question regarding black peak

[James]

we're wanting to climb the ne ridge of black peak in one day. i read a tr listing a rack of 5 cams and 7 chocks, and suggested taking even more cams. are that many cams useful on this route? we plan to simul climb most of it w/ 80' of rope, and since its supposed to be mostly class 3-4 i'm wondering if 8+ cams (the previously suggested number) would be excessive. any info would be appreciated.

cheers

[KFox]

From what I have seen of that peak, ( I did the standard route up this spring) it is nothing more than rocks stacked on top of other rocks. I wouldn't trust protection up there. Also 100 feet between climbers gives loose ricks a lot of time to build up speed.

 

Just my $.02

 

-Kevin

[dR]

James...well I guess there are a number of things that would be dependent on you bringing a large rack...the route has very few 5th class sections and though it is loose in places, it is a nice line...heck, it's a walk-off from the summit!...i'll tell you what we used and maybe that'll help somewhat...short rope...5 cams up to #2BD and a few wires...6 long runners...and climbed with hiking boots...it depends how much gear you want to plug in and that would subsequently affect how far you could climb before having to re-rack...for me, and opinions and results will vary, i do find more cams than wires is useful on a traversing climb like this one...think about this..you place a wire on the left side of the route and then take a fall on the right side, well the chances of that wire pop'n would be pretty good while a cam would have a better chance of holding (depending on a few things, but in general)...longer runners would be the order of the day too with wires as you don't want to pull them as you ascend, the route is not steep except for one, maybe two spots...think about the abilities of yourself and your partner and go from there...hope this helps some