TT Rock Climbing Club

“Hot date with the girly friend?

I'm up for dayclimbing any or all of those days, sir.
Got any routes in mind?



Oh, you will have mail soon.”

“ropegun, n, - climber who places rope up on the anchor for the rest of us to use; generally used to refer to climber that gives the rest of us a chance to climb routes above our normal level of ability.
last edited: 8/29/07 3:46:04 PM”

“that's a new word for my vocab... i need one of those.”

“Guess I'm in the pea-shooter category at the moment...



Pennsy, check yo mail!”

“I wonder if ropeguns are on sale at EMS. I want one!

GM - I'm reading your mail now.
I talked to Todd today. His daughter will be with him Sat and Sun but he wants to climb. She can climb also if he can get her a harness. Soooo, it kinda looks like Rick's Rocks on Saturday. Sun and Mon we can probably play by ear. Stover, Allamuchy, and the Gap are possibilities. I'm thinking the Gunks will be crazy crouded being Labor Day weekend.”

“That sounds good. It's been too long.

I might camp at the Mohican Center, if it's not too busy, or up by the fire tower Saturday night.

How about something on Minsi?
last edited: 8/30/07 1:28:39 PM”

“i am going to san ramon in a few weeks and may go play around on yo-semite for the weekend. anyone going to be in the area?”

“shoot, i'm a little east of yo-semite.

can you work a side trip? ;)”

“I wouldn't mind a side trip to Yo land. It'd be a loooong side trip.

GM - I'll see Todd tonight at the gym, but I'm thinking 8 sat morning at Rick's. I'd probably even get there earlier to get a rope up in case the scouts invade.

Minsi sounds good. I've been wanting to explore there. I wish I could camp Sat night but I've got a family thing. Sunday night perhaps. I know Todd is itching for a bag night.”

“hehe... i may have to use that sp sooner than i thought.”

“My SP is on the way and should arrive at my workplace on Tuesday.”

“you are going to really like that sucker. it's cooler than cat crap.”

“Fundraising project for "Action Committee for Eldorado Canyon" they have a bunch of pictures taken by prominent photographers that are being auctioned off - most are from teh 70's, one or two are OLD, but all are very very cool.

http://www.aceeldo.org/celebrate_eldorado/photo_auction_2007.php”

“From mountainproject.com....

A first hand account of the First Ascent of McCrumm's Crack, Gregory Canyon Amphitheatre, just off Baseline Road in Boulder, CO. (yes, IN Boulder - you can climb inside the city limits here)

---

Here is an account I received from the FA, John McCrumm.

I am 92 now - an age when one looks back to long- gone days. On a misty, cold November afternoon in 1931, I walked along Baseline Rd. and up to the Amphitheater. In earlier scrambles, I had spotted the interior N.E. corner as a climb to be tried, all the way to the top of the north wall.

Armed with my gym shoes and 120 feet of hemp rope from the local hardware store, I felt I was well prepared! 5.4 didn't even exist in those days and I faced no chipmunks. Getting up the crack/chimney from the ground to the flat top of the N.E. pedestal was no great problem.

It was cold and getting dark; I spent several minutes examining the final pitch up the right side of the north wall when reality struck. If I once took the big step out onto the wall, to a crack running up to the top of the north pillar, there was no retreating. The rope was no help, I was alone and the exposure out on the wall was truly scary.

I decided I had to give it a shot. I stepped out to a little ledge with my left foot, found some half decent hand and foot holds and then I remember leaning my forehead against the stone and asking myself what the hell did I think I was doing to put myself in such a situation. Then I found some more good holds and in a few minutes of scrambling, I was on top of the pillar.

I took the heavy, scratchy rope off my shoulder and just sat until the shaking stopped. A gentle rain had come as I started home. Walking back along Baseline I was really pumped and I probably said to myself, "I did it, I did it".

---

pretty cool, eh?

Hemp rope, gym shoes - in 1931!!!! day-um!
last edited: 8/31/07 2:40:42 PM”

“...and solo, carrying the rope over his shoulder to boot.

A rock pioneer, very cool.

Many Gunks moderates were first climbed in the 50's and 60's with their old school and/or home made gear. I dig the climbing history that lives in that place. You may be clipping in to a piton placed by a legend.”

“a nut is a "nut" because originally they were nuts... i always thought that was cool.”

“My backpack trip this past weekend led me to TONS of good bouldering - lots of large rocks lieing around the area where we camped. Twas mondo fun - in running shoes no less, I didn't pack the rock shoes in.

On the way in there was this rock pile - but on the south side there was a beautiful hand crack about 20 feet tall just begging me to climb it. I messed around scrambling on it, doing a few bouldering moves on short sections and then worked up the nerve and free soloed it. Only about 20 feet - and probably would go at about 5.2, but it was FUN. What a rush! Spindle got some pics, but I haven't seen them yet.”

“Awww. You didn't put her in a harness?
Sounds like a great time.


My weekend wasn't too shabby.
Hung out with Pennsy, CrazyPace and CrazyPrincess. The old fart got a B-day cake from the Crazypaces. Took my first lead fall. And climbed my @ss off.
Saturday:
Lead One Bowl Ceiling 5.8, Proboscis 5.6 and top roped the second climb we did here back in April with Pennsy. Crystal Mine 5.7 with Crazypace.
Sunday:
Set up a couple of top ropes. Ate cake. Watched the little one earn her first pair of rock shoes. She did well for her first time on "rock". Pennsy and I top roped Crystal Mine 5.7 and The Pessimist 5.6 after they left. Finished the day leading Jason 5.7, sketchy lead.
Monday:
Explored some of Minsi's rock. Lead Surprise 5.4 with Pennsy. Got some cool views of the Delaware River and Tammany. Got some top roping in on the way out. Hung out by the cold air cave before taking off.

Haven't been this sore in a while.

http://community.webshots.com/user/greenmunkee”

“sale at ems.com, harnesses on the cheap for the most part.”

“Who let Spindle out of PA?? I don't recall approving that visa. Woah, I just saw Lumberzac's tour of PA thread. Who the heck let him INTO Pa?

Nice pics GM. I gotta start bringing my camera, so there can be less pics of me and more pics of GM doing some amazing climbing. He did several awesome leads this weekend, and he got his first leader fall out of the way. It was my first time catching a leader fall and all went well. The gear held, and after both of our hearts restarted, he pulled that 5.8 roof like it was nothing. It wasn't easy to follow and I have the bloody ankle to show for it. Of course he had to show off later on by climbing the 5.7 Crystal Mine with waldies.

Surprise on Mt Minsi was a blast. At 5.4+, it was harder than the classic 5.4 Triumvirate on Tammany, and we both liked it a bit more than Triumvirate. Clean white rock, which is rare in the Gap, and of course the view can't be beat. We had a lot of fun toproping on Minsi's practice wall, and GM showed off once more by climbing a route in hiking boots that I barely made up. Dang kids.

Tonight, I tried out the Silent Partner on top rope. I tried to feed the rope like I do with the Traxion by hanging a full nalgene on the line, but that didn't work well. I ended up anchoring the bottom with just a little slack and that seemed to work better. I still need to play around with the rope feeding thing. I think I might like it though. It was interesting fall testing it but it worked like a charm each time, and I was pleased that it was easy to lower off it. Tomorrow, I will test it further and probably to a lead with it on an easy climb.

Hey Jimmy, how was RRG? Any pics?”

“Dang, how could I not mention our newest climber, Crazypace's 10 year old daughter who I will dub "Marmot Girl." Her first time on rock and she flew up the beginner route. Tagged the anchor, leaned back and begged to be lowered (not from fear, she just wanted to go back up). She even went up a route that's probably 5.4 to 5.5 and made it look easy. Very cool stuff. Papa CrazyPace is quite proud. Now if he would EVER show up on this thread, he could tell you himself.

The old fart got a B-day cake from the Crazypaces
Best crag cake I ever had. :o)”

“i think i enjoy watching my eight-year old climb more than i like to climb myself... almost

rrg is moved two weeks out... work schedules.”

“Let's see if this works:



Roam's free solo of Marmot Poo Rock.
last edited: 9/06/07 5:29:13 AM”

“dam that looks kinda skerry!”

“Made me nervous.”

“Tonight, I tried out the Silent Partner on top rope. I tried to feed the rope like I do with the Traxion by hanging a full nalgene on the line, but that didn't work well. I ended up anchoring the bottom with just a little slack and that seemed to work better. I still need to play around with the rope feeding thing.

A bomber multi-directional anchored at the bottom is critical for both top-rope and leading. For top-roping this rope is anchored at the top as well. Also, you need a second run of rope anchored at the top for the backup belay system.

If the pitch is really long the weight of the rope below the SP could tighten the clove hitch and make the automatic feeding of the rope difficult. I also found that older "fuzzy" ropes had too much friction and did not feed well.

As I understand it, the anchored bottom of the rope isn't just to help the device feed. For leading this is obvious (since this anchor is load-bearing) but for top-roping I think it also serves to contain the scope and direction of a fall much like if a belayer was working the rope standing on one spot below the climber. I guess when I re-read this it makes less sense to me than when I typed it. Story of my life.

My gym doesn't really have a good way to set up an anchor at the bottom of a climb and all the top-rope setups aren't rigged as a fixed, equalized, redundant anchor. So my opprotunities to use this in the gym are limited.

Speaking of gym, I went climbing for three hours last night and BOY are my arms tired! I lead an overhang pitch... up, under a ledge, rotate, and climb down the other side... an arch. Brutal on my forearms but good training. I fell twice, right in the middle of the blasted thing so an easy fall. Also did some bouldering problems for about an hour, and that kicked it up a notch. Some of the problems are real "reachy" and are hard on the shoulders. My quads are stiff today from all the pressing, esp from the laps. All in all a good three hours but I won't be going back tonight.
last edited: 9/06/07 7:32:13 AM”

““Who let Spindle out of PA?? ~ Pennsy

{tee hee} I snuck out when no one was looking. ;)

CO rocks are larger than PA rocks, and nearly as vicious.”

“Roamy the free soloist, you nut you! ;o)
Spindle, I am ALWAYS looking. How did you get by me?

Silent Partner, take 2:
On top rope, I played around with different variations on the ground end. On top, the anchor is bomber with a second strand for the backup loops. I'm not seeing why the bottom needs a bomber anchor. The manual says anchor or weighted and I tried both. Anchored to a tree with a little slack, anchored with no slack, anchored to the tree but with a directional piece at the bottom of the rock, and weighted with my pack on the line. All seemed to work somewhat ok, but I'm still looking for that silky smooth rope feed. Jimmy, have you used the SP on top rope? It's main design id for lead climbing and I can see why it would be smoother leading: the SP hangs naturally with both rope ends hanging down. On TR, with one rope end on the top anchor, the SP gets out of it's natural position so I'm wondering if that is the difference. Tomorrow I am going to try leading with it, but I'll probably have a TR setup with the backup loops as extra backup.

My gym doesn't really have a good way to set up an anchor at the bottom of a climb and all the top-rope setups aren't rigged as a fixed, equalized, redundant anchor. So my opprotunities to use this in the gym are limited.

My gym has no setup for a bottom anchor and no way to fix a top anchor, so my ops there are zero. It's more fun outside anyway. :o)
3 hours in the gym is a heck of a workout. I'm usually done in after 2 hours.
last edited: 9/06/07 6:10:38 PM”

“I got by you by dressing like a backpacker. You climbers only notice climber-chicks. ;)

Roams nuts alright. Can you see what Marmot Poo Rock sits over? It's very far down...


The Marmot wasn't too thrilled with this climbing business either. Look at his front yard!
”

“looks like my trip to reston will involve climbing on the potomac. i did some research in the area and this seems like the place to go. it doesn't hold a candle to the red, but little else does in my mind. the person that i thought would be eager to go with me now seems, well, less than eager so i may have to give that SP a run for it's money. all the stuff out there is top-rope (no bolted sport routes) and trad climbing is supposedly "frowned upon" (what's up with this?) apparently the locals also frown upon solo climbing and chalk. if this turns out to be true then this is yet another reason never to move east, at least in my mind... something in the water.”

“if this turns out to be true then this is yet another reason never to move east, at least in my mind...

ahhhh ... but the surf boarding is #&%!$in'!”

“Roamy the free soloist, you nut you! ;o)

lol, well, she did a good job using perspective in that pic... it was really more of a vertical boulder problem, maybe what they'd call a "highball". It would go about V1, or 5.2 probably. Only about 20 feet high.”

“surfing is damn dangerous. people that surf should engage in safer activities like rock climbing.”

“Today was my 8th day climbing in the last 9 days. Yeah, I'm bushed and I should take a break. Mon and Tues will be rest days and then it's hopefully off to the Gunks for 3-4 days. Woohoo!

Yesterday, Gemini, GreenMonkee and myself climbed at Ralph Stover SP in Pa. It was Gem's 2nd day ever on rock and she did great on some 5.4's. GM and I did some 7's and an 8 and attempted the 5.10a "Phone Booth" and 5.8+ "Obnoxious Partner." Both are incredibly overhung with wild tarzan swings when you peel off. Very strenuous and I managed less than half of Phone Booth (which I expected but it was fun to try), and while I couldn't get the crux on OP, I improvised a cool traverse to get up top. GM didn't quite top out Phone Booth but I think he'll get it next time. He did great on OP despite his battle with a tree while swinging on the way down. heh heh.
Gem and I took a bunch of pics and hopefully they'll get posted in the next day or 2.

Today, the 3 of us went to the Delaware Water Gap and climbed the 2 pitch "Surprise" that GM and I did last week. It's 5.4+ and was Gem's 1st trad climb. She did great following GM's lead while I held up the rear and cleaned the gear. We tied 2 ropes to rapell down and Gem and GM simo-rappelled which was pretty cool. A few pics were taken here as well. Stay tuned.

Hey Roamy, despite Spindle's "perpesctive," yer still a nut. ;o)

Jimmy, the Potomac? That's the south, son. Shoot, MarkO drinks out of that river which explains a few things. ;o) The East is up here where we don't have those silly "rules."
last edited: 9/09/07 4:34:59 PM”

“haha, sounds like y'all had a great time!”

“Got out saturday on the sharp end for the first time. Went to Gregory Canyon Amphitheatre. The most exciting part was the black bear we saw with her two cubs on the trail during our walkoff.

Anyway I started out with a lead up a really mild 5.2 in a big dihedral that finishes out in a cool chimney.

Then led a beautiful hand crack 5.4. Felt good - a little scary in a couple of moments, but my second said my gear looked bomber so maybe I'm ok :)

Sunday, got out on some more moderate hard stuff. Offwidths kicked my ass on 5.8. I'm no good at the technique but it was fun practice. We were out at Turky Perch down south of the city. Place was so crowded it was like climbing in a gym. I fell and fell, but was able to eventually scratch and claw my way out of the offwidth sections into the hand cracks and get up the things. :) This place is hand jam city - not a jug anywhere on the whole friggin wall!”

“it's good for you. build character. the skin will grow back soon. the fingernails take more time... ;)”

“haha! yeah, I'll eventually have lots of character. The rock was granite with huge gritty crystals, my thumb is missing a big chunk of meat, but it'll be allright by next weekends outing. :)”

“Links to where we climbed on Sunday:

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/south_platte/turkey_rocks/105797952

we did: Honkey Jam Ass Crack, Left Handed Jew, Bloody Englishman (this one kicked my BUT) and Reefer Madness (my fav). All are .8 except HJAC which is .7”

“i bought a metolius #10 cam used from ebay. the cam is in great order, but metolius only goes up to a #8 cam. the #10 cam is HUGE!”

“oh, and i got it for 44 bucks shipped which i think is a great deal.”

“We carried a #5 BD Cam-a-lot with us Sunday, but never used it. We used the #4 though, it's rather beastly itself.


DANG - a really great deal!
last edited: 9/10/07 2:23:56 PM”

“Congrats, Roam! I had a feeling you'd be making your first lead soon.
Just curious, what kind of pro did you use?

Those cracks look fun. I haven't been on anything like that yet.”

“Thanks bro. Planning next weeks adventure now. I'm thinking Lumpy Ridge, the Rock One Route - on Rock One (go figger). It grades out at 5.4, but its 2.5 or 3 pitches and goes to a summit - it's very cool getting to the top of something!

I used a few TCU's (small) and a few camalots (finder and hand size), and one or two of the little C3's (like them a lot) - my partner had a link cam - man, I want one of THOSE babies - and a couple of stoppers.

Crack climbing is pretty prevalent out here, Boulder Canyon and Eldo have a lot of it. Lumpy Ridge is more slabby with a few cracks scattered here and there. The Flatirons are mostly run out slab (rather scary at times). South Platte is apparantly the off-width capital of CO.”

“Pennsy, Gem and I went over to Stover for some top roping on Saturday. There were many climbers around in the morning but it cleared out early and then we had the place to ourselves for the most part. Pennsy had been telling me about Phone Booth (5.10a) so we set a rope on that first thing. Two other groups had ropes on the Far Face and we all agreed to share all the TRs.

If I'm going to try something difficult, I want to do it first when I'm fresh. This climb is harder than anything I have ever tried. Hell yeah, I wanna climb that first! It's overhanging and strenuous, up flakes to a pocket, the "phone booth", where you can catch your breath before following an overhanging corner to the top. I made three attempts and climbed a .7 on the Far Face before making it to the phone booth on the fourth go. I didn't have enough juice to finish and peeled off soon after starting up the corner.
I can't wait to get back on this one.

Gem did well on Far Face Corner 5.4. Pennsy and I went up the face while others had a go at Phone Booth. Only one climber made it up. Later on, Keith, the resident rope gun, danced up it like it was no big thing. It was cool to watch them.

We moved down to Obnoxious Partner 5.8+. It was tough but I managed to get up. Gem made some tricky moves at the bottom. Pennsy had some fun making a detour, around the bulge, to the top.

We moved, yet again, down to the Practice Face. Gem looked good on Practice Climb 5.2, Ivy Leaf 5.4 and got over her first little overhang. Pennsy and I went up Finger In The Dike 5.6 befor calling it quits.

Sunday we met at Minsi for a trad climb. Since Pennsy and I had done this climb last week, I thought it would be a good choice for Gem's first. Everything went well. I used the ledge this time which was much cooler, looking out across Land of the Giants roof system. We hung out on top for a while, taking in the views. We all knew rapping would be a big deal for Gem. In climbing, many times the mental obstacles are more difficult to overcome than the physical. Pennsy went down first. Gem and I simul-rapped with Pennsy and I controlling her brake as well. I was surprised when she stepped over the edge without hesitation.
She liked trad climbing better. I knew she would :)”

“Trad climbing rocks!”

“Rock One sounds very cool.
I'm going to have to go and see what all that rock is like.

Pennsy and I are going Gunkin' Wednesday to Friday. Hopefully we'll avoid the crowds and get in some cool climbs.

I better start making my list.”

“Congrats on your first lead Roamy! That's awesome! It's a great feeling, isn't it? and I bet a 5.2 never felt so hard, eh? ;o)

Did you hire a sherpa to carry that #5? I just bought a #4 and THAT is huge. I love the C3's but it's easy to get them jammed into small cracks because the camming is so subtle. Right, Antonio? heh heh.

I posted some pics from out PA weekend. Gem took a bunch and I'm looking forward to seeing hers.
Before I post the album, anyone want to take a stab at this pic of GreenMonkee? ;o)
and, here's the whole album.”

“i went to tryouts for a rock-climbing team this evening. it was for little kids and my youngest (8) wanted to give it a shot. i went to help the class.. belay the kids as they went through a series of tests. anyway, my son sailed up the first two routes, hot dogging it... real style. the "judge" was like, "dude, where did he learn to flag?" and i was like all the proud poppa. then he went up the intermediate route. it was an overhang and he bouldered up the edge, did a quick dyno, and swung himself up sideways... popped up for a quick heel hook, rolled into the wall, and did two mantles in a row to bag the ledge. the judge was like, "uhhh, ok." man, i must have been smiling a huge grin. then again he hot dogged his way up to the top grabbing finger cracks/etc rather than the pieces... showing off. all the other kids were stoked and a few tried to repeat his starting move. they all started encouraging each other and it was really a great evening for me, even if all i could do was give encouragement and belay. anyway, i guess he'll make the team and i am so glad he is having fun. haha, you can bet he will be getting a new pair of shoes now (he's been bugging be for about a month now).”