Resurrection Wall
September 26, 2009Pitch One:
Factor and I arrived in the West side parking lot before 8:00 AM, racked up and headed towards Resurrection Wall. The hike was short, but as we got closer, a warm wind began to blow - a sure sign that things would be heating up that day. We arrived at the base and I quickly racked up and started on the first pitch hoping to beat the heat. The first few moves were heads-up, since some of the holds were somewhat fragile, and thick dark-green moss covered all but the holds needed. After a large traverse reaching better rock, and thankfully some bolts, the climbing improved dramatically. Nothing too desperate, just nice solid 5.7 - 5.8 moves run out enough to make it interesting. Halfway up the first pitch, a steeper bulge kicks back, but large knobs on solid rock make it straightforward, and a nice knob tie-off gives a hint of things to come. I used long slings on all the bolts and knob, reducing rope drag on the final crux move to the anchors. Up to the final bolt, the protection had been a fairly rusty and aged set of 1/4" and 3/8" bolts and hangars, with some Star Dryvins and threaded studs - but not a spinner among them! The final bolt was a nice, shiny, new 3/8" fatty - perfect protection for the final tricky 5.9+ move to the anchors. I set up the belay in the hot morning sun, and soon Factor joined me at the anchor.
First pitch mossy start:
Higher up on the first pitch:
Pitch Two:
Factor lead the second pitch, a steep 5.11 affair next to a bolt ladder. The first two bolts were spinners before reaching another shiny 3/8" beauty for the crux moves through the bulge. He was forced to french-free through that section and then switched back to free climbing on the steep upper part of the pitch. As I followed, I found the unclips to be very strenuous - typical of a bolt ladder - and pumped out and fell twice figuring out the sequence of the lower crux bulge. I finally figured out a sequence, and enjoyed the extremely good rock and fun, pumpy moves - all with incredible exposure. The last moves to the anchor were also stiff, finishing out a demanding pitch.
Pitch two approaching crux:
higher on pitch two (it's overhanging):
Pitch Three
I led off into the upper headwall on very steep knobby terrain. A couple bolts and then confusion, "should I keep traversing or go more up and right"? The answer was not clear, and no anchors could be seen. We were looking for the original route which stayed out on the face and avoided an obvious traverse left into a water chute. So I chose my own way, carefully slinging knobs and placing a few nuts for pro, heading into the unknown. There were several moments when I thought "what if I can't find any anchor...?" but I had faith in the topo and my ability to downclimb if needed (which I did a couple times to find the path of least resistance and place pro) and continued on. The holds were covered with crusty flakes of lichen, which I had to scrape off to ensure good friction for hands and feet. It also gave me the feeling these upper pitches were generally not climbed - maybe most people rappel after pitch two, or prefer the alternate finish? I continued climbing towards a large block, which I later discovered was hiding the anchor bolts from view. The pitch never let up in steepness, and was about 5.5 to 5.7 in difficulty. The final bolt before the anchor was out of reach on the path I had climbed, so I chose to just skip it and just head to the anchors.I might have been "off route" on this pitch, but it appeared that the climbing near the bolt was more difficult that what I had done - I'm fairly sure I had found a path of minimal resistance.
Anchor on top of pitch three:
Pitch Four
The route-finding on this pitch was much more obvious, with a couple bolts leading to a big traverse to the left around a corner. It was also quite steep with large knobs, and going around the corner was very airy, but well protected with two good star dryvin bolts. The "crux" was going around the corner - I had to clean thick accumulations of lichen off a key foothold with my hand, and then pull a mantle into an abandoned birds nest. The nest was very solidly attached to the wall, not that I was trying to pull it off... Once around the corner, the traversed continued on easy ground to the base of a very steep waterchute. I backed up the lone star dryvin bolt with a solid nut and stemmed my way up the solid rock of the almost overhanging chute. Very fun moves (5.7 or 5.8 ) led upwards, but with little protection opportunities, all above the ledgy traverse - definitely a no-fall situation. I finally got in a good nut near the top and enjoyed one of the best top-outs in Pinnacles I have experienced - a quick transition from steep waterchute to level ground and the Manzanita bush anchors. The bush was large and seemed solid, but I still belayed from a sitting stance off my harness just in case. This might be an "ideal" hot-weather climb, but this time of year the face goes into the shade around 11:00 AM, so a later start would be nice for extra hot days like this one.
Final pitch traverse:
Descent
We called Mr Mud from the summit to try and get any advice for a shortcut descent, since both of our feet were getting literally burned inside our climbing shoes. It was literally 110 degrees that day. Unfortunately there was no magical shortcut, and the sun beat us down as we headed down the standard 2nd/3rd class route towards the Eastern Front, and then contoured back uphill to the East and back to the base. It took almost an hour to descend because we had to periodically take off our shoes to cool our feet - I'm not kidding! We also ran out of water, even though we had taken 3.5 liters, for a four-pitch climb!
My blistered toes:
My daughter's foot (for reference). She saw me take the picture of my foot and demanded I take one of hers:
