Booty

What's the best booty you've come across? ( I'm talking about retrieving or finding gear )

Colt2056 wrote:What's the best booty you've come across? ( I'm talking about retrieving or finding gear )

A new #3 Camalot. I found a newish pair of BD belay gloves. Also found a functional helmet. Even found a harness once. All in Yosemite of course.

Brand new dynamic rope. A team bailed off Looking Glass in a down pour and left their lead line fixed. Seems they were a bit unfamiliar with the area and just wanted down quick. We tried to get their gear back to them without any luck. Apparently they had left a nest of cams higher up too, we never found those however.

I must have bad luck. All I find is a bunch of trash and cigarette butts all around my favorite climbing spots...

Not amazing but the easiest booty was a full, brand new BD draw (both biners!) bailed on a 5.8 just 4 bolts up. The crag was empty for the whole day, and noone came back asking for it.
(if the strongest leader in your party needed to bail on a 5.8 sport route...)

The best gear I kept was a tie between whatever Petzl's fancy new screws are called and a grey metolious cam. The cam must have been overcammed by someone pumped or someone new. I'm going say new considering the grades I climb. Anybody ever come across the cam that looked like someone squeezed the trigger and pulled in the totally wrong direction? That's how I got that cam. I found the screw just hanging out in the ice with a locker.

The best booty I came across was a pair of Cassin All Mountains. I didnt keep them.

Four nearly new BD Camalots, (2 #2's, a 1, and a .75,) all with alpine slings attached and the fancy new petzl Ange biners. I can't for the life of me figure out why they were left in the crack... no accidents reported, and there were rap rings within feet of at least one of the cams. All I can think of is impending weather and inexperience. I even posted up to try and get them back to the original owners... but no takers.

I've bootied a bunch of fixed nuts/cams, but my two biggest hauls were #2 and #3 Camalots in an anchor....at the top of a route just a few feet away from the walk off. A new pair of Miura VS that were my size, left at the base of a route. Tried to find the owners of both items and never did.

On a trip to Red Rock this April, just after the Rendezvous, my partner and I found a new .5 X4 on DOWT and the next day a new .75 C4 and nearly new 3 C4 on Epi. Then almost got a 2 off of the upper pitches of Dark Shadows a couple days later, but were kinda in a hurry to get to the walk off.

I found a .75 C4 in very good condition sitting on a ledge at the Gunks. Literally just sitting there. I posted here to try to find the owner--no dice.

A pair of gold camalots right before a trip to the Creek. Timely!

Also, it was clearly someone's bail anchor, but there were rap bolts less than 3ft away. And a walk-off. I was confused.

At Smith I rescued two practically new 70 meter ropes some guys left after rappelling from the wrong anchor out of the Monkey's mouth. There knot did not pass the ledge so they just left the ropes. I pulled the knot over the edge on my way up the route expecting them to come back and pull their ropes but nothing happened. I came back later on and got them myself. The dude gave me $100 when I gave him his stuff back.

I got me a grip of cool vintage pitons over the years. cant figure out why people keep leaving those things around, they aren't THAT hard to get out...

I found a #2 Camalot and a fairly new 70 m edelweis axis 2 bi pattern rope on the same climb. The rope was figure 8'ed around a tree and went about 60 meters to the ground. Funny part was I bought the same rope about a month earlier. I did not try to find the owners.

A #4 Camalot on half dome that took 10 minutes of fiddling to get out.

An alpine rappel anchor made up of multiple sport draws and slings, and I kid you not, that still had their REI price tags on them.

Alec32 wrote:I found a .75 C4 in very good condition sitting on a ledge at the Gunks. Literally just sitting there. I posted here to try to find the owner--no dice.

Funny, I found a .75 C4 in very good condition just placed in a horizontal with a biner still on it (at the gunks). Not stuck or buried or anything, just there. Racked it and moved on. Someone must have just racked the draw and then forgot to rack the cam or something.
I also found a pretty mind metulius #1, I mean it was kinda stuck, but hardly. All the mastercams are always just kinda stuck, it's their nature.
Also found a cordalette with 2 brand new big BD biners , an ATC, and awesome nut tool just sitting in a tree at face height. I put up an ad here and nobody claimed them. I also recently found ANOTHER cordalette on a ledge.
and a handful of nuts and tricams, but those are pretty common.

If you ever climb in squamish its worthwhile to bring a headlamp and do runs up certain moderate climbs in the evenings in climbing season, especially over the weekends

Theres a decent chance there will be fixed bootay from new leaders and/or seconds .... And you avoid the normal gongshows

Bring a light hammer and a fairly new climber who is happy to second up, and willing to let yo keep the cams for being a ropegun ... Give him/her the nuts and biners

Ive found 4 cams on calculus crack alone the last few years at the end of the day

Its worthwhile to bring a clothes wire/long pliers as well

;)

Speaking of Squamish, one of the best pieces of booty I have found was a chalkbag.

Doesn't seem like much, but timing is everything - a partner and I hiked down to the Upper Malemute, and when we got there I realized I had left my chalkbag in Bellingham. Since he was following, I didn't even ask to use his chalkbag, but took a dip before leading. I kinda greased my way up the slippery crack, really wishing I had my chalkbag.

When I popped over the top, there was a nice Prana chalkbag just laying on the ledge in front of me! So psyched.

Many, many quickdraws (most of them fairly new) on Monday mornings in Malibu Creek State Park - never could figure out why folks don't just leave a carabiner...