Jump to content

[TR] Dragontail Peak - Boving Route 7/11/2009


AlpineMonkey

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 17
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

In the "What the hell is he doing" picture, that is the crux roof. Ryan had to pull on pieces to get through it on lead and I had to pull on a piece to get through it on top rope, it was still hard. They say the route is 10c, but I can get up any 5.11 when on top rope. I'm not sure what the deal is. Its' a lot harder then 5.10 climbing. It was even harder then the roof on CBR. Has anyone else climbed the route? What did you think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool photos.

I climbed it in 1998 with Puryear. We couldn't find anyone who had done it so we were a bit apprehensive for lack of first hand beta especially regarding the Beckey guide recommending knife blades for belays. Then on the approach, at 4 AM in the dark just below Colchuck lake we were catching up to a pair of climbers. Just before meeting them Joe joked "it's probably Matt Christensen (Boving's FA partner) going to retrobolt the Boving route...".

Turns out, it was Matt (who we had not met) and his 15 yr old son enroute to Prusik Peak! So there in the dark at the lake we got our beta.

 

I recall the end of the first pitch, and start of the second pitch, being a bit spooky if not fully runout, particularly because the first belay took a lot of work to make safe- the kb placements were filled with broken off blades, so I built a nest of small cams and brass nuts. The crux roof on p3 I recall having good enough pro but being a bouldery face crux over the roof on dirty holds. P4 would have been really fun but the crack was packed with dirt and I had to aid a bit so I could garden it out with a nut tool. Then the end dihedral was really sweet. Aside from some dirt, the rock quality was high, particularly for Dragontail.

 

I'd like to research Dragonscar, because for sur I remember everything after the fifth pitch being low fifth schwag that knocked at least one star off the overall quality rating, in my opinion anyway.

 

Nice work!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matt, this is Craig Gyselinck. I tried to call you to tell you we did the route, but I couldn't find your number. You should give me a call so I can have it again and we should do some climbing. Hope all is well with you.

 

PS. You climbing this route in the 70's makes me think you shouldn't be teaching kids. Crazy... :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...