Leonids Speed Record

Not sure if anyone is keeping track of speed records for this route, but my buddy and I were able to do this thing in just under 12hrs car to car last Thursday. Somewhat of an unknown-classic, it is truly a fantastic route that deserves to see more traffic. In case you're interested, here's a mini-trip report with some quality beta:

6:00am - 2hrs to sunrise - 56 degrees
The alpine start was an absolute necessity with mid day temperatures soaring into the low 70's. Racking up in the car and stripping down to our underwear (cutting weight is paramount) for the hike really gave us an edge.

8:30am - 30 min after Sunrise - 60 degrees
The sun rose as we made our way up the switch-backs. Beautiful alpine light drew shadows on the wall as we switched our headlamps into off mode.

9:00am - 8 hrs to sunset - 62 degrees
We charged the hike out in just under three hours, uncovered our stashed water and food and began looking for the route. It was easily distinguished as the bolt line starting at the base and going up the cliff face. I lost the coin toss, so i had to lead first. I wrapped my jacket over my shoulders cape-style, strapped my oxygyms on tight and secured my skateboard helmet. I snuck an extra cliff-bar in the front pocket of my underwear for emergency purposes and began the journey to the first bolt.

9:25am - 7.5hrs to sunset - 62 degrees
I finally made it to the first bolt after repetitively down climbing to the ground to chalk-up, re-read the topo and figure out the next move. After a few good bounce tests I decided these things could take at least body weight and continued up the feature-less face.

10:30am -6.5hrs to sunset - 65 degrees
By the time I reached the anchor below Triton tower the rope drag was heinous. In retrospect I think this was due in part to my practice of clipping two draws (opposite an opposed, of course) to each bolt and climbing on twin 9.8 50m ropes. Next time i'll only double-up the draws every third bolt. I used two of my 20ft cordolettes to build the standard double-cordalette-quad-rig (the octa-rig), clove hitched myself to both bolts and the master-points (yes there are two with this set-up) and belayed my partner up with both gri-gri's off of the master-points.

1:45pm - 3hrs to sunset - 72 degrees
We cruised the next two pitches to the base of the traverse. Stopping to re-apply sunscreen only twice really boosted our efficiency through this section.

2:45pm - 2hrs to sunset - 73 degrees
The last pitch gave us a bit of trouble, but we were able to prevail in the end. I was really glad I brought a spare .5, .75, 1 and 2 to aid through the run-out between bolts. We exchanged fist-bumps, ate our front-pocket cliff bars, and checked the time. A mere 6hrs on route!

4:00pm - 1hr to sunset - 70 degrees
After our summit celebration and obligatory Instagram shot (#rockclimbing#speedrecord) we rapped down the trition tower and back to the ground. The free-hanging section was ultra spooky, especially because our twin 50m ropes barely made it in a few places (#alwaystieknots)! Back on solid ground we exchanged hugs, inspected our gear for damage and slung our harnesses over our shoulders for the hike out. We only stopped a couple times to remove pebbles from the climbing shoes we were hiking in and admire the fading light of such a glorious thursday spend in the back-country.

5:45 - 45 min after nightfall - 67 degrees
Our headlamps pierced the night, finally landing on the familiar edges of my trusty 1983 Corolla. Back in the car we checked our watches again as we pulled our pants on. just under 10 hrs. We were exhausted, dehydrated and chapped, but we had done it. All the hard work had paid off. We drove home recounting the days events, talking efficiency and thinking about the future of alpinism.

Our rack:
Twin 9.8 50m ropes, 30 quick-draws (10 with locking biners), 10 alpine draws, 5 cordolettes, 3 double length runners, three Metolious PAS's, 15 locking carabiners, 5 non-locking carabiners, 2 rap-rings, 4 gri-gris, 2 ATC's, pair of walkie-talkies, 2 rolls of tape, 2 pb&J sandwiches, 25 cliff-bars (chocolate chip only, the other flavors suck), belay gloves, belay goggles, 2 helmets, 2 headlamps, bear-spray, my lucky necklace and 2 pairs of exofficio underwear.

Have they contacted you about your piolet d'or yet? It has to be imminent. If not that, at least a Pulitzer for your writing.

William...you indicated that your time was 12 hours car to car in your 1st paragraph, but state in the 2nd to last paragraph that just after pulling your pants on and checking your watch that the time was 10 hours. Which is it? If it's 12 hrs we have time to take a break and have a beer, otherwise my partner and I need to have our cocktail on the run.

Great day out! The rack listed above by William Dabbert is perfect. We were able to leave the tape rolls behind by taping up at the car. 

No back up wakie talkie, bad move.

YShould'veD™™™

exofficios! Love them... Sometimes I'll even rock a pair to work when I really want to #gsd but usually I just rock the tighty whities and surf mp

Wasn't sure until Oxygyms. You had me for a second.

classic dabbert

WTF, You stashed water and food. That violates the well established rules regarding self-aggrandizing records. Epic fail. 

Just re-read this...pretty sure you climbed Meteor

Writing this from Bill's account while at work was one of my crowning achievements during my time in SD