Shawangunks - Cornerstone of Eastern Traditional Climbing

By Chuck Calef from, Apr 25, 2013 "Wailing Banshees,(among other various, comments)

In 1989, my first summer in Los Alamos,
I learned to climb this route with Miki Enoeda, a visiting Japanese chemist at the lab.
I immediately realized the climb's abundant pockets would provide ample natural protection for a clean ascent;

indeed, if the route was at an area with strong ground-up traditional ethics (like the Gunks)
it would have been sent back in the seventies.

But it was not till 24 years later, on March 18, 2013, my sixty-sixth birthday, that I finally got it together to accomplish this ascent.

I'm a poor face climber who always struggles with this route, and not wanting to die in case of a tumble I rehearsed placing the pro on top rope.
On my ground-up ascent I placed twelve pieces of gear (and of course ignored the bolts).

I climbed on two 9 mm ropes, one for placements left of the arete and one for those right of the arete.
The sketchiest pieces, unfortunately, are just before the first crux section between the first and second big ledges.

I had a #3 orange Metolius wire in the large flared pocket right of the arete a few feet above the first ledge, a blue Metolius TCU in a horizontal slit about 1 foot left of the arete, and a black "tri-sham" in the same slit.

Half way up the route is the second good ledge where one can get a two-hands-off rest by clever body positioning. At this ledge I placed four bomber pieces -- a red trisham, two wires, and a green alien.

They had to be good because there was no way I was going to stop while climbing that last 15 overhanging feet of rock to fiddle with gear.

If I plopped off from the final move of the climb I would take a long fall but not hit the ground.

I messed up the final crux section somewhat by stepping too high and thus putting more force on my tired fingers, but it all ended well.

A ground-up, on-sight, clean ascent of this route would be a proud achievement.

You get a great buzz from accomplishing a climb like this even if it's not a birthday present to yourself.
It makes you think, what next
… Flesh-eating Ants?, Scandinavian Airlines?, Monsterpiece Theatre??