THE BIG WALL PORN POST!

I remember the pine tree from your post on the taco. And thinking, “where the hell is that?”

Rob Dillonwrote:

I remember the pine tree from your post on the taco. And thinking, “where the hell is that?”

It's pretty "out there", eh?  We were really surprised to find the pine tree. 

These massive roofs are immediately right of the Salathe headwall, yet remain mostly unnoticed. 

Superb route, Bermuda Dunes. 

Red River Gorge, Kentucky.  I am selling out to the Dark Side. Sport climbing here I come. No more hooking and nailing. From now on, stick clips and sport climbing pussy draws. 

I hate myself.  

Some shots from our botched attempt of Neds. Fuck is was cold and I stubbed my toe so we came down. Huge shout out to Ryan Sheridan for the rescue and the crew he brought to help us get our loads down. 

It was a successful bail.   ;)  

Man, there sure is some great climbing up there.  We shall have to return this fall.  But ... some other things first, eh?  ;) 

This is the Fish Head, which I believe is the pitch above Pine Island on Bermuda Dunes. These are the big roofs immediately right of the Salathe headwall.  I think I remember it being a thin crack with heads and beaks. Up above is one of the hardest penjis/tension traverses I have ever had to do ... you have to wear free climbing shoes, and tippy-toe down this blunt arete and somehow swing over onto Salathe.  As per usual on many pendulums, the first ascensionist drilled one rivet too few!  Damn that Shipoopi.  

Above:  "Minnesota Mark" Winey cleans the A1 Beauty crack on Pacemaker.  One of the few good pitches on an otherwise really dirty route.  Still, like everything on El Cap, there is always something great.

Arriving in El Cap Meadow Sunday evening, so hopefully live big wall porn next week, if I can upload.  

P.S.  Watch for, like, the next issue of Gripped Magazine, eh?  Coming out in May.  ;) 

Let's give some love to the short walls too! Found this shot of the uber-steep Tsunami pitch on Afroman in the archives. 

Looking for a short, less-trafficked route to do one early November, we headed over the pass, expecting to hike to the base and have the route to ourselves. Wrong! Sear Warren was on pitch one beginning a solo of this relatively obscure route. So we took some extra time, hiking loads and fixing a couple pitches to give him a head start (he's not exactly slow).

Spent the night in the boulders behind the Ahwahnee, me waking up in the middle of the night to a spotted skunk hopping up onto my sleeping bag. Pretty sure I was going to get sprayed, and that would be the end of our trip. Lucky for us, he bounded right off. 

The route itself is pretty great, there are some really good aid climbing pitches and cruxy problem solving bits (counter-equalized horizontal beaks after a long hooking section is NOT A2!). Disaster struck when I was rolling a smoke mid route and a gust of wind took the papers out of my hand - I let out a loud expletive, and Sean bellowed down what the matter was. He promptly replied that if he had lost his papers he'd be bailing, so a couple pitches later, arriving at a belay, was a ziplock bag filled with extras duct-taped to the belay. A legend, that guy! 

We topped out to an impending winter storm and made it over Tioga about 20 minutes before they closed the pass. Whew! The end.

Taste the rainbow [of cams]

50th Birthday on the Island in the Sky
“South Seas to Pacific Ocean Wall” May 2022

I spent my 25th birthday on Pacific Ocean Wall in 1997

Pic- Kevin DeWeese 

Quinn Hatfieldwrote:

Wtf is this?? I thought aid climbing was for fat dudes who hate free climbing? 

In other news, I think I just slid a little further toward the other end of the sexuality spectrum.  

Quinn Hatfieldwrote:

50th Birthday on the Island in the Sky
“South Seas to Pacific Ocean Wall” May 2022

I spent my 25th birthday on Pacific Ocean Wall in 1997

Pic- Kevin DeWeese 

That is awesome, dude. Love to see climbers with longevity , gives me hope !

My friend and I met you guys on top of yer route last week. We did Zodiac. Y'all had a very positive vibe and we appreciated the beta on how to navigate the East Ledges descent.

Overall our first trip up El Cap went pretty smooth, aside from burning my hand while trying to hang onto the lower out line at the 1st pitch anchor. Should have munter'd as the books say. Subsequently the flying pigs (our clients) gave us (the guides) a very bad review on yelp, oh well. I also love tapped a couple beaks on the Flying Buttress after taking a 20 footer or so. But that was ALL the use the carpenter's hammer got.

And, Tom Evans did a few El Cap reports last week! He'll make ya famous, here's a shot of me learning how to cam hook on the Nipple pitch. Thank goodness for that fixed Z4 halfway across!

photo credit: Tom Evans

Good ol cam hooks

Nothing like a spring snow storm to keep you feeling fresh!! JT down low on The Nose this past May during a perfectly timed cold snap. 

After years of consecutive hosing from weather, wild fires etc, JT and I suited up to tackle The Nose, choosing a week in May to surely experience bluebird spring weather after toiling in the fickle autumn. Alas, the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft a-glay…!!!
With a defiant day of climbing through snow, rain and wind under our belts and a night of extreme spooning at Sickle Ledge, we departed downwards due to forecasted snow and highs of 33 to avoid a seemingly inevitable bout of hypothermia (or worse, rescue).

Good times cast adrift, weather a fickle mistress…!

Geez.  Ball nuts and cam hooks on the same page?!  PDP - Pretty Darn Pornographic

Quinn Hatfieldwrote:

50th Birthday on the Island in the Sky
“South Seas to Pacific Ocean Wall” May 2022

I spent my 25th birthday on Pacific Ocean Wall in 1997

Pic- Kevin DeWeese 

Great Bivy Belt shot!!! 

Rpropswrote:

Someone didn’t heed the warning that came with your Alfifi!!  

Skot Richardswrote:

Someone didn’t heed the warning that came with your Alfifi!!