Tis the season for conundrums and thieves...

[JC w KC redux]

Had a fun day at Pinns today.
We checked out several climbs to do later and ticked off one onsight.
I warmed up and cooled down on a couple free solos and KC got her lead on.
After some discussion and seeking shade we opted to do True Grit.
I also knew that Bruce and Clint had just rebolted ABB and this route so I wanted to check that out.
They did a great job on the rebolt and it was really nice to see the work on the ABB p1/Lucky 13 anchor.
That initial crux move on ABB never gets old.
KC pulled through the crux clean for the first time (this was her 4th attempt) - she was STOKED!
I still think the moves on ABB p1 past bolt 4 are harder than 5.6 - regardless of what the topo says
The plan was to climb True Grit and then scramble up to the Twinkle Toes p2 anchor and diagonal rappel to the TT p1 anchor and easy rap down from there. Little did we know that some knuckleheads had stolen the screwlinks from the p2 anchor and there was only a tied runner and a tied piece of cordalette on the bolt hangers. Not wanting to trust that leftover stuff, we decided to go back down to the Bandits in Bondage anchor and rap back down True Grit. I set up an intermediate anchor on a huge lodestone at the base of the route, which allowed us to pull the rope easily and then traverse back over to the ABB/Lucky 13 rap station. If you rap from there make sure to go straight down through the tree since there is some Poison Oak at the base of the wall to climber's left as you rap.

JC onsights True Grit





Lodestone belay station




 
We were puzzled by a female climber on Lava Falls. I'd ask her to please feel free to chime in if she reads this forum and let us know what the dilemma was. We heard her shouting for at least a half hour. When I looked over from our high perch, she was most of the way up p2 of Lava and calling down that she needed to downclimb. I can only speculate on what might have been going on. Climbed past the middle mark and got stuck at a crux - unable to be lowered off without downclimbing? Tried to climb the whole route in one pitch and ran out of rope? They sure were loud and evidently did not have a signal system setup in the event they could not hear each other.

Female climber on Lava Falls in the midst of downclimbing/hanging





We talked to lots of hikers today, including a couple from Kentucky - small world!

[F4?]

where was she being belayed from?

Many folks think they can link 1 & 2...only to get most of the way through the 2nd pitch to realize....the rope is short.

[JC w KC redux]

where was she being belayed from?

Many folks think they can link 1 & 2...only to get most of the way through the 2nd pitch to realize....the rope is short.

Thanks Factor - You're probably right. We had no way of knowing where she was being belayed from since we were up on the Machete.
The topo for Lava says p1 is 155 feet and the climb is two long pitches - to me that means no linkup - even my 70m which was cut a little long at the manufacturer comes in just under 240 feet. No sale!    

[JC w KC redux]

Many folks think they can link 1 & 2...only to get most of the way through the 2nd pitch to realize....the rope is short.

I think that may be dangerously close to qualifying for a Darwin award!

[Brad Young]

We saw a pair of climbers try the "all of Lava Falls with one rope trick" last year. The leader ended up belaying off of one bolt in the middle of the second pitch. He later claimed he'd backed up the one bolt with gear (we saw them at the end of the day, and during a discussion I commented in sympathy about their plight). I didn't believe him and I think he got our unstated but severe shock that someone would hang two people off of one bolt on a vertical wall at Pinns.

[F4?]

It happens to the best of us.

No harm, no foul.

[mynameismud]

Can be done but simul climbing is necessary so the second must be solid even if the rock is not.

[squiddo]

We saw a pair of climbers try the "all of Lava Falls with one rope trick" last year. The leader ended up belaying off of one bolt in the middle of the second pitch. He later claimed he'd backed up the one bolt with gear (we saw them at the end of the day, and during a discussion I commented in sympathy about their plight). I didn't believe him and I think he got our unstated but severe shock that someone would hang two people off of one bolt on a vertical wall at Pinns.

Oh yeah Brad I remember that day well. We watched from the base of Lucky 13 in shock. I figured that's what happened but good confirmation. And you thought I didn't read guidebooks!

[mungeclimber]

Sweet JC! 


For real, there is some lovely rock and lots of warm sun up in the hills.



on your lodestone, I prefer a locker if clovehitching in a weird directional situation, if possible...

[JC w KC redux]

Sweet JC! 
For real, there is some lovely rock and lots of warm sun up in the hills.
on your lodestone, I prefer a locker if clovehitching in a weird directional situation, if possible...

I hear ya Rob - thanks. Laziness on my part - I had plenty of lockers on my alpine draws. We also had big solid stances and were just using this "station" to pull the rope and then do a super mellow belay for KC to traverse the class 3 back to the anchor. I actually thought it was class 2 since I walked over there without ever using my hands. Never hurts to have a belay up that high though when possible - and you're right - it could have been more bomber

[F4?]

Doing Lava in 1 long pitch would be interesting if you have the rope length.  Even better to have a super long TR on Lava and do laps would be pretty cool.

I think the pitches need to be re-measured.

Or we start using a 80m rope.

[squiddo]

Two words- mini traxion! Laps, just think!

[F4?]

yeah, yeah!!!

[Atomizer]

The lava falls in one pitch is easy with an 80M.

And JC I saw your twin at Suicide Rock last week... he had the whole orange shirt and the disco getup you usually sport at the gym. I thought it was you at first, but he was fighting with his partners. Yelling,"why did you bring me here to learn how to climb if your not going to lead anything!!" It was pretty commical. He shut up pretty quick when I saddled up to lead the risky 5.11 next door and proceeded to blow the crux and take a massive fall on a fixed pin.

[mynameismud]

Nice

[JC w KC redux]

The lava falls in one pitch is easy with an 80M.

And JC I saw your twin at Suicide Rock last week... he had the whole orange shirt and the disco getup you usually sport at the gym. I thought it was you at first, but he was fighting with his partners. Yelling,"why did you bring me here to learn how to climb if your not going to lead anything!!" It was pretty commical. He shut up pretty quick when I saddled up to lead the risky 5.11 next door and proceeded to blow the crux and take a massive fall on a fixed pin.

Thanks for the laugh Adam - I wondered where you were!

[Atomizer]

Tis the season for Granite. Next up.... The Needles.