combination, to break out on to the impending headwall to the left of the upper part of the Muir (the Shield), having taken a reported 30 rurps, and used all of them, as well as placing 24 bolts. During the spring, the old master himself, Royal Robbins, made a number of hard sight- leads of free climbs, but he failed to achieve one of the few remaining goals left to him in the Valley: the first, solo first ascent on El Cap. He spent seven days on the unpromising- looking rock to the right of the North America Wall, before retreating. The distinction, of course, fell to Jim Dunn, with his route Cosmos.
"To sum up, then, it has been a year of great activity in nut- protected, hard free-climbing. Currently, that is where it is at, and a host of excellent climbers are relentlessly raising the standards.
A late note:
"The Fall saw a further handful of notable climbs. Charlie Porter made the solo first ascent of The Zodiac — a very difficult aid climb on the South East Face of El Capitan to the left of the East Buttress (see note on page 33). Billy Davidson and Mike Brittenbach made the third ascent of Tis-sa-ack in 8 days. They apparently had an exciting time, taking two longish falls and describing the route as ‘a horror climb’.
"On the left side of Glacier Point Apron Rik Reider and Rab Carrington established A Mother’s Lament (Grade 4, 5.10) up the slabs between The Cow and The Calf.
"On the short, hard, free-climb scene, Jim Bridwell’s second ascents of the Left Side o f Hourglass and Cream stand out. These very serious leads had gathered a certain aura and Bridwell’s ascents break a psychological barrier that had developed round these climbs."
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 30, 2010 - 06:24pm PT
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Real Climbing Bump!
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Paulina
Trad climber
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Jul 30, 2010 - 08:01pm PT
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Love real climbing and history thread resurrection. CPoF (first 5 pitches) kicked my butt twice! But I will return, yes.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jan 23, 2011 - 10:13pm PT
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bump for climbing
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Jan 23, 2011 - 10:34pm PT
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couple of scanned slides from the 80s
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Bump.
I was just thinking what a great route this is, although it wouldn't be called a "modern" route. Did it with Jim Donini a few weeks ago, and there was a line on it, when we came back to do the Beck/B? route a few days later. Sorry for the senior moment, but I'm too lazy too search for the correct route name.
It really is a quality route--hence the usual line at the base.
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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Another bump for a great story about a great route.
1st five of CPoF is a Valley must do, maybe top ten material.
Did pitches six and seven to the dike traverse and BW and KB raps with Sutton so we could check out the Wazoo line (which climbs right through the apex of the dike).
Worthy and recommended.
It would be interesting to hear if anyone's climbed pitches eight through ten in recent times.
Maybe with some tidying and decent rap anchors they'd see traffic and stay clean?
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Aug 14, 2014 - 06:47pm PT
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Just a bump for just another great route.
I climbed this with Kelly Laakso the same trip in 1986 when we got to climbe Reed's Direct, or most of it.
It's a bit weird, when I think of both of these routes, not having completed the final section. Some (probably many) of you have had the same non-experience of not doing both routes in their entirety and rapping.
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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Oct 21, 2014 - 03:58pm PT
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Ms. Chief and I had a four day visit to The Valley last week courtesy of Ron's hospitality.
First time in almost eight years!
Had to climb the first five of CPOF.
First pitch, as slippery, awkward and insecure as ever, maybe worse for all those thousands of chalked hands and rubbered feet. Bad enough to make you wonder about the direct start till you rap and see the lack of pro.
Second pitch, as fine as fine can be.
Third pitch, cool roof even if I was considerably less than graceful dragging my aging carcass over it. Wide section above pretty casual with the 3.5 and 4 Camalot.
(The anchor could use another bolt as the two there are over three feet apart.)
Fourth pitch, decent but surprisingly short, like only 20 meters?
Fifth pitch, the unappealing chimney start is actually really cool and the last half of this 45 meter pitch, pure quality to the rap anchors Sutton and I placed 18 years ago now.
Paused long enough for a smoke and reminisce on the next two pitches to The Chickenshit Traverse.
Rapped down through the Wazoo (no chalk at all!) and BW to avoid the six parties behind us.
If that was the only route I ever climbed in the Valley, it would suffice.
Planning to flog myself into better shape and come back next year for the whole rig to the top of the tenth.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 21, 2014 - 04:40pm PT
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Chief,
FYI, my friend Job and I rapped down the entire Grand Wazoo about a month ago.
We had climbed up the Kor-Beck and were planning to replace the old bolt
anchor at the end of p6 or so of the Central Pillar of Frenzy.
However, it started raining and got real slick, so we will have to try again someday.
I did at least get a look at where the pitches went, so the topo will look decent.
There were a couple of bail biners high on the Wazoo, but of course it's hard to tell exactly how long they had been up there.
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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Oct 21, 2014 - 06:00pm PT
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Thanks Clint!
Straight forward rap down The Wazoo?
Bail biners on one of the last pitches?
PB
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 21, 2014 - 07:13pm PT
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Perry,
Yeah, the raps down the Grand Wazoo were straight forward.
We were very glad, because it was dark and slick from the thunderstorm,
and we didn't want to face the significant hangup risk if we went
down the Kor-Beck.
We rapped from a bush/bay tree on the Kor-Beck traverse ledge down to
the top anchor of the Grand Wazoo.
All the raps went well. I remembered about the anchor location under
the roof.
The bail biners were on a crux section of the last pitch, where the bolts were close together - bolts 10-13 of 18 on that pitch.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Oct 22, 2014 - 06:21am PT
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Bump for Awesome!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jul 21, 2018 - 07:00pm PT
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you've all done it bump
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