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fgw

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Everything posted by fgw

  1. powderhound, was joking ...but shit, maybe Jensen & co did climb it...
  2. It’s this right? Dave Jensen & co climbed it in 1968 – sorry.
  3. “fully-laden gambol-fuck o'er hill and dale and endless climax-growth explosions of poison-fuck-oak interspersed w/ mossy stumble-fucking along horrid piles of incessantly shifting bullshit “ Sounds like you guys found the way the first time around. Great read! I should’ve driven the 2 belay bolts deeper – toss it up to some inexperience and in equal part to being out of my mind with fear (plenty of meat buried in there though – those are the 3 3/4th inch if I recall right). The upper pitch lulls you in with some nice looking A1 & even much C1 to the ledge followed by some real choss.
  4. Sounds like plenty of time to drive anywhere in the western third of US? Too expensive to fly anywhere at this point (too last minute, too spring break )…even renting a car could be $$$. I’d drive to Moab but avoid the zoos of Castle Valley, IC & Ancient Art…go for 2nd tier towers instead. Decent forecast too.
  5. Great tic list & some real nice photos (esp. on your blog Wayne).
  6. I like the non-PNW or off the beaten path stuff the most. Ideas of what else is out there to try. Eg. Wayne’s desert stuff, therunningdog’s international stuff (NW China write up is classic), etc. Would be good to see more southwest posts from Layton (things like Notch Peak; the old Castle Dome tr -another classic). More local - Ivan’s stuff like Penis Lunch Wall & Tombstone, Dru’s old Snootley Express write up. John Frieh’s Sawtooths from way back when; etc. Some of these are one of a kind on the web. Would be good to see more of that.
  7. thanks guys. "50 Classic Climbs You've Never Heard Of" - many of these places are pretty well established by/for Euro climbers likely because Middle East, Africa are a lot closer to them than to us (& they tend to get that shitton of vacation time).
  8. Ivan, some tr's say E2; I say at least E3 because of the reason you bring up! The rating comes about probably because the guide was written by a Brit: http://www.foordkelcey.net/uae/misht_fp_topo.pdf The route was put up by the French. On the whole, seems the Misht saw much activity by a mix of Euro climbers (other stuff is much harder though). Beyond the Misht, based on our research, most of the routes in Oman were established by the French or British. The routes put up by the foremer seem to look better (perhaps they're more willing to venture onto faces & bolt vs. sticking to somewhat convoluted limestone trad LOL - but we did not climb anything else so can't really tell ). There's some real gems throughout the country - wish we had more time.
  9. Trip: Oman - French Pillar Date: 2/28/2014 Trip Report: A weeklong trip to the beautiful Oman. Our goal was to climb the classic (1979) French Pillar route on the SE face of Jebel Misht - the El Cap of the Arabian Peninsula. A great line on some amazingly sharp, golden limestone! The remainder of the trip was spent on a sightseeing roadtrip through the country. More pretty words and pictures on our site. North slopes of Jebel Misht - the descent line: S/SE faces of Jebel Misht: The line of the French Pillar route, 900 meter and with climbing up to E3 5c...which in dollars means roughly 10c/d with a touch of spice. And off we go - pitch 1. Fun crack climbing on a golden color limestone I've never seen before: Excellent face climbing on pitch 2 (crux?) - three old bolts and otherwise some gear: Middle section of the route is a scrambly ridge - 3rd class to 5.8. But scenic and quite exposed: With 3 hrs. of daylight remaining decided to stop for a bivy on a great ledge with ample firewoord since more hard climbing and route finding cruxes lay above: Plush bivy: In the morning we tackled the rest of the headwall: Which had a stout crack pitch: ...and even some wide: Made the summit in about 4 hrs that morning - you instantly go from the verticalness of the SE face to the table top flatness of the summit plateau: The looong descent involves scrambling down 1000 meters of cliffs and scree to the dirt road in photo, hiking it 5km to the village seen in upper left and then another 25 km of road hiking around the mountain back to the camp on the opposite side. Fortunately, Omani hospitality made hitch-hiking trivial: Waiting for the coffee shop in the first village to open so that we can replenish our water - been out for the last 2 hrs. It never did open but we found a mosque with a water hose outside: With 2.5 days left in our trip, we went exploring the country. This is on a drive up to the Saiq Plateau above the town of Birkat al Mawz: Hiking through some old and charming villages on the Saiq Plateau: Terraced villages of the Plateau: A kuma (traditional Omani men’s headwear) and some laundry drying in the village of Al Aqr on the Saiq : Next day drove back towards the coast and hiked the spectacular if a bit crowded Wadi Shab: More Wadi Shab: And did a loooong off-road drive up and through the Eastern Hajar mountains praying that the radiator on our SUV would not explode (miles of 20% grade and HOT). Coastal cookie cutter development: Goat-maggedon at some remote settlement on the Salma Plateau: Driving through a cluster of beehive tombs in the Eastern Hajar. The countryside is replete with these Bronze Age constructs (in many cases they have been restored): A camel being towed: Finished off the trip with a day in Muscat. The impressive looking Al-Zawawi Mosque: And the old Souk: Gear Notes: Light desert rack. Approach Notes: Getting an SUV rental is well worth it. Gas is dirt cheap.
  10. Cool trip! How tall is that Pulpito del Diablo? Hard to tell from the photos.
  11. Wayne - thank you. Happy to hear you like the format.
  12. Much thanks guys! Chris, yeah Snott Girlz (the whole package) is as fun as cragging gets - every pitch was a gem
  13. Trip: Mexico Road Trip - a few Date: 1/6/2014 Trip Report: Having done two trips to El Potrero Chico in the last two years, we’ve always wondered what other multi-pitch fun could be found in Mexico. Two weeks ago we got a bit of a sampling. A ten day road trip through central and northern Mexico. Historic pueblos magicos, military convoys, shitty weather, bloody car wrecks, tequila, good friends and some multi-pitch climbing including new (for us) areas and a touch of the good old El Potrero Chico. Oregon’s Menagerie? No – central Mexico’s Parque Nacional El Chico. A four pitch affair on the sunny first (and last) day: Same formation seen on the way down: Pueblo of Mineral del Chico in the state of Hidalgo: Starting up the 5-pitch (bailed after 4) Mas Alla De Las Estrellas (5.10b) on the La Tanda formation. A mix of fog and drizzle interrupted by rain. The moss sure seemed to like it though: Shirley arriving at our pitch 4 highpoint: Moving to Queretaro in search of that Mexican sunshine: The 350 meter Pena de Bernal towering over the rolling countryside in Queretaro: El jefe: The postcard perfect Mexico – old church at the center of Bernal: The Pena had some of the funnest face climbing we’ve ever done – crisp crimps for fingers and grippy facets for feet – did two 6-pitch routes (both 10-) and were wishing the place had more lines to offer: Shirley on Via Del Padre (5.10-): Shirley on the summit: Christmas evening in Bernal: After that we shot up north 700km to Hidalgo in Nuevo Leon (the “northern front”) : Where we met up with our friends Eric & Lucie as well as with some shitty, shitty weather (Potero Chico): Culo del Gato (~45min away) was wet but seemed more climbable. Hiking up to Crescent Moon Buttress (8P, 10-…the right hand skyline in photo): Good climbing despite the wet rock: But the main reason to do this route is the fun tyrolean you get to do on the descent: Nuevo Leon desert outside of the village of Mina: Day 2 in EPC stared out rainy but proved climbable after lunch. Did two short (but very fun) routes. Pepe y Lupe (3 pitch, 5.10): …and 4-pitch Agua de Coco (10+). Caugtht a bit of darkness on the last rappel: But we were not alone to be running late for tequila: Home cooking & tequila: Third day in EPC (2nd & last sunny day of the trip), we climbed Snott Girlz (7 pitch, 10+). The funnest route we’ve done in EPC! Some views from the route: 6th pitch & a twisty rope Next day woke up to some downpours & so drove south back towards Mexico City in hopes of doing another climb in a new area…unfortunately were never really able to escape the shit weather: High altitude village of San Jeronimo in the state of Hidalgo: Instead killed off the remaining ½ day sightseeing in Mexico City including trying to see the tequila and mescal museum: Also saw what I can only guess was an NSA listening post disguised as a taco stand: More pics & words on our blog: http://chossclimbers.com/testing/mexico/mexico-road-trip/ Gear Notes: QD's & coffee.
  14. 3 wks & 3 destinations (out of which at least 2 have shakey weather) seems a bit much, no? I can comment about the Dolomites - 2 trips, one 4-week (mid-Aug to mid-Sept) and one 1-week long (early July). Based on those experiences, the arithmetic works out to be about 1 route per 2 to 3 days because of the weather pattern (rain). And yeah, southern Europe would seem like a better plan that early in the season.
  15. another great read. can't believe you guys felt like doing that approach twice in 2 days
  16. Tvash - this was our improvised solution...duck under a portaldege...still not right in head a week later from the heatstroke glad to know we weren't the only northwetters to enjoy that special (ed) sunshine.
  17. Nice! were frying out on the leaning tower at about the same time - not a hint of a breeze.
  18. thanks all. Wallstein, thought it was a great route (even for wknd wankers like us).
  19. thanks guys. went the oryx fillet (incredible!) and zebra steak (bit stringy...perhaps the lack of monkey batter??) route.
  20. Trip: Namibia - Southern Crossing Date: 5/20/2013 Trip Report: A two week trip to Namibia. We came mainly for the Orabeskopf Wall in the backcountry of the Brandberg Massif and that is pretty much the only thing we nailed climbing-wise (probably the 2nd ascent of Southern Crossing). Did a couple small things on the more famous Spitzkoppe but not much really. Hope you like your exfoliating slab climbing and sparse pro (think Stone Mtn moderates are runout... - bring your A-game). Did much tourist stuff including DIY safaris in Etosha National Park (almost froze to death) and some stuff on the coast. More on our site, here . Shirley doing a bit of haggling with Himba women in Uis: Day 2...well our day 2 since we started in late afternoon on day 1...of approach. The Orabeskopf Face looms above: Orabeskopf Wall on the Brandberg Massif with the Southern Crossing line highlighted...13-pitch 5.11+ or as we say ~11- A0: Pitch 1 of Southern Crossing: Shirley in the middle of the “Enduro Corner” (5.11-) on Southern Crossing. This is our pitch 6 – amazing climbing (May 2013): A pretty comfy night on the summit of the Orabeskopf Wall. To our delight, we found this here space blanket at the bottom of our pack. In combination with the fire, things were positively posh: After spending the night on the summit of the Orabeskopf Wall, this brilliant sunrise greeted us on the descent (May 2013): Etosha National Park: What kind of dog is this? More Etosha: Roadside stuff: Spitzkoppe: Watersports line on Spitzkoppe: Walvis Bay on the Atlantic coast: ...with its colonies of flamingos: Ever see 600 seals jacked up on PCP? The Namib Desert: On our final night, we went to this place in Windhoek [Windook] and enjoyed another spread of game meats...monkey gland sauce really brought the whole thing together nicely. Maybe we get a pet baboon here at home for a continuous, fresh supply? Gear Notes: Much gear & (currently) need to carry all water in.
  21. Great stuff Wayne. I like that smith shot the best too actually - somehow the park looks prettier than usual!
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