bigwalling Posted September 15, 2005 Posted September 15, 2005 (edited) F.A. Alik Berg and Jake Hector Aug/Sept 2005 We put up a new route on the South Face of Snowpatch Spire in the Bugaboos, the route is about 1800ft long and has fairly technical but mostly safe climbing. In Yosemite I would rate the route new wave A3. Most pitches took 6-8 hours to lead due to the complex placements. This is the first climb I have done that Hybrid Aliens are MANDATORY! I think drilling will be required if you don't have them on the 2nd ascent. The route took us 18 days total to establish, 14 of those days were spent climbing capsual style on the face. It should also be noted that out of 14 days only 3.5 of those days were in nice weather. Every other day had snow or sleet flying from the sky. Wind was pretty extreme at times and would shake the ledge and blow the fly so hard it was hard to get any sleep at time. The tempeture was also surprisingly cold, we weren't able to start climbing early(not that we wanted to!) due to the ropes freezing nightly. On day 7 we ran out of liquor and on day 9 we realized we would be eating mashed potatos pretty much for the rest of the climb and till we were able to make it to the Kain Hut to raid the free food. It just so happened to work out that Alik always led the pitch in which we would establish the next hanging camp at. So I was always forced to just hang in the storm and freeze while Alik led his pitch. He got to belay out of the shelter of the portaledge while in a sleeping bag. Also of note is that I developed minor frostbite partly due to this. I am eagly looking forward to my feet healing and my next wall. Alpine big walls bring a lot more satisfaction than the walls in yosemite. The views blow the valley away! Edited September 15, 2005 by bigwalling Quote
Chriznitch Posted September 15, 2005 Posted September 15, 2005 awesome ...looks like you experienced all conditions Quote
EWolfe Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Well done, Gents! Great Pictures! Looks like excellent granite! Quote
bigwalling Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 the granite is pretty good, but there is a layer of junk over the whole wall. All cams must be bounced tested cause most pop the first time. You never know how good a perfect looking alien really is... unless it's yosemite! That said the rock at the very base is the shit! it has been weathered by the glacier and is perfect. Quote
EWolfe Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 (edited) "A layer of junk over the whole wall" - I know what ya mean, same with Mike and I on Mox. 9 days without booze, now THAT is rough. An awesome boulder problem at Squamish, as well. Edited September 16, 2005 by MisterE Quote
glassgowkiss Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 now why there aren't any free ratings on this route? it looks like on several pictures (#2,3,5,11) that there are rather long sections of cracks, which did look quite modarate. Quote
bigwalling Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 ya I saw that thing on climbing.com, looked cool. Was it way runout? Fuckers on st.com are confused by us giving it 5th for free climbing. Well at least lambone is... HAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Quote
bigwalling Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 just saw bobs comment... I dare you to free the 5th pitch! I don't think it is even possible, it is vertical and is mostly beaks and heads with some small cams hear and there. 11th would go free for sure, 2nd would be at least 5.12 R we freed a bunch of it but not the hard parts. 3rd, I think it would go free, it ends with free moves. If someone wants to look into free climbing the wall, I would take, the first pitch of the Edwards/Jessup route(11+), then climb our 2 pitches, this will bring you to a big corner system, go up it and continue on natural features for as long as possible. Some guys tried the face in the winter and did a bunch of the natural system I speak of, it is marked wrong in the book but just follow the big systems and I bet you could free a new route up the wall. I would think in the end it would be pretty hard 12+/13 realm and quite runout but who knows. Bring a nut tool to clean placements!!!! Good luck. Red is us, Yellow is where I think free route could go. Quote
wdietsch Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 right on, most righteous ... well done gents Quote
DCramer Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Looks Great. Happy B-Day! Enjoy those teen years while you still can! Quote
Dru Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 I remember reading an article in the CAJ about your partner bivying on Diedre when he was 10 It just goes to show if you start them earlyyou get a climber for life more often than not Quote
bigwalling Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 About our time on the route... My partner and I aren't slow aiders, shit he holds a speed solo record on El Cap. Well I take that back, I am slow but can go fast if I want. I can't believe he bivied on that route! HAHAHAHA. Quote
Dru Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Maybe it was when he was 8? Anyway the CAJ article, written by his father, was illustrated with a pseudo - kiddy porn photo of the naked youth climbing a tree. I bet if you track it down you can embarass him plenty with it now Quote
bigwalling Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 HAHAHAHAHA... he told me about his dad quite a bit. I guess his dad is terrible to climb with. He told me he would never climb with his dad again! He also said that most people climb with his dad once(if they haven't heard the rumors yet) and then never climb with him again. Probably his dads fault. They also epiced on East Butress El Cap I think one year... something like starting at dark... Quote
corvallisclimb Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 fuck ya dude... did you guys draw a topo? Quote
layton Posted September 17, 2005 Posted September 17, 2005 very cool. way to be. i can see polish bob's comment. it does look like a moderate crack in a photo or two, but photos lie and a big "go and free it then" comment should be added with a sneer. Quote
Chriznitch Posted September 17, 2005 Posted September 17, 2005 fuck ya dude... did you guys draw a topo? shame shame...you didn't read the whole TR Quote
corvallisclimb Posted September 17, 2005 Posted September 17, 2005 fuck ya dude... did you guys draw a topo? shame shame...you didn't read the whole TR last 4 pictures didnt load when i was looking earlier. shame shame. jake- ill be back in oregon in mid october, lets do some aid in the rain and snow Quote
Travis Posted September 26, 2005 Posted September 26, 2005 Holy crap man, nice work Jake! BTW, have you even graduated high school yet? Man, I have so much catching up to do in this sport. Quote
bigwalling Posted September 26, 2005 Author Posted September 26, 2005 Ya, I finished last spring. My partner for this climb is still in high school though, his last year. You do anymore walls in squamish? Quote
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