[TR] Boola Boola Buttress- "Thank You Baby Jesus" Possible new route 7/10/2005

[layton]

Climb: Boola Boola Buttress-"Thank You Baby Jesus" Possible new route

 

Date of Climb: 7/10/2005

 

Trip Report:

Rolf and I headed up to Boola Boola Buttress, a 1,500' chuck of granite that is hidden below the dragontail plateau, across from little anapurna.

 

It threatened to piss on us all chilly day, and it was a bit unnerving since we had only one rope and there weren't any trees and not a lot of good bail options. Within minutes of reaching the top it started to rain, and we both got throughly soaked on the way home. I felt bad for my friends on stuart, it looked pretty soggy over there!

 

Rolf particularily enjoyed the hike out, his favorite parts being the singing birds, flowers, interesting hikers, and the section after the big bridge to the car. He gayly chatted away about his feelings on the trip and we hugged a tearful goodbye after he invited me in for steaming mugs of cocoa. I drank liquid eggs for dinner and a way too cheap flask of whiskey, so i was in top form.

 

We attempted to follow the instructions for the Yoder route, but we got the japanese version or something cuz we couldn't figure out what went where. Pretty sure we did a new route, or at least a major variation. Not sure where Pete, Erik, and Dan went last year either. The 1st three pitches were great (2nd pitch was terrific laser cut finger cracks) and the last pitch was the best of all. It was a 70m arching 3" crack, to a step around through an o/w, then verticle shallow double corners spinkled w/chicken heads to keep the grade down to 5.10- (sustained). We did a lot of rooting and weed pulling on the 1st pitch up a shallow groove/crack. The middle section of the route (and by the looks of it, the whole buttress) is choss world. EZ walk off the top.

All told about 1,500' of climbing and 8 rope stretchers with simul climbing. Lower part was 5.9, middle low 5th-4th, upper 5.10-. Probably a grade III. "Thank you Baby Jesus"

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

rolf and i combined our gear to create the sketchiest rack in the cascades, comlete with frayed webbing, rigid stem friends, hexes, and cams held together with weed wacker wire, and fishing line.

 

Approach Notes:

no snow up asguard. keep the poons and tools at home.

[layton]

Dry Erase Topo:

 

Boola Boola Buttress (routes are 'round the corner)

 

Little Anapurna n' spires (flagpole i think)

 

Witches tower

 

Pitch One

 

Pitch Two

 

Pitch ???

 

Starting up the summit headwall

 

Topping out

 

"You got it Skyler! Send it bro-brah! Summer and Cheyenne just sent it, you got it brah." Rolf working the 'proj. Gnar Gnar.

[lunger]

ha ha, nice work.

 

your description of the first pitch matches our first p., grassy groove; then better (cleaner) climbing above. we should compare notes sometime. glad you and the reticent one "enjoyed" it.

[layton]

you musta read the 1st post while i was adding the photos erik. do the pics ring a bell?

[lunger]

nice pics. i take back what i said above, your first p. looks different.

[cappellini]

we started in the obvious corner just to the right of the butress toe...and continued up the obviously better choices when given any....an attemp was made to keep the contrivometer from pegging without going around everything interesting...probably same last pitch that is why most of the black shit in the arching part was rubbed off...i always rub it off before i really jerk my way up...your topo sucks, there are no neighboring landmark features for reference points....way to send the shit..next time you crank topher brah i'll film