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petsfed
Jul 27, 2005, 8:07 AM
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In reply to: Well, based on some of your stories, I mean, climbing or soloing routes rated X, arenīt you kind of looking for that dangerous ``runout situationīī? Not saying there is anything wrong with it, but you are kind of looking for it, right?
Soloing an X rated route is no worse than soloing a well protected climb. Just fyi.
X doesn't mean devoid of pro, it just means what pro there is won't do much good. For instance, all of the routes on the Pyramid in Eldorado Canyon, in Colorado. The best for pro is Simple Simon Slab (5.6X), where you get some good cams about 10 feet off the deck, then run it out the next 20. Its no wonder its popular with top ropers. I was sketched leading it, but that was a long time ago. Oh well.
I recall runouts in the Snowy Range near Laramie. One particular slab we surmounted, I was sketched following. For about 40 feet, the slab was completely hollow. Anywhere you tapped, it sounded loose. Jay called down "I'm not placing anything, ok?" I looked at my belay, confident in its strength and yelled back "Ok!". We rather figured if he placed anything and that slab got tired of waiting around, it'd take us both down in a blaze of glory.
I also recall the first time I climbed the Bastille, in eldo. We intended to take the Bastille Crack (5.7) all the way to the top. I didn't remember what the topo looked like, so at the top of the third pitch (best pitch of the route in my opinion), I told Jay to go right. Thus we traversed through the run out crux of XM, past the start of Outerspace, and onto that gigantic ledge that sits about 2/3 of the way up the bastille. We finished on the juggy chimney that finishes Hair City. Anyway that traverse went in at about 10c, well above Jay's comfortable limit, and involved 30 foot runouts, traversing, on manky ring pins. Somehow he kept it together, and when I came due to cross the abyss, all I remember is stemming over 300 feet of air, pulling on every piece I had, and somehow not openly sobbing as I seconded that cast iron motherfucker of a pitch.
The second time I did the Bastille, I intentionally took the offwidth finish, but stuck to the regular route.
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elepita
Jul 27, 2005, 8:24 AM
Post #27 of 46
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Just starting some discussion..... :) I know what you mean, sometimes you follow something which is within your leaderīs hability and you think: holy s%$&, how the hell did he do it??? It is just a matter of knowing what you are getting into and trusting your experience. Although sometimes you get into some things you were not expecting, that is when the best of you comes out to shine! That or......else.
Runout slabs huh? That sounds like fun! What is the best way to fall on a slab?? I have heard you could run downwards, has anybody experienced that?
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petsfed
Jul 27, 2005, 10:02 AM
Post #28 of 46
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In reply to: Just starting some discussion..... :) I know what you mean, sometimes you follow something which is within your leaderīs hability and you think: holy s%$&, how the hell did he do it??? It is just a matter of knowing what you are getting into and trusting your experience. Although sometimes you get into some things you were not expecting, that is when the best of you comes out to shine! That or......else. Runout slabs huh? That sounds like fun! What is the best way to fall on a slab?? I have heard you could run downwards, has anybody experienced that?
See I was sketched following, the run out didn't bother me, I was afraid the slab would shear off underneath me. Its not a slab climb unless its runout. Smeary, technical, featureless, unprotectable. Otherwise, its low angle sport climbing (and what's the point of that?).
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rastafari
Jul 27, 2005, 10:14 AM
Post #29 of 46
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I once remember fallin 5 metres on the ground. My stupid belayer pulled me down (unintentionally of course). He slipped and fell down the hill and i went on the ground
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king_rat
Jul 27, 2005, 4:02 PM
Post #30 of 46
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Last week end I was out climbing and on this slab and it was like a 5.5 route, climbing quite happily when I looked down to see I had ran out two feet of rope, and I must have been all of 4 feet off the deck, I started to panic, my legs started shaking, my hands where sweating so much I could hardly hold on. My partner was shouting up to me to stay chilled, and not to panic but when your that high up its hard to keep your head. Anyway I managed to climb another foot, and got a peace of gear in then climbed on place a peace of gear every foot. Now that was what I call scary, I had brown stains in my undies after that.
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rocloco
Jul 27, 2005, 4:16 PM
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Recently at Seneca. Put a last piece in at the bottom of the fat crack (later found out drag had pulled it) on "easy over" and ran it to the top of the route. I dry heaved when I finally got up there. Stupid...there's tons of spots to put in great gear. I thought I might fall if I stopped to put in gear so kept going. Pretty stupid. I felt really dumb afterward and still do.
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socrate
Jul 27, 2005, 4:27 PM
Post #32 of 46
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Here is another story, READ IT!!! It's worth it
A few years back at Enchanted Rocks in Texas, We climbed the back side of a dome that had a 5.6 slab climb. Hey you know how it is . Anyway fist pitch is easy and second pitch offers some good pro for the first 30feet, after it's a runout. Well here is the funny part. By the end of the pitch I'm on my Hands and basically overgripping everything thinking i can fall at any moment. My legs are shaking as i finally reach the tree for the next belay... My friend finally comes up and when he is about 40 feet bellow the belay, looks at me, stands up on his two feet and jogs up to the belay.
It's all in the head.
Keep you're perspective.
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graniteboy
Jul 27, 2005, 7:00 PM
Post #33 of 46
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Soloed a first ascent in JTree out near backside of Astro domes, only 5.8x, but crumbly.
Much worse was the 80 ft ground fall I managed to walk away from after falling off a new ice route near donner peak. Just a couple cracked ribs, that's all.
I always think the DNB on middle cathedral has some pretty stout runouts, too.
There are a lot of runouts in the world. I don't know what the worst one is, but I strongly suspect it's on an alpine route.
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yannbuse
Jul 28, 2005, 3:42 PM
Post #34 of 46
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Hmm, i recall Mt Maudit on the way up to the Mt Blanc. I had a guy with me that really doesn't climb. But i remember coming accross 50-70ft of 80 degree ice. I didn't bring any screws or runners - nothing. So i told my amateur to wrap the rope around his ice axe and plant it down with his foot and to feed it out as i go up. So my one piece of protection was an ice axe/foot belay. Then i start climbing - with my one touring ice axe making it quite difficult on steep ice! - very interesting indeed.
Needless to say i had a 30 m rope for about a 40 m pitch, which was scary as hell.
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bradley3297
Jul 21, 2010, 3:28 AM
Post #35 of 46
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You think the first pitch of local boys is runout. you should climb the third pitch. i did that and it has only one bolt about half way through the pitch.
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zeke_sf
Jul 21, 2010, 3:50 AM
Post #36 of 46
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bradley3297 wrote: You think the first pitch of local boys is runout. you should climb the third pitch. i did that and it has only one bolt about half way through the pitch.
Wow, you ran that reply out 5 years. Impressive.
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bradley3297
Jul 21, 2010, 6:24 AM
Post #37 of 46
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lol was browsing posts. didnt know it was so old
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jefffski
Jul 21, 2010, 8:53 AM
Post #38 of 46
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bradley3297 wrote: You think the first pitch of local boys is runout. you should climb the third pitch. i did that and it has only one bolt about half way through the pitch.
When i seconded that pitch some years ago, the only bolt was a foot away from the belay. Glad to hear there was another bolt added.
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clews
Jul 21, 2010, 6:57 PM
Post #39 of 46
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[quote "elepita"]Last Saturday me and my boyfriend went to the mountains in the north of Spain to climb this beautiful limestone tower known as the Naranjo de Bulnes. It is in a really unique environment, in the middle of beautiful mountains and valleys. My boyfriend is an experienced leader and I have been climbing for around a year/year and a half, and leading trad since 3/4 months ago, my hardest trad lead has been a 5.8. Since we both donīt have a lot of experience on limestone, we decided to do the easiest route on the tower, which goes up to 5.8. We were going to switch leads, me leading the easier pitches. Somehow, we got confused with the topo (which does not look at all like the supertopo topos) and I ended up leading the 2 most difficult pitches. I led the first one and got a bit off route, had to downclimb a little, found my way, and it was fine. My boyfriend got a bit sketched out watching me, so he did not want me to lead any more, but he! I wanna push myself plus I donīt like being the little protected girlfriend. So it was my turn to lead again, and it looked kind of easy, so I took the rack and off I went. The beginning was fine, plenty of protection, 5.7 terrain. Then I made it to this piton, I clipped it and continued, from that point the climbing became a bit more difficult, with these weird organ like tubes everywhere. No cracks where to place pro, nothing. I started to see how that piton I had clipped was getting very far below me. I had never climbed a formation like that and I definitely could not downclimb it, so I kept climbing, placing my feet as solid as I could (good friction though!), there were no handholds, just weird organ like tubes to grab. I had my piece already 10 metres below me and nowhere to place anything else. I could already see the belay station 5/6 above me. I could hear my boyfriend below me telling me to breath, relax and keep on climbing. The climbing for me felt like 5.8+, taking into account my hardest lead has been a 5.8 on granite, 20 metres and I placed 15 pieces (yeah, you can laugh), that was really taking me a lot of effort, and I was trying so hard not to let me fear overtake me....There were a couple of guys at the belay station above me watching and encouraging me....I think they could see I was suffering. When I made it to the belay I was sweating blood, I started laughing but when I looked over the edge and I could not even see my last piece, which must have been 15 metres below, I felt like throwing up, thank god I did not fall!!! I have to say that now that I think about it, if anybody would have told me I had to lead that, I would have probably never even tried it. Now that I have done it, I feel like a different climber, like almost a different person.
Maybe this is not a 5.12 story or anything like that, maybe some of you just think...it was only 5.8...but for me and my 5.8 lead limit, it felt like a freaking 5.13, especially bc at one point I felt I was soloing!!
I am sure that you guys have stories like this one, a climb at your limit with unexpected poor pro, I would love to hear them!! and know as well what are your advices on what do to in this type of situations.
So bring it on, what was your scariest runout?? Cheers![/quote]
Sounds like a day in the life of a bow valley climber
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Rudmin
Jul 21, 2010, 9:16 PM
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Just got back from a weekend of cragging in the Adirondacks.
First climb I have led in a while was an easy but mossy and run out slab with a vertical start. I got in gear near the base, and then nothing until I was about 30 m up. After the half rope mark I was not happy with any anchor options so ended up downclimbing the whole thing. First time I have downcleaned an entire route.
The other memorable climb was a kind of exposed 5.8 with a weird crux that forced you to do some contortions inside an alcove a few feet above any gear. I felt pretty good about it, but my leg was shaking so hard that it almost bucked me off the wall.
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CamelCigarettePack
Jul 26, 2010, 8:08 AM
Post #41 of 46
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Some interesting stories thanks for sharing them. I don't really have any and am new to the trad game, so I basically will not climb anything I can't place my whole rack into lol..
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desertwanderer81
Jul 27, 2010, 2:40 PM
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I don't get why people would be afraid of runouts. If you can't make the moves, don't do them. When I'm on a runout, but it 30 or 100 feet, my head is absolutely clear.
It's after I'm off a RO that I say, "What the fuck was I thinking?"
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Rudmin
Jul 27, 2010, 2:48 PM
Post #43 of 46
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desertwanderer81 wrote: I don't get why people would be afraid of runouts. If you can't make the moves, don't do them. When I'm on a runout, but it 30 or 100 feet, my head is absolutely clear. It's after I'm off a RO that I say, "What the fuck was I thinking?"
desertwanderer81 wrote: Does anyone else have this problem? When I follow, I completely lose my lead head. What is happening is that my mind doesn't go into the zone unless I am leading and I get completely freaked out doing moves that I couldn't make in that current mental state. Does anyone else have that problem? |
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desertwanderer81
Jul 27, 2010, 3:49 PM
Post #44 of 46
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Rudmin wrote: desertwanderer81 wrote: I don't get why people would be afraid of runouts. If you can't make the moves, don't do them. When I'm on a runout, but it 30 or 100 feet, my head is absolutely clear. It's after I'm off a RO that I say, "What the fuck was I thinking?" desertwanderer81 wrote: Does anyone else have this problem? When I follow, I completely lose my lead head. What is happening is that my mind doesn't go into the zone unless I am leading and I get completely freaked out doing moves that I couldn't make in that current mental state. Does anyone else have that problem?
Heh, the two statements are not mutually exclusive.
Ultimately, what I'm saying is that when I'm on the sharp end, my head will be 100% focused.
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petsfed
Jul 27, 2010, 11:59 PM
Post #45 of 46
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desertwanderer81 wrote: Rudmin wrote: desertwanderer81 wrote: I don't get why people would be afraid of runouts. If you can't make the moves, don't do them. When I'm on a runout, but it 30 or 100 feet, my head is absolutely clear. It's after I'm off a RO that I say, "What the fuck was I thinking?" desertwanderer81 wrote: Does anyone else have this problem? When I follow, I completely lose my lead head. What is happening is that my mind doesn't go into the zone unless I am leading and I get completely freaked out doing moves that I couldn't make in that current mental state. Does anyone else have that problem? Heh, the two statements are not mutually exclusive. Ultimately, what I'm saying is that when I'm on the sharp end, my head will be 100% focused.
This is absolutely accurate. I've done runout routes on lead flawlessly, then half an hour later, took a toprope burn on the same route, and fallen. Being runout forces a mental focus that is much hard to achieve on toprope.
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dindolino32
Aug 19, 2010, 5:36 AM
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OK, this was my wife's and I first long planned multipitch climb long ago. The scene was the South Face of Moro Rock in Sequoia National park. Great climbing, but not developed and more remote than I thought. We of course had a late start. The route was rated a 5.7 but we started the 9+ and cruised passed it. Route finding is based off of this printout that I photocopied from a guidebook that was discontinued from 1995. Hand drawn and very vague. The rating wasnt too much of a problem as my first sport lead climb was accidentally a 5.10 instead of the intended 5.7 in the book. Back to this route, the climbing got exposed and I wasn't sure of when I was to traverse left onto a ledge. I took it the first momtent I had and started up this super slabby face. You know the drill. 20 feet, 30 feet, 50 feet and I started sweating. There was no pro, and it was pretty delicate slab. The last piece was at the traverse which was onto a buttress. Below the traverse was a 15 drop onto more slab. I kept slowly climbing hoping that something would appear, either a ledge, or god forbid a crack. At 70 feet, the rope was heavy and felt like I could barely pull the rope. In fact, I couldnt. I realized that I was out of ROPE!!! I stood still without moving for what seemed like 15 minutes. I yelled, however the belay was out of sight and out of yelling distance. I proceeded to take out my 1st piece of cordelette and untie the double fishermans to give me the full 30 feet. I knew I had to traverse left because right had a drop off that the buttress formed. I made it left and still ran out of rope. I took my second 25 foot cord and untied that. Ran out again, it was not as steep and I saw a crack. Girth hitched all my slings and was still short. I ended up connecting all my quickdraws and then literally fell into the lower angled dihedral with the crack. I seriously escaped death. I found out later that my wife had also ended up leaving the anchor to climb up an extra 10-20 feet to give me the length needed. I pulled up the rope and hitched the ropes asap to the anchor and belayed her up.
Overall, I thought that maybe my mind had served me wrong, and it wasn't as steep or scary as I remembered, HOWEVER, I went back and conquered the route this last summer. As a much better and experienced climber, I still think that the angle was ridiculous probably 65 degrees. From this experience, I learned to spot the next available pro before climbing past the safe falling zone, and found that route finding is a skill of climbing that is not always stressed in learning to climb. Oh, and also I learned to be happy that I am alive
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