New Route at Frenchmen's Coulee

[kevino]

*Disclaimer: I say this is a new route because as far as I can remember there have not been hangers on the anchors and it was labeled as a project in the most recent guidebook. SEE BELOW.

 

So this is the route that started this discussion last May. It is located on the left side of M&M wall, and was labeled "2. Project" in the new guidebook. I added the hangers whil raping from the cliff band above and then proceded to lead or "red-point" the route today. The only reason I'm posting this today was to try and find out some history about the route/who put in the bolts and didn't leave hangers, or the hangers were stolen, etc.

 

The route was fun, short and exciting at the top. Once you climb to the top of the pillar you have about 6(?) feet from your head to the anchor, with your last cam below your feet. Exciting! Here are some pictures from the base, no pictures of the climb because I was using my soloist, which perhaps added to the excitment factor. I'm calling it Shittin' M&M's, 5.8. I got rid of the PG because my friend took a fall there and wasn't too bad!

 

 

 

 

Counting down to wise-ass comments from Erik and Craig....

Edited April 21, 2009 by kevino

[CollinWoods]

Looks like a fun one if i could lead trad any good...

[suckbm]

climbed it today.... one of the worst shit piles at vantage

[kevino]

I knew you were holding back your inner feelings.

 

At least I don't have a bitch for a pet.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

I'm pretty sure there are worse shit piles. I climbed "The Center of the Earth" at zigzag earlier this year.

[Edlinger]

climbed it today.... one of the worst shit piles at vantage

 

Wow- I'll steer clear of that rig!

Their are a lot of really gross crack/trad routes at Vantage.

[Git-er-dun]

Project anchor was first installed by Mike Massey and later abandoned because the route was deemed too easy and not worth his time. Glad to see someone completed the unfinished project. There are more around if you want to know of others...

[kevino]

Yes! That was exactly the reason why I posted this!

 

I'd be more than happy to know of other unfinished projects. Care to send me a pm? Would be greatly appreciated.

 

And by the way, after climbing it some more, I feel as if the grade should actually be 5.8 and the line to the left of it should be 5.7, not 5.8 as written in the book.

[BERZERKER]

i dont use a guide book, but i know i removed those #$%^ing hangers on lead while protecting the climb with a standard rack. that place is a disgrace.

[davidk]

i dont use a guide book, but i know i removed those #$%^ing hangers on lead while protecting the climb with a standard rack. that place is a disgrace.

 

Then don't climb there. If you seek a pristine, bolt-free crag at which to practice purist trad ethics, why are you even climbing at Vantage?

 

At a place where bolting is so common, what I find disgraceful is people who remove hangers or chop useful bolts. There are many good reasons to install anchor bolts at the tops of trad routes at Vantage: it removes the need to top out the climb, thereby avoiding potential rockfall onto the hoardes waiting below; it speeds up the party turnover on routes; people don't need to worry about leaving gear and coming back later only to find it stolen; etc, etc.

 

On a recent outing at Vantage, I topped out after a trad lead only to find that the "anchors at top" noted in the guidebook had been chopped. Not a big deal as I happened to have the right size pro left to build an anchor and bring up my buddy. What irritated me was that just two columns over was a pair of not-brand-new anchor bolts at the top of another crack that hadn't been chopped. And in the other direction, a couple columns away, was a pair of anchor bolts where 1 bolt was chopped and the other still there. Why the selective, inconsistent nature of this absurdity?

 

My partner was Kevino, and the previous day I lead the climb that is the subject of this post. And I sure appreciated the hangers and webbing that he had installed.

[Git-er-dun]

Not to mention all the hard work that is required to clean a route at Vantage that somebody would then want to climb and enjoy it - trad or sport it don't matter.

 

How about a little thanks to the FAs who are doing all the hard work and spending their own money gearing the routes and/or buying cleaning tools when they could just be climbing the same old same old routes each Spring at one of the few crag areas that gets some sun so they can get into shape to do better stuff. Or should we all be like BERZERKER and bitch about FAs and their hard work. Where is your new routes BERZERKER? I've already put in 23 this Spring at various areas (trad and sport - I happen to like both) and it was a lot of work, time and money. But I get tired of the same old, same old routes and the complainers...

 

[Git-er-dun]

Kevin,

There are some open anchors on Jigsaw, left side, shown in the guidebook. Anchors were added by Leland and then opened by him to anyone.

[AlpineMonkey]

Counting down to wise-ass comments from Erik and Craig....

 

I missed this thread, is it to late for me to throw in a wise-ass comment?

[erica]

You misspelled my name wise-ass

[SFC Blais]

how about you stop being an @%$#. there are those of us just getting into climbing and like using those bolts. who are you to tell the rest of us we're doing it wrong? try supporting the sport instead of being so self Righteous.

[G-spotter]

how about you stop being an @%$#. there are those of us just getting into climbing and like using those bolts. who are you to tell the rest of us we're doing it wrong? try supporting the sport instead of being so self Righteous.

 

hey douchebag,

not only are you doing it wrong when climbing but also when posting to cc. stick ur head up your butt, there's a can of shut the fuck up stuck up in it somewhere.

thank you. back to whining.