Spike Lowers Out on Pitch 4

This is Spike (Richard Heinrich) lowering out while cleaning P4 of Bermuda Dunes. He and I fixed the first 6 pitches, up and over the big Slack roof. We used one 70m and two 60m ropes to fix to the ground.

The idea was to get up and far enough west (right, in this photo), so that we could haul up that side of the Slack (La Escuela). Otherwise, we would have been dragging bags up the wide Slack Chimney (visible below and right of Richard), knocking loose rock down onto the popular free climbs Sacherer Cracker and La Cosita. Not a good idea.

Richard, PTPP and I were going to go as a party of three up the wall. Richard bailed after we fixed the lower pitches, citing irreconcilable differences between his finite vacation time and PTPP's and my typically glacial pace going up El Capitan. He was right. We were on the wall 13 nights.