Mountain Project Logo

Can you rappel from Moby Grape?

Original Post
Russ Keane · · Salt Lake · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 392

Is rapping an option at any point along Moby Grape?

Thanks.

jaredsmokescigars · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2014 · Points: 65

Only if someone is sitting by the window...

Derek Doucet · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 66

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.

Don't expect shiny bolts except at the first anchor, on top of Reppy's.

The other consideration is that you're very likely to be rapping through other parties, which always has the potential for creating problems. This is especially true in the 4th/easy 5th terrain directly above Reppy's where there's a fair amount of loose rock just waiting to be dislodged by falling ropes.

Finally, there's the fact that the rest of the route is pretty great. If you do the Kurt's corner finish, it's arguably the best climbing on the entire route.

Derek Doucet · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 66
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.
Derek Doucet · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 66
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.
Russ Keane · · Salt Lake · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 392

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.

Noah Haber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 78

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.

As has been mentioned, there is no established rappel route, and rapping could easily become a serious danger for anyone who may be below you. Most anchors after p2 are gear, so you'd likely have to leave something behind. It's also near impossible to tell for sure if there are parties below you, as many parties will blast up it at the end of the day and will start well out of sight/hearing range.

Same advice goes for basically any full-length Cannon route, with a few notable exceptions. Plan to top out, and don't try anything that you aren't very confident you can do without epic.

john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640

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.

like others have said, lots of people makes for a real problem and MG is kinda low angle as well,,you'll pull stuff down.

Zach Swanson · · Newton, MA · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 36
Derek Doucet wrote: There is sometimes a fixed anchor
That doesn't seem very 'fixed' ;)
Nick Goldsmith · · Pomfret VT · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 440

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.

Linnaeus · · ID · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 0

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.

Last Friday 9/4/2015 there was no fixed anchor that I saw on MG after the one mentioned above. After the finger there was just a single manky pin at the end of the traverse ledge.

Eric Chabot · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 45

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.

1 or 2 raps later we pulled the rope and it got stuck. I yarded on it and pulled down a rock the size of a coffee table. Needless to say we were not psyched to crag for the rest of the day.

Thomas Stryker · · Chatham, NH · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 250

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.

Derek Jf · · Northeast · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 335
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.
Nick Goldsmith · · Pomfret VT · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 440

The whole point of moby is to commit to topping out.

stephen arsenault · · Wolfeboro, NH · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 66

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.
Just returned from doing a big alpine route on granite, and it was much more solid than MG. Wouldn't recommend rapping it.

This route had less loose rock than MG.

Linnaeus · · ID · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 0

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.

Nick Grant · · Tamworth, NH · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 424

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?

Greg Farrell · · Morris, Connecticut · Joined May 2010 · Points: 20

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.

stephen arsenault · · Wolfeboro, NH · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 66

Nick Grant,

It is the "Golden Dihedral" route, on Ambush Peak-East Fork Valley, Wind River's,
Wyoming. Yes, I'm too old for this type of route.

Nick Grant · · Tamworth, NH · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 424

I was already too old for that route when you put it up in 1977 (and I was twenty-one years old).

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northeastern States
Post a Reply to "Can you rappel from Moby Grape?"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.