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In Search of Silence
5.13b,
Sport, 120 ft (36 m),
Avg: 4 from 14
votes
FA: Alex Kirkpatrick
Arizona
> Southern Arizona
> Mt Lemmon (Sant…
> Mt Lemmon (Cata…
> 8 - Summit Crags
> Fortress
> Orifice Wall
Access Issue: Potentially unavailable to climbing February through July if raptors are breeding here.
Details
This area is historically used by nesting falcons, hawks, owls or other raptors. Breeding season varies but is roughly February through July. Nesting raptors are protected by law.
If you aren't sure if raptors are breeding here, then listen and watch for defensive behavior such as screeching or diving (links to info). If raptors are breeding in this area please climb somewhere else and let other climbers know.
Pressures on wildlife can be immense and are multiplied by effects of climate change and pollutants. Choosing to climb away from nest sites reduces unnecessary stresses to the birds. Give these animals a chance to thrive.
More info here:
theclimbershome.org/breedin…
Description
Link the bottom of Granite of the Apes into the top of Coup d'Etat (link point is obvious and after the double kneebar after the crux on Granite of the Apes). This route combines the best and hardest climbing on Granite of the Apes, Orifice Politics, and Coup d'Etat. This is currently the hardest route at the Orifice and the most direct line up the main wall. Get some.
Protection
Fixed chain draws
[Hide Photo] Clay at the beginning of the route before it splits right to OP
[Hide Photo] Clay just passing the part where "In search of silence" splits from OP
Tucson
Tucson
Tucson
Tacoma, Toyota
Then I thought about it more and this route does just seem like a harder start for Coup de'tat mountainproject.com/v/coup-…. Nov 20, 2013
Tucson/DMR
This link up is not much harder than anything on the wall and a bunch of people could have done it, they just didn't. None the less I think its the best line and in my youth and naivete I chose to give it a name. A better example is the hebe/trapezoid link up at the Beaver wall. Link it one way, its not that hard and Alex Mc didnt choose to give it a name. Link it the other way, its the hardest route on the wall and maybe the whole mountain, and one of my proudest FAs. I could care less that the bolts are already there and the sections had been climbed. In that sense it is very similar to a bolted but unsent project.
At any bolted modern sport crag, you will find linkups with names. The VRG is a great example. May 26, 2014
Tucson, AZ
Tucson
Do whatever you want on MP.com.
Link ups can make a route more sustained and better. If they do then I will include them in some form or another but probably not create an entire entry with a name.
If you really have to name something and you want it in the next guidebook go do a new route or finish an old project.
Happy Monday! Jun 2, 2014
Tucson, AZ
Lastly I would ask any guidebook author if they thought that including said linkups increased or decreased the usefulness of their guide to those that want to buy/use it. Jun 2, 2014
I think ultimately Luke nails it that its a question of is the guide more or less useful without the handful(or less) of linkups. I see no harm to adding them, and they can provide a new and valid challenge for climbers. I always want to know all the options at a crag, especially when they are harder than existing routes, so I think its a net plus. Jun 3, 2014
Tucson/DMR
Tucson, Arizona
Regardless of the shameful origins, this is the best route on the wall. According to the data on Mountain Project, Orifice Politics was completed a year before Coup d'Etat. Does that make Coup an independent route or just a hard variation to OP? If Coup gets to be an independent route when it's only a hard variation, why not ISOS? Are hard finishes more worthy than hard starts?
Consider the accident of history argument. Suppose the history of the Orifice was different, and AK managed to stand under this wall before any of the routes had been established. I wouldn't be surprised if he would've bolted this exact line.
In any case, the gym climber in me tends to like Mangrove Trees. seanmccoll.com/wp-content/g…
Nice going AK, I can't wait to stop falling off the Coup crux. Aug 11, 2014