best of cc.com [TR] Prusik Pk. - Solid Gold III 5.11a 6/14/2008

[wayne]

Nice Chris!

One thing I found helps: Dont store peanut butter in you trousers,

The topo is actually Tim O's

[eldiente]

Winter's partner belaying on the last pitch of "Solid Gold."

 

[mountainmatt]

I believe there are a few more routes, but these are the ones I know of off hand...

 

[counterfeitfake]

What do you call the yellow line to the right of the Beckey/Davis and Burgner/Stanley?

[mountainmatt]

I made this a while ago, and I don't have the guide in front of me, but Beckey mentions a route heading out from there described only as snafflehound ledge.

 

Anyone? Bueller?

[counterfeitfake]

I couldn't figure out where Snafflehound Ledge was.

 

The line must the 5.9 "Sumner and Heath" variation mentioned in this summitpost description. I think that is what we climbed.

 

I did not understand that the B/S and B/D routes share the same final pitch...

[j_b]

I don't think they share the same last pitch. The yellow line is the Becky Davis, no?

[olyclimber]

I don't think they share the same final pitch. I though the B/D is the splitter fingers/hands to the summit, the B/S is around the corner in a corner crack.

[olyclimber]

B/D finish:

 

[olyclimber]

Final pitch of B/S:

 

[dberdinka]

Nice pic mountainmatt

 

Here's some interesting writeups out of the AAJ.

 

The first route referenced seems to be the start of Solid Gold followed by a finish up and right. The second route reference seems to take on the big roof crack just right of the Solid Gold start then finishes with the upper pitches of Solid Gold (beautiful white dihedral by a thin finger crack). So SG is really a combination of two routes done previously.

Then they did two routes on the nice looking wall left of Solid Gold.

 

 

1988 AAJ pg 130 must be 1987 route

Prusik Peak, South Face of West Ridge. On August 16, Rich Romano and

I ascended the leftmost crack system on the south face of Prusik. The large

overhang on the second pitch was passed on the right. A short overhanging

hand crack and airy face moves brought us to the west-ridge route. (The climb

is left of the Boving-Christensen route.) (II, 5.10.)

FRED

 

1989 AAJ pg 142

Prusik Peak, South Face of West Ridge. On August 3, after being stopped the

previous day, Rich Roman0 led through the large overhangs 50 feet to the right

of our 1987 route. A pitch higher in a big alcove, we crossed left of the other

route, then climbed a beautiful white dihedral by a thin finger crack, gaining the

west ridge (II, 5.11+). The following day, we climbed a diagonaling crack

system up and to the right to a belay on the southwest arete and ultimately to the

west ridge (II, 5.11). On August 11, David Goland and I did a route that starts

further left, in a striking right-angle dihedral. After two pitches, we were forced

out of the dihedral by the lack of protection. We entered a curving slot up and

right, which placed us at the base of the now familiar finger crack (II, 5. IO+).

The climbs are named Double Bein, Keep on Belton. and Notley’s Direct.

FRED YACKIJLIC

 

[j_b]

Nice dihedral pitch on the Stanley-Burgner. Once, I reached this final dihedral one pitch below where the SB reaches it by climbing a face (10) off snafflehound ledge thereby avoiding entirely the chimney pitch. There is also a high quality alternate start ~ 50' to the left of the regular SB, which climbs a thin hand/finger double crack (10+?). There are so many crack systems on that face, it isn't too surprising that people get confused about what is what.

[DavidW]

I think the extreme side angle of this photo is making it quite hard to see where these things really go. Fred's brown guide shows Paul's 1977 route correctly but it is quite a bit different than the line in MountainMatts photo. Greyell and I climbed a variation to that... According to Boving, my route and his route share the last 75' feet to the west ridge.... we were slightly right of Boving's line until the end. I've never climbed Solid Gold however it appears that it finishes with the same features.

 

Since the Beckey/Davis route was established 6 years prior to the Stanley/Burgner it probably isnt correct to show it as a variation of the S/B. MountainMatts line is pretty far off the actual line especially in the top half and probably finishes closer to the yellow line. It certainly did not rejoin the Stanley/Burgner which didnt exist at the time. Fred's brown guide describes and shows the location of his own route pretty well. A face-on photo might make it easier to put these in their right places.

 

Also the west ridge route does not go on where the red line shows in this recent post. Perhaps its dead-obvious to those of us who know but very confusing if some newbie chooses to use this photo-diagram rather than buy a guidebook.

 

Probably the silver lining here is that there wouldnt be these accuracy issues if the climbing weren't so spectacular everywhere on this formation. still...(take it from a guidebook author) its damn hard to draw lines on photo's if you didnt climb the route the previous day and fairly impossible if you havent been there at all. I suggest finding the guys who put the routes up... and getting them to do the drawing...with the exception of Boving, most of these guys are still around and a few of them even have memory cells still functioning!

 

 

[Dane]

Nice picture.

 

There is also a high quality alternate start ~ 50' to the left of the regular SB, which climbs a thin hand/finger double crack (10+?)

 

If it is the same crack it is a nice start and the way I have done it. We ended up traversing back slightly right through some trees (maybe two or three short pitches up) to the base of the chockstone chimney. In '79 we thought it was a new variation. And a more fun start to the B/S.

[Sol]

Nice job Winter and partner. You guys should get on Der Sportsmen next, it will provide the length and challenge that SG doesn't. I'd agree with the 10+ rating, we didn't downgrade it cuz we didn't want to sandbag any 10+ leaders on the 2nd pitch crux.

 

Jens and I attempted Prayer for a Friend last week, makes Der seem like the kiddie pool...

[olyclimber]

I think I recall the story with that one is that it hasn't been done to the top yet. Is that right?

[keenwesh]

I looked over at it from the W ridge last year I think. saw a single bolt with a bail biner on the face directly across from the 3rd gendarme on the W ridge.

[pms]

might be one for Uli's generation, or someone's who climbed city park.

Edited July 1, 2010 by pms