Suicide Hotlines

Anyone care to share some good TR setups on Suicide for slab practice. Would like to dial in some mileage and technique before I go for the runout glory up there.  

Finger Lickin for Goblin and Rhino is the only one Ive done so far. I also know of the Hernia for Arcy one as well. Any others? Smooth Sole Wall? Rap ins on Weeping or Sunshine?

You can go up the first pitch of Tabby Treat and TR Peer Pressure.  Bolted Anchors.

You can also rap and do Bunny Slope (11b).  Would require a gear anchor but you can traverse to a big tree and rap with a 70M to the ground.

Stin Manwrote:

Anyone care to share some good TR setups on Suicide for slab practice. Would like to dial in some mileage and technique before I go for the runout glory up there.  

Finger Lickin for Goblin and Rhino is the only one Ive done so far. I also know of the Hernia for Arcy one as well. Any others? Smooth Sole Wall? Rap ins on Weeping or Sunshine?

The "technique" for slab is all head game, grab some lead. Unfort, there's no "safe" slab in all of Idy!

Tradibanwrote:

The "technique" for slab is all head game, grab some lead. Unfort, there's no "safe" slab in all of Idy!

Disagree.  You get your “head” from having your face chops down.  

My fave is to scramble up East Buttress Gully and TR Arcy Farcy.  

Fat Dadwrote:

Disagree.  You get your “head” from having your face chops down.  

My fave is to scramble up East Buttress Gully and TR Arcy Farcy.  

Get to top- some how… get to standard rap station, left side weeping wall, and climb Mushy Peach.
TBH - the place wasn’t made for TR’s 

Tradibanwrote:

The "technique" for slab is all head game, grab some lead. Unfort, there's no "safe" slab in all of Idy!

Agreed. The best practice is to do. Top roping these routes wont get your head ready for the leads. Go for it. You might even surprise yourself!

Nolan Cooper Grahamwrote:

You might even surprise yourself!

You might "Surprise" yourself?! Nice pun, Nolan. Haven't been able to bring myself to do that one. The rack = one quickdraw. Dang!

I recommend going for the lead on Serpentine. If that goes well get your butt over to Sundance, now that is one of the finest climbs I ever made.

jt newgardwrote:

You might "Surprise" yourself?! Nice pun, Nolan. Haven't been able to bring myself to do that one. The rack = one quickdraw. Dang!

I recommend going for the lead on Serpentine. If that goes well get your butt over to Sundance, now that is one of the finest climbs I ever made.

Serp is kinda glassy and easy to get lost donchathink? Sundance is good but people get spooked on the 5.6R.

Tradibanwrote:

Serp is kinda glassy and easy to get lost donchathink? Sundance is good but people get spooked on the 5.6R.

It's not Kinda.  It is glassy! 

Tradibanwrote:

Serp is kinda glassy and easy to get lost donchathink? Sundance is good but people get spooked on the 5.6R.

There are so many holds on Serpentine you can ignore the glassy ones and grip the good ones. However I do agree it is easy to get lost. I took a big whip on the 2nd pitch, off route to the right. Then I over-corrected and finished up Revelations. What a ride!

If you get spooked on Sundance 5.6R, just grab the other party's rappel ropes. That's what the guy from Red Rocks did as we were rapping down. He was muttering, "It's only 5.10 ......... only 5.10 ........ " HAHAHAHA

Tradibanwrote:

Serp is kinda glassy and easy to get lost donchathink? Sundance is good but people get spooked on the 5.6R.

who would've thought it's easy to get lost on bolts. both times i've done serpentine i've got lost one way or another, once to revelations and once i traversed to the anchor on ten karat gold, which is obviously way off route but i got happy seeing anchors. unless there's wind it's pretty hot on the weeping wall right now, i was on it yesterday and the rock was waaarm

Tradibanwrote:

The "technique" for slab is all head game, grab some lead.

The "technique" for runout slab is the mental confidence you get from knowing you don't fall on slab, at a particular grade, for a particular type of rock.  You most certainly can gain that confidence in knowing your limits by TRing, following, or working your way up the grades.  TRing or following also gives you a chance to compare which of your quiver of shoes works best for a certain kind of rock, and to gain engrams about body position.  Once you get that experience, you can apply the mantra "I do not fall on 5.xx" and have the calmness to venture into R-land.

Tradibanwrote:

Serp is kinda glassy and easy to get lost donchathink? Sundance is good but people get spooked on the 5.6R.

Be a traditional climber and place gear where ever you want. 

phylp phylpwrote:

The "technique" for runout slab is the mental confidence you get from knowing you don't fall on slab, at a particular grade, for a particular type of rock.  You most certainly can gain that confidence in knowing your limits by TRing, following, or working your way up the grades.  TRing or following also gives you a chance to compare which of your quiver of shoes works best for a certain kind of rock, and to gain engrams about body position.  Once you get that experience, you can apply the mantra "I do not fall on 5.xx" and have the calmness to venture into R-land.

That would be a false confidence you're talking about. TRing allows the climber to get sloppy and then when they jump on an actual lead they wig out.

The actual physical movement of slab climbing is pretty easy, because there's time to think about it, more time than an overhanging pump fest anyway.

People think slab climbing is hard because of the mental game, and the mental game is the hardest game to obtain. To gain that "connection" from body to rock is a sweet thang, but you will only find it on lead.

Slab climbing is a total head game and one is right when commenting that pure technique will only get you so far.  That's always the hardest part for me if I haven't climbed in a while--my brain remembering what my feet feel solid on.  That's really the only reason I might TR something first.  Scrape off the rust, get familiar with the movement and to remember what feels good and what doesn't.  Top roping is good for building those fundamental skills, but it is not a substitute for learning how to read a line, not panicking if you're 10' out and you've picked a bad line because you know you downclimb if need be, or putting it all together on the sharp end.  

Getting used to the friction and moves is a fantastic idea. A lot of climbers have success showing up to an area and immediately booting up on R/X routes but I know plenty of people who broke bones on suicide doing just that. Winter solstice and battle of the bulge are great routes. You either commit to a runout or you don’t but your ability to actually do the moves matters.

Stin Manwrote:

Anyone care to share 

If your schedule allows you to get out of town, you can find some good slab to practice on with minimal (sport-bolted) to not-so-bad runouts, in the Eastern Sierra.  

There is friction slab scattered around Pine Creek.  One of the most concentrated areas is at PSOM Slab.  Check out the photos for the various sport and trad routes there to see the angle.  I mean, you've got to do a route called Slab-O-Rama, right?  Another slab area at the top of Pine Creek is Uptown Rock.  This tend to be a bit more featured than friction slab  but excellent routes and rock.  Similarly, Fashion Slab and St Valentine's Slab in Pine Creek are somewhat featured but still quite slabby granite.  Since all of this tends to be south-east facing, you get that added benefit of practicing in the hot sun.  15 minute approaches for all these walls, except Valentine's, which is up a bit farther.

Moving north, the Rock Creek cliffs do have some friction slab but it's scattered around. Couple slab routes on 4:20 Wall that I remember.

In Mammoth, two places come to mind: Horseshoe Piles out of Lake George (15 minute approach) and Trenchtown Rock out of the Soda Springs Campground (long approach).  This last one is the most Tuolumne-like of the east side slabs, but much better bolted than most of the Tuolumne slab routes.  Very few of the routes up there are in Mtn Project, you need the Mammoth Lakes guidebook.

Tradiban- I agree 100% One must slab boulder then lead the easy ones to really learn how it goes. Reading the stone is Key. The real start of Surprise is about 15-20 feet to the left from the crack that most start at. Look for a little black knob up about 2 body lengths- get this knob and your golden- you can find great hand/foot holds all the way to top of P1. And the rack is more than 1 draw.
Personally I think Revelations is the best climbing on the WW and Serpentine is the worst.
People need to remember that the WW climbs were some of the first climbs protected with mostly bolts. Back in 64 this was considered very bad form by California climbers who were not from “Suicide”. When these people visited Suicide they were sufficiently scared and the climbs stood and were considered valid. I find it quite humorous that many climbers today call, and think they’re “Sport Climbs” because they are bolted.
Another thing you must remember and this is part of the “protection” scheme- the running belayer- Imported from “GritStone”. Several climbs at Suicide incorporate this. “ReBolting Development” is one of these. Fall off standing up for 2nd bolt drilling stance - belayer runs off- “Like a Fox released from a trap…” as they say in England.
So Stin Man my advice is to embrace the slab and enjoy learning how the runout faces get climbed. These climbs are pretty EZ - mostly 5.10 or less- and your Grandpa and Dad climbed them in hiking boots. Get good at it at Suicide and it will stay with you forever. 

I've done Peer Pressure on toprope: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105791209/peer-pressure

But in general you'll probably find more of this kind of thing at Joshua Tree.

Ben Crowellwrote:

I've done Peer Pressure on toprope: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105791209/peer-pressure

But in general you'll probably find more of this kind of thing at Joshua Tree.

Ben …. I don’t think you find this at JT at all. The quartz monzinite is much rougher and taking longish falls can break ankles and give 3rd degree road rash. One can safely ride a 40-50 footer on God’s own Granite and be ready for more fun. 

Guy Keeseewrote:

Ben …. I don’t think you find this at JT at all. The quartz monzinite is much rougher and taking longish falls can break ankles and give 3rd degree road rash. One can safely ride a 40-50 footer on God’s own Granite and be ready for more fun. 

The OP is asking about toproping.