Wide World of Yosemite Valley Off-Widths

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List

This thread has been locked

Messages 61 - 80 of total 85 in this topic

<< First | < Previous | Show All | Next > | Last >>

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Nov 12, 2008 - 03:46pm PT

Jim Adair died on May 30, 1978.

Doug Robinson

Trad climber

Santa Cruz

Nov 12, 2008 - 03:52pm PT

Hey Largo,

There's good stuff about the Crack of Doom in Roper's Camp 4, including a vivid description of the crux OW. Here's a favorite excerpt:

"One fall day in 1962 Sacherer suggested that we do the Crack of Doom, Pratt's superb crack route of a year earlier. Everyone except Sacherer was leery of the climb -- even Robbins and Kor shunned it. I elicited a promise that he'd lead the 5.10 pitch at the top, and off we went. He led the short and strenupus first pitch brilliantly. On the second pitch, an overhanging, totally unprotected, and severely flared slot, I soon found myself sixty feet above Sacherer. I make the mistake of looking down at the naked rope arcing down to my partner and realized that if I popped I'd plummet straight down 120 feet into the forest. I immediately began wiggling downward, scared out of my mind. My friend, the one I'd been so patient with when he started climbing in Berkeley only two years earlier, screamed, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I can't do it," I announced. "I'm coming down."

"Stay up there, you checkensh*t," he shrieked.

I ignored him, fear of death overcoming fear of Sacherer. I slithered , barely in control, down the tight, black depths of the slot and arrived at the belay ledge quivering and with my ass on fire from the too-quick descent. I dropped my pants and craned my neck to see the extent of the abrasions. Sacherer stared at me silently, as if I were a worm. "Rest a minute and get backup there," he finally said in a monotone.

"F*ck you, Frank," I snarled. "You do it!" He refused to go up, muttering something about saving himself for the 5.10, so down we rappelled. On the drive back to Camp 4 Sacherer made small talk as if nothing had happened. Then, as we turned into the entrance, his face tightened: "Tell them it was your fault."

"Of course," I said. "It was."

A knot of people strode up to Sacherer's car as we parked, eager to hear if the fabled Crack of Doom had been conquered. Sacherer gave me a meaningful look and I dutifully confessed. Following my humiliation -- a minor one, really, since I simply told everyone I didn't want to die that particular day -- Sacherer offered me a Coke.

Jaybro

Social climber

wuz real!

Nov 12, 2008 - 03:54pm PT

Well, that nails the year.

Not being flippant, Jim Adair was a really good guy who I only knew for about a week. He had a bunch of good friends there who really thought a lot of him. That says as much as anything, about someone's character.

cragnshag

Social climber

san joser

Nov 12, 2008 - 05:54pm PT

This crack awaits a free ascent:

Harder than Generator Crack....

I'll try to post a TR tonight about this mean crack.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Nov 12, 2008 - 06:06pm PT

Did the Crack of Doom in 70 or 71. I recall it wasn't as continuous as the Crack of Despair but had a harder crux.

scuffy b

climber

Bad Brothers' Bait and Switch Shop

May 20, 2009 - 07:00pm PT

Hey, Whoa,

Was there ever a TR about this crack?
I went and looked at it a couple months ago (by myself).
I marveled, I enthused, I pondered...

Then I acquired a big urge to visit a bathroom and maybe a
bookstore.

It looks a bit steeper in the "flesh." Good, though!!!

Larry

Trad climber

Bisbee

May 20, 2009 - 08:34pm PT

Jay, here are some additional details about Nick's fall, as I remember them. I wasn't with you in the Valley, but I heard about the fall at the wedding.

The sheath of the rope was shredded for several feet. They had to rap off on the shredded rope. Nick was unconscious immediately after the fall. Kim was yelling "Grab that tree, the rope is broken!"

The first words out of Nick's mouth were "Who did we go to the [Dead] concert with?"

I think he'd made it above the Overhang proper.

They'd borrowed the rope from Kim's brother. (I WAS there for this part.) They cajoled him into it, because it was one of the new 165 footers, which they just had to have for The Valley.

I didn't know they'd done Crack of Doom.

hooblie

climber

May 20, 2009 - 10:33pm PT

i don't know when the word beta came to be part of climbing vernacular, but when i first learned it, i linked it with a memory that harkons back to '76 on the left side of moby dick. on the lead up into the guts of the thing, my dignity was still intact but progress was eluding me. yvon appeared, out in the sun, making nice headway on whatever the neighboring crack is. in a conversational tone, as he came abeam my position, he offered i little tidbit about stacking heel to arch in a t-shape and the impass was no more.

eeyonkee

Trad climber

Golden, CO

May 20, 2009 - 10:53pm PT

I set off to do the Crack of Doom with Rick Piggott in the Spring of maybe 1977. I was excited to do this classic route by one of my all-time heroes (Pratt, duh!). We figured we'd be able to cross the Merced from the Camp 4 side and told our camping partners as much, who went off to do various other climbs. Well it turns out, we were not able to cross the river, whereupon Rick suggested that we do the DNB on Higher Cathedral Rock, instead. I agreed, and we wrote a note that we left for our camping partners on one of the vehicles telling of our revised plans. We set off at around noon, hoping to complete it that day.

A storm moved in that afternoon that not only prevented us from finishing the climb quickly but the winds were so bad that they blew away the note that we had left for our group. We ended up bivvying maybe 2/3rds of the way up. A cold, no-sleep bivvy in long-sleeve shirts ensued. Our friends didn't know what to think. They thought we had attempted Crack of Doom.

We topped out early the next day, still not having done Crack of Doom.

I haven't been back. I thought I would.

Wade Icey

Trad climber

www.alohashirtrescue.com

Jun 13, 2010 - 03:43pm PT

why not just bump?

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber

Livermore, CA

Jun 13, 2010 - 04:47pm PT

funny this should float back up...

I've heard that the crack that cragnshag pictured above has been freed by susu who is a helluva climber.

Maybe the TR of the FA and of the FFA would be good to hear!

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Jun 13, 2010 - 06:32pm PT

Now known as Dr. Knuckles 5.11c (R) and Mr. Wyde 5.10c (L).

Freed back in April by John and Susu, respectively.

This is not much of a substitute for a story, but the email exchange went something like this:

Susu: I still think feedback on the grade for Mr. Wide would be wise before settling on 10c. Though, no matter what, I know a grade will be too soft to some, sandbagged to others.

Bob: I recall hearing that someone who likes OW's fell headfirst out of it... so it makes me think 10c may be sandbagged...

John: Sandbag? As far as I have noticed, Sue climbs it differently than Steve and Gary did. She laybacks more through the crux than they did. They were trying kickthroughs and crazy sh#t like that. Those guys are scrappy! Perhaps she fits better? I actually havent tried the entire wide part for some reason (he he) so I have no say in it. Sue is more honest and modest than most in rating is my 2 cents.

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Jun 13, 2010 - 06:43pm PT

And she strikes one as so pretty and normal.....

Buju

Big Wall climber

the range of light

Jun 13, 2010 - 07:35pm PT

THE NARROWS!!!

Lots of quality...not much grimness. It will make you look good naked though...

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Jun 13, 2010 - 07:40pm PT

Why do people say the Narrows is hard- lean body and big feet and you're good to go.

nutjob

Trad climber

Berkeley, CA

Jun 13, 2010 - 08:31pm PT

I thought there were 4-6 pitches on SS harder/scarier than the Narrows:
1) pitch before Narrows
2) Wilson overhang
3) pitch after the raps
4) pitch with the 5.9+ squeeze or the 5.8 flake out right... getting to the flake is scary
5) 2 pitches after the narrows (the squeeze into wider chimney). turns out not too hard, but scary committing to go up to the chockstone and 3-bolt belay station. Pancake if you blow it.
6) Glad I followed the face pitch 2 before the narrows

The only "most" I can say about the Narrows pitch is "most cool." But there are lots of cool pitches, so it's a close race.

At least some of these had OW moves, so it's mostly on-topic.

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Jun 13, 2010 - 10:17pm PT

The narrows isn't hard ( rated 5.7 when we first did it) just unique.

You don't even have to have the 'extreme' Donini build; 5.11 145 lbs, size 40 EB worked for me. -later heavier, 39 Kauk,solo.

scuffy b

climber

Eastern Salinia

Jun 14, 2010 - 04:06pm PT

When I got spit out of MrWyde repeatedly, that was a week after Woodson.
I can say I think Maria's OW and the Crucible are both absolutely
Piss Easy compared to this rig.