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[TR] Enchantment Peak - Acid Baby 8/8/2009


NoahT

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Trip: Enchantment Peak - Acid Baby

 

Date: 8/8/2009

 

Trip Report:

We had a good time on Acid Baby this past Saturday. I thought I'd add some more pictures of it to the cc.com beta-pool.

 

This was just the kind of route I was looking for, and one I think the area needs. A good litmus test for the 5.10 climber. All kinds of crack and slab, steep, sustained, and relatively clean. Well worth enduring ass-master pass for.

 

 

If I knew how to draw on top of pictures, this one would capture 3/4 of the route pretty well. You can see our 2nd pitch emerging just above the trees, the big corner on P3, the big roofs you've crossed under and the crack you start in for P4, the v-slot that starts P5 and the big left leaning dihedral, and of course the prow (that which you are aiming for). Layton's topo in the original TR was good enough for us.

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Looking up from the base. We split the 1st supposed 65m pitch, at least as it's described on the topo, into two 30m p's. First one goes through a short roof (10- maybe) on a good hand crack, in the middle of this photo.

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Second one, for us, tackles this bitch. Woah?! An awesome, slightly overhung thing that had some fight in it. Held it's 10+ rating for me.

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Looking down it from a good stance

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Finishing off our P2

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Our P3. This 5.9 pitch was probably the most loose/dirty. Up this corner, then cross left and up through some dirty flakes, then back right under the big roofs.

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Our P4. After crossing under the big roofs over to the right hand side of the tower, you climb an obvious sharp off-hands to a good stance.

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Then launch into some airy friction moves left (directly over belayer) to get into a finger crack corner. Note the loose block, stem accordingly (or trundle accordingly!).

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Before we got to this fun little slabby bit, I had to figure out what's what. The finger crack continues straight up, and through the middle of this section in the photo (can't see it). Or you can move right and up to easier ground, but that begs the question, "how exactly am I going to get back across the whole thing." Going by the bird-in-the-hand adage, I went straight up knowing I'd have gear. It proved too tight for me though, and I moved right after a couple small nuts. Needless to say, I think right is the best way. The traverse was a bit nervey, but it went with some good footwork. Solid 10 with an added friction slab what-the-hell-am-I-supposed-to-stand-on bonus. Yeah for no penji's...

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Our P5 starts in this v-slot and up the hand crack above, then right under the obvious roof and up slightly easier ground.

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Second half of our P5 kept following this leftward arching corner to where it ended in a stack of loose blocks, then frictioned across into to a solid crack where I built a hanging belay with our #3 and #4. This was a welcome size as I had used all but two orange and one purple tcu, a number 2, and BD nuts #5 and under. In my opinion, the most strenuous part of this pitch was the v-slot (10+), but this upper part was tough with tight fingers and smeary feet.

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Our P6 didn't quite align with the topo. Maybe we had gone to far on P5, or maybe I zigged when I should have zagged. Either way, you're gunning to get underneath the prow. We went up an easy left facing corner, then cut right across a sloping ledge (pictured). The LFC kept mellowing out and curving up and off to the left, but I was trying to get under the prow, and I liked the look of this little corner thing. This guy puts you right underneath da prow. Note the awesome exposure...you're on the arete at this point. You can kinda see it in the picture, just on the other side of that pillar is a bunch of air.

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Looking up the start of the last pitch (P7 for us). One last bit of crack leads you to the finale...we went to the left of the block.

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Ride that fin

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It's a crazy cool finish. You've got all this steep climbing behind you, it's like coasting downhill for the last mile of a bike ride. Short but soo sweet!

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Purtty views...

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Highly recommended!!!!

 

Gear Notes:

Single set of nuts, doubles of tcu's to #2, one #3, one #4

 

Approach Notes:

I was curious to see how obvious the tower was...it was.

Edited by NoahT
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Probably?...for some reason I had Jaberwocky in my head, and thought I'd seen it written down as that somewhere. Ya, it's opposite dragontail at Aasguard, on the flanks of enchantment peak.

 

Let's see if I can figure out how to change it. Thanks, cheers!

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Cool! I bet it's starting to clean up nicely.

 

I went left mid finger crack to fun, clean, run-out face climbing, it's proabaly easier but there is no pro. We also went left afterwards on the slab to the arete rather than the flare corner, proabaly easier as well, but the flare sounds better.

Edited by Sol
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Nice photos.

 

P1 linked-up is 55m to a good stance above the steep corner. On P3 (After that fist crack) I went right into the easier hand crack, but it dead-ended, so had to move left into the finger corner/seam and then up the face climbing to the belay. I thought this tips crack was the technical crux. There's a good #1 pod above there in the face traverse, impossible to see from below.

 

For the 2nd to last pitch, we also tried up and left on the ramp under the fin, then climbed back down, went right, and up that lieback finger-crack pillar, directly to the bottom of the prow.

 

For folks not wanting to carry over the scenic scramble to the plateau, there's now a couple rap stations (and a creative tree usage) to facilitate descent with a 60m rope, skier's left off the summit.

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It's curious how three of the "modern" hard classic routes (Acid baby, Solid Gold and Gorillas in the Mist) are in fact repeats of climbs put up prior to the sprayage enabled by the Internet. Regardless I still want to climb them all...

 

*Pre-G.I.M. Ended 1 pitch before the West Ridge and was hence incomplete

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Did this route on aug 17th. I trundled the death flake that you had to step over, on pitch 3 I think. Some loose stuff for sure but I think with traffic its going to be nice. I liked the left (finger crack var.)pitch 4 I think. Starting the climb off with a 65m pitch is pretty bad ass fellas. We split em in 2. 3 star finish!

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Just a note- GITM had not been done before, that was a first. It had been climbed on, but was a project never finished. We did eventually learn the history of the route. Also, if you think Acid Baby is loose, well...I don't what to tell you. Pretty damn clean, although of course there are loose rocks in the mountains.

 

Oh, I see Dberdinka...you clarified the GITM thing. Not sure if you are trying to say the original effort was good enough to call a first or what, but in my opinion (I don't really care whether GITM is a first or not) it has not been done unless completed to the summy...that is the standard I hold myself to.

Edited by JensHolsten
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I agree with Daryn to some extent that folks have been climbing routes like this and probably even these same routes in the Enchantments for years but were never hyped much.

 

Who cares though? I'm glad these routes are getting the attention they deserve because now hopefully they'll clean up and give us some more shit to play on.

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