Newly Established and Found Routes (Since the '07 Guidebook)

[Brad Young]

I added six routes to the list today. All six are at Spike's Peak in the High Peaks. All six are also great examples of why YOU PEOPLE should stop climbing at Pinnacles in the summer, when I can't be there:

-  560.43  Razorback 5.11a ***

-  560.61  Squealer Squeezer 5.4

-  560.63  Pockety Peccary  5.7 *

-  560.64  Swine Flue  5.10a **

-  560.65  Bacon Bits  5.8 **

-  560.67  Dances With Warthogs  5.10a ***

[JC w KC redux]

I discovered a few disturbing problems at Crud and Mud while I was climbing and working out there yesterday.

I thought I could see something on the Bottoms Up summit section single ring anchor from Mud Brother when I was working on that back in June. Unfortunately I was right.

Here is the latest Darwin Award candidate





Which motivated me to convert the single ring anchor (meant for downclimbing back to the rappel anchor) to this





I replaced the single ring anchor with a regular hanger and screwlink with a 5 link chain and added a half inch sleeve bolt lower with a screwlink and a single link of chain. The anchor is set to rappel back to the lower rappel anchor. I didn't want to do this, since the lower anchor is only about 20 feet down but it gave me the creeps thinking about how people might be using the single ring anchor. It was never intended for rappel.
I have a request in to Brad to modify the current description(below) to reflect the changes.

325.38  Bottoms Up  5.7 *  This route climbs to and then past the Shoo Fly Slab two-bolt rappel anchor.  Start near the top of the gully between Crud and Mud’s middle and south summits.  Two bolts and slung knobs protect climbing up and left and then up to the notch and the rappel anchor.  Continue past this to the summit above.  A single ring-anchor style bolt there allows a belayed downclimb back to the rappel anchor.


The other thing I noticed is that people have been using the rappel anchor for Just Chute Me and the Class 4 Route incorrectly. One of the hangers was turned toward Ashes the Mud and I and the bolt had been worked loose. The chains and hangers are not set in that direction and the chain lengths will not equalize that way. I returned the hangers to their proper orientation and tightened the bolt. As a result, I will be placing a separate anchor to service Ashes the Mud and I soon, so that this does not continue to happen. I think Ashes the Mud and I will see a lot of traffic in the coming years. I climbed it again yesterday and it always puts a smile on my face.


Here is another shot folks might find interesting. From the staging area at Ashes the Mud and I, I could see the drill dust from my work replacing the only lead bolt on the Tadpole's 5.7X route during the PCAD weekend.

[Brad Young]

Damn dude, are you just trying to drag me into Pinnacles season or what? It's so gorgeous up here that it's hard to justify coming down there. I guess I'm going to have to soon though (the best option is if it would turn to winter, or at least winter-like conditions so that the decision would be easy).

Got a bunch of old rusty bolts removed at Herring Creek Dome today. Nice half inch stainless replacements. And I was in shorts most of the day.

I'll likely call you tomorrow for help with modifying the description (I just got home from up the hill).

[JC w KC redux]

Damn dude, are you just trying to drag me into Pinnacles season or what?

Got a bunch of old rusty bolts removed at Herring Creek Dome today. Nice half inch stainless replacements. And I was in shorts most of the day.

I'll likely call you tomorrow for help with modifying the description (I just got home from up the hill).

Nice job on the rebolting.

Sorry Bubba. You can blame Cochran (not really). He can barely get off the ground these days  

I forgot to mention in my previous post that we were actually cold yesterday up on the Crud. It was a high of 70 at 2:30 and up until then it was cool, overcast and WINDY. I was actually shivering in a t shirt and long pants. Looks like it only hit 72 today - another missed opportunity for some mud creeeepin. We were ready to come home after 4 days out (out of food and booze) and you know what picky eaters and drinkers we are  
Dang! I really wanted to hit Casper and Halloweenie tomorrow but Kat is spending the day with baby raisin snail (aka beanita)

Taking some kids out Thursday with Mike from the gym (group from Rancho Cielo) as part of our ongoing PCAD mission.

[JC w KC redux]

I placed a separate, dedicated anchor at the top of Ashes the Mud and I yesterday after discovering that people had been rappelling off the back side anchor in the wrong direction presumably to avoid the walkoff and/or repeating the approach back up the gully. One of the ASCA bolts I placed and torqued to replace the old anchor on the formation had been loosened by someone turning the chains toward Ashes - a 90 degree rotation from the equalized setup. That anchor services the routes Just Chute Me and the East Side and was never meant to be used in the direction I found it. I re-torqued the loose bolt after re-situating the hanger and the chain back to their proper orientation. We did not have a full rope to rappel off the new anchor, so I don't have a length yet (it is probably around 90 feet). 

[mungeclimber]

Loosened or just rotated through force? Seen it happen. Loctite fixes all evils.

[JC w KC redux]

Loosened or just rotated through force? Seen it happen. Loctite fixes all evils.

Thanks for the suggestion but a dedicated anchor was the best choice here. Now someone climbing the crag can make the approach up the gully and do as many as 6 routes from the staging area at the top.

The bolt and hanger were rotated through force.
All the weight would have been on that bolt since the party was rappelling in a direction never intended for that anchor.
On Pinnacles rock a single act such as this can grind away the surface and leave a tight bolt with a loose hanger (this wasn't the case in this particular instance).
I can think of quite a few sleeve bolts I've inspected where the bolt is tight and can't be tightened further but the hanger is loose.
I've never tried to loctite sleeve bolts.

[Brad Young]

...the bolt and hanger were rotated through force.
All the weight would have been on that bolt since the party was rappelling in a direction never intended for that anchor.

I'd add to the above that all of the weight of the "wrong-direction" rappel was pulling on one hanger at a 90 degree angle. I can't imagine any type of tightening, or Loctite, or even glue or resin that would have kept the hanger in place against that unanticipated type of force.

We both felt that it was odd that someone would rap in that direction (and the rope pull they must have made afterward looked horrific). But such a rap would then put them at the base of the route (instead of having to make a rap off the other side and then spend seven minutes walking back to that same spot). Odd, but then again, trying to anticipate lazy and dumb has always been hard (sincere apologies to the unknown climbers who I just called lazy and dumb, but, if the shoe fits, etc...).

And the Loctite company's own motto? I used to have a tee-shirt from them that said: "Use Loctite or kiss your nuts goodbye."

[Brad Young]

I added six new routes to the list today:

-  322.46  Sod Buster  5.2

-  325.37  Mud, Sweat and Veers  5.0

-  325.39  Pie in the Sky  Class Four

-  325.52  Mud Brother  5.7 **

-  352.51  Didgeridoo  5.3

-  382.1  O Brother Where Art Thou  5.6

I also changed the description for the route Ashes the Mud and I (“Ashes”) which is on the formation Crud and Mud. Ashes joins with another route called Crud and Mud - East Face and the Ashes description now clarifies that the description of East Face is wrong in the 2007 guidebook (and the revision provides a link to the correction of that East Face description on this forum’s “Corrections” thread).

[JC w KC redux]

Looks excellent.

Now on to the next Pie in the Sky route 

[climberdude]

The two bolts on "Didgeridoo" are not visible from below and the first bolt is not visible until very close to it.  A climber who wants to make this safe might want to sling a knob deep within the gully before getting to the first bolt and clip the top anchor before moving onto the top.  There are loose holds before getting to the first bolt, which is quite a ways up.  I wonder why you did not sling the very obvious (most over-used route description word) spike.

JC, nice find on "Pie In The Sky" that did not need any drilling.  FYI, "Mud, Sweat, and Veers" is not 5.0 when done the day after several days of rain.  Even worse, I made the mistake of doing it free solo in its extremely slippery condition.  I suggest waiting several days of warm weather after rain to do this gully climb, which is a water course.

[Brad Young]

The two bolts on "Didgeridoo" are not visible from below and the first bolt is not visible until very close to it.  A climber who wants to make this safe might want to sling a knob deep within the gully before getting to the first bolt and clip the top anchor before moving onto the top.  There are loose holds before getting to the first bolt, which is quite a ways up.  I wonder why you did not sling the very obvious (most over-used route description word) spike.

Sounds like you are back in Pinnacles climbing mode! Nice.

J.C. did the first lead of this and may answer for himself. Meanwhile I could use a break from Photoshop tedium (cleaning a map). He definitely slung a nice knob before the first bolt. We both inspected the spike (looks like a cartoon character's nose) and did not like the fracture behind it's right side.

Notice that I used the phrase "unmistakably-shaped" instead of "obvious?" It is an overused word.

JC, nice find on "Pie In The Sky" that did not need any drilling.  FYI, "Mud, Sweat, and Veers" is not 5.0 when done the day after several days of rain.  Even worse, I made the mistake of doing it free solo in its extremely slippery condition.  I suggest waiting several days of warm weather after rain to do this gully climb, which is a water course.

OMFG, I can't believe you tried Mud, Sweat and Veers right after a rain!? I think I would have been terrified!

[JC w KC redux]

The two bolts on "Didgeridoo" are not visible from below and the first bolt is not visible until very close to it.  

JC, nice find on "Pie In The Sky" that did not need any drilling. 

I was going to climb through without putting any bolts on the route. They forced me to do it.
The initial lead was done without the second bolt.

I had been looking at Pie in the Sky every time I was in that notch. It had to be done. 

[mynameismud]

Pie in the Sky

That is a good Pizza joint right down the road.

[JC w KC redux]

That is a good Pizza joint right down the road.

I'm sure the pizza is vastly superior to the route 

[Brad Young]

I updated/finalized the description for Full Circle just now. I'll try to finish the updated topo and at least post a PDF of it too.

[Gavin]

Nice, Brad. It's good to finally see a description of the completed route... I think the result was well worth our efforts, including our placement of rappel anchors so that folks can climb many of the central wall routes and then rappel back to the ground with just a single rope.

[briham89]

I updated/finalized the description for Full Circle just now

You guys finished it?! How did it go?

[Gavin]

It went well. I hiked out on Sunday and set up a fixed line at the top of the second pitch, and on Monday we used ascenders to quickly jug up to the second pitch anchor. Brad's back was giving him some grief and I was eager to lead, so I pushed up past our first 3 bolts on the third pitch and placed the last 3 bolts. We had enough time for Brad to lower me, and then I redpointed the third pitch for the FFA (after a missed attempt where a couple of large hand- and footholds gave way and I took a decent fall...luckily the rockfall *mostly* missed Brad!)

The third pitch can still use some scrubbing and brushing, but altogether the three pitches of Full Circle are quite fun and sustained. I think its a solid addition to the central wall climbs at Balconies.

[Brad Young]

Mostly missed me. I got hit by some specks and clods. The cantaloupe size piece that pulled off (causing Gavin to fall) was right of him and fell four feet right of me. I was happy that that one missed by a lot.

Pretty routine stuff.