first ascent [TR] Leavenworth, Clem's Holler - White Bird, 1p, 5.6 FA 5/14/2008

[Otto]

Trip: Leavenworth, Clem's Holler - White Bird, 1p, 5.6 FA

 

Date: 5/14/2008

 

Climb: Clem's Holler, White Bird, 1p, 5.6 FA

 

Date of Climb: 5/14/2008

 

Trip Report:

 

I had been conscripted to work as hod carrier on a big David_W project. If I wanted to upgrade my station I had better learn to hand drill on lead. So, when on a training day at Clem's Holler the week before, I noticed the slab right of the route we were on, Boardwalk, I thought, "It's a Beautiful Day". It looked like a good candidate. David said, "There's your White Bird..." Sure enough, it was easy enough climbing to find good stances at the required spacing. I think it yielded a good addition to a day's outing for the beginning slab leader. Yes, you have to climb at least 5.9+ to get up to it, but perhaps the stronger leader can do that one.

 

By CascadeOtto

 

The second bolt saw the end of my old Forrest Mjolnir hammer. The epoxy gave way and the head flew off, first up the slab a ways, then reversing course past me, in surprise turning to horror, as I saw it bouncing directly down on David and Zack. They actually caught the magic thing! Fearsome no longer, it's another one for the box of memorabilia.

 

David's trusty A5 hammer was a lot better. Heavier, better balanced, it cut my drilling time in half. Three more bolts for a total of five, past some groovy pockets and horizontal cracks, led me to the Boardwalk bolt anchor. Thanks to David_W and Zack Krupp, photo by David_W

[Tokogirl]

Hey Otto,

What kind of hand drill - Petzl?

 

Looks like alot of fun!

[Otto]

We're using Pika drills. They're heavier and so have less vibration and bounce than the Petzl one (that's the Rockpecker). The Pika is a nice, solid piece of hardware.

[Ishmael]

Nice looking climb. I have a Pika drill and like it a lot. Very easy to replace bits as well as the above mentioned attributes.

[Jens]

Nice!

 

Otto, you are dating yourself by claiming to own a Forrest big wall hammer.

 

------------

I was up working on a new route right of yours a bit 3 days earlier.

[Otto]

Well, it's in two pieces now. Also, it wasn't new when I bought it. Before the interweb, there used to be bulletin boards at places like REI and the Swallow's Nest with little pieces of like, paper, where people would try to sell their stuff. I bought the hammer off a guy who said he roofed his house with it. I was poorer then...

[Kyle_Flick]

No, you're not dating yourself because of the hammer, but you are with the song/band. Love the song and a nice name for a route!

[Otto]

Kyle, I'll date myself even more. If your name is really Kyle Flick then I believe your father was my opthamologist when I was a kid. He fixed up my eye when it was mashed by a soccer ball.

[Kyle_Flick]

That's funny. You were a patient of my Dad's. You must have grown up in the vicinity of the Innis Arden "Hood"? What I can't figure out, since leaving the neighborhood, is how does the old high school (Shoreline) become a senior center, and the school district become a city? ;-)

[Otto]

Yep. My Junior High (Butler) became a high school, they shut down my H.S., and the whole thing became a City. Progress.

 

Anyway, I'm glad my Forrest hammer blew apart; my new Black Diamond one feels better, drills faster.

[Kyle_Flick]

Otto,

Butler is where I met my wife, Linda. The district even closed my elementary school, Sunset. We are alumni of schools that no longer exist. Were we classmates?

[Otto]

Hey, that was my elementary school, too! I never heard it closed; it always looked in good shape whenever I drove by in later years. Anyway, I think I was a couple years ahead of you. I only remember you from the swim team in summer. Your brother (Keith?) was a couple years ahead of me. I graduated from Shoreline H.S. in '73.

 

I didn't get into climbing until '79, after college, thankfully, as I may never have earned a degree if I'd discovered climbing earlier! Tried slab climbing early by going to Darrington with Mark_L and hated it - couldn't handle the runouts. Had to let my head mature for a couple of decades, now I'm really digging it. Still like crack climbing, too! Anyway, you write some good tr's, keep it up. And the comments on writing style, too, of course... re: "super fun"