First of all I must say do not do this route because you will probably die. If you do this route after reading this, I am not responsible. This is a very serious ie. foolish and down right stupid route to attempt. I lived through it but you probably will not. So be warned, you could die. Gorillas in the schist is located on the left (downstream) side of BVF. There is an obvious weakness that sometimes has ice beneath it. there is one left diagonal crack 2 meters in length in the middle of the route. the route ascends this crack and follows the obvious weakness above it. At this point if you decide to bail you will prove that you have good risk assessment skills and will live to climb another route. If you climb the final 30 feet to the top of the cliffband you will have completed the 2nd ascent of Gorillas in the Schist. This climb was followed by Dawn Glanc and witness by Mike Mcneil. A RC hardman bailed when the pro ran out, smart man. The final 30 feet is a slab with very few features, it is rated x. If you take a ride you will deck out and bleed to death before your lifeless body is dragged to the road.
Protection
gorillas in the schist requires one rack of friends, one set of stoppers, and trad aid gear including: 1 knifeblade, lost arrows, baby angles. The protection is good for the first 50 feet, above that there is no pro for 30 feet to the top of the cliffband. Above cliffband climb 30 feet to tree belay.
I've considered bolting this line and adding a revolutionary grading system; the gorilla. Say the line has 7 bolts, if you clip all the bolts your a chimpanzee, clip 6 bolts your a monkey, 5 bolts an ape, 4 bolts and your donkey kong, 3 bolts and your a gorilla, 2 bolts makes you hominid with advanced functioning, 1 bolt equals silverback, complete this route without clipping any bolts and you can add king kong to your resume.
Sorry about getting you guys so pissed. I do want to apologize to anyone who took offense; I had no idea any of you took any of this so seriously. I like to clip bolts and am grateful to most who put then in. Since april I've climbed over 120 pitches at red rocks, and clipped all the bolts I could. I free climbed el cap and clipped all the bolts; I climbed 50 pitches in the winds and clipped all the fixed pro I found. Mill and Indian creek; the same. I climbed a lot and clipped a lot of bolts; bolts are my friends. I've asked to be erased from this site, so this is my last post. If you read it; believe it. It's about climbing not the personalities. Have fun stay safe. Peace, love, paddle
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Jan 17, 2007
Sorry to see you go, John. I, for one, found your comments to be entertaining and appreciated your levity. Don't let the sportdorks get you down.
Hello FOlks, Hope all is well in the land of cold and no snow. I was just checking out the latest spray and thought I would spray some myself. Miah, Hows it going. I saw your post on Legend of T and found it amuzing. I think the only thing you get style points for is your old trick, you rememeber I am sure, when you used to put your whole package between your legs and bend over to show people your ugly %$#^&^% turkey. Now that was funny. Mike, I saw a pic of your new tatoo, and thought maybe you should get another , maybe a drill bit on your P&^!$. YO John, Whats up. Graig, how you doin, sounds like your keeping up to date on whats going on. As for your remarks about Andy Rather, I would just like to say just because someone climbs 5.14 somewhere doesnt mean he/she can climb really hard everywhere everytime. Look @ Blake, he can climb 5.13 sometimes in the Canyon and only the canyon, He told me once that Durrance at the tower shut him down and its only 5.6. Well anyway just wanted to drop a line and say hello to yall. Take care Oh yeah, If ever anyone wants to come down and climb more than 80 ft of limestone, just drop me a line. Later Brown eye high, out
Yes, I like to keep up to date with good old SD. And yes I'm a geek for doing so, if that's what you were implying. I accept that. You're absolutely right about Andy. However, I would argue that someone who sportclimbs 14c/d and boulders V13 SHOULD be able to climb a 12d/13a sportroute almost anywhere. That would be about the same as me or you getting shut down on an 11b after trying it repeatedly (comparing it to Blake on the Tower is a little different). By the way, I like the idea of the drill bit tattoo...
I'm not making it to El Potrero this winter of that I'm certain. I've been looking at El Gigante though. If your driving through the Southwest stop in and say hey. We'll go do a tower in Sedona, maybe sight a wild turkey. We're living in Flagstaff now. Amazing adventure climbing all over, your kind of place for sure.
Bridalveil Area
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