notable ascent [TR] Washington Pass - Liberty Crack V 5.13- 7/23/2009

[RuMR]

What if bolts were 4 inches apart, you dumbfuck.

Bawahahahaha!! THat's some funny shite!

 

Nice send, Mikey..PNW represents!

Edited August 5, 2009 by RuMR

[BillA]

This is a prime example of why there should be no commenting on trip reports.

[ivan]

This is a prime example of why there should be no commenting on trip reports.

but my comments are cheeky and funny - its others who have to be cruel and tragic

[JensHolsten]

Thanks Brooke and Mikey for NOT bolting that pitch. There are too many shiny things sticking out of the east face already...It takes a humble person to tackle a grade V free route, admit one pitch is too dangerous, and then climb it in a creative manner that does not harm the rock. You guys rule.

[clintcummins]

Mikey,

 

Thanks for sharing this really cool trip report. Many of us have been up there on aid and wondered how rad it would be to try it free. It just looks so hard. You gave us an inside look on what it might be like, if we had the skills....

 

I was just up there aiding it with Steph, and got to look at it from this perspective. Here are a couple of shots.

 

View from the lip towards the intermittent fingerlocks above.

 

Here's the runout on the face above the crack. Pretty smooth and that 10' traverse left to the anchors would be beyond psycho without a toprope or static line loops to clip.

yellow circles are the free pro bolt(s); purple are aid bolts

Actually just leading to the only pro bolt without clipping anything between would be a bad runout. Even if you could stick the blank moves to the stance, you would still have to do some more moves before you could reach the bolt.

 

That final 10' traverse to the anchors looks like it could be a swing-fest... better than a huge ripper over the lip, though.

 

I agree with Jens that it was pretty cool that Brooke took the low impact way and only placed the one bolt. It's a different style, though, and the topo should mention this! Here is the updated topo (I guessed the ratings based on Mikey's descriptions...):

 

I exchanged some emails with Mark Hudon, because John Harlin's "The Climber's Guide to North America" (1984) stated: "Pushed to 5.11 by Mark Hudon and Eric Sanford, late 1970's." and "With a long runout on 5.11 face". And Harlin's topo shows a 5.11 face with no bolts right of the p2 bolt ladder.

 

Mark said he actually did the free climbing with Nick Taylor (from Australia). Mark and Eric had climbed the route on aid a few weeks prior. As Mark recalls, he and Nick freed p1, aided p2, and freed p3 into p4. This was probably in around 1978. Mark said he did not try that face right of the bolt ladder. So maybe Harlin did the climb and tried it himself on toprope? Or maybe he had some other source who tried it.

Edited August 14, 2009 by clintcummins