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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 11:14am PT
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For the benefit of non-easterners ... Children's Crusade climbs the bright white slab (first
3 pitches) to the dark headwall (4th pitch) towards the left side of Cowpoke's nice photo below.
You might notice there's still more sunlit slab above the headwall ... the 5th pitch, we're
getting to that.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 01:32pm PT
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In keeping with the route's layer-cake popularity, NEclimbing.com mentions only the
first 3 pitches. Jerry Handren's guidebook goes to 4. MountainProject.com just
describes the first 4, then adds that "most people rap from here but there is another
10b slab pitch above."
Only Ed Webster, who worked for this route, describes all 5 pitches. He gives the 5th
lead a grade of 10c.
In Adventure Mode, Eric and I weren't gonna rap off. And after Eric's star turn, I felt a
need to kick in something more.
Looking up at an SMC hanger spinning freely on a 1/4" bolt, with mossy slabs and
overlaps above, we guessed this did not see much traffic.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 01:41pm PT
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The crux comes right away on pitch 5, and it's thin. We thought Webster's 10c was fair.
Higher, the climbing gets easier and "wanders" as Ed says. I passed a broken-off rusty
bugaboo that I'd happily have clipped if it still had its head.
While it got easier the climbing also got more "alpine," in this case meaning I searched
for patches of clean rock to step on, while finding my way through a minefield of wet
streaks and moss.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 01:50pm PT
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Near the top, moss got more plentiful. Making easy but careful moves 40' above gear, I
reached a point (familiar to Northeastern climbers) where rock slabs transitioned to
steep dirt.
A tiny blueberry bush hung down in my face there. Without thinking I grabbed a berry
and ate it, just to put off the last couple of moves.
As I brought Eric up and we bushwhacked to the summit, we saw abundant signs that
bears had been enjoying these blueberries as well.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 01:52pm PT
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A gentle rain was starting to fall. Soon it would pour.
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tradchick
Trad climber
White Mountains
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Jul 22, 2009 - 02:34pm PT
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Great TR! Thanks for taking the time to post up.
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L
climber
The Paleozoic rift of the Caradoc drift
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Jul 22, 2009 - 04:46pm PT
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Stellar TR, Chiloe & Cowpoke!
One of the best Whole Enchilada TR's I've ever sweated through. (My palms were moist the entire time--I kid you not, especially when Eric took his whipper and pulled gear.)
Those are some incredible photos, too...and anything that makes Chiloe nervous to climb, I'm pretty sure I'm happy to simply be a spectator on.
Thanks you two...beautifully done. (Loved the end photo.)
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 05:01pm PT
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Thanks, folks! Someone else's turn now, there must be other Whitehorse stories.
(Loved the end photo.)
Anyone recognize those historical shoes?
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Les
Trad climber
Bahston
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Jul 22, 2009 - 05:21pm PT
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well, I can't come close to the badass factor of Children's Crusade! But I love that Whitehorse granite, too! Not the best of pics, but oh well.
Moving through the headwall on The Wedge:
Friend Rahul following the second pitch of The Wedge:
Doug and Rahul approaching the mossy finish to the 4th pitch of The Wedge:
P3 on Sliding Board:
The final pitch headwall on Sliding Board:
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Jul 22, 2009 - 05:27pm PT
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went up there in 07 and onsight soloed the guides route, so greasy at the crux with scattered rain drops, i was gripped out of my mind, vowed to never return without a rope.... might have some photos from that day, will search the archives tonight
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clustiere
Trad climber
berkeley ca
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Jul 22, 2009 - 09:11pm PT
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Cool TR~!
Nice job navigating those run outs on 1/4 inchers.
Great rock
Love that place!! I remember being scared out of my whits in highschool on Interloper, Seventh Seal, Etheral Crack, Loose Lips, and a bunch of nondescript slabs.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 22, 2009 - 09:33pm PT
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Whitehorse Ledge: what a storied hunk of beautiful granite!
About those shoes....
(you didn't even have to ask)
The original Five Tennies.
Nice.
Man we used to swarm the standards in Joshua Tree in those fabled kicks.
Best rubber soles ever too.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2009 - 09:58pm PT
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The original Five Tennies.
Damn, Roy, I figured you'd know right off. First-gen Five Tennies, indeed. I've gone through
many other approach shoes since I got those, but still like them best and saved 'em for
special occasions.
I recall Billy Westbay's comment when the shoes first came out,
"They don't jam and they don't edge, what good are they?"
But I already had an answer, loved 'em for descents off The Vision or Redgarden Wall, or
for cruising up the 3rd.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jul 22, 2009 - 10:55pm PT
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Chiloe,
Nice thread. Thanks Man,
Zander
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MH2
climber
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Jul 22, 2009 - 11:19pm PT
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GRRRREAAAT!
Someone else's turn now, there must be other Whitehorse stories.
I was on Whitehorse just once. It was 1967, maybe '68. It was an Outing Club trip and we had 50 foot goldline ropes, on the Standard Route.
Bill Towler led the brown spot and I followed. Then the two of us pulled the other 37 or so climbers up to the ledge we had reached because night had descended.
Our leaders looked for a way off up and right.
Back on the ledge in the dark, I heard a scraping clatter of pins and biners that stopped just short of the abyss.
Our leaders returned and said we would be spending the night on the ledge.
It was mid October and a long cold night was ahead. One among the 49 of us produced matches and we ranged as far as we dared, collecting firewood. I went part way up a pine to get dead lower branches.
Around the fire we played word games such as the one where a clue, for example "roadside utensil", is given, and the answer must rhyme, for exampe "sign tine." (Yeah, it stretches my credulity, too.)
There was pretty girl from RISD, Marion Gruen, who was very unusual. She was a French major. Everyone else was sciences, the harder the better.
I don't remember being cold, but once during the night I did shiver briefly and it caught Marion's attention. She asked me what I was doing. She seemed skeptical of my answer.
The lights below were lonely and distant.
In the morning I saw that when I had been up in the (leaning) tree after branches there had been a couple hundred feet of invisible space under me.
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tradchick
Trad climber
White Mountains
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Jul 23, 2009 - 07:19am PT
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I have a few random shots from Whitehorse. Here's the wild step across to get on Loose Lips
Paul on the crux of Loose Lips
Paul leading Total Recall
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cowpoke
climber
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Jul 23, 2009 - 08:04am PT
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Paul leading Total Recall
Yowza! More please!
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tradchick
Trad climber
White Mountains
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Jul 23, 2009 - 01:35pm PT
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Alas! The Total Recall shot is just a tease...we only did the 1st pitch.
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pcousar
Sport climber
White Salmon, WA
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Jul 23, 2009 - 01:41pm PT
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hey TradChick!
We will be doing some more classic whitehorse pitches in the fall! Cathedral too!
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 23, 2009 - 04:35pm PT
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MH2, that's a story where the word-pictures sound truer than photos.
In the morning I saw that when I had been up in the (leaning) tree after branches
there had been a couple hundred feet of invisible space under me.
The log-carcass of one of those spacey trees was dislodged by a careless climber a
few years back, causing serious injury to another climber far below on the slabs.
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