Steck-Salathe

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Zander

Trad climber

Berkeley

Mar 9, 2011 - 01:59pm PT

Here's a TR where Inez D., Brutus Of Wyde (RIP bro) and Steck climb the route and discuss the missing foothold on Wilson.

http://www.terragalleria.com/mountain/info/yosemite/sentinel2.html

I've been up the Wilson Overhang four times and wether it is 5.8d or 10b may depend on how you are feeling that day but it is safe to say it is no longer 5.8a.

Zander

ydpl8s

Trad climber

Santa Monica, California

Mar 9, 2011 - 02:42pm PT

5.8d....I love it! Now us old infirm fogeys can split hairs with the best of them.

le_bruce

climber

Oakland, CA

Mar 9, 2011 - 05:44pm PT

If I had to choose between:

a) doing the route with some missing holds and some awkward chockstones, but modern gear and shoes, or

b) doing the route with the holds there and no chockstones, but a rack of pins and a pair of mountain boots...

nutjob

Gym climber

Berkeley, CA

Mar 9, 2011 - 06:15pm PT

Le_bruce, when do we go back for a double helping of glory? Let's set a date! I think May is the month....

lucaskrajnik

Trad climber

Anchorage, AK

May 11, 2011 - 11:42am PT

I have a question about the size of the narrows. I have read once, maybe twice that someone couldn't fit through the slot. Also that inhaling can hold your chest (looking at their climbing pictures online, they don't look like wide people at all) I'm kind of a big guy, and hoping someone has done this who is bigger than I. If I were to get stuck, is there an alternate route?
Im 6'3" 200lb
42 long, in jacket size, but its been awhile since I've worn one of those.

Any big guys done this?

Karl Baba

Trad climber

Yosemite, Ca

May 11, 2011 - 12:08pm PT

I've led the narrows five times or more at around 190 lbs, give or take 10.

Sucks but doable.

And it's possible to chimney to the outside edge and climb that without the squeeze, which I hear ain't so bad but looks horrifying when you're there

Peace

Karl

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

May 11, 2011 - 12:08pm PT

I recently finished writing a chapter about Salathe for the Tom Frost book and it makes me want to go and repeat the line of original ascent to be able to appreciate John's uncommon talents and effort sixty one years ago.

During my original seven-hour interview with Tom he had this to say:

“You really do have to experience that route to appreciate Salathé and Steck. There are good reasons why Salathé is the hero of all Yosemite traditional climbers. He opened up big walls and Royal took Salathé’s mentality onto even bigger routes. We studied what John did and that’s what we did. Salathé is so big in our vision, minds, and psyches in being somewhat the next generation to follow him that he just blots out the sky. When you do his routes, especially the Steck- Salathé and the Lost Arrow, those are so big and so bold and so beyond what anybody else in his generation could have done that they wouldn’t have been climbed otherwise.”

Salathé, Steck and Ax Nelson; these were the original Valley hardmen.

steelmnkey

climber

Vision man...ya gotta have vision...

May 11, 2011 - 12:37pm PT

I had the honor of doing the route with two of my favorite Yo friends, one of them being Brutus. I was amazed at how physical the route was, and I sorta like that style of climbing.

We had a party of three, and at the Narrows, time was getting thin. There was no way I was going to try to cram my 46" chest through that sh*t, so after Brutus did the lead (in about 43.5 seconds), he pulled up the rope, tied some cams on it, and then swung the rope back into the chimney on the outside of the chockstone(s). So when I climbed it, I went out the Salathe way. I recall it being very doable, with some cool stemming pirouettes to rotate around and head up after getting out of the starting chimney. Salathe's bolts were still out there swinging in the breeze.

Brutus on the Wilson Overhang... June 10th, 1995

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

May 11, 2011 - 12:45pm PT

"Rubideaux" Jim Wison and I climbed the SS in 1975 as our first "big wall." To us and at the time that is what it was. We wanted to bivvy and hand hauled a pack with minimal bivvy gear, just water, snacks, sweaters and cagoules. We hiked up in the afternoon and bivvied at the top of the 7th pitch. We topped out around noon the next day. Jim got the narrows (no pro needed)and I led the aid slab clean. We wanted to go the way the heroic FA party went. We thought the original ratings were accurate. I got the last pitch (5.9) and was so gassed after hauling that pack that I could barely coil the rope.
What a great view it was from the top of the Sentinal!

EdBannister

Mountain climber

13,000 feet

May 11, 2011 - 01:35pm PT

Bump for on topic

Alexey

Trad climber

San Jose, CA

May 11, 2011 - 01:36pm PT

lucaskrajnik, you can have the problem there with your body size. Once we climbed it , - two Brits pass us early around Wilson Overhang. They were, athletically build , wide chests but did not look huge.
They were very fast and they quickly disappears above. To our surprise - we started to hear them back at slab pitch. And realized that one of them stuck in Narrows because - he was screaming in panics. Probably un hour or so.. . By the time we approached to Narrows - they gone

lucaskrajnik

Trad climber

Anchorage, AK

May 11, 2011 - 08:11pm PT

Hmmmm, can anyone be the judge of my comparison? Generator to Narrows

Idk if its typical practice but about half way up generator I had to grab the jug/flake on the outside, and pop my chest out of the crack, pull up, and squeeze back in because it got really tight. (maybe everyone does this?)

Any similarities between the two?

tahoe523

Trad climber

Station Wagon, USA

May 11, 2011 - 08:20pm PT

Generator typically demands offwidth technique and then transitions nicely to a squeeze and then chimney. There are of course difficult exceptions to any rule.

The narrows is pretty straight forward. Entrance is easy. Protectable with a new BD #5, but if you don't feel like hauling along a boat anchor, you can do just fine without it. Once you're in, you gotta work it like Santa Clause after dumping the gifts. You're inside. Groveling.

An agoraphobic's paradise.

Edit: see my profile photo. There it is in all its glory. Type I fun. Unless you're festively plump.

lucaskrajnik

Trad climber

Anchorage, AK

May 11, 2011 - 08:27pm PT

Tahoe, on generator once finished with the offwidth section, you start the squeeze, did you have to get out of the crack to continue upwards progression? That's my question...

Has anyone also had to leave the squeeze part to progresss?
If so, have you done the narrows?

Edit* this might be cheating trying to find this out.
but IDK if i want to do the route if I have to pull a "harding slot layback"

Alexey

Trad climber

San Jose, CA

May 11, 2011 - 08:34pm PT

Idk if its typical practice but about half way up generator I had to grab the jug/flake on the outside, and pop my chest out of the crack, pull up, and squeeze back in because it got really tight. (maybe everyone does this?)

Lucas, the way you do Generator around jug is harder than I do - squeeze inside in the flare. I think at this part - Generator size is very alike to narrowest part of Narrows. Try Generator again and if you can squeeze in with your right side all the way - you'll be fine in SS

tahoe523

Trad climber

Station Wagon, USA

May 11, 2011 - 08:41pm PT

No, I might be vertically challenged, but horizontally blessed enough to stay inside and squirm upward. However, my partner was a bigger gentleman and although he was cursing, he made it through. Eventually.

In fact, he hated the first squeeze pitch way more (which you can escape with the variation to the right).

The first time I climbed Steck-Salathe there was a party behind us. One man was B-I-G, 220 pounds easily. I saw him down at Camp 4 a few days later. It took him an hour and a half to get through (staying as far on the outside); they ended up benighted at the top of the narrows (great spot to shiver bivy).

TL;DR: Unless you're a 250 lb. gigantasaurus, you will probably make it.

Have fun! It's one of the best 5.9s in Yosemite!

marv

Mountain climber

Bay Area

May 11, 2011 - 08:43pm PT

Valley 5.9, go for it

steelmnkey

climber

Vision man...ya gotta have vision...

May 11, 2011 - 08:53pm PT

That was the gotcha with Brutus... he liked to tell a story about a friend of his who got stuck for a bit in the Narrows. Big guy, big chest. He finally started making progress when he would scream and that would expel enough air so that he could make an inch at a time.

Ooooh, what fun that must have been.