underworld Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Trip: Index - UTW - Green Drag-On (errr... Drip-On) Date: 2/17/2007 Trip Report: So seeing that the forecast for saturday was a little promising, counterfeitfake and i had planned on heading to index and see if we could 1-day green drag-on. we had climbed the upper wall (town crier) before in a more relaxed 2-day fashion, so for this we decided to try and short fix and lead in 2 pitch blocks. as saturday got closer the forecast showed some signs of slight deteriorationing but we were committed. the seed was planted - and all that could blossom was an epic tree. A 4am wake up and i was picking up CFF at 4:30, even ministry blasting was having a hard time motivating at this hour. we sort gear in the dark in the parking lot and are on the trail by 6am. the last time i was on this approach was for the 2 dayer w/ a pig and a ton of water, so my memories were no-to-fond. for this, however, we had lightened up significantly and we carried one pack and wore the rack, all our gear and food. the pack had a tagline, belay jacket, water and the blaster. the approach really isn't that bad when you aren't carrying 70lbs. we get to the base of the wall just as it starts to get light. it was a haunting sight - with the fog, the patches of snow and the sounds of dripping all around. all this dripping can mean one thing - the wall is wet. we planned on the 5.9 davis-holland 1st pitch and stuck with that plan...just aided it since it was total slime fest and we are wanker free climbers. I had P1, 2 and 5. CFF had P2 and 3. I'll only speak for my pitches. P1 - the crux of the day for me was aiding 4th class up to the 1st anchor on a 3-lobed camalot... i HATE 4th class slime!! P2 - we didn't have a topo with us and there is a beautiful crack that looks soo easy but dead ends at a roof. luckily i didn't not take that, and took the thin one to the left. (will that crack to the right link you to town crier?) cam-hooks rock this pitch P5 - clouds are rolling in, but we are on a decent pace. it's 3:30ish and we've got time to keep going. in the mindset to HURRY, i get up to the belay atop pitch 4 and see a bolt ladder up from it. forgetting, some beta i had got from another friend of a 'burly traverse'....i hand off the pack and figure i've got enough rack from cleaning to finish'er off. bolt ladder, fixed head, flaring dirty garden crack...WHAT? i realize that i only had about 4 nuts on my rack and a handfull of zeros, a couple c4's and 2 ballnutz. "my nuts are useless" i yell. but, in the effort to go fast, i do not ask to have rack tagged up and try and get by. back cleaning and cursing the traverse, i know i'm doing my follower no favors here. turn the corner and free up the slimey gulley with a hollow flake and a ballnut for protection - i make it to the anchor. having done the top-out 4th class pitch before...that pitch was created by god to prove the existence of the devil. we DO NOT want to do it again, much less in the dark (oh yeah, it's dark by now). so we rap the route. (thanks to a prior TR, we know the dripp. rap to #4, then #2 then the ground. 12hours on the wall and the rain starts as we hit the ground. yesssss. off to ixtapa for some mexican food was a great day, the weather was awesome all day...till it got dark. most of the cracks were wet and the belay under the roof was drippy and cold. Gear Notes: Doubles camalots to #3 + #4 and #5 Zeros Aliens hooks 4L water cliffbar shotblocks 2 ropes ghetto blaster headlamps Approach Notes: trail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanb Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 We ran up to the base of the UTW in the morning to give the lower wall some time to dry. Must have been you guys on the second pitch? Was impressed by the amount of primal grunting that could be heard from down the trail. Nice send on a great day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counterfeitfake Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 I'll only speak for my pitches. I'll speak for mine: P3 - I hadn't climbed in a while so I started sketched and got sketchier. Stupid time consuming second-guessing occurred at the big detached block and I yelled something about topos and "why do I like climbing??". Above I found myself in a thin corner with a mossy alternative to the right. Questionable nut placements got me to the anchor. I was well aware of how long it had taken as I chugged a red bull and started soloing through the truly exposed roof. P4 - I was two placements up the overhanging corner when underworld got to the anchor. He said we were off schedule and was obviously skeptical about completing the route, and I wasn't sure either. But I figured there was nothing to lose by going up to the next anchor, since we definitely had enough time. "Okay, blitz it if you're going to blitz it." I was off. After the strenuous moves at the bottom of the corner it eased and I finally found my groove. Hit the expando flake and I found it to be less dramatic than previous reports indicated. Cam hook, camalot, worrisome cam hook, bomber cliffhanger, alien, BOLT. Charge the bolt ladder. Bomber cliffhanger. Freaky free move in bad shoes, bolt, ANCHOR. Whew. "Sorry that took so long" I yelled down. "Dude, nice work, it took an hour in a half!!" Oh, that wasn't so bad. Cleaning the upper pitch, wet and dirty, in the dark, after extensive back-cleaning by my leader... it was an experience. There was cussin'. Rapping in the dark was also an experience- coming out of the roof above the P3 anchors, you're free-hanging for about 40 feet, and a little breeze caught me and sent me on a slow 540 degree spin. Hanging in quiet darkness with the lights of Index below me. It was almost nice, but I was glad when I felt the wall against my back. Rapping is the way to go, though. With two ropes, straight down from the top of P4 to the top of P2, then to the ground, easy peasy. I definitely thought P3 was the crux, it seemed long, and thin at the top, although in hindsight maybe some offsets would have made life easier. Definitely an awesome day, it was long, hard work and it left me feeling totally thrashed (remind me not to forget my kneepads next time). After I got home I enjoyed a quiet evening of not having tons of shit get in my way, and having none of my belongings tie themselves into knots with all of my other belongings. It looked like Davis-Holland was almost dry by the time we were on the second pitch, seems like it just takes a couple hours of sunshine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmatt Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Nice work on the GD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Phil Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Doesn't count unless you top out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counterfeitfake Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Doesn't count unless you top out. Bummer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underworld Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 does it at least count as an attempt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Phil Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counterfeitfake Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Man I sure wish we had successfully climbed that route. :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambone Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 nice job! do GD and TC in a day and you are ready for some Wallin' in the Valley! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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