[TR] Beacon Rawk - The Bar 9/20/2008

[ivan]

Trip: Beacon Rawk - The Bar

 

Date: 9/20/2008

 

Trip Report:

"a feller smarter than myself once said: sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar...well, sometimes it eats you."

 

"that supposed to be some kinda asian thing?"

 

guess i was due for a smack-down - i felt far too jazzed and excited going into the weekend - the plan was to climb takes fist and some other neglected beacon classics saturday, then bivy on portaledge - i wanted to hang the ledge somewhere other than ground zero, since i'd spent a night there already, and thought i could make the nice fat bolts on ground zero work (though, admittedly, they're only 20 feet to the right of the GZ anchor, they are smack-dab underneath the tremendously cool roofs, a plus given the potential for rain in the forecast)

 

anyway, the day started out well - met geoff at burger king where he scored some mediocre coffee - we headed out to beacon and packed up a shit-ton of gear and bivy goodies in our haulbags and walked on down - i took my friend mike's portaledge, having practiced enough w/ it in my garage the previous 2 days to realize i'm a mechanical retard and shouldn't be allowed to have children (too late )

 

the first pitch i did for takes fist has been seeing some cleanign lately and is certainly improved for it (that you joe?) - the crux for me is the very thin .9ish part down low, just to the right of the only fixed pin on the route - 00 metolious cams and very thin nuts are important, as well as a sense of balance and finesse, none of which i have

 

the takes fist moniker is apt - once you diverge from ground zero it gets awesome for fist jams! not easy to find at beacon so you gotta savor them when they arrive - buoyed by the joy of being in a real crack, i ignored the mist and light rain to finish up the first pitch which has several very cool sections where you dance out on face holds - the last 15 feet to the anchor is fuck-all hard and didn't seem 5.9 to me

 

my lack of intelligence screwed me once at the anchor - i figured i should go ahead and haul up the ledge and set it up, as the room was tight and it woulda been a pain to do w/ a second person at the anchor (it's just 2 big beefy bolts, but you can put in several more pieces of gear off to the right) - i hauled up the ledge but had difficulty getting it deployed, and once out, hanging right - basically the setup sucks, since there's enough of a dihedral there so that the ledge only makes contact w/ the rock at 2 corners and wants to go all crazy when the weight shifts around on it

 

in hindsight, i shoulda just brought geoff up, done the money pitch, then rapped ground zero, hauled to the GZ anchor, and camped there - ah well...instead, we all ended up on the ledge, it got wierd, and we broke the damn thing (but, oddly, not in a bad way, though we didn't know till we got to the ground - a knot that anchors one of the straps to the corner of frame blew, but geoff was able to retie it) - so we ended up having to reverse the whole damn process and ended up on the ground w/ the evening coming on

 

at least we had beer - and jim - and geoff's bro - to provide comic commentary and photography - we rallied, fixed the ledge, attached it to the giant tree that grows by the start of free for all, drank some more, then headed off for a corner climb in the dark - this was actually the first time i'd climbed out at beacon (intentionally) in the dark and i had a damn ball - i did it in boots too, to further the funk - having 2 headlamps made in very chill and we generally debauched our ways all the way up uprising, then rapped down only to camp in the rain - geoff eschewed the ledge though

 

sunday morning was dank and shitty and we were due home, so off we went - i can't wait to get back at TF though - with the cleanign joe's done on the upper pitch, it looks frig'n fantastic! and then there are all those roofs off to the right...

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

takes fist can use on pitch 1- a green alien-a 00 metolious-an assortment of other small cams- tinynuts-3 2camelots 2 3s 1 3.5 and 1 #4

[Farrgo]

Think I just got on this today?

 

I agree with the hardest part of the first pitch being that insecure 5.9 section. However, I cleaned out a solid finger lock / stopper placement to protect it.

 

On the second pitch I climbed from two bolts in a dark water streak with no webbing up for ten feet, traversed right under the roof, then up. Only thing was, I didn't use any of the #2 or #3's I brought with me. It never got bigger than #1 and was mostly #.4s. Where was I?

[ivan]

nice!

 

look at my pic above - sounds like you went through the roof right above the portaledge, right? i'm not suprised you used no big gear up there - i used 2s, 3s, n' a 4 on the first pitch though, so i'm curious as to how you skipped that (did you go much further right of where i am in the pix above?)

 

regardless, i'm jealous dammit! it makes my feeble accomplishments seem so much lamer when i french-fuck my way through a route AFTER you've freed it in style why did i have to go back to work?

 

how'd the upper pitch compare w/ stephenwolf? i think they have the same rating?

[denalidave]

Think I just got on this today?

 

I agree with the hardest part of the first pitch being that insecure 5.9 section. However, I cleaned out a solid finger lock / stopper placement to protect it.

 

On the second pitch I climbed from two bolts in a dark water streak with no webbing up for ten feet, traversed right under the roof, then up. Only thing was, I didn't use any of the #2 or #3's I brought with me. It never got bigger than #1 and was mostly #.4s. Where was I?

That is def. the line we took today. Maybe it takes fist if you are a "little person"?

[ivan]

Maybe it takes fist if you are a "little person"?

i'm sure the name comes from the first pitch - there are plenty of fist jams along the way, at least the way i went (right where i am in this pic and just above)

[Farrgo]

Ya I get it now. There were some fist jams on the first pitch, I think I used two #3s. I assumed it was just a random access pitch for the business up higher.

 

Other than the first roof which is pretty strenous, I think this climb is quite a bit easier than Steppenwolf. Partially that might be due to the commitment factor on Steppenwolf. There are a couple cruxy areas where you really have to punch it between gear.

 

Thanks for cleaning up a classic. This one needs to get climbed a lot more!

 

I would be stoked if we could get more climbers off the Dod's area/Beacon tower/SE corner circiut and have some of these amazing lines get cleaned up and climbed more. I don't know why climbs like Bears in Heat (single best pitch at Beacon!), Steppenwolf, or Takes Fist don't get climbed more. They are certainly as high of quality as anything else at the rock. Has anybody taken a look at Second Wind (next to Blownout) that line is just begging to be cleaned up and climbed more often. So many lines that would be great if we just had enough climbers to keep them in shape.

[ivan]

i think joe's the one who's done the hard work on this one, as well as flying circus last year

 

all those roof routes look great and i'm looking forward to ticking them, especially that sweet crack that just dead-ends half way to grassy ledges - can't wait to figure out where the hell to go from there!

[Farrgo]

Happy hooking!

[ivan]

Happy hooking!

naw, i thought i should take bill along so his l'ildog can play!

 

 

[pink]

Happy hooking!

 

dr. zaius...dr. zaius.....doctor zaius

[ivan]

Happy hooking!

 

dr. zaius...dr. zaius.....doctor zaius

do you mean to insinuate that bad-ass orangatangs don't need no damn-dirty hooks?

[pink]

 

more funkey than monkey

 

 

[JosephH]

Hi guys. Ivan, Geoff, and Farrgo, once again, way to get after some of the coolest lines out there. Unless I have it wrong, though I'm pretty sure, this line is 'Takes Fists':

 

 

And turning the roof could certainly take fists and some larger cams. I cleaned the p2 pitch out thoroughly two (or was it three) weeks ago and some of the lower slabs in between then and now. But I've been sick since then and haven't been able to get out at all to finish the job (with anyone willing if you have the time). Jim and I went over things when I was last out and we have permission from the BRSP to clean and restore the p1 lines under the columns, but the basic plan is still the same as it has been. The first step was dealing with all the really bad mid and top anchors on South Face Column lines which is done (except for 'Flightime'); second is cleaning out the routes themselves which is underway; and last is cleaning up the first pitch approach lines - particularly those under the central South Face roof pitches.

 

Jim also knows where a few of the bootied pins need to be restored on the p1 routes. I just need the chance to get back out and hang ropes on the GZ and TF mid anchors so we can finish the job of cleaning up the approach p1 lines in the area bounded by this line on the West (up the small, black dihedral under the 'Flying Swallow' anchor and angling down and East):

 

 

And this line to the East (Under 'Dirty Double Overhang' and angling down and West):

 

 

[ Note the line of now-cleaned shrubberies down the length of 'Takes Fists' p2... ]

 

The bottom line is there isn't much point putting all the energy into in cleaning out the South Face column p2 pitches without insuring there is somewhat decent access to them via the p1 lines. We've discussed this for several years now and sort of dabbled with it in the past, but now dealing with the p1's under the roofs (including 'Nuke-U-Later') is definitely on the radar and underway to be followed by finishing thoroughly cleaning out all the p2 lines from 'Flightime' on through to 'Double Dirty Overhang'.

 

Also, I didn't give 'Second Wind' the cleaning it deserved back when I was on it (2005/6ish), but it was during the sweep to check all the pins on the p2 column lines from 'Flying Swallow' across the South Face to the right - the bad ones were either reset or replaced with pins off the spare pin rack John Middendorf ebayed back in 2004. So if you run into a pin from 'Flying Swallow' to 'Jill's Thrill' it should be good - but do give a shout if you run across one you think I missed.

[Farrgo]

Thanks again Joseph for all the work you put out there.

 

IMO TF pitch one doesn't need anymore pins on it, especially after I dug out that new stopper placement.

 

Second Wind looks pretty clean. I think it needs a new bolt on the traverse in from blownout. I believe there is a high and low traverse? One is protected by a button head and the other is protected by a very sketchy 1/4. Has anyone attempted a direct? Looks like it could be very technical rp work.

[denalidave]

Second that, thank you Joseph!

[JosephH]

Second Wind looks pretty clean. I think it needs a new bolt on the traverse in from blownout. I believe there is a high and low traverse? One is protected by a button head and the other is protected by a very sketchy 1/4. Has anyone attempted a direct? Looks like it could be very technical rp work.

 

You're welcome guys, but it's mostly a matter of rabid self-interest - not that I'd turn down any assistance or anything...

 

The 'traditional' p1 won't be getting pins replaced, but the two other direct starts probably will.

 

With regard to the 'Second Wind' bolts, the only fixed protection work done to-date has been belay/rap anchors and all the pins - no protection bolts have been touched, surveyed, or otherwise checked. Doing so on any scale at all would probably require a discussion with the BRSP and approval of a replacement project plan similar to the Anchor Replacement Project. Also, I'd comment that some of those really old 1/4" bolts are damn stout - particularly the buttonheads - but anything with an SMS plated hanger is probably pretty damn suspect. The bolts on 'Second Wind' aren't the most inspiring, but I believe they felt pretty solid when I tapped them on my way by. YMMV however...

 

I looked at a direct start as well. Like you said thin and stout. You could borrow my Loweballs and Crack 'N Ups if you were going to give it a go.

[denalidave]

Crack 'n Ups... you crack me up JH. Those things are scary! Guess it's better than nothin though...

[ivan]

ahhhh - adventure bitches!

 

crack'me'ups - brassies - birdbeaks - loweballs - who cares!?! it all feeeeeels so kewl!

[JosephH]

I've taken a 30 footer on a #3 - works for me and way, way better than no pro at all...

[pink]

and make sure you have a condom in your wallet

[mkporwit]

And for those of you wondering what the hell a Crack N'up is (like I was), this article talks about them a little along with all sorts of other esoteric pieces. The last pic of the article probably puts even the most inveterate CC.com gear whore's closet to shame.

[pink]

that's sum nutty shite

[ivan]

buy the whole set!

[denalidave]

and make sure you have a condom in your wallet

I usually don't climb w/my wallet. Wired, or sewn spectra rigged condoms?

[denalidave]

buy the whole set!

Must be a pic of Bill C's rack closet, eh?