Red Rocks cragging

Jacqueline and I got away for a week from 10/23 to 10/30/10 without Caleb to refresh prior to arrival of little bundle of joy #2 in February.  We used airline miles and an unused timeshare week to take advantage of the wonderful Fall weather in Nevada and stayed in Las Vegas.  We both got burned out after about 2 days of doing Vegas stuff, and were ready to venture out to nearby Red Rocks.  This place is a climbing playground, with perfect weather, ample rock, varied routes from short sport routes to super-long mellow trad routes, and short approaches.  Since Jac was 6 months pregnant, we took it easy.  We climbed 2 days, and hiked around another day.  I was allowed to lead stuff where I could guarantee I wouldn't fall, and Jac climbed like a champ but wanted to stick to stuff she knew she could do, as she didn't love the fit and feel of her harness.

The first day we checked out this mellow crag called the Panty Wall.

It had about 4 bolted sport routes: a 5.5, 5.7, and two 5.8's, and options for toproping.  We hit them all, and then toproped a fun 5.10 face route.

My cute adventurous pregnant wife and cherry weather: 

Jacqueline follows the 5.7, called Silk Panties.

Jacqueline raps:

Me rapping at the Panty Wall:

First Pullout area:

We then finished off the day by climbing a second pitch with 2 bolts up easy climbing from the Panty Wall, then scrambling up a few hundred feet to gain views down toward Vegas.  Highly worth it.

Looking back from the First Pullout area:

The next day we returned to Red Rocks, but did not intend to climb.  Instead, we drove to the Second Pullout, hiked to the Sandstone Quarry area, and then did a mellow hike to the Calico Tanks.

Goofing around in a big hueco:

Oh yeah, we had a pretty sweet rental car while we were there.  It was fine to get up to Red Rocks, but was a little sketchy for the 2.5-hour trip to Zion!  Second pullout area:

The following day we drove to Zion, where we did the coolest day hike of my life, called Angel's Landing.  Highly recommended, but not for those who struggle with exposure.  We returned to Red Rocks for our last full day in Nevada, and did another short outing cragging.  This time we did the short approach to a crag called the Magic Bus from the Second Pullout.  Again, mellow bolted 1-pitch routes, with three 5.8's and a 5.9+.  We did them all.

Jac prepares to clean Electric Koolaid, 5.9+

Electric Koolaid

Red Rocks is rad.  There is a ton there to do.  Next time I need to bring a trad rack and tackle some of the big routes.  How about Tunnel Vision, 6 pitches, 5.7, or Epinephrine, 18+ pitches, 5.9?  The options are endless.

Leashless!

OK, so not all my posts have to be trip reports.  Today I took a cue from the infamous Dane (coldthistle.blogspot.com) and modified my Petzl Aztar's to be ready to climb leashless this winter.  I ordered the Petzl Griprests from MountainGear for $15 each.  They even came with instructions on how to cut the rubber and where to drill (in vague picture form).  Well, it went perfectly - except for breaking one drill bit.  But much better than expected.  I then hooked up the BD Spinner leash shown, and now I'm good to go!  Guess I'm gonna have to put off buying those Nomics until I'm an attending surgeon...

SEWS - Southwest Rib

My brother Tyson had been asking me all Spring and Summer about getting out for an alpine climb.  My schedule, as we all know doesn't allow for a lot of flexibility, and I've always got too much on my plate.  But we found a day in August and put it on the calendar.  As the weekend approached, the weather looked a little dicey - "30% chance of precip, with thunderstorms after 11am."  Matt and Jay had been in the mix, but decided to bail.  We decided to go for it.  We chose a climb with a short approach, so we could potentially get up and down by early afternoon.  I think that ended up being a good choice.  We had perfect weather.  But by the time we hit the summit there were scattered clouds, and on the hike out we got hit with a few hail balls.

The SW Rib of SEWS has been on my radar for awhile.  You hear varying beta about gear, but I decided to play it safe and borrow a #5 Camalot for the twin cracks pitch.  I used it, but wouldn't say needed it.  Nelson also suggests doubles in the 1-2" range, but I came nowhere near needing them, although I had them.  So we left Seattle around 7:30pm Friday night and made it to the Blue Lake TH by 10:30pm, despite Everett traffic (I don't get why people think it's so far to Washington Pass?).  We crashed in the tent in the parking lot, and set alarms for 4am so we could get an early start to beat the weather.  We were hiking by 5am, and reached the saddle around 7am where we racked up.

Bomber weather on the approach: 

Racking up at the saddle at the bottom of the South Arete route:

The route overlay is shown in red, and hidden parts at the top in green.  We took the Southwest Couloir start, and headed left 50ft above the giant chockstone.  We ended up rapping down to the start of the first technical pitch (Nelson pitch 3), which is the crux 5.8 pitch.  From there, we climbed the short easy 5.5 crack/dihedral option leading to the 5.6+ slab pitch (Nelson pitch 5).

The first pitch was the crux 5.8.  It was wobbly right hand in the crack, with left hand on the flake (not that good), right foot in the crack, left foot smearing on the face.  Never felt in danger of falling or that tired, but upward progress was slow.

The second pitch - very chill, short 5.5 crack and corner:

Tyson follows the second pitch:

From there, a pitch of 5.6+ slab climb leads to the huge belay block below the infamous "bear hug cracks."  Some have called this 5.6+ pitch the crux as it is difficult to protect, but I'm way more comfortable on slabs than cracks so I cruised it.

First view of the twin cracks from the third pitch:

Tyson follows the slab:

The next pitch is the short, infamous "twin" or "bear hug" cracks.  They are two offwidth cracks separated by a little less than a wingspan.  One highstep left gets you to a comfy spot, then two moves later you're at the top.  Pretty easy, and really fun.

Checking out the bear hug cracks from the belay block:

From a nice ledge before the highstep, I placed a #4 in the right crack.  I then stepped up, was comfy, and placed the #5 in the right crack.  It would've been fine to skip that and just blast for the top, but I had it and wouldn't have used it anywhere else, so I plugged it in.

Placing the boat hook:

Tyson at the belay block, taken from the #5 placement:

Tyson does the highstep left on the twin cracks:

From there, the rest of the route could be simul-climbed.  There's a short 5.5 crack protected by a bolt (why?), followed by some 4th class stuff.  Then you cross the gully once the "rabbit ears" are reached, and climb a final 5.2 crack to the summit.

The 5.5 crack on the 5th pitch (Nelson's 7th):

The final pitch, 5.2 crack:

The weather holds as we pause on the summit:

On top of the summit boulder, with the Wine Spires and Silver Star as a backdrop:

We were the only party to try the SW Rib that day.  But we were met on the summit by a guided party of 2 and a guided party of 3 doing the South Arete.  On the way down we met by another guided party of two, and another twosome.  To descend, we shortened the rope and simul-climbed down the South Arete, finishing with two 30m rappels to the saddle.  It was a stretch for Tyson to move in this way in the alpine, but he did great and agreed that it was a very efficient way to descend on easy terrain.

Here he leads across the "whale's back":

We made it back to the cars by 2:45pm and had a gut-bomb meal at the Marblemount Drive-In before parting ways in Burlington.  Another great trip!  Beautiful rock, and lots of variety.  Glad we defied the weather forecast.  Tyson's only two alpine climbs so far are both legit - Beckey Route on Liberty Bell, and now this.  Not bad for a noob.  Maybe we'll have to make his third a Grade III!

Torment-Forbidden Traverse

As this summer's scheduled week of vacation, my plans to climb in the Bugaboos fell through as I wound up being a third.  This put plans of doing a hard climb (NE Ridge of Bugaboo Spire or something similar) in jeopardy.  I quickly scrambled to put something together, and stumbled across a Mountaineers climb led by Rich Draves on the Torment-Forbidden Traverse.  I quickly jumped on it, and after he called in my references (thanks guys for saying good things about me) I was added to the roster.  The Torment-Forbidden Traverse enjoys legendary status after being published in Mark Kroese's book of 50 Classic North American climbs.  Jim Nelson wrote the piece, describing the mile-long traverse on a spectacular ridge linking Mt. Torment to the West Ridge of Forbidden Peak.  The climb requires a broad range of mountain travelling skills ranging from 5.4 rock in boots,simul-soloing tons of 4th class terrain, and crossing 50-degree hard snow/ice slopes.  The commitment level is high, since bailout options are nil once the traverse is begun.  Depending on conditions, this is a Grade IV to V climb.  This was my first climb of this level, and I felt well-prepared for the task.  Conditions were ideal, making the snowslope crossings, which are often the crux of the climb, quite manageable.  The Spring's heavy snowfalls meant that despite it being late July, the moats and bergschrunds were all easily negotiable.

The Traverse as seen from Boston Basin: Torment is on the left (8120 ft), the mile-long ridge, and Forbidden on the right (8815 ft.)

Mt. Torment.  Two options are commonly used to reach its summit: the Soutn Ridge (left skyline), and the Southeast Face (large open face to its right).

The usual crappy Boston Basin approach led us up 3000 ft from the cars, to where we chose to bivy thr the night in the upper basin.  Our multiple options for doing the climb included a beastly one-day push, bivying on the ridge and doing the climb over two days, or bivying in Boston Basin and climbing the entire route in one day.  We mulled over our options and decided as a group on the third choice, which would enable us to move light and fast, while giving us better chances of success than the first option.  For the record, I wanted to bivy on the ridge.

Rich's and my bivy sites in the Boston Basin, with the usual stunning view of Johannesburg.

The rest of the crew hangs out in Boston Basin.  Left to right: Andy Wyatt (black), Aaron Rose (green), Jordan (Andy's brother-in-law, backpacking only), Doug Walker, Chris Potts.

On Sunday we set our alarms for 3:30, thinking that by the time we were on rock on Torment it would be getting light.  We made quick work of the approach over the Taboo Glacier and surveyed our options.  Both the South Ridge and Southeast Face looked in fine condition.  We decided that we'd chose the easier Southeast Face (4th class), since the moats and 'schrund looked manageable.  It proved to be a good choice.  Once we got on rock, we were quickly on the summit of Torment.  Rich and I topped out at 7am.

Stepping off across the moat onto the Southeast Face of Torment:

Rich signing the register on top of Mt. Torment, with Eldorado in the background.

First look at the traverse from the top of Torment:

Johannesburg, Glacier Peak, and the Ptarmigan Traverse Peaks:

The other parties made what I consider to be a wise decision to forego the summit of Torment, and proceeded directly to the notch leading to the North side of the Traverse for the first of two major snowfields. They had taken quite a bit of time placing lots of pro on the Southeast Face.  Aaron had been on the traverse before in poorer weather, so he led the way to the notch.  We were able to jump across the moat onto a flat landing area, before racking up for the steep snow traverse.  Previous parties had kicked some very nice steps, and the snow remained firmly frozen in place.  We each carried a picket and we used them all, but ice was not encountered, and screws were not necessary (we didn't have any anyway).  The snow was probably 50 degrees in places.  Two tools would have been nice in only a few spots, but were overall unnecessary.  I did carry my Aztar instead of a traditional piolet, and I was glad to have it and it worked well.

Rich heads down onto the first snowfield:

Aaron descends from the notch:

Doug and Andy lead the way across the first snowfield, followed by Rich and I.

Aaron and Chris bring up the rear:

After crossing most of the second snowfield, which was equally steep but much softer, we climbed up to the saddle and traversed the next block on the South side of the ridge.  This leads to where Steph Abegg describes the grassy ledges, which we barely saw but were mostly snow-covered.  It looked like the previous parties had all stayed on the North side this year.

The second snowfield:

After traversing the snow-covered grassy ledges, Rich led up a steepish snow ramp to some slabby 5th-class rock which led to easy ledges.  We hip-belayed this section, and finally were able to traverse around and regain the ridge crest proper.  We all relaxed a little, as now the major routefinding difficulties and snow issues were behind us!  Now we were able to enjoy the super-aesthetic ridge climbing past the sidewalk and to the notch marking the start of the West Ridge of Forbidden.

Andy belays Doug as he starts the easy 4th-class ridge crest proper.

Back on the ridge crest:

Aaron rounds a corner, with Klawatti and the Inspiration Glacier in the background.

Me on the famous sidewalk, nearing the end of the traverse:

At this point Doug and Andy had picked up the pace, while Rich and I spent time waiting for Aaron and Chris.  Doug and Andy got quite a ways ahead, and decided to drop packs at the notch and start up the West Ridge of Forbidden.  We hadn't firmly decided on a descent route, but the decision was made at that point.  Rich and I preferred the East Ledges descent (and Rich had done both), while Doug preferred descending the West Ridge. 

Rich and I reached the notch at 1:45pm, having been at the summit of Torment at 7am.  We would have been about 1-2 hours faster on our own, but given the size of our group we felt that wasn't too bad.

Rich and I waited for Aaron and Chris to reach the notch before starting up Forbidden.  By this point, Doug and Andy had topped out and were halfway back down.  The climbing was very easy.  Rich and I did it in two sections, simul-climbing and pausing only to rerack gear.  The rock was very solid and setting was of course, ideal.  The route goes at 5.4, but the vast majority is 4th-class.

Halfway up the West Ridge, looking back at the traverse:

Rich and the North Ridge of Forbidden from the summit, which he climbed a few years ago but didn't see it due to weather conditions:

Me and the false summit block:

We downclimbed and rapped the West Ridge to regain the notch and our packs.  I think both Rich and I definitely would have preferred the East Ledges.  Rapping was a cluster.  We had two stuck ropes on two rappels - one which I rapped down to and freed, and I lowered Rich to the other and he reclimbed the section.  After that, we went back to downclimbing for the remainder.

The West Ridge of Forbidden, and the Traverse:

Chris on his way up the West Ridge.  We doubled over 8mm 60m ropes and used them as twin ropes most of the day.

We all regrouped at the notch before descending to the Unnamed Glacer.  We downclimbed the snow gully, which had a small but manageable bergschrund.  Rich led on the way down, and placed all 5 pickets that we had with us.  The snow was very sloppy, and while it was steep took kicked steps well.  We finally emerged onto the Unnamed Glacier and make quick time back to our bivy site in the Boston Basin.  While we were coming down the gully, Aaron and Chris were starting down the steep snow section.  Doug and Andy were supposed to wait until they made it through the steep section, but somehow that didn't happen.  We ended up spending about an hour in our bivy sites nervously watching for Aaron and Chris to emerge from the gully.  They did in the end and made it back fine to the basin, but just had taken their time coming down the steep snow in order to stay safe.

We quickly packed up and started down the always enjoyable Boston Basin "trail".  Having finally reached the cars around 10pm, our long day had come to an end. 

This was a fantastic climb.  It confirmed for me many of the skills I have acquired to this point.  It required confidence, good decision-making, and speed on all types of terrain.  I'm glad to have done it with such qualified partners, and hope to climb with them again someday.