2006

1/21/06: Glacier Point Skiing
I came close to getting a neighbor to accompany me but it was not to be. The conditions were perfect. A cold storm had left a few inches of powder snow, which clung to the trees lining the road. One guy on skate skis glided past me, but I made the first tracks out to Glacier Point proper. Maybe it is familiarity, and maybe it is fitness or technique, but a "side trip" has become a required feature. This time it was Sentinel Dome. It actually felt pretty alpine skiing up it.

3/26/06: Glacier Point Skiing with Esther K.
I figured out how to get a partner for what has to be my favorite ski tour of all time - import one from Alaska! Esther, fresh from international competition (Arctic Winter Games, Team Alaska), set a brisk pace and we were out at at Glacier Point in just over 2 hours. That seemed pretty fast to me until I checked the race times - under 1 hour for classic and under 2 hours for the round trip freestyle. We had plenty of time for a side trip - Taft Point this time. Esther's skate skis, which were ideal for the groomed road, were non-optimal for trail use. There was a nice open downhill at the end, just before the point. We were back at the car by 4 pm, in plenty of time for Esther to rejoin her family in the Valley. After 40 km of skiing, I was wiped out and was happy to collapse in my lawn chair and gaze up at El Cap. Esther was still fresh - I would not have been surprised to see her jogging around the meadow.

5/6/06: Blind Man's Bluff and Braille Book with Matt S.
Perhaps eventually I will do every route on the Braille Book buttress. At this point, I lack only the three chimneys: the Syllable, the Sequel, and the Dictionary (!).
Blind Man's Bluff is pretty good, and a good option if the Braille Book has parties. I had some recollection about the start from the FA of Blind Alley, which was mostly a failed attempt to find an aesthetic route up the arete. BBB actually follows a natural line, beginning with a rising traverse left above a roof, earning one instant exposure. There is protection in an intermittent crack, and an off-route pin above. According to the Meyers topo, I belayed short. On the next pitch, there were two ways indicated on the topo but I found a third passage to the right and forced an exposure hand transverse over to the anchors of Blind Alley. From there, a dusty 5.9 crack returns one to the route (I think), and a full rope length of nice jug hauling. Four now-familiar raps down Remain in Light gains the ground.
With all parties cleared from the Braille Book, I could not resist. My only ascent had been in 1980, and had been somewhat of an epic. We climbed all the way up to the ledge after the "5.8" stem pitch, in about 5 pitches. Pretty demanding, really. 4 double-rope raps down Blinded by the Light to the ground.

5/13/06: Rainbow Slabs, Tahoe Area
It was a surprise to hike through fairly deep snow to get to the base of the cliff. I did 4 self-belayed TR laps on Aja (10d), aiding past the wet start each time. Sharp rock but elegant moves. When it is time to lead it, I must remember the knee bar at the crux. I guess it cannot hurt to work on slab climbing, one of my weaknesses. I did 4 slab laps total of Robert's Route (5.9), a 10c to the right, and, why not, a line between them. A major waterfall was running next to Light Special (10c), which added drama. This one is steep, with really nice square edges. Too bad it is all of 25' long.

6/3/06: Royal Arches and Crest Jewel with Matt S.
My only time on this classic combination had been in the early 1987, too long ago! Matt was ultimately correct about the 3:30 am start from Sonora; we were the first on the Royal Arches at about 5:45 am. The route is cleaner and nicer than I remember; maybe it is all the traffic. I think the hardest move that either of us did that day was the last 10' to the trees at the top, which was very wet. It took us about 3 hours and I would gladly do the route again.
We started up Crest Jewel at about 10 am. Someday I may do the direct start, if I really start to like slab climbing again. Still, the 10 pitches of "slab school" was enjoyable overall. Matt seemed to get all of the harder pitches, but both of us got to think about 5.8 moves a good distance above the bolts. We topped out at about 3 pm to wonderful views of Half Dome. There were even a couple of hikers up there.
I should have read the guidebook carefully about the descent rather than relying on my memory. It took about a half an hour and some manzanita thrashing before I listened to that little voice of doubt in my mind - "isn't the actual descent to the east?" Thrashing back up to the notch, I lost a sandal to a manzanita and had to substitute a climbing shoe. Down the east side of the notch, now at 5 pm, it did seem more familiar. Still, I was happy to see the top of the Column. Matt and I got separated but met up again at the start of the grungy traverse to North Dome gully. It was fine but somewhat painful. We reached the horse trail just before 8 pm. Next time I will not underestimate the 4,000' of descent that this day entails.
P.S. Bought new sandals with toe protection.

6/9/06: Regular NW Face Half Dome, Micha M.
This had been my first "big wall," done with Clint in 7/86 with one bivy at P6. A one day ascent had always been in the back of my mind, and I even kind of made it a priority for 2006. So it was good timing when Micha suggested it.
We began the slabs approach a little before 5 pm. It was the first time on this approach for both of us; overall, it did not seem so bad, like a somewhat longer version of the Spire gully with some steep sections with fixed ropes. We tried to keep the packs light - mine was ca. 20 kg. We had time to fix two pitches in good light before settling into bivy mode. Both of us slept lightly; occasional rock fall was a contributing factor. There was 30' snow cone at the base and water gushing out of it.
Micha got us going at 4 am and we were on the ropes at 4:30. I used one jumar and a prusik (Micha had to teach me how). Micha used a "klemheist" knot and the other jumar. Once back in climbing mode, the day was really pretty uneventful. We switched leaders when it seemed like a good idea, short-fixed only once (no time savings), and never simoed. Often, we belayed the second on the haul line while he jumared, increasing speed and confidence. I got to jumar in the chimneys again but it was less epic with a lighter sack. I got the Double Cracks and Thank God Ledge pitches. Micha got 2 of the 3 Zig Zags and the scariest chimney pitch. We made Big Sandy about 3 pm and topped out at twilight (8:30 pm, for a 16 hour time).
The descent gave us some worries but Micha found the key passage across the snow field, and we were back at the base about 10 pm. Rather than reversing the slabs in the dark, we bivvied again, and descended in the morning.

East Coast: Gunks and Rumney
   6/27. The Gunks. While June brings a certain chance of an East Coast family wedding (a niece on Christine's side of the family, this time), the weather has not always been cooperative. New England had been having weeks of record setting rainfall, but Paul and I managed to identify a one-day window of favorable weather. I drove out from Dunstable, and Paul met me at the Grist Mill bivy field after a long drive down from Craftsbury Rowing School. A gray day greeted us, and we soon realized that most routes, even those that usually are protected, were soaking wet or seeping. We reined in our more ambitious plans (Matinee, Co-ex, etc.) and concentrated on finding dry rock. While the first pitch was wet, Shockley's (3P, 5.6) was dry enough and Paul got to lead the final crux roof for the first time. I predict that this route will be on his son's tick list soon. For some reason I felt I had to use the wet chimney on the R to access the Directissima belay ledge; this is somehow reflective of my many attempts on Double-issima I suppose. My prior ascent of Directissima (5.9) had been in 1981; I think the rusty pins are probably the same ones. It was dry and glorious, and I can think of no greater thrill than cruising up the exposed arete on the rest of the pitch. Then onto the final pitch of High Exposure (5.6), which was also dry. We rapped down to the Grand Traverse ledge and I led the final "5.8" pitch of Modern Times. This was a little wet and less fun. Back on the ground, we were disappointed to find that the Never Never Land wall was wet, although we did attempt an obscure route on its right margin. Back at the Uberfall, we were able to jump on a TR setup on Stirrup Trouble (10d). Paul and I both got it, but it felt hard and sustained to me (harder than anything I did at Rumney in the next week, see below). It would be a proud lead, even with rehearsal. I had not been to the Near Trapps in close to 25 years. It was now late afternoon, so there were more parties, but Grand Central (3P, 5.9) was open. Sometime in the last century I had followed Gavin on this one, adding a note about "small stoppers." Indeed, P2 had a heady runout above some small Rocks and RPs, which made for an engaging lead. The 5.8 roof on the final pitch also involved leaving the pro well below my feet. Torrential rain greeted us in the night, and we abandoned the trip and drove back to Massachusetts. Checking out the 65' high walls at Paul's local gym (Carabiners, New Bedford) was an ok consolation.
    7/3, 7/6, Rumney. Due to the need to respect local speed limits, the 40 mile drive from my conference site in New London to the crags took just over an hour. One is also not supposed to be late for dinner (6 pm). This left only a narrow window for sport climbing. However, I had decent luck recruiting belayers and got some routes in both days. On Tuesday, I started by being a "rope gun" for a nice couple by leading the 5.9 on the R margin of the Breakfast Wall. After some scouting along the base, I got in a lead of Rhino Buckets (10a) and a TR of the blunt arete to its right, White Rhino (11c). A lead of Bonehead Roof (10c) finished the day. On Thursday, I started with the Holderness School Arete (10b and balancy). I hiked up to the 5.8 Crag, but the routes were seeping. Continuing on to the Bonsai Crag, a guy agreed to take a break from working on a 12d and belay me on Peer Pressure (10d and one of the better routes there). I on-sighted this in 1992 but had struggled, out of shape, on my last visit. Felt solid this time. Bring on the next wedding. .

7/15/06: Fairest of All, Fairview Dome, Tuolumne Meadows, Matt S.
Continuing the trend of repeating routes after 20 years, I somehow got the idea in my head that I had to do a Fairview route. Clint and I had raced up the Regular Route in 2002 but other than that, it had been 20 years. Clint and I had done Fairest of All in 1986. I recall having backed off a few of the leads, and also that I had barely gotten the marginal and thin face climbing on the crux pitch. What would it be like now?
  The brand-new Reid guidebook, which Matt produced at the parking lot, adds an "R" for seriousness and maintains the 10c difficulty rating. Usually that combination means "avoid" for me, but we were already committed. Also, I knew that I had (somehow) gotten up the thing before.
   We were pretty strong team. I took the odds and Matt the evens. So I got the 5.10 pitches (1 and 9) and Matt got the awkward corners (6 and 10). We both got healthy doses of R-rated climbing. "Head" crux for me was P5, with some 5.9+ moves well out from a spinning 1/4" bolt. The 165' traverse on P7 manages to endanger both the leader and second! Actually, there is no way to aid the crux on P9, and, moreover, it is 5.10(R) just to get to the first bolt (thankfully one of the ones that has been replaced) unless you are tricky like me and get an alien up and left and a belay on the haul line. I fell once attempting to traverse low then stuck a move that really did not seem like it should work. The runout 5.7 that finishes the pitch felt like the safest thing in the world compared to our experiences below. Our pace was acceptable, leaving plenty of time for the walk down and a brief hang in employee housing behind the Visitor Center.

7/27-8/1/06: Needles with with Matt S., Jim L., and Leslie
I feel fortunate just to be able to visit this "magical" place in the first place. Somehow, my technical aspirations seem to be tempered by the awe-inspiring beauty of the place. So the focus of this trip seemed to be rather new formations and vistas, as opposed to tackling the most challenging routes. I climbed with Matt, but shared some meals with Jim and Leslie. I always have something to learn from experienced car campers. This time, it was the frozen fish that Jim pulled from his cooler to make delicious tacos.
  Day 1. As in prior trips, I seem to do my hardest technical routes on the first day. The Pit and the Pendulum (5P, 10b, A0) on the W. face of the Witch starts a good ways down the gully. We did a 200' first pitch and an easy second pitch to reach the crux corner. I though the 10b on P3 was liebacking off the belay and that the short thin hands section near the end of the pitch was 5.9. To avoid the 10d, we pendulumed left off the anchors (5.8, R) into a parallel but easier corner system, which rejoins the main one above the squeeze. Taking advantage of the shade, we for a repeat of Fancy Free (4P, 10b/c) on the Charlatan, switched the leads compared to last time. Ratings vary for the crux 3rd pitch. I think the combination of cruxy thin hands at its start and challenging tips moves higher up merits 10b or 10c, not easier. The dramatic overhung traverse at the very end, my lead this time, was just as thrilling as before.
  Day 2. We wanted to both summit a new formation (for us) and do something that did not start in the popular Witch/Sorcerer gully. So we did the NW Chimney (5.7) and 3rd pitch (5.9) of Yellow Brick Road on the shady west face of the Wizard. The last pitch of YBR is really good, with a challenging thin crack in a corner (small nuts) and a exposed roof move to gain the summit. Pitch 1 of Lethargy was unusual for the Needles - straightforward 10a and not that long. Having seen some questionable sections of P2 (10b, probably R) while on rappel, we decided to skip it. We finished the day with a run up the Howling, (2P, 10a) on the Warlock. We were met on top by two guys topping out on Romantic Warrior.
  Day 3. Rest day with swimming a limited amount of hanging out at the Ponderosa Store. The fact that you can get up there in winter and ski is intriguing. We hiked around the base of Dome Rock and were amazed at the long runouts built-in to most of the routes.
  Day 4. Again, we explored a little more of the area and hiked to the E. face of the Warlock to do Imaginary Voyage, (6P, 5.9 and 5.10 bolt ladder). Only the first two pitches are on the topo we had, which increased the sense of adventure. Matt led up the straight-in crack (5.8/9) for about 120' before running out of gear. I then took a 200' pitch to the ledge (5.9), switching cracks a couple of times. (It is possible to rappel from this point.) Matt led an exciting 5.6(R) section on big knobs to gain the obvious chimney leading to the summit notch. I then got a quality 5.8 pitch with interesting moves in the chimney and Matt got a 5.9 corner pitch. A 30' hands to ow crack gains the notch; a chockstone at the end is a help. The difficulty of the bolt ladder that gains the summit is height-dependent; I was able to stem up pretty high and reach solid holds. Throughout the climb, we had good view of Jim and Leslie on White Punks on Dope down on Voodoo Dome. We finished the day on Spooky (2P, 5.9). I led the crux ow on P2, but not without placing a number of large cams and tearing up my ankles.
Day 5. A mellow finish to the trip. Based on a rave review from Jim and Leslie, we ran up Strange Brew on the spine of the Magician (12P, 5.8). The leg-dangling moves onto the summit prow were a nice finish.

Tuolumne Meadows 8/26-8/27/06 with Matt S.
As with Fairest of All, it had been 20 years since I had done Lucky Streaks (5P, 10d). I would liked to have felt a little more solid on it. For example, the 5.9 first pitch felt a little spooky and runout, and I used a little aid to get the pro in for the short 10d fingers on P2. More so, the sustained corner on the rest of the pitch took a long time for me to lead as I placed every small nut I had with me. Maybe there is a way to get good pro on the 4th pitch traverse, but I did not find it; perhaps there is a lower path that is easier. On the other hand, the final 300' of crack climbing to the summit is more pleasant on the feet and hands than I remember. Something about technique? A wild 80's themed party Sat. night with park employees of Matt acquaintance was an interesting experience. Maybe this had something to do with limiting our ambitions on Sunday. Cooke Book (4P, 10a) on Daff is a quality route, though. I led the 5.7 variation 1st pitch and Matt took the second. The 3rd pitch (5.9) has nice intricate pro and liebacking. On the final pitch, Matt made the slippery crux section look really easy, but I nearly fell off there. When one hikes around to the base and sees the route in profile, it looks low-angle, but the polished nature of the rock gives it the difficulty.

E. Buttress of Lower Cathedral with 9/16/06 with Matt S. and Micha M.
I had always been curious about this route, but had heard that it was not as good as Yosemite's other classic "East Butts" (Middle Cathedral and El Cap). So it was a good opportunity to team up with Matt and Micha to go for it on a perfect fall day. We led on double 9's and simo-belayed the seconds on a reverso. This belaying technique was new to me, but it made us not much slower than a party of two. The first part of the route is an obvious corner system with typically burly Yosemite climbing. While Micha was leading the chimney on the first pitch, I confirmed that the bolt at the start of Soul Sacrifice had been chopped; a questionable fixed nut has replaced it. I was pretty wobbly on the 10a 2nd pitch, and could not commit for a while to using a unstable chockstone (but eventually did). Pins give protection to the Fissure Beck (P3) but do not make the moves any easier, as Matt found out. Micha led a short pitch, setting me up for the 10c crux corner pitch, which was well-protected with small nuts and cams. Nice stemming, too, and I linked it with the next one to a large ledge. The topo is insufficiently detailed here, so although we actually went the right way, we were never quite sure.
(Beta: climb up through all of the trees and find a narrow ledge that leads R over to the 5.8 corner in the Meyers topo. The steep cracks above the trees are off-route. Next pitch follows easiest line L across the face. More traversing aims for a white flake that looks like it might fall off but it, in fact, the route. Then straight up vegetated cracks from there).
While one gains over 1000' of elevation on the route, it does not feel this way, as you are always in the shadow of a huge, route-less face of Middle. And while there are some cool pitches, there are dirty/loose ones that will never improve. At the time I was thinking "never again" but that might be too harsh. It is a great view from the summit and the Gunsight descent is pleasant (but might not be if wet).