Beacon Question - what the hell did i do?

[ivan]

the driving rain threatened my perfect plan to climb today - ended up passing by the 'zone in order to have some fun on beacon - it had been too long - had passed the obvious route on the north side on several occasions before and bouldering around it and knew it would be hard and that it would be perfect for an uber shitty day - having done it i'd like to know more now

 

its just 40 yards or some left of the trail where it splits off towards the gate - the route climbs the face to the left of a diherdal below an immense roof/cave, the biggest on the whole massif from ground level i'd think - there a bolt shortly off the ground followed by a mix of gear placements and pins, eventually ending a hard traverse left past the roof - i was fine to here, but as i passed the roof i emerged onto the hellaciously wet/mossy slab only to discover the rock feature at the end of the roof traverse was absolutely perfect at catching the rope - muthafucka! fucked w/ that crack forever tryign to find a way to prevent the rope from getting stuck in this thing, but ended up getting above it anyway, getting stuck, and then having to finish the climb tied into the tow-rope i'd hauled w/ me - the last piece below the double bolt anchor was a zany tree growing downhill at a crazy angle and shaking like a leaf in the breeze under strain, but still somehow alive and thriving.

 

so what the hell did i do and how can it be done so as to prevent the rope sticking? seemed liked it needs a bolt way left of the roof to redirect the cord away from the thread-gobbler (my name for the route until i hear the proper one)

 

other than that one total pisser, a spectatacular route i thought on the rare-side of beacon - very solid rock, crazy steep but w/ many secretive and soul-thrillingly bomber holds up until it got hard, hard...

[JosephH]

Ivan, it definitely doesn't need a bolt there, you just have to be careful with the rope. Shane recently did the FFA of that line and I've seconded it with him once. The lone bolt and pins are old, though we checked and reset both pins so they're solid; the bolt is anyone's guess. I believe Shane calls the line "Head Skirt" and the one he's done to the right of it "Head Case" as Jim didn't seem to know any names for them from the olde days past - Pink, Bill? All in all, it's a real classic pitch with one of the more interesting finishes at Beacon. I'd highly recommend it to anyone and big kudos to Shane for freeing it.

[ivan]

Ivan, it definitely doesn't need a bolt there, you just have to be careful with the rope.

yeah, no shit - but how? the rope gobbler is a large feature and i fucked with it for a long, long time trying to prevent it from doing it's thing and still ended up fucking meself - did shane use a nut on a single biner under that wobbly flake a foot left of the lip? i really would like to do this climb again but gotta figure out how to avoid the suck!

 

the trad corner that goes up to the same roof also looks fun, though there's some shrubbery that'd have to go...

[ivan]

you said lone bolt jh - the twin bolt anchor looked new - did ya'll put that in? it looked like a route might continue above - is there any more fixed gear/anchors up that way?

[kevbone]

though there's some shrubbery that'd have to go...

 

Careful, to my understanding, we are allowed to put routes up, but we are not allowed to garden the wall. Which is the oxymoron.

[JosephH]

Ivan, Shane - working through the BRSP - established that anchor after the FFA. He has done a second pitch above it, though I didn't get the idea it was opening up great new vistas for climbing relative to the terrain above. Oh, and when I said 'the route to the right', I meant in the line in the middle of the adjacent wall as opposed to the corner.

 

Kevin, routes can go up those NW faces, but the "gardening" (and managing habitat) by clearing whole faces of moss with snow shovels is definitely 'out' at Beacon these days.

[ivan]

Ivan, Shane - working through the BRSP - established that anchor after the FFA. He has done a second pitch above it, though I didn't get the idea it was opening up great new vistas for climbing relative to the terrain above. Oh, and when I said 'the route to the right', I meant in the line in the middle of the adjacent wall as opposed to the corner.

 

Kevin, routes can go up those NW faces, but the "gardening" (and managing habitat) by clearing whole faces of moss with snow shovels is definitely 'out' at Beacon these days.

cool - yeah, a second pitch appeared to be dealing mostly in jungle shit and lacked the great aesthetics of the first one.

 

again though, do you remember how shane prevents the rope catching? i've never seen or dealt w/ a more devilish feature...

[JosephH]

He's just careful with the rope. You could throw a nut or cam in there to prevent the rope from getting back in there. I've yet to lead it and need to get out to do just that so we should hit it some time together and give it another whirl.

[ivan]

word - i tried doing just that but got nowhere (it's weird and has multiple pinch spots over a 2-3 foot length), but then i am very, very dim...i'm be very willing to second it though just to enjoy it

[kevbone]

Are you talking about just to the left of the huge roof next to the trail?

[JosephH]

Kevin, yes, I believe so. The roof is on the right side of a large ninety degree corner as you come down to it on the trail. And the face Ivan is talking about is directly in front of you. It has a bolt and two pins on it. Do any of you guys know the name of any of those lines in there if they have names?

[kevbone]

Years ago Jim talked about putting up a bolt ladder right out the steepest part of that huge cave. Good practice for aid climbing. He…..of course would put it up on lead.

[ivan]

Kevin, yes, I believe so. The roof is on the right side of a large ninety degree corner as you come down to it on the trail. And the face Ivan is talking about is directly in front of you. It has a bolt and two pins on it. Do any of you guys know the name of any of those lines in there if they have names?

yeah that's it - it was pouring rain but pefectly dry under that monster - really sucked trying to exit onto the mossy slab but i went 100% on aid on that and it woulda been fine if not for the rope issue - the view from the roof back down is awesome, as is the eventual rap back down (the bolts could use a chain, no?)

[JosephH]

Shane has has been working to free that line up through the middle of the roof.

 

Ivan, the bolts are fine as is if you rap down over the roof at an angle of about 45 degrees out to your right as you face the anchor.

[ivan]

jah, the rope pulled fine - just thought it was bad ethics to put wear on belay bolts by pulling ropes through them on a regular basis?

 

would love to see the middle of the roof go - much more badass than what i can do, though the holds are so sweet maybe if i had an extra-helping of badass some day....

[JosephH]

Nah, for the traffic most routes on Beacon see, and especially that one, those burly Metolius rap hangers (and 50kn Fixe SS rap rings where installed) will last nearly forever.

[ivan]

Years ago Jim talked about putting up a bolt ladder right out the steepest part of that huge cave. Good practice for aid climbing. He..of course would put it up on lead.

that'd be fine by me and provide some distraction during the drizzly winter months too

[markd]

Years ago Jim talked about putting up a bolt ladder right out the steepest part of that huge cave. Good practice for aid climbing. He…..of course would put it up on lead.

 

"jacob's ladder"

 

i'm in p-town, without a car, if someone wants to scoop me and climb tomorrow, i'd be down. heading out to broughton with snoop and moira soon, if anyone wants some north face action.

[markd]

would love to see the middle of the roof go - much more badass than what i can do, though the holds are so sweet maybe if i had an extra-helping of badass some day....

 

i had always looked at freeing that as well - would be hard!

 

andrew's two bolt route out the left side is really good as well. above that you can climb up a few more pitches of tree and rock climbing that's fun during the closed season.

[JosephH]

Mark, I'm climbing tomorrow and would be happy to pick you up and head out.

[dan_forester]

hey if anyone's interested in checking some of this north face stuff out on Monday, let me know.

 

more interested in aiding, but I'm flexible.

 

Ivan, you've piqued my interest. I want to see this magic rope-catching feature.

[ivan]

Ivan, you've piqued my interest. I want to see this magic rope-catching feature.

in the civil war, soldiers likened seeing war on to seeing an elephant, as that was about the most fantastical thing they could imagine seeing in real life, having read about it in books

 

at the end of the war, no one gave a shit about seeing elephants any more

 

hoping for a 2nd round tomorrow to escape this infernal heat

[dan_forester]

I hereby christen this feature the Heffalump, then.

[ivan]

denalidave took this pic of me doing it again 2day - fantastic day at beacon - cloud-murk n' mist n' portland but the big B was in a fine way, n side dank if full effect - this pitch was much easier the 2nd time, knowing where i'd get in trouble unless i changed my approach - low tech solution worked best - jammed my prusik cord into the constriction to keep the rope out - much easier to top out when the upper slab ain't soaked

as an encore, geoff and i waltzed up the old original ascent line of the, climbing the pitches that have the 100 year old via ferrata set up - chilled at the homeless camp aka rancho relaxo - saw more poison oak than will allow me to sleep sans nightmare tonight