What's on the Menu

[JosephH]

Bill and Mark,

 

I did look at that dihedral as well and noticed the couple of old pins in the horizontal coming into the belay at the top of the second pitch of YW. The dihedral (going up and right from the chains at the top of the first pitch of YW looks like it would be fun and certainly a safer way up around the nasty stuff I was on Sat.

[markd]

joseph,

if were thinking of the same dihedral..........that's the one that bill bolted and called the old fart variation. the catch is supposedly someone had climbed it prior without the bolts, so when they found out they chopped them.

[markd]

joseph,

the corner that bill is talking about(i think) is directly off the ground and just to the right of YW's bolted pitch.

[JosephH]

Mark,

 

Well, it certainly looked like it would have seen some traffic before...

[JosephH]

Mark,

 

Oh, no the one I'm thinking of leaves up and right from the chains at the top of the first pitch of YW.

[markd]

it's a shame the bolts got chopped as it looks like a good alternative to the "butthole pitch". i've never been on it though, just looked down it from the second pitch anchors. but if it was done originally without the bolts, i guess that's how it should stay.

[JosephH]

Is there no pro or is it just small or sketchy? I agree, if someone did it clean, leave it that way.

[markd]

Is there no pro or is it just small or sketchy?

 

bill could answer that better than me, as he's climbed it. however i have friends who climbed it when the bolts were still their and it sounds as if the pro is minimal. although, like with all beacon routes, if you do a little gardening you might find some bomber gear.

[JosephH]

I'll check it out again when I go out Thurday or Friday - I can usually get the small lowe balls or crack'n'ups going in that sort of terrain.

[texplorer]

Wow, I am out of the loop for a few weeks and the board lights up. Hey, Mark, Bill, & Joseph I am off of work for a couple of weeks and will be available for climbing tomorrow or all next week.

[markd]

karsten i'll be climbing at beacon most of the weekend. i'll be out with kevin and the usual crew. i think bill is going to meet up on sunday as well. you should head on out.

[JosephH]

Karsten and I will be out there this a.m. and then he's off on a trip with his girlfriend. I'll be out there Saturday and it would be great to meet some of the crew.

[larrythellama]

I will have to try to come out for a few hours before it gets too hot...y'all gonna be there the rest of the week?

[texplorer]

Damn,

Sorry I missed all you guys this weekend. I am doing some "extreme" camping I guess. If anyone's in town during the week I'll be back on monday.

[JosephH]

Bill and Mark,

 

So, on this alternate pitch #2 on YW that got chopped; Karsten and I ran up YW this morning and tried to figure out what you folks were talking about and sort out my SE Corner blocks business.

 

From the chains at the top of pitch #1 on YW it looks like there are four alternate ways up to the pitch #2 chains:

 

1: Far right up the biggest dihedral to a traverse of the horizontal-angling-up seam with the two pins in it just right of the pitch #2 chains

 

2: Up the face more or less directly above the pitch #1 chains staying on dark colored rock with a thin seam going more-or-less-straight-up-with-a-lean-to-the-left (and a 6" triangular sloping incut pocket at its base) and then into the base of the smaller dihedral going up left to the pitch #2 ledge.

 

3: Up and left from the pitch #1 chains then right up through a reasonable looking crack through a whiteish, wide seam meeting about in the middle of the smaller dihedral going up left to the pitch #2 ledge.

 

4: Up from the chains out on the face that is below and making up the left side of the smaller dihedral that going up left to the pitch #2 ledge.

 

At the moment all four are pretty dirty, but on my brief look-see (Karsten nad I had to be out of there by noon) I didn't spot any chopped bolts but I was looking more at the pro than for bolts. So which of these is the "Old Farts" variation.

 

Going up the bigger far right dihedral all the way up to the roofs is, it turns out, what I was hoping to intersect with going up from the chains from "Boardwalk".

[JosephH]

From the chains at the top of pitch #1 on YW it looks like there are four alternate variations up to the pitch #2 chains:

 

#1: Far right up the biggest dihedral to a traverse of the horizontal-angling-up seam with the two pins in it just right of the pitch #2 chains

 

#2: Up the face more or less directly above the pitch #1 chains staying on dark colored rock with a thin seam going more-or-less-straight-up-with-a-lean-to-the-left (and a 6" triangular sloping incut pocket at its base) and then into the base of the smaller dihedral going up left to the pitch #2 ledge.

 

#3: Up and left from the pitch #1 chains then right up through a reasonable looking crack through a whiteish, wide seam meeting about in the middle of the smaller dihedral going up left to the pitch #2 ledge.

 

#4: Up from the chains out on the face that is below and making up the left side of the smaller dihedral that going up left to the pitch #2 ledge. [This is actully the same as #3 now that I've looked at it all again]

 

Jim O. and I went up and looked at these and I'll be damned if I can see any sign of bolt except the one in white rock above the bolt/pin combo at the ledge left of the pitch #1 chains. It's right on the edge of the crack that goes up about 10' right of the pitch #2 a-shaped slot. Jim said that bolt was for going up that crack/dihedral that parallels the pitch #2 a-shaped slot.

 

We also threw a top rope down from the pitch #2 chains and did variations #2 and #3 as described above which both went on first attempt and run somewhere between 10a-b depending how you feel about high steps and delicate laybacks.

 

Variation #2 above which goes up the black rock dyke/seam directly above the chains does take a small but bomber offset alien placement below the sloping incut 6" triangular pocket and after that you may be able to get a crack'n'up or beak in, but most likely just head on up to where it meets the bottom of the small dihedral going up lef to the pitch #2 ledge (the crux is a high-step kind of like doing the YW pitch #3/4 move up over the slab at the bolt).

 

Variation #3 starts up and left of the pitch #1 chains (at the chopped bolt mentioned above) and laybacks the flakes going up right to the white dyke then up through that to meet the small dihedral about half way up on its way to the pitch #2 ledge. It does have some pro higher up but until then you are out in space on airy, fragile laybacks looking at a ledge fall if any of those flakes peels on you (the flakes are all hollow sounding and move a bit so you'll want to be very gentle on them and keep the pull sideways rather than out).

 

Still not clear which is the "Old Farts" variation. Jim was thinking it was all the way on the right, but again I couldn't see any bolting at all up there when we checked it out.

[JosephH]

Bill,

 

Oh, shit, all that yapping and I forgot to detail where the old fart variation is. From the P1 rap bolts, look straight up @12' up and @ couple of feet to the r, nearly directly above the rap bolts, its easy climbing if you want to go up, look at a chopped 3/8 stainless bolt then downclimb. The first bolt is chopped there. From the 1st chopped bolt, hop up r. and climb straight up past that, in the easy 5.7? shallow dihedral @ 20-30 more feet. Look, left, can you see the shallow slab 10' left heading up and left the 25-30' to the P2 belay? Thats the route. Only of couple of sketch moves, which once you've made them seem easier. Saw a 5.11 leader take 20 min to work it out once. But the bolt is right at your chin essentially.

 

BTW, Mark, straight up and easing L will also go at like hard 11++/12. There is absolutly no pro on it, needs bolts. I have toproped it previously after several attempts. It's a great TR problem as well, but would be a great hardman lead, but would be fairly close to the Old Fart Variation.

 

Just found this in the other thread...

 

Does the variation you did have a 6", triangular, incut, sloping pocket and meet the bottom of the shallow dihedral?

 

The "straight up and easing L" isn't clear to me either, but starting a bit left and laybacking up and right through the "white dike" to the middle of the "shallow dihedral" does go at about 510a-b. I would imagine going straight up to that "white dike" would be more 5.11-12 so maybe that's what you are talking about...

[billcoe]

Hi Joeseph:

 

It sounds like #2. Grades right, Jim O knows it he watched some guys do it with me one day.

[JosephH]

Bill,

 

It sounds like #2. Grades right...

 

That what I figured, thanks for clarifying this. So we don't know who they are saying originally did this free and clean on lead? Pretty bold move with just the one piece at the beginning...

 

Jim O knows it he watched some guys do it with me one day.

 

Jim couldn't quite remember and thought it might be the far right crack/seam/dyke that is part of the shallow dihedral that makes up the right side of the whole area around the chains belay. Neither one of us could find any signs of bolts on any of these variations though, but hey, we're both old and going blind (well, I started out blind)...

[billcoe]

Don G. said Greg Murray did it but I didn't get the 2nd name.