fixed ropes in NC for projecting routes

I second that I'd like to read more historical pieces on our beloved north side climbs (and other areas I'm just partial to n side since i live 15 minutes away and thats the only climbing other than the Red I like to do).

Come on Shannon!!!

I would be interested to hear more stories about LG, Whitesides and the like- I find it incredible that you guys did these super stout routes without any of the climbing luxuries we have today. There's got to be some good ones.

A few years ago there was an FMG guy projecting the free variation to the upper pitches of GM. He got flamed on the CCC boards for leaving his draws up overnight. I also know of people cutting ropes down that were left up. If it is a matter of getting stronger to do the climb, beating it to death over a few days isn't the same as just training harder and doing it in less attempts. I feel lucky that I live close enough to places like Stone Summit, where you can just train harder to accomplish your goals rather than doing something that is questionable to local ethics. It is interesting though the difference in mentality of a rope left up for projecting versus one for an FA. You quite often see FA ropes left hanging but without the same kind of grief.

where to begin? let's see. there was a bit of one-upmanship involved in the freeing of the 1st pitch of menagerie, rotert and me, begining in the winter of '76. has nothing to do with fixing lines so i'll gloss. jumping ahead to the spring of '79, i started more serious work with tim combs on actually climbing the route. he lead what is now the open book pitch, we called it the white book pitch, and i led to the belay under the roof. we left a rope hanging so we could return to our high point tethered to a bolt and several pieces of gear. soon after i jugged back up and placed a second bolt, retrieved my gear and left the rope hanging. ropes in those days were 150'. the one i left ended in a tree that was then at the base of the climb, maybe 25' off the ground. descending the tree was terrifying for a lowly rock climber. when the route finally went to the top in september of '80 we cut the rope down. some time in the winter of 79-80 i ran into steve longnecker and he told me that someone with the rescue squad out of skyland told him to pass the word that they would not be able to help whoever had left that rope up there if they needed a rescue. we had a good laugh. what all this means for 5.sam i can't say. cheers.

awesome! Did you guys free the "white book" pitch or was it mostly aid then? Did you free the 11 pitch approaching the roof?

Any other stories!? That was great. A rare treat for MP.