Sol

Nearly always. The only exception is sometimes when i'm toproping. I'll even throw mine on when talus hopping sometimes. My mom is a speech pathalogist/audiologist who works with head-injury patients, re-teaching them how to eat, breathe, and talk! You've only got one noggin and cerebral neurons don't grow back... Ever seen the look in a head injury patient's eyes? Confused and aggressive, fuck that, my frontal lobe is worth more than looks and comfort.

Wayne: your bolt is still there, it's pretty camouflaged but is a nice addition to the belay, I also used a yellow tcu and a bomber blue HB brass nut. We found a tattered brown tri-cam to the right of the poison pill in a horizontal crack, that looked like a bail peice, belong to you? Layton: it is just amazing how Acid Baby unfolds. Both of the arete sections on the upper pitches really come together nicely. If it was Jabberwacky Tower that Brugger and Co. climbed in the 70's the routes proabaly share some pitches but have different variations.

Not a Layton route. But, who did the first ascent is hard to say. Wayne and partner climbed it in 1989. Blake just posted this on the Giving it up - Topos thread: Hey Wayne (or Sol?) I wonder how Solid Gold relates to the 4 various Fred Yackulic routes on the South Face of Prusik? I found a couple entries from the AAJ, routes were in 1988 and 1987 . Prusik Peak, South Face of West Ridge. On August 16(1987), Rich Romano and I ascended the leftmost crack system on the south face of Prusik. The large overhang on the second pitch was passed on the right. A short overhanging hand crack and airy face moves brought us to the west-ridge route. (The climb is left of the Boving-Christensen route.) (II, 5.10.) Prusik Peak, South Face of West Ridge. On August 3 (1988), after being stopped the previous day, Rich Romano led through the large overhangs 50 feet to the right of our 1987 route. A pitch higher in a big alcove, we crossed left of the other route, then climbed a beautiful white dihedral by a thin finger crack, gaining the west ridge (II, 5.11+). The following day, we climbed a diagonaling crack system up and to the right to a belay on the southwest arcte and ultimately to the west ridge (II, 5.11). On August 11, David Goland and I did a route that starts further left, in a striking right-angle dihedral. After two pitches, we were forced out of the dihedral by the lack of protection. We entered a curving slot up and right, which placed us at the base of the now familiar finger crack (II, 5. IO+). The climbs are named Double Bein, Keep on Belton. and Notley’s Direct. FRED YACKIJLIC The more I read these entries, the more confused I get. The one thing that does strike me though is this passage: A pitch higher in a big alcove, we crossed left of the other route, then climbed a beautiful white dihedral by a thin finger crack, gaining the west ridge (II, 5.11+). That sounds exactly like the top of Solid Gold. But really that type of terrain exists all over the face. I think with climbs like this that follow such natural lines, the first ascent isn't going to feel any different from the fifth ascent, provided your embarking into the unknown. The adventure was still there for each of the early parties: lichen covered jams, re-setting your feet on each and every smear as the top layer of grit falls away, the trepidation of pushing through the next overhang, wondering if the route will go. Whether first or not, the adventure of forging ahead into the unknown remained exciting for all i'm sure.

Right on Pete, props to all 3 of those guys!

Trip: - Link-up: Acid Baby to Solid Gold Date: 6/3/2009 Trip Report: Jens and I had a blast in the Enchantments yesterday linking up a couple obscure area classics. I picked up Jens at the Icicle 76 station at 5:15, Jens having taken the early bus in from Peshastin (green commuter/dirtbag points). We made quick time to the lake where the view just never gets old (note aasgard conditons for those interested): Up first was Acid Baby, III 5.10+, on Jabberwacky Tower. This is a cool tower near the top of Aasgard Pass. As seems to be a tradition in the Enchantments, a proabale first ascent/first recorded ascent was claimed by Michael Layton a few years ago, though it is quite likely this route was climbed in the late 70's by Julie Brugger and company. Either way it's great climbing and much thanks to Layton for the topo, inspiration, and hilarious name (my wife couldn't stop laughing when I told her i was going to climb Acid Baby ) Jens starting the day off on P1: Topping out on P2, the crux: P3: P4, the other crux: The final pitch goes across an amazing knife edge ridge, it's completely wild, so rad: This really is a classic route, great situations, it's littered with knobs, and provides a moderate alpine rock climb in a cirque composed mostly of really hard or pretty easy alpine rock climbs. It could definetly use some traffic, highly recommended. Some scrambling got us to the summit of Enchantment Peak where we gained an alpine ridge that provided a nice high-traverse to Prusik Peak across the Enchantment Plateau. Up next was the masterpiece known as Solid Gold, II+ 10+/11-, this too could have been climbed previous to Wayne Wallace's probable first ascent claim, but really, who cares? Solid Gold holds some of the best climbing in the range. Pitch 1, the "Solid Gold" pitch is definetly one of the top 5 classic pitches in the Enchantments: "Solid Fucking Gold!" (how many times did we say that?): This time around we managed to find the perfect dihederal last pitch (so obvious, how did I miss it?). A great finish to a great route. This pic shows the changing corners variation I took last year on the right, don't fuck around, climb the corner: In '89 you proabaly did need to use a bunch or RP's, nowadays it takes bomber aliens: The W Ridge to the summit is always a great way to end the day: Gear Notes: Double set of cams to #2, single #3, set of nuts with 2-3 rp's. Acid Baby Topo Acid Baby TR Solid Gold Topo Solid Gold TR

Buy these folks some beers!

Whoa Aaron! Did you ski N Face of Maude? I geuss you'll have to start rock climbing in the moutnains now that you broke your skis.

perfect conditions on the ice cliff and sherpa descent.

ice cliff and sherpa descent are good 2 go.

wow, sick climb and great TR!

yep it's a 1/2 incher, rapped past it today, but forgot my wrench at home! doh! I did a bit of community service though by gardening Senseless Thoughts of Paranoia. So rad.

ya know brandon i'm not sure on the size. i did notice that some of the bolts at the belay (though bomber) were different sizes. sorry. what's up with the 11c variation on centerfold?

If anyone gets up on golden road on the UTW anytime soon, do us all a favor and bring a wrench to tighten that upside down bolt on the roof of the last pitch. Nut was half threaded off yesterday. Have had to hand-thread that bitch on lead everytime i've climbed the route .

PM jshamster

Fuk yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I'll skip studying tomorrow and head up to the UTW to celebrate. Mucho gracias to all involved.

PM sent on crashpad

We spied that line walking underneath it. It pretty much runs directly up to the top of the W. Ridge slab?? you might be thinking of solid gold, which tops out a bit before the w ridge slab. der sportsmen tops out on the summit and basically takes the arete of the south face, near the sun/shade line in you photo. you can see the final splitter finger crack to chimney pitch on top.

Nice! That first shot gives a great view of Der Sportsmen.

That's funny pope, we had already decided to scratch MJB and replace it with Bulkhead Blues next time.

Trip: The L-Town 15 - Date: 5/22/2009 Trip Report: Jens Holsten and I have been working on a project this spring in Leavenworth called the L-Town 15. The goal: to climb 15 of the best 5.11's in leavenworth in one day, preferably, with no falls. Yesterday we failed on what will proabaly be our last attempt of the year. Though we came up short with only 13 climbs, it's been an amazing journey, and one that will hopefully inspire others to seek out some of the hidden and neglected gems of L-Town. Jens showed up at my place at 6am, having biked in from the hills of Peshastin (style points). The link up begins with what we call the Tumwater 5. It's a cruxy morning with the more physical climbs to start the day. First it's up to Rattlesnake Rock, an awesome morning hang, great views of drury falls and the waterfall wall, crisp and cool. It all begins with a couple Dean Hart and Randy Atkinson 1987 sport climbs: 1. Tubbing Der Ritterhof 5.11a - fun climbing with a steep juggy finish, the warm-up. 2. Rock and Rattle 5.11c - one of the best sport climbs of its grade in l-town, steep, crimpy and sequency. Rock and Rattle's a crux for me, I've only climbed it a couple of times and do not have it dialed, it's really easy to get a nasty flash pump, which is definetly not how you want to start off the day. Lucky for me, this time it went well. Next up, Castle: 3. MF Direct 11b - a well-trodden classic put up by Peter Croft in 1983, perhaps a bit soft... 4. No Such Thing as a Free Lunge 5.11d R - a 1983 Dan Lepeska testpiece. 5. Daz Muzak 11d - the only sport climb at Castle, steep, pumpy and continuous. Perry Beckham 1985, on pins! MF's pretty cruiser, but NSTAAFL could be the biggest crux of the day. Brilliant and steep face climbing protected by well-spaced solid gear. I haven't stepped up to lead this one yet so it was all Jens. As the name suggests this route has a wild lunge move, which unfortunatly Jens fell on, and boy was he pissed, he's had this route on lock down in the past but recently it's been deviously inconsistent. He pulled the rope and gav'er another go and fell again, bumming. Uh-oh. We knew the key to this link-up was to get through these 5 with as little pump as possible but unfortunatly it wasn't happening. He pulled the rope again, and fell again, perplexed and pissed, he gave in and tried the move a different way, we had been using this really taxing awkward heel-hook, instead Jens tried a strenuous stem, and what do you know, HE STUCK IT, only to get pumped out a few moves later from all the effort. He lowered off for a break, and I jumped on Daz Muzak. Back on No Such Thing, Jens styled the crux, climbed through the fatigue and sent. Word! I took my first fall of the day seconding with the old beta, before trying the new stem style (a major breakthrough for future link-up attempts). With the Tumwater 5 ticked, it was off to the icicle. The climbing in the Icicle, begins in the only crag on the north side of the creek that we visited, the Keep-Out: 6. Bovine Perspirations 5.11a This is an awesome climb, put up by guidebook author Victor Kramer. It starts off with fun crack climbing, to a neat-o traverse, then a series of thin, no-holds, slab crux's. Always on the search for something new, Jens recently unearthed Bovine from underneath a carpet of moss. While they hold the easier grades of the day, the slab climbs we chose are not to be underestimated as the moves are devious and low percentage. Next, what we started calling the Upper Icicle 3: 7. Lazy Boy 11c - Lower 8-Mile Buttress 8. Mastadon Roof 11c - Givler's Dome 9. Gilligan 11d - Upper Little Bridge Creek Wall Area These 3 climbs call for a decent amount of hiking with Mastadon being the slog of the day. Lazy Boy is super fun, a surprisingly steep crack line that puts you 20+ feet out from the cliff while being lowered. Another 1983 climb, put up by Lee Cunningham. The zone up there was cool and breezy, quite idyllic, a nice repreive from the heat of the day. Next, up was The Mastadon Roof, a seldom climbed, Dick Cilley/Dan Lepeska classic. If you ever thought L-town wasn't steep enough, get your ass on this bad boy! My only previous time on the climb I lowered off from the apex of the 25-30 foot roof, completely gripped, pumped out of my gourd. This time I forced myself to stay calm, collected and focused. It's a wild ride... Gilligan is the newest climb in the link-up. It's a very aesthetic sport climb in the talus above Little Bridge Creek Rock, put up by Brian Behle. Perhaps one of the raddest crux's to send of the whole bunch. I took my second fall of the day on this one. Just when you think you have something dialed... Highly recommended. We moved down canyon for the remainder of the day: 10. Air Roof 11b - Cal Folsom, 1978! Jens and I both agreed that the crux moves on the Air Roof are harder than either Mastadon or Lazy Boy. As the old guide says, "an onsight lead of this notorious steep crack is rare." This little bugger's been giving me problems, finally I sent, and damn it felt good. Beware, crap anchors, but they can be backed up nicely with a yellow or red alien. We moved on to Domestic Dome, for another crux of the day: 11: Domestic Principles 5.11a This is a two pitch slab climb that Jens links into a single rubber-devouring mega pitch. It's a slab testpiece put up in '88 by Doug Klewin and Gordon Briody. It's hard and devious, ecspecially without the holds that have been ripped off it recently. I beleive I referred to it as an "oatmealy-bitch" while at the base. Nonethless, it is classic, and Jens did an inspiring lead, redpointing it for the first time. The final few climbs of the day occur in the Careno Crag area. We had sequenced the routes to allow us to climb in the shade all day, with the sun gone from the lower canyon, we were surprised to be sweating bullets in the evening humidity on our hike in. First up a Ben Stanton addition: 12. The Guillotine 11d But not before running back to the car for the rope. Doh! This thing is cool. Hard, continuous face climbing with sequency cruxes and cool knurly holds. With swollen toes and raw tips, it took lots of focus for us to send this one. Contrary to the book suggestions you do not need tiny nuts, rather, a yellow tcu, and a blue alien. We moved on to Careno Proper for the final 3 climbs: 13. Pumpline 5.11a - Jim Yoder 14. MJB Arete 5.11b - Jim Yoder, Matt Kerns, Bob Crawford 15. Giant Steps 5.11c - Armand Debuque, Dave Bale The hike up to Pumpline was hard, we were worked, the sun was setting, and I was definetly starting to question if we were going to make it. Normally, pumpline isn't too bad, but it sure felt hard this time! Once on top, we knew that neither of us had it in them to get on the sketchy MJB, and a headlamp adventure on Giant Steps could be equally dangerous. That was it, done, so close, yet so far. We knew it all had to go down perfect, maybe next time it will. Nonetheless, it was a great day out, awesome training with a great partner, thanks Jens. Approach Notes: It would be cool to do the link-up with an altimeter or GPS just to see what the elevation gain/loss for this day is.

Almost, one fall!!!!!!!!!!

Great TR!

bump before i go tr soloing....

looking for a ltown partner for tomorrow around noon or so. have big list of 5.11's will happily lead them or swap leads. pm or email: solwertkin@gmail.com.

from what i've gathered the boving route is real deal 5.10, but not so bad if you're comfortable with the grade. obscure classic of d-tail, compact and runout, but pretty clean. if you get scared just remember its cruiser compared to the unrepeated dragonscar in the same zone. it's on the list darin if you want to get after it...