So here I am years later still stoked on this little adventure, it was a greatly rewarding trip for me. Others expressed doubt as to the value of my adventure. Jeff Achey was kind enuff to print I was simply "...a new climber getting lost on an old route." Warm fuzzies for sure.
I started out trying to repeat Jim Beyer's Black Planet route, but found some new stuff en route.
Start up the Air Voyage/Diagonal ramp for two pitches. 400 ft. 5th class
P3 chimney as per Black Planet. Short pitch
P4 Beak and hook left and slightly down until a solid TCU is reached. Penji off this to an A1 corner, back clean, belay. I believe Black Planet moves straight up off this belay(belay 3), I saw fixed heads above me. The belay is shared.
P5 Climb up 20 feet of sweet LA's to a point were the crack runs out. Black Planet moves st8 up here. White Devil hooks str8 left into free climbing. Belay on ledge.
P6 Dances left, belay on ledge. Natural bivi.
P7 Climbs a mega 5.6ish flake. Downclimb left side of flake and run it out up to the big ledge.
P7a Move belay to right sidde of ledge.
P8 I tried to squeeze a new free pitch here between the original Air Voyage chimney and the Air Voyage variation I climbed when doing that route. That variation tip toed under a number 7 (or backwards cant remembr) shaped roof. Maybe it is new, maybe not, 5.8r for sure and climbs directly to the leftward rail traverse on Air Voyage.
P9 Black Planet pitchThis gave me fits, bad rock requiring 5.10 climbing, sparse pro, self belaying with grigri... good times. Really had to cowboy up on this one.
P10 Black Planet pitch. Bouldering off of the belay with no gear. Belay below desperate seam on ramp.
P11 Black Planet pitch. THE BUSINESS! Very tenous and hard heading for maybe 80 feet over a ledge, then some gear, then some thin A2+ to anchor. Fixed blade and world's most tipped out beak are in situ. It got dark on me on this pitch. Being strung out and in the dark I came to a string of heads moving str8 right then up. Figuring I missed the anchor I cowardly added a single bolt. The natural anchor is available 6 feet up and slightly left of this point, you lower off this anchor to begin the next pitch. DFU!!!
P12 Black Planet Pitch. My favorite on the route. Heads in a seam ending in a A2 grovel. Belay behind large flake.
P13 I put up the majority of a new pitch moving right off of the anchor and traversing a ledge. Wound up bailing and following Beyer 5.11 pitch. Also had a mental meltdown here when I couldnt free climb 5.6....wuss.
P14 Unclear where Beyer route goes, Robbie Williams told me it connects into Air City roof here. I moved str8 right off of belay and negotiated the "Pacman roof". BIG AIR!!!!ending in OW groveling.
Beyer's topo indicates you have topped out now, I found two more pitches.
P15 A pitch so good it needs a name, but alas, it doesn't. Steep mixed fraid climbing (mixed free/aid) culminates in a difficult guano mantle. Turn the roof into the horizontal bands. I was free climbing here with a large rack, and again cruxed out mentally/physically. Copp or Pennings free this at 11+, I however added two rivets after a bivi.
P16 Some free climbing, pulling on gear in a womb slot, and a nice hand crack deposit you on the rim.
1 bolt added at belay 11, 2 rivets on P15= total hole count. Beyer added a few enchanted hooks. Pretty natural line.
So whether its a new line, variation, or me being lost I don't care. I hope some next generation aid geek repeats this. All of the heads are fixed (so do it in a push!) and not all are great. If anyone needs more info or a real topo email me.
White devil on a Black planet...aren't we all!
Protection
Weeks worth of your favorite wall vice. Heads/hooksdouble set of stuff to #4.5 Camalot.
So, now that you've included this route I assume the nightmares have subsided. Have the moments of sanity left you too? The ones that occasionally entered into that peanut of yours telling you that perhaps you might live longer if you just stayed away from hard aid. Where have they gone? I remember your eyes after this adventure. Fear doesn't begin to discribe the look of horror you had. I remember the heartfelt discussion we had when you returned. Something about how stupid aid climbing was and how women and careers might be better pursuits. Something changed in you that trip. And as I recall not much later it changed right back! Now, I got you callin' me for more of this B.S. OK! I give! Let's meet at the base of High and Dry tomorrow. Noon sound good? Do it in a day? We got it! Heeee, heeeee! Really though, it always sounded like a good adventure but for gods sake you'd have to be an idiot to repeat yours or [Beyer's] route. What is it that makes a man go hang off shitty heads above a ledge without an audience or even a partner? Stupidity? A [screaming] cry to be noticed? Or, I think in your case, just a fine desire to see where we might go if we summoned up a little motivation and went for it? Nicely done chachie! I'll add some photos soon.
Any new grade 5 or 6 in the "Black' is impressive. Take into account that this route was done in winter and solo, one could only wonder...what-the-feck were- you-thinking?
North Chasm View Wall
RSS Feed
