Jeff_T Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 First, the pics (Sorry, I can't seem to get them in the right order): http://www.cascadesclimber.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=55 Weekend before last, Chris and I headed up to Index to brush the cobwebs off our aid gear. It rained like hell last year, and I was expecting the same this year, but fortunately it wasn't too bad. It only began to really come down when we were rapping down. Some blue skies even appeared at times. City Park is such a nice route to warm up on. Last year, I didn't lead the first pitch, so I thought I would this year and it definitely lived up to it's reputation. I was thinking about using Leeper cams on the way up, but it was so easy dropping nuts in that I just kept moving. Before I knew it I was at the belay getting settled in. Chris led the second pitch, which I think is a little harder. It's pretty thin at the start and the route changes quite a bit further up, throwing in some free moves here and there. It gets pretty wet in places, and I know Chris had loads of fun on this one at times! After I joined Chris at the second belay, we had to decide if we were going to head up City Park p3 or climb Sloe Children. City Park was off to the right and from what we could tell, didn't look so hot. Sloe Children looked like a very nice line up from the belay and from what I hear is much more popular. After getting a ways up S.C. I realized we had made a good choice, as I thought City Park looked kind of crappy. So right off the belay, Sloe Children is thiiiiiiinn! The only thing that would fit in that crack at the bottom would be a knifeblade or something. I decided to aid off the bolt and forgo the public flogging I would have received for hammering on the LTW Even while aiding off the bolt I had to place a pretty small piece of gear since the crack hadn't opened up a whole lot. The route continues straight up staying pretty thin most of the way. I really wished I had more tiny cams for p3 since it doesn't take nuts nearly as easily as p1. I backcleaned a few times and got creative with the nuts and it worked out. I did have one nut blow out though and I got to take a nice 15 foot trip, which somehow ripped my shoe off. I got lucky and it happened to land in my lap.... So things are going along pretty well again until I realize that the crack peters out about 5 feet below the belay and you have to make a tough mantle move onto a small ledge. Probably not that bad on a free route, but going from aid to free made it pretty hard. It was really discouraging because I figured I was definitely going to have to head down. But since I had a few solid pieces in below, I thought I'd give it a try. I loosened up my daisy all the way and moved up....I teetered for a few seconds and finally was able to grab the chains. I figure I'd probably fall 5 times out of 10 trying to make that move. Chris cleaned p3 and joined me at the belay. We may have considered climbing p4, but it didn't look particularily appetizing. I think there are some newer free routes up there that are 5.way too hard for me. Besides, it was starting to rain. We rapped down and headed out to grab some dinner at Zeke's. It was a great route, which I would highly recommend. P2 may not be the best, but getting to climb Sloe Children makes it worthwhile. Jeff Quote
rob Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 nice to see some index TRs. Pretty wet out there I bet? Quote
fenderfour Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 Spring rain is for aid climbing. Nice work Quote
Jeff_T Posted March 28, 2008 Author Posted March 28, 2008 Actually, it wasn't too bad compared to last year. Most of the rain came when we were on the way down. Jeff Quote
Jeff_T Posted April 15, 2008 Author Posted April 15, 2008 By the way, if anyone happens to step on a #6 BD micronut at the bottom of City Park, I would appreciate getting it back TIA, Jeff Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.