Re: [evanwish] Getting to/Having to use a Valley Giant
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A buddy and I set out to try "freedom rider" on Liberty Bell, also in the north cascades. We got some dubious advice from some dubious individuals and decided to avoid the 10d slab crux by doing a variation up a steep 3"-6" crack. We brought a couple of wide pieces and everything.
After a couple or rope stretching 60m 10- pitches we are at the base of the beast. My buddy starts up it. He doesn't exactly free the thing...but we don't really have enough gear to aid it so he kind of establishes a knee jam and pushes the only piece that will fit up and then collapses onto the rope swearing.
Takes maybe an hour for him to get up the damn thing and then its my turn and all the gear is pushed to the top of the thing and i've got to actually try and free it wearing a pack with a couple of liters of water in it.
Oh and I'm wearing a brand new pair of miuras because my broken in shoes blew out a day or two before.
Long story short, I make it to the ledge and collapse...sucking air hard and seriously trying to figure out what the best angle to puke off that damn ledge is...don't want it to drain down the crack or anything.
I look over and my buddy is untieing a couple of knots in the rope...he says "I was so sure I was going to pass out I kept tying you off while belaying."
I'm in no condition to lead so I start belaying but my hands cramp up into a pair of useless claws pretty quick. I have to yell up "are you in a good place? my hands don't work."
We bail onto liberty crack a few pitches later and summit up an awesome 5.9 slab hanging hundreds feet above a snow field.
At the top we meet a couple of women who came up another route. One of them sees our number 5 friend and comments "that's a hugh cam...do people actually climb cracks that big?"
(This post was edited by ryanb on May 14, 2009, 4:40 AM)
