A rumor has been floating around, that a group, taking advantage of a one day weather window yesterday, in North Wash, ASCENDED a canyon that has 1-3 rappels and had a time of it……..One of the players wish to fill us in?? R
Yahoo Canyons Group
A rumor has been floating around, that a group, taking advantage of a one day weather window yesterday, in North Wash, ASCENDED a canyon that has 1-3 rappels and had a time of it……..One of the players wish to fill us in?? R
hank moon
Continued from a while ago…
It was time to deploy our secret weapon, “Centava.” Lightweight, strong, and determined, this vital part of our arsenal was rarin’ to tackle the crux. We made a few crude measurements of the height we needed to gain (Ryan “The Crane” braced by the wall, reaching as high as possible). Seemed like a fine idea to position Centava on Ryan’s shoulders, with his lift arms ready in case the shoulder-stand didn’t pan out. Centava seeming ready, the Crane scooped her up and in seconds had her (somewhat unsteadily) positioned to go for it. At this point I was kicking myself for leaving the camera behind. We had envisioned the possibility of using a “human pyramid” at this spot, but what we had here was a segmented human aerial, the top part queasily connected to the Crane.
Centava’s discomfort increased when Ryan worked up a military press on her shoes, sending her higher, but not high enough to grab anything solid. “Neeeahhh…ahhhh…uh-uh” said our weapon, and down she came. Back on terra firma, we quickly concocted a new way to deploy Penny. At the risk of getting a bag stuck, we decided to toss an Imlay Bagette at a likely jam point (rock with small “V” opening between it and the wall) about 3′ back from the lip. I tossed, the bag bounced off the rock and back down. I handed it off to the Crane who nailed the jam first toss. A few pull-tests later Penny was Crane’d up to the last high point, this time connected to the rope with a handled ascender. After a bit of delicate maneuvering, odd body posturing and much grunting, she was up! Anchored by Penny, Ryan and I followed her up the rope.
A surprisingly awkward 2-stage squeeze chimney followed, putting me on top of the final rap station chockstone. A nice stretch of exposed but easy horizontal stemming followed. Good feeling to stretch out. A quicky trip through birdpoo alley and we were at the base of the 2nd rappel. Ryan was up the first part in no time, tossing his pack ahead to use for balance. The 2nd bit was even easier (with Crane assist) and we’re at the final crux: the 1st rap.
Some crux. Ryan practically jumped up the thing and was ready to assist if necessary. Packs went up, then me. I had to try it, though I was getting purty tired and not sure I could make it unassisted. The hard part of the climb is only about a body length, so I figured it’d be easy to back off if necessary. Stemmed up…tried to reach the rap sling back…no good – I’m not a crane. Ok, arm bar then – wow! what a perfect arm bar. The…OW! a sensation like unto a fire-ant bite blossomed in my crotch. Ow ow ow – wait a minute – better finish this climb, then check it out. Several “shamooves” later (beached whale-style floundering) I was up. Whew! the rest should be cake.
Penny’s turn. We had all burned off a lot of energy getting this far. Only Ryan seemed unaffected. Centava wanted to do the climb on belay, so tied a 2-wrap bowline-on-coil around her waist and started up, Ryan running a hip belay. Penny got up to the point where the ant started biting me and ran out of gas. “Down! down!” she said, her full weight on the coil that used to be around her waist. Those coils tend to slide up under the ribs and then jam and hurt a lot – Penny’s precise predicament. Down she went – UH-hurhhh…aghhh-rhja@#$. Or something like that. Minus the swear symbols ‘cuz secret weapons don’t curse. Next time went much better (harness installed) and we scampered up into the sunshine and sat a few minutes, savoring the warmth and glory.
The shallow slot above felt ridiculously easy after the toil below…but I didn’t mind. Back at the trucks, celebratory Dr. Peppers for Penny and Ryan and a burnt banana peel for me. By the time we got back to camp, our fatigue had vanished in the sweet euphoria of exertion and a “first ascent” of Boss Hog. Thanks, Penny and Ryan – that was “fun”!
hank moon
ehh…more like: I ain’t finished it yet.
On 3/2/07, davewyo1 davewyo1@yahoo.com> wrote:
Ummm,that was a rather abrupt ending of the story Hank…What is this > a “cliffhanger”? >
davewyo1
Ummm,that was a rather abrupt ending of the story Hank…What is this a “cliffhanger”? Dave
hank moon
TR: PigOut
A few weeks ago, a friend and I got down Hog 1 (aka Boss Hog) with only one rappel of about 12 feet. As upclimbing it seemed “fun,” possible, and a good workout for spring training, an invite went out to several likely victims…emails came back bearing varying degrees of enthusiasm and maybe-ishness, peppered with a few strong “Yea’s. I was encouraged.
Early PigOut morning, I sat enveloped in moonlight, harpstrings and Joanna Newsom’s clear, supple voice. If you haven’t heard her latest CD, “Ys,” do yourself a favor and buy it as quickly as possible before the world ends…just don’t listen ’til sunup. Next morning, the crew shaped up: Ryan Hull, Penny Martinez, yo. WyoDave was crippled by lower back pain that made him a reluctant dropout. Sorry, Dave – we’ll do it again with ya!
Late/mid morning: UP the bumpy road, TO the piggy parking lot (with the nicely blackened banana peel left by me months ago). We’d decided to enter Hog basin via the Hoxit (low-angle, chunky drainage normally used to access Hog rim after descents). Clump, hop…and we’re there…bottom o’ the Boss. A few narrow pools at the bottom provided an opening challenge (our shoes wanted to stay dry). A few minutes later at the bottom of the broken elevator, we began to grunt our way up the thing.
Ryan was first and sailed right up, taking a short break mid-shaft to make some equipment adjustments. This tradition was aped by Penny and myself, though in my case it was simply to rest…after ascending about 8 feet of the tight chimney. I started to wonder about the feasability of (me) seeing the top of Hog 1 that day as the upper body was not in the best of condition. Oh well, can always go back down – never!
Several more surprisingly physical climbs followed, each low-lying chockstone a cursed nuisance. Then the canyon opened briefly to show off Miss Piggy’s terminus and (a little while later) the first of the “technical” cruxes: the only mandatory rappel in the canyon. I caught up to Ryan there, who was biting off huge chunks of stuff from a pale white brick. From a distance, I thought it was some kinda superpower bar for big people. Then he offered me a chunk…Kroger Jalapeno cheese food. Hmmm. Anything sounded good right now as breakfast-power was gone and all I had was Clif bars. Hey! The brick was actually pretty good – some unexpected cheddar-crumb texture in there made it a decent chew (thanks, Ryan). Penny arrived and we sat eating a few minutes, eyeing the blank wall cleft by the slot about 13′ above. How would we get up there?
adkramoo
Very nicely done. Pretty impressive. So is being 30 pounds lighter than you. I can’t help but think how problem solving like this is a window into the future of one facet of the sport. Probably took an hour to get folks up there, if not longer? Pushing boundaries R
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, Steven Jackson wrote:
Well Ram the rappel at the bottom of east was the hardest spot for sure. I tried a couple different routes to climb it but like you said far to featureless. Next was in fact a human pyramid with 6 of us 3-2-1 formation that still did’nt get it done. Then pack toss was tried repeatedly to no avail. After what seemed like an eternity we decided to try a different pack that was a bit wider. After several tries we finally got it to stick not behind the rock in the pothole above but at the top of the chute exiting the pothole. We decided my little brother should go up first he being 30 pounds lighter than me. Everything went smoothly until he got to where he was level with the pack. I was spotting him from below. While I watched him gently slide his hand underneath the rope and up the rope between the rock I then heard him stop breathing and carefully back his hand down. Just the space of his hand between the rope and the rock had changed the geometry of the pull > enough that it started to dislodge the pack. So he left the rope tight against the rock and pinched it from on top to gain the last couple feet to grabbable rock features. I was quite proud of him for a fairly tough climb and good awareness of what to do with the situation. Well then the rest of us climbed right up. THE END
Steven Jackson
Well Ram the rappel at the bottom of east was the hardest spot for sure. I tried a couple different routes to climb it but like you said far to featureless. Next was in fact a human pyramid with 6 of us 3-2-1 formation that still did’nt get it done. Then pack toss was tried repeatedly to no avail. After what seemed like an eternity we decided to try a different pack that was a bit wider. After several tries we finally got it to stick not behind the rock in the pothole above but at the top of the chute exiting the pothole. We decided my little brother should go up first he being 30 pounds lighter than me. Everything went smoothly until he got to where he was level with the pack. I was spotting him from below. While I watched him gently slide his hand underneath the rope and up the rope between the rock I then heard him stop breathing and carefully back his hand down. Just the space of his hand between the rope and the rock had changed the geometry of the pull enough that it started to dislodge the pack. So he left the rope tight against the rock and pinched it from on top to gain the last couple feet to grabbable rock features. I was quite proud of him for a fairly tough climb and good awareness of what to do with the situation. Well then the rest of us climbed right up. THE END
adkramoo adkramoo@aol.com> wrote: — In Yahoo Canyons Group, Steven Jackson wrote: > > Ram a few months ago I took a group through Lep. main and when we met up with east we decided we wanted more so we ascended East
I knew you folks came down East and went up main, with Scott, was it the FreezeFest before last? How did you negotiate the overhanging drop at the bottom of East going up this time? Fixed line? That is 15-20 feetof largely featureless vertical up and the anchor rock is pretty low profile for pack toss. Do you mean “going up West?” I think a Benny/Josh/Eric group pushed that one to the very entry rap/downclimb? Spidy, your amazing, but up that bottom rap in Lep (east fork) would take levitation or quite a human pyramid. I did hear that you did a downclimb jump combo on it once, which is wild enough for me ;-). The rest of the canyon would be pretty straight forward to ascend. And I await Hank’s report on the up Boss Hawg (Hog I). Or maybe Penny or Ryan will beat him to it. Inquiring Ram’s want to know…Ryan do a Penny or pack toss at the big drop? Penny lead the way up? Any energy left (huff, puff) or any skin left (scrape, scrape) for a drop down II? That must have been exhausting work. Ram
8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with the Search movie showtime shortcut.
Penny Martens
It was rowdy, but none took the day after off. ‘El Jeffe’ Moon needed to be back to work. I am sure that is all that stopped him from the next days adventure. Steve, it looks like you took our lead for the day, and high tailed it t’home with all that snow this morning. Good to see you two again. Penny
steve susswein
I believe the canyon in question was hog 1, and the ascent was done Feb 26th. Based on second hand info, it was rowdy enough that one member of the ascent team had to take the next day off.
adkramoo
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, Steven Jackson wrote:
Ram a few months ago I took a group through Lep. main and when we met up with east we decided we wanted more so we ascended East
I knew you folks came down East and went up main, with Scott, was it the FreezeFest before last? How did you negotiate the overhanging drop at the bottom of East going up this time? Fixed line? That is 15-20 feetof largely featureless vertical up and the anchor rock is pretty low profile for pack toss. Do you mean “going up West?” I think a Benny/Josh/Eric group pushed that one to the very entry rap/downclimb? Spidy, your amazing, but up that bottom rap in Lep (east fork) would take levitation or quite a human pyramid. I did hear that you did a downclimb jump combo on it once, which is wild enough for me ;-). The rest of the canyon would be pretty straight forward to ascend. And I await Hank’s report on the up Boss Hawg (Hog I). Or maybe Penny or Ryan will beat him to it. Inquiring Ram’s want to know…Ryan do a Penny or pack toss at the big drop? Penny lead the way up? Any energy left (huff, puff) or any skin left (scrape, scrape) for a drop down II? That must have been exhausting work. Ram
hank moon
Penny, Ryan Hull, and me “pigged out” on Boss Hog – TR tomorrow. Englestead? Bah! Why didn’t they do the whole canyon like *we* did?
On 2/27/07, adkramoo adkramoo@aol.com> wrote:
A rumor has been floating around, that a group, taking advantage of a > one day weather window yesterday, in North Wash, ASCENDED a canyon > that has 1-3 rappels and had a time of it……..One of the players > wish to fill us in?? > R
>
— There is only one meaning of life: the act of living itself – Erich Fromm
Steven Jackson
Ram a few months ago I took a group through Lep. main and when we met up with east we decided we wanted more so we ascended East but that Englestead ascent sounds like much more fun and right up my ally ashamed i did’nt think of it. Whoever it was is pretty cool
adkramoo adkramoo@aol.com> wrote: A rumor has been floating around, that a group, taking advantage of a one day weather window yesterday, in North Wash, ASCENDED a canyon that has 1-3 rappels and had a time of it……..One of the players wish to fill us in?? R
Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Small Business.
beadysee
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “adkramoo” wrote: > A rumor has been floating around, that a group, taking advantage of a > one day weather window yesterday, in North Wash, ASCENDED a canyon > that has 1-3 rappels and had a time of it……..One of the players > wish to fill us in??
Also kind of fun, and not as much a rumor, as I’ve seen the pictures, is an ascent of the first long drop in Englestead…
Awesome looking…
-Brian in SLC