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tclimber
Jan 28, 2003, 4:01 AM
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Can someone recomend some good aid routes in index washington? I'm new to aid climbing so something C1 or C2 would be great. If you give a route and can give any beta about gear and belays thanks.
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punk
Jan 28, 2003, 4:12 AM
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ask krustyklimber or texplorer here some of his pictures thereTexplorer on Index
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slabbyd
Jan 28, 2003, 5:16 PM
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Index is a great place to learn how to aid climb. On the Lower Town Wall the obvious place to start is City Park. A dead vertical 100'+ foot splitter. C1 on small nuts and cams (bring extra #6 and #7 Stoppers). Other good practice lines (clean!) are Stern Farmer and 10% Meteorlogical Vulcanation (sp?). Both are C1/C2. A good rack would be 2 full sets of Rps, nuts and small to medium cams. Cam Hooks can be very helpful as well. Once you have those routes dialed-in head up to the Upper Town Wall. Both Town Crier and Green Drag-On are 5 to 6 pitch aid routes that go at about C2. Same rack, though at least one cam hook is a must, as well as a few larger cams to 3.5". Aliens are better than TCUs as many placements are in old pin scars. Have fun!
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peas
Jan 28, 2003, 5:53 PM
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Also try talking to bigwalling. He is an aid climber in that area.
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tclimber
Jan 30, 2003, 2:44 AM
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Sorry but what are Rps?
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bigwalling
Jan 30, 2003, 4:06 AM
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RPs are micro brass nuts. I would go with a set of HB brass offsets + some Rps for any aid climb in Index. They help you avoid hammering(even though thats the best part). Just pick up Cramer's guidebook. Also clint cummings has a site with topos. I liked Iron Horse. Narrow Arrow might be fun. Haven't done much clean climbing so I can't tell you as much. As for the Upper Wall. Green Dragon is rumored to be better than Town Crier. I would have to think this is right. Try Golden Arch. Just rap after the third pitch. That keeps the grade at C1/2 or something like that. Jake
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gawd
Jan 30, 2003, 8:01 AM
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bigwalling. what routes are you nailing? better be nothing easier then a4.
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bigwalling
Jan 30, 2003, 4:25 PM
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Gawd, I ussally don't nail too many pins unless it's a FA(haven't done many, waiting for better weather). I've nailed on Skin Graph and Abaraxe(sp?). Does anyone know if Snow Whites aid pitch goes clean or frog ponds aid pitch? I haven't done them. I heard Golden Arch went clean at C3+. Anyone done the A3+ pitch above Steel Pole Bathtub?
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gawd
Jan 30, 2003, 4:58 PM
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snow white has gone clean hard tho. frog pond is free climb. you can aid through the bolts, which seems impossible. i though the only nailing pitch on abraxas was the 3rd one? did you get that high? and real aid climbers climb clean anyways. nailing is out of fashion, no point in ruining the rock. [ This Message was edited by: gawd on 2003-01-30 09:00 ]
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slabbyd
Jan 30, 2003, 5:25 PM
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In the above post, I used the term RP to mean micro-nuts. I guess I'm dating myself there! HB offsets are definitely the way to go. Recently climbed the Golden Arch. The crux section of the last pitch goes clean on hooks and TCUs. Above that is a long stretch of A1 Lost Arrows. I'd be hard pressed to climb that stretch clean.
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krustyklimber
Jan 30, 2003, 6:37 PM
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Yup... Re: sp. Ten-Percent Meterological Vinculation *** IV, 5.7 A3+ Right of Sagitarius is a very thin crack system which leads to the upper sheild, and continues to the top of the wall. Numerous, including hooks and rurps, to 2". It is possible to avoid the A3+ by freeclimbing (5., but without protection. The above is an exert from a very old copy of "Index Town Walls" by Smoot and Cramer. Slabby, I still got those 'biners for you... what's up? PM me either way huh? Jake, you go boy! Gawd, Jake's alright... aight! And I guess I'm not real... Hey Jake, let's take him up and watch 'em do "Thud" clean! I can't believe nobody mention doing... Iron Horse (a great place to practice well protected hook moves), Thin Fingers (fun thin stuff especially cam hooks), Rogers Corner (some tricky corner work and short easy free sections), G.M. (same thing), Godzilla (some decent exposure and work with huge cams, also a good climb to practice mixed free and aid). And on the Upper Wall... Clay (a tapering overhanging crack that starts wide, 4", and thins out to RPs) The Zipper (at least the Ice Cream Scoop Roof, if it don't scare the crap outta ya, yer hard! C2/3). And we can't forget my favorite place of all at Index, Toxic Shock Wall ... Toxic Shock and Even Steven can be done clean, in many variations. And after you have aided them you can run laps on the beautiful free climbs they are (not that I've ever done E.S. free, haha). If you ever need a tour guide, I'd be glad to lead you up there. Jeff
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tclimber
Jan 30, 2003, 8:09 PM
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Does anyone know of an aid route on snow creek wall leavenworth?
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bigwalling
Jan 30, 2003, 8:56 PM
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"snow white has gone clean hard tho. frog pond is free climb. you can aid through the bolts, which seems impossible. i though the only nailing pitch on abraxas was the 3rd one? did you get that high? and real aid climbers climb clean anyways. nailing is out of fashion, no point in ruining the rock." Frog Pond has a pitch of A2/3 aid. I've never done it. I place one tied off blade on the 2nd pitch Abraxe. Have you done the whole climb? Have fun climbing clean all the time. V420 is like all thin nailing. I taked to Mike and he said that the climbing was quite hard. He compared it to Plastic Surgery Disaster. Have fun climbing that A4 corner up hill and too the right of Dana's clean. I'll have to give the Arch another shot this spring. I'm all for clean climbing when possible. But many routes require nailing.
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rollingstone
Jan 30, 2003, 10:44 PM
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Unless things have changed drastically, Snow Creek Wall is a free-climbing area only. Any aid that existed on those orutes have been done free for years. You might try Witch Doctor Wall, near Darrington, or when the pass opens again in the Spring, go up to Liberty Bell. If you are really hard pressed for aid, drive to Squamish.
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gawd
Jan 31, 2003, 1:54 AM
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bigwalling i have not finnished abraxous and i do not intend too. you mean that little kid mike? he is pretty solid from what i have seen out there. do not nail on the lower town. do not nail on any route that has gone free. and try your hardest not to nail. i bet you any piece off of my rack, that 90% or more of routes below a3 do not require nailing. in 20 years of climbing, i have yet to set out and nail more then a few placements on any route. ------------ person who 1st asked the question. you can pretty much clean aid anything at index. though think about the route you plan to aid. if it is a saturday, do not even think about aiding a standard free route. we are climbers out there, so repsect each one like you yourself would like to be respected. ----------------- kusty, i am sure he is a good kid. i just don't want him nailing, when doesn't have too.
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bigwalling
Jan 31, 2003, 2:20 AM
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Not nailing on the lower wall? Dude the two A4s will require nailing. Most of the nailing I do is thin pins. I have even used filed down beaks at Index. On one route I did it required a couple of #1 blades only 1/4" to 1/2" into the rock. Try and climb that clean. One place that has lots of nailing at Index is the Quarry. But gawd is right unless you are on soemthing hard you won't have to nail. Just leave the nailing gear at home and bring some micro nuts. Creativity is key in aid. I heard chicken mcnuggets had some really hard nailing on it. I looked at it from the Arch and it looked stellar and hard. Anyone want to try it latter this year? Also anyone know anything about the A3+ pitch above the Steel Pole Bathtub crack that leads into swims 3rd pitch?
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dcramer
Jan 31, 2003, 7:14 PM
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I think the aid on Frog Pond Bigwalling was referring to is the second pitch. I'd be willing to bet that this pitch does require some pins. Every time I have been in the mood to climb it there have been loads of people around and since I think there is probably some loose stuff I have always passed on climbing it. Most of the standard aid routes are clean aid. But there are lots of potential new routes that would probably require a few pins. Here is an example: On Private Idaho to the left of Goddess Kring route. Directly below the first belay on Goddess Kring is a very cool thin crack - imagine City Park. Unfortunately the crack tends to break up into friable rock below the belay and starts 25' or so above the ground. Every time I have rapped down this line I think "I should come back and aid this" but I never get around to it.
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krustyklimber
Jan 31, 2003, 8:41 PM
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Thanks Darryl! And "Welcome!" It's really good to have you here. Jeff
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