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wallrat
Mar 27, 2003, 3:54 PM
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I'm looking for beta on the Muir, specifically whether the first ten pitches are worth doing instead of Freeblast, what the ledges are like, rack, if it goes clean, etc. etc...I'd appreciate any info, Thanks!!!
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justsendingits
Mar 27, 2003, 7:41 PM
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I heard that the upper pitches require trad belays.
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johnhenry
Mar 27, 2003, 8:56 PM
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Yeah, amigo. I am planning on using this as a training run also. 8) It has penji's and a pitch lenth traverse for practice. It sports alot less traffic than the Free Blast but also has a lot less free climbing and trickier aid. Its all clean to Heart ledges. The top of the second pitch has a great ledge which is only 60m to the ground. If the fixed ropes are there for the heart ledges rap, you could descend in short order. You can also bail to the Heart rappels from pitch 7 (or 8 ?). Unless your alot faster than me, you might want to fix some pitches in order to do this in one day (like the freeblast). Cris Mac has updated some info about it. He refers to one section as C2+. http://www.supertopo.com/rockclimbing/route.html?r=ybelmuir Tell us how it goes. Rock on, John
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copperhead
Mar 28, 2003, 5:15 PM
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This is a story about an ascent of the Muir, written by my bro Mike Ousley. Check it out! There are some awesome pictures! http://ousleycreative.com/honey.html
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passthepitonspete
Mar 29, 2003, 2:37 AM
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I once climbed Magic Mushroom from the ground to Mammoth in about eight hours [we were bookin'] and had a look at the opening pitches of the Muir. The dihedrals look superb! The bottom bit must go awfully darn fast, because McTopo writes:
In reply to: "On day one climb without haulbag to Heart Ledges, then descend the fixed ropes to the ground." That's ten pitches! When I did the Muir, I joined a team that got snowbound on Mammoth, so I started there. I was told that all of the belays had plenty of bolts, and that I wouldn't need my cordalettes. How wrong that was! There are plenty of all-natural belays. If you want to know everything that I know, you can click here to read my trip report for my ascent of Muir Wall. In this trip report, you'll find a bunch more useful links. Cheers, Pete
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passthepitonspete
Mar 29, 2003, 2:37 AM
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I once climbed Magic Mushroom from the ground to Mammoth in about eight hours [we were bookin'] and had a look at the opening pitches of the Muir. The dihedrals look superb! The bottom bit must go awfully darn fast, because McTopo writes:
In reply to: "On day one climb without haulbag to Heart Ledges, then descend the fixed ropes to the ground." That's ten pitches! When I did the Muir, I joined a team that got snowbound on Mammoth, so I started there. I was told that all of the belays had plenty of bolts, and that I wouldn't need my cordalettes. How wrong that was! There are plenty of all-natural belays. If you want to know everything that I know, you can click here to read my trip report for my ascent of Muir Wall. In this trip report, you'll find a bunch more useful links. Cheers, Pete
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wallrat
Mar 29, 2003, 4:55 AM
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Apparantly the ASCA replaced or installed two bolts at each belay on the route, but I don't know whether this was for the free ascents' or the original belays...at any rate this ought to help that quite a bit. Have there been any clean ascents????? We glassed the route last week, it looked so awesome! What was the rock quality between Mammoth and the bottom of the dihedral? Also, did more than the 1st & 2nd pitches off of Heart go free at a human level (sub5.11)?
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copperhead
Mar 29, 2003, 9:19 AM
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Hey Pete, Did you even read Mike's story?
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copperhead
Mar 29, 2003, 9:30 AM
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In reply to: When I did the Muir, I joined a team that got snowbound on Mammoth, so I started there. I was told that all of the belays had plenty of bolts, and that I wouldn't need my cordalettes. Five and a half in two.
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brutusofwyde
Mar 31, 2003, 5:06 PM
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Muir to Heart can go in one day, but if you encounter traffic or climb at a leisurely pace it won't. From the top of either P5 or P6 it is possible to fix three ropes to the ground down Dorn Direct. I replaced a few bolts on those Dorn stations about two years ago: The Belay bolts were 1.25" x quarter inch rawl button heads. We fixed to P5, then on a rest day (waiting for the team ahead) hauled to the highest station below on Dorn. P6 is horizontal. Rather than haul to 5, then lower out and haul to 6, we hung the bag on a hauling hook on Dorn, on the 3.5" x 3/8" bolt we had placed, then hauled the bag after we completed 6. After Muir leaves the traffic jams of the Shield and Triple Direct, the climbing changes considerably. Much more adventure. On upper Muir, we rebolted and upgraded all the belays that the Shaft (free climb variation) team had missed. at the last station, the belay is off fixed pins rather than bolts. Take to heart Chris Mac's advice about hauling at the top, and be wary of the huge loose block that the ropes must go over. Muir is the best route I have done on the Captain. Brutus
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johnhenry
Feb 16, 2004, 2:57 AM
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Man, I am becoming obsessed with the thought of doing this route! The pictures look stellar, the crowds low, the difficulty moderate... I read a brief biography in which Royal Robbins said that his Solo, second accent of this route was the best climb of his career. Has anyone else out their soloed this route??? The above account by Mike Ousley has them spending more than 15 days on the wall. I think I could handle 2 pitches a day solo. It seems you could resupply at Mammoth via the Heart Ropes if necessary. Anyhow, little bit of daydream here in Osaka. What are your thoughts???
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glockaroo
Feb 16, 2004, 2:40 PM
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Here's a good link: http://www.whereisevan.com/eb-jc-muir.html
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skiclimb
Feb 16, 2004, 6:54 PM
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Resupplying at Heart/Mammoth is a pretty common tactic for both the Muir and Salathe routes and is easily done. Would suggest you be capable of 4 pitches per day minimum (thats all pretty easy aid) however. Simply because if you arn't capable of that with modern gear you really arn't experienced enough to do El Cap in an enjoyable/safe manner. Course by the time you get to the top you would be....also if you spend half a day on a pitch you are probably going to piss someone off something feirce if they want to pass you...that route is pretty busy at least till you get above the cuttoff from triple direct.
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johnhenry
Feb 17, 2004, 4:27 AM
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Thanks for the link and the encouragement. That is one of three trip reports I have found. Here are some more good pics: http://www.homestead.com/georgeslife/Muir_PhotoAlbum.html Plus the new Petzl catalogue has some great shots of the route. Drool, drool...
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lambone
Feb 17, 2004, 5:27 PM
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johnhenry, I've been aiming to solo this route for a long time also. I'd like to do it in historical RR style...i.e. 8 days, no fixing...etc. Mike Ousley's approach seems to work also, although I think it would be hard to bear the hauling down low. I can only imagine how demoralizing it'd be to haul 15days of food and water up that slab! Mike used two seperate hauls, and he had food and water for two people. Something to consider...but he is also a baddass...so take that into account. Also, over 15 days you open yourself to unpredictable weather, and the Muir has some watercourses. I'd contact him and get his input if you have specific questions. He has allways been very generous when I've asked him stuff about soloing the Cap. Although if you read his TR, his philosophy is quit asking questions and go climb it...spray afterward. Another approach that might work: When I did the TD (my first Captain route), we jumared the fixed lines first and hauled all our gear up to Mamoth Terrace, it took all day. That night we slept on Mamoth and in the morning we rapped down the lines and did the Free Blast back up to our stuff and continued on from there. I thought this was a good approach for a couple of reasons. We got the crap hauling out of the way first. When we climbed the Free Blast we were commited to getting back up to our stuff at Mamoth (yeah we were patheticaly slow). And third, once we started climbing for real, we didn't go back down...good for the mental aspect. The main disadvantage is that you chance the quality of the fixed ropes. This was very scary, and something i don't relish doing again...kinda like russian roulette. I'd check with another party in camp who has just gotten down to get recent conditions. Or do the Free Blast and lay your own lines. Hope that info helps. One thing I'd suggest...I don't know how much soloing you've done, but I would say that it'd be smart to do something like T-Trip or Zodiac first. I think the hauling on the Muir would be the crux for sure. Cheers, have fun!
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johnhenry
Feb 19, 2004, 6:42 AM
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Right On, Lambone. Glad to here another comrade has considered the same adventure. Pre-hauling, even a partial load, would be beneficial. But solo hauling up the Heart ropes presents a technical challenge in itself. I am kinda chicken about hanging the bags from fi-fi hooks. Maybe far-end hauling your load up the route would be the way to go. It gives you 2:1 advantage and lets you yard on the thing. I can't say for sure but it seems like the "Mc topo" phenomenon has spawned higher quality ropes up to Heart in recent seasons. It always has the potential to be a crapshoot. Have you thought about soloing some of the traverses? Around pitch 29-30? there is a double pendulum traverse that has you ending below where you started. Should be thought provoking, eh? The pendulum is right off the anchor so it seems that you would have to anchor in a ways down your rope to have enough to lower off. I think I am going to mark my rope and haul line in quarters with a rope marker. The way the route builds with difficulty and aesthetic beauty as you go higher is a sweet... I think that I will be marooned here in Tokyo this season next though. Rock On, john
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lambone
Feb 19, 2004, 5:16 PM
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Hey John, Those ropes are allways a crap shoot. Even new ropes...I've spent a handfull of nights on Mamoth and each night I have heard rockfall coming out of the Heart, you never know. Yeah, soloing big traverses is allway a thought provoking event. My gumby partner and I were able to handle the pendulum section from the Muir to the Nose on the Tripple Direct without much trouble. With a little though to avoid screwing yourself I ddon't think it'd be a big deal. I've heard the upper pendulums are more strenouos. One thing I'll mention from my experience. If you are cleaning a pitch that goes downward, treat it like your leading! i.e. you don't want your jumars to catch you should a piece blow along the way. My partner took a 40 ft whipper while cleaning the BIG down-roof on Tangerine. Luckily he uncliped his jug two seconds before the pin blew. Marking your rope may not be a bad idea, just use different colors for the 1/4 and 1/2 point! I would also consider a serperate rope for rappeling off some of the pendulum points. Might be simpler than rigging a lowerout. You could use the tag line or something. People allways talk about how much cooler the East Side routes are, but the exposure on the West side cant be beat, and the Alpine glow that creeps up the wall in the evening is spectacular.
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