Adventures during May 26-29th, 2006

Friday, May 26, 2006

12:00 PM: Just as we finish setting up the tent at the MUA, it started to rain. Sandy and I thought this would blow our whole day of climbing so we went to the visitor's center. We ran into some of my friends from the climbing gym, who finished up on Minty (5.3) just in time. 1:30 PM: We were desperate to climb, so we decided to check out the local climbing gym called "The Inner Wall." This shady establishment is hidden behind a drug store and wasn't open anyways. 3:00 PM: It stopped raining, so we decided to hike through the Near Trapps to find some climbs for another day. We came across Gelsa, which is considered THE 5.4 at the Gunks. Oddly enough, it looked dry from the bottom. P3 is overhanging, so I figured that would also be dry. And we weren't going to let the chance of scatters showers throughout the day ruin our fun. P1 wasn't worth remembering but P2 started the real fun. A nice foot traverse left, only protected by a yellow alien at the start, lead to a sweet outside corner. P3, the money pitch, climbed a nice face to a giant, overhung, right facing corner. I've never felt jugs like this before. Every hold had an indent. This rock was just made to climb. Sandy followed up no sweet and really enjoyed it. Though she seemed to lose her memory of the pitch during the rest of the trip. The descent was a nice walk off, much easier than the descents at the Trapps. It started raining by the time we got back to the base of the climb. We timed it perfectly. 6:30 PM: We went to the Mountain Brauhaus for dinner and rain into my friends from the gym again. This restaurant has a sweet view of the cliffs and plenty of climbing photos in the bar. After eating we killed time at Rock And Snow, then called it a day.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

7:00 AM: There was lots of heavy rain during the night so everything was still soaked. Back to bed. 10:00 AM: Late wakeup but at least it was sunny! We headed to the Trapps and went up the famous 200+ step "stair master." This is my personal favorite warm up but no one seems to agree with me. A ranger was standing at the top of the stair master. "Watch out for the copperhead" he yelled out as we approached. At first, I thought he was kidding. After closer inspection, there was a 2ft copperhead on the right side of the trail with it's head in perfect position to strike an unsuspecting climber. After some hesitation and a poor attempt at regaining my composure, I darted past the snake via the left side of the trail. Sandy, having little problems with the snake, said that was the first time she's seen my legs shake. 11:30 AM: After lots of hiking and another snake sighting on the talus slopes, we found ourselves at the base of the most popular climb at the Gunks - High Exposure (5.6+). There was only one other team in the vicinity, which is amazing for this time of day. This was for good reason; the first pitch of every climb, including High E was dripping wet. P2 and P3 must be dry since they are so exposed, we reasoned. I lead up P1, the crux being trying to find dry holds. I stopped at the optional belay and built an anchor out of a #3 C4 and two bomber, passive tricams. P2 is where things started to get interesting. This pitch traverses right to halfway across a huge corner, and then climbs straight up to the GT ledge. Instead of following the route, I kept traversing to the end of the corner, to an irresistible arête. This steep arête offered more exposure then I knew what to do with. But I had some decisions to make. I was certain I was on Directissima which goes at 5.9; a few grades above my lead limit. But I thought the crux was under me and it looked like a jug fest above. So I placed a blue alien to protect the start of the arête and took off. After a few steep, touchy moves, it was all jugs and bomber protection the whole way. Before I knew it, I was on the GT ledge which forms a huge triangular buttress under the famous High Exposure roof. Some large boulders made anchor setup a breeze. Then Sandy was off for P2. Or so I hoped. One of the tricams was stuck, really stuck. The second on Modern Times (5.8+) also tried to remove it and had no luck. After 30 minutes, we decided to just leave it. No reason to let a tricam ruin a climb like this. Once Sandy reached the GT ledge, she was in a much better mood after climbing that stellar arête. We looked in the guidebook and that part of Directissima was only 5.6 which felt about right. Finally, we were ready for the money pitch. The rock was completely dry and the sun was out. Amazingly, we were still the only people on the climb and only two other teams where in sight. "This pitch and 'the move' have quite the reputation," I told Sandy. "Solid 5.9 leaders have backed off it." I continued. "Even the person who taught me trad, thinks this move is wild and he can float up trad 10s." I finished. Regardless of all the hype, I was loaded with good beta and knew the pitch was well within my abilities. I started up the low angle corner and traversed out right to the lip of the giant roof. Pretty much any cam from a #2 to a #6 would fit under the roof. The bigger, the closer you can it to the lip. I placed my two largest cams; the #3 and the #4. I equalized them and threw an additional 4 ft sling on them to avoid rope drag. Legend has it someone didn't extend their protection under the roof far enough. When they fell above the roof, the rope cut over an edge and the leader went sailing 200 feet to the ground. Amazingly, his fall was slowed down by a pine tree and he only broke his ankle. Regardless, my pieces were bomber and extended properly. I was concerned about decking on the GT ledge, so I reached around and blindly placed a green alien. "At least this should slow me down" I thought. As I placed the alien, I noticed someone on rappel about 30 ft to the right. He was hanging out there with a fancy digital camera. He said he wanted to take our picture while we climbed this pitch. Needless to say, Sandy and I were all about it. I was now show time; time to pull "the move." I knew what to look for, the gear was good, Sandy was ready to catch a fall and if I blew it, we'd have one hell of a photograph. From under the giant roof and against the left facing corner, I ease my right hand onto a side pull on the face above the roof. "That feels pretty good" I think "I wonder if I can find something better." A little higher, the side pull becomes good enough. "I'll take it" I thought. Right foot up. Now slowly, very slowly, I move my head from under the roof so I can see the steep face above that I was about to commit to. I saw the target horizontal crack and lots of chalk on it. Now keep in mind, reaching up left with a high right hand and right foot is a barn door position, and is just asking to peel you off the face. But that's what you have to do. "You know its good" I yell out loud, then go big left hand, careful to keep my left hip in. I heard photos snapping the whole time. "Was that the crux?" Sandy yells up. I sure hope so. Apparently, it didn't look that hard and it really wasn't. Shockley's (5.6), Wrist (5.6), even Layback (5.5) all have harder crux moves. The rest of the pitch was steep and sustained but a jug fest. Speed was key. I spent no more than 30 seconds placing each of the 4 pieces, I placed above the crux. If the cam didn't fit, I "made it fit." I was so happy to top out as I was getting too pumped. The gear beta I had for the anchor was right on; .75 to #2 C4s. Unfortunately, I was just about out of them so I resorted to a #2 and some tricams. Sandy had no problem with this pitch. Steep, juggy, exposed face climbing is her forte. She pulled the roof and danced right up the face. Wilson took a lot of pictures as his memory card filled up, so he switched to his film camera. Once Sandy topped out, we joined ropes with Wilson and got down to the ground in two rappels. We learned that Wilson hiked to the top and High E and just waited for someone to climb High E so he could take pictures. Luckily us! 3:30 PM: It was time for Sandy to take the lead. She choose Easy V (5.3). While we were gearing up, we meet two college kids dressed like superheroes, climbing with capes on. They were quite entertaining and good climbers as they were leading the infamous Arrow (5.8). We also saw a black snake at the base of the climb, bringing out snake sightings to three for the day. P2 was the money pitch for Easy V. Sandy traversed across some steep rock to pull a roof at a "V." The Swain guide says the move is "likened to coming out of the womb." This was a nice lead for Sandy as the climb is very hard for the grade (even after Williams upgraded it). We rappelled using Arrow's sweet rappel stations. 7:00 PM: We decided to fit in one last climb, so Sandy lead Bunny (5.4) in the uberfall area. After delicate moves in an open book for the first 40 feet, Sandy traverses left to avoid the 5.6 roof. But Sandy stayed too far left which put her on Fancy Idiot (5.6). After 20 scary feet, Sandy got herself back on route and up to the top. We rappelled down in the dark and ran into my friends from the climbing gym once again. After the copperhead sighting in the morning, walking down the stair master in the dark was not a pleasant experience. 9:45 PM: Finally made it back to the car. Not many places were still open so we went to the Otter for a late dinner.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

9:15 AM: Another late start. For the first time in my Gunks career, we saw a ranger at the MUA. He asked us about some tents not at a designated campsite. I heard this was strictly enforced but I know it's true. 10:30 AM: Slackers like us didn't get to the West Trapps parking lot until it was already full, so we had to park at the visitor's center and hike almost a mile, uphill to the Near Trapps. The plan was to warm up on Yum Yum Tab Yum (5.3) but we couldn't find it thanks to the worthless Swain guidebook. So we jumped right on the main event - Disneyland (5.6-); Rock and Ice's "best 5.6 in the country." "It looks at least two grades harder from the ground." The Williams guide has the gear as PG-R. R means "protection is commonly considered inadequate. A falling leader will probably fall in excess of 15 feet and/or suffer injuries." My friend Tai was already on Disneyland and taking up two followers. The superhero college kids from yesterday were already in line as well. But they move like lighting, so we decided to wait our turn. 12:30 PM: Tai made it down just I was starting to lead P1. He decided to hangout and watch the show as I lead P1. There's nothing I appreciate more than a big audience when I'm on a potentially difficult lead. P1 traverses up and right on delicate face holds. The pro was small aliens and two fixed pins, one of which was complete garbage. I still thought the pro was better than the William's guide claimed. It was probably written along time ago. The end of the traverse finished with a famous mantel move that I thought was pretty easy since you could get a high hand. Sandy went for style points on the mantel by using the "beached whale" technique. It was certainly one of the funniest climbing moves I've ever seen. P2 is only 5.5 so I thought the rest of the climb was going to be a breeze; climb an inside corner, traverse right, pull a roof and I'd be out of there. Things weren't so simple. The inside corner had lots of poor feet so I had to smear and stem all over the place. This burned out my legs just in time for the traverse on smearing feet to the roof. Before the traverse, I clipped a pin but I didn't get another placement until the end of the traverse because of loose flakes in the horizontal. The #4 C4 came through when I needed it. Now the real fun began. "This looks like the roof to me," I think. I pull halfway up the roof and see what appears to be blank face. "This can't be it!" I downclimb and traverse back left to the only descent feet I could find, which were still worthless. "Maybe I need to traverse further right," I thought. So I traversed past the roof and around the arête. The roof is suddenly really small but the face above looks low angle and blank. "This doesn't look right either" I think. So I traversed all the way back. I was as pumped as I've ever been while leading a trad route (except maybe the time I fell off of Shockley's but that's different story). I had to do something so I settled on pulling the roof I originally tried. "Sandy, watch me! I'm pumped and I'm trying the crux." I yelled down. I traversed back to the roof with hands matched on the good horizontal and smeared feet. I brought my left foot up really high to a hold the side of a quarter. At it least it wasn't another smear! Left hand up, above the roof to a solid flake. Swap feet, reach out right to a descent hold but not quite a jug. This is where I down climbed from last time but I knew there had to be a 5.5ish way over this thing. I matched my left hand over with my right hand, then blindly reached way out with my right to a crappy hold but I was pretty sure I could crank off of it. I had to bring my left foot up to the first flake that my left hand was on; I was almost lying sideways across this thing with my body nearly horizontal. Finally, I just cranked real hard and shifted my weight over my left foot. It's over. Thank God. I think Williams should upgrade this to a 6+ in his new guide. 3:00 PM: Layback (5.5) was just a few climbs away so we decided to climb it and wait for the team of three working on the first pitch. After watching one of the seconds fall a few times, my lead head was officially trashed. But that wasn't enough to stop us. I started up the awkward chimney that makes up the first 15 feet of the climb; which turned out to be the worst 15 feet of climbing in my life. You can't get in any protection until you reach the top of the chimney which is capped by a large block. I placed my trusty #2 C4 and attempt to exit the chimney around the block. This wasn't an easy task as any movement made my already unstable position much worst. I started getting pissed and I wasn't about to let Layback claim a lead fall so I resorted to the dishonorable pulling on the cam to make the move. Then some delicate face climbing lead to the real business. If you don't count the chimney, the crux is a left facing corner with a 6 inch crack where it meets the face. The face is pretty thin, so you have to layback the crack for at least 10 feet (hence the climb's name). My biggest piece, the #4 C4 doesn't fit the crack so I had to place it below. I placed the #4 and the #3 in marginal placements but just below them was a bomber #7 nut. I entered the crux with these pieces already at my feet. I hit the first move of the layback and know the next move leads to total commitment. "Take!" I down climbed to a stance. After regaining my head, I reentered the layback and took small steps. I reached one hand over the other slowly and kept the body tension tight. One false move and I would go sailing like I've never gone before. The crack actually gets better as you get higher. Once I was about 20 feet above my last piece, the crux was over and I jammed myself into a much welcome alcove. I slung a few chockstones and made it to the belay ledge. The other team was still on the ledge, which was a good thing since they pointed out a black snake in a horizontal I was about to place my cams in. That was the first time I saw a snake on the side of the cliff. Sandy dances up the chimney (or least that's what she told me) and finds some face holds to avoid the difficult start of the layback crux. I was glad that pitch was over with. I'm never leading that again. We were rewarded with P2, which is only 5.3 but very nicely exposed and had protection everywhere. I traversed out right with nothing but air under me, climbed a little corner then pulled a sweet, easy roof. This may very well be the best 5.3 pitch in the Gunks. 6:30 PM: We called it an early day and went to McGillicuddy's for dinner. You have to try their "heart attack in a basket."

Monday, May 29, 2006

8:30 AM: Wake up and break down camp. 10:00 AM: We get to the base of Arch (5.5) where another team is gearing up so we wait for them. They move at a reasonable pace and I lead up P1. For me, the crux was off the ground where you need to exit a right facing corner onto it's face without any gear in. Then my first three placements were garbage. It wasn't until I was about 40' that I got a piece of gear that I trusted. Before the crux, I loaded it up with a nice bottlenecked, passive tri cam placement and a big #4 C4. The move was a short traverse out of the arch's left facing corner. The position was awkward but the feet were huge. We stopped at the optional belay then climbed a short P2 which didn't need much protection. P3 starts with a nice roof about 10' off the GT ledge. I protected it with a piton and a poor .75 C4. The roof pulled just as nicely any Gunks roof but has some ground fall potential on the exit moves. We rappelled down Ribs and shared the GT ledge with another team that commented on Sandy's rappel backup. At the ground Sandy said they thought we were hardcore climbers. Hahahaha. I'm glad we fooled someone. 1:00 PM: It was now Sandy's lead so she spent some time scoping out the arête on Ribless (5.6) but instead decided on P1 of RMC. This climbs a crack to a left facing block that you can sit on, then has an easy traverse left to a tree. Her protection was pretty good and a few threaded slings really made things bomber. We finished with the airy rappel off the tree. We ran into the team that we meet at the base of High E on Saturday. It turned out they were able to get my tricam out! "It only took 30 seconds, just pulled it to the right." Who knows how many people tried to get it out before him? It was super cool of them to mention it and give it back to me.

Don't forget to read Kurt's trip report.