On my last visit with Chris and Rula, I attempted to climb a very steep corner I'd had on my mind for a few months. I turned back about 40ft up when I couldn't find anymore good protection. I had placed some tiny alloy nuts and one small (.4) cam, which got me onto either dead vertical or slightly overhanging terrain. Lichen and moss covered the face, with only thin seams that barely accept fingertips to be found.
Today I was able to rappel down the line and scrub stuff off the critical holds, linking moves in my head for the climb. I was able to climb it on toprope solo on the first try, which surprised me. The route starts off as dirty 5.7-9 before steepening to 5.11a or thereabouts. Desperate feet on slippery lichen covered steep rock with counter pressure and liebacking moves at odd angles leads to a hard reach to a 1/2 inch or so ledge for fingers. Pulling up on this and smearing feet until you can get onto tiny holds, with a flaring finger crack to lieback from. Relief is in sight. Up and over a triangular bulge with a .5 cam on the right and pow! Easier terrain. You're about 50-60ft up here, and done with the lower crux. Moderate slabby ground up a bit until you hit the upper face, which is very balancey funky slab/face in the 5.10 range. A small .3-4 cam on the left protects the entrance to this section. Careful cleaning yielded some shitty holds followed by several difficult to decipher moves with outstanding holds, and a nice drop straight down below. Haul your carcass up top and you're golden. Another 50ft of 5.7 and easier ground to the anchor.
I've dreamt of this route for a while now, and I'm wondering if I can protect it sans bolts. If I fall in the first crux and the protection doesn't hold, I will go to the hospital. I'll give it a try. There's an easy way out above the first crux.
The second route (which I actually climbed first) goes up the face left of Fried Chiggin Buttress. It's very thin and balancey, with difficult to understand movement sequences and no gear. This would require bolts. The only possible gear I found would be shorty knifeblade pitons, which would need to be hammered from very unstable positions below a thin seam of unknown depth. The seams here are often irregular. They don't go straight in, so hard steel pins just bang into crystals and stick way out. No bueno. I took a fall on this section on my first try, and another later. Very tricky. A lot of it is linking very balancey thin feet with small wacky hand movements. I don't know how to describe it.
The route were talking about goes up the shiny slab at center. It looks like a three-piece slab with some looser stuff on top. The 5.11a is the shaded roof on the left. You can climb the roof (5.9-10ish) or the face right and below it, which is more 5.9ish with some moving right then left to unlock an easier sequence.
I like these two routes, so I'll have to think of good names for them. I reckon their character will be vibrant on lead. Balance and confidence.
I've decided on some new lines in the area, so my list will hopefully never run dry. I'd like a partner for some of these, as I don't always feel 100% lead soloing new routes. Sometimes I prefer it to having a partner, but sometimes it makes delicate moves more challenging.
I found I was having more friction feeding with the 9.8mm Bluewater I've been using. I often use a 9.5mm 70m Mammut something-or-other with the Silent Partner, but that rope is getting pretty fuzzy so I'm saving it for certain adventures. This new Bluewater or whatever it is has proven to be durable, though it got fuzzy relatively quickly. It was only $150, so I'm still quite happy with it as my general use beater rope.
Another gear note I'd like to leave myself is to bring the orange rope protector thingy. There is a friction point atop the hard routes that could benefit from the roll, even though the rope looked fine.
I'd like to climb the hard routes in the Five Ten Huecos, which have been my workhorse shoe lately. I climbed in Acopa JB's (John Bachar), which are stiff offwidth shoes. The Huecos are more sensitive. Might make more sense. Both have hard rubber, with Onyxx on the Huecos and Vibram XS Edge on the resoled JB's. I think I prefer these rubbers to Stealth C4 for the routes I've been doing. Less sticky, but they also don't ooze off the same way. They hold a small edge better, and seem to hold small sharp holds real well without shifting much. I like em.
-winter-
As winter approaches, I should pick a few objectives for winter climbing. More running is in the works for these objectives, regardless of what I pick. Having exceptional cardiovascular capability is nearly essential to enjoying these routes. Hours of plugging away up steep slopes.
I had the idea of linking all the steep faces around Baldy in a day, an enchainment that had something like 13 routes with 22,000ft of gain or something absurd like that. It's listed in the google earth file, which I cannot access. It would tackle the most dangerous route, Lightning Couloir on a Thunder Mountain, well before the sun was touching the top. Then, descend to the base again and climb Safety Dance. Down the southeast side of Thunder's south ridge to the west face of Telegraph. One Nut Wonder, then other stuff there, yadda yadda. Honestly it would be a bit much if conditions weren't just right. I'd just do the two on Thunder, and as much on Telegraph as possible.
Other than that, I'm not sure what I'd wanna climb. The big east face of Baden Powell is dangerous as hell. I've attempted it twice, and canyoneered down it once. I don't know. It would have to be very cold to be safe. I can't say.
There are lines outside the range I'd like to climb, but that's a topic for another time. I keep climbing in the San Gabriel Mountains because they're very close. Affordable adventure. In doing so, I've learned a lot about them, and myself. There is great beauty in their character. They can be harsh.
Good night.
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