Author Topic: I Just Did the Worst Climb I've Ever Done in My Life (Read 9463 times)

Brad Young · « **on:** April 18, 2007, 07:52:48 PM »

West Face of Seldom Seen Pinnacle 5.8 X. Two pitches both at 5.8 X, and both loose. Dave Harden's been climbing since 1970 and he also thought it was the worst climb he's ever done. Possible, at at least one point, for a lead fall to kill both the leader and the follower. One bolt in 350 feet of climbing. Other than that, a tree down low and cams that were illusions in loose rock. Belays at the top of the first and second pitches were body position only. No gear and no bolts. First Ascent: Denny and Colliver, 1974. Those boys were beyond bold on this one.

F4? · « **Reply #1 on:** April 18, 2007, 08:11:15 PM »

Gee Brad, the rock hasn't gotten better with time?

The things you have to do to get every route in the monument..

karl · « **Reply #2 on:** April 18, 2007, 09:30:07 PM »

Was the FA done with pitons? If so, it may have been safer for them than you.

Maybe, it's better to solo it and hope nothing breaks. At least then, only the "leader" is unsafe. :shock:

mungeclimber · « **Reply #3 on:** April 18, 2007, 10:27:00 PM »

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Brad Young · « **Reply #4 on:** April 19, 2007, 05:57:00 AM »

Karl, I've done a few Denny routes that were just this season "rediscovered" through Clint's discussions with him. (Factor, I think, recalls another such route he did with me earlier this season) These latest few sounded sketch enough that I brought a handful of pins. From the looks of the climb (from below) they wouldn't work so I left them on the ground. I got three cams in the only crack like areas of rock. Pitons would have blown the rock apart there, so I'm not sure I didn't have "better" protection than they had. While I was climbing I was especially attuned to Knifeblade or Lost Arrow placements (out of curiosity), since these are hard to replicate with cams. No dice on the first pitch (the second pitch is pure face climbing).

These two must have been very comfortable on Pinns rock, and used a nearly ultimate "pure" approach. I think Dave and I did the second ascent of the route. Maybe in 30 years it'll get a third.

The Big · « **Reply #5 on:** April 19, 2007, 06:50:36 AM »

Dam, sounds like a classic. Where is it?

Quote from: "Brad Young"

West Face of Seldom Seen Pinnacle 5.8 X. Two pitches both at 5.8 X, and both loose. Dave Harden's been climbing since 1970 and he also thought it was the worst climb he's ever done. Possible, at at least one point, for a lead fall to kill both the leader and the follower. One bolt in 350 feet of climbing. Other than that, a tree down low and cams that were illusions in loose rock. Belays at the top of the first and second pitches were body position only. No gear and no bolts. First Ascent: Denny and Colliver, 1974. Those boys were beyond bold on this one.

F4? · « **Reply #6 on:** April 19, 2007, 02:02:53 PM »

Quote

Karl, I've done a few Denny routes that were just this season "rediscovered" through Clint's discussions with him. (Factor, I think, recalls another such route he did with me earlier this season)

We are all forgetting to bring the "Denny arm" as Warren called it. The guy had a huge reach. Combine that with a little boldness and you've got a heads up route.

Brad Young · « **Reply #7 on:** April 19, 2007, 03:05:22 PM »

The funny thing is Mr Mud, I walked right to the base of this route and several others last December 23, while you were finishing the scrubbing up on SOB. This route in particular faces directly at SOB. Two of the other, nearby routes Denny reported I'd thought might make OK future FA. Three months later I find out they'd already been climbed.

karl · « **Reply #8 on:** April 20, 2007, 12:04:31 AM »

Quote from: "Brad Young"

I think Dave and I did the second ascent of the route. Maybe in 30 years it'll get a third.

Good for you. I am nervous just reading the post.

Brad Young · « **Reply #9 on:** April 20, 2007, 09:34:58 AM »

Yeah, I'm actually glad now to be done with the Pinns season (and, with all the field research for the book!!). Every season I do several climbs down there that are pretty out there on the protection. One only has so much of that kind of mental energy per season, and I'm out of it now until at least November

karl · « **Reply #10 on:** April 20, 2007, 09:44:05 AM »

Quote from: "Brad Young"

One only has so much of that kind of mental energy per season, and I'm out of it now until at least November

You mean that your not going to switch to hard aid in the valley? At least that gear can hold sometimes. Maybe you'll find A3 a comfortable hike in comparison.

Brad Young · « **Reply #11 on:** April 20, 2007, 10:03:02 AM »

I've done a fair amount of A4 and lots of A3 in the Valley. I've also done Premeditated in Pinns, another fairly tenous aid climb.

The comparison is interesting. Granite aid placements, and Pinnacles free climbing holds both can just blow with no warning. Unlike most falls free climbing, there is no warning - you're suddenly just airborne. I call it the "ticking time bomb effect."

The bigger difference is the angle. Most A3 and A4 is steeper and falls can be long, but often you wouldn't hit anything. At Pinns the falls can be like sliding down a cheese grater. My friend Jim took a 45 foot tumbler last month on Vin Ordinaire. A hold broke. He could have died, but somehow hit full on on the whole meat of his back, square to the rock at the base. Walked out. But the torn and ripped flesh on his palms and other body parts was a sight not to see.

mungeclimber · « **Reply #12 on:** April 20, 2007, 10:05:03 AM »

oh shit, I didn't know that's why he was out of commish.

are we talking Mc Jim? or Lund?

Brad Young · « **Reply #13 on:** April 20, 2007, 10:11:44 AM »

The one that lives up here. We were there with several families, doing mostly easy stuff with the kids. Luckily only Jim's girlfriend and I (and Jim himself) saw the actual fall. Steve took photos that I haven't been able to look at. Email him and I bet he'd forward them to you.

mungeclimber · « **Reply #14 on:** April 20, 2007, 10:29:05 AM »

oh, ok.

damn, that's a brutal slide.

Brad Young · « **Reply #15 on:** April 20, 2007, 12:47:05 PM »

It was more of a cartwheeling tumble. Just like the cartwheeling tumble I saw Factor take, but Uber "snatched" Factor out of the air before he hit anything solid (Uber indeed! Never seen anything quite like that save!). Jim hit a large block of rock at the base. If he'd hit it head on instead, he'd have died for sure.

Uncle Stinky · « **Reply #16 on:** April 20, 2007, 06:41:36 PM »

Hey Brad - I remember hearing that Glen Denny learned to climb on Sonora Pass. Any truth to that?

Brad Young · « **Reply #17 on:** April 20, 2007, 06:52:57 PM »

Interesting. I have absolutely no idea! Where did you hear that?

Uncle Stinky · « **Reply #18 on:** April 21, 2007, 04:00:24 PM »

Years ago when I climbed with Dale Kaiser I think he said that Glenn was a TA of his or student and had gone on to climb bigger and better thing. At that time I didn't really know the name and I could be 100 % wrong. Jeff

Clint Cummins · « **Reply #19 on:** April 22, 2007, 09:44:25 PM »

Quote from: "Uncle Stinky"

Years ago when I climbed with Dale Kaiser I think he said that Glenn was a TA of his or student and had gone on to climb bigger and better thing. At that time I didn't really know the name and I could be 100 % wrong. Jeff

Was this Dale Kaiser a prof. at Stanford, i.e. Chris Kaiser's dad? I climbed with Chris in the 70s.

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Author Topic: I Just Did the Worst Climb I've Ever Done in My Life (Read 9463 times)