Big Wall Heaven... Above the Clouds

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Rollover

climber

Gross Vegas

Mar 13, 2017 - 02:30pm PT

fgw

climber

portland, or

Mar 13, 2017 - 02:49pm PT

Duncan - thank you very much. Have not seen the movie; looking forward to it!

jeff constine

Trad climber

Ao Namao

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:17am PT

Rollover

climber

Gross Vegas

Mar 14, 2017 - 08:41am PT

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber

SLO, Ca

Mar 14, 2017 - 10:48am PT

DL on Mescalito..

Cochamo, taken from on top of the FA of Cerro Trinidad

wayne w

Trad climber

the nw

Mar 29, 2017 - 11:34am PT

Tom Evans photo of myself on a 17:15 ascent of the Shortest Straw 9 16.
With Kristoffer Wickstrom and Brandon Adams

wayne w

Trad climber

the nw

Mar 29, 2017 - 11:42am PT

Steve Schneider Lurking Fear '94

AlanDoak

Trad climber

Boulder, CO

Mar 30, 2017 - 02:54pm PT

AlanDoak

Trad climber

Boulder, CO

Mar 30, 2017 - 03:07pm PT

Gobie

Trad climber

Northern, Ca.

Mar 30, 2017 - 07:26pm PT

Dan McDevitt

Trad climber

yosemite

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 30, 2017 - 07:31pm PT

Great shots guys!!!

jeff constine

Trad climber

Ao Namao

Mar 30, 2017 - 07:58pm PT

Last Pitch Wet Denim Day Dream.

Dan McDevitt

Trad climber

yosemite

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 30, 2017 - 07:59pm PT

Joe G pics

jeff constine

Trad climber

Ao Namao

Mar 30, 2017 - 08:02pm PT

Zodiac

Dan McDevitt

Trad climber

yosemite

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 24, 2017 - 05:32pm PT

Great shots Guys!!!
Shayna going light and fast on l.f.

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Apr 24, 2017 - 09:47pm PT

Mike. Is that Gabe?

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Apr 25, 2017 - 08:30am PT

The Big Sur Keg Party

My goodness, Gabe and I and Ammon and Rambo and even Chongo had a Keg Party up on Big Sur Ledge in May, 2001. This was when Chongo was soloing Sea of Dreams, and had ropes fixed all the way to Continental Shelf, if not right to Big Sur. The ropes had been there for over a year, and were so ratty that Chongo often had three ropes fixed across each section, which he simul-jugged using three ascenders!

Nick Rambo and I had been on the Sea, and Ammon and Gabe were on South Seas. It got very hot, and we were running low on water and food. Though we had a gigantic keg of beer that I had found in a bear box over in Curry. It appeared abandoned, as it was covered with months' worth of dust. I determined that if it was still there when I came down from my next solo, I would scarf it. It was, so we took it up the Sea. After soloing something, I met Nick on top - he had just done the Ranch, so seemed a good partner to climb the Sea with.

I had talked to Chongo a day or two earlier on the Motorola walkie talkie. He had walked out in the meadow near Camp 4 to reach us. We told him we were low on food and water, and he said he would supply us from his stash at Continental Shelf, even jug up and get it to us.

So that day Nick led up NA towards Ammon, Ammon led over right towards Nick, and we somehow managed to get the four of us onto Big Sur.

Meanwhile, it had taken Chongo all day to jug up to the Continental Shelf where he had spent the night. We lowered down 400' of rope to him - fortunately it is plumb between Big Sur and the Shelf, and he loaded up a pig with food and water he had stashed there.

We then lowered down the rope, put Chongo on toprope through a hauling device, and then as Chongo jugged, Gabe literally hauled his ass up the wall - and fast! In my mind's eye I can still see Gabe huffing and puffing and the confused look on Chongo's face.

It was getting to be evening, and time to open the keg. "Sorry Ammon, I only have this one cup, you'll have to wait your turn."

"Yaaaarrrr!" said Ammon, and quick as a wink, whipped out his knife, cut the top off an empty water bottle to make a cup, and served himself! [I had never thought of this before.... I was still kind of a n00b at the whole wall climbing thing]

It was a full moon night, and the Green Dragon came by after dark. We were well inebriated by this time. This was when the people in the Green Dragon would all shout up together at us, and shine their lights. Green Dragons no longer do this, because it always invokes the same response from El Cap Climbers:

"F*kk You Green Dragon!!!"

[This particular response has become a fave of a certain snarky wall climber girl some of you might know]

Good times that night, one of my most memorable on the wall.

We finished the Sea, but barely in time. I had phoned my travel agent, and learned that I had bought a 30-day ticket. Thankfully these things don't exist any more, because it ALWAYS takes you longer to get up El Cap than you think!

I paid Ammon to drop ropes fix ropes down the last two pitches of NA Wall, so that we could jug out and get down in time to make my flight. I remember Nick led the final A4 pitch through the night. While he slept during the day, I Far End Hauled our entire junk show up those final two pitches.

I have lots of great photos of this night and that wall, but they are on slides. It would be nice to find a way to scan slides. I used to have something you put on a flat bed scanner, but the slides always came out covered in white flecks of dust.

Anyone know the Better Way of scanning slides twenty years later??

Nick Danger

Ice climber

Arvada, CO

Apr 25, 2017 - 09:44am PT

PTPP, I have hundreds of slides from the last 45 years of back country buffoomery that I take to Costco in lots of 50 to 100 to get scanned into jpegs. Costs around 12 to 15 cents per slide. Some examples below, from the Black Canyon"

Nice thread BTW, terrific tales and flix.
cheers