Closed to climbing, March 15 - June 30 MORE INFO >>>
This area is closed March 15 - June 30 for nesting pregerine falcons.
Keith Hoek leads Chiboni
Description
Chiboni is a wonderfully challenging pitch of slab climbing at the base of Rappel Rock. You can use this as a starting pitch for any of the lines that head for the tree ledge where the Standard Route/Black Quacker end their first pitches. Start a bit left of the toe of the buttress, move up and around the right end of a low roof and then up the undulating face above. As I said above, there are some good stretches between bolts and you'll have to keep your head about you. A Rap Rock classic!!
Apparently a Chiboni is a sort of Russian bagpipe also called a Gudastviri. Not sure if that's where the name came from, just what a web search turned up. The gudastviri is a droneless, double-chantered, horn-belled bagpipe played in Georgia. The term comes from the words guda (bag) and stviri (whistling). In some regions, the instrument is called the chiboni, stviri, or tulumi.
Hey greg...I did VC back when it was rusty buttonheads !
Assuming the bolts are still where they were, I would classify VC as "mentally absorbing" rather than scary. Where it's 5.11a, the bolt is nearby. As you get above the bolt, the climbing gets easier at exactly the rate necessary to keep panic at bay as the bolt recedes. After doing the 5.6 moves to gain the ledge I looked down and saw nothing but rope, the bolt was out of sight. Perfect. The day I did the Chiboni/QD/VC combo, Steiger was there making drawings for his guidebook. The Summit Hut guide said VC was 5.10 but I had heard it was harder. I yelled down to John "Hey is that 5.11 ?". He said "Yes". I said "cool, my first 5.11 flash". He said "Mine too !".
Jbak, great anecdote. Isn't it amazing how the farther you get above the gear the more likly it becomes your going to onsite the pitch. I miss the old days sometimes. It's too easy to go out and clip bolts now. No more pumping yourself up for the "headpoint". Times change, I've gone to the dark side, like so many others. Every now and then it's good to jump on a route like Voodoo Child or Straight Arrow. Just you remind yourself of the way things were, "back in the day".
James if you like slabs the place to go is Out of Towners Dome in the East Stronghold. Not only the best but probably also the hardest. The other good ones on Rap are Voodoo Child and Black Magic Woman
Rappel Rock
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