spike's Logbook (12 ascents)

Second clip is crux.
Getting to 3rd clip is a challenge.

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Lunar Ecstacy V 5.9 C2+
Moonlight Buttress
ZION N.P., UT

Climbed by Ben Banks and Richard Heinrich/SPIKE
09/27/02 - 09/29/02

Drive to Zion:
Ben picked me up at 6:00am Wed. morning at my house in Alta Loma,
CA. We jumped on the I15 Fwy. heading towards Las Vegas on our
way to Zion, UT. Made it to Vegas, NV in 3 1/2 hours !!! Stopped
in St. George so Ben could pick up about 15' of 8mm cord for YATES
FAT SACK load release system and a couple locking carabiners.
Pulled into Zion visitors center at around 1:00pm. Ben asked the
attendant at the entrance for a current weather report, she said
"no rain". When Ben & I looked at the internet for a weather before
we left it said "maybe 10% for Wed." It was a little overcast but
not dark clouds. The parking lot was FULL! While Ben circled the
parking lot looking for a space, I walked over and got our climbing
permit --- $5.00 We finally got a parking space, but I had to ask
people as they left the vistor center if they were leaving and follow
them out plus guard the parking space until Ben could get around to it!
Most dangerous part of the trip.

Getting to the base of the climb:
We loaded up our 2 pigs a YATES FAT SACK and a small FISH Atom Smasher.
6 gallons of water and an A5 portaledge w/rain fly. Ben has a new
Metolius Bomb Shelter double portaledge, but is still waiting for a
rain fly! We caught the shuttle bus & told the driver to drop use off
at Moonlight Buttress. We got in the second shuttle bus trailer because
the front one was pretty full. The shuttle bus driver stopped at Big
Bend which is the drop off for Prodigal Son and WAS suppose to stop about
a 1/4 of a mile up the road to let us off for Moonlight Buttress --- he
forgot! I went up to the camera/speaker and tried to get the drivers
attention with no success. We road the shuttle bus to the next stop
which is the last stop on the loop. We got off that shuttle bus and
climbed on a bus that was just taking off/heading back down. We got into
the shuttle with the driver to insure we got dropped off in the correct
spot. The driver of the second bus was an older guy. He said earlier
in the week that climbers were on both Lunar Ecstacy and Moonlight
Buttress. But today NO ONE was on our route or Moonlight Buttress. He
dropped us off and said he would keep an eye on us. The approach to
Moonlight Buttress is short and easy. The Virgin River was very low,
water was only 1 1/2' deep, an easy crossing. After crossing the stream
it took us 15 minutes to reach the base of the climb.

P1 - 09/25/02 Wednesday afternoon - 200' 5.8 (Original Start)
When I did Moonlight Buttress with Scott D. I did the original start P1
5.8 so we decided that Ben would do the odd pitches and I would do the
even pitches. We got our climbing gear on, repacked the pigs and got them
up on a ledge about 15' above the illegal bivy. We moved over to the original
start and Ben took off in his climbing shoes. He trailed an 8mm 60 meter
zipline. Ben didn't place any protection on the 3rd class traverse to the
start of the 5.8 section. At the start of the 5.8 section Ben pulled both
the leadline and zipline and retossed both. He also found an HB Brass #6
offset nut on the ledge after he tossed the ropes --- booty. The pitch does
take every inch of a 60 meter rope. Ben did a great job on this pitch and
free climbed the whole pitch. It took only 2 tosses of the zipline to get it
down to me. I connected the Pro-Traxion and static haulline to the zipline
and Ben pulled it up. At the top of P1 we moved the pigs about 20' to the
right of the anchors as per the topos recommendation.

P2 - 120' C1 5.6
I took off on P2 and the first 25' is free climbing until you get below a small
roof. I placed an alien and then a #1 Lowe Ball under the roof to work myself
out and around the right side of the roof. The rest of the pitch was C1 straight
up to a huge ledge. The 5.6 moves were easy, but watch out what you pull on,
loose blocks. I was going to try and link P2 and P3, but rope drag was bad. So
I hauled up to P2 and Ben cleaned. The sun was starting to go down but our goal
was to bivy at the top of P3.

P3 - 50' C1 5.7
P3 is short, only 50', but is in a very tight and awkward dihedral. Ben free
climbed about 1/3 of the pitch stemming the 5.7 section. Ben turned his head
lamp on when he started aiding. I finally turned on my headlamp so I could watch
his progress. About 3/4 the way up the pitch he made a hook move. As it got
really dark I thought I saw some lightening flashes but assumed it was my eyes
playing tricks on me. I didn't hear any thunder, but I also couldn't see any
stars. A little later I saw more lightening and mentioned it to Ben who was
focused on his climb. He said it was probably tourists taking flash photos.
When rain drops started to hit us we both agreed it was lightening. When we
got to the top of P3 it was raining on and off with lightening but the storm
seemed to be moving away from us. The ledge at the top of P3 is pretty good.
We set up the A5 portaledge with the rain fly and deployed it. We decided to
bivy and see what the weather looked like in the morning. The rain was sporadic
and the lightening diminished. Compared to the storm I went through earlier in
the year when I was on Moonlight Buttress, this was nothing. I knew in the
morning we would see blue skys.

P4 - 09/26/02 Thursday - 185' C1+ 5.9 Half-Moon Traverse (loose block, mantle)
Thursday morning at 6:00am I woke to a clear sky. The goal for the day was to
bivy at the top of P8. This is the second wall I have climbed with Ben, so we
work pretty good as a team. We broke the portaledge down, ate a quick breakfast
and I was climbing by 7:00am. P4 is the longest aid pitch on the route and the 5.9
mantel was on my mind. The 5.9 mantle comes up pretty quick, it wasn't that bad,
the ledge you mantle on is flat and has an edge you can get a good crimp on. So
you mantle, stand up and grab the base of a small bush/tree. I girth hitched the
base of the bush with a hero loop and used it as my next piece. I also used the
bush to stand on. A couple more pieces of gear and you make some free moves onto
a sloping ledge system. I found the the free moves up onto this sandy/sloping
ledge system a little more scary than the mantle down below. I moved up and right
to a nice bolt, clipped it and then flipped the ropes over the ledge. Ben will
take a little swing when he cleans the last piece before the free moves. From
here you can look up and see the first bolt that starts the Half-Moon Traverse.
From here you go up a nice crack until it gets a little thin through the C1+
section to a couple bolts in a row. Then traverse out a little more right using
gear to the last 4 bolts before Farewell Ledge. The last bolt before the ledge
is missing a hanger. I girth hitched it with a hero loop but a cinch rivet hanger
would have been nice. It took me 2 hours to do the pitch. As I hauled the bags,
Ben yelled up "PIGS IN SPACE". The topo says "loose block" at Farewell Ledge,
but it seemed pretty solid to me. I had the zipline stowed in its A5 rope bag
and the staticline ready to be put its bag when Ben arrived at the ledge. I put
the staticline in an A5 rope bag as Ben racked up. We put the leadline in its
own A5 rope bag and Ben was climbing P5 by 10:00am.

P5 - 145' C2 Old A4 Pitch
The first piece of fixed gear off P5 looks scary!!! A 5/8" angle only in about 1/2
way and is bent down. 2 old pieces of webbing are girth hithced to it close to the
wall. Ben clipped both pieces of webbing and gently stepped up on it. The next
piece is a bolt, but is missing a hanger. Before starting the pitch, I dug into
the FISH sub-bag and pulled out some cinch rivet hangers. Ben placed a big fat cinch
rivet hanger that Scott D. had given to me earlier in the year and Ben felt a lot
better. This pitch is an old A4 pitch, 145' long and is now rated C2. Ben did the pitch
under 2 hours. When I cleaned it I took a close look at the 1st pin and it didn't
look good. Below the #3 camalot placement shown on the topo are 2 old RURP's in a row
without wires which validates it was an A4 Pitch at one time. The top of P5 is a sling
belay.

P6 - 120' C2 Alien Leapfrog (airy!)
P6 is called "Alien Leapfrog", its 120' long and is rated C2 with a comment "airy".
This pitch eats up green & blue aliens! All the placements are C1. I think it gets
its C2 rating because you HAVE to RUN it OUT --- and the fall could easily be a 50
footer. Its a mental fear/pucker factor. How far must you go before you find a good
nut placement or before you have to leave one of your blue or green aliens. The topo
said P6 is only 120', but it seemed longer to me. Ben used his YATES WALL LADDERS to
make a seat while he belayed me. The top of P6 really has 4 bolts. 2 newer ones
and 2 old button heads with odd hangers. Hauling the pigs up to the top of P6 was
easy --- they never touched the wall. Its getting late in the afternoon and the
first C2+ pitch is reached.

P7 - 150' C2+ 5.7 The Amoeba Pitch (bat hook, loose)
P7 is called "The Amoeba" pitch and is 150' long with the topo calling out some loose
sections, a bat hook move and 5.7 moves to reach the anchors. I know Ben has been
thinking about this pitch all day. When we were in the parking lot getting our gear
organized a climber walked up and asked us which climb we were going to do. We said
"Lunar Ecstacy", and of course he mentioned P7. He said his friend got freaked out
when he saw "The Amoeba", and he wasn't even leading it, he was cleaning it! Ben
racked up, put his headlamp on and took off on P7. From the start of the route you
can see the first bolt that is below "The Amoeba". Compared to P6 this pitch is lower
angle and the rock takes on a LOOSE/SOFT feel. As Ben leads this pitch sand and dead
grass filters down on me. The gear placements aren't bomber like C2. The C2+ rating
has been reached. Ben yelled down when he was going to make the bat hook move. He
used my special filed down SKY HOOK that looks like a finger. I saw a drawing of it
in Chongo's Big Wall Book, so I made myself one, and Ben said it worked GREAT. It's
starting to get dark as Ben reaches the 5.7 section of the pitch. Ben yells down
"Free Moves" to prepare me to feed rope adequately. Ben is a 5.12 sport climber and
a solid trad climber. After he makes the moves and reaches the belay at the top of
P7 he starts screaming and yelleing about the rating of the free climb section.
I think this was done to release the fear of the last few moves and the tension of
doing a C2+ pitch. Ben yelled down that the 5.7 was 5.10 slab. I cleaned P7 in the
dark with my Black Diamond Moonlight headlamp. When I got to the top of P7 and looked
at the traversing free moves, I was glad Ben did those moves and not me! We had been
climbing for over 12 housrs. I was feeling tired and Ben volunteered to do P8 if I
did P9 in the morning. I agreed.

P8 - 90' C1 5.8 (loose)
P8 begins with some 5.8 moves and getting started is tricky. While Ben was looking
around for an alternate start he found his 2nd piece of booty a Metolius curved nut.
The only way to get up P8 is to make the 5.8 moves on poor sandy/slabby hand
holds/pinches plus iffy smear foot placements. The key to the start of this pitch is
to use the right belay bolt for a left foot hold. The topo says P8 is 90' but it
seemed shorter. Ben did this pitch pretty fast. We were at the top of P8 by 8:30pm.
The night sky was clear and we could see a million stars. No rain tonight. A pin
above the belay made a great place to hang the portaledge from. We turned in early
with only 1 pitch left for tomarrow.

P9 - 09/27/02 Friday - 150' C2+ 5.6 Original Finish (rotten rock, fin/arete)
My watch alarm went off at 5:30am but I slept in until 6:00am before getting up. WOW,
the exposure was great. Last night we topped out in the dark and set everything up
by headlamp. Anything below the bivy ledge was just darkness the night before, but
in the morning everything became crystal clear --- we made a lot of progress
the day before. It was cooler than the previous night because of no cloud cover and
the morning was a little nippy. I was thinking about the alternate finish. The "Jarrett
Finish" is only 110' and rated C1, but looking at the ledge you would have to
drag/carry the haul bags on to get to the start of the pitch would create an exposured
and dangerous situation. So we broke down the portaledge for the last time and packed
the pigs. Up and far right of the belay you can see 2 new bolts. We didn't use them.
They may have been placed for an alternate belay or for a portaledge. The first few
free moves traverse off right from the belay. Some free moves in the 5.6 range get
you up to a stance were you can place a yellow alien. From here you can stand up on
the top of a semi-pointy block to place your first piece in the start of the C2 section.
From here you can see the 5.6 moves higher up but not the bolt shown on the topo. As
you work your way up to the 5.6 section the rock does get ROTTEN. It is very soft and
crumbles in your hand. The 5.6 section has a great hand hold about 1/3rd of the way
through the diagonal traverse. I was able to place a red alien back deep inside the
hand hold. The 5.6 section ends at a bomber bolt! At this point I used the zipline to
bring up some more medium length draws and the rest of our aliens. Up a nice crack that
take blue and green aliens. At the top of the crack you make an easy mantle onto a
small ledge and look up at the dark fin/arete to your right. Above your head is a small
roof and the topo specifies rotten rock! Looking up at it, from below, it looks loose.
So I worked my way up the fin/arete by placing pieces inside the fin and walking up the
arete. This allowed me to get high enough to place 4 pieces just above the roof. 3 cams
and a nut, all within 2 feet of each other. 2 of the cams were bomber, if you consider
anything in rotten rock as bomber. The nut and the higher cam were just OK, I placed
them just to see if I could. From here I could see a fixed pin near the finish of the
route. Maybe because how the morning sun was hitting it, but it looked like a GIANT BONG.
I yelled down to Ben that there was a HUGE FIXED BONG were the topo designated a fixed
piece. I had cleaned all the pieces I used in the back side of the arete because of rope
drag and to clean them would have been a pain for Ben. The only thing between me and the
ledge I mantled onto earlier were the grouped 4 pieces in rotten rock. I high stepped
looking for a good placement --- nothing solid --- maybe some iffy hook moves. If a piece
popped before I clipped the pin, the 4 pieces in the rotten rock probably wouldn't hold
the fall. I would probably break both legs after hitting the ledge and then roll off it for
another 15'until the piece I placed at base of the ledge stopped my fall. Maybe not the
best "style" but out came the cheater stick and I clipped the fixed pin. When I got to the
fixed pin it wasn't a BONG, it was your basic 1/2" angle! A free move after the pin placed
me on the summit. I recognized the summit, Lunar Ecstacy and Moonlight Buttress end at the
same trees. About 15' to the right of Lunar Ecstacy is the finish for Moonlight Buttress.
Be careful when you summit, a lot of loose rocks/blocks are near the edge. About 20' from
the edge is a nice sized tree. I placed both my aiders around the base of the tree and
fixed the leadline using 2 lockers. I rapped a cordelette around the tree higher up to make
hauling easier. I pulled up the static haul line and Pro-Traxion using the zipline. After
setting up the haul and pulled in all the slack line I started to relax, I was on the summit!
The hauling wasn't that bad. The bags got stuck twice under the 2 small
roofs but Ben got them moving as he cleaned. The bags getting stuck gave me time to rest
and enjoy the summit along with the tourists walking along the rim. Ben made it to the top
and we shook hands, another successful climb as a team. We took a couple summit photos,
sorted our gear, re-packed the pigs, emptied a gallon of water we didn't use and started
hiking down to the shuttle bus. We made it down to the shuttle bus in under an hour.
Back at the visitors center we washed up in the bathrooms and put on clean clothes. We
stopped in St. George for some hot food and cold drinks. I was back home by 8:00pm,
Ben had another hour and half of driving to get into LA. Zion is a beautiful place, Ben
and I are thinking of an early winter ascent of Space Shot --- you don't have to cross the
Virgin River :)

The Prow
V 5.6 C2F
WASHINGTON COLUMN
July 22, 2002 - July 26, 2002
Climbed by Richard Heinrich/SPIKE and Ben Banks

Day 1 - July 22, 2002 --- Monday
P1 - 150' C1 5.6
Met Ben in northwest L.A. at 8:00am Monday morning. We arrived in YV at
around 2:00pm and headed for CAMP 4 to get a camp site. CAMP 4 wasn't that
crowded and we got camp site #33. Ben needed to purchase a pair of fingerless
gloves so we stopped by The Mountain Shop at Curry Village before heading over
to the Ahwahnee Hotel. We were lucky and got a parking space really close
to the trail that would take us to the base of Washington Column. The
plan was to use 2 pigs, a small FISH Atom Smasher plus a big Fish bag. All
the heavy climbing gear, 3 1/2 gallons of water and a 60 meter rope were
packed into and on top of the small pig. The large pig was packed with an
A5 double portaledge, rain fly, 5 gallons of water, food, bivy gear and
personal stuff. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get all our gear to the
start of the climb. We were in luck, no one was on the route! Ben was
motivated to climb so we decided that he would do the odd pitches and I
would do the even pitches. P1 is 150' in length and rated C1. An hour
and half later Ben had made it to the top of P1 and was rapping off the
fixed static line. With an hour of daylight left we hung our food bags
from a tree at the start of the climb and tossed our bivy gear, some water
and dinner into the small pig and climbed down the 4th class section. Just
east of the climb is a nice flat bivy area were we spent our first night.

Day 2 - July 23, 2002 --- Tuesday
P2 - 90' C2F
Tuesday was going to be a full day, so we were up by 5:30am. We packed up
our bivy gear and were jugging/hauling/cleaning by 7:00am. Even though we
hung our food bags from a limb of a tree a squirrel chewed through the bottom
of my food bag. As I started P2 you could see the sun moving quickly down
the wall towards us. This is considered to be the crux pitch of the climb.
Ben put me on belay and I moved out onto the slab area. As I reached the
small crack I could see that the lower 15' of it was very wet. Just below
the crack on the slab is an old 1/4" bolt with no nut that sticks straight up
. If you wanted to you could place a FISH dabloon on it and get a solid
footing. I didn't use it, but did place a solid #2 camalot to the right of
the crack at the top of the slab with a long runner just incase I took a fall
I really didn't want to slide off the slab and pendy left. When I placed a
blue/green hybrid alien into the first piton scar you could see water build
up around the cam lobes. I bounce tested it pretty hard and it felt solid.
So I moved up on it and placed what I thought was a solid yellow alien. I
moved up on it and the next thing I knew I was hanging from my daisy chain on
the blue/green hybrid alien. Wake up call --- the second aid piece I placed
on this climb popped!!! Bounce test every piece, even though it looks
bomber. This time I placed a gree/yellow hybrid alien in the same piton scar
and tested it pretty good. The first half of the route was awkward and took
small gear, the second half was more straight forward. As I fixed the lead
line and prepared to haul I could hear Ben talking to a couple guys that were
bailing off the South Face --- they didn't want to do the 5.8 chimney or 5.6
sandy gully at the top of the climb. Ben release the pig and I hauled as he
cleaned. The top of P2 is a hanging belay.
P3 - 100' C2F Anchorage Ledge
Ben racked up and took off on P3. With the long load release tether on the
big pig, I was able to keep the pig low enough to stand on as I belayed Ben.
The roof above the belay also provided some shade for me as Ben worked his
way up P3. Ben made pretty quick work of the pitch and we were standing on
Anchorage Ledge. We had plenty of time to fix the next 2 pitches. Plus it
was after 2:00pm and the route was in the shade.
P4 - 110' C2F
Pitch 4 starts out as a bolt ladder, the only problem is that the 3rd bolt is
a button head with no hanger. I didn't bring any cinch hangers so ended up
using a small nut and cinching it up tight. Everything was going OK until I
got near the top of the pitch. I was standing on a solid head and placed a
camalot up and right of the seam but needed to move left to a shallow
corner. To the left I could see a hook move to two fixed heads, no wait, one
of the heads were the carabiner would clip in was totally blown apart. OK,
move left on a tenative hook move to an iffy head then to a shallow cam
placement or pull the cheater stick and clip a bomber bolt to finish this
pitch. Looking back I should have made the moves but I didn't, I used the
cheater stick. Got to the bolt, placed a cam and was at the belay, last pitch
of the day for me. After Ben got to the top of P4 we had a discussion about
that blown out head. Ben tried soloing this route 2 weeks earlier and took
a 20' fall when he fell onto the head and it blew. The fall he took on this
pitch percipitated his bailing off the route after doing the 5th pitch.
P5 - 110' C2F (reachy bolts/micro nut)
Pitch 5 starts out left of the belay in a shallow corner that moves up right
to a bolt ladder. The way this pitch starts off the leader ends up climbing
right above the belay, if the leader falls, it could be messy. Ben did well
on the corner and hit the reachy bolt ladder. I did hear Ben make a couple
choice comments about the reachy bolts. At the end of the bolt ladder is a
flake that requires some micro nut placements. The first piece off the last
bolt is a fixed micro nut. Ben got up on the fixed piece and places another
micro nut. He didn't clip his lead line into the fixed piece and moved up on
the micro nut he placed, it shifted and then popped! Ben took a nice clean
fall onto a bolt. A few choice words and back up he went. This time every-
thing held and Ben made it to the top of P5, his last pitch of the day. He
fixed the lead line, left most of the climbing gear at the top of the pitch
and lowered down to the top of P4 clipping back into gear as he lowered.
From the top of P4 Ben and I rapped down to Anchorage Ledge were we would
spend our first night on the wall.
Bivy on Anchorage Ledge
We still had a good hour of light to set up the A5 double portaledge and
organize our gear for the night. The single bolt high above the belay bolts
worked perfect for the portaledge after we placed a sling on it to get the
portaledge closer to the sloping ledge. After setting up the ledge we ate
dinner and were ready to sleep by 8:30pm. By 10:00pm the full moon appeared
and it was bright. We slept great, a protaledge is so much better than a
rock or dirt ledge.

Day 3 - July 24, 2002 --- Wednesday
At 5:30am we were up packing our bivy gear and taking the portaledge apart.
Hands were a little stiff and back/shoulder muscles acked a little. The poop
bag saw its first use. I jugged up the static line to the top of P4 and Ben
followed then I hauled the gear up to P4. Because I would be leading P6 I
cleaned P5. I hauled P5 as Ben jugged the lead line.
P6 - 130' C2F (fixed heads/hook)
The pitch starts off with a bolt out right and up a left facing corner
system. Make sure you use duct tape on the first small roof you come to, it
is a little sharp. Quite a few old fixed pitons on this pitch plus a fixed
Lowe ball. The crux is up near the top. About 10 placement before the belay
at the top of P6 is a blank section. I was standing on a head and looking up
at an old 1/4" bolt which is way out of reach. I had read an earlier trip
report that said a hook move and a free move would get me to the bolt --- NO
WAY. Damn, 1st pitch of the day and I am grabbing the cheater stick. Four
bolts later I am reaching up to clip a head pounded into a grassy crack. The
next head is really BAD. An old rusty really frayed cable gets you up to a
bolt on the face and then to the belay bolts. I had heard that the top of P6
had a pretty good ledge --- NO --- a nice place to stand YES. There are a
couple bolts out right from the belay out on the face, but it would be a
hanging bivy.
P7 - 70' C2 The Strange Dihedral
Ben got to lead The Strange Dihedral pitch, it is short and rated C2. Ben
didn't seem to have any problem with it. When he got to the top of the pitch
he expected to see 2 bolts, but found only a single fixed pin.
P8 - 80' C2 5.6 (tension traverse/micro nuts)
I had been dreading this pitch all morning. 15' exposed tension traverse, C2
thin arching crack and then free moves! The first thing is to get up to a
fixed pin that will be used to lower off to start the tension traverse. Ben
did a great job giving me a good tension traverse and giving me support but I
didn't have the guts to go for it. The exposed fall/pendulum was to much for
me. Out came the cheater stick and I clipped the blue sling attached to a down
sloping fixed pin and moved over to it. A bolt and then a 2" PIKA Ibis hook
move got me to my first micro nut placement. A blue/black hybrid alien and
a #1 HB brass micro nut got me to a fixed angle piton with a crack running
down the full length of the eye. The next two moves were to a fixed head
and a fixed micro nut. I was only one move away from a solid bolt but it
didn't look good. Two heads next to each other with broken wires and
multiple slings holding everthing together. If the heads didn't hold I would
have 6 pieces below me and the only one I felt that would hold a fall was the
blue/black hybrid alien and it was quite a ways down. Only an 80' pitch and
the second time I pulled out the cheater stick to by pass the heads and clip
a bolt. From this bolt a 6" wide ledge leads to 3 bolts and the 5.6 free
moves to the belay. From the last bolt you make a free move right and can
place a cam --- the last piece until you reach the belay. From there you
keep moving right and up until you reach a big sloping ledge that lets you
move left to the belay on Tapir Terrace. Flip the lead line and fixed line
over all the stuff you traversed and the lines should hang pretty much
straight down to were the 5.6 moves started. The person cleaning the pitch
does have some issues ... lower out at the start and then cleaning the
arching crack. This was my last pitch of the day and we had only 4 more
pitches left to finish the climb. It was around 5:00pm and Ben was going to
fix P9.
P9 - 100' C1 Tapir Terrace
From the belay 2 bolts out left allow you to move up. The crux of P9 is
after the first 2 bolts and getting to the vertical seam. Some iffy alien
placement and a free move gets you up to the seam. Way out left you can see
a fixed pin but Ben didn't use it. The first small seam takes up a lot
of your hybrid aliens and small nuts. The route eases up a little, but it
seems harder than C1. Watch out of a loose block when you make the last move
up onto the belay at the top of P9. Ben fixed both lines and rapped back
down to Tapir Terrace were we would spend our 2nd night on the wall.
Bivy on Tapir Terrace
First order of business was to set up the portaledge for the night. Because
we had practice from the night before the portaledge went up pretty fast and
we decided not to use our bivy bags. Six bolts at this belay allowed use to
spread out and organize our gear. We finally sat down for dinner at 8:30pm.
As we ate dinner we could see headlamps high up on Half Dome's Regular
Northwest Face route.

Day 4 - July 24, 2002 --- Thursday
P10 - 170' C1 5.0 Gully (haulbag eating flake)
Today we should summit. We broke down the portaledge and packed the pigs.
Ben jugged the staticl line and I cleaned P9. P10 is the longest pitch on
the climb but the top part is 5.0 gully. From a fixed pin you move up into
a right facing dihedral. Leep frog red alien cams and place medium size HB
off set aluminum nuts. The largest piece I placed in this dihedral was a
gray #3.5 BD camalot. The dihedral ends under a small roof. To keep the pig
from getting caught in the "haulbag eating flake" a directional is placed
just above the small roof. I am glad I took up half a roll of duct tape,
because I used most of it taping up the edge of the roof below the
directional. Another cam placement and a nut allowed me to make a couple 5.6
moves up and right to the start of the 5.0 gully. The gully is probably 4'
wide. A free move up to a small stance with a pointy horn starts the first
interesting moves. I used a shoulder length sling with a cinch knot placed
it over the horn plus duct taped it into place for my first piece of
protection. For the first part of the gully you can jam your left foot
into a 4" to 5" wide crack and stem your right foot against the right
side of the gully. If you want to you can walk a #4 camalot in the 4" to 5"
crack. About half way up the gully I placed a #2 camalot and the gully becomes
much easier. At this point I flipped my haul line out of the gully. Near
the top of P10 I placed a #3 camalot before I made a few free moves left over
and up onto a great ledge. The directional placed lower down on the route
causes a lot of drag and the hauling is VERY BAD. After Ben released the
haul line from the directional the haul became reasonable but still hard.
P11 - 130' C1 Gully 5.0
It was starting to get pretty hot when Ben took of on P11. I was lucky and
got shade from the big tree just above the belay. To start P11 you climb
down and right back into the gully system. The gully isn't very good here so
you make a free move and cross over left and do a couple face moves. Place
some protection and get up to a bolt. From the bolt Ben took the right most
crack, placing a #4 and #3.5 camalot then working his way up placing medium
to large nuts. About half way up the pitch he moved over to the left crack
system unitl he reached the belay which consisted of one fixed pin.
P12 - more than 70' C1 (rotten 4th class)
The last pitch. From the belay move up and right to a slab. I didn't mantle
this, I placed some iffy nuts to get to the 2 bolts. A cam placement, a
fixed head and then a bolt out right finishes the C1 section on this pitch.
From the bolt I was able to place a #3 camalot in some rotten rock and make
a free move to get to the 4th class section. From here I walked 40' to a
small tree. From here I could see a very large tree and to the left of that
a little higher I saw 2 smaller trees. Rope drag was already getting bad so
I decided to haul up to this small tree. Again the haul to this small tree
is hard because the rope runs over an edge. After getting the bags up to the
small tree Ben took the lead line and finished the pitch. He first went
straight up a short section, then up left and then up right to the BIG TREE.
The BIG TREE does have a couple slings wrapped around it, but don't haul
from this tree. Go up and left of the BIG TREE to the summit were you will
find 2 smaller tree. From here you have a pretty much straight haul up to
the summit. Ben fixed the lead line and rapped down to were I was. I
attached the haul line to myself and jugged up to the 2 trees. I hauled each
bag individually and then Ben jugged the lead line. We finished the climb
around 3:45pm.

The Summit
We decided to bivy on the summit and hike down the North Dome Gully early the
next morning while it was still cool and after a good nights sleep. Even
with the fire burning on Half Dome the view was great. After a few summit
photos we sorted and organized our gear for the decent. At 5:00pm we took a
short hike along the ridge line towards North Dome to check out the trail.
By 8:00pm the sun was going down. As we set up our bivy for the night a ring
tail cat walked by us as if we didn't exist.

The North Dome Gully Discent
We were up by 5:30am and on the trail by 6:45am. It took us about an hour to
reach the North Dome Gully. We were so concerned about not going far enough
we actually passed the North Dome Gully. The North Dome Gully does have a
rope fixed near the top of it. Eventually we got into the gully and started
down. As you exit the gully you get a great view of the Column. Switchback
lead you down to some 4th class down climbing. We did find the place were
some climbers rap from a tree also 2 bolts with a sling is north of the tree.
But we just walked a little northwest of the tree and found a reasonable way
down. As we reached the tree line just east of the Column we didn't skirt
the base back to the start but went straight down on a well-worn trail down
to the horse trail and then the bike path. We reached the truck at 10:15am.
It took us 3 1/2 hours to get down the NDG and we took quite a few rest
breaks. We headed over to Camp 4 to break down our tents and then over to
Curry Village for showers and food. We were on the road back to LA by
1:00pm.