Trip Report
The Incredible Hulk - Sunspot Dihedral (IV 5.11b) C2C
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Thursday July 17, 2014 9:47am
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Sunspot was one of the few classic routes that I HAD to get on this season. It shoots up the middle section of the Incredible Hulk through a series of steep corners and cracks. Trip reports and word of mouth suggested it was a sustained route and I was a bit intimidated by everything I have heard. To get a good night of sleep and avoid all the useless worries I decided to not look at the topo and swing the leads after one of us gets going. One person would end up with two 5.11a pitches and the other would get the crux 5.11b. Seems like a fair load no matter how you shake it.
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The Incredible Hulk. Sunspot goes up just left of the center. You can see the long dihedral system with an orange spot (sunspot) on the left side of it - that's the route!
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Some pretty flowers on the approach
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And more
We had two days off and no permit, so we decided to day-hike it. The hike in is short and we made good time. We were at the base after about two and a half hours of hiking. There were three (!) more parties that joined us shortly. A few people we knew and a few guys from Yosemite SAR team. All were day-hiking as well. Thank god they were climbing Positive Vibrations and we had Sunspot to ourselves. We are not super slow, but when it comes to climbing things at our limit, it is nice to not feel rushed.
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One of the spires across from the Hulk. I think I should climb one of them soon
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No need for introductions!
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PV and Sunspot share the first few pitches. Last year, when I did PV, I led the evens, this time I took odds so I could try leading the finger crack on pitch two. It felt very insecure last year, and on lead it did not feel much better. Cristiano took the next pitch which featured a series of strenuous underclings and a corner with spooky gear. Since we did our homework and brought a few offset cams, the corner was not too bad. I believe a yellow metolious worked well too.
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Looking down after we finished with the beautiful 5.11a corner. Favorite lead of my life...maybe!
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Cristiano leading the 5.11 b section
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View of Crown Point. Good from far, far from good : )
When I joined him on top of pitch three, I was pretty sure the pitch above would spit me off. Not only did it not spit me off, but I spent like two hours leading it. It was 180 feet of sustained stemming, jamming and laybacking – 5.11a. There are some “one move wonder” pitches that are rated 11a, this is not one of them. By the time I was done, I felt pumped, tired, pumped, hungry as hell, sleepy and pumped. Since I have above average fingers and hate laybacking the pitch felt slightly harder than enduro corner – no long hand jamming sections, no perfect stances for a no hands rest and much more distance. Cristiano followed it like a boss and took the crux pitch. While following, I stemmed my way past the two bolts and did a powerful gaston into a layback to pass the crux. I thought 5.11b on top rope should be manageable, but this one took everything out of me and than some. After the crux section, the corner was restored to life and I laybacked and jammed my way up to the top. Next 5.11a was more of the same laybacking. Even though I was fairly beat from sustained climbing below, my fingers went in well and I made ok progress. Cristiano took the next pitch and did not find the easy 5.9 path advertised in the topo. Way he took had a cruxy step right across from the aręte that felt like a solid 5.10 to me. Maybe I was too gassed to know the difference, but soon we were on top of the climb and setting up the rappels.
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Sun is setting, we are hiking out!
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See ya next time beautiful!
This climb was sustained, difficult (for me), had climbing of amazing quality and on an awesome peak. I liked it so much that I hope to do it multiple times in the future. It was a lot more sustained than PV, and I hope to get a bit stronger so I could climb the route without feeling super insecure on most of the pitches. Even though I did the route without falls or hangs, I would not be surprised if I climbed it next weekend and end up hanging on the rope multiple times. Sorry for lack of the photos from the climb, but I forgot to place a memory card in my camera. Without a memory card my camera was able to only take two pictures total! Rest are from previous trips to the Hulk. In any case, this route is bad ass, if you can, GET ON IT!!!
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World Cup was really entertaining this year and I managed to learn a lot
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Creepy fortune cookie after my celebratory chicken-wing feast
Doing it car to car allowed me to watch the World Cup Final and to consume a load of amazing chicken wings. Now that I have the hardest route in the High Sierra (per supertopo) ticked, I will either retire from climbing or focus on doing first ascents. :)
http://vividrea1ity.blogspot.com/
Vitaliy M.
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About the Author
Vitaliy M. is annoying gym climber from San Francisco. |
Comments
RP3
Big Wall climber
Newbury Park
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Jul 17, 2014 - 09:49am PT
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Another all-star adventure. Thanks for sharing.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Jul 17, 2014 - 09:56am PT
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Ahhh - the Hulk remains one of my all time favorites. Thank you for the trip report. Inspiring!
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RyanD
climber
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Jul 17, 2014 - 09:59am PT
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Great TR for the 40th time Vitaliy :-)
This one looks way classic, good fight, good send.
Thanks for not letting us down.
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Radish
Trad climber
SeKi, California
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Jul 17, 2014 - 11:20am PT
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Very Nice Pic and Report! Makes us wanna go...Just leave work and go right now!! Way to get on it....The mighty V !!
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Author's Reply
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Jul 17, 2014 - 11:42am PT
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Thanks Andrzej. I think some honesty is appropriate. Making it look like you walked up something you barely crawled by is not very honest. I am not here to straight up brag! I posted reports about climbs as easy as 3rd class and about 5.7s that seemed as challenging as climbing El Cap when I got into climbing. Sometimes you have a good day, sometimes you have a bad day. I did good on Sunspot but about a month prior got worked by Don Juan Wall in the Needles (same rating). Had multiple hangs. Which was frustrating but good for raising the motivation level.
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snowhazed
Trad climber
Oaksterdam, CA
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Jul 17, 2014 - 11:46am PT
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yeah man! I onsighted the climb with Cristiano's leads, and then the following year took the opposite pitches and whipped big at the end of the amazing corner- I wonder what the third time will hold..... or your second...
The only reason I think the enduro corner is harder is that the sunspot corner is on my second knuckle almost the whole way- less pumpy for my style and sizing. nice work
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Author's Reply
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Jul 17, 2014 - 12:07pm PT
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snowhazed, how crazy, your partner’s name was also Cristiano? I climbed with a different guy. It was first time my friend Cristiano was on route. I led the two 11a corners and he led the 11b crux (regarding 5.11 pitches). I felt fairly pumped in the end of the first corner and was barely able to pull the last moves. In addition to everything the tag line got stuck on the horn below the belay station and I literally was a foot from clipping the chains. Hanging on the final jugs. Haha In the end I left it on my last piece and lowered him down to get the line free.
That is a climber on Outguard spire. Dow Williams or maybe Peter Valchev. That photo is from the last year’s trip to the Hulk. I had a few good ones of them climbing. : )
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pvalchev
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Jul 17, 2014 - 01:56pm PT
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This is on the list for this year, thanks for the stoke, great TR and effort!
Outguard Spire will be a disappointment compared to the Hulk when you do it, but it's great fun nonetheless, and a beautiful feature :) There is a lot of rock to be explored/climbed on that side of the valley... all by yourself, while the Hulk is crawling with 15 parties on a busy weekend. :)
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7SacredPools
Trad climber
Ontario, Canada
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Jul 17, 2014 - 02:39pm PT
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Awesome TR Vitaliy!
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Jul 17, 2014 - 03:18pm PT
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Good luck with that Jebus.
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cat t.
climber
california
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Jul 17, 2014 - 03:30pm PT
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Did you use up your two-photo capacity on pictures of approach flowers??
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 17, 2014 - 03:38pm PT
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Beautiful TR as usual. Dammit, slow down Vitaliy...save something for the Diamond!
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whitemeat
Trad climber
San Luis Obispo, CA
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Jul 17, 2014 - 03:46pm PT
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Thats awesome! I want to get on that soooo bad!!! Nice pictures!
TFPU
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Jul 17, 2014 - 06:16pm PT
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Is there any routes you haven't climbed Vittles?????. ;)
Stoke!
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Grippa
Trad climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Jul 18, 2014 - 06:28am PT
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yes. all the routes outside of california, and red rocks. :D
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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Jul 18, 2014 - 07:42am PT
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Another GNAR dabbing TR!!
alien? Bigfoot? or Peter Croft?
haha, awesome options
thanks for posting some Stoke!!
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snowhazed
Trad climber
Oaksterdam, CA
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Jul 18, 2014 - 10:47am PT
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Vitaliy, no, my partners for the 2 times were Sam then Jared, I was just referencing the leads I had the first time were the same as Cristianos.
One of my longterm hulk aspirations is to do a PV-sunspot linkup, rapping to the terrace so only doing the first 2 pitches one time. Much fitness I need to gain!
Redpoint on Tradewinds comes first though- you definitely need to get on that sucker now that you've done all of the classic 11s.
oh yeah- get yourself an 80M rope!!! no more tagline issues!
see ya out there
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
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Jul 18, 2014 - 11:55am PT
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Dudeage.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 18, 2014 - 12:49pm PT
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Grippa...Vitaliy is about to change that, he's flying to Denver to meet me on 8/20 for some climbing on the Diamond.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Jul 18, 2014 - 01:27pm PT
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Sierra mtn 1: I see movement down there, in the talus. Is it him? The one the other peaks have been calling the Rampaging Russian?
Sierra mtn 2: OMG OMG OMG, it is, it's him. Play it cool, play it cool. Damnit, where's my camera?
Sierra mtn 1: Jesus, almighty. It's true what the others said, look at those biceps.
Sierra mtn 2: Look, look - also true that he wears pajamas!
Nice TR, compadre. You're becoming famous even among the mountains, now. I know that the Hulk reads the ST. Also, Conness, no doubt. Lurker, though.
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chick_on_ice
Trad climber
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Jul 18, 2014 - 01:29pm PT
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Yo V! Nice TR as per always. Any more thoughts about the Patagucci trip this winter???
Also I'm headed out to Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan in a few days. You know anyone out there that climbs by chance?
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Jul 18, 2014 - 03:12pm PT
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"someone is looking up to you". Uhhhhh, that would be me. Another killer TR at an amazing spot.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Author's Reply
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Jul 20, 2014 - 11:11pm PT
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Jebus, I dunno about 3 man party, might work if all are solid. There is one traversing bit on pitch three, will want to protect it well for both. Aside from that, it is a straight line. Climb does not go super fast, it is sustained.
Regarding doing one of the spires on the day after, that sounds very reasonable. Have fun!
Snowhazed, I was thinking about Tradewinds, seems a bit hard for me at the moment, but getting an ass kicking is good at times! :)
Chick_on_ice, Patagonia this winter would be cool. Don't know anyone in Kazakhstan who climbs :(
Grippa, you are forgetting about climbs I have done in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Canada and Peru :)
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yanqui
climber
Balcarce, Argentina
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Jul 21, 2014 - 07:17am PT
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Looks beautiful
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msiddens
Trad climber
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Jul 31, 2014 - 01:09pm PT
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Great read thanks.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Jul 31, 2014 - 01:14pm PT
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Great TR, fantastic photos and a wall to look up to...
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mdanek
Trad climber
California
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Jul 31, 2014 - 01:48pm PT
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Nice report.
Just a beta note: Pitch 3 (with the traverse/underclings and the corner) has a tricky section where you may get your rope stuck behind a flake. This happened to us when my partner transitioned from the crack to the corner. The rope got caught behind the flake and none of us could move it. This was spooky since the corner does not have good pro and the communication was difficult. A fall would be ugly and potentially dangerous with the rope pinched by the sharp flake. My friend was lucky enough to reach the bolt at the top of the corner and fix the rope. He rappelled from the bolt and freed the rope.
The best option to prevent this from happening is to place a piece low after transitioning into the crack. The picture from another report shows such a placement (white sling).
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big wall paul
Trad climber
tahoe, CA
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Nice
I've only done red dihedral
but I figured i'd post since it is so easy access, that wall and surrounding cliffs needs more attention!
Paul.
Outguard: It's been a few years, but if this is one of the nearby spires to the west, it's sure to be fun, I remember seeing lots of great terrain I want to hit
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
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Such a great TR. I had hoped to get on the Hulk this fall but I don't think that's going to work out. Living vicariously through your pictures and description!
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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A party of three would be OK if you are all solid at the grade AND fast. It's like 10 pitches of 5.10-5.11 with hardly a move under 5.9 anywhere in there. Also, altitude. Also, you have every tom dick and harry from san fran crowding up every route on weekends, so do it during weekdays :P
V is a bad ass and gets props. Why care if you hang or not? You are fit, or not. Strong, or not. the thing to regret is the training and preparation.
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clinker
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
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Way to be V. Another great one.
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kaholatingtong
Trad climber
The fake McCoy from nevernever land.
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Very nice, thanks for taking us along.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Author's Reply
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Aug 4, 2014 - 07:54pm PT
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V is a bad ass and gets props. Why care if you hang or not? You are fit, or not. Strong, or not. the thing to regret is the training and preparation.
1) V is far from bad-ass. Just an average dude that has a lot of fun climbing on rocks, or plastic.
2) Climbing routes is performance. Like reaching summits, passing the exams, etc. When you put time into training you want to perform well and not hanging shows that you performed well. At times you could surprise yourself and climb well even though you hang. But in any case, I care. It felt good to climb Sunspot without hanging. I went back and tried Tradewinds and hung more than once. In the same time I did not feel too bad about it, because I performed better than I expected in the first place. On a climb so sustained I was going into it knowing I will hang, question was how much. So feeling strong is very relative, but different, from an individual to individual. Last week I had a day in the gym when I sent three boulder problems that I couldn't touch a week prior. I felt VERY strong. Sad truth, they would be a total warm up for someone else. All we could do is pick own goals, train, perform and evaluate. So not caring if you hang or not would be like not caring about your performance. I can't say I don't care about my performance with a straight face.
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The route as seen from the bivy spot. Photo: Chris McNamara
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Other Routes on Incredible Hulk
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| Red Dihedral, 5.10b
Incredible Hulk
The route as seen from Maltby Lake. |
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