Can you rappel from Moby Grape?
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Is rapping an option at any point along Moby Grape? |
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Only if someone is sitting by the window... |
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You can often rap from the top of the Finger of Fate pitch, but the state of the anchors varies pretty dramatically and they should be treated with skepticism. I haven't been up there in quite a while. |
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sara pax wrote:You can rap from the top of the first and second pitch, I think (maybe its the 1st and 3rd, depending on how you break up pitches ). There are anchors. I read on MP comments that there was a place to rap after the 4th pitch, after the fickle finger thing, but that was a lie. We were not prepared to top out though, and there was a super slow party in front of us (we started vertigo slightly AFTER they started MG, then we caught up to them on MG...), so we slung a flake and rapped. This was a month or 2 ago, so I'm not sure if the cordalette is still there.It's not a lie. There is sometimes a fixed anchor above the finger. It's generally not especially inspiring, but it does come and go. As I mentioned up thread, I don't know if it's there at the moment, or its state if it is. |
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sara pax wrote:Well, it was a lie when I was there!Lol. Fair enough. In any case, even when it IS there, I don't think rapping MG is generally the best idea for the reasons I mentioned above. Not criticizing you for doing so in any way of course, just offering my general perspective. There are other routes in a similar grade range to the first few pitches of Moby Grape that are less prone to rappel/crowd-induced clusters if one wants to go cragging at Cannon: Duet, Union Jack, Raven Crack (admittedly quite a bit harder than anything on MG), Slow and Easy, etc. Sorry for the thread hijack. Enjoy Cannon as you like. I'm out. |
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Hi Derek, |
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Please do not do Moby Grape with the intent of rapping, unless you're just planning on doing Reppy's and there are no other parties behind you. |
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You could rap LEFT of Moby, but the anchors are in various states, mostly not so good and if you don't know the area they can be tough to find. |
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Derek Doucet wrote: There is sometimes a fixed anchorThat doesn't seem very 'fixed' ;) |
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a huge part of what makes moby such a great climb is the commitment and the fact that you have to find and make your own belays. once you launce past P2 you have to either gun for the top or have a real interesting and expensive bail. |
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There's a mank/tat anchor after the triangle roof which is essentially level with but lookers left of the normal belay after that pitch (top of pitch 3). This will get you down to the anchors at the top of Reppys, which can then be rapped with twin 60s. |
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Stuart Green's Piss-poor excuse for a guidebook says you can. We tried rapping from above the finger so that we could crag the rest of the day around the base of cannon. Left some cordalette and a nut on a flake. |
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Linnaeus has it right, tat anchor to the left after the triangle roof. After that you are trending right, it's rap-able, but good planning is better. |
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Russ Keane wrote:Hi Derek, You didn't jack the thread- In fact I found your replies to be quite helpful. You are right about the nature of rappelling down Cannon routes, with all the loose rock, multiple parties, and uncertain anchor situations. I was looking for that exact type of commentary. Pretty sure there are fixed chains at the top of Reppy's, but I had never made it past the Triangle Roof, so I wanted to query others for info. It's such a long route, what if you run out of daylight? That;s the question.Start early and plan to top out, very good climbing above the triangle. |
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The whole point of moby is to commit to topping out. |
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Even thou I like MG, I want to stress that there is more loose crap on those middle pitches than many Alpine routes of much greater scale I've been on. |
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All the loose stuff is realistically on pitch 4. Pitch 2 has loose junk, but it's 5.easy and you can navigate your way many different ways (i.e. avoid the chimney at the top of pitch 2). Pitch 4, and to some degree the belay at the top of pitch 3, has a lot of loose blocks, some of which are very large. You are forced to traverse the Conn dike on pitch 4 and climb through the loose blocks. As soon as you are below the finger, and everything following, it just normal "Cannon loose" and not that bad. |
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Steve, what's the name of the route in the picture and where is it? Does it go up the arete? And aren't you too old for this sort of thing? |
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It's a fact that many people do and will continue to rap from the top of the FFF pitch 4 for various reasons. If you are going to Rap from the top of P4, IMNSHOP the easiest and safest strategy is to plan on leaving at least a cordellete on the big flake and having double 70m ropes. These will get you to the bolts above Reppy's. There is about 10ft of easy 4th class down climbing to reach the bolts. From here its 1 more rap to the ground with the 70s. Also, throwing or dropping your ropes is not a good idea for reasons stated upthread, instead stack them saddle bag style in slings from each side of your harness. |
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Nick Grant, |
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I was already too old for that route when you put it up in 1977 (and I was twenty-one years old). |