crimper Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Trip: beacon rock - wrong gull Date: 10/7/2009 Trip Report: I hopped on this yesterday and there wasn't even a hint of chalk on it. This isn't the case with any other route at beacon i've been on yet this year. Is it possible I was the first one on it this season? If so, that's crazy. This is an awesome line with reasonable protection if you are solid at the grade. (I'm not even sure I'm solid but I dealt with it) On another note, my partner and I discussed whether the pin at the upper crux is either a) bomber or b) necessary, as there is good pro within 2-3 feet both below and above it. Joseph, did you test this one? Take care, bryan. Gear Notes: gear to 2 inches (optional 3 inch piece for the finish) Quote
eldiente Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Sorry to burst your bubble, we did this route two weeks ago. I love this line, really technical moves at the start with tricky pro. That pin was placed there so people could step on it at the crux. No kidding. I bet 99% of ascents step on that pin, damn thing is right where your foot needs to be. -Nate Quote
crimper Posted October 8, 2009 Author Posted October 8, 2009 no bubble to burst, i was just surprised there was no chalk, and it made the climb feel a little more intimidating. (maybe the low angle washes the chalk away after each rain?) i've heard that people do step on the pin but never heard that's why it was placed BITD... i seem to stem around it everytime though so i gues i'm in yer 1%. i guess there's no reason to pull it, i was just wondering if it's solid enough to count as real gear. has anyone taken a true fall on it? Quote
eldiente Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 I always back that pin up with a cam a few feet below it. The pin looks OK, but at that point in the climb I'm usually at ground-fall if that pin were to fail. Also, it is nice to be able to move well above that pin before stopping an placing the next piece, it makes me feel better to look down and see the pin and cam working in together. Quote
crimper Posted October 8, 2009 Author Posted October 8, 2009 you can all laugh but i placed 17 or 18 pieces on that climb yesterday. the gear is there. and i sent it. no ground falls for me! (i backed up 2-3 pieces from good stances, and also placed 2 nuts right off the ground before i started up, but still, that's a lot of gear) to each his own though - i'd climb a lot harder grades on gear if i placed half the gear i place. Quote
crimper Posted October 8, 2009 Author Posted October 8, 2009 oh, and a yellow or orange metolius (if you can reach high enough) fit 2-3 feet above the pin from a good stance befoe you enter the crux - so there's no reason to ever fall on that pin. Quote
JosephH Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Wrong Gull is one of my very favorite climbs at Beacon. And as eldiente said, that is the most stepped on pin out there. Doing it without stepping on it makes it significantly more challenging. That pin did get checked and is bomb, but why would you get there and be in a decking situation when there is good pro all the way up to it? I'm guessing the mystery chalker has just overlooked it or it would basically just be a short white streak up the rock. P.S. Pretty much all the pins anyone (but Ivan) is going to run into have been checked and were either good or were reset or replaced - with the exception of the two short angle on Stone Rodeo which I doubt would hold a fall at this point (need to get up there and replace them). Quote
kevbone Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 I would hope in Stone Rodeo's case the pins would come out and be replaced by bolts. Then maybe someone would sack up and actually climb this climb. JH. You have stated that you and your partner have the FA on this climb. Yet the guide says Bob Mcgowen. Quote
JosephH Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 They will be replaced by bolts if there is no place for a medium Bug or LA - the short angles won't be going back in as the don't hold for more than a couple of years max. My partner Tangen-Foster and I unknowingly did the FFA in between the time Bob started it and the time they list the FFA. We had no idea anyone was working on it and it was my partner's first time at Beacon and my first time back since a lone trip to Beacon in '80. We almost died trying to head up through the East Face roofs opposite the big tree in the first turn in the climbers trail, then did Stone Rodeo, and then Pipeline also freeing the moves from the Pipeline anchor up left to the start of the Silver Crow column base above the middle of the Arena. What can I say, it was a good day. Quote
ivan Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 none of ya'll get to say you climbed wrong gull unless you do the second pitch! the highlight of that for me was screaming at old walla walla ken - "dude, i'm gonna fucking jump!" when i'd deduced after 30 minutes of sweating, contorting, and screaming that i couldn't get through the hateful ow w/o dislocating every bone in my body - ken: "what?!?" me: "i'm fucking jumping...right...now!!!" ken: "what? wait!!!" me: "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" as i fell 40 some odd feet back down the route luckily, the insane yosemite style ow can be overcome via a thin crack off left, but godamn it's stout! Quote
JosephH Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 I was a witness to that spectacle of perils and unparalled off-route stems and reaches to a survivor's finish. Looked way too burly for me - and to think folks feel they have to leave Beacon for wide challenges. Quote
112 Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 dude, i'm gonna fucking jump! I kept thinking why is this psycho jumping! Next time just yell "FALLING!". Was that the same day I lost (and later you gained?) a #5 C4? Quote
Off_White Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 ...and to think folks feel they have to leave Beacon ... Q: Why is Beacon Rock like a Roach Motel? Anyone got any pictures of this route? Quote
pink Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 joseph would do well on the route, the prick would layback right up it and proly not even break a sweat and i am not being a smart ass. guy has a solid skull , it's thicker than i've ever seen Quote
ivan Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 dude, i'm gonna fucking jump! I kept thinking why is this psycho jumping! Next time just yell "FALLING!". Was that the same day I lost (and later you gained?) a #5 C4? a mind like a steel-trap you have! that poor #5 stayed a year before someone musta cut it out w/ a blowtorch off: do tell Quote
Farrgo Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 Pretty much all the pins anyone (but Ivan) is going to run into have been checked and were either good or were reset or replaced - with the exception of the two short angle on Stone Rodeo which I doubt would hold a fall at this point (need to get up there and replace them). Wow, definately makes me feel better about backing off this below the pins a couple weeks back. Quote
LostCamKenny Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 Q: Why is Beacon Rock like a Roach Motel? Two reasons: 1) the infestation of vermin is very much a reality and any climber BRAVE enough to face a chance encounter with one of the resident rats can achieve a lifelong reservation in the penthouse suite... and 2) Because the 'managers' of the 'motel' charge an absurd fee for absolutely the least service possible! Hell, the water is always cold in the bathroom and it always looks like someone has pissed on the seats... Quote
stevetimetravlr Posted October 15, 2009 Posted October 15, 2009 You guys are hilarious. so does Wrong Gull go up the leftside of those big detached columns below Right Gull's upper section? Quote
ivan Posted October 15, 2009 Posted October 15, 2009 yeah, that sounds like the 2nd pitch - it ends at the optional belay below the 2 pins (the short 10ish section) on right gull. Quote
willstrickland Posted October 15, 2009 Posted October 15, 2009 ..and to think folks feel they have to leave Beacon for wide challenges. Really? What else is there? Say real 5.10 or harder (i.e. not a .10c stemming route with a 10' 5.7 wide section or an overrated 5.8 pitch that people call 5.10 cause they don't know how to climb wide cracks.) Hit me with a tick list. Quote
ivan Posted October 15, 2009 Posted October 15, 2009 ..and to think folks feel they have to leave Beacon for wide challenges. Really? What else is there? Say real 5.10 or harder (i.e. not a .10c stemming route with a 10' 5.7 wide section or an overrated 5.8 pitch that people call 5.10 cause they don't know how to climb wide cracks.) Hit me with a tick list. will, it wasn't my claim to begin w/ and i think joe was probalby kidding - have you done wrong gull though? i didn't see the crux as a 5.7 at all, but then i am the suck there isn't much wide stuff at beacon - jensen's ridge, p3 is 5" though and rated in the 10 range - jensen's rimjob is also 5-6" wide, but not terribly long and probaby much harder at the top where it's a roof, not a crack (i've only aided it) no other wide stuff sticks out in my mind - sounded like plaidman coulda just done those though if he was looking for wide and saved himself some gas money! Quote
JosephH Posted October 15, 2009 Posted October 15, 2009 Yes, it was a joke, though you could do Flying Circus, but it's just a lot easier to layback it. Quote
willstrickland Posted October 15, 2009 Posted October 15, 2009 Ahh, got ya. Figured maybe I'd just overlooked stuff, never climbed there alot. Yeah, did Wrong Gull a long time ago..2001 maybe? Quote
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