Matt_Anderson

Pardon my butchering of French names and places, but . . . The climbing area: The Calanques in southern France contains a number of peninsulas that jut out into the Mediterranean . The Calanques sit about 45 minutes east on the coast from Marseille). The approach: The climb sits near the end of the Morjiou (I think) peninsula. The peninsula is maybe a mile long. As you walk from the start of the peninsula to its tip, you start about 40 feet above sea level, go up to about 500 feet elevation 1/3 of the way, and then end the trip at about 125 feet elevation at the tip. The peninsula is surrounded on all sides by overhanging and vertical cliffs between 100 and 300 feet tall. As you go you will notice arid plants eking out an existence. You will pass through some older-than-our-country battlements used to defend the peninsula from something or the other. Views up and down the coast are dominated by similar peninsulas and a few islands to the west. The rock: is white limestone - quite solid, but it feels as if you are climbing pumice, so at the end of the day you almost feel like you've had a manicure. I am told that the sea air prevents the usual grey oxidization layer that generally makes limestone so sharp. No one type of hold predominates, rather each clif holds a variety of pockets, slopers, crimps, tufa’s, fins, pinches, you name it. The rock in this area explains all of the truly oddly shaped holds that hold manufacturers sell but that are never reflected in nature in the Pacific Northwest. I would note that I took my trad rack to France because I take it everywhere, but almost never took it out. The French are sport climbers because the most compelling lines there are all face climbs. Unlike the states, where few things create a more compelling line than a single crack splitting a granite or sandstone face, the limestone cracks there are painful and awkward. In contrast, the aretes and faces call out to be climbed just as much as the split pillar on the grand wall. Climbing these routes is like eating ice-cream morning, noon and night - pure enjoyment. The Cliff - The Triperie sits just shy of the end of the peninsula. It is a U-Shaped bay, with walls between 150 and 250 feet tall. 80% of the walls overhang. Check out this link for a photo of it: http://www.onsight.com.au/gallery/overseas/france/index.htm (click on the picture of the guy climbing out of a cave at sunset - the Calanque - and then go to the photo taken with a fish-eye lens. The two in the picture are very near the top of the climb I am describing). The majority of routes at this cliff are grouped in an single 100 foot area. There are three tiers of climbs, making for ½ rope length pitches each. As I recall, the top tier contains about 8 climbs, the easiest is @.11c or .11d. The second tier contains perhaps 4 climbs, hard .10 to easy .12. The bottom tier contains two pitches, one is rated hard .10/easy.11, the other is harder. Each tier has a ledge at which you may belay. The bottom tier is low enough that you get splashed a bit if there are waves. Access to each of these climbs is by rappelling in from the top. Because of the overhanging nature of the cliff, you must clip the rap line through quick draws as you rappel. In about 150 –200 feet of climbing, the routes overhang about 50 feet. The Ambiance: My partner headed out after a leisurely breakfast in the relatively deserted (February is off-season for tourists) town of Cassis. As we approached, the Mistral was blowing (Think the French version of the Santa Anna winds). On that particular day we thought they were blowing about 40 mph. We hunched over in order to make headway, fully expecting to get skunked because the wind would make for very unenjoyable climbing. Once there, we took off our packs and discovered that they would blow away, even fully loaded, unless we anchored them. The Triperie was on the leeward side of the island (opposite side that the wind was coming from), so we decided to rap down and see if it was climbable despite the wind. As we descended, in addition to the whitecaps, we saw gusts of wind impacting the water and creating explosions of splashing water not 40 feet from where we stopped. Despite the fury of the wind, the bay was so small that the wind changed to an enjoyable gusty breeze the moment that we got 10 feet below the cliff edge. With the overhanging nature of the climbs, we were totally sheltered by the time we reached the bottom. While there were no boats out on the particular day that we climbed this route (to windy), other days that we climbed on the peninsula were broken up by small fishing boats heading out for their daily day of work. These were obviously commercial boats, but only manned by one or two fisherman. Seldom more than 22 feet long. Very picturesque. In February, the area is off-season for tourists, but temperature range between 55 and 80, depending on the wind and clouds. Most often, we were the only people at the crag. The Climb: Don’t remember the name, but it is the easiest line of ascent in the central grouping of climbs. The guidebook rated it the French equivalent of .10c/d, but it certainly felt .11b. It was the steepest climb there and had the biggest holds, predominated by fins and scoops. We climbed the in two pitches, linking the bottom and middle tier. As all of the climbs on the upper tier are .11c/d or harder, the rating I give only refers to the bottom two tiers. If you go, also check out a short cliff a hundred yards away at the end of the peninsula. Easy .10 to hard .11, a better view, shorter climbs and more sun. Even though I consider myself primarily a trad climber, and although the following statement compares apples to oranges, as far as pure enjoyment goes, this was the best cliff I have ever gone to. Better than the Grand Wall, El Cap, Half-Dome, the Diamond, the Cookie, WWI, Index and Mt. Baring. It was pure joy. Cheers! [ 08-24-2002, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

Everyone else has answered the question, I'd just give a piece of advice - seek out as many people who have built gyms, look at their gyms and ask what they do or don't like about the ones they've made. Getting the right design, angle, etc. is way important for making your home gym a place you are truly psyched to work out in. matt I've got one, your welcome to start with me if you like.

Grrrrrrr . . . Jap gardens protects just fine (by anything other than a sport climbing standard, then the bolts are a bit spacey . . .) and is one of the finest free climbs at index (full first pitch . . .). Nailing it destroys the nature. We do all have an obligation to do what we can to prevent that activity. We also have an obligation to start out politely. We should stay polite, as we are preventing the degradation of the route. Nonetheless. Such abust must be stopped.

5.10's seems to stretch more than any other brand I have worn.

single pitch - no. multi-pitch, solid rock, no one above me, no Multi-pitch, all others, yes. vantage - yes

I've had a double set of trango dual stem cams for about 8 years or so. I like them a lot. Easy to extricate, easy to place, don't walk, fairly light. The price was my primary motivation. I always thought the expansion range was great, barely less than a #3 camalot when you actually compare them side to side. good value. Of course, some of my partners hate using me rack b/c of them. fuck 'em. matt [ 08-17-2002, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

quote: I did the same thing the other day (except I fell on second/toprope). I thought it was probably more a case of my arms being blown from the previous pitch (and those before it) than it was sandbaggy. But I guess you could be right. That would make me feel better . I know several people who have fallen on the last pitch, but nowhere else on the climb. I don't necessarily think that pitch would be a sandbag if it was a single pitch climb, but it gives people trouble because it comes at the end of five continuously difficult pitches and because the style of climbing changes - all of a sudden, you are doing balancy face moves on slopey foot and hand holds. Its a bitch . . .

Absolutely the best place I have found for shoe repair (rock and otherwise). The owner's son is a climber, the whole family is super nice, happy to speed things along when you need something sooner than usual. Fantastic attention to detail. They deserve all the business we can throw at them! Matt

Good Gravy! Seek and you shall find . . . Thanks All!

While some people may characterize many of these as "sport routes" beware of the following b/f you do them if your definition of sport route comes from the gym. North Face of Mt Baring, Vanishing Point. Most of it is bolted, but you must be able to climb mid to upper 5.11 (at least) on gear. Furthermore, logistics of getting there, committment and some objective hazards from the present approach due to rock fall make this more than just a sport route. Finally, there are some 40 foot runouts on some of the easier spots, these would definitely be don't fall areas. Route between Lib Crack and Thin Red Line on Lib Bell. If your talking about freedom or death, half is bolted, half is gear. Regardless, at the end of the fourth pitch, you would either have to rap or climb trad the rest of the way. Goat Wall, Methow Inspiration. These are the true sport routes - the best one is not in the guide book. Search old posts for mazama and goat and you'll find references worth checking out.

Doh - good point ! I guess then the partner is yourself - One day I walked up to the Petit Gripon in CO and climbed it alone. No one on the route, didn't see anyone within a mile of it, as a matter of fact, Just 8 pitches of consistently beautiful and interesting climbing with fanastic exposure and perfect rock. Perfect leges at each pit that you could sit and think about how lucky you are. The only insecure place is the summit - about two feet wide with hundreds of feet down, as I recall.

quote: Matt, I have a question for you: on the 12a pitch, how did you work the beginning? Did you move the belay from the bolts below the slab down to the tree? If I was freeing it, I think I would want to load up the crack down by the tree (where it’s really good) with solid gear, but with a belay from the fixed station, that would be a rope drag nightmare. (Aiding I was able to swallow the runout and not place anything until I got high enough to not have too much drag). We used the fixed, belay, so I swallowed my nuts and waited to place. The climbing was about 5.10 there. I think I remember a hard move that I placed something, climbed up, then reached down to clean the piece. I was nervous, but pretty freakin' desensitized after pitch 5. . . Once I got high enough that placing wasn't to much of an issue, the placements were good enough to make me happy . . . Isn't the rock grand at the crux of pitch 7? That pitch is probably my favorite one in the north cascades. quote: I got a couple of good pieces in just as you turn the roof (just off the belay). Then the crack gets very small and shallow. I got a decent 0 alien and a blue-black offset, but both required a lot of fiddling to get them into the sweet spot. Same with the nuts – there are decent places, but it’s a matter of millimeters to find the sweet spot. I remember the good pieces at the roof and I think I fiddled in a blue or black, probably in the same place that you got the blue-black. From then on I remember a whole lot of crap - nothing like yanking a nut out of its placement when testing it to make a crappy lie back seem worse. The boys who freed it showed a great deal of respect for future experiences of the aid climbers among us. I was scared shitless . . . I remember fixating on a sloping ledge and reasoning that one would probably miss it as long as they pushed out just a little bit. Do you remember it? Or was I just letting my imagination get the best of me?

Yeah, you're right, doubles of cams, normal nuts and bring as many micro nuts as you got. We brought 2 or three of the #3-6 black diamond copper steels and they did us well. I was happy I had my loweballs (red and blue). I own no offsets, but, as Forrest said, I'm sure they'd be great. The route works around many features, so bring a liberal sampling of longer runners, expecialy if you are linking pitches. Specifics: Read no further if you don't want them. A loweball placement was very good and (I felt) very necessary for the .11d/.12a pitch. I'm sure that there is other good stuff that is ok enough to place if you are aiding, but it was all I could see to place while freeing it. Even so, you had to look ahead, pull hard moves, place it somewhat blindly from a layback and then move on, checking it as you climbed past it. Otherwise, I bet you would be trying the crux with the pro a good deal down. Probably safe enough a fall without that piece, nonentheless, a long ride. Regarding pitch 5 - I'd be very curious to hear what Forrest used, I had a decent alien far below me and placed a couple of crappy loweballs. I tried to place micro nuts, but they kept yanking out. I couldn't see the placements b/c I was placing from a balancy lieback. As I recall, I climed that particular section like I couldn't fall, because I had the impression I would wind up significantly below the belay. (whimper!) Some of the worst over gripping of my life . . .. Did I mention practicing hard placements from a lie back?

Just to be clear, we are hiking up the back side . . . All right, all right, I'll stop posting more than anyone else on my own request . . .

Thanks - very cool sight, but I didn't see Baring on it. Did I miss it?

Looking for whatever helpful beta any one has beyond the Beckey book . . . Partners and I plan to hike up Baring from the Barclay lake trailhead Friday night, camp near the top, play on the north face on Saturday, and come down Sunday. The following questions may sound a snivelling little wimp, but I'd rather improve the work to fun ration as much as possible; I anticipate being pressed for time on Friday night, even though we will be leaving work early. Would very much like to know if there is any water high up so we don't have to lug a couple of gallons a piece the whole way. Our Packs will be heavy, (couple of ropes a piece, couple of gallons of water a piece, rack, food, yadda yadda . . .). Any specultion on time to the top? How long did it take you and what were you carrying? Any spots where its easy to get lost? Any spots that are technically difficult (as opposed to just steep and tiring hiking? Any sweet bivy spots to recommend? Anybody have updated beta or helpful hints that aren't in Beckey? spray appreciated on everything but the water issue . . .

Nice Job Forrest! Thanks for the report - always nice to hear someone else's impressions. Nice job on that thin seam on Pitch 5 - I thought the pro would be hard free or aid. . .. Sorry I forgot about that harder move on pitch 4 or so - I think I remember it now . . . Did it pull over a small roof? Sucks about the headlamp. .. Matt

In retrospect, the coolest almost always requires a great partner and expanding the possibilities: 1) Regular Northwest on Half-dome - partner and I had no idea if we could do it and fully expected epic - turns out we planned perfectly (mostly guessing and squeaked it out. 2) Same route, the next year, different partner and I we able to do it in a day. Again, fully expected a bivy with nothing but the clothes on our back, instead, just the pure joy of 2300 feet of climbing in a day. 3) A true "winter" ascent of the east face of monkey face - a cold winter weekend, a crack 'o noon start, snow starts on the first pitch and we finish in a full-on blizzard by headlamp. Could a been patagonia except for the orange tuft and beer at the car. It was my partner's third multipitch ever - zebra zion the day before and some two pitch route in leavenworth the week before. His eyes were huge, but he just kept on truckin for all 7 or so pitches! 4) Prussik Peak - couldn't find a climbing partner willing to do the hike in a day, so I went with a friend who marathons and had climbed 4 or so times. Turns out the climbing was no problem, but descending Asgaard was a test of resolve. I forget that scree and talus needs to be a learned skill. She earned more admiration from me that day than just about anyone else I've ever climbed with. The most fun, just requires a great partner. Almost anything is fantastic then.

Can't your son get any date? I doubt that he'll wank your son 'course, what do I know . . .). He might do something with your daughter, mother, girlfriend etc., though . . . [ 08-03-2002, 05:51 PM: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

Depends what you climb at . . . If you can climb consistent .11a and are ok with switching between free and aid, you clould probably get by with ounly a couple of 20 foot sections of aid. If you're not climbing .11a well, it'll be a long day of aid. I don't remember the pitch numbers perfectly, but here's the best I can do . . . First pitch or two - free climbing up to .10 or so - whatever the topo says, First hard pitch - supposed to be .11c. I was scared shitless, my guess is that you would have to throw in some free climbing with the aid, because the crack peters out at a point. At any rate, if you just want to aid the scary section, you could climb the rest of the pitch at .11a and only aid about 20 feet. Youll know when you're there - the pro goes away. Second hard pitch - giveaway pitch and a lot of fun. Easier free climbing than the rating, it would be a shame to aid it. If you aid the whole thing, you'd climb a whole lot of aid - its long. The .12 pitch (.11d?)a lot of .11a, and like the first hard pitch, a 10 - 20 foot section of the business. Pro is there. We rapped b/f the last .11b pitch so I don't know about the rest. Have fun! trip report!

The trad around there is great, and others have discussed it, but if you are going to sport climb, and climb .11 and above, go straight to Maple Canyon. The cobbles are totally different than anything else you'll ever climb and it is a blast. There are routes sub.11, but they seem to improve dramatically once the ratings get to .11. It's 2.5 hours from SLC. Matt

On Nelson's advice I bought a couple of HB Quad Cams. Now they just sit on my wall, waiting for a desert trip when I need multiples in that size. They were fine to start off with and handled adequately, but I spent way to much time cleaning them. They get gunked up real quick and then the springs are to weak to push out the cams. HB quad cams are my least favorite. matt

Re whether it was a trad ascent: You had the first aid ascent(probably). Then you had the first redpoint ascent. Someone else can get the first onsight ascent. From now on, no one can ever have the first ascent onsight. It sounds like the first blind-folded ascent is still up for grabs also. Who cares if your two ascents or someonelse's later pink-pointed ascent counts as trad, neo-trad or sport? "Trad climbing" is a subset of the spectrum of all climbing. It's a useful label to let potential partners know what general types of climbs might interest you. It's useful to describe a set of experiences that you enjoy. The only other use it might have is to help the ego of someone who thinks that they performed a "more trad" ascent than someone else. There's no consensus as to where trad stops and other genres start (of course, at the outer limits, there is consensus - 1/2 inch bolts every three feet on a route intended for free climbing is not trad - course those same bolts might be an overbuilt aid ladder on a different piece of rock). If the details of whether gear was preplaced, a climb was pre-cleaned, a route was pre-inspected, or the climber wore a blindfold matter to you, then just accurately label how you did a climb within what you consider the relevant criteria and move on. No matter how ridiculous those criteria might be (i.e. blindfolded), at least you are just accurately labeling your conduct with a concrete description. Trad should be a unifying concept. Not one to bag on other people's ascents. Re: whether it is ethical to add the bolt. Given that: 1) You are the first aid ascentionist; 2) You are the first free ascentionist; and 3) The free ascent was done with pre-inspections cleaning, rehearsal (I'm assuming)etc. all on rappell. It is no more or less ethical for you to add a bolt now than it would have been before you succeeded in freeing the climb. Given your mode of preparation (on rapell) you had the power to stick the bolt in when you were cleaning it. The fact that you didn't appears to be because you didn't properly understand how it protected. The fact that you wound being able to do what it sounds like you consider a headpoint ascent when you were intending a reasonably protected ascent doesn't stop you from creating the reasonably protected climb you envisioned. Of course, whether a bolt would be appropriate at that point on a climb cleaned on rappell is an open question. Sounds like you were the only one who knows what the pro is like. My personal beliefs says that if adequate protection is possible, but very difficult to place, then a person should just get stronger instead of placing the bolt. Placing a bolt for ease of placement is no better or worse than chipping a hold for ease of movement. I think its wrong. matt

I haven't seen the guide book, bu I also think that it is more like .10c and no give away at that. Besides, the tradiional start is more fun. The variations to the fourth and fifth pitches, however, are great!

I swear by the old Black Diamond copper/steels, which I think were re-named and subtley(sp?) changed a year back. I've taken monster wingers on them over and over and they are fine. Their shape is great, really solid placements in all but the most flaring pin scars (and in those, not even an offset will be bomber). Beyond the shape, I love the thin cables on them - a lot of micro nuts have cables so big that they get in the way of effective palacement - after all were talking about some pretty tine tapering placements anyway when you start using those. FYI - I free climb (and free fall) on the copper/steels as small as a # 3. I think I own a # 2, but don't really place it for free'in. Matt