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Moonlight Buttress 12 hour Solo Trip Report

Original Post
JeffL · · Salt Lake City · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 65
gavinsmith · · Toronto, Ontario · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 86

Damn, I don't understand at least 1/3 of what you were doing, but this season will be the season of strengthening my trad lead and starting aid for me, so it's interesting to see where it may take me. Great report.

Stagg54 Taggart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 10

that's quite an adventure.

Apparently your risk tolerance is much higher than mine.

Travis Haussener · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2012 · Points: 60

Nice man, definitely on my list!!

Also spend the extra bucks and buy the silent partner, you won't regret it.

Steve Murphy · · Timnath, CO · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 20

Awesome job, especially on the 3-aider system, and nice bonus you had a group nearby to grab photos of you!

Highlander · · Ouray, CO · Joined Apr 2008 · Points: 256

Why in the hell would you rap in the dark, with I am assuming only 1 rope, when you could casually walk down a nice trail?
Sounds like you skirted disaster several times and got really lucky. I am sure you learned a lot and won't make a lot of the same mistakes in the future.

Otherwise nice job and glad your still with us, be safe out there.

Nico C · · mt shasta, ca · Joined May 2013 · Points: 55

Yikes! please be more careful dude

MP · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 2

I can't quite tell if this trip report is an elaborate troll...

regardless--friends don't let friends aid moonlight buttress. It's one of the best long free routes, and sandstone is pretty fragile. Let's protect this gem.

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330
Steve Levin wrote: Do not use this trip report for anything other than as an example of how NOT to aid climb.
^^This. This TR is about as sketchy as they come. Please learn how to aid properly before someone has to rescue you worse.
gavinsmith · · Toronto, Ontario · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 86
Steve Levin wrote: Do not use this trip report for anything other than as an example of how NOT to aid climb.
Not about to take my learnings from trip reports, that would just be silly.

What would be useful is a breakdown of the particular techniques deemed dangerous/unnecessary (other than solo aiding the route and rapping instead of walking as a whole), but I don't expect a write-up of that of course.
Daniel Winder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 101

Jeff,

You aided the start of P2 with only a purple C3? WHOA... That's some serious ledge fall/F2 potential. A4 move like that. I didn't understand why you had to lower out to clean. Is it because you were backcleaning so aggressively? Why backclean all the bolts on the bolt ladder when rope drag isn't a concern? I too question the decision to rap into the dark with a single rope when it's the easiest big wall walk-off on the face of the earth.

Still, under 12 hours is really hauling ass for your first time. But please be careful out there man.

Steve Murphy · · Timnath, CO · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 20

Hmm, never mind, I guess. Didn't realize the sandstone in Zion was that soft or the OP was that inexperienced (though the jugging issues should have been a dead giveaway). Still, nice job on the speed and, well, surviving.

Stagg54 Taggart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 10
Steve Levin wrote:Let me get this right: You are a beginning aid climber who decided to aid solo without a rope, using daisies, on Navajo sandstone, because you don't know how to jug? Crazy dumb. I have had seemingly perfect A1 cams pop on me aid climbing in Zion. Consider the forces you would have generated on your lower 2 daisies had you fallen! "No Retreat, No Surrender" is an attitude that will get you killed climbing, especially solo climbing. Step back and reassess your approach to climbing, or find someone who can show you how to climb safely. Sorry to sound so harsh.
That is exactly what I was thinking, but I was trying to be nice...

You do have to give the guy some credit though - 12 hours is pretty impressive. For all the craziness, he pulled it off. The kid has some balls (maybe just not enough brains to go with them).
Stagg54 Taggart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 10

Jeff,
Big climbs are always good learning experiences. I'm sure you've learned a lot. The most important part of the learning comes from realizing when you were able to surmount the challenge due to your skill and preparation and when you were just simply lucky. In case you haven't figured it out yet, you were just really lucky. I appreciate your enthusiasm, keep it up. But, please be a little more careful in the future.

Jacob Smith · · Seattle, WA · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 230

A couple general notes

No Retreat, No Surrender" - I can think of a couple famous climbers who lived by that motto, and they are dead. They accomplished some crazy shit first, but would you rather be Walter Bonatti or Jerzy Kukuczka?

Learning to aid solo is always a bit sketchy but most of us work through it at a local crag, not on a mega-classic big wall in an area with notoriously bad rock.

Read some Andy Kirkpatrick, it will make you never solo with a grigri again.

Despite what some responders seem to think, aid soloing without a rope is a thing, El Cap was soloed without a rope earlier than you might think, can't remember by whom. I think there is a reason almost no one does it though.

I am not 100% sure this is not a troll. Innocent until proven guilty, but my god, it reads like a troll.

SteveZ · · Excelsior, MN · Joined Sep 2007 · Points: 431
Jacob Smith wrote:Despite what some responders seem to think, aid soloing without a rope is a thing, El Cap was soloed without a rope earlier than you might think, can't remember by whom.
True, however there is a huge difference between doing so on Yos granite and Zion sandstone.

Guy sounds psyched and that's admirable... but of course you can (should?) be psyched and still practice the basics like jugging/safe aid solo techniques too. Creating extra risk may not be the best avenue to adventure?

I love reading trip reports, thanks for posting up.
Stagg54 Taggart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 10
SteveZ wrote: True, however there is a huge difference between doing so on Yos granite and Zion sandstone. Guy sounds psyched and that's admirable... but of course you can (should?) be psyched and still practice the basics like jugging/safe aid solo techniques too. Creating extra risk may not be the best avenue to adventure? I love reading trip reports, thanks for posting up.
His enthusiasm is definitely contagious.
JeffL · · Salt Lake City · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 65

Thanks for the feedback, although I'm quite surprised. Steve, thank you for the input in what you didn't like and why. As far as a few more details, I placed a cam as pro prior to the purple c3 aid move, no ledge or ff2 potential there. The ropeless movement was for efficiency, I feel that the use of screamers mitigated risk. I do need to learn to jug better, no doubt about it. I used a quickdraw while down jumaring, as well as lockers to keep the rope attached. I have previously led a wall, prodigal sun, as well as practices aiding on single pitch. I chose to rap because my car would be an extra mile or more up canyon from the grotto decent.

I look forward to learning more about what Andy K says about the grigri, I thought that was the short fixing tool of choice. Although my experience in aid is limited, I really don't think I ever put myself in a situation where I didn't have an out. I am an exceptionaly quick learner and have been told that I have a skill in the way I analyze and evaluate risk. Perhaps the way that I worded the TR caused some readers some grief. As I said, I definitely learned a lot, but I still maintain that the biggest risk I took that weekend was driving in a car 300 miles.

Brian in SLC · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Oct 2003 · Points: 21,711
JeffL wrote:I chose to rap because my car would be an extra mile or more up canyon from the grotto decent.
Not a very good reason...IMHO. Its a paved trail down. And, a flat easy walk back to the car.

Good on ya for the psyche and livin' through it...!
John McNamee · · Littleton, CO · Joined Jul 2002 · Points: 1,690

I've hesitated to comment on this but feel I should ...

I think if you ever take a daisy fall you will be surprised on how much force is generated. Even great looking cams can pull and the shock impact on other pieces and your body is like nothing else. I've watched c3's melt out sandstone placements while just standing on them.

I would never ever consider using the 3 aider without a rope technique in even the best sandstone in Zion. It's just not safe.

Buy yourself a copy of Andy Kirkpatrick's Me, Myself and I.

Consider this a your one free lesson that you got away with. Learn to climb with a margin of safety. Climbing is supposed to be a fun pastime but there is no point going out there and trying to kill yourself because of a lack of understanding of the risks involved.

Be safe and live long.

Kurt Arend · · Las Vegas, Nv · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 150

Ha this guy is nuts... good on you mate! soloing with the gri gri is fine, just use a steel biner (less chance of one breaking in a fall) and all you silent partner guys... just broke mine this spring on El Cap. Normal fall and wham it was broke. So the lesson is tie a back up knot. Hey if the guy wants to solo this way then go for it. Bigger balls then me... I have stood on way too many A1 cams in zion that have pulled and taken the plunge. Rapping moonlight is no biggie, we rapped Ball and Chain whenever we where working on the free ascent of the route. When we did a new route on Angels Landing we rapped it back to the car. Way easier then that fucking trail! Sorry I hate to hike too. Good job man, watch yourself cause the demons are always lurking...

KurtBurt

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Big Wall and Aid Climbing
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