markwebster
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Posts posted by markwebster
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sweet, thanks for the memories! I love the valley.
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Trip: Leavenworth - Bale-Kramer Photoshoot
Date: 10/12/2011
Trip Report:
Mike, Phil (lowlife on this board) and I spent the weekend in Leavenworth. Because we had three, I climbed with my Canon 50D, and my new 'point and shoot' Lumix DMC-TS3. We got some great shots of Bale-Kramer on Saturday, and the new Yoder routes in the Pinnacles on Sunday.
Phil shot these of me on the crux pitch of Bale-Kramer. If you don't know Bale-Kramer, it is across the street from the Snow Creek parking lot in Leavenworth. You park at Snow Creek and walk down river on the road until you see the BMX jumps. Walk though the BMX property and catch the trail going uphill. Turn right at the junction at the cliff and head uphill underneath Rainy Day Roof, which is the huge 90 foot wide roof that stays dry in the rain.
The first pitch of Bale-Kramer is a 5.9 boulder problem. We spent an hour figuring out that move. Another party bypassed us on the right while we were working on it.
It's best to belay at the bolts, or your follower can deck as he figures out the boulder move. The next two pitches are 5.easy and 10A bolts, at which point you un-rope and hike across a grassy ledge to the base of the 4th pitch: the crux 10B crack. It's only about 60 feet, but it is a stout little problem.
The party that had bypassed us on the boulder move was stalled out there. Neither one could figure out the overhanging start into the crack.
We hung around for a while, enjoying the show and the view until they offered us a chance to try it. I'd done it before and knew the secret: Get the left hand jam, place a fist jam above that, swing out and stand up. You can place a half inch cam for a top rope through the move, pictured here. Photos by Phil.
Me freaking out as I realized I'd plugged up the key finger jam at the crux with a cam. The wasted time clearing that error caused me to fall 12 feet higher *after* the crux.
Past the crux, but burning out quickly. This crack has very few rests, though their are some great hand and fist jams scattered amongst the rattly fingers.
Mike led the 5th pitch. There is a mixed pitch of 5.9, or the all bolts 10a variation pictured here. I followed it, hung a rap line, and shot these images of Phil leading it on Mikes draws. The sun had set on the rest of the canyon, but we had some lovely evening light for these photos.
This rock is strange. It's a polished shield of granite, with unpredictable bumps and pockets that make for challenging 10a sport climbing. Fortunately the bolts are close.
Sunday we got drove to Castle. It was raining there so we headed off to the Pinnacles to climb Yoder's new routes on Sunset Slab. He has put up a brand new 5.8 route there with normally space bolts...a rarity in the Pinnacles. We all really liked it. There may be others there two, but I didn't climb them. I heard there were 3 new ones there, and maybe some over by Gray Whale as well...not confirmed yet.
Mike leading up the new 5.8 bolt route.
Both Phil and I tried to lead Washboards (10c) after that and got schooled. I used to like that route, but my new shoes appear to have bad rubber and I took a nasty whipper on the first bolt, bruising my hip so badly I'm still limping 3 days later.
I need to practice falling on slabs. I used to be able to land correctly on my butt or side and simply slide down until the rope caught. I need to stop doing the cartwheel thing.
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Phil, you are my hero! Thanks for the trip report! That is quite an accomplishment. Really nice photos, what camera were you using?
Let's hook up this weekend for sure. Marty is riding with us, we'd love to hear the story first hand on the way over. He said there were a few gals coming over too.
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I'm not a drummer, but I do like to play live music when there are guitarists around. I play the blues harp.
The late Jonny Copp ran a drum circle at Jtree at xmas for a few years, New Years eve. Now that was some very special drumming. He and his friends had some serious talent. I miss Jonny, great guy, always would welcome people and encourage them to join in.
But I do sympathize with people who want a quiet nights sleep. When the parties get loud, or last past 11 at grasslands/skull hollow, I've been known to pick up my bag and bivy sack and walk out into the bushes a block or two, to get away from my own drunken friends. You don't have to go far to get silence. It's always fun to get up at 7 and have a noisy breakfast.
Climbers will party, especially the college students. The bivy site is much quieter, but still has some jam sessions until ten-ish.
A year ago, in September there was a woman at the Smith bivy site with a cello. She was very pretty, your typical climber babe, and single. She was playing Bach concertos under the stars...a supremely magical experience. She joined us in some blues after that. Climbers are some cool people, but you have to take the good with the bad.
And don't hesitate to ask musicians to quiet down. We lose track of time, but we also (or at least most of us) don't want to offend anyone.
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Well done! That would be brave to lead it with nothing over a 4.
I have this pet theory that we are born with a certain measurable amount of cohones. They don't rejuvenate, and once you use them, they are gone.
The longer you climb, the more you use up. And after 34 years of continous climbing, mine are almost gone. Hence the el cap rack I carry everywhere. Note this is just a theory...
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When I first went to Smith in 1978, it was all trad, bolted lines were rare. You climbed trad, or you quickly ran out. The easiest trad line there is probably the Beard, left side at 5.6, right side 5.7.
Old Testament, to the left of Barbecue the Pope is a nice seven-ish crack, though it crosses a couple sport routes, so watch out for conficts. Gets big (fists) at the top, but it leans over there.
Lycopodophyta is a great 5.8, and do both pitches, or combine them into one long one, with a big rack. The upper pitch can be dirty as it only gets climbed once every 5 years, and usually by me. But I just did it this spring and brushed most of the pigeon droppings out. It's really quite good rock up there, lots of rests, and takes medium gear, not the big stuff you would think. The exit move is stellar, with pro above you.
Another favorite not mentioned is Pack Animal, 5.8, second pitch. There is no easy, way to get to get to it. The normal left start is ballsy, and the direct is 10+ thin fingers, but the second pitch is awesome finger jamming ringlocks in an exciting 5.8 corner. Take a lot of finger to hand sized gear.
Fridays Jinx is awesome 5.8 climbing. The second pitch is amazing! Beautiful corner laybacking and jamming.
The lower gorge has a 6, 7 and 8 over by the catwalk (past Cruel Sister). Great climbing down there!
Toys in the Attic is a ton of fun, and dry in a downpour, though it's 5.9, and big at the top, up to a 4/5 camalot. It's scarier to follow than lead.
As to the strength of the pro in tuff, I've hung on hexes, stoppers and cams at smith, and I've seen people fall on them. It's not granite, but neither is it death rock. Use common sense, back up your gear at the cruxes, and be cautious with cams which are more likely to rotate badly in the knobby tuff, as opposed to smooth granite. Use long slings, etc.
Smith is a great trad destination. And the best part is: if it's really crowed with the bolt climbers, you can walk right up to a group of 15 sport climbers hogging a bolted climb and jump on the empty trad line. They can't lead trad, so you never wait.
As an old climber I met once told me: "Sport climbing is neither!"
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Here are a few pictures of our day at Midnight. I was accompanied by the incomparable F., or, as he is known on this board, klondike.
I shot this one from just below the roof.
At my belay on top of Easter, we traversed 50 feet right to the top of ROTC, this is Mr. Klondike at the ROTC rap anchors.
My el cap rack on the ROTC belay ledge where Mr. Klondike took a TR lap up ROTC. We were thinking about leading it, but the hour was late. ROTC is one of the loveliest cracks I've ever seen anywhere on the West Coast.
The views up at Midnight are considerable prettier than Snow Creek Wall. It's one more rap (with a 70 meter rope) down to the ledge at the base of Easter Overhang. Now I just have to figure out the gps location so I can come down from the road at the top of the ridge. Back in the day, it was quite fast if you found the right trail, and a complete wash if you got lost.
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I led it Saturday and found it unchanged from my last ascent 20 years ago. We broke it into two pitches to cut down on rope drag. The approach pitch is badly mossed up, and I was glad my partner had that one. I would have spent 20 minutes gardening, but he sailed through.
Easter Overhang itself is a lovely 5.8 hand crack up to the roof. There it starts to overhang as the crack widens to fists. I missed the perfect right foothold and had to hang once 4 feet below the roof to rest. I blame tunnel vision and general incompetence. You can walk your camalots 2, 3 and 4 through this section.
After my avoidable rest/hang, I continued fist jamming up to the true overhang where it gets bigger than fist. There are very nice face foot holds on the right, plus a hidden flake back in the crack that make all this work.
At the true overhang there is an old angle iron piton you can clip, but it's not really needed as there is also a bomber yellow #2 camalot there, along with a great handjam and a perfect ledge to grab.
But then it gets tricky. The crack is spitting you out, like a bomb bay chimney, it's bigger than fist, there is nothing to grab, I think it was even bigger than a number 5 camalot.
I ended up combining a mantle on the ledge at the lip by the piton with a chicken wing to get through that. My feet cut loose and I was hanging there...secure, but dangling over all that freaking air.
Such a cool move! I chicken winged my way up, getting stuck several times until I remembered how to chimney climb again. I was glad to have two four, and five camalots, and two big bros. I used my green (8 inch) and purple big bros in the section above the roof...nothing else would fit unless you hauled up a valley giant up that two hour approach.
The trail is in horrible shape. Back in the day I led it with hexes and just 2 number 4 friends...wouldn't want to do that now in my dotage.
Don't know what to say about the rating. I normally can't climb 10c at all, so I don't think it's 10c. It's not as hard as Breakfast of Champions, which goes at 10a...so maybe it is still 5.9, though only if you are good at all flavors of crack, including fist and chimneys. It's definitely harder for me than Damnation crack, but that really only has the one hard section off the deck.
At any rate, it's a stellar climb, 4 stars in my book. That transition move at the lip of the roof is just fabulous.
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I haven't been up to Midnight Rock in Leavenworth in 20 years. Is it currently open, or are birds still nesting?
Also, we used to call Easter Overhang 5.9, but Victors book calls it 10c...did something break off, or just the consensus upgrade? I remember it was a scary offwidth, but safe with big cams.
We used to come down from the top too, for a shorter approach, but got lost a lot, is that trail any better? Does anyone have gps numbers for midnight?
thanks for any info you can offer.
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I don't get why everyone is so cheap. $30 for your car for a year, big deal. You spend that much on beer and junk food every weekend.
The government is broke because the rich buggers are sitting on all their money, and that isn't changing any time soon. The state is desperately trying to find a way to get a little more cash to help pay for those very parks that we love.
You pay to park at Smith, you pay to park at Mt. Rainier, it's just a little more money. Surely you all can afford $30? And don't start in on principles. That's BS.
Do you really want to see some of these trailhead access roads completely closed down? How are you going to feel about saving $30 when your favorite climb now requires a 20 mile hike up a washed out dirt road?
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awesome photos! You've got a seriously good eye for photography.
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Awesome photos, great TR!
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Beautiful pictures, great story! Did that in '82, sounds like not much has changed.
Bummer about the rangers being so pushy and paperwork happy. I wonder if the wait at the station might be related to budget related layoffs?
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Awesome photos, thanks for sharing!
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I'm guessing a little $120 ham radio would do the trick too. They are "legal" to use without a license if your life is in danger (to stop the unneeded rescue). There are public and park service repeaters (like a cell tower, but for ham radios) up in that area and you can find those frequencies online.
These are just as powerful as the ones the rangers use, though obviously not as durable.
I have one of these, and it easily reaches 40 miles in the lowlands. (Gig Harbor to Tiger Mountain repeater).
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/9380
Up high like you were it would reach even further. They are cool little radios.
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Awesome job Mr. Klondike! Great to see those pictures all in one place.
Lisa is definitely a rare bird. I feel very fortunate to be able to call her a friend. Both of you...T-town climbers rock!
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Awesome photography! The night shots were especially beautiful. Thanks for carrying that big camera up there.
It was so cool to see the mountain from an unusual perspective.
I stopped alpine climbing after some close calls, but darn, I miss the beauty up high, cragging doesn't even compare.
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i heard from jeff thomas there was a memorial out there today.
it sounds like this tragedy could have been prevented by the old standby of not unclipping your daisy from the anchor until after you've weighted and stressed your rap device. sucks that omitting such a simple thing can have such dire consequences
I even do this at the gym. We don't use daisys there, so at the top of the wall, I grab the top, pull myself up and tell my partner to take. I sit down on his take, double check my knot, and if everything is working, let go of the top and start lowering. Never forget this is a dangerous sport, even the pro's make mistakes (Lynn Hill and her untied, un-weighted knot).
My condolences to the family for their loss. Be careful out there...
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I have it and don't use it, but, having had my book pirated and zeroxed by the mountaineers...best if Jim himself ok's it.
If he doesn't plan on republishing it, then that would be another story.
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20 years ago there was a rope swing off Scarface (to the right of Shoes of the Fisherman). I've not seen it put up lately, but I almost rode it one year. I watched a climber set it up once, and it was not something a tourist, or a beginner could do. You had to aid up with a stick clip, and probably clean it afterwards with jumars.
That might be a compromise. It didn't look like it endangered any other routes, and experienced climbers have to run it. It launched above a fairly flat trail, not a climbing cliff where someone could get flossed off.
I personally think rope swings are stupid. Go climbing if you need a rush, lead something hard instead of doing that boring top roping all the time. I get all the thrills I need leading stuff that is right at my limit, who needs a rope swing?
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It's really frustrating having wide feet. I am a size 8 EEEEEE There is no profit in mass producing wide shoes for a small market.
My solution: Go to rei, ask the clerk which rock shoe comes in a size 14 (longer shoes are wider). Buy the shoe, cut the back 3 inches off and sew it back together.
I documented the process here:
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I went to one of these in 1971, or 2 in Colorado. Hitchhiked out there. Mom gave me five bucks, thinking I'd turn around. I was gone a month. We lived up there for a few weeks after the 20,000 people left, trying to sustain the dream.
I could write a book about that trip, so many cool things to experience at 17. But we were all so young, and so deluded about what it truly means to make a sustainable life for ourselves. Seeing it still going on now is strange. I guess teenagers never change.
It is true that xmas at jtree has the same vibe, though without the tipis, and the 5 mile hike up to a mountain meadow.
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The bad apples always spoil the barrel. I agree that the anchors are best gone. Especially since the swing tied up other routes. People out for a joy ride can go elsewhere.
Thanks for pulling them.
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Mystery bolter is a bit contrived in that the line of bolts goes up the arete, 8 feet from a crack. One partner avoided the arete friction by climbing the crack, and clipping the bolts. But the upper section, where it leaves the crack behind and climbs up the exposed arete, has cool, committing friction/face climbing.
But yeah, the other bolted lines on that rock are very nice, and more clearly defined. Too much fun (5.8 sport) and the 10a sport climb to it's left are both stellar climbs.
Alpine Partner and Mentor
in Climbing Partners
Posted
The Mountaineers is a great organization for people who want to meet other climbers. I met my wife there, as well as a couple other friends way back in 76 and we still climb together.
There are flakes in the Mountaineers, as with any large organization, but tons of very good climbers as well.