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mother_sheep
Jun 25, 2003, 2:52 PM
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Registered: Jul 18, 2002
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Since so many of you have left and had some pretty RAD big wall adventures, I was hoping that some of you would come back and post a trip report or 2. Anyone got any good TRs that you can post here? I guess this could also go in the trip reports forum but I was really hoping to see some aid stuff so I put it here. Please help save me from the mindless dribble in the community and on the front page. Everyone must be climbing because things seem kind of slow.
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epic_ed
Jun 25, 2003, 3:46 PM
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Registered: Jun 17, 2002
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Just got back late Sunday. I'll have a thing or two to say about my exploits, but unfortunately there won't be any tales of heroism and glory. I am trying to change my handle from "up2top" to "Epic Ed". Just seems more fitting since the only thing I saw the top of while in the Valley were the tops of my shoes from hiking loads of gear around. Ed
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dsafanda
Jun 25, 2003, 4:35 PM
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Registered: Mar 6, 2002
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No trip report but I did manage to scrape my way up a short wall recently. We had Leaning Tower all to ourselves last week for a couple of days. That in itself seemed like the biggest surprise of the climb, given what I was prepared for regarding crowds. Most of the photos I took were crap. I thought this one was sort of interesting just in terms of showing the architecture of that wild route(West Face). http://www.safanda.com/misc/ahwahnee.jpg
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ricardol
Jun 25, 2003, 4:41 PM
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Registered: Nov 11, 2002
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this is the best i can do to controibute to the aid forum .. hehe ... last weekend i had my 1st lead on aid -- i practiced on Church Bowl Tree .. (5.10b i believe) .. its a short crack with lots of pinscars going up .. and chains at top. -- this is an excerpt (sp?) from an email that i sent to a friend recently .. ---------------------------------------- My 1st time... .. i would qualify this crack as a A1 pitch -- its all there -- but my hands still trembled when i finished cleaning it -- partly from the strain of standing on aiders completely tense .. and partly because weighing gear is still alien to me. The leading went as well as you can hope for, no pieces pulled, i led, fixed, rapped, jug-cleaned (using the traditional yosemite jugging system .. sign -- i know .. not the better way) .. and rapped again.. all in about 2 hours probably for about 60' .. *sigh* .. when i was down i realized how HARD it was .. it was hard work to stand in those aiders and try placement after placement on those flared pin scars, where standard cams just pop out .. and have to make a #2 nut placement instead.!!! -- #2 nut --thats the thinnest piece i've ever placed! .. ugh .. i JUMPED on the piece several times to make sure it wasn't going to pop, and finally moved onto it.. .. that reminds me .. i probably did a bit too much BOUNCE testing .. when i cleaned the route, none of the nuts came out nicely -- each one took several minutes of work to get them out, and alot of cursing. .. i guess bounce testing has its limits and it doesn't include jumping onto the aider. .. when i was back on the ground -- i realized that aid climbing IS like being beaten with a rusty chain while lying face down on hot asphalt .. -- but after a short while (and a cold beer) -- i could see the possibilities, and the places i could summit.. -- AID is definately for me -- but i've got a long ways to go before i sit relaxed on the saddle and dispatch a pitch in reasonable time. -- ricardo
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epic_ed
Jun 25, 2003, 5:04 PM
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Nice photo, David! Can't believe I didn't run into you last week. We were probably in El Cap Meadow within 50 yards of each other some time last week. Congrats on the send. Ricardol -- welcome to the "pain and suffering" club. ;-) I climbed Church Bowl Tree last week, too. After having my feet skate on everything through the first 15 feet, I think I would have rather aided it myself. Epic Ed
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passthepitonspete
Jun 25, 2003, 7:59 PM
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Registered: Oct 10, 2001
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Well little hottie, it just so happens that you have arrived. If you are tired of the plain vanilla, if you have a heart of passion that burns for adventure and excitement, and if you long to read trip reports that will make your hands so sweaty that you'll be reaching for your chalk bag just so you can click on the next page without skidding off your keyboard, then rest assured - you have come to the right place! The tales are soon to be written - tales of woe, tales of misery, tales of epics and near-epics, of hooks and heads and blood and stone and sweat and pain and suffering. Spicy tales of long dong pitons and itty bitty peckers and pasted heads. Tales of dropped hooks and dropped names, of big wall theorists and big wall gumbies, of near-death and near-exhaustion, tales of controversy and deceiptfull [sic] underhandedness, of shiny new fat bolts and rusted quarter-inchers side by side in the rock [dare you imagine, O Shagadelic One?], of adventures so great and high and lonely your fingers will ache, and you'll barely be able to pull the tab on your can of Olde English. [Six days after getting up the wall, this is the first day I could open my swollen hands without needing ibuprofen!] Fortunately, I never ran out of coffee, so you are spared the horror of that story. So stand by........the Doc is finally home........ Nice photo of the Tower, David. Sorry I missed meeting you. I must have been up on the wall when you were there. {sigh} Ahwahnee Ledge. Such memories......... {wink} Ricardo has the right idea - it's all about pain and suffering. Thanks again for all your help schlepping, Ricardo - next time you bivi on the wall you'll have to continue to the summit. And what can you say about Epic Ed? Let it be noted that Dr. Piton emphatically concurs with this new moniker! The Doc looks forward to truly epic stories from Epic Ed....... So stand by, hon........
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tradrat
Jun 27, 2003, 1:25 AM
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Registered: Mar 8, 2002
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Hey David, Holy frig, that's me in that picture on Leaning Tower! As Pete would say there are no big wall theorists on the summit and we have finally escaped that title. The Leaning Tower was cool, and a fun route. David was a great partner, and we managed to get up that hunk of stone-not the big one-just that one. I don't think there were any real epics. Just a blown head on the first pitch, and hot weather when the sun hit the wall. By the way, standing in El Cap Meadow after we got down from the Tower, who else did we spot with some tourists telescope? None other than the good Dr. Himself, Dr Piton (shirt off, gettin ready to clean a wild traverse, lookin pretty bitchin'). Cheers mate.
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passthepitonspete
Jun 27, 2003, 3:37 AM
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Registered: Oct 10, 2001
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Indeed! Congratulations on your promotion from Big Wall Theorist to Big Wall Gumby! We look forward to your trip report, and your de-clusterf*ck debriefing. [After my first solo in 1997, I spent a half hour getting debriefed by my Wall Doctor, Chongo - I bet l was able to improve my efficiency by 25% or more thanks to his post-mortem] Always great to read a ripping yarn.
In reply to: "None other than the good Dr. Himself, Dr Piton (shirt off, gettin ready to clean a wild traverse, lookin pretty bitchin') Spoken with hand extended, palm upwards, in rotating motion in front of my chest: "Oh, go ON with you, Adam, go ON with you, I say....."
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chitlinsconcarne
Jun 27, 2003, 7:12 AM
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Registered: Jun 16, 2003
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Shoot, i thought this was gonna be a thread about home theatre systems.. ----------------------------- "aid climbing is neither.."
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epic_ed
Jun 27, 2003, 3:31 PM
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Registered: Jun 17, 2002
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Posted a TR last night in the aid forum, but it got moved immediately to Feedback & Trip Reports. Here's the link: http://www.rockclimbing.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34323 Ed
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