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federicosuave
Aug 4, 2005, 9:05 PM
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My friend Dave and I atttempted the north ridge of Lone Pine Peak as our first alpine route.
~Trip report~
Lost camera: I lost my camera in the highest gully before the ridge steepens from class 3 to class 4 (before the first notch). It's a long shot, but if anyone finds it, I'd really love to get those pictures. Please email me at fred at federico dot name.
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snoangel
Aug 4, 2005, 9:56 PM
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Good story. Welcome to the LPP epic trip club. :wink:
Hopefully someone finds your camera. I dropped my ATC about 2,000 ft and it was found & returned. :D
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micronut
Aug 5, 2005, 1:34 AM
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In reply to: Welcome to the LPP epic trip club.
ahhhh, come on rita, ours was a pretty straightforward, if not speedy, ascent. it was a cruise :D
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krisp
Aug 5, 2005, 1:49 AM
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In reply to: ... I dropped my ATC about 2,000 ft and it was found & returned. :D |
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mtnfr34k
Aug 5, 2005, 4:18 AM
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We saw your blue tent at about 6pm on Saturday, and knew something was up. Typical N. Ridge LPP teams would have been back by then. So we kept an eye out for you as we continued on up to Grass Lake, but didn't see any sign. By the time we were heading back down on Sunday, your tent was gone. Glad that you kept it together!
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snoangel
Aug 5, 2005, 5:23 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: ... I dropped my ATC about 2,000 ft and it was found & returned. :D And then it was smashed w/ a sledghammer and tossed in the can, ...right?
Actually no it was not smashed...I placed it on a shelf next to some pics of the trip. Don't worry, it's not to be used again. :)
And Jay, I don't know if I'd use the word "cruise" to describe our trip, but at least we didn't have to bail. That sounded not fun!
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murf
Aug 5, 2005, 5:35 PM
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In reply to: My friend Dave and I atttempted the north ridge of Lone Pine Peak as our first alpine route.
Not a terrible choice I guess.
In reply to: Dave and I are quite competent climbers, having started climbing 4 years ago. However, we were predominately boulderers until this summer, when we got into sport, trad, and mountaineering. Lone Pine Peak was to be our first true mountaineering trip.
I'm sorry, but being a mat-monkey for 4 years does nothing for your general climbing competency.
In reply to: Although the standard route ascends the face via a class 3 gully on the north side (the blue route), we found another gully further south on the face that looked like it might go (the red route). Plan in hand, we returned to the campsite for an early night and an early morning start.
So you're saying that you guys, with your wealth of experience, have figured out the way this alpine route should *really* go?
In reply to: Eventually, the rope started to strain against my belay device, a clear signal that Dave was moving again. From the base of the cliff, I heard Dave shout "ROCK!" followed by a pause of about 5 seconds, then "ROCK! Shit, FALLING!".
So then you follow this up by taking a *fall* on your first alpine route. I'm not talking smooth-granite-no-ledges-in-site-crux-well-in-sight-of-belayer fall. I'm talking the worst possible alpine fall, the off-route-no-clue-where-I-am-belayer-can't-do-shite fall.
In reply to: My only real regret is that I left my camera on the mountain.
That's rich that is. Burn a couple of candles at the altar of the deity of your choice, they've earned it.
Murf
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mtnfr34k
Aug 5, 2005, 5:39 PM
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I heard about a five day ordeal where the team of three pitched out the entire ridge, climbing catapillar-style. The leader insisted on placing gear every 10 feet or so, so that on the 3rd class terrain he'd have to stop after about 70 feet bacuse of rope drag, belay the second up, who'd then belay the triple, and finally the lead could head out again. Complete epic. A guide I know spotted them just past the first tower when he hiked in and bivied with a client, passed them the second day, and watched them bivy that night at the foot of the final headwall while he and his client hiked out (for a two day trip). Aparently it took them another full day to finish the route, and a fifth day to descend and hike out.
Just in case I'm not clear (lack of caffeine), it took them a day to hike in, three days to summit, and a day to descend and hike out. Meanwhile, a local guide hiked in, summitted, and hiked out with a client in about 36 hours, lapping the poor sods on day 3 of their epic.
Ouch!
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trenchdigger
Aug 5, 2005, 6:19 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: My friend Dave and I atttempted the north ridge of Lone Pine Peak as our first alpine route. Not a terrible choice I guess. In reply to: Dave and I are quite competent climbers, having started climbing 4 years ago. However, we were predominately boulderers until this summer, when we got into sport, trad, and mountaineering. Lone Pine Peak was to be our first true mountaineering trip. I'm sorry, but being a mat-monkey for 4 years does nothing for your general climbing competency. In reply to: Although the standard route ascends the face via a class 3 gully on the north side (the blue route), we found another gully further south on the face that looked like it might go (the red route). Plan in hand, we returned to the campsite for an early night and an early morning start. So you're saying that you guys, with your wealth of experience, have figured out the way this alpine route should *really* go? In reply to: Eventually, the rope started to strain against my belay device, a clear signal that Dave was moving again. From the base of the cliff, I heard Dave shout "ROCK!" followed by a pause of about 5 seconds, then "ROCK! s---, FALLING!". So then you follow this up by taking a *fall* on your first alpine route. I'm not talking smooth-granite-no-ledges-in-site-crux-well-in-sight-of-belayer fall. I'm talking the worst possible alpine fall, the off-route-no-clue-where-I-am-belayer-can't-do-s--- fall. In reply to: My only real regret is that I left my camera on the mountain. That's rich that is. Burn a couple of candles at the altar of the deity of your choice, they've earned it. Murf
A bit harsh, but true. You guys made some serious mistakes here. I had to turn around on my first attempt at LPP at the base of the first tower as well simply because we were moving to slowly and we were hoping to do the route car-to-car in a day. Don't let the 5.4 Grad III fool you. This is a tough Grade III.
Intentionally going off route was a very poor choice. Intentionally going off route again when you bailed was another bad choice. Putting yourself in a position where you would take a leader fall on an alpine climb - especially your first - is reckless and dangerous.
I encourage you to take your future backcountry climbing exploits more seriously. Clipping bolts at your local crag is where you want to push your limits and take falls, not on a 5.?? adventure climb, far from possible aid.
Adam
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micronut
Aug 5, 2005, 6:51 PM
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what you have on your photo as the "first tower" and "second tower' are wrong. what you have labled as the "second tower" is actually the first step, then approx. 1,000 ft. of ridge traverse, then the second, or summit step. your "first tower" is just a larger gendarme.
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legion
Aug 5, 2005, 7:00 PM
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I think what Murf is trying to say is something like: "Please come over and we can play dolls. Reading your scarey trip report really upset me and I just want to be held."
To all of you detractors: you are all soft and I wish you a safe, comfortable, and sterile life pushing your limits on short, well bolted 5.10 sport climbs in Choss Canyon 5 minutes from your car.
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murf
Aug 5, 2005, 8:36 PM
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In reply to: I think what Murf is trying to say is something like: "Please come over and we can play dolls. Reading your scarey trip report really upset me and I just want to be held." To all of you detractors: you are all soft and I wish you a safe, comfortable, and sterile life pushing your limits on short, well bolted 5.10 sport climbs in Choss Canyon 5 minutes from your car.
Nope, Murf is saying that author and partner bypassed all the common, easy to make mistakes that can happen to folks on their first alpine route.
Instead, they threw away the book and exerted themselves to have an experience fecund with danger and discomfort as far from the car as they could. All the while remaining blissfully ignorant of anything other than a missing camera.
And BTW, where's this Choss Canyon, it sounds fun?
Murf
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rickrock77
Aug 6, 2005, 10:54 AM
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The best way to learn is by mistakes..
I think these people will have learned a lot, if not by their own actions then by the comments they have recieved.
Just for the record fred, the reason some comments here seem harsh, is because the Incident Forum seems to be a regularly added to. Always someone coming close to death. And from every incident, someone usually asks, "What could have been done to avoid the incident"....
Had you had an "incident", you should note clearly what people have said for your benifit, and these things mentioned, which you did, are the things you oculd have chosen not to do to avoid an accident.
lucky for you someone was looking out for you, because you sure had it going for an accident...
I suggest doing a mountaineering course..
I plan on doing a trad course before getting into real trad stuff..
But glad you are ok.. Why was the camera not cliped to your self or to your bag???
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federicosuave
Aug 8, 2005, 12:52 AM
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In reply to: The best way to learn is by mistakes.. I think these people will have learned a lot, if not by their own actions then by the comments they have recieved. Just for the record fred, the reason some comments here seem harsh, is because the Incident Forum seems to be a regularly added to. Always someone coming close to death. And from every incident, someone usually asks, "What could have been done to avoid the incident".... Had you had an "incident", you should note clearly what people have said for your benifit, and these things mentioned, which you did, are the things you oculd have chosen not to do to avoid an accident. lucky for you someone was looking out for you, because you sure had it going for an accident... I suggest doing a mountaineering course.. I plan on doing a trad course before getting into real trad stuff.. But glad you are ok.. Why was the camera not cliped to your self or to your bag???
Dave and I certainly made mistakes, and we are by no means "blissfully ignorant" of them. I fear that my trip report may have appeared glib, but make no mistake (ug), we understand that choosing to ascend the way we did was a bad idea. Although the lead fall was the result of holds breaking, and not a lack of climbing ability, we still should not have put ourselves in that position. We won't make the mistake fo climbing an unknown pitch again. We were in over our heads, and eventually, it got to be too much, so we decided to turn around.
This was a good decision. In fact, I think we made many good decisions on the route. For example, we camped at the base the night before, and carried bivy gear on the route, fully knowing that we might need to spend the night on the mountain. We stopped descending well within daylight hours, and were therefore never caught in the dark. We respected the severity of the grade, and were not so pompous to think that novices such as ourselves could do it car-to-car in one day.
All of that said, I have to take issue with your first point. The reason that some of the posts seem harsh is because the posters are immature, arrogant pricks. I'm sorry, but if Murf truly cared about our safety, his post would have used language similar to yours. Instead, he clearly wanted to inflate his ego at our expense.
This is fine. I posted our trip report on a public forum, and anyone can feel free to post whatever they want in response. But posts such as Murf's are not only irritating, they are counterproductive. As the object of his post, my first instinct is to be irritated, and therefore to discount any advice that he might offer (especially considering his less-than-respectful remark about bouldering). If his true intention were to offer advice out of genuine concern for my safety, then he would not have started off by insulting me.
Furthermore, such insulting drivel only serves to discourage others from posting less-than-perfect trip reports. I posted our TR because the TRs by snoangel and trenchdigger were helpful in preparing our trip. From both of these posts, we learned that LPP would not go in a day, and that it would be harder than its III 5.4 rating would indicate. Both authors made mistakes on their trips; mistakes that we were (for the most part) able to avoid thanks to their posts.
I don't want to get all sappy here, but I hope that our TR follows in that vein. And I hope that the selfish actions of a few do not deter other novices/intermediates/experts from posting their trip reports so that we can all learn from them as well.
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micronut
Aug 8, 2005, 1:34 AM
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In reply to: The best way to learn is by mistakes.. In reply to: But all the school in the world can't fully prepare you to be alone in the mountains, and eventually you have to get out there and make mistakes, and learn from them.
In reply to: All of that said, I have to take issue with your first point. The reason that some of the posts seem harsh is because the posters are immature, arrogant pricks. .
ah, no.... there is a better way.........and that is to give guys like murph, who have paid their dues in the mountains, proper respect and learn from them.
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rickrock77
Aug 9, 2005, 7:53 AM
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I think the comments federicosuave made about Murf were quite fine.
At the end of the day, the old saying, treat others as you would want to be treated, rings true. No matter how much experience you got, you can either look like someone wise and respectable, or cocky and aragant.
Posters should consider how they come across..
But I doubt Murf cares.
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