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| Messages 1 - 19 of total 19 in this topic |
nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 4, 2009 - 02:57pm PT
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It is unfortunate that we picked Halloween to bite off a line that was more than we could chew:
I'll have to ask Bryce to chime in with pics from his side that show the route itself better. It seems I was preoccupied with trying not to fall for most of Saturday and Sunday. Here's my limited selection of route photos...
Bryce leading the 5.9 start:
Bryce at the belay after the bolt ladder and funky runnel at the end of pitch 1:
Me partway up pitch 2. I got a ways to go before I feel like freeing that stuff! So it was standing on beautiful offset aliens and nuts for me:
Our high point on day 1, fixed a rope to top of pitch 2:
From here, we rapped and spend a while exploring Ribbon Falls Amphitheater. I love it! It may take a while for me to compose the photo-stitch candidate pictures, but here are some that fit in a single field of view:
From the morning approach:
Candy for the Eastbay Wide Club, but it may require the biggest guns of the wide community... this is immediately to the right of the base of Silent Line...
Looking straight up:
Side view:
Near the West Portal of Ribbon Falls Amphitheater:
Overview of the Amphitheater that fits in a picture... the photo-stitches should be better, but hard to capture the awesomeness, the dramatic lighting variation from bottom to top, or just plain get the whole height in the viewfinder from that position!
It is a special place. Looking out from the base of the falls is magical:
And little beauties are everywhere:
We called it a day, left our gear at the base, headed to Curry Village for pizza, chilled with friends at Camp4, and back the next morning.
Again, not much route pics from my side. We jugged to top of P2, Bryce led P3 which was pretty spicy at the traverse and end to the bolts. I'm glad Bryce got to lead that part.
I took the next pitch for 200 feet to right below the roof. I tried doing a half-chimney / half-heel-toe flaring thing off the belay, but it spit me out after my first piece and I slid to below the belay. So I resorted to some aid before busting back into arm-bars, fingers, then left-curving thin hand pods with off-fingers in between. After that, it was smooth sailing on amazing hand-jams. When I switched from aid to free I was putting in gear every 3-4 feet because I felt so tenuous, but I let the air out when I hit the clean hands section. After crossing through a big bush (a good natural intermediate anchor which we didn't use), I flamed out on the hands near the end. It was just so sustained, and I already felt an absence of free purity, so I didn't have any qualms about hanging on a cam for a rest. The pitch ended off with a really awkward 5.9 flaring chimney/OW. It was tough doing it with 3 gearslings of stuff plus a sling of quickdraws, camera, backpack, etc. I tried left side in first, took a few minutes shifting everything so I could try right side in, then decided I liked left-side in after all. Then I figured out I needed to trail the pack... after that I ran out of excuses I just got it done.
Here's a few pics of Bryce following up this section to our overall high point at this belay:
EDIT: Maybe these pics were from the top of P2? Those trees in the background look pretty close, and I'm bad with route details...
It was Sunday, we were somewhat worked and we still had a long way to go to the top, weren't in the mood for an epic, had to work the next day, wanted to spend time with family, etc....
Rappin' down, here's a few shots on the way:
And a sight that never gets old to close out the day:
Actually this was from first day, we made an earlier exit on Sunday to enjoy a little time with the ones we love :)
So overall impressions: technically harder / more taxing per unit foot gained than anything I've done (chimney flare more physical than NEB Higher Cathedral, finger crack tougher than Lunatic Fringe - for me at least), but it didn't have the sense of grimness or terror that I've felt on other stuff (like say Hawkman's Escape). It protects well, so it's a good route for pushing personal limits and coming back alive and in one piece. And the hand cracks! Best I've ever done outside. I guess there's more above the tunnel-through squeeze that we'll have to check out next season.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
obsessively minitracking all winter at Knob Hill
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Sweet! so if you top out, that's...what, Grade VII?
We got on this one the other day and had a similar experience, ie "this is harder than I thought", "no way is this 5.10", "wow, I'm tired"...
"the hand cracks! Best I've ever done outside"
Undoubtedly one cannot compare the Silent Line to that parking garage, and needless to say the cafe/shoe store line stands alone, albeit with an asterisk, but geez...I think I speak for all of us when I say that I'm rooting for you to get out more!
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Poofter's Froth, Wyoming
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Good job... less capes more guns next time ;)
edit: how long is the approach for someone who hates to walk and is old?
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
obsessively minitracking all winter at Knob Hill
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M/L an hour, depending on your load. There's a pretty well-cairned trail these days, so it's mostly about grinding it out.
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nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 4, 2009 - 03:09pm PT
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This is the first time an approach took me less time than the guide says. 45-60 minutes for non-Olympians. But my partner has run a marathon, and he would quickly pull ahead of me after each brief rest stop. It is fairly sustained steep hiking. Way shorter than Cathedral Gulley though.
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msiddens
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Nutjob, your a nut! That route remains on my personal TBD. Thanks for the post
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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Primo TR nutjob!!!!
Great photos...
Looks like you did a seriously spicy lead there at P3!!!
Kick A$$!!!!
Wide Wednesdays may assist in getting that trick part of the deck hiked!!!
Cheers to nutjob and Bryce!
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martygarrison
Trad climber
The Great North these days......
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great pics! I aways wanted to go up there but alas never did. Thanks for the pics!
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nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 4, 2009 - 03:46pm PT
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Here's a pic showing another party on the last pitch we did (from the belay station shown here in the lower left, up the nearly the roof):
And here's a pic looking straight down from that high belay below the roof:
You can see the impact of foreshortening by just looking at these two pictures, seeing how much crack there is between the bush and the roof.
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gonzo chemist
climber
the Twilight Zone of someone else's intentions
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Awesome pics! Is the rock really that golden colored? or is that some effect of the lighting?
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nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 4, 2009 - 04:28pm PT
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On the approach I said, "wow, that golden rock is really beautiful. Maybe that's why they call it the Gold Wall."
Edit: Oh, the last pic is west side of El Cap with last rays of direct light. That is the color it looks with the naked eye at that time of day.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Nice nutjob,
I went up to look at the first few pitches earlier this year, just looking around. It is beautiful up there.
P1
Somewhere on P2
Climb on y'all!
Zander
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Mic
climber
Davis, CA
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Really an amazing place. It is one of the best climbs I have done. I will never forget that 200' pitch below the roof. And that tunnel through at the roof...what a crazy maneuver.
On the approach with the north side road closed for construction last spring.
Here is Maxwell jugging the aid bit at the start of the route.
After we fixed two pitches the first day, we still had some time, so we headed around the corner to check out the amphitheater. The area up there felt a little more remote than the usual valley locations, given the lack of trail. It was spring, so the falls were flowing full and the amphitheater was really stunning. And to our great surprise, we weren't alone. There was a group near the base of the snow-cone with what looked like snowboards! It must have been for the photo-op, because I can't imagine wanting to make that approach for a couple turns in what I'm sure felt like a rainstorm.
Anyway, it was a memorable climb and experience.
--Mike
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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OH man did you guys miss the goods above the belly crawl tunnel! That is the most uncomfortable pitch I have ever followed!
We did the original route, 3 pretty good aid pitches, the one off the TRON ledge is a hooking frenzy for sure.
That wall is pretty physical, all those flares and such.
Make sure you get back on it for the upper pitches, make the rest of the route minus the splitter to the roof totally worth it.
An hour approach? damn that is pretty fast! I think it may be the worst approach I've done, even Watkins is easier!
Good TR!
Mucci
Nice pix
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nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 21, 2009 - 08:19pm PT
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Just was perusing my buddy's pics, and thought this needed to be added for the record. Making a toga fit with a climbing harness is not as easy as it might seem. I'll have to rethink this one for next Halloween:
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Sep 23, 2016 - 06:36pm PT
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My daughter just asked me for some red fabric and gold thread to make a Halloween costume, and I couldn't help but think of this.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Jul 23, 2018 - 12:37pm PT
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Cape bump.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Jul 23, 2018 - 01:25pm PT
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"NO CAPES!"
-Edna Mode
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Jul 23, 2018 - 02:52pm PT
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Good memories, Scott. Need to get back to this one.
Not many dead pines in this era
The gold wall
Party below
Before beetles of the drought
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| Messages 1 - 19 of total 19 in this topic |
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