Liberty Crack questions?

Hi,

Looking to do Liberty Crack on Liberty Bell.  Are there any ok bivy ledges on route?  I realize it gets done in a day, but i will likely be solo.  Not sure i could pull it off in a day solo even with fixing the first two.  

Thanks 

jlind wrote:

Hi,

Looking to do Liberty Crack on Liberty Bell.  Are there any ok bivy ledges on route?  I realize it gets done in a day, but i will likely be solo.  Not sure i could pull it off in a day solo even with fixing the first two.  

Thanks 

Contact ncmountainguides.com and ask. It's in their backyard. They'd be happy to help, even if you're not a client.

Not until you are on the rambly traverse terrain just below the summit. Hauling a large overnight bag on the final 3rd of the climb might be your crux. 

Consider just waiting until you're competent at 5.10 cracks and and corners, then climbing it as a "free" climb in a day after aiding the 5.13 start. 

You could have a blast soloing the first 5 or 6 pitches (or even just the first 3) and still be able to rap straight down to the base.  No need to haul. 

But it is a busy route and may not be the best choice. 

I recently acquired a silent partner.  I have done some lead solo with a soloist as well as a grigri.  The silent partner rocks.  After looking at a topo, i like both your ideas. 

I would probably still require a small bag for shoes, water, aid garbage, shell.  However, that is not really hauling   

Thanks

iirc, there might be a bit of a ledge  just above the 10a section of the 4th pitch, just before you start up the fun sort of widish 5.8 LF corner(?), and maybe another really small ledge at the end of that pitch, which i think is before the 5.6 pitch(?). 

that being said, it would completely lick balls to do any real hauling above the first 3 or 4 pitches.

fix and fire would probably be the way to go.  if you have a 200m static, or even just some crappy old ropes you could get pretty high the first day.

you would want do it mid week to try to avoid people. particularly if you are rope soloing.

another option, if it is during the hot season would be a no frills puffy only bivy. there are several smallish ledges and the big chockstone that you might be able to suffer on for a few hours. a lot of those nights dont get too chilly, and it gets early sun.

You can also fix the first two or three pitches, spend the night back on the ground, then jug early in the morning and blast to the top.  

I seem to recall a pretty decent ledge atop pitch 5 or 6 of freedom rider that we traversed over from into Liberty crack, I want to think it was big enough for us to sit on side by side with room and just around the corner of the middle of the pitch below the last 5.10 pitch.  Someone whos been up there more recently may know how hard it may be to find. 

While there are certainly places you could sit down, there's not really anywhere that would be all that great for a comfortable night's sleep.  You could also just climb it in a push.  If you started in the middle of the night, the route finding is really easy down low and very doable in the dark.  Especially if you take a hike to the base (30 minutes) to scope it in daylight beforehand. (or maybe check it out from the overlook with binoculars) It really only gets tricky above pitch 4 or 5 and even then, it's not too hard to figure out.

I've bivvied twice at a small ledge at the end of what was for us was our eighth pitch.  the ledge is small, but room for two to sit comfortably dangling their feet over the edge - ledge might be about 2'x5'.  The sweet detail is that its sheltered by a roof just above -- the second time I bivvied there was late season, and it snowed about 6" overnight - we never knew it had snowed until we woke up the following morning!  a really fun bivvy - with a great view east. if all you're hauling is light summer bivvy gear, its not that big a deal, in fact if you go light, the second can jug with a moderate pack.and completely eliminate hauling.  fun "introduction to wall climbing", or if you just want to climb at a casual pace.