Photos by passthepitonspete

OK, so like check out this stuff, eh?

This is the actual Screamer that caught me after a twenty-five footer on my solo ascent of Zenyatta Mondatta, and with it the sling that it was attached to.

So like take a close look at the sling, eh? It was slung around a spike of rock. It is CUT almost completely through!

Had I not used the screamer, the sling would have cut completely for sure!

All in a day's work when you're soloing A4.

Here is a photo of a Leeper cam hook.

Photo by Richard Heinrich

Leeper cam hook in use.

Photo by Richard Heinrich

A number of Big Wall Theorists have suggested that the Yates Wall Rigger (shown here) or the Petzl Paw may in fact be the better way to rig a 2:1 Hauling Ratchet. One of those Big Wall Theorists was Dr. P

What can I say?

To be bitchin', ya gotta look bitchin' !

Grovelling through the mud in Roppel Cave, Kentucky.

This photo was taken somewhere in the vicinity of the Highbrow Bivi, where we spent our last night on Pacific Ocean Wall before topping out.

See those little white dots three thousand feet below me? Those are buses and camper vans!

Photo by Richard Heinrich

Here you have the hauling ratchet at the top of its stroke.

I want you to notice how tightly

Of the thousands of slides I have taken on El Cap, this is surely my favourite! It is enlarged and hangs on my "Wall of Shame", the front hallway to my home where I may now "permitted" to display some climbing photos, thanks

Here you can see an interesting perspective on one of the most recognizable features on the whole of The Big Stone.

This photo is taken obliquely and shows a climber standing on top of the Texas Flake, a huge unprot

While the Petzl Traxion is not the best device for 1:1 hauling because of its small pulley wheel, I believe it is likely the best compound pulley you can use to build a 2:1 Hauling Ratchet.

Here you can

This photo caption to be updated and linked in shortly.

I took this photo when I was soloing Native Son, and we had some fun shouting back and forth - I'd shout "bonjour les grimpeurs de la belle France!", they would shout back "Bonjour Can

Here you can see the proper way to "flag" your portaledge during hauling.

This photo was taken during my Submitted by: passthepitonspete on 2002-02-26
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"Dude, it ain't over til you reach the parking lot!"

At no time does this maxim become more apparent than on the descent from a big wall! Your feeling of elation at pulling over the summit usually vanishes when you strap on a pig that weighs as much as you do, and then start humpin' for the East Ledges Descent.

OK, it's OVER!

Woo-hoo!

I'm finally down!

Yep, that's me - Dr. Piton - the ugly one in front.

Lookin' pretty rough, eh? Well, this is to be expected after a twelve day solo ascent of El Cap.

On my right is Wee-Wee the Big Wall Crab, while to my left are mrhardgrit and justsendingits.

We met on the summit on my birthday, September 11, 2001. What a day to remember!

Please click the link above to get the whole story.

OK, like let's get something straight here, eh? When Pass the Pitons Pete climbs a wall, he's STYLIN' !

And there is nothin' more stylin' than bringin' along a Solar-Powered Shower.

This is a photo of my partner Jon Fox taken on Mammoth Terraces high on the SW Face of El Cap prior to our ascent of Jolly Roger, a Pretty Darn Hard route with A5 heads and hooks, and a hundred-foot 5.10 runout.

That's my Crab-O-Ledge at left. Note the look of amazement in the climber beneath Jon who is just finishing Free Blast.

This is a close-up of the bottom of my Fish Double Ledge with Wee-Wee the Big Wall Crab painted on the bottom.

You can see Wee-Wee himself in the top-left corner above my left hand, and next to the yellow ghetto blaster.

I admit it. I'm an addict. I simply can't read anything to do with climbing without an overwhelming urge to edit.

This is not an unusual preoccupation among people like me - we are called Editors.

After Chris Mac published his excellent SuperTopo Big Walls guidebook, I emailed him around a hundred corrections for the next edition.

For his most recent SuperTopos book Yosemite Valley Free Climbs, he decided to save himself some heartache, and hired me to edit it for him.

It's completed, and will be in stores for spring, 2003.

Photo by Richard Heinrich

Here you can see the Holding Ratchet, which is the first half of the 2:1 Hauling Ratchet.

Photo by Richard Heinrich

Here you can see the Lifting Ratchet, which is the second half of the 2:1 Hauling Ratchet.

This photo will be used with this post: http://www.rockclimbing.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=5068&forum=32 and I will come up with a crafty caption once I see where the post is going. Please approve on "low" - it's only 7K, and vote down to

temporary to be deleted...................................................................................................

Photo by Richard Heinrich.

There is a great story I need to share where Chongo got busted for "Abandonment of Gear" and how the whole Chongo Nation went to court on his behalf.

The charges were subsequently dropped.

You can click here to see another of Richard's great photos of Chongo.

[Click here to return to page 1]

This is page 10 of my presentation.

OK, so here's the story - bitchin' bad-ass Euro climber comes to Yosemite, where nobody has heard of him, and announces that he is going to solo Reticent Wall, one of the hardest in the Valley!

And nobody believes him! They just don't believe he can do it! And not only do they not believe him, but they won't help him, either.

So poor Tomaz is dragging his film crew around Yosemite trying to get beta and a topo for Reticent, and nobody will give it to him!

Look, this guy is bad to the bone. Check out some of the stuff he did before coming to Yosemite.

Check out what he did on Ama Dablam Do not even think about reading one page further until you have clicked on the Ama Dablam link above!

Here's an exerpt from Ama Dablam:

"After twelve hours we slowly run out of vertical ice and face the crux: an overhanging rock barrier. We put away our ice-climbing equipment and get everything ready for technical climbing. We have before us a short pitch of powder snow on a slightly overhanging rock. Those twenty-five meters of sheer despair took me two hours and a half, and I do not know to this day how I managed to cheat my way over, as I was unable to peg a single piton."

"While I am unclipping the belay, the rope we have used to haul the rucksacks jams a few meters below. Vanja lowers me to unjam it. At that moment there's a loud noise from above and the bag with all our ice equipment - ten ice screws, the Abalakov hooker, the ice hooker, the deadman, and all the bolts - zooms past my head down into the depths below. We both yell in terror. When our shrieks die away, we carry on as though nothing's happened."

If your hands aren't sweating and your toes aren't freezing after those little anecdotes, then you had best read on.

Please click here to continue to the next photo and to read what Tomaz' detractors said to him!

[Photo of Tomas Humar taken on Reticent Wall by MATEJ MEJOVSEK, which Tomaz emailed to me, along with permission to publish here at RC.com]

[Click here to return to page 1]

This is page 6 of my presentation, and here you see Tomaz Humar, considered at that time to be the World's Greatest Climber in the Millennium Edition of Climbing Magazine.

While very few on this side of the Atlantic have even heard of Humar, in Europe he is nearly as famous as Reinhold Messner!

This boy is bad ass - he is BAD TO THE BONE.

Please click here to continue this story and read where I met and helped Tomaz at the base of Reticent Wall, and to see more bitchin' photos of TOMAZ HUMAR!

[Photo of Tomas Humar taken on Reticent Wall by MATEJ MEJOVSEK, which Tomaz emailed to me, along with permission to publish here at RC.com]