[TR] Darrington Three O'clock Rock - Magic Bus 5/11/2007

[hanman]

Trip: Darrington Three O'clock Rock - Magic Bus

 

Date: 5/11/2007

 

Trip Report:

Just a heads up for those who may be interested- Protection bolts on P1 of Magic Bus have been upgraded to 3/8" hardware, and chains replaced tat at belay. I hope in the next few weeks to do the same to P2. It was great to be out there yesterday!

 

MH

[genepires]

thanks for work! hope to get out there soon.

[turn_one]

yeah, thanks mark. maybe we could go check out your work, say, tomorrow?

[chucK]

Is this Magic Bus?

[MarkMcJizzy]

I think that what ever "Magic Bus" is now, it in no way resembles what Peter Wojcik and I did in 1979. I think we placed two protection bolts, and two belay bolts.

 

Whatever people are doing now is cool, and the fact that the name persists is nice.

 

I have seen other routes transmogrified at Darrington. The first two hard pitches of Silent Running must be about 60' to the left of Silent Runnings initial pitches? I did Silent Running a bunch in 1980, and the route was much different.

[dbb]

wouldn't that be the rubber soul route mark?

[MarkMcJizzy]

I'm wrong. I believe that the original Silent Running was about 60' right of the present route. I remember two sustained 5.9 pitches protected by beer can hangers, one pitch going over a small overlap. They seem very different from the modern route, which I most recently did a week ago.

Edited May 14, 2007 by Markmckillop

[mattp]

The original Silent Running route started approximately 150 feet up and left of the present start, with some mungy slab leading to a bolted belay, then it passed an overlap before traversing right to what is now the second belay. This overlap and traverse pitch must be the first of the two sustained pitches Mark remebers, but it was substantially easier than the present crux pitch and Dave Whitelaw has the moves above the overlap rated 5.8+ in his guidebooks and it has now become part of a route called "Revolver," which was established proabably some time mid 1980's or maybe 1990?

 

There is an old route to the right of Silent Running, one that has never been published as far as I know, and one of cc.com's esteemed old guard had a hand in its creation. I think this one was monkeyed with by a couple different parties at some point.

 

I believe the new start of Silent Running is vastly preferable, though I bet you could still follow the original line. There may still be one of the original bolts left in place on the traverse.

 

There was a variety of hardware, with some of the old "beer can" hangers that resembled a pull top, with the tab bolted to the rock and the ring raised at maybe a 60 degree angle. In addition, there were what we used to call the meat hooks. They were 2" long sections cut from metal stock about like that used for making a snow picket. There was no rounding to the corners, and the thought of falling and sliding over one was quite frightening.

 

 

[mattp]

Rubber Soul started near where the original Silent Running started, but left of the long bushy seam that divides the North Buttress of Three O'Clock into two roughly equal halves. It climbed diagonally leftward, joing what is now Total Soul about 30 feet up the third pitch. It exited stage right about 20 feet up the fifth pitch. I don't think it is still there, but we used to have an old belay / rappel anchor from Total Soul hanging in Pro Mountain Sports. It was a 20" tree about the diameter of your thumb that grew in that crack on Total Soul's fouth pitch. It was not a "SRENE" anchor.

 

Because of the bolts, Silent Running got done fairly often. Rubber Soul was less popular.

[DavidW]

There was a group of guys opperating in Darrington in the mid to late 80's that has remained anonymous ever since. They did things like climbing straight up from the original Silent Running start and making what is now known as Revolver.

 

Since the old bolts on what we have been calling Magic Bus were all of a kind and apparently placed at about the same era, it could very well be that the route has been misidentified from the beginning.

 

Perhaps the route Mark climbed is now just a couple of bolts lost in the wilderness and the route called Magic Bus is something left to us from this unknown other group of climbers.

 

These guys did routes at Three O'Clock, The Comb, Blueberry Hill and probably other places; many times arranging their belay bolts in a horizontal line of three anchors. Does anyone have any idea who these climber's were?

[John_Scurlock]

My old climbing partner Kevin Miller is from Darrington, he was living there back then but maybe too young at that time. I know he climbed quite a bit down there at 3 O'clock. But he knew just about everybody & what they were up to. I'll get hold of him & ask. ps. I haven't forgotten the pics I owe you..! a promise made is a debt unpaid. I'm hoping to get in there later in October.

[shapp]

Maybe Eddy Cupp (spelling?) or associates there of? I have heard he used to climb up that way but recieved a head injury sometime in the 1980s or early 1990s while climbing in Darrington I think (not sure of the exact story time line) and since has abandoned the sport

[curtveld]

That's a pretty good rumor - and I'm sure Eddie will get a good chuckle out of it! He did take a nasty fall off the Tooth in 1990, but I don't think he was ever involved in any accidents or new routing in Darrington.

 

That being said, I'd love to see the upper pitches of Magic Bus get cleaned up and some new hardware. Thanks Mark and crew!