Farrgo

I have to say that movie is the most f'ed up thing I've ever watched in my life. I still wake up in cold sweats...

Tex, I think that we only placed a single nut, so we could have easily gone with out them. There is bueacoup fixed gear in all of the tricky sections so you can just clip and go.

I took a look at Dru's post of a couple weeks ago but am wondering if anybody knows whether the route is dry enough to be climbed "easily." Also I've heard that at times the pocket glacier can be nearly impossible to cross? Thanks.

Climb: Half Dome-Regular Northwest Face Date of Climb: 6/13/2004 Trip Report: After spying an article on climbing Half Dome in a day from an old climbing magazine, Erica and myself decided to give it a go the week before she started work with the concessionaire in the valley. This would the first big wall either of us had done and really the first multi-pitch route with aid climbing. We started aiding about a month ago and had done some long routes together in Squamish simply to get our transitions dialed and make sure we had the stamina for the climb. The Regular Route doesn’t have that much aid climbing on it, I think there are five or six pitches total where we used our aiders. Both of us are confident on 5.9 trad which is the highest grade required by the route so we figured that as long as the aiding and pendulums didn’t slow us down that much we had a decent shot at finishing in one very, very long day. Day 1 We spent most of the morning in Curry Village organizing for the trip and storing all of our extra food in the bear boxes. We started hiking around mid-day on the John Muir Trail toward the route. This was our first trip to the Valley and we were both shocked at the 1000+ people we saw on the trail. We got into camp in the early evening and found two parties lined up for the route the following morning. One party was a guy named Todd Johnson? and his partner who were going to do a Half Dome-El Capitan linkup. They decided that they were going to leave at 5h30 and another party from Colorado was planning to leave right after them. We had wanted to start climbing 4h30 but new we would have to be just at a belay station by 5h30 so that we didn’t screw up their bid on the link-up. So we decided if we got an early enough start we would be the first party out and if not we would follow the group from Colorado. Also, we set up a line on the first pitch to save us a good chunk of an hour the following day. Day 2 We woke up at 4h and it was still pitch black, we knew that didn’t want to climb in the pitch dark, besides that fact that we were still tired. So we decided to start up after the group from Colorado. The group from Colorado took a solid half an hour to get ready to jug at the base. Furthermore the slower of the two guys was short-dicking the rope when he jugged which meant it took him nearly as long to follow as it did his partner to lead a pitch. Finally, just before 7h we started up the ropes. It was much later than we had wanted it to be and should have reevaluated our plans for doing the climb in the day right then and there. However, our inexperience on bigwalls kept us believing that we could just dance up the thing. I lead the first six pitches, which comprises free climbing mostly 5.8-5.9 terrain with a small section of French-freeing where it is hard 5.10. Erica took the pitches leading from the top of 6 all the way to the beginning of the chimneys. We made decent time on these pitches especially since a couple of them have large sections of 4th class traversing. The final pitch before the chimneys, you have the choice of climbing either a 5.9 squeeze or a think 5.11 dihedral. Most people choose the dihedral, as did we. This was the first true aid pitch and it became quickly apparent that we needed more practice on aid. It took Erica nearly two hours to lead this pitch. By now it was late afternoon and we knew that we couldn’t finish in a day unless we climbed the remaining pitches to the bivouac ledge in just a few hours. To make matters worse a man-eating flake snagged our rope as we were doing our changeover and it took quite a while to free it. The chimney section on this route is amazing and went fairly quickly considering that you can link some pitches together. The protection is sparse, especially toward the top when you move out into this 5.7 airy chimney. On many pitches we had to wait 10 or 15 minutes for the party in front of us to go before we could start a pitch and by the time we reached the double crack below the bivouac ledge we were climbing in headlamps. This was suppose to be Erica’s pitch but we were both worked and I was already on the sharp end so I took it. I started up the wrong crack initially which caused me to traverse and back clean so that Erica could follow it easily. In the process of doing so I unknowing caused a big loop of slack in the rope so when I went to rest on the rope I had a healthy fall 1500 feet up in the pitch black. Finally we reached the bivouac ledge around 11h, built the mother of all anchors and tied off just 12 slopping inches from a long, long way down. We of course hadn’t brought much for warmth just a 100-weight fleece each and I only had sandals for the hike off so I shoved my feet into the backpack and shivered until morning. Worse than that we had only brought one gallon of water for the climb and already were suffering from dehydration. Day 3 Finally the sun came up; neither of us had gotten more than an hour or so of sleep. The party from Colorado started up somewhere before 7h and we followed directly after them. We were just six pitches from the top. Three of these pitches were straightforward aid climbing while the other three were free climbing pitches. Erica took the first three. We hopped to finish by noon at the latest. But she had quite a bit of trouble with the aiding and took five hours to lead three pitches. By now we were completely out of water and just fried and could hear all of the tourons up on the visor taking pictures. But we were just a few pitches from the top so that gave us the juice to keep going. The Thank God Ledge pitch went smoothly and is definitely one of my most memorable pitches ever. After this there was a large pendulum where we had to swing out to a small crack, put a cam-hook in it and then aid off of it to a bolt ladder. Finally in the early afternoon we reached the top, pretty well wasted. The hike back down to our tent was only a couple miles, which was actually fairly difficult considering we had only had two quarts of water in the past two days. When we got down to camp we pounded a ton of water, ate our reward, a fresh mango and fell asleep at about 6h. Day 4 All we had to do today was hike out, but the past few days had drained us so much that we felt like throwing up almost the whole way out. I think we may have been low on salt because no matter how much water we drank, it wouldn’t refresh us. Right about lunchtime we reached Curry Village, promptly dropped our packs and ordered a huge pizza and pitcher of lemonade. Thoughts We shouldn’t had gone for a one day ascent on our first big-wall ever, that is a pretty hard feat to pull off by any means. Also since we were unsure of a one-day ascent we should have taken more water and a sleeping bag. Although as Chouinard says, if you bring bivy gear then you will bivy. All in all it was a great climb and we gained more experience in a few days than we would have in a year of cragging and short routes. To do it in a day you need to be able to free climb quickly, which wasn’t a problem, but more importantly aid quickly and do the pendulums quickly. These last two were definite issues for us that more than the late start and slow party ahead cost us the day ascent. Gear Notes: Cams 2 x (.33-3), nuts, aiders, camhook, lots of rapid runners, 1 pair of jumars. Approach Notes: Approached via the longer though safer John Muir trail, it is cake though there are a few pesky bears along it.

i would but i got finals today and then its off to yos' for a week!!

Ya I think that the standard route would have been fine. Snow wasn't so bad that it would be torture to boot up the thing, but definately not ideal for a steep climb. The headwall looked pretty prime to me, although I haven't been on it before. From the glacier we could see a couple straight forward lines just to the left of the roman nose.

Climb: Mt. Baker-Coleman Headwall Attempt Date of Climb: 6/9/2004 Trip Report: My buddy John and I rocked out of B'ham at 1 am this morning intent on doing the Coleman Headwall. We saw quite a few flashes of lightning on our way up to the trailhead but figured we were already awake so we might as well go. We reached the glacier at first light, roped up and headed toward the left of the Roman Nose. Right off the bat we noticed that there were many slots ready to open. The snow hadn't frozen up very much at all. My buddy John plunged through several crevasses up to his chest. I plunged through only once. The weather looked pretty iffy and about halfway across the glacier it started to rain pretty hard for about five minutes. We debated about if we should continue or not for about five minutes when a massive avalanche ripped down just to the left of the headwall. This was followed by another big slide toward the black buttes and several claps of thunder from some very ominous clouds. After this we decided today wasn't the day for the headwall. Gear Notes: None - Brought 4 pickets, 4 screws, 2 tools, standard glacier gear Approach Notes: Trail is half/half snow covered. First major stream crossing is tricky. If you are paying attention you can cut to the right long before you reach the standard climbers trail and save some time.

Looking for somebody to share the cost of gas with me and a friend who are going to yosemite. we plan on leaving the morning of 6/11 and getting there hopefully sometime late that night. We plan on staying about 1 1/2 weeks.

You could try calling Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council 676-6681

Man, after just a few days or so of climbing at J-tree my hands were shot. He must have only had bloody stumps.

What about princely ambitions (10a??). it's pretty slabby with flake moves along the bottom but up toward the top there some crack. also the second pitch has got some good crack climbing on it. what is that 11a on the right crack parallel to princely ambitions pitch 2?. Oh ya, second pitch of city park is pretty killer too.

You should check out all the climbs in the shady hollow area, Allen Henshaw pre-memorial route 5.6 is fun, the slab on the left, finger licking good 10b? is also fun. If your gonna do zig zag, do the spring board variation 5.7. On the last pitch walk out on the dead snag do one commiting move off the tree and clip a crappy old piton, very fun.

I just got an e-mail from Matt Menely the new owner of Mountain Soles. He says that he would not have taken my shoes if I tried to turn them in for a resole again. Sounds like an REI employee didn't know what they were talking about, big surprise. Anyhow, I want to apologize to Matt, I should have talked to him before posting here. I will start to take my shoes back to Mountain Soles again.

I had a buddy who went up a weekend ago and he said you could get to withing .5 miles of the trailhead.

I agree, I take a whole set of rockcentrics (windchims) everytime, just so it seems like I have more gear than I actually do. (7 cams, set hexes, set stoppers)

i also take a big ass first aid kit, but it seems like you could dumb it down quite a bit especially for just day/w/e trips. i think as long as you have some basic meds, Ibu, tums, etc. and some bandages you should be good for most trips in the cascades.

omp, check your pms

minus, check your pm's

Go climb at index or indian creek and then say you rarely need two sets of cams. for crack climbs that are near my top ability i always carry two sets of cams for the crack range. forget the hexes unless 1) you are desperately short of pro for a pitch or 2) you can spend a little bit fiddling with the thing to get it into a good placement without worrying about a whipper.

butterFly, that is a great idea. I was trying to decide whether to get some forged friends or flex cams for a second cheaper set. the only thing that holds the f-friends back is that they can usually only be placed in vertical, clean cracks.

Unless it is really icy, I wouldn't worry about bringing too many screws. I think last year I used two, both on the "crux" section. I would bring a very small rock rack, say some nuts and some pins. Also, a picket or two couldn't hurt either.

I love tech friends. They're really light weight great for alpine climbing. I tried most of the sizes larger than .5. Anything smaller than that I think you would have a hard time placing. I have used a few forged friends, mostly in the smaller sizes and have found that they can be hard to place unless you have a really clean crack. If you get forged friends just get ones that are bigger than a number 1, because the rigid stem is practically the same size as the camming range which makes it very hard to get a worthwhile placement with the thing.

thanks for the hints, all. i'm getting ready for some epic days at squish and index. wish i could have gotten out more this weekend but the rain sucks. at least i got a good day of free climbing at index on thursday and a wet day of aiding on friday.

Lambone, I'm only going after the reg. route on half dome. But were gonna try and do it in a day. Both of us are pretty proficent with free climbing up to 5.10, so were sure that we've got that dialed. Neither of us has aiding experience, or any big wall experience bigger than the chief. we just wanted to get on a long route that we could completely botch so that when we actually are in yos, we can climb quick and efficent. thanks for the help all. i am thinking that the u-wall at squish would be a good one. does anybody know where i can find a topo? do you need a ledge to do that one or not?

I'm getting ready to try my first grade VI wall in a couple months and was wondering if anyone has suggestions on some good walls to practice on in the area? thanks.