Bulletheads, this afternoon

[luwayo]

Sunshine Chimney Centre caught my eye for "disappearing into the bowels of the mountain."

 

i'm far from strong leading 5.8 cracks as i often get that freaked out feeling on them. any suggestions on Sunshine?

 

will give Fungus a try as well, but my biggest pro is only the yellow slung tri-cam (and the 2nd pitch is a bit slabby - not all that appetizing on a hot day like today).

leaving at 3 today to test my metal.

Edited May 26, 2005 by luwayo

[Dru]

SCC - take # 4 Camalot. There is a squeeze chimney near the bottom which is kind of runout but easy

Climb it in 1 pitch, not 3.

When you get to the slung chockstone, think stemming for left foot.

 

SC - South is a 5.6 option you might find better if 5.8 is hard.

[fern]

I though SCC was scary. I backed off at the slung chockstone last year. The rock was yucky even before that spot. ... I enjoyed the left variation (Backpack?) better, I think you would too if crawling into the rock is attractive - don't get your helmet stuck.

 

There's a rap station at the top of FtBG.p1 . I think there's a fair amount of fist sized crack on it. I even recall crawling right in and slithering on my belly like a reptile. Didn't do p2.

[Dru]

I though SCC was scary. I backed off at the slung chockstone last year.

 

Maybe your leg was too short to stem?

[fern]

someone convinced me it would be fun to do with only nuts and hexes too ... so the gear was only so-so

[luwayo]

#4 Camalot - acknowledged. i was worried it needed the purple #5.

 

i managed to peel my select guide open to the page - Fern, you climbed SCS - it's a bomb! i'm tempted to take a red pen to strike that bomb from my book.

 

at the end of the belly slither on FtBG is where i was talking big pro.

 

i was at leavenworth on the weekend leading Mid-way among other things, so i'm in a good frame of mind.

 

thanks guys. i'll give it a shot.

Edited June 1, 2005 by luwayo

[luwayo]

quick follow up: for any body else pushing the 5.8 envelope, this 2p. climb takes good pro all the way on pitch 1. i found the crux move (using Dru's stem suggestion) over the bulge committing.

 

sling everthing on p.1 (some double lengths) - major rope drag, as in one oblique traverse to a corner; & then a traverse in op. direction.

 

shady

[snoboy]

SCS - lots of fun. Should not be a bomb.

 

SCC via Backsack, also fun. Make sure to do it in boots.

[Mer]

someone convinced me it would be fun to do with only nuts and hexes

 

Spot on! How very sporting of you. Pip, pip, huzzah

[Squid]

Based on this, I went up SCC this past weekend on my way to Cream of White Mice.

 

I thought that the route was interesting in a mellow 'adventure climb' sort of way, and definitely more amusing than the approach hike to COWM.

 

But, revisiting your comments, I suspect I may have done the Sunshine Chimney North. I went up a wide gulley, up a left-leaning ramp with a nice handcrack, then zigzaged through various tunnels. I wound up on the approach path to COWM after a single rope-length. There was no belly crawl.

 

Was I on SCC or SCN?

[fern]

sounds like SCS

[Squid]

Whoops.

[luwayo]

this 5.8 baby thanks you for the report, and i look forward to the day when i can say 5.8 leads are mellow too.

 

i see your confusion. in my perfunctory posts it's a challenge to make myself coherent between rush jobs at work

[Squid]

The stuff I climbed was not as hard as 5.8, was not runout, and did not require a #4 camalot.

 

Also, my confusion stems from not being able to read a guidebook, not the quality of your posts.

 

I would recommend the route I was on to a 5.8 leader- its fun and far from scary (except for the Rodents of Unusual Size).