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Location: CA : High Sierra : Incredible Hulk : Beeline (5.10-)
By: Rich Farnham When: Dec 6, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Trip Report on Supertopo from when Rob Dillon and I went up A-line, and possibly did the FA of the P5 huge stemming corner and some great 5.9-5.10 cracks above (July 2010). Info on Beeline and A-line at the time showed that both routes broke onto the slab right of of the P5 corner, and moved up easier terrain to the shoulder where it merges with the descent.
As Rob says in the TR, it gets hard to describe at th... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Photo
By: Rich Farnham When: Oct 1, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Allen, do you know what route, or at least what formation, this is?
Great picture, thanks for posting it.
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Location: CO : South Platte : Cathedral Spires Area : Cynical Pinnacle : Center Route (5.9+) : Photo
By: Rich Farnham When: Sep 25, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: I like the blood running down his leg...does that disqualify him from the "good form" comment?
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Location: WY : Vedauwoo : Nautilus : Cupcake (V1)
By: Rich Farnham When: Sep 18, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Did this today after wandering by for years saying "someday I need to do that thing". Really fun climb! We did it as a lead, since we had gear with us and didn't have crash pads.
A word of caution to those intending to lead it. The anchor sucks. It is 2 buttonheads about 4" apart, and there aren't really any gear options (the crack pinches off after you clear the lip). There is what appeared to be a 3/8" wedge-bolt stud, without a hanger, so another option would be to bring a hanger and a... more >>
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Location: CO : Empire : Ra : Training Day (5.11b)
By: Rich Farnham When: Aug 27, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: I found the first pitch to be a tough warm-up. The crux is short, but it is pretty steep and I found it hard to decipher. Felt 11b on the onsight attempt -- maybe easier once you know what to do, since it's so short.
Great route though. The third pitch was good, but I enjoyed the Rohan Face more. If you do the final pitch of Training Day first, and use the "bailout bolt" to go left to the rap anchor at the top of Rohan Face, you can lower back to the belay with your partner. Then once th... more >>
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Location: CO : Empire : Ra : Empire of the Air (5.11a)
By: Rich Farnham When: Aug 27, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: What's up with the homemade hangers on this route? The first pitch (and the rest of the crag) is shiny Fixe gear. But pitch 2 and 3 of this route is steel angle-stock that has been chopped into hangers. Also, all of the anchors are open cold-shuts. WTF? They are the biggest cold-shuts I've ever seen (1/2"), so I'm sure they're strong enough, but they don't work well for anchors. Luckily, the bolts for the shuts and the homemade hangers are wedge bolts, so we can upgrade these to better har... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Bell Buttress Massif : Bell Buttress - Main Crag : ... : Photo
By: Rich Farnham When: Aug 22, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: To clarify, this photo does show the North Face, but the climber is on Freak on a Leash.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Bell Buttress Massif : Bell Buttress - Main Crag : The Route That Dan Missed (5.10 X)
By: Rich Farnham When: Aug 22, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: I'm trying to figure out where this route goes. I posted a picture above of this region of the wall, that I'm hoping someone will copy and draw a line on. The comments above clarify that Rossiter (and Bob D) got the info wrong about the two bolts, but I'm wondering if they at least have the route drawn in the right place.
Does it go up the right side of the arete on slopers, or is it on the steeper ground left of the arete?
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Location: CO : Alpine Rock : RMNP - Rock : Glacier Gorge
By: Rich Farnham When: Aug 15, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: There is a very new-looking bridge on the hike into Spearhead. I didn't really pay attention to where it was, but near Mills Lake seems about right. We had no problem hiking into the cirque, so I'd assume that the bridge problem Ross describes has been fixed.
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Location: WY : Vedauwoo : Nautilus : Nitrogen Narcosis (5.11a) : Photo
By: Rich Farnham When: Jul 26, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: It might not be photoshopped. Check out this other TR photo of the same route. It looks like there is some sort of lip on the left side of the crack that can hide the rope.
Great shot! The colors are incredible.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Castle Rock : Beetle Bailey (5.10)
By: Rich Farnham When: Jun 25, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Some fun climbing on a nice slab of rock. Strangely bolted -- typical Boulder Canyon always-on-toprope style for the middle section, with a random runout or two at the start and finish.
My 60m rope didn't get me all the way back to the anchor on Bailey's overhang. I came up about 5' short. I ended up on a ledge that I was comfortable down-soloing the very easy, and not exposed moves to the anchor, but be careful. Strangely, all 60s are not the same length. Don't assume yours will reach.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Castle Rock : Pass Fail Option (5.11)
By: Rich Farnham When: Jun 25, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: This roof has some great moves and a wild lip.
A few comments about gear and rope drag. Linking into this straight out of Final Exam is a great pitch, but the rope drag can be problematic. Once onto the slab after Final Exam, set a few pieces and drop a loop of rope to your belayer. Then you can go back on belay without the rope running through all of the gear on Final Exam to avoid that drag. Your rope will only be going through the pieces you placed on the slab.
A green Alien is the be... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Eagle Rock
By: Rich Farnham When: Jun 21, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: We replaced the tyrol to Eagle Rock today. Thanks to Amy for her help, and her patience while I bushwhacked my way down from the Cob Rock tyrol (that'll teach me to get started on this earlier next year...). Thanks also to the many folks who donated static rope for tyrol maintenance in the Canyon. This one would be particularly hard with dynamic ropes.
Strangely, whoever took this down in the past actually removed the bolts and hangers as well. Who is doing this? We might have to go to glu... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Vampire Rock
By: Rich Farnham When: Jun 10, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: We replaced the tyrol tonight (thanks for the help Kevin V.!). The old rope junk-show of an anchor with it's multiple core-shots from rubbing on the rock has been upgraded with chain to help it last a bit longer.
There are two strands of static that should keep you well out of the creek. The rope was donated by fellow MP'ers. Thanks everyone!
Since the area description above doesn't mention it, the tyrol is directly below the Vampire. Angle up and right across the scree field. As you get ... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Black Widow Slab
By: Rich Farnham When: Jun 10, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: We replaced the tyrol tonight (thanks for the help Kevin V.!). The old rope junk-show of an anchor with its multiple core-shots from rubbing on the rock has been upgraded with chain to help it last a bit longer.
There are two strands of static that should keep you well out of the creek. The rope was donated by fellow MP'ers. Thanks, everyone!
Since the area description above doesn't mention it, the tyrol for Black Widow is actually a little downstream, directly below the Vampire. Angle up ... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Sleeping Beauty
By: Rich Farnham When: Jun 6, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: More Recent Condition Report
As of this evening, the Sleeping Beauty tyrol is in (this is the one at the west end of the Animal World/Boulderado parking). 2 strands of static line that should keep us out of the quickly rising water when the creek goes over the top of Barker Dam tomorrow or the next day. Thanks to all the MP folks that donated static line when I put out the call a few weeks back. This is another tyrol done with that rope. I still have a few more to hit, but w... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Tonnere Tower
By: Rich Farnham When: May 4, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: The tyrol was installed this past weekend (May 2011), and has two independent strands of new static line. Should be good for a few years as long as no one cuts it down.
Thanks to everyone who donated rope for the Boulder Canyon tyrols!
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Cob Rock
By: Rich Farnham When: May 4, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: The tyrol was installed this weekend (who cuts these things down?). The tree is showing signs of wear, so we placed it a little higher to spread the wear out. If people feel the line is too high on the North side to get on easily, I can add a footloop.
Thanks to everyone who donated static rope for the Boulder Canyon tyrols!
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Bell Buttress Massif
By: Rich Farnham When: May 4, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: The tyrol rope was getting pretty scary (multiple coreshots). It has been replaced with two strands of static rope that should be good for a couple more years.
Thanks to everyone who donated rope for the Boulder Canyon tyrols!
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Location: CO : Boulder : Eldorado Canyon SP : The Whale's Tail : West Crack (5.2) : Photo
By: Rich Farnham When: Apr 15, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: I suspect it's the difference between working load and breaking strength. The 1900 lbf number for the cable is a little higher than the working load I found for 5/16" cable (1700 lbf). I couldn't easily find any specs about strength reduction in a lap splice with cable clips, but terminal ends are 80-90% efficient. Lap splices are probably similar. Working load is typically 20-25% of breaking strength, so an ultimate strength is closer to 8500 lbf for the cable (without reduction for connect... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Long Walk Rock : Free the Ostriches (5.9+)
By: Rich Farnham When: Jan 30, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Bring tape. You pull pretty hard on a few fist-jams in some pretty coarse rock. Feels more like Vedauwoo than Boulder Canyon granite. A fun climb if you don't mind hiking a long way to do 30' routes.
Single set of BD #1-#6 protects it well. Walk the 6 with you -- it's nice to have for a constriction in the upper section of the crack.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Bitty Buttress : Reveille (5.10d)
By: Rich Farnham When: Jan 30, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: The trad part of this pitch has some great rests, unlike most of the climbs on this section of the wall. Some of the placements are a little funky, but there's more gear than appears from the ground. I was able to sew it up.
Great pitch! Unusual moves through the bolted section, with some great climbing on the steep finish. Strenuous to actually clip the anchor.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : The Dome
By: Rich Farnham When: Nov 4, 2010 | view comment >> |
Comments: Good news - the fire didn't burn the area immediately around the Dome or the Elephant Buttresses, and they aren't included in the fire closure.
OSMP Dome Fire Closure Map
I haven't been out to see if the tape Phil described is down yet, but suspect it will be soon.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Avalon : First Tier : The Anti-Sport (5.10+)
By: Rich Farnham When: Aug 29, 2010 | view comment >> |
Comments: Really fun moves through the roof and over the lip -- more solid than I expected. I had the advantage of my partner having placed all the gear at the crux already as we sorted this thing out, so I got to cruise right through. Some of the stances seemed a little pumpy to place pro from. I'll definitely be back to clean this up.
I highly recommend the stopper at the lip (#12 BD). It didn't really get in the way of my hand jam over the lip, and the crack is a real rope-eater and quite sh... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Avalon : First Tier : The Sport Climber's Demise (5.10+)
By: Rich Farnham When: Aug 29, 2010 | view comment >> |
Comments: I really enjoyed this climb as well and think Tony said it well -- it's just a little too solid for 5.11. That being said, I think it is a little tricky as an onsight. The easiest way through the roof is not the most obvious. If you just charge straight through the roof, maybe it is 5.11.
I was glad to have (2) #3 Camalots, and at least (1) #4. I think singles on everything else worked fine.
Unfortunately, the anchor is way off to the right, so getting a TR on this would be a b... more >>
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