bobbyperu Posted October 28, 2003 Posted October 28, 2003 (edited) climbed davis holland/lovin arms this afternoon with alpinfox, and if anyone was interested in checking it out soon heres some things to think about; the first (.9) and second (.10a) pitches of DH can be combined easily/safely with a 60m... all of DH is dry. first pitch(.10b) of lovin arms is wet, the chimney is pretty slimy, but one can climb the steeper right hand wall and keep out of the worst of it. the last two pitches(.10ca0, or 11b, ,.9)-dry, link together very well(60m) and provide amazing exposure from the first move to the last. wonderful day out there today, not a single car in the lot, great fall colors,fun partner,spectacular route, a perfect monday afternoon at index go get some -bp Edited October 28, 2003 by bobbyperu Quote
Peter_Puget Posted October 28, 2003 Posted October 28, 2003 BP-Check out the STP. It's a great route - a bit harder and continuous than than Lovin' Arms. Unless we get another bout of sunny weather it may be a bit wet tho. PP Quote
bobbyperu Posted October 28, 2003 Author Posted October 28, 2003 o.k. i've looked at that route whilst rappin off and it looks fun!, and way exposed -same number if pitches?, well i'll be back there soon... i wanna do lovin' arms (or maybe stp?), and centerfold some day, seems like it give ya a bunch of good climbing and variety, on the awesome upper cliffs -bp Quote
mattp Posted October 28, 2003 Posted October 28, 2003 BP described pitch 5 as 5.10c A0 or 5.11, but it should be noted that if you step out onto that face about fifteen higher, you can traverse to the crack/flake at 5.10b or so without any A-0. Because it was originally done the way that BP went, the topo and the route rating has been a little confusing on this point since the beginning of time. I'll add my vote for DH/LA as the best 5.10 climb around. Quote
bobbyperu Posted October 28, 2003 Author Posted October 28, 2003 uh huh...600' of granite bliss, one of the best 5.10 multipitch routes around, if youre into that sorta thing -bp Quote
mattp Posted October 28, 2003 Posted October 28, 2003 Every pitch has a different character to it, and it is unique for a six pitch climb because nowhere is there any "truly easy" stretch or any "truly big" ledge system (after the first one). Also, it follows nearly a plumb line, and it is so cool how it tops out with no transition between near vertical wall and flat woods. Also, somewhat rare for Western Washington, there is only about 20 feet of veggie mess on the whole thing! Oh, and there are almost no bolts on it but it protects well pretty much the whole way. Quote
bobbyperu Posted October 28, 2003 Author Posted October 28, 2003 so tru... pretty much as good as it gets. -bp Quote
j_b Posted October 28, 2003 Posted October 28, 2003 i love loving arms (litterally both meanings ) i love following the first pitch so that i can stem the chimney way out close to the edge. i love the traverse toward and the moves past the bolt on the second pitch (out there, athletic and technical). and the 3rd pitch is simply the best: steep, airy face climbing, great view of the upper north sky. possibly the overall best 5.9 face pitch in the state. Quote
bobbyperu Posted October 28, 2003 Author Posted October 28, 2003 yup yup thats what i'm talkin bout, the wide stemming in the chimney(1st pitch lovin'arms), was the way to go yesturday as the back and left side of it was slimy wet moss... the splitter hands before the chimm was wet too but still way secure buried hand jams, combining the final 2 pitches only adds to the root imo, awesome freeclimbing, and goofy exposure i' can't get enough of this rt. i've been dissed on this site for climbing the same roots over and over, but like yesturday and all the times prior, its a new experience every time. new partners doin it for the 1st time, trying linking pitches together, swapping leads, leading all, fast, slow, whatever... you find somethin good its hard to not go back -bp Quote
Jopa Posted October 28, 2003 Posted October 28, 2003 bobbyperu said: you find somethin good its hard to not go back -bp well said! Quote
Alpinfox Posted October 29, 2003 Posted October 29, 2003 Ring... Ring... "Yo" "Hey Alpinfox, you wanna go hit up Index?" "Yup" "OK, see ya in a few" A couple of sandwich and caffiene stops later I was charging up the hill towards Index's sweet Lovin' Arms trying to keep up with the indefatigable Mr. Peru. While waiting for me to catch up, he amused himself with a bit of trail maintenance, and we eventually made it to the base of the route. I tied a rope to the animal and he tore off up the rock. I managed to get the rope through my belay device sometime before he reached the second anchor. Putting the absolutely stellar climbing aside for a moment, this is a spectacular route for the simple exposure and scenery. A near vertical, 500+ft tall monolith of God's most blessed building material, granite, with views of the fall colors, the bumping river, fog-shrouded Mt. Baring, and the quaint hamlet of Index all right below your toes throughout the climb. Superb! Shouts of ecstacy and exhaltation punctuated the afternoon as we climbed higher and higher. At the top of Davis-Holland, I looked up to see a steep, dripping, moss-choked chimney up and to the left ("Thank God we ain't goin' up thataway" I thought) and some bolts off to the right. Mr. Peru led out from the belay, and for some reason was not heading towards the bolts, but instead headed into the aforementioned drippy elevator shaft. Well, it wasn't as hard as it looked, and I was amazed at how solid a handjam can feel even when with oozy moss between your fingers and water running down the sleeve of your shirt. However, I was still quite pleased to be on the tourist end of the rope for this pitch. At the next belay, I zoned out again staring at the kaleidoscope of autumnal brilliance below me, and only "came to" when I saw Mr. Peru not heading left up the easy ramp to the summit as I expected him to, but instead heading straight up the face of what appeared to be an overhanging 20ft section of holdless granite and then mantling up and over the top. This last pitch, the last two of Lovin' Arms, combine mind-boggling exposure, thin-but-secure face climbing, and an outrageous finish. The seemingly blank wall is in fact crisscrossed with felspar bands which make wonderful little crimpy edges. My giggling on this pitch belied my mirth and glee. As a mantled over the top, the sun dropped below the horizon. "Hey, we timed that well" A few quick rappels and we were back at our stuff and... in the dark. Here at 48 degrees of latitude in late October, it gets dark early. We failed to consider this fact when setting out from Seattle at 1pm. Descending the trail proved to be the crux of the day. Luckily I happened to have TWO lighters! The ephemeral glow of these meager flames allowed us to slowly make our way down the trail. We stopped occasionally to stick our burned fingers in our mouths and mumble curses, but were making pretty good progress. Attempts to light dead pine branches to make a torch were unsuccessful. Eventually my lighter overheated and exploded and Mr.Peru's lighter ran out of gas, leaving us with only the light from the spark of the flint to help us find the trail at critical moments such as switchbacks. We joked about what gapers we must have looked like to anyone with a nightvision scope, feeling and falling our way down the class 2 trail. We fell off the trail a few times, but after a couple of hours, finally made it back to the car. We stopped at the store, bought a couple and a new lighter. After a brief stop by the river for some , we headed back to Seattle, with Mr. Peru beating some crazy rythyms on my dashboard to the fine tunes he brought along. Thanks BP! To all you suckas stuck at work yesterday: Get on that route! Quote
bobbyperu Posted October 29, 2003 Author Posted October 29, 2003 ahhhh yup... good times heres to ya alpinfox see ya tomorrow nite at the baltic room for some sweet live hip-hop right?! its gonna thank you for a great time yesturday, and all the treats you rock! heres to index mondays -bp Quote
Szyjakowski Posted October 29, 2003 Posted October 29, 2003 Alpinfox said: To all you suckas stuck at work yesterday: at least i didn't have to work today....fun in the rain and sun at disVantage.... Quote
bobbyperu Posted October 29, 2003 Author Posted October 29, 2003 yeah heres to anyone out and lovin the beautiful fall weather... skuzzy, bill, and all others doin the do thats what i call responsibility, and a great way to "make a LIVING" -bp ya gotta passion?! Quote
RodFox Posted October 29, 2003 Posted October 29, 2003 I second that. Davis Holland/Lovin Arms is my favorite route in the Northwest. Centerfold is also a winner... Quote
rr666 Posted October 29, 2003 Posted October 29, 2003 I love that climb Good job guys, great report Quote
Bug Posted October 29, 2003 Posted October 29, 2003 Szyjakowski said: Alpinfox said: To all you suckas stuck at work yesterday: at least i didn't have to work today....fun in the rain and sun at disVantage.... You too will be old and responsible some day. And I will be retired and climbing every day. Great TR guys. My favorite route in WA. Quote
bobbyperu Posted October 29, 2003 Author Posted October 29, 2003 RodFox said: I second that. Davis Holland/Lovin Arms is my favorite route in the Northwest. Centerfold is also a winner... hey rod fox, i couldn't agree more... wanna hit those two routes up some day, makes for quite the 10 pitch day at index! shoot, then why not do slo chillin' on the way out index is such a fun place to cruize around, and when its dry this time of year the frictions good, the air is crisp,and you can have the place to yourselves -bp Quote
scott_harpell Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 hoo rah! n e one down this weekend? i am commign down friday and will be down through sunday. Quote
lancegranite Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Word. the Centerfold/Davis Holland link up is the shizzle.. How about the Outer space/Davis Holland in a day? Quote
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