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passthepitonspete
Oct 11, 2003, 5:49 PM
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Mwah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
The party is tonight!
Woo-hoo! We're fixed so high - as high as Tom and I had climbed after like 3 days on Excalibur. Can see those big-assed offwidths grinning at us over to the right.
The wall is superb massive granite, almost completely devoid of features, and pleasantly low-angle for easy jugging.
Come one, come all! It's going to be one helluva rockin' time!!
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karlbaba
Oct 12, 2003, 1:42 AM
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I was driving by the base of El Cap this afternoon and remembered that Dr. P's suds party was tonight. I couldn't make it due to laziness and back-to-back climbing plans, but I pulled over and buzzed him on the radio and agreed to post something on the aid forum.
Don't know what to post since if you're reading this, YOU REALLY LATE FOR THE PARTY!
Still, Dr. P want you to think there will be lobsters and the swedish bikini team up there, unless you are a hot babe, in which case, you could help make these lies a reality. Bring your own lobster.
I told him that if folks get too hammered up there, he's got to take their rappel device until they sober up.
It seemed like a Fun idea. I probably wouldn't get to Timbucktu Towers otherwise. I'm ashamed to admit I'm choosing to soak in my hot tub after a hot meal rather than jug hundreds of feet to a urine soaked ledge to party with perverts.
Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, jut one pervert.
Well, mabye not even that, this is California. Our new governer sets the standard.
But I digress. Pete sends his regards to all.
Peace
Karl
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passthepitonspete
Oct 26, 2003, 7:31 PM
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[this is actually a duplicate post, copied and pasted from elsewhere. I have crappy internet access here in the Valley, and don't have the time to edit. Sorry!]
Alex and Thomas told me a couple nights ago over beers that the Nipple pitch finally went at 13d. Both of them free climbed it. Is that *sick* or what, eh? Sheesh. My fingers hurt at the thought of it.
Actually, after darn near two weeks on the wall, my fingers hurt at the thought of anything....
We were actually on Never Never Land, Bryan. And although we finished our last beers on Thanksgiving Ledge, we still had a couple bottles of wine and half a bottle of Kessler for the summit. Unfortunately, we were pretty much out of water, and couldn't drink it for fear of becoming more dehydrated! Fortunately, we remedied that condition as soon as we recovered my stash left over after my solo of Eagle's Way a few weeks ago, and scarfed the extra water left behind by Matt after his solo of Mescalito.
J.P. and Shawn and I will write up a trip report in a bit, along with lots of photos. Never Never Land was great fun, and although the climbing was pretty moderate, the hauling was brutal due to the low angle of the rock. Kinda explains why the route doesn't get done much, eh?
Our biggest logistical error was continuing up the West Buttress finish [the same one Lurking Fear follows]. It was a real horror show. We bivied one night on that! I didn't realize there is a rappel route somewhere there. Anyone know where it is? Lurking Fear or West Butt? So when you added the extra day to haul those horrid slabs, and then carry all the stuff round to the East Ledges for the descent, that explains why we were up there a little longer than expected.
But the climb was FUN FUN FUN! Timbuktu Towers is an AMAZING bivi. We spent four nights there drinking beer and listening to tunes on the ghetto. We had the whole wall to ourselves - just the occasional view of climbers on Salathe. Some of the cracks were a bit grassy in places, which is the nature of the Southwest Face, but the climb ascends a stellar line straight up the centre of the face left of Dihedral Wall and right of West Buttress. I spoke to Tommy and Beth who are working on free climbing WB ["just out cragging," said Tommy] - but I haven't heard that they've finished it. That was a couple weeks ago.
I can tell you, mate, that we would have been quite screwed indeed without our 2:1 hauling ratchet on Never Never Land. On my solo of Eagle's Way, I only used the 2:1 the first two days, after which I had reached the overhanging bit, and could get by quite fine 1:1 hauling using the Kong Block Roll [or is it Roll Block?], which is far and away the best compound pulley you can buy [if you can find one....]
There were plenty of fatty bolts on Never Never Land thanks to the efforts of Erik Sloan [aka] of the ASCA who climbed the route in the spring of 2002 when Tom and I were climbing Excalibur. Erik replaced most of the original dowels with rivets, and there are 3/8" bolts on the [few] ladders every so often. Even though we had three portaledges [I mean, any fool can be uncomfortable, eh?] we didn't add or replace any bolts or rivets on the route.
And thanks for the congrats, mate. That was my 25th El Cap route. ["Tick!"]
I actually hung out with Bridwell a couple weeks ago in the meadows after he and Tracy Dortman [sp?] climbed The Nose with this girl, who proclaimed for all within shouting distance to hear that she had made the First Black Lesbian Ascent of El Cap. [SFW?] I think she about drove those poor dudes crazy. When I told Bridwell we would be hanging out up on Timbuktu Towers for a few days, he said, "Hey! That's my ledge!"
Tom Evans was there in the meadows with his killer 1250mm lens taking pictures - "Oh, you're the guy who never starts climbing before noon!" - and he gave me some swell shots from Eagle's Way which I'll scan when I eventually get home. [It's hard to leave Paradise - the days are crisp and clean, the nights cool and starry, and the coloured leaves are at their peak just now!] Tom also told us he got some photos of us on Never Never Land. Apparently he took photos of us as I was shooting pics of JP and Shawn on this wild-ass flying traverse a thousand feet up. So we can publish the views both looking down and up. Should be fun!
Two nights ago was the Hubers' slide show, much improved from the one a few weeks ago now that they had their movies up and running. Ivo somehow managed to get the European PAL format movies to work on his laptop, so kudos to him.
While the last show featured only Thomas, the show two nights ago featured both Thomas and Alex. I still shake my head in amazement at Thomas' second ascent of The Ogre, made after 25 failed expeditions. For me, the highlight of Thomas' show was the footage of Doug Scott and Chris Bonington, the first ascensionists in 1977. I had met both of them about twenty years ago when they gave slide shows to the Toronto Alpine Club. And while Doug Scott's flowing mane has turned white, his trademark John Lennon glasses remain. [I wonder if he still calls everyone "youth"?] Amazingly, Bonington looked not one day older than he did back in the 80's! [How does he do it?!]
Alex's slide show was equally impressive. Filmed mostly by Heinz Zack [who was also in attendance] it featured Alex's July 2001 first free ascent of his route Bellavista on the Cima Oveste in the Dolomites. The footage of the 60m 5.14b roof pitch was mind blowing. Hard to believe it's the same dude sitting at the picnic table drinking a Rolling Rock with you as is the guy on the video cranking the amazing moves!
But even more impressive to me was Alex's ascent of the Directissima on the Cima Grande in August 2002. The route is 1700' high, and Thomas made the first free solo of the route, after having climbed it only four times previously. This boy is BAD TO THE BONE! There were plenty of pitches of 5.11, and during his solo of the 5.12a crux pitch, it was so gripping, I wanted to reach for my chalk bag my hands were sweating so much! [Uh, if only I owned a chalk bag....]
The Hubers are indeed a class act and great friends - they are warm and approachable. Be sure to say hi to them if you see them in Camp 4 or the Lodge Caf or Curry Village. In what other sport could you hang out with the best in the world in virtual anonymity? The Hubers are up at the top of the Zodiac this morning recovering their stuff [including a bottle of wine and some "long island iced tea" we left for them], and they told me they're heading for the airport on Tuesday. I could tell you what their project will be for Yosemite next spring, but I'm sworn to secrecy.
Timmy's slide show last night was indeed hilarious. What a superb speaker he is! It featured a great show on his big walling in Greenland last summer. They were there for forty days [and forty nights] - and unlike the Biblical epic it only rained half the time - the first ten days, and the last ten days. They lived in a cave much of the time, and battled mosquitoes continuously as they attempted to penetrate every bodily orifice. [And that's supposed to be FUN?! Sheesh. Now you know why I like El Cap so.......] Eventually they knocked off some impressive free ascents up to 5.12.
Timmy had just gotten down yesterday off The Trip after having climbed it with Warren, a double amputee who has lost both legs above his knees in a climbing accident seven years ago where a boulder shifted and crushed both his legs. "I was trapped for two days - I'm lucky to be alive, really...."
Now Warren is an engaging bloke, an ex-Pat from Oz now living in Canmore, Alberta, and there was a great movie of him ice climbing on the Weeping Wall.
"Man, you'd think they could give him some decent tools and a proper pair of crampons," whispered Shawn as we watched the movie. [They looked pretty high tech to me - the only ice tools I own are a 65 cm Forrest Lifetime Axe and a 45 cm Hummingbird Hammer. And my Chouinard crampons have leather straps. I guess that, like, explains why I don't go ice climbing much, eh? And when I do, my dad has to rescue me. So there.]
"So Warren," says I, "did you rig up any kind of mechanical advantage for your pullups?"
"Nah," he said. "Chongo tried to fix me up with a 3:1, but I just made a T-bar and pulled up on that."
"You climbed El Cap making 2800 1:1 pullups?!"
The highlight of Timmy's show was his extraordinarily creative and hilarious video, "Climbers For Peas", filmed in J-Tree last winter, and mostly improvised. From the opening credits a la Road Runner cartoon style along with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly theme music played when the Ranger-Villain first appeared, Timmy's video had us pissing with laughter and rolling on the carpet. If you *ever* have the opportunity to see Climbers For Peas, move heaven and earth to make it happen!
Timmy concluded his show with a touching memorial to Jose Pereyra, friend to many of us in the room last night, and who died while climbing in Mexico in January, 2003.
As for me, I'm hanging around for a few more days. Watch for my Crab-O-Ledge up on the Tower. Channel 2 sub 10, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel! Or catch me on the Pizza Deck in the evening. I'm easy to find - I'm the one wearing the BSEG.
Cheers,
Pete
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passthepitonspete
Nov 2, 2003, 12:26 AM
Post #54 of 76
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We awoke on the wall with our bivi sacks covered in snow. As we made our coffee, the snowflakes were hurled upwards by the force of the wind, and the Valley beneath was whited out.
"Should we go for the summit, or should we bail?" we debated.
Stay tuned for details.........
Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!
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elcapbuzz
Nov 2, 2003, 10:46 AM
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In reply to: bailed on my solo of Gulf Stream. After a couple pitches of madness, including some "Real A3" hooking up the side of a crumbling flake about the thickness of a plate glass window, I realized the route was just too darn hard for me to climb straight off the couch, and I simply didn't want to stick my neck so far out. Something about pounding in the pin I was hanging from while watching the one I was clipped to come pinging out of the expanding flake kinda got me thinking, you know? It's probably too hard of a route for me to solo [what the, what the hail was I thinking, anyway?! Sheesh] but who knows - I'll keep it on my hit list tucked away in the corner somewhere where it's not going to scare me too much if I happen to glance at it. [Why are my hands sweating right now as I type this?] Haaa haaa haa haa, I tried to warn you Pete. GS is way to hard for the likes of you. Hey, you always bring up the fact that we drank all your beer on the "Infamous Kep Party". You never metion that you begged us to come over.... and that you stoled the 1 gallon keg from the bear boxes at Curry. Where's Gawd when you need him. |
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elcapbuzz
Nov 2, 2003, 11:10 AM
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Haaa haaa haa haa, I tried to warn you Pete. GS is way to hard for the likes of you.
Hey, you always bring up the fact that we drank all your beer on the "Infamous Keg Party". You never mention that you begged us to come over.... and that you stole the 1 gallon keg from the bear boxes at Curry.
Where's Gawd when you need him.
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socalclimber
Nov 2, 2003, 12:58 PM
Post #57 of 76
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In reply to: .... and that you stole the 1 gallon keg from the bear boxes at Curry.
Ammon, you're kidding right? Please tell me this isn't true.
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copperhead
Nov 3, 2003, 6:05 AM
Post #58 of 76
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In reply to: .... and that you stole the 1 gallon keg from the bear boxes at Curry.
Oh no; don't tell me... Scrubby part 2?
Frickin' klepto.
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elcapbuzz
Nov 3, 2003, 10:35 AM
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Hey guys,
I'm not trying to stir the pot. I'm just telling it like it is.... Pete said he "FOUND" a keg of Grolsh in the bear boxes at Curry. Com'on, who leaves a gallon of beer behind..... I guess it's possible.
I just think it's lame that he's always spraying about this HUGE keg party.
Can you here that noise....... it's a can of worms being opened!!!!
I also think it's lame that he blames Gawd for something HE started.... by mentioning the Curry bear boxes in the first place.
OH BOY, I think I need to get out of Florida...... it's making me crazy.
You're right, Minerals. I need to get back on planet earth.
Cheers, YaaLLL!!!
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wiredclimber
Nov 6, 2003, 7:19 PM
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i was reading an article today in an australian magazine called "Rock" where two aussies were talking about meeting a guy in Yosimite who went by the name Pass the pitons Pete. Were they talking about you or a faux pete?
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passthepitonspete
Nov 7, 2003, 12:41 AM
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Voice of Arte Johnson in Laugh-In, wearing German army helmet and mit der cigarette:
"Veddy intereshtink...."
If we met on the summit, then most likely I were the Real Deal.
However, if said alleged meeting took place at the base of the wall, or worse - in a parking lot! [sheesh] - it could well have been un médecin faux de falaise......
Beware - there are Dr. Piton imposters everywhere! Before you accept the advice of anyone purporting to be a Wall Doctor, you must first examine their credentials. Whining in internet forums does not count - you must look at what they actually have climbed. [Though Dr. Piton has himself been known to whine in internet forums from time to time, but never about people dropping gear on him. In fact, the Doc actually encourages people to drop gear on him......]
And examine your Wall Doctor for crabs, too - that's usually a dead giveaway.
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madcowrockclimber
Nov 7, 2003, 12:45 AM
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if you are trying to decide what to climb i suggest you pick the nose...no pun intended :lol:
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wiredclimber
Nov 8, 2003, 10:30 PM
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"Some seem to think that the only requirements for entry are an alliterative nickname, tolerance for pain, and a difficult personal life. One night at the pizza deck we met a Canadian who introduced himself as Pass the Pitons Pete. Pete solemnly explained the evolution of his big-wall career. 'In the 10 years I was married, i did one big wall. Then, in the 5 years since my divorce I've done 15' "
-Rock magazine
Spring 2003
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hawgdrver
Nov 9, 2003, 4:50 PM
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Deleted
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hawgdrver
Nov 9, 2003, 5:19 PM
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Requirements for entry to what?
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elcapbuzz
Nov 10, 2003, 12:42 AM
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So, tell us Pete.....
Did you bail off Eagle's Way too?
Haa haa, Didn't you hear.... you should stay far away from Horsetail Falls in a storm.
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elcapinyoazz
Nov 10, 2003, 8:32 PM
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Yeah Pete,
Tell us...and tell us how it's a solo attempt (GulfStream) with 3 people up on the wall. I went down to El Cap to see how my bros were making out. As I was sitting in the meadow (puttin' down some Cobras of course) I looked through some tourons binocs and saw no less than 3 people up on GS.
I'd assume it was you leading, but whas up? Having someone clean and haul for you before you went snail eyes or what? Enlighten us please...
Or perhaps that was an impersonator... :roll:
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ricardol
Nov 10, 2003, 10:04 PM
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In reply to: So, tell us Pete..... Did you bail off Eagle's Way too? Haa haa, Didn't you hear.... you should stay far away from Horsetail Falls in a storm.
i think his update on eagle's way said he summitted that one ..
-- ricardo
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passthepitonspete
Nov 12, 2003, 6:21 PM
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Ay. Eagle's Way was my eighth solo of El Cap. In fact, it may even be recognized as the new solo speed record. You can read about it in my profile, which I completely updated on Sunday with a bunch of new photos and information and stuff.
I was married from 1982 to 1994 to a lady who was completely unsympathetic to my climbing, caving and fishing. She just didn't "get me." When I finally climbed The Nose in 1988, she [and] truly believed that I was "cured" - that I had achieved my goal, and would be content to retire, and hang around the house or whatever.
My Post-Divorce Renaissance began in 1995, and since then I've climbed 24 more routes on El Cap. Not to mention miles of new cave passage discovered, explored and surveyed in Kentucky.
Come to think of it, Oz buddy's comments below might have been right, were they recorded in about 2000.
And not a drop fell from Horsetail Falls - too damn hot!
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elcapbuzz
Dec 4, 2003, 1:51 AM
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In reply to: Eagle's Way was my eighth solo of El Cap. In fact, it may even be recognized as the new solo speed record
Pete,
You've got to be kidding, right? The current record is a joke about how bad my epic was.
Anybody, spraying about beating that record (unless it was a respectable time, like under 24hrs) must really be going for a huge "ego stroke".
BTW, you have to start your watch when you place your first peice of gear. How many days did you spend fixing? Don't even bother answering..... I know exactly how long it took you.
I think it's pathetic that you even mentioned "time" on a route, considering the snails pace you climb at.
Geettt. That's right, BEAT IT!!!
(I bet you hear that a lot, huh?)
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mrhardgrit
Dec 4, 2003, 1:21 PM
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Yeah....
I remember reading that comment a while ago and then forgetting to mention your proposed speed ascent.
BUT... mentioning it a second time is unforgivable! What gives? Who on earth is going to claim a speed record in that style??
Cummon Pete, be a little more reasonable. You'd hardly cedit Yuri or Hans with a speed ascent of the Nose if they slept overnight half way up!
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elcapinyoazz
Dec 4, 2003, 6:25 PM
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I'm glad somebody finally took him to task for that one.
He's using the old 3rd grade argument. It works something like this:
Little Petey: "I ran all the way from the playground to the baseball field!"
DAD: "But Petey, that's over 40 miles, tell the truth now"
Little Petey: "I really did Dad, you just don't believe me"
DAD: "No, Petey, I picked you up in the car 3/4 of a mile from the playground at the ice cream shop, remember?"
Little Petey: "Well I could have if I'd wanted to, so there!"
ANCIENT ZEN KOAN (riddle):
What is sound of one hand clapping?
ANSWER:
Stand behind Pete back and listen, you hear his one hand slap himself on back.
Pete, you're reaching a new level of pathetic. Ammon didn't fix, passed out from the dehydration, and kept the clock running during the whole epic. You're implying with a straight face that you've set the speed record, while only counting the time spent climbing?
Geez dude, by that logic I guess I've got speed records on several routes then....imagine my surprise when I found out how cool I am.
You busted out the "I have climbed El Cap in day, so there" argument sometime in the past. WHICH ROUTE? Huh buddy? Maybe the Nose, LF, or the Zod? WOW!!!! Join the club, eh. Or did you jug some fixed lines 3/4 of the way and count that as legit?
And what's up with AIDING THE HOLLOW FLAKE? You and your punter partner are too weenie to actually climb the thing? That's funny because a a ton green wall climbers climb it free every season.
Hey RickyRicardo, add me to the kill file yet mate? :cry: C'mon, you promised you would! :lol: It's like a car wreck huh kid? Just can't stand to not look! And quit sending me PMs you silly little groupie.
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justsendingits
Dec 4, 2003, 9:39 PM
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Meanwhile,back at the ranch-------------------
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copperhead
Dec 4, 2003, 11:32 PM
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Ha ha ha ha ha..... :lol:
Looks like my term is up!
Have at it, guys!
:P
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climbhigher
Dec 5, 2003, 12:36 AM
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Pete is famous in his own mind. That's all that counts right!!!!!! Ask me about climbing the first two pitchs of Never Never Land for him and gang. HA ha ha ha ha.... Pete makes wall climbing sound so glamerous. Don't fool yourself it's worst then "ditch digging and pays less". That's a quote from some bad ass wall climber from the 70's, maybe Charlie Porter??? And this is what Tommy Caldwell once said to me as we where staring up at El Cap. "Nobody is really having that much fun up there"......unless they have lived here in the valley for awhile.
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