|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 6:04 PM
Post #1 of 23
(10396 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
Our goal was to climb "hang ten (5.10)", a free variation of an aid route called Gourmet, at Wallface, in the Dacks.
The Mellor "guidebible" acknowledges that the first few pitches are somewhat unknown, so we proceeded to find our own route to the prominent "Gourmet" dihedral.
It took us the whole first day, after completing the 5 mile approach, to do those first few pitches.
Dave started us out with a short pitch around a bulge in his mountaineering boots. I followed, wearing the entirely overkill 70L Naos pack (to see how climbing in it felt...it didn't feel good), which put us under a blank, overhanging bulge.
Following a crumbly horizontal crack, I led left under the bulge, looking for a weakness. 100' feet later, with killer rope drag and sketchy microcams for pro, I found a hanging belay below a promising crack, which broke through the bulge.
Dave took the thin crack to a short head wall below a ledge, pulling committing ~5.9 moves on PG13 gear with a shit-eating grin on his face the whole time.
It appeared that it was a simple low angle, scrambly pitch that separated us from the massive ledge at the base of the "hang ten" dihedral. I set off, executing a hard boulder move to link blocky sections, then continued on a mossy, wet and dirty, low angle section on wishful pro. A brief slip on wet moss, twenty feet up from a muddy cam, had my heart leap from my chest. Slinging a demoralized clump of brush, I got my heart under control and finished the pitch.
By the time Dave joined me on the ledge, it was dark. Bundled up in our belay jackets, we fixed our two ropes and rapped by headlamp.
Pasta, sausage and a bit of whiskey warmed us up back at the cave, and we got a good night sleep, with only a couple interruptions from the mice sharing our camp.
The morning sun warmed us, as well as the clifftop ice, which would periodically break off, whiz through the air like incoming artillery and explode off rocks around us as we jugged our fixed lines.
I picked up where we left off and headed up the impressive, overhanging dihedral that is the "hang ten" pitch. Dirty hand jams and crumbly face holds for feet got me up the first half, and also through my larger cams. Thinking I would need them for the rest of the way, I built an anchor and back-cleaned.
It turns out that "hang ten" follows a thin seam out to left, from my mid-way anchor, which would have used smaller gear that I had plenty of... (Apparently the last moves of this exit have you hanging by all ten fingers, with no feet...hence, "hang ten.")
Anyhow, at the time, I wasn't sure that the left exit was the way to go. Having retrieved my #2 and #3s and my #4, I went to work on the dirty, licheny, offwidthy, jammy continuation of the crack I had been following thus far. I thrutched up into the crux of the off-route off-width to find myself hanging on a solid, but nauseatingly stressful arm jam. Plugging a tenuous #4, I had myself a little rest on the rope, then finished the last few moves.
I was glad to be at the top, but felt unsatisfied by my inefficiency and hang on the pitch.
Dave came up, then led through a short low angle section with one very hard boulder move to gain a ledge. I followed, employing a stout bush to pull through the crux.
Route finding uncertainty necessitated a short rap and traverse to the beginning the final dihedral/face.
Dave started up just as it was getting dark. The moves were thin and it was eating up gear, with no good prospects for a belay stance.
Finally, route uncertainty, complete darkness and freezing temperatures compelled us to bail.
We rapped through the night and returned to our cave around 1030pm.
A closer look at the guide book revealed that the first ascent party for "hang ten" tried to free that last section, but were turned back by rain (explaining the fixed hex we found).
The next morning we lazed around in our sleeping bags as it snowed for a few hours. Then packed up and hiked out in glorious sunlight.
All in all we thought the trip was quite a success. We climbed at our limits on poor gear with difficult route finding, in freezing temps and in the dark. We can't wait to return.
Epilogue:
-Dave and I corresponded with the authors of the new Dacks guide and our first four pitches should be making the new book as "P-Town Approach 5.10b PG-13 350'." Much thanks to Jim Lawyer and Jeremy Haas for the opportunity to contribute. We're estatic with the notion of our first first ascent.
(This post was edited by zealotnoob on Nov 21, 2007, 2:44 PM)
|
|
|
|
|
stamplis
Nov 13, 2007, 6:31 PM
Post #2 of 23
(10367 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 16, 2005
Posts: 33
|
Nice work - thanks for the trip report! Got any pictures?
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 7:47 PM
Post #3 of 23
(10325 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
I do! ...I'll work on posting them.
|
|
|
|
|
onceahardman
Nov 13, 2007, 7:50 PM
Post #4 of 23
(10321 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 3, 2007
Posts: 2493
|
thanks for the report...wallface is such an adventure.
if you do everything right, it can seem like-what's the big deal? but if you dont route-find just right, you can have an epic.
nice going-competently done!
BTW, there is supoosed to be a new dacks guidebook coming out-has anybody heard anything regarding the timing? the guys taking over from mellor have a website:
http://www.adirondackrock.com
but i havent heard anything in a while, and doesn't seem to have been updated in a while. they would probably be interested in your trip report.
|
|
|
|
|
reg
Nov 13, 2007, 8:23 PM
Post #5 of 23
(10293 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 1560
|
fun read - thanks
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:13 PM
Post #6 of 23
(10260 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
Here's Dave following the hairy traverse pitch. "Nice lead Dude," doesn't carry as much weight when you're still rocking mountaineering boots.
(This post was edited by zealotnoob on Nov 13, 2007, 10:49 PM)
|
|
Attachments:
|
alpine dave on traverse.JPG
(24.0 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:19 PM
Post #7 of 23
(10250 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
This one is following Dave's "shit eating grin" pitch, having gained the first big ledge. We're just starting to get a feel for climbing in the cold.
|
|
Attachments:
|
Cold on first ledge.JPG
(145 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:24 PM
Post #8 of 23
(10246 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
Home sweet cave. This is a shot from our first trip to Wallface... Cozy as ever, but with about 5 mouse companions this time. It's the perfect size to sleep two.
|
|
Attachments:
|
home sweet cave.JPG
(80.9 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:25 PM
Post #9 of 23
(10243 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
Here I am, approaching the "hang ten" pitch on the second day.
|
|
Attachments:
|
hang ten start.JPG
(140 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:30 PM
Post #10 of 23
(10236 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
This shows what Mellor describes as hang ten's "spectacular left exit," vs. the route I took. The green arrow points to the crux where I sat on the rope. Without much authority, I'd guess it goes around 10b or c.
(This post was edited by zealotnoob on Nov 13, 2007, 9:31 PM)
|
|
Attachments:
|
Off route off width.JPG.jpg
(86.1 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:35 PM
Post #11 of 23
(10233 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
The hard boulder move to gain the base of the final corner/face (this is also where the route meets the top of the Diagonal).
|
|
Attachments:
|
hard bush move.JPG.jpg
(122 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:37 PM
Post #12 of 23
(10228 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
Dave, leading into the cold dark unknown.
|
|
Attachments:
|
dave in darkness.JPG
(52.3 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 9:45 PM
Post #13 of 23
(10219 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
A view of the snow and what we dubbed the "halloween tree" (by the boulder) from our cave.
|
|
Attachments:
|
halloween tree.JPG
(140 KB)
|
|
|
|
|
jgloporto
Nov 13, 2007, 9:47 PM
Post #14 of 23
(10217 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 8, 2006
Posts: 5522
|
Is this line to the right of the Mental Blocks buttress?
Either way, great post. I love Wallface.
|
|
|
|
|
jgloporto
Nov 13, 2007, 9:52 PM
Post #15 of 23
(10208 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 8, 2006
Posts: 5522
|
zealotnoob wrote: The hard boulder move to gain the base of the final corner/face (this is also where the route meets the top of the Diagonal).
Sorry missed this post. I thought I recognized that cave. I did Diagonal over the summer.
Did you approach from Upper Works or from the ADK Loj?
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 10:16 PM
Post #16 of 23
(10195 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
jgloporto wrote: Did you approach from Upper Works or from the ADK Loj?
I've heard of the lodge...that's the approach from the north, right? We came from the south, from Tahawus.
|
|
|
|
|
jgloporto
Nov 13, 2007, 10:24 PM
Post #17 of 23
(10190 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 8, 2006
Posts: 5522
|
zealotnoob wrote: jgloporto wrote: Did you approach from Upper Works or from the ADK Loj? I've heard of the lodge...that's the approach from the north, right? We came from the south, from Tahawus.
Yeah, barring the 'Dangerous Broken Bridge,' approaching from the South West is the better way to do it. If you decide to go back up, my friend Mike put up reflective blazes on the trees marking the trail back to Indian Creek from just about the base of the Diagonal. All you need is a headlamp to get back to Indian Pass and then you are about a 1/4 of mile from the Wallface lean-to which offers a bit more comfort than one of the caves near the base. Since it was during the summer, we actually hiked up on Indian Pass to camp on Summit Rock which offers some great views of Wallface.
I love the whole Eastern High Peaks region. The beta on Wallface is the worst I've ever seen though.
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 10:31 PM
Post #18 of 23
(10185 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
onceahardman wrote: if you do everything right, it can seem like-what's the big deal? but if you dont route-find just right, you can have an epic.
This is spot on. We epic'ed the first time we tried the diagonal (TR entitled Wallface trip report: an epic delivered), but came back to send it easily.
Thanks for the heads on the new guide. It would be amazing to contribute.
|
|
|
|
|
zealotnoob
Nov 13, 2007, 10:35 PM
Post #19 of 23
(10179 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2006
Posts: 525
|
jgloporto wrote: If you decide to go back up, my friend Mike put up reflective blazes on the trees marking the trail back to Indian Creek from just about the base of the Diagonal.
Please thank Mike! Those reflectors did wonders to help us find our cave two nights in a row.
|
|
|
|
|
jgloporto
Nov 13, 2007, 10:38 PM
Post #20 of 23
(10173 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 8, 2006
Posts: 5522
|
zealotnoob wrote: jgloporto wrote: If you decide to go back up, my friend Mike put up reflective blazes on the trees marking the trail back to Indian Creek from just about the base of the Diagonal. Please thank Mike! Those reflectors did wonders to help us find our cave two nights in a row.
I told him he earned huge karma points doing that.
|
|
|
|
|
Adk
Dec 11, 2007, 9:54 PM
Post #21 of 23
(9924 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 2, 2006
Posts: 1085
|
Awesome trip report and great photos. Cudos to sticking it out.
You guys are lucky that snow didn't hammer on you this time of year!!!! We were blessed this year with a late snowfall.
Dave
|
|
|
|
|
crackers
Jan 2, 2008, 10:24 PM
Post #22 of 23
(9638 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Apr 20, 2005
Posts: 416
|
jgloporto wrote: The beta on Wallface is the worst I've ever seen though.
I suspect that you will love the new guidebook. I think that they are pretty close to done, we might see it by the end of '08.
|
|
|
|
|
jgloporto
Jan 2, 2008, 10:43 PM
Post #23 of 23
(9622 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 8, 2006
Posts: 5522
|
crackers wrote: jgloporto wrote: The beta on Wallface is the worst I've ever seen though. I suspect that you will love the new guidebook. I think that they are pretty close to done, we might see it by the end of '08.
Not soon enough then. I'm going back up for Mental Blocks as soon as the black flies clear out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
