Feed the Beast has anchors?

[karl]

Because I didn't trust my memory of the 5.6, I checked the Rubine guide.  There is an anchor listed right where I thought.  



Brad sent me his topo and the anchor is not listed there.  Now, I haven't climbed the route in some time, but I warm up on Terranean every time I climb on the monolith.  Most of the time someone is climbing the 5.6 and we don't share anchors, so the anchor is probably still be there.

[Burner]

Anchor should still be there, right on the face.  It was there last time I was there.

[The Big]

I think there are a couple of solutions.  One, someone take a push broom up there and give it a good cleaning.  I did this once with a small hand held broom with another route not on the Monolith.  If done very early in the morning before there are a lot of climbers and hikers (the caves are down there somewhere) it should not be to big of a problem.



If this is not an option and individual anchors are going to be setup on the climbs on the left side of the East  Face of the Monolith then I think the upper chains should be pulled and the holes patched.  The new anchors should be camo'd and if at all possible not be visible from the trail.  



I think the old anchor is good ,the major concern is the loose rock above.  If new anchors are added they will most likely be over the lip and result in at least some part of the rope running over the rock.  The Pinnacles are well know for wearing out ropes.  I almost always use an old one down there.



That is my take.

[karl]

One, someone take a push broom up there and give it a good cleaning.

I thought about doing that before.  Nice to see someone has done it.  I guess the hard part is knowing when to stop.  Brad would have to redraw the top of his topo.  

[F4?]

One, someone take a push broom up there and give it a good cleaning. I did this once with a small hand held broom with another route not on the Monolith.

That would be fun. It would make a great picture.

[mungeclimber]

Factor and I were out there today... here are the stations existing in order as I could see them... going right to left along the East rim only.



1. 2 bolts for top of NE Corner route (no chains, set far back)

2. 2 bolt chain station on right side of summit block

3. bolt chain station on rim center of block area

4. bolt chain station on left side of summit block

5. 3 bolt chain station for POD

6. bolt chain station for Foreplay





1 is for NE corner, but could be used for regular route I suppose, though direction is a little off.



2 is the shared station for Regular Route and Richnak's (if taken to summit). Richnak's can pretty much be taken to #3 also.



3 is anchor for Direct



4 is quite a bit back from the rim on the summit block and is the anchor in question I believe.



5 and 6 are self explanatory





Ok, so if one were to move that 4 anchor to the rim from the summit block, I would use a similar chain set up (i.e. LONG) to the other stations. It gives flexibility for sitting on the rim if you want to bring someone up, or it allows hanging the slings just over the lip.

[karl]

Ok, so if one were to move that 4 anchor to the rim from the summit block, I would use a similar chain set up (i.e. LONG) to the other stations. It gives flexibility for sitting on the rim if you want to bring someone up, or it allows hanging the slings just over the lip.

I agree.  I think a set of FIXE chain anchors with rap rings painted to hide would be the best.



HOWEVER, Tom Davis requested Mussy Tow hooks.  So, I could use those or FIXE SPORT ANCHORS.  The fixe sport anchors are beefy, stainless steel, wire gated, climbing specific versions of the mussy hook.  The only advantage is that they don't have the sharp edge on the gate (which can be a problem on slabs).



About anchor #4, I researched David Rubine's and Brad's topo and don't believe that #4 is intended for any route.  I can only speculate that it was intended as a way to get to the POD and foreplay anchors.  However, it is currently used on Subterranean Tango because the POD anchors create to much drag and recieve too much sideways torque from the route.



I'd hate to remove anchor #4, since it is listed in David Rubine's book and they have been there so long that people probably count on them being there.  I assume that people are still using them to move around the top of the monolith.



-------



[for those not put to sleep by my post yet]



What seems best would be to:

     1. Add the anchor using either mussy hooks or FIXE sport anchors (whichever fits best) painted to hide.



     2. Remove the long chains at #4 and replace them with beefy quicklinks or rap rings.  That way we clean up the anchors on top of the monolith, but leave them there for those that use them.







The following is an edited version of Brad's topo for clarification.  



Brad, if this is not ok to show let me know and I'll take it off.

[Brad Young]

Of course it's OK to show. Probably should note that it is an unlabled version (labeling is done after it's put in the book for technical and consistency reasons).



Man, I gotta admit that all of you are bringing me around to thinking this is a good idea. I definitely think that the #4 anchor should be left , even if modified.

[karl]

Man, I gotta admit that all of you are bringing me around to thinking this is a good idea. I definitely think that the #4 anchor should be left , even if modified.

When you think about the entire park, it's not that important.  However, given the amount of climbing done on the monolith and the fact that Terranean gets climbed more than any other route on the monolith it makes sense.





Brad, the topo looks great.  I'd like to note that I stripped the topo to a skeleton to make it easier to see what we are talking about.  I am sure that everyone knows that your topos always have much more detail and will be worth the money.



P.S. I was talking to my friend who works the climbing dept. in the San Francisco REI.  He said that they can't wait to get a new guidebook and that they get requests all the time.  I didn't know that REI can't get any copies of the Rubine book.



Karl

[The Big]

My understanding was #4 was for Subterranean.  I usually go straight up to those anchors.  If anchors are added to the top of Subterranean I really do not see a need for #4.  To me, it seems to add clutter.  The anchors are not needed to walk around the Summit Block since it is easy enough to walk around the back side.



I think if #4 is left people will end up rapping over people that are tr'ing routes with the other anchors.

[F4?]

Funny how things change over time. I used to never have an issue with the anchors because I carried a 30ft chunk of webbing to rig a proper anchor. I think folks have gotten lazy over the years and don't carry long pieces of webbing to rig a proper TR. Mind you that came from growing up TRing at Castle, where if you didn't rig it right, you hozed your rope.



Hey Brad, I think the boulder is really a bit to the left than in your topo, close enough for gov work.



This weekend was a zoo at the monolith. Munge and I were happy to get some solitude at the backdoor.



I took Munge on my new variation to the regular route. Start up Cantaloupe Death. Do a 2nd pitch of either the piton traverse or the 5.5 knobs up the face / arete.

[karl]

Funny how things change over time. I used to never have an issue with the anchors because I carried a 30ft chunk of webbing to rig a proper anchor.

I remember pulling coiled-rope-sized bundles of webbing out of my pack.  They came in two colors; ugly and fluorescent.  Two widths; 1" and seatbelt.  And every climber worth his salt would take the time to make it into a beautiful looking chain with a little twist and fold (ready for the next route).  I remember my longest one was only 25' (52' tied with a water knot).  I used to have to rely on others to "sling" the rather large "pebble" on top of goat rock.



Times have changed greatly.  Our sport is getting more popular and people are showing up with less information and preparation than before.  I've seen people trying to top-rope through the single link at the end of the chains on anchor #4.  :shock:

[mungeclimber]

there was  a group that had clipped over the a double sling on the two bolts. i.e. not thru magic x part, but over the whole sling itself. probably not going to fail, but it showed a lack of understanding of the principles involved.



there was another gal there that had a busted foot. still climbing on Mono. way rad dedication.

[mungeclimber]

I took Munge on my new variation to the regular route. Start up Cantaloupe Death. Do a 2nd pitch of either the piton traverse or the 5.5 knobs up the face / arete.

Wonder what the FA artists might think of you climbing their NE Corner route 'my new variation'?



   

[F4?]

Wonder what the FA artists might think of you climbing their NE Corner route 'my new variation'?

"my" is the key word as it's a personal route, no claims of doing something new as far as the history of Pinns goes.

[mungeclimber]

What is a personal route?  :?

[The Big]

It is kinda like a personal moment but different.

[mungeclimber]

my bad.



I leave you to yourself.



 

[karl]

I think if #4 is left people will end up rapping over people that are tr'ing routes with the other anchors.

Mr Mud,



I didn't see this before.  #4 still can be removed.  



However, after spending my day up there, I'd hate to try to get up and back to the summit block from POD or Terranean without it.  There is a lot of really loose rock and easy, but costly scrambling up there.



Also, anyone about to rap from the summit block would be able to see the top rope on the anchors below.  They wouldn't even be rapping on that side of the block if they hadn't climbed one of the routes on the main face.  The direct route even has it's own rap station.  



The only way this could be a problem would be if they had climbed the regular route with the intention of setting up a top rope on the main face and they didn't see anyone over there.  But I'm sure at the first sounds of scrambling or kicked rock, someone would correct that situation.  



I had to deal with people walking over the top of me when I was bolting Gorillas.  I always was polite and would say, "Pardon me, but there are climbers down here.  Would you mind not kicking anymore rocks my way.  Thank you ever so much."  Or something like that

[The Big]

Wow, I usually yell something like; you rotten no good scum suckin, sport climbing, wanna be, pin headed @$%^$# go #$@^*#$% and DIE.  If you knock of any more rocks $%#@$&#@^  then #$@%$.  



Perhaps I should try your style sometime and see if I have better results.

I had to deal with people walking over the top of me when I was bolting Gorillas.  I always was polite and would say, "Pardon me, but there are climbers down here.  Would you mind not kicking anymore rocks my way.  Thank you ever so much."  Or something like that