Don't ever call me light duty.

I would have to agree completely. Did you summit?

Somebody out there have a story about "Chip", perhaps it warrants telling. Might bring a more human side to this diatribe.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Oh sh*t!!! That was funny and well timed!

Ambler
Maybe you should come West and spend some time climbing Desert Towers, it may be safer! :P

Your question is a little bit like asking "wouldn't it be better / safer to clip in before going downstairs to the kitchen?" The answers you're getting range from "just go down to the kitchen, it's really not that big of a deal" to "well, yes, it would be safer but it seems unnecessary at best". You may not like these answers, but you shouldn't have asked if you didn't want the answer.

I think running the pitches together might be OK. Except belaying on the ledge is pretty pleasant and the rope might drag without long draws. Also, remember you have to get back so you'd have to downclimb the face below the ledge risking a fall on the OTHER anchors down into the chimney (blech).

Try to use the correct terms - they mean a world of difference.

if you aren't interested in yarding to get past a frightening(to you, not really to anybody else) move, you have no business whining about the gear for that move.

i'll bet that with a screamer(and most likely without) the bolts on the corkscrew would easily hold falls. i've whipped onto much worse fixed pieces in the desert, and also onto much worse natural gear. moreover, i've seen people whip on to those bolts on several occasions. somehow they lived.

i'm still curious why you think a tower that has been climbed by thousands of people, many of them pretty much at their limit, with never a single accident is such a death route.

Just cowboy up and do it. Crawl if necessary.

As far as rope drag goes: I equalized the anchor at the base of the Cork Screw, then threw an additional sling on there. Made for about a 6foot sling coming off of the anchor. No rope drag, and wouldn't have pendulummed madly in a fall.

Seems like this "discussion" is over--everyone who disagrees with nistrong is wrong, and he just proved that by......what? Being better at dismissing the views of those with whom he disagrees or doesn't want to hear?

The "views" I dismissed had nothing to do with what I was talking about. They were simple jabs that weren't thought out.


Once again, I meant re-bolting. Aside from that, everyone has things they want to aspire to. I am trying to get a better grip on exposure. I've seen plenty of it, just not on such crap pro. That is the problem. I can overcome the exposure like I've done hundreds of times before if I can get comfortable with the risk. Changing the plan of attack is what I think I need to do to achieve that. If you want to discuss that, then feel free. Otherwise, your BS has been stated over and over.


How am I taking away from your experience exactly? Part of climbing is overcoming personal fears. Sometimes that means doing something that scares you. I my case, I like it to be a controlled risk. Ignoring the consequences of such an attempt is foolish.

Wait, let me get this straight, you didn't trust the anchor bolts before the sidewalk? I can only give you so much slack before I outright drop you. See because (as everyone's been saying) from the "shoulder" as you call it to the base of the Cork Screw is 2nd class. 3rd class if its windy. And you're sketched to the point of complaining about it on the internet. Suddenly I have a big headache. Realize that sometimes you have to run it out on easy terrain. Sometimes you realize that (precluding some gigantic f--- up on your part) a sidewalk is just a sidewalk, no matter how big the gutter is. But what the hell do I know, I recognized that fact and finished the route.

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer.

nistrong: King of giant humongous rebuttal posts that completely shoot down everything that everybody else is saying. :lol: :lol:

Dude, it's questionable, but I'm thinking that maybe since there are so many well respected and highly experienced climbers posting against your thoughts in this thread, you might possibly be wrong. No disrespect meant at all man, but could it be time to take a step back and ease up on the stubbornness? I've bailed from climbs because I was scared out of my mind before too. We all have. It's not a shameful thing to do, although retrobolting certainly is.

That way at least you wouldn't be risking the whole party, you have more rope out in the case of a pendulum on the traverse, and bolts below that to back it up. We could station a third at the top of the 3rd pitch for pictures, but using separate bolts from the ones the leader would use. The leader would lower to those anchors and rap to the top of the 2nd from there on a second rope. Thoughts?

Yeah, but I was visibly shaking.

The top is scary---I tied off of the "duck bill" with a super large sling--making me feel that it would hold a fall if the bad bolt pulled.

We climbed it by kinda going to the left and slightly under the diving board...which seemed pretty secure.

Yeah, you wouldn't want to fall...but...didn't seem too bad to me.

And...I think the fixed angles that are flush to the rock are pretty bomber. Even this one (big ledge prior to the last fixed anchor station) seemed solid:

All this chat has made me want to go climb the thing for myself. I'm booking a flight to Texas!

That'll make for a fairly long approach