Farrgo Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Fully knowing that this thread will degenerate into the shit storm from which all Beacon threads are born... Cleaned and climbed Flying Circus today. Such a good route, on par with the other more traveled routes heading to Big Ledge. No more bushes, less lichen, the whole route is good to go. It needs more people climbing it to keep it in shape. There's no reason that someone who could climb B.S.S. or Dod's couldn't gun this route. I took RPs, TCUs, doubles in hand sized gear, a 4 and 5. You don't need the 5, but can climb the entire OW without going above your gear with it. The middle section of the climb is an awesome handcrack with great stemming and layback moves. Many routes at Beacon would be a whole lot more feasible if they saw more than an ascent a season. I can think of climbs like Takes Fist and Bears in Heat that are great climbs that need more traffic to keep clean. Are there anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 we all do our best - you done flight time or flying swallow this season? i dig on the circus - i don't mind having 2 #5's for it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrgo Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 (edited) Flying swallow is next on the list. 1 #5 is fine if you bump it as you climb. It just seems like 99% of climbers will climb Dod's 3x a season and don't even realize that there are equally impressive lines 30 feet to the right. Edited September 17, 2009 by Farrgo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 i'm pretty positive me n' mike are the only ones to have done FT/FS this season - having to weather local access or reasonable richard make it easy to not set foot on the swallow, FT, the circus, or bss - i'm sure that's the turnoff for most folk, that and the fact that the s side is closed half the godamn year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denalidave Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 That was a really nice lead Nate. A few more laps and it would be lichen free and even more fun. Although the lower section is a bit out of my league, the upper half was awesome. I took a few pics with my crackberry, sorry the quality is so poor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Nate, good job and thanks for clearing it out again. Several of the bushes just can't be killed as they are rooted way back in the crack. Most of it got chiseled out two years ago, but you're absolutely right that they need people to get on them every year. Ivan, did you do FT this year? If so what was the state of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 did the first pitch of FT w/ mike last weekend - it's stupid dirty and inconcievable to me as a free climb in any condition, really, but certainly not the current one - it was harder than i remembered to french free and i'll bring an aider next time i think - the stretch just below the bolt really befuddled me, and the tiny nut i used broke a large chunk of critical stone required to get there - the second pitch still needs an aid lead to clean and probably swap the anchor - doing anythign saturday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 i'm pretty positive me n' mike are the only ones to have done FT/FS this season - having to weather local access or reasonable richard make it easy to not set foot on the swallow, FT, the circus, or bss - i'm sure that's the turnoff for most folk, that and the fact that the s side is closed half the godamn year! i don't see the big deal getting up to this area... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 i'm pretty positive me n' mike are the only ones to have done FT/FS this season - having to weather local access or reasonable richard make it easy to not set foot on the swallow, FT, the circus, or bss - i'm sure that's the turnoff for most folk, that and the fact that the s side is closed half the godamn year! i don't see the big deal getting up to this area... that's cuz yer a real rawk climber yer typical god-fearing beaconite likes his pro always close at hand and the climbing positive and solid feeling - i like rr/lao, but most folks think it looks gross. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 somehow i think u can skirt around that stuff and step far right above it if u have too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 somehow i think u can skirt around that stuff and step far right above it if u have too... i've never tried getting in from the stephenwulf anchor area but it would probably go - it doens't much matter though - to the hordes it loks like a pain in the ass, so they don't mess w/ it - all the climbs above rr/lao are stiff though, and i think the local wankers have their hands full enough w/ the shit that's easy to access Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 yep right of john k. it's super quick and easy and protectable . ya just gotta be creative and have uber basic root finding skills or u can throw in a bolt to make a few marginal routes safer to get to the cherry part of beacon... which still won't put these routes on most peoples radar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 yep right of john k. John K? What is we be discussin here? Wuzat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 ur old fat and obsessed with corn fields... but yer hawt... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 ur old fat and obsessed with corn fields... but yer hawt... Yes, true dat. Want to see my man-boobs? Jas and I just came back from dinner where we overate and discussed our 26th wedding anniversary (30 total years together in 4 months if you count the time before we got the paperwork done) ...and overate some more. They have filled out quite nicely if I might say so. 34C's for sure....hawt stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ols Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 ...having to weather local access or reasonable richard make it easy to not set foot on ... Iv & Farr... since Reasonable Richard is definitely "un-reasonable" why not jus add a bit more fixed protection. I was climbing well above the .9 level at the time so it got under-fixed. Perhaps that will bring yur hordes to the routes in question above thar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Tim, I did actually put in a bolt about 2/3s of the way up the ramp mainly because you gave the line stars as a 5.9 and I've seen more than a couple of parties, guidebook in hand, get on it and freak out in a decking situation. It's pretty much the only such route out there with that convergence of rating, stars, and a ramp to suck them into a bad situation. I wouldn't have bothered if it hadn't been for stars, but everyone had a friggin' cow over it so I yanked it a few days later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 everyone had a friggin' cow over it so I yanked it a few days later. Not everyone, but it certainly seemed to be about a 3 or possibly a 4 cow situation for sure. Had you filled out the fixed pro application which you mention on the other Beacon thread (LINK HERE) first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrgo Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 If a bolt got thrown in Reasonable Richard, in the right spot, there would be absolutely no room for griping about that route. It's not too bad. However, there is insecure 5.9 climbing well above any protection. I bring tiny RPs with me and I can't find anything that will keep me off the slabs. It is definately R rated. Actually, one pillar to the right seems to have a finger-handcrack running down it. There appears to be a bouldery section above a fixed pin at the start of the pillar. Above this, it should yield perhaps harder but more protectable climbing. Has anyone done the traverse in from Steppenwolf? I can think of one arete in particular that would be pretty stopper. Since RR is typically more dirty than even the above pitches and only used as an access for moderate pitches above maybe we should add a piece of fixed gear? However, if there are easier/safer ways, such as a traverse off Steppewolf or the piller right of RR, we should forego the bolt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 i'm ambivalent on adding pro to get up to the anchors for ft/bss/fc - as it stands you can get up there fine, but it's completly out of the quesiton when wet/damp - luckily yday ben n' compnay had rapped in from big ledge and i got a rope thrown down to jug up im actually pretty clueless as to what routes what in that neck of the woods - there are 2 pretty clean lines, one w/ a bolt, one w/ a pin, both are challenging butnot lethal - i don't think adding fixed gear would much add traffic to the above routes - what i'd like is a bolt ladder so i can get up to that anchor in the fall/winter when its sliimy so i can wail on the dozen fantastic aid pitches that branch off from it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 everyone had a friggin' cow over it so I yanked it a few days later. Not everyone, but it certainly seemed to be about a 3 or possibly a 4 cow situation for sure. Had you filled out the fixed pro application which you mention on the other Beacon thread (LINK HERE) first? No, a new, broader and more workable protocol for fixed protection approval and the resulting fixed protection application form didn't yet exist at that point beyond discussions and proposals. I was operating under a authorization from John allowing us to restore access to the [existing] column routes through the slabs via long neglected lines. It's the same authorization under which I've recently been cleaning and reclaiming sections of the slabs. I had discussed the unique risks posed by this route with him prior to installing the bolt as well as discussed it at length with Opdycke who had been advocating for it, and he was in fact belaying me when it went in. Determining where those old lines through the slabs and working with Jim to look for where fixed pro was also how the whole "Third Rail" deal came about, from trying to locate the pin you eventually found on the line to the right of it. I believe working with the BRSP to develop a Fixed Protection Application started in earnest that fall and continued through that winter and spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 why not jus add a bit more fixed protection. There it is. If Tim has the credit as the FA or FA team....the then go ahead and add bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 drill, baby, drill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ols Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 ...a bolt about 2/3s of the way up the ramp... Fixed gear on the ramp would help to solve the long solo run to the first piece of gear. Yet Nate has a point, the remainder of RR is still very bold for any .9 climber [slab-stars-easy-not]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 From my perspective it's the last third of the slab that is the issue and where I see people all but hurl themselves to the trail in desperation given I suspect they feel they can't back down out of a bad situation; the rest of the route isn't a giveaway, but the pro is there. My reasoning had nothing to do with access to the routes above, but rather just with the guidebook/paper appeal of the route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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