[TR] Colorado - South Platte - Pikes Peak - Cynical Pinnical - Center Route - The Martyr 8/26/2009

[Plaidman]

Trip: Colorado - South Platte - Pikes Peak - Cynical Pinnical - Center Route - The Martyr

 

Date: 8/26/2009

 

Trip Report:

South Platte Slapped

8/20 – 8/25/2009

 

Granite brings to my mind good rock, memories of great climbing, and Colorado.

I had been invited for another climbing trip with my friend and climbing partner Chris.

The plan had been in motion since he bought my plane fare 4 months previous.

We would climb for at least 5 days and try to keep the driving to a minimum.

As the time got closer Chris had a knee injury and the plan needed to be revised.

Flexibility and patience are attributes that I find helpful in climbing and life in general.

We decided that a day of rest and acclimatization would be helpful. So we started out slow. Friday the 21st we drove up to an area that we had climbed before and decided that we would re-climb a classic crack climb. Classic Dihedral is a as the name would indicate a classic. I had led this climb several times and remembered it well. I would lead and Chris would clean. The day was hot and the rock was warm. The crack was in the full sun. The lead is 160 ft. and very straight forward. My confidence was up, so off I went. A few bouldery moves off the deck and then up to the shelf. Good so far. Engaged the crack and there it was. Ouch my feet. I forgot that the first few moves after establishing yourself in the crack had teeth. Suck it up get the first two pieces in and move. Stay calm I coached myself. After a few moves upward the flow was on. It felt good to be on granite again after a diet of Andesite (a rock type typical to the Pacific Northwest).

The climb was hot and being in the full on sun made it a grade harder. If we had waited a couple of hours it would have been in the shade. It was good training, maybe not good training, but training none the less.

The top of the crack widens to a flake at the top. I had a choice lay it back or toe heel. Toe heal was the way to go today. As it continued to widen I employed a chicken wing and knee bar. Lay backing on lead is so committing. Stepped left and I was at the anchor. Bliss. What a beautiful spot being on top of Bucksnort Slab in the sun with no wind.

Chris cleaned the route and we rapped and left.

 

Classic Dihedral 5.7

Classic Dihedral http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/south_platte/pine_area/105751567

 

Saturday we decided to go to Eleven Mile Canyon another favorite from my early days of climbing. A short approach to the base of the rock and more Granite crack and face climbing. We chose Arch Rock Direct. This is a fun 5.8 with awesome cracks and the crack eats up gear. It was requested by Chris that I use no nuts for protection as the route is easily protected with cams. Climbing like this would be easier to clean and faster for both of us. I tried to lead the direct start. Made a couple of attempts and finally pulled on a piece of gear and made it over the difficult and awkward 5.9 start. It will remain on the list as unfinished business. The 1st pitch was a warm up. The second pitch requires a run out chimney that you can protect with a mental piece of gear. The consequences of a fall would not be good. As I neared the top I needed to move left out of the nice ledgey filled wonderful chimney and out to perform some dicey face moves.

I arrived at the belay spot at the top. We chose this location so that we could communicate without the interference from the wind. Chris followed and lead past me to the summit and then the walk off in our climbing shoes. At this point I felt a pain in a muscle above me knee. Ow. Not now I have two more days of climbing to do. I hobbled and tried to walk without a limp. I surmised that it was going to hurt whether I favored the leg or if I walked normally. Suck it up and make my body obey. It works sometimes.

The mind is a terrible thing in the wrong hands.

We moved on to the next climb. Hollow Flake was open with no climbers on it, and the 2nd pitch is a route named Persistence. Hollow Flake 5.6 is something that I had led before and is a fun layback flake that eats up gear and has good rests all the way up. It was fun and more Granite. I was getting a full plate of what I wanted. Made it to the belay and brought Chris up. We set up for Persistence. Persistence has 10 bolts to the anchors. I placed a #3 Camalot just under the roof and proceeded up. This is a real balancey move on a small crystal. I made it up to just under the 3rd bolt and came to a screeching halt. The sun was baking me. This was friction slab at its best or worst depending on your point of view. Chris was wondering why it was taking me so long.

He was sending up encouraging information on how to get it done. Kind of like a football coach. I was about 6 inches below the bolt reaching up as far as I could. I had to do a high step from a stance and get my foot above my waist. The leverage was wrong. My shoes were not sticking on the 70 degree Granite slab. I was unwilling to go up and unwilling to fall. The combination of sun, adrenaline, and the lack of commitment had fried my mind and body. Finally after lowering off and climbing up again to the same point I was done. I was slapped down by the South Platte friction slab Granite. I was disgusted with myself. Chris was not happy as he thought I should have finished it and his knee was killing him. After he got to my high point he realized after easily reaching up and making the clip on the bolt, that my arm length could have been a deciding factor in why I was having so much trouble. He is a tall 6’ 2” and I being a stubby 5’ 7”. Even with that I could see that I have a lot of work to do. I am certainly not the badass climber that I had thought I was. I had been South Platte slapped. Ouch. It was a good thing though to get a reality check as to where I really am as a climber. The rock will tell. We were done after finishing that climb. It was time to rest for tomorrow.

 

Arch Rock Route 5.8

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/south_platte/elevenmile_canyon/105764490

 

Hollow Flake 5.6

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/south_platte/elevenmile_canyon/105753064

 

Persistence 5.9

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/south_platte/elevenmile_canyon/105763968

 

 

Sunday Chris tried calling a few climbers to see if anyone was available to do climb Cynical Pinnacle by way of the Center Route. We got a call from Ben. Ben had been referred to us by another climber. The recommendation was enough to instill confidence in his ability to lead the route. We interviewed him and he checked out with us. We met in the parking lot at 1:45 p.m. and headed off by way of what we thought would be an easier approach. Almost 2 ½ hours later we were at the base of the climb. We had waited so late so that the route would be in the shade. It was 4:00 p.m. before we started the climb. I gave Ben the first pitch as I thought it would give him momentum going into the 2nd pitch crux. Besides I had already led the 1st pitch last year. I did not tell Ben that I was dizzy and felt like I was going to puke on his shoes. Altitude and the heat were taking it’s toll. He flew up the 1st pitch I followed and cleaned. He smoked the 2nd pitch crux of the route in 16 min. I took off after managing the rope I was dragging. I needed to pull it and flake it in a pod to make sure the wind didn’t get it stuck in a crack. The crack was beautiful. Hand over hand. Great feet. Were my feet got tired I was able to smear on the face. About have way up I was huffing and puffing so hard that I had to stop. My mouth was a dry gapping hole and my tongue was starting to swell up to the point that it was difficult to force enough air into my starving lungs. I had water so I made a jam with my hand had a solid stance with my feet stuffed in the crack grabbed the water and took a long drink. Chris was down at the base with binoculars and a stopwatch. He said as he watched he could not believe what he was seeing. “Did he really just stop to take a drink of water?” It was either that or collapse from heat exhaustion. I continued up and finished the pitch with no falls and no tension on the rope in 17 min according to Chris’s stopwatch. Ben had threatened that he was going to make me lead the last pitch. Upon arriving at the belay he wanted me to lead past up to the pod above him. Making that move was very interesting I used the nest of webbing as a step of an aid ladder and hauled myself up and pleaded with Ben to take the next pitch. He said he had always wondered if he could lead all three pitches. I said today is your day. Ben took off and finished the pitch and put me on belay. I French freed the last few moves by pulling on gear and flopped up on the top of the 3rd pitch. It was 7:00 p.m. and we needed to get off.

Darkness was approaching and the crux of the route is the approach to the base and the trail leading to the bottom. It has to be one of the worst trails ever. The trail is covered with exfoliated Granite the size of marbles. To descend this in the dark was torture. To add to the misery my knee started acting up again. The muscle was cramping and threatening to just seize up, while my pack was attempting to throw me down the hill.

We made it off with headlamps. I carry two with me and gave one to Ben. We made it off thanked Ben and got into the car. I felt like I had been beaten with a bat. We had made a date to go out in the morning with another climber. I made up my mind that I would not even decide whether I was going in the morning or not. I knew in the state of mind I was in I would not be making a rational decision. I was cooked. Another great climb ticked off the list. But not really I would like to have done it in better style. So this route stays on the list.

 

Center Route 5.9+

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/south_platte/cathedral_spires_area/105748816

 

 

Morning came too early. Chris woke me up and I shuffled to the bathroom. I could hardly move. I thought when I get to climb El Cap I will certainly feel just as bad. Just keep moving I told myself. As I moved I felt better and better.

We were meeting David at Starbucks at 9:00 a.m. He and his wife and I were going to climb the Martyr. One of the best crack climbs in the state. When we arrived I shook David’s hand and I knew I was going. I could tell this guy can climb. He informed us that his wife would not b going with us as the rain was threatening and we would need to climb fast. I ran in to get my go juice. I got a Grande coffee with 2 shots of espresso and an inch of ice so I can drink it fast. Chris told me “This guy moves fast so you will need to really move it to keep up.” That fired me up and I just focused my mind to keep moving. We made it to the base of the climb with the clouds threatening. David led off and finished the first pitch in 16 mins. He built the anchor pulled up the rope and yelled on belay Scott. 20 secs later I yelled climbing. I cleaned the pitch and was off belay in 12 mins. Chris was again timing the climb. We exchanged gear and David lead the 2nd pitch crux in 10 mins I followed and cleaned it in 10 mins. The goal is for the 2nd climber to clean the pitch in half the time. But to match his time was good. The rock on this pitch was beautiful. The rock was the most amazing Granite. Every hand jam was perfect. Feet slotted into the rock easily. I was climbing so smoothly. I was flowing up the rock. Not thinking just moving dynamically. Every hold was there on demand. I was one with the rock. We got to the 3rd pitch and David had a hidden treat. We needed to make a traverse about 300 ft off the deck on little ledges for the feet and almost nothing for the hands. David gave me specific instructions on what to do. He made it to the belay and yelled “Off belay”. It was my turn. I climbed. I did not think about climbing. I moved. It was like I was in a meditative state. Everything was so clear and right now. I was so present. The rock and the movement was all I was conscious of. The rope led up into a small upside down cave. It was like bomb bay doors. There was nothing below me for over 300 feet. The holds were large and the foot holds were there, but the consequences of a fall would have been a swing into space. It is just better not to fall in some situations and this was one of them. I would have been fine as long as my heart did not explode from an overload of adrenaline.

I removed the last piece and moved out with feet and hands engaged. Out of the Bat Cave I climbed. I reached the end of the roof after 5 or 10 ft and slammed my arm into the crack above with an arm bar. I was locked in and was not coming off. I continued by throwing my leg around the arête at the end of the cave and threw my other arm into the crack. Moved my feet up, made a couple of more hand jams and I was at the summit. Combined time between us 20 mins. 10 for David 10 for me. WOW!!! This had to be the best climb of my life. I figured the best way to thank David and Chris was to climb well. We got ourselves off the summit and back to the packs just as the rain started to spit.

David was a very inspiring climber and I was able to rise to the challenge in the face of physical pain and mental fatigue. I was so ecstatic it was really a privilege to have been able to climb such beautiful rock with a master of the stone like David.

 

The Martyr 5.9

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/colorado_springs/old_stage_road/105756922

 

I had to thank Chris for putting himself out there to find partners for me to climb with. I had the time of my life and climbed 4 out of 6 days. This has to be one of the best climbing trips yet. And the adventure continues.

 

Scott Peterson/Plaidman August 26, 2009

 

[mountainmatt]

Awesome! Nice to see the Splatte getting some action

 

Brings back lots of memories (I grew up in this area and its where I learned to climb)

 

No trip to the Ol' Bucksnort Saloon? If you head back you will have to check out the Dome, Bishop, and Sunshine wall; more fantastic granite with no crowds.

[LostCamKenny]

Nice, though I have to tell you this: Quit "Dreamin" and come to Beacon! And don't wear your kilt like you did the last time you stood atop tha rawk!