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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Beast of Burden (5.11c)
By: Dodrill When: Sep 21, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Or you were feeling strong and read the sequence well? It was a consensus .11b until two holds broke. Definitely harder now. Enough to bump a letter grade? I thought so. Maybe not. Needs more consensus.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Body Snatcher (5.12a)
By: Dodrill When: Jun 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Body Snatcher. A dark story by Stevenson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Snatcher
5.12a? Hard to say, but that's about right. Pump off the bulge at the top and your belayer will have to snatch you (exciting, but safe).
Thanks to Eric for his effort making it happen, Bryan and Steven for belay duty and sharing a good adventure.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The
By: Dodrill When: Nov 26, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Updated approach beta: Please don't use the nasty erosion slope approach. Walk another couple hundred yards up the road (you will pass the cliff), and watch for the trail to your left that takes you casually to the crag.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Salt Point State Park : Fisk Mill Cove Bouldering: ...
By: Dodrill When: Oct 1, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: I hate to be the spoiler, but please note that park rangers are not psyched on rock climbing at this site. As a ranger ranted at me... "You guys (climbers) did major defoliation at a site which is (apparently) a sacred native american site." Please be respectful and consider a different location to climb on the coast.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Stone Free (5.12a)
By: Dodrill When: May 17, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Don't clip that piece of history. There's a bolt within reach of the pin stack.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Rampage (5.10c)
By: Dodrill When: May 17, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: First Ascent was by Jeff Follett, in 1995. The original anchor was, and still is, way up on the ledge above the finger crack to the left of the current cold shut anchor.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Old And In The Way (5.11b)
By: Dodrill When: May 14, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: It's not THAT hard. One Crimp and its over. 5.11b.
The climb is the second route RIGHT of the chimney, between Black Hole Sun and Bear's Choice, in other words: RIGHT of BHS and LEFT of Bear's Choice.
Amen.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena
By: Dodrill When: Jan 19, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Random/relevant info:
Parking Lot Elevation: 2408'
GPS: N38.39.146 W122.35.960
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Kill Uncle (5.12a)
By: Dodrill When: Nov 17, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: Staying right above the third bolt, linking to the Arete anchors, makes this a real classic, adds another crux move, and avoids the big hueco pod that breaks up the left finish.
FAist: "Jordy," not Jordie.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Jason and the Argonauts (5.12b)
By: Dodrill When: Nov 17, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: The start has gotten significantly harder over the years as a few holds have broken. Some might suggest a .12c rating is fair. Great route. Thin, no rests.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Salt Point State Park : The Treasure Chest
By: Dodrill When: Jun 2, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: The routes at Treasure Chest are badly in need of consensus grades. Please post up. I managed to flash 5.11 and get totally shut down on .10c here. Perhaps holds/routes have changed?
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Salt Point State Park : Shipwreck Wall : Peg Leg (5.9)
By: Dodrill When: Jun 2, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: Agree that it's 5.10 something. Staples? They are fat titanium glue-ins. Was with Jordy when they were installed. Sweet for salt water environs. I'll venture to add another star to the rating, comparative to N. Coast climbs only. Stop and say HEY in Bodega.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bubble, The
By: Dodrill When: May 7, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: A word on the Bubble, if I may... This is the original climbing area on the mountain and was traditionally a top rope cliff. I know of people climbing here as early as the early '70s, but am sure it was climbed even earlier.
A point of interest is that in 1979, a student was quietly enrolled in a beginning rock climbing class at Pacific Union College, just down the valley in Angwin. Jim Hanson, the instructor (RIP), told me this guy had an uncanny ability with knots and knowledge of gear in th... more >>
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Jekyll and Hyde (5.10b R)
By: Dodrill When: May 1, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: This route now has it's own cold shut anchor, making it MUCH better and less runout up high. You might want an optional finger sized piece of gear still. -Nah, just go for it. :-)
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Far Side, The (Mt. St. Hele...
By: Dodrill When: Mar 25, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: Many of the early routes here were established by Ken Stanton and friends back in the '80s. This isn't a pure "sport" crag. Take some gear with you. There is often ample protection in the horizontal slots. Tri-cams and TCUs are helpful. With this in mind, the X ratings given many of these climbs seem excessive. Most routes do not have lower-off anchors. Its easy to set up top rope anchors for most climbs with long slings, and you can scramble to/from the anchors around the back.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Far Side, The (Mt. St. Hele... : Death to the right (5.10 R)
By: Dodrill When: Mar 25, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: This variation of "Step to the Left" has long been referred to as "Death to the right." Bring some cams. Many of the Far Side routes were established by local climber Ken Stanton in the mid '80s.
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The
By: Dodrill When: Feb 19, 2006 | view comment >> |
Comments: The Bear gets morning sun and afternoon shade. In winter it's best to climb in the sun all morning then go to the Bubble or Crystal Pockets when it gets shady and cold. In summer the hike can be brutally hot but The Bear is great all afternoon, after 2:pm, until dark. Don't forget a headlamp for the hike down. Bring more water than you think you will need and a jacket, even in summer. I'm always either too hot, or too cold up there, especially when fog rolls in.
Bear GPS: N38.39.120 W122.36.65... more >>
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Beast of Burden (5.11c)
By: Dodrill When: Feb 19, 2006 | view comment >> |
Comments: This route is a variation start to Jordy Morgan's route "The Beast" aka "The Gong Show" which starts up the steep crack. I bolted the Beast of Burden variation in 1996 or 1997. The upper bolts of The Beast/GongShow with spinning SMC hangers are originals.
NOTE: In 2005 several key holds broke on this sequential route. The start has been rebolted. There are now five bolts in total. The killer handlebar hold is gone, and a key crimp just above and left of it. I'd call the route .11c now and more... more >>
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Location: CA : SF Bay Area : Mount St. Helena : Bear, The : Jekyll and Hyde (5.10b R)
By: Dodrill When: Feb 19, 2006 | view comment >> |
Comments: Jekyll and Hyde was a route I bolted with Jim Lundeen back in the days when people took gear to the cliff (1996). Finger sized aliens or TCUs take the R rating out of the grade. The original finish for this route and Rampage were to top out on the ledge via a finger crack (small TCU) where you will still find the old anchor, two fat Metolious rap hangers.
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