TR at Lover's Leap (long)
gor...@violet.berkeley.edu
TR about an easy route at Lover's Leap CA that turned into a sport
climbers nightmare!!
My girlfriend and I have been working on developing our speed
on trad, multi-pitch routes together, and decided that we would climb
as many routes at Lovers Leap in one day as possible. We had a plan
for the 4th of July weekend to climb Surrealistic Pillar (5.7, 2 1/4
pitches), then hike over to the Main Ledge and climb Corrugation Corner
(5.7, 3+ pitches), and then see how much time we had left after that.
Well, we always drive up to the Leap in the a.m., climb all day, then
drive home that same day. A long day, but it seems to work . . .most
of the time.
We arrived at the base of Surrealistic at about 10:30, but a
party of 3 beginners were in front of us, and we didn't get on the climb
until 12:30, since I know how much I hate to be crowded we gave them
plenty of time to get ahead of us. Anyway, the climb was uneventful and
fairly fast, as we topped out about 2 o'clock. Two plus pitches in an
hour and a half! We were definitely improving. However, I had climbed
Surrealistic before and knew the route, so I was a bit hesitant about
how fast we were on new routes.
We would soon find out, as we were about to climb Corrugation
Corner next, a climb that neither of us had been on. We ate lunch at the
top of the Lower Buttress, with an excellent view of Corrugation. There
was a party of two at the base, apparently resting from their hike up.
As we ate lunch, I pulled out the guidebook and tried to identify the
belays. It looked pretty straightforward and I was psyched to get going
on this climb! By the time we made it to the base, the leader of the
party in front of us was about half way up. He was really taking his
time, backing up every piton and putting in a lot of pro. I struck up
a conversation with the belayer, and she said that her partner could
climb 5.12, but that was only on bolted routes and the height was
freaking him out! Oh boy, I thought, we could be in for a long wait.
My trepidations were confirmed, when I heard an "Off Belay"
from above and my watch said 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the second was
having obvious difficulties tying in to the rope! This 5.12 sport dude
had left an inexperienced second on the ground without tying her in!
I could not believe it! I helped her with her knot, nevertheless, and
up the climb she went.
While we were waiting, a couple of climbers came up the trail
to pick up their packs at the base. They were raving about how great
a climb this was, making me very confused about whether we should attempt
it or not. After all it would be 4:30 or so by the time we started, and
even at less than an hour per pitch I knew we would be pushing sundown.
Well, we had a headlamp, if it came to that, so we decided to give it
a go.
The climb looks deceptively low angle from the base. Once into
the first few moves however, you are suprised by just how vertical this
climb is. The first pitch follows a corner/crack w/ lots of dikes and
jugs for holds and stems, and it is very vertical. Near the top you
go around a roof, and traverse right to a nice belay at the top of a ramp.
I made it around the roof, and to my suprise the leader of the party
in front was only half way up the second pitch! We had waited an hour
down below after the second had gone up. Surely this was enough time
we thought. I guess it wasn't, as I waited for what seemed like an
eternity before the second left and I made the traverse to the belay.
At the time it was a minor inconvenience as the sun still seemed high
in the sky. My second flew up the first pitch after working on a nut
placement that got stuck for a few minutes. It is a great pitch though.
Meanwhile, I overheard the leader above say that the 2nd pitch
was the most intimidating pitch he had ever led! And this guy climbs
5.12? Must be a tough 5.7! So, again we waited for about another half
hour at the first belay to make sure they got ahead of us.
The second pitch is the COOLEST thing I have ever climbed! It is
completely vertical, very exposed, and VERY COOL! It starts out in the
corner with more crack/dike stemming for about 35 feet or so, then goes
left onto the face and hits another crack for awhile, then goes left again
onto an arete that left me absolutely breathless! It is all 5.7+ climbing
though, but the exposure and balance moves combine to make for a spectacular
pitch. The arete eventually runs into a chimney system, and you move
right, back onto the face, and up to a ramp at the base of a perfect
chimney.
Of course, as I pulled the last moves I saw that the second
was still at the belay, with a lot of rope left at her feet. This
time I didn't wait for her to leave, as I knew it was starting to get
dark real fast. I set up my belay right next to her and started my
second climbing. The sun was just touching the ridge to the northwest
as she started climbing, and I was cold in no time. Luckily, the
party in front started climbing before my second was half way up the
2nd pitch. By the time my second was at the belay, it was dusk and I
was grateful I had brought the headlamp. I could still see OK, so I
left it for my second to use. This turned out to be a good thing as
well.
As soon as my second was tied in, and the rack was on my harness,
I took off determined to climb the 3rd pitch AFAP (as fast as possible).
The pitch starts with classic chimney moves, then out of the chimney onto
the face for a scary right traverse with a rusty piton for your only pro.
This traverse was tough for me as I was shivering from the cold (at least
I think that's what it was from:-)). I made it back into the crack system
that is in the corner, and up I went. This is another nice pitch, with
a sort of roof move for the crux near the top. Once past this point, the
climbing eases wayyyy off to 5.3 or so. It's called "dike-hiking". The
third belay, however, is not obvious. It's sort of wherever you want it,
as there are tons of dike ledges and the cracks are everywhere.
Again, the leader in front was still climbing. He made it to the
top just as I pulled up next to his belayer . . .again. By this time,
it was DARK. I could still see the rock pretty well however. I set up
my belay and brought my second up using the headlamp. I told the girl
in front of us that we had a head lamp and they could come down w/ us
if they wanted. She was very appreciative, as she was pretty sure that
they didn't bring one, and they didn't know the descent. My second was
grateful for the headlamp at that point because she said the chimney
had gone pitch black and she wouldn't have been able to see a thing!
She really cruised the third pitch however. I thought she might
have trouble w/ both the traverse and the roof, but she said that the
fear of being up there at night overrode her normal trepidations and let
her climb well and quickly. In no time she was at my belay, and I took the
headlamp, and a few pieces of gear and headed up the last pitch.
As I pulled up at the top I was greeted by a whoop and a holler,
and I knew that we were going to have company on the descent. My second
climbed the last pitch sans light, and did just fine. I shone the light
down for her once for her to find a foothold, and that was it. I gave her
the Lover's Leap award for climbing by Braille!
After a few introductions I found out that Rob and Katie were the
people in front of us, and that Rob was indeed a sport/boulder dude, and
that he had indeed remembered to bring an extra sweatshirt, but that he
hadn't even thought to bring a light. Oh, and by the way, do you happen
to know what the descent is like, he asked. Man . . .this guy was really
tempting fate. The descent is straightforward in the daytime, but at night
it's tricky. Especially with only one headlamp for 4 people!. We ended
up doing it in "pitches". I would walk forward about 20 or 30 feet and then
shine the light back for them to walk. This went on for an hour it seemed,.
then the trail eased up and we were able to make better time.
Of course, they had left their packs on top of Main Ledge at the
base of the climb. I offered to let Rob borrow the headlamp, if he promised
to RUN. Well, he was as good as his word, and made a record ascent and
descent of the trail. By this time it was 1:30 a.m.! We made it to the
truck, and left Rob and Katie giving us many thanks for the use of the
headlamp.
At the end of it all, I was too tired and Rob and Katie were
too nice for me to be too pissed off. I think we all learned alot as
a result of the way things ended up. That's what it's all about anyway,
isn't it?
Gordon Moore
Elmar Stefke
<gor...@violet.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>
> My girlfriend and I have been working on developing our speed
>on trad, multi-pitch routes together, and decided that we would climb
>as many routes at Lovers Leap in one day as possible. We had a plan
>for the 4th of July weekend to climb Surrealistic Pillar (5.7, 2 1/4
You seriously thought that doing two of the most popular routes on an
incredibly popular crag on July 4th weekend would allow you to work on
your SPEED???
E.Stefke (climbed w/o. anybody around on July 4th weekend he,he ;-)
gor...@violet.berkeley.edu
Elmar Stefke <el...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
:>In article <2vcs8u$t...@agate.berkeley.edu>,
Yeah, a little naive I guess, eh? It wasn't that crowded however. We
were pleasantly suprised. Nobody on the Main Wall but us and the party
in front of us, and one other off to the west. The East Wall was crawling
w/ people though.
So, Elmar, tell us your super secret climbing locale for the 4th of July.
:-)
Gordon
Bill Gooch on SWIM project x7151
In article <2vcs8u$t...@agate.berkeley.edu>, gor...@violet.berkeley.edu () writes:
|>
|> .... Surrealistic Pillar (5.7, 2 1/4
|> pitches), then .... Corrugation Corner ....
This is an excellent combination - I did it several years ago.
Fortunately, there were no other parties in our way that day.
BTW, I recommend the 5.8 crack variation of Surrealistic -
pretty easy for 5.8, IMHO. My less-experienced partner had
more trouble with the arete on Corrugation, probably because
it's steeper and more exposed, than the 5.8 crack.
If you want to see some major chickenheads, the upper face on
Corrugation Corner has a few prime examples. I belayed from a
stance where the only anchor available was a large (head-sized)
knob with a perfect neck for slinging. Normally, I don't like
having only one anchor for a belay, but with this one I was
perfectly comfortable!
Tim Burcham
In getting ready for a long alpine climb of moderate difficulty, my
partner (The infamous *Dave Knorr*, who started the fallen
headstone rumor) and I set out to do "as many routes in a day" as
possible at the Leap. I guess I've been clipping too many bolts lately
and wanted to get my gear placements down. We blew off work on Friday
and got to the leap at 9 AM. Our tenet for the day was "quantity" not
"quality" -- we were not going to wait for any climbs. We also wanted
to practice running it out, i.e., climbing as fast as possible. There
wasn't too many people at the Leap and we did East Crack, The Line,
Haystack, and Surrealistic Pillar. We were going to continue up
Corrugation Corner, but just thinking about the slog up to the base of
the climb tuckered us out.
I have been more and more disappointed with the gumbys that have been
climbing at the Leap. In the future, I will only climb on
weekdays or the non-trade routes at the Leap.
We went to Donner for July 4 weekend. Because of the bridge closure, we
had the place to ourselves!
Tim