dberdinka Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Trip: Zion - Various Date: 4/14/11 Trip Report: Another whirlwind spring trip to somewhere (hopefully) warm and sunny with an old friend. Last year was Yosemite, year before that Moab, this year we head to Zion. Presuming we can keep up the pace maybe that will become the rotation. With some careful flight selection we manage to eke out 3 full days and 2 half days of climbing on a 5 day roundtrip. The weather gods smile, no small feat for what has apparently been a rough winter and spring throughout the west. After scoring a sweet campsite in the park, the morning is spent shopping for mementoes for the children and getting postcards in the mail (which still don’t arrive until after I return ). With half a day to climb we head to Riddlers Delight, a six pitch supposedly good 5.10 route above the lodge at mid-canyon. Four pitches up the camera departs it’s carabiner bouncing off into the void, rendering an already forgettable experience that much more so. While there are no doubt many classic routes in Zion this is not one of them. The Watchman from camp Desert Shield Owen and I are no longer particularly well paired climbing partners. He’s a strong free climber while in the last year or so I’ve immersed myself in the seemingly obsolete practice of aid climbing and can now barely climb a ladder. So we choose a couple walls that split the difference. The mornings are cold and our supposedly early start becomes 8 am. Owen fires off the first 5 pitches of excellent freeclimbing to 5.11a in three hours. I jug with a pack full of aiders, water and umpteen sets of offset micronuts. After straightening out the inevitable clusterfuck of gear I’m off, short-fixing our way up the impeccable 450’ tall and slightly overhung headwall split by a single seam that ends with a perfect top out onto a flat ledge. Nine hours after starting we’re both on top, now all that’s left is to rap the route… The headwall looms above Bolt Ladder pitch Crux seams Great Topout The Temple of Sinawava Down Canyon to Angels Landing Iron Messiah A route I’ve always wanted to climb and excellent to boot! Long pitch after long pitch of awesome crack and face climbing with a short and mild 5.10 crux. Very similar too and every bit as high quality as the famous Epinephrine but maybe half as long. Definitely worth a visit. For once we get back to camp before dusk and actually get to putter around and relax along the banks of the river. Looking up into the main corner Crack in the Cosmic Egg A spectacular looking line that cleaves the center of the East Face of Mount Moroni. It starts with five pitches of aid up a slightly overhung 500’ wall split by a long, ridiculously thin seam followed by another five pitches of mostly free climbing. After burning up through the first three pitches our pace mellows and I manage to throw one of our rock shoes off the wall, once again relegating myself to jugging the once again high quality free pitches. A party above, that had fixed the first half the wall, decides they need to haul their daypack up a variation pitch of 5.7 described as having “loose blocks” in the guidebook with predicable results. Crack! A block suddenly appears on the skyline. Boom! It hits a corner exploding into pieces amid a cloud of dirt. Shhwoooop! Shrapnel the size of bread loaves screams down the wall. I’m fairly hidden on a ledge, Owen is exposed on the face. Everyone is ok. Just thinking about it still makes me feel sick. Is this just the risk we accept when climbing below others? Or is it too much to expect other parties to not haul a pack they could carry across a stretch of rock strewn with loose stacked blocks when there are people below? Regardless of who’s wrong or right the lesson is learned, don’t assume another party is going to have any consideration for your safety. We catch them at the last pitch were they’ve gone to great lengths marking some loose blocks they don’t want us to touch while they rap the route below us. Gee thanks guys, some of us actually figure that stuff out on our own…. Mount Moroni The Lower Wall The 300’ seam Another hanging belay Climbing through “The Wormhole” The Headache and Ashtar Command Already it’s time to leave but we have the morning. The Headache has to be one of the finest multipitch 5.10 trad climbs in existence. Three pitches of steep, perfect handcracks in a spectacular setting. Afterwards we have time to run up the “easiest” climb in the park, the two pitch 5.9 Ashtar Command Tower. Again fun climbing on great rock. Then roll across the desert to Vegas, sit at the airport well into the night when the plane forgets to show up, home at 1 am, work at 8 am. It’s over. Thanks Owen, I can’t wait till next spring…. The Headache Ashtar Command Good Times! Approach Notes: Cheap flight to Vegass and a 3 hr drive across the desert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 zion jealous of yer wedder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlympicMtnBoy Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Hot damn that looks like fun! Why is the sky so blue in all your pictures. Did you photoshop that or something? ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Darin, your TR's are always such a delight to read, this one is no exception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layton Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 nice Darin! Yeah, I can't believe how much I disliked Riddler's Delight. Did you tape up for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danhelmstadter Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 wow! that place looks unreal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallstein Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Way to get after it! Zion is such an amazing place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepires Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 sounds like a good pair up to me. awesome photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crack Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Fuckin' awesome -thanks for sharing such great shots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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