Stone Mountain (getting down)

I know you can rap from the top of the great arch with a 70 meter rope to get down to the tree ledge but is it possible to rap down to the ground from the tree ledge with a 70? I Don't want to bring 2 ropes if I don't have to. And does anybody know if Fleet Feet and Fantastic have rings at the top of the first pitch or will I need to leave gear to get down?

You probably can't rap directly to the ground with just a 70 (not %100 about this), but there is a tree about halfway up the "5.4" entrance crack you could use to split up the rap. Not sure about the other routes.

What's wrong with walking off the top ?? That was we always did back in the day ...

Ive done that too but it would be quicker to rap and then I dont have to bring my approach shoes up. I plan on climbing the Pulpit and Grand Funk Railroad as well as the 1st pitches of both Fleet Feet and Fantastic. I will normally just walk down after topping out the last route of the day. What about walking off the climbers right where the angle eases. Do people do that? Might be pretty quick.

I haven't climbed there in over 20 years so memory is a bit fuzzy. It does suck to walk off the top if you are trying to multiple routes in a day that all go to the top ... did that numbers of time. We did try once walking off right side (as you face Stone). It didn't ever seem to save any time for us.

One rope definitely isn't enough to get you down from the tree ledge, at least not in one rap. I guess the tree on Entrance Crack that Tanner suggested would be an option; another possibility would be to rap to the midpoint anchors on Block Route, if you can figure out a way to get to them. And as someone else said, doing the walk-off will drastically cut into your climbing time.

All in all, it's just a lot less of a pain in the ass to just go ahead and take two ropes.

JL

saxfiend wrote: All in all, it's just a lot less of a pain in the ass to just go ahead and take two ropes. JL

biscuits wrote: Okay Okay ill give in. Thanks for the input. Adam

Fantastic does for sure...and it is fantastic!

I'm totally against adding more bolts to any area, but rap stations (for single or double rope raps) would be AWESOME at stone! Nobody do it, but I agree that either walk off from the top is a bummer.

You could always get a skinny line so you can pull a single rope rap off anything

Did not have time for Fantastic or Fleet Feet but got on Grand Funk and the Pulpit. Both great routes. Thanks everyone
Adam

Will Copeland wrote:I'm totally against adding more bolts to any area, but rap stations (for single or double rope raps) would be AWESOME at stone! Nobody do it, but I agree that either walk off from the top is a bummer. You could always get a skinny line so you can pull a single rope rap off anything

To address the questions of anyone wondering about this issue in the future:

You DEFINITELY can make one 60m rope work at Stone Mountain. I was there in December and only had a single rope. Here's how it goes.

You can rap from the summit to Tree ledge by starting at the top anchor of the Great Arch, and then you sort of zigzag down, first rapping to an anchor on the face, then back to the belay on Great Arch, then back out to the face...etc. Much harder to explain than just to do it; you can always see the next anchor you're heading for, although it's sometimes quite a traverse to get to it. Just don't skip ANY bolted stations, hoping to reach one lower.

Once you're on Tree Ledge, you can rap from the bolted station at the top of U Slot (I think...). It's awkward, but you can barely reach the bolts midway up Block Route, and rap to the ground from there.

Caveats: This worked well for me when I was there, and certainly was faster than walking off and around. BUT we were the only people at Stone that day, so we didn't have any competition for rap stations. I don't know if it gets crowded at Stone, but if it's busy, you'll probably piss a lot of people off rapping on top of them, over them, across their routes, etc. Also, my partner and I were doing pretty fast, efficient simul-rappels. If you're not doing likewise this might take a good while, since it's something like 8 rappels total. I would strongly agree with JL: if you can, take 2 ropes. It'll be much less hassle.

Will Copeland wrote:I'm totally against adding more bolts to any area, but rap stations (for single or double rope raps) would be AWESOME at stone!

I would bet there are more anchor bolts than route bolts at stone as it is. Rapping with 2 ropes is faster than double the rappels anyhoo.

One rope works fine at stone, that's what Ive done for many years. Just send your party down first on a single line as far as they can go
(to anchors), then rap down to them by multiple raps. No point in both of you doing multiple raps and getting in each others way at the semi-hanging belays. This greatly speeds up the process. You can also rap from the tree ledge via the trees on Entrance crack, or the retro/rap bolts on Father Knows Best. With a 60 meter, you might have to do a few moves (10') of easy down climbing at the bottom if you don't feel like doing a short rap to get to the ground.

Also, it is common for the Stone Mtn regulars to hike/scramble off the right side if doing a route in that vicinity. Just 4th class down to climbers right a long ways, eventually turning around and climbing easy 4th/5th for the last 100 feet or so. There is an old bolt that I use to identify the correct spot. If your uncomfortable with this just keep moving toward the shoulder (right) for lower angled slab. This method might not be best unless you plan to frequent stone, as it takes a little time to figure out.

Most every time I have seen someone coming down to the tree ledge with one rope, it's some jackass who is zig-zagging across multiple routes, getting in the way, and creating a cluster at someone else's belay. Don't be "that guy".

Grand Funk was dry? You should post up some pic's if you got them.

just use 2 ropes.

Grand Funk was dry... well, water was running on pitch 4 in the lower track but it did not affect the climb at all.

cool - thanks & nice photos.