MudNCrud Forums
Climbing and ... Climbing => Masters of Mud -- Pinnacles => Topic started by: Brad Young on December 14, 2013, 09:11:26 PM
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While most of us were working on our new route "The Inn Crowd," Shake and Bake saw a perfect, on sight lead today by a person who is six weeks shy of his 73rd birthday. He led all three pitches. Mudworm "floated" every pitch behind him.
I have no doubt that this is the age record for leading this route (and it probably always will be).
While this leader understands that the 2007 guidebook maxes out at three stars on any given route, he pronounced Shake and Bake as a "five star" climb. He also led both pitches of Lava Falls two years ago and thought is was among the best face climbs he'd ever done.
Great day.
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A great day indeed
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Sweet!
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"I have no doubt that this is the age record for leading this route (and it probably always will be)."
Brad, I think that record will be broken, by the 72 year old climber himself. They stopped at Lava to chat with Aaron and myself.
My assessment is;
He is probably going to wake up on his 90th B-day and tell his mirror that it's lying. Then with a "be damned if I don't" look in his eye, lead a poorly protected 5.10, or a well protected 5.12.
For his 100th get'm a crash pad.
PS: If he wants a friendly wrestling match, say no thanks.
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Jon/clink, that was funny!
I had the honor of witnessing Ron's historical, record breaking, ascent of Shake and Bake. Being an attentive belayer, I only took action shots of him climbing when I was still on the ground. The route is very spicy and this photo here of the first pitch shows it if you can see the rope that runs horizontally.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/11397150116_2793728daf_c.jpg)
As if the route was not spicy enough, he skipped two bolts. Okay, he missed two (the 1st one on the 2nd pitch and the 3rd one on the 3rd pitch) . I took photos of them while following to show him after the climb. The funny thing is, he voiced his disapproval that there was no bolt when a bolt could have been put in at a good stance. Those rustic hangers sure look discrete -- I didn't see them until my nose was pointing at them when I was at the stances. Considering Ron is so much taller than me, they were probably in front of his chest.
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are you kidding me? Ron did it, and you're saying he did it more run out than actually bolted?
That's gotta be a first too.
wow
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Very inspiring. Hope to be somewhere close to this level at 70.
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Call in January if you need a belay. :)
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Munge, not sure if you meant to be funny with that comment, but I laughed when reading it in the context. ;D
But wait, don't you dare to joke about age with Mr. Mud! >:(
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are you kidding me? Ron did it, and you're saying he did it more run out than actually bolted?
That's gotta be a first too.
wow
I seem to recall Denicola skipping a bolt on the second. Crushers....
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Munge, not sure if you meant to be funny with that comment, but I laughed when reading it in the context. ;D
But wait, don't you dare to joke about age with Mr. Mud! >:(
HA I just got that joke. Wait for it.....DIE!
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no joke intended, but funny in hindsight. lol
If I'm not travelling for work that last weekend might be a good weekend to hit pinns.
That or I'm clipping bolts in the Owens for my bday.
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OK this guy is no joke! He said he does Crack-a-Go-Go every year for his birthday. Here is evidence on his 68th.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=779637 (http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=779637)
Amazing! I only hope someday I can trad lead 11c.
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he did it last year as well.
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Yes, clean lead and fun day. Here's the link to the 72nd birthday lead:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2064335/Ron-Skelton-72nd-Birthday-Perfect-Lead-of-Crack-a-Go-Go
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Skipping bolts on that 3rd pitch adds quite a bit of pucker factor! Congratulations!
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Skipping bolts on that 3rd pitch adds quite a bit of pucker factor! Congratulations!
Waldo,
The gauntlet has been thrown down. I would be honored to belay you up Shake and Bake anytime!
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Aaron, hang in there. I'm working on getting older!
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What's up with folks missing bolts on that route? Especially them new SS glue-ins that will not blend it.
As Squiddo said...Crushers!
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Dennis and I had assured Ron that ALL the bolts on the second and third pitches had been replaced (I thought that's what you guys told me, and Dennis was there and agreed). The ones he missed were ones that hadn't been replaced, and for which he wasn't looking! (Although you'd think after missing one on the second pitch he would have been more careful on the third!)
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Damn, still more bolts on ShakeNBake to replace.
Our 2 Day effort was short by....yep 2 Days. It took hours and hours to drill the holes.
Clint was a rock-star....hammering away, taking a wee break, rapping to his pack, sip of watter..back up to hammering. Swear, he didn't touch ground for hours.
The work is never done.
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yeah, I thought we got all the upper bolts. Guess not
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I bet you guys did not see those hangers. How could you? They are literally hidden.
Can anyone spot a hanger in this photo?
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/11414591383_bc890d7301_c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12328340@N04/11414591383/)
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I totally see
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at least it looks like a good bolt.
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Everyone knows that you can't see older rusty bolts without proper incentive.
There's nothing like the prospect of a 30 footer to sharpen the eyesight.
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Plain as day. Them leepers are bomer.
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Pffft... what are you guys talking about? There are no bolts in that picture.
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Pffft... what are you guys talking about? There are no bolts in that picture.
Yeah there is. It's just a little up and right from the center of the photo, with its hanger angled left and only a little down.
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;D Just wanted to mess with your head.
The photo originally barely showed the hardware. I had to play with editing (sharpen, brightness, contrast, etc. etc.) to make it somewhat show.
Since that was the first bolt on the 2nd pitch, I could have seen it from the belay, but I didn't either. Trust me -- we searched high and low. The problem is you can see the shiny new beefy bolt sticking out way above you, so you naturally want to search for something similar around you. In other words, you get completely blinded by the shiny 2nd bolt. It's the same case with the 3rd bolt on the 3rd pitch because the first two are new.
Here is where a seasoned climber shows his experience -- Ron placed a few pieces of gear. 1) a green cam before the 1st hanger on 1st pitch in a pocket behind a flake; 2) a knob sling before the first bolt (that he clipped) on 2nd pitch, which eventually fell off after he had moved higher; 3) a cam in a pocket after the two bolts he clipped on 3rd pitch.
Oh, I did eventually spotted the first hanger (shown in the picture) before it was too late. When Ron reached the 2nd belay, we counted six bolts he clipped on the 2nd pitch, and the topo showed seven, so he didn't think he finished yet. I put him back on belay and he was just about to keep going to get to the "real" belay. That was when the sun hit just right and I saw that 1st bolt and the rustic hanger.
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Ron is a legend. He obviously didn't need those bolts. He can afford the oversight.
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Ron is the man.
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Ron is the man.
And a nice guy.....big shoes.
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Yeah, we needed 1 more day to have gotten that bolt. It would be nice to replace it. I at least cleaned up the 1st belay and put in a nice new bolt.
It's funny, the way the 1st pitch goes, you should actually clip that 1st bolt on the 2nd AND then go to the belay. Then the 1st bolt is ready to go. Such subtle trickery....
I only realized that once I had gotten to the belay & then I looked up!