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[TR] Index TW - Waking The Dragon From Her Winter Slumber 4/4/2009


ivan

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Trip: Index TW - Waking The Dragon From Her Winter Slumber

 

Date: 4/4/2009

 

Trip Report:

this past weekend miker and i brought in the spring to upper wall - we arrived in crisp, cold air but under glorious bluebird skies - the wall was dripping like mad, but with the prospect of fine weather to continue, we decided to thole a soggy portaledge experience saturday night and finished up the green dragon on sunday, even as the last of the snow melted off up top and the wall dried out

 

the beast in question, center frame

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nothing so cool as to be able to belay on a wall while looking across at a fine traverse you've already done!

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the main waterfall pouring off the wall made life continuously interesting - sudden strong gusts of wind would send squalls shooting through us, on the ground or up high no difference

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i used my mad short-fixing skills to reach the belay under the green roof in one push - the 5.9 start was mandatory aid for me as it was a small waterfall, the 4th class bit on the ledge hardly better! the next long bit took nuts beautifully and soared up to the anchor for our portaledge - though it was blazing hot i was cold and damp the entire time as the crack pulsed w/ water - that night i realized i burned the bejesus out of the back of my neck and yet my face had not an ounce of sun on it

 

below the green dragon's namesake roof we decided to set up the portaledge (only my 3rd time attempting this most exotic manoveure, one that went very poorly last time) - when we first arrived the drip and funk was not so bad there, but sadly it grew worse later - a fun moment when a knot in of the stays failed - camp established, mike set off to lead and fix the next pitch to under the final roof

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the drip and wind-borne mist grew worse as i sat and shivered, chain-smoking - eventually i rigged up my z-rest as a big-wall awning to keep the worst off my head, then worked my way into the haul bag to get my extra layers on and my sleeping bag and bivy sack over my legs

 

mike returned, and w/ the better part of my liter of wine dispensed, i took care of the serious business :)

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disinterested in figuring out how to make a pocket-rocket work w/o a hanging system, we subsisted on cold ravioli and chowder and took in the evening ambiance as it grew cold - the moon came out, bright enough to read by

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the night proved interesting - we couldn't really pimp too well w/ the infernal shower that, unlike a true rain-storm, held no hope of ever ceasing, so soon enough we crawled deep into our bivies and set to sleep, not much of a problem since we'd left vancouver at 430 in the morning - still, my dreams were troubled, and i woke to find my feet 20 degrees above my head, the ledge dangerously out of balance - i'm simply too retarded to ever comprehend these most inconcievable contraptions!

 

the day broke bright and warm to the sight of the fixed pitch that would quickly warm me up

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time to get down to bidness

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off i shot up the fixed line, intending to short-fix above while mike broke down camp and followed me - mike also won the hero-award for the weekend when he used my preoccupation as his opportunity to have a nice BM on the ledge - i've yet to try this delicate operation meself!

 

our humble camp

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the rest of the climb was uneventful - the aiding out from under the roof was wild fun, very like takes fist or the crack w/ no name at beacon - my main complaint being the bit just below the next anchor where, inexplicably, the bolt ladder ends, leaving the typical fat-ass aider such as myself most of the rope out facing a very long fall - happily, the vermin-hook i was carrying fit a small pocket-hole perfectly, enough for me to clip the next bolt w/ my cheater stick at full reach

 

mike used the opportunity under his belay roof to catch one of the many banes of our existence the night before - by the time we'd finished on the route though the drip was almost entirely gone and all the approach pitches bone dry

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a number of double-rope raps got us down to our bags and off the wall - i recovered the many butts i pitched down the wall and mike his sack of shit :) and we made our goodbyes to the upper wall, where we'd seen no one the whole time, only to encounter a veritable goddamn zoo at the lower wall

 

a long tiring drive back to the 'couve and my spring break was over - dammit!

 

 

Gear Notes:

my newly purchased dmm offsets have proved quite nice in the 2 trips i've made w/ them

 

Approach Notes:

index might have taller and more numerous routes than beacon rock, but god damn that hike up to the upper wall, together w/ the long drive, sure brings the balance back!

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The BM was the low point of the climb I must say, but nature is a beeyatch sometimes and you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

The most ignominious part was carrying the offending plastic bag at arms reach down the trail as I did not want it to explode in/on my bag.

 

My only two times on that wall I have spent the night. Once on Town Crier about 8 years ago and this night.

 

Now I gotta say the portaledge issues may be due to a weight limit which is not written on the side or anything. With ~500 pounds of fat ass aid climbers on the ledge, I am not surprised a knot or two popped. Mayhaps a couple single hammocks are in our future.

 

The drive and hike do make it more of a challenge, but it was a solitary experience on a decently big wall.

 

P.S.-None of the lower wall stuff except for the one pitch City Park really talk about Aid potential. Anybody know any full wall experiences on the lower wall that provide good Aid fun?

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You should post a trip report of the trip your wife gets to take as you go climbing every weekend. You stick her with the real work of watching your children as you go out to play. Just a thought.

 

Nice pictures.......

she's not the wordsmith needed to craft a fine-spun tale, though the lesbian beach-weekend she had the other week did indeed have fine source material :)

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Wha dat? You clever old snake charmer! How much of the roll did you have and was that 14 or 12 gauge?

 

ivan_cobra.jpg

 

Just kidding! Looks like you guys had a blast up there. You've really impressed me this past year with your persistence in getting out, onsight stepping up to some solid stuff, and just going about your business. Ok, the TRs are fun too...

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Wha dat? You clever old snake charmer! How much of the roll did you have and was that 14 or 12 gauge?

 

ivan_cobra.jpg

 

Just kidding! Looks like you guys had a blast up there. You've really impressed me this past year with your persistence in getting out, onsight stepping up to some solid stuff, and just going about your business. Ok, the TRs are fun too...

homemade cheat stick based on my memory of beaconben's design - the smallest gauge aluminum i could find at home depot and two shitty biners w/ a bunch of duck tape - after the last debacle at smith w/ the shredded rope i've taken to carrying another small roll of duck tape wound round a baby syringe in my back pocket :)

 

as it happened, the cheat stick made my life a great deal simpler at the top of the 4th pitch

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RAD trip!!! (but it doesn't count if you didn't top out!!!)

but we had to beat the goldbar traffic! :lmao:

 

actually i woulda liked to continue up the last crack, but the long drive ahead, the lack of consensus, the recalcitrant dankness and the topo assurance of it being a 'dirty crack' nixed the motivation - ah well, i was never in any danger of being hardcore - next time i'll just aid solo it and there'll be no debate! :)

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my main complaint being the bit just below the next anchor where, inexplicably, the bolt ladder ends, leaving the typical fat-ass aider such as myself most of the rope out facing a very long fall - happily, the vermin-hook i was carrying fit a small pocket-hole perfectly, enough for me to clip the next bolt w/ my cheater stick at full reach

 

What?!? Aren't you 6'7"? You're already a human stick clip as it is. There's one hook move between the last bolt (a big fat shiny one) and the anchor chains. Step up on your aiders like a man. There's nothing to hit if you fall.

 

Those old BD ledges do look a little flimsy. Get an old A5 single as they are pretty sturdy and are 84" long. Someone had one on Craigslist in Bend recently. Hammocks suck.

 

Here, buy this:

 

http://bend.craigslist.org/spo/1095276978.html

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i recovered the many butts i pitched down the wall and mike his sack of shit :)

 

Sounds like you guys need to dial in the "leave no trace" system a bit.

huh? seems to me this reads like we did, in fact, leave no trace?
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Well the only trace left was the leper hook I dropped from the third pitch. I looked for it diligently, but it had enough mass to embed itself in the forest floor beyond my ability to find without a metal detector.

 

I agree on the cigarette butts, but that bag was something I could not have near me, the PTSD was already messing with me after that most delicate of airborne operations on the albeit rickety portaledge.

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