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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 8, 2007 - 03:43pm PT
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Inverted Staircase Trip Report 9/7/07
In which Spyork and I discover we’re not ready to come out to play with the big boys and girls.
I’ve wanted to do this route for a long time. I’ve done the Regular route on Fairview a couple of times and Inverted Staircase seemed like it might be a second line to try that could be within my ability. It has a reputation as being a route that doesn’t get done that often with grass in the cracks. An old school adventure. I managed to talk Spyork into going with me even though our original plan was to do the EB of El Cap which is easier.
Here is a picture of the route. The topo is fine.
Here’s a picture of Spyork on the first pitch.
The first pitch is not hard technically but is a bit of a head game for the leader because of the moss and the pro being a little far apart and sometimes tricky to place. The second pitch turns a small roof maybe 5.8, which turns into about 20 feet of sustained thinish 5.9. You can see this going up and left in the picture above. The belay takes small gear, 5/8”, which I had already used so I moved up to the next ledge on the topo.
Here’s Spyork on the third pitch.
We had a moment of doubt on the direction of the fourth pitch but you just stay in the left corner of the big feature that is the first four pitches until it’s natural to move to the center.
The ledge at the end of this pitch is huge with beautiful views. The crack for the belay was calling out for a .75 Camelot but I had none. I ended up using a red TCU, a number 2 lowball, a 00 TCU and a “11 BD stopper. We bootied quite a few rappel anchors getting to this point. Probably that should have told us something.
Here’s a picture of Spyork moving out the dike toward the one bolt on the traverse.
He’s about 25 feet out from the belay, looking at a penji fall into a corner if he came off and I said “Are you in a good place? I should take your picture”. He’s like “Hell no, keep belaying”. I say “This could be the best climbing shot ever taken of you.”
“OK, Take it fast.”
He moved around the corner clipped the bolt and could not figure out the next moves. In the end I lowered him down to some small ledges he could cross and he made it over to the crack. He climbed the crack and then back cleaned so I wouldn’t take a bad fall while following. He then took a look at the technical crux of the route, some thin 10b face, and decided he wanted no part of it. He aided up it using the old pin, a small, now fixed, RP and the two bolts.
I followed across the dike to the bolt. The beta is that you step down a little and climb across. It was just really thin. I stepped down and then back up about three times. I just couldn’t see a sequence that looked probable. I’d look at the moves and then I’d look at the fall and swing I was going to take. The rope was coming down at about a 35 degree angle. I just haven’t taken very many falls, maybe that’s why I couldn’t imagine it was going to go well.
Eventually I used the 7mil haul line to lower myself across. I managed to climb the 10b and join Spyork at the belay. By now I was physically tired and mentally spent. I was impressed with Spyorks lead of this pitch. He just never gave up.
I started pulling on gear and was soon around the inverted staircase. I will say that every hold I grabbed seemed good and if you have gas in the tank when you get there this is probably some great climbing. I was getting close to the little roof at mid pitch when I started running out of gear and set up a belay. I thought this isn’t climbing anymore this is just BS. Maybe I hadn't eaten enough?
When Spyork came up I talked him into bailing onto the Regular Route. It actually took quite a bit of time to get over there because I’d set up a hanging belay in a vertical crack and setting up the rappel was a lot of messing around. We were at the bottom of the second pitch above Crescent Ledge. This is one of the best pitches on the climb. Corner to flakes to small roof with jug. Spyork had never done it so he led off. I couldn’t remember what happens after the roof but I knew it was easy. I couldn’t describe it that well. Spyork ended up going off route, straight up on cool 5.7/8 with some sketchy pro. Finally, we were done with the hard climbing. We did one more pitch and then simuled to the top. We even made it to the car with out breaking out the headlamps! Another great day. Thanks Steve.
Zander
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Cheers and thanks for the report
Adventure is it's own reward, whether you keep it between the lines, or not!
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Bodega, CA
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Thanks for the report. It's odd, but I did that route a few years ago and can't remember much about it except a raptor nest under the staircase pitch and there was water seeping out under the roof. Pulled on some gear on that part. I recall the traverse being sketch too. A serious undertaking. Have the bolts been replaced? They were horrendous when we did it, which added to the spice.
JD
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davidji
Social climber
CA
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Thanks Zander. Sounds like an exciting day!
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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It's a good route but....
I had a friend take the whip seconding the slab traverse. I tried to set it up for him as best I could. It was a "whoopie!" moment but fortunately, nothing to hit.
That Inverted Staircase pitch is a long one that burns on you and rope drag is a big issue if you don't work it just right.
Thanks for the TR
Peace
Karl
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nutjob
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Good job guys!
Steve, you're a glutton for punishment on Fairview. I haven't gotten around to writing up our Lucky Streaks adventure from a few weeks ago... I still have a back-log of pics to upload from a prior EB El Cap adventure. But I will say this: I'm glad you were on the sharp end when traversing past the hole and raptor's nest on that route! I wasn't too thrilled following it either as I'm sure you recall!
And thanks for not leaning too much on the room-sized detached flake over my belay :)
God bless the Spyorks of the world.
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Matt
Trad climber
never ever pissing into the wind
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hi zander!
so glad to know that you are climbing again!
(maybe that's old news? but not to be, so good on ya man)
my wife and i started it on saturday of laborday weekend, but we only got as far as the bolt on the traverse... =/
i put the 1st 4 pitches into 2 70m rope stretchers, but as it had rained quite a bit the day before, that entire start was 'not all that aesthetic'
(as in, when do the wet gardens end so we can get on with the ROCK climbing?).
i climbed out that dike and clipped the bolt, then looked around at the options-
seemed somewhat inobvious on lead, also seemed like it was gonna suck to follow.
(i thought going up and over looked just as promising as going down ad over)
as i was stab=nding there, thinking of how to make all that work out well, i looked up and saw the inverted staircase pitch was soaked, so as i pondered the fact that the wet climbing hadn't been too stellar to that point, and that the namesake pitch was also going to be gooey at best, my teeth started to chatter from the suddenly-more-fall-than-summer breeze...
and at that point i/we decided it wasn't likely to get any more fun that it had been to that point, and i climbed back to the pillar. from there we rapped, leaving 4 slings plus a couple of nuts that we had bootied on the way up.
(find those 4 yellow slings by chance? don't trust 'em, i am too cheap to leave biners or rings, so i pulled the rope through those suckers)
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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It was either my first or second route with J. He introduced me to the fine art of following wet traversing underclings at (over?) my limit, and I showed him just how theatrically I can loose my sh#t when faced with a big penji. ;-)
I'm glad you guys had fun and you're back up to speed, Zander.
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davidji
Social climber
CA
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"and I showed him just how theatrically I can loose my sh#t when faced with a big penji. ;-)"
Do tell. Here, or at Wide Wednesday this week.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Way to go Zander!
That's kind of a private place over there on that side of Fairview.
Went up there with Tim Sorensen, Tobin's brother, a couple fistfuls of years back; I remember the route being kind of stiff.
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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I got two of your slings Matt, I will shitcan them.
Gear retrived 2 slings, 1 biner, 1 cordalette, 3 stoppers.
Gear left for booty: 1 stopper 1 cam (i think)
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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It's always fun to hear the story all the way through, from hatching a plan revealed at the WW sesh to photos on the rock.
Good job you guys... thanks for posting
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Nate Ricklin
climber
San Diego
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I did (tried to do) that route last year. I also lowered out from the bolt on the traverse... it was thin! Improbable! We got past the inverted staircase part and then couldn't figure out where the hell the route went. There was no pro or bolts anywhere... left, up, right... so we rapped off a bolt down right to bail onto the regular route.
Anybody know how the route goes up there? As I recall it's at a part where there's a ramp leading up left then you're supposed to traverse back out right or something.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Nice adventure/climbing report, Zander. You need to get Spyork to work on his aręte-climber-sky posing skills :-)
If you are looking forward to another great climb on Fairview, I think that 'Lucky Streaks' is stellar. Probably steeper than rock to the left of the regular route, but well protected and mostly moderate. I only remember one hard move and it is possible to pull through on it.
Best, Roger
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nutjob
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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I don't have a camera and Spyork left his at home, so I'll bet he's going to be up for another run at Lucky Streaks before too long. It was spicier than I expected. The 10d section was more balancy than powerful, but I couldn't follow it without hanging while pulling gear. And instead of traversing left under the roof, we went up right, and the mental crux was definitely traversing back to the crack system. Steve was WAY out there on that part... if he would have fallen and his top piece blew, he was looking at a fall of legendary proportions to be caught by gear in the guillotine flake above my belay. Even when I followed, it was very delicate knob work looking at a huge swing.
And Zander, maybe early next spring we can bring some scuba gear and have a reunion on Royal Arches :)
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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Umm, there was no gear in the Expando flake. I thought about
whipping and popping the flake then chopping nutjob and the party of 3 below...
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 9, 2007 - 06:10pm PT
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Spyork and I are swinging leads on this trip report just as on the climb! Here's the link to Part 2.
http://www.spyork.com/climbing/tripreports/InvertedStaircase/index.htm
Matt,
I think the route is a lot drier now. Go check it out. ;-)
I'm happy to be climbing again. I've got a ways to go before I'm back in top shape though.
Melissa, I was very glad not to take that Penji fall. Of course now I don't know if I would have climbed it.
Nate,
One of Spyork's pictures shows the route above the staircase. A little right over that small roof and up the 5.9+ lieback.
Roger,
I've been looking at Lucky Streaks for a while but all my regular partners have done it. Right now I'm thinking Fiddler On The Roof 10a *** as the next thing to try. In the old guide it had no stars, now it has three. Must have some good climbing on it! Anybody have beta on that rascal?
Nutjob,
I've also heard that Royal Arches is too dry to be worthwhile now. I bought a bigger snorkel, though, so we might need to go back.
See y'all,
Zander
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nick d
Trad climber
nm
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Congratulations on your accomplishment! Also, thanks to both of you for your entertaining TR's!
Just my perspective, being an old guy and everything, but don't pay any attention to anyone that says 5.10 isn't hard. They are full of crap. Just because somebody else can climb five grades harder does not make any lower grades easier.
Maybe it is not such a big accomplishment in a climbing gym, but it is the real thing in the mountains. Most of the people who spout off about grades aren't climbing those grades facing real risk, carrying a big rack, etc...
Top notch, fellows!
Michael
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 11, 2007 - 01:49am PT
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When I did the route long ago, most of the bolt hangers were soft iron pitons with a hole drilled in the blade. Just imagine doing that one with a rack of pins and hard soled shoes! I did when clipping into the rusty old relics.
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| Messages 1 - 19 of total 19 in this topic |
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