first ascent [TR] Acid Baby IV 5.10+ approx 1000' climbing- Dan Cappellini, Rolf Larson, Mike Layton 7/31/2005

[layton]

Climb: FRA-Acid Baby III+ 5.10 approx 1000' climbing-Dan Cappellini, Rolf Larson, Mike Layton

 

Date of Climb: 7/31/2005

 

Trip Report:

"Now that we've climbed together, I think you're ready to meet Dan," Rolf stated at 6am in Leavenworth.

 

The three of us had a blast doing a fantastic climb up on Asguard Pass across from the NE face of D-tail. All three of us knew of the line, although they tried to get me to do d-tail madness or the boving route instead. i made lies why we needed to do this route.

 

We get to the base. Crap, this is gonna be quick. What looked like a 4-5 pitch climb now looked like 3 pitches max. At least it'll be over quickly...We got back to the car at 10:30pm.

 

I posted a topo (too big for here) in my gallery. I'll add the link on my next post when i put up the photos.

 

Anyway, our climb ACID BABY turned out to be unrelently steep, quality, and a clean line.

 

I pegged out the contrive-o-meter when my pitch came up by trying to go directly up the roof in the center of the face. After an hour-long battle with gear and fear I backed off. I had a 1/2way in nut, a grey tcu that kept pulling out when i moved, an RP between two removeable stones, and a belayer-slayer i was standing on trying to make the impossibe (for me) reach up over and aroudn the roof. I fell and nearly shat myself in the process. The nut pulled, but came to a stop when the remain metal that was touching the rock somehow held. My RP and TCU blew out. I got real bloody!

 

After a lot of "gosh mike, you're retarded" Rolf slung his balls over his shoulder and gave the roof a go. Much swearing and "careful" grumbling later, Rolf downclimbed my horror show, not as excited to be lowered off my nut as I was. "Well if Rolf couldn't do it," I though....

 

Anyway, I got the seat of SHAME while Rolf took the obvious and way better way to go up super exposed cracks, ridges, and traversing.

Dan and I got stellar pitches, and more stellar pitches led to the top. Turned out to be about 1,000' of climbing all pitches very physical and almost every pitch in the 5.10 range, two being very sustained 5.10.

Maybe my photos will do it more justice then my not so good TR (i'm tired and don't have time to post this later).

 

We topped out on top of Enchantment peak after fully burying the CONTRIVE-O-METER on top by doing a sweet pitch of climbing on a large steep slab covered in cracks. We just couldn't stop climbing....well actually we all we bitching pussies by the summitt.

If I think of anything else important to the actual route, i'll post it.

Rolf and Dan are free to call bullshit, i don't care. feel free to downgrade it to I+ 5.6 55meters.

 

anyone know the name of this tower? if it has one that is.

 

Gear Notes:

set and a half cams up to 4", nuts

 

Approach Notes:

can't see the tower till you're almost there

[layton]

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR TOPO

 

 

Non B/W foreshortened topo w/o info added so you can see the cracks n' stuff

 

Acid Baby from Asguard Pass. Climb starts on left at toe of buttress, crosses under alcove in middle, and takes exposed ridge cracks to top.

 

Rolf starts up the 1st pitch

 

Rolf finishes up the 1st pitch on the crux of the climb (only 1/2 the dihedral is shown)

 

Dan on pitch 2. Dan got all the easiest pitches

 

Rolf takes the non-retarded way on pitch 3

 

Dan follows the exposed traverse on pitch 3

 

Rolf hamming it up on pitch 6

 

Dan follows the exciting exposed ridge crest of pitch 6

 

There are many was to peg out the contrive-o-meter near the top. We burried the needle.

 

Dan said if i called this part of the climb he'd put my mouth on the curb and step on the back of my head. Here's Dan on the final pitch...that i like to call "the New Pearly Gates"

 

Pitch #9 looms in the distance!

 

Our shadows on top of enchantment peak

 

Rolf bouldered ever single one of these on the descent. Dan and I had to tear him away from any further 'proj.

 

Wish I had someone to give all these pretty flowers to. please email me with photos (don't type anything though).

[ivan]

i think mike made all this shit up in a bad acid-flash-forward - the pictures were cleverly crafted using photoshop from stick figure "concept" scrawlings over a semen stain on a jim bean whiskey bottle label

[Szyjakowski]

nice work gents!

[Dru]

That's a pretty nice looking bit o' rock.

 

Can you really call 7 pitches Grade IV?

[layton]

maybe?

my reasoning was that they were very long pitches (about 1000' total) and the climb was sustained at 5.10 for almost every pitch....plus with our "8th" bonus pitch.

[rat]

as dan is unlikely to weigh in on this, i will supply the reality check and full disclosure:

 

grade III (climb and descent. plan accordingly if doing it rt from the parking lot.).

technical grade 5.10 (furry and strenuous in spots but not in the "hard" 5.10 range.)

f.a. claim is up for grabs because we found a really old nut, minus its perlon, a short ways up pitch 2. no other tat.

the old guy rested in one spot leading pitch 1 and the young guy rested once leading pitch 4. the middle-aged guy styled his pitches as usual.

mike's topo, while excellent overall, has a few errors from the top portion of pitch 3 onwards. if you get that far, you won't need a topo.

 

this is an insignificant blade of slag. i would have rather climbed chipped and overbolted routes at duty dome or the real pearly gates.

[layton]

Listen to the Rat!

 

(but go climbing with him before you do, or else you may find yourself a bit over your head...if he was neil armstrong he would have said "someone's probably been here before" and give it a moderate approach rating and a minor feat for mankind)

 

actually climbing with the RAT gives you a new insight to reading instruction manuals...who's to say the FA's listed were the FA's, and who's to say the grade is what they said it was.

 

All I know is it took us the major portion of the day to climb it and we got served on a number of pitches. I wouldn't hop this if i were just breaking into the grade. CBR felt easier to me by days end in comparison.

 

The only reason i care is b/c i don't really feel like editing the topo, but the topo was hard to figure out after pitch 3 b/c of the foreshortening effect. Go do it! It's only 2 hours from the car damnit.

 

final beta. it's totally obvious after p3...but when you get to what looks like the summit pulpit (not the summit) go straight-up. don't wuss out to the left on ramps or you'll miss the exciting, exposed ridge crest and you'll have to live with your decision the rest of your life and you may hate yourself soooo badly, you might wind up like the RAT, living in your rat hole, and girls will throw rocks at you.

[Mr._Natural]

tugs!

[specialed]

Nice Camelback Rolf. Fuckin sellout.

 

Good job though. Team fucking All-Star.

[gyselinck]

Nice work, I will have to give that one a go before seasons end. claiming FA though if gear was found on the route... Maybe I am just jealous. Looks good guys, nice job.

[layton]

that nut we foudn was very old. non-wire type, and the sling was completely rotted away. there are way easier option to get to that ledge where the nut was. i'm assuming someone went exploring and bailed. but ya never know, so sick old hardman/woman could'a sent it with bongs, hexes, pins, coconuts, and a few floppy style nuts. a quality line like this so close to the pass should have been recorded or whispers and rumors at least. and if you read carefully, i have FRA, not FA...we just like giving things names. I'd wager it's an FA, but as with most things in life, who the fuck cares? it was just nice not to be tied down with an instruction manual.

 

Just like i read too deeply into other folks's comments, be aware that you may do the same with mine when I post a TR...especially of an FA.

The reason i post these is for one to avoid confusion for further "repeat" 1st ascents of the same route! I'm definately not sitting up on a throne say...ha ha look how fucking cool we are. If someone else did it before, great, good for them. It's the adventure of not knowing that i like. I sure wish they reported it though, kinda silly not to unless it's stupid. Finally, the whole grading thing is a total bitch. I try to give an honest opinion of what i think the grade is without trying to look like a hardman by sandbagging, or a megalomaniac by overgrading. It's so damn subjective. I would love to have someone climb something I've done and downgrade the shit out of it, but to tell me, hey thanks that was a heck of a lot of fun, i'm glad you spotted that sweet line.

Edited August 2, 2005 by michael_layton

[slothrop]

Rad. Is this thing down toward Colchuck Lake from the "Aasgard Pass Sentinel" thing in Beckey?

[layton]

couldn't say...i got a headache looking at the becky guide. I think the Aasgard sentinel was south facing, and this thing was west facing. It's most of the way up the pass, pretty obvious when you're close to it, and it's near where the trail gets close to the walls on the east side of the pass aroudn a grove of trees.

[mattp]

If someone else did it before, great, good for them. It's the adventure of not knowing that i like. I sure wish they reported it though, kinda silly not to unless it's stupid.

 

There was bit of a fad for not reporting climbs in the 1980's. A couple of our heroes (like Chouinard or somebody) commented that guidebooks were taking the adventure out of climbing and that the quest to make and report first ascents all over the place was egotistical and why can't we just climb.

[thelawgoddess]

gorgeous rock! looks like a great time ...

[Dan_Cauthorn]

There is a route called "Slings and Arrows" done by Mark Weigelt, Julie Brugger, and Dave Anderson somewhere on that formation. They climbed it in the late 70's and, as I recall, rated it III 5.10. Given the bad ass nature of the first ascentionists, this could be your route.

[specialed]

claiming FA though if gear was found on the route...

 

What the fuck do you know? Amateur.

[John Frieh]

Good job guys Nix on Davis or are you saving it?

 

Is Rolf looking for a partner for the madness?

[gyselinck]

specialed, I know nothing. NOLSe, you goin for a summer ascent of madness?

[layton]

Rolf wants to do dragonfly, not madness. madness looks pretty stupid. we only had one day so no go on davis.

 

Dan, I'd like to know more about that route. how did you hear of it? maybe they're the same or share pitches? did it get in the AAJ but not the Beckey or something?

[bwrts]

Dragontail madness was climbed by a couple of lucky men who only made it to the top because the crazy polish leader kept going up.

Continuous upward progress (according to FAs) was due to the leader's wool gloves sticking to the verglass atop the rotten gneiss. All (one piece) of the gear chipped into place fell out upon continuing higher.

The line had seen a number of attempts but all parties gave up at the bivycave/chimney. In fact, one member of the FA team had been to that bivy before. This bivy point marks the begining of the psycho lead, apparently 3 overhangs all composed of unfriendly gneiss. After that the route is supposed be much easier.

Go get it!

[specialed]

Why, that's sheer madness!!

[rat]

There is a route called "Slings and Arrows" done by Mark Weigelt, Julie Brugger, and Dave Anderson somewhere on that formation. They climbed it in the late 70's and, as I recall, rated it III 5.10. Given the bad ass nature of the first ascentionists, this could be your route.

 

seems likely. thanks for the info.

[layton]

Rolf, they also could've gone straight up from pitch 2, which was a more obvious line while on route. it would be neat to see if they did that and see what type of line that would've made.

we'll probably never know.

anyways, i'm still gonna call it acid baby cuz it's fun to say.

 

just did the first ascent of the entire n cascades range today if anyone is interested.