Gunks: Ribs / Middle Earth Rappel Traffic
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While I was climbing on P1 Middle Earth, a party above called ‘rope on Middle Earth.’ My belayer yelled immediately ‘there is a climber on Middle earth.’ And the rappelling party responded ‘ok, I’ll lower the rope.’ |
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Where would you move the rap to? |
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Sorry to be a wise ass, but your use of the phrase "welted my flank" game me a good laugh (though I'm sure it was painful).... |
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Dillon Schwertz wrote: The routes there all have at least a star and are close to each other. Why I ask if the current location is deemed best. Still I would think farther left toward Faithful Journey. But who knows maybe Faithful is the 5.7+ R that gets climbed 10 times every weekend. |
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Live Perched wrote: Ah you're saying move it like, just a few feet off to the side then. I was just curious where you thought might be better. I have no say in any of this stuff ha. |
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I saw this happen! My partner and I were collecting our stuff from the base of Wonderland when the rope was dropped on you. I thought your partner overstated her outrage just a bit-- she told them they weren't even supposed to rap there, which I don't think is really true given the bolted rap station that is installed. But this is just a quibble-- they shouldn't have dropped the rope end on a leading climber, AFTER they'd been warned and they indicated they understood! And then the first guy who rapped down wasn't remotely apologetic. |
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Middle Earth is basically a one pitch climb now. As I understand it the upper pitches aren't doable any more. My recommendation would be to move it to the left over, say Wonderland or Wisecrack which receive less traffic. |
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For reference, previous discussion about Middle Earth rappel. |
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Gunkie wrote: Middle Earth is basically a one pitch climb now. As I understand it the upper pitches aren't doable any more. My recommendation would be to move it to the left over, say Wonderland or Wisecrack which receive less traffic. what happened to the top pitch? |
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I guess I forgot the details of this earlier discussion. I did not recall that some people find this area unclimbable! I'm not sure I agree with that. The Gunks App warns of loose rock in the band around the GT Ledge but does not go so far as to advise people not to climb there. |
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Gunkie wrote: Middle Earth is basically a one pitch climb now. As I understand it the upper pitches aren't doable any more. My recommendation would be to move it to the left over, say Wonderland or Wisecrack which receive less traffic. Wonderland and Wisecrack are both excellent climbs-- you shouldn't send rappellers over these climbs either! Probably the best choice would be Faithful Journey or the (second choice) Bombs Away-- but perhaps the station could be placed so that it doesn't go directly over any of them, but rather falls between the lines? |
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That station should be chopped. There's a better place to rap just a short walk to the left. |
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SethG wrote: i havent been near the arrow wall in a long while. what happened to the free hanging rap off nurses aid? |
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EFS wrote: I think it was eliminated once they put in bolted rap stations on the Arrow Wall. The nice thing about the Arrow rap is that is doesn’t actually interfere with Arrow unless a leader is at the very top. |
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Bill Kirby wrote: That station should be chopped. There's a better place to rap just a short walk to the left. As related to the P1 M.E. rappel chains, this is incorrect. Moving left the next possible spot is Wise Crack which is a well trafficked route. |
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Can confirm top pitches are not a chossy death trap... They are nice climbs. The warning was I think originally put in place to ward people away from rapping the route when the anchors were still in place not to discourage people from going to the top. There is chossy rock, but nothing that is too crazy. YMMV. |
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SethG wrote: I thought your partner overstated her outrage just a bit-- she told them they weren't even supposed to rap there, which I don't think is really true given the bolted rap station that is installed. But this is just a quibble-- they shouldn't have dropped the rope end on a leading climber, AFTER they'd been warned and they indicated they understood! And then the first guy who rapped down wasn't remotely apologetic. Quibble if you must, but direction to Arrow is far more restrained than an unexpected fireman's belay which was my first thought when this happened. Obviously, I did not interfere with the dude's rappel. This sh*t happens and its annoying, that's why rapping with saddle bags or simply saying "look out" or "my bad" go along way. Telling a leader you are not dropping a rope and then hitting him without warning is sh*tty. And yes there are several published directions to use the Arrow rappel station. Due to guides and comments curating-out the sections above P1 on Middle Earth chopping the P1 chains would be pretty annoying and chopping bolts leaves more of a mess than a bolt puller. The Preserve and GCC have tools to test and replace bolts and pins. The rappel traffic is not a new problem, but is the current configuration the final compromise or is there desire to make a change? |
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Chris W wrote: Can confirm top pitches are not a chossy death trap... They are nice climbs. The warning was I think originally put in place to ward people away from rapping the route when the anchors were still in place not to discourage people from going to the top. There is chossy rock, but nothing that is too crazy. YMMV. Interesting...I have not been up there but I was wondering how bad it is. Folks at the base, were very positive on the upper pitches, linking them, and different variations through the roof. Hard to beat first hand knowledge. That said kicking a rock down on someone is one of my fears. |
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Hey LP I agree with you, we are on the same side. When they dropped the rope on you it was shitty. |
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Reminds me of the time I was leading Still Crazy and someone dropped a rope on my head without warning. This line isn't usually in play, but they were rapping on doubles from the top of the cliff. |
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I was astonished when the Preserve bolted Middle Earth in a way that (1) created two-way traffic and (2) routed rappellers from the top over some of the most unstable ground in all of the Gunks. There was no excuse for the dangerous second rappel from the top, and the Preserve rightly removed it after various people investigated. Without that anchor, the anchor at the top was removed as well. The anchor on the first pitch of Middle Earth remains, because the Preserve was trying to reduce stress on the big tree. I never thought it seemed to be particularly stressed, and it is perfectly situated for rappels that don't interfere with P1 of Middle Earth. Now, during crowded times, there's an unpleasant mess on one of the best moderate routes in the Gunks. |