TR: Lover's Leap 5/17/97( Jeff, read this one)
NoHorses
Greetings,
I just got back from the best trip of my life, and I thought I'd share
it with you all.
We left from the Bay Area around 7:30 in the morning, and headed up to
the Leap for the weekend. Pulling into the campground at 11:30, the
weather was great, much cooler than at home, so we headed up to the cliff
to see what climbs were open that we could do.
Finally, we settled for East Crack( 3 pitches, 5.8). I led the first
pitch, feeling very solid, and waited for the guy who was there to start
up the second pitch. Meanwhile, it started to spirnkle a bit, but not
enough to really notice.
My partner made it up to the belay with no problem, and began to prepare
for the next lead. He looked solid, and made it to the next ledge without
any struggles, other than mental. Meanwhile I'm at the previous belay
watching the storm, wondering if we're going to be able to outrun it.
Well, my partner sets up the belay and calls down that I'm on belay. Then
I hear someone yell, "it's snowing!". I looked up and was nearly blinded
by the hailstorm pounding the side of the cliff. I climbed as fast as
safely possible to get to the belay, and I got there just as the storm was
beginning to worsen. There were 2 other parties there( 4 routes cross this
ledge), and one party actually had already gotten the leader to the top.
So we decided that instead of rapping off, we'd help each other out by
chaining ropes, so we could all climb to the top. My partner went just
before me, and he was pretty hypothermic when he got to the top, so they
sent him down with one of the other guys up there while I was climbing. (
He told me later that he wasn't even sure he could make it back, until he
actually reached to car, and turned the heater on.)
When I got to the top, I basically ran down the trail, and ended up
losing it, because I had never been there before, so I slid down a slab on
my butt. Reaching the main trail, I was finally warm, so I slowed down,
and enjoyed the walk down, and made sure that there was no one left on the
wall. I got back to the parking lot and changed into some dry clothes and
talked with some guys that were drying out next to the restroom. And of
course, I was thankful to be alive, and to fing that my climbing partner
was fine. So we celebrated with beer and ribs at the Strawberry Inn.
Morals of the story( aka : things I learned from this experience)
1) Who says cotton has no insulating value when wet?
2) It is possible to climb 5.8 in the worst weather conditions.
3) Never start up a climb after noon in the Tahoe region.
4) Always bring more clothing that a tanktop and shorts.
5) If a storm is coming in, get the %$#^ off the climb!
and most importantly:
Never climb with a Canadian, eh! =)
For you Jeff,
There's a bolt on this climb that I'd love for you to replace. It's at
the top of the first pitch. It's an old 1/4 inch Rawl with a( recalled)
Leeper hanger. If you want to practise with your drill before massacreing
Josh, here's the place..
Mike
Pliable
>> Finally, we settled for East Crack( 3 pitches, 5.8). I led the first
>> [snip]
>> There's a bolt on this climb that I'd love for you to replace. It's at
>>the top of the first pitch. It's an old 1/4 inch Rawl with a( recalled)
>>Leeper hanger. If you want to practise with your drill before
massacreing
>>Josh, here's the place..
No don't. Please check with locals first. Lover's Leap has very few bolts
and there are many who would like to keep it that way. As you know, one
guy on his first trip to the Leap is not a consensus.
BTW: I was in the hail storm on 5/17 too. I saw some guys climbing without
shirts after the initial "warning" drizzle. 1/2 hour later in the downpour
I don't know where they were, but I'm certain they were very cold.
Daniel Engovatov
NoHorses wrote:
>
> Greetings,
>
> I just got back from the best trip of my life, and I thought I'd share
> it with you all.
>
> Morals of the story( aka : things I learned from this experience)
>
> 1) Who says cotton has no insulating value when wet?
> 2) It is possible to climb 5.8 in the worst weather conditions.
> 3) Never start up a climb after noon in the Tahoe region.
> 4) Always bring more clothing that a tanktop and shorts.
> 5) If a storm is coming in, get the %$#^ off the climb!
> and most importantly:
>
> Never climb with a Canadian, eh! =)
6) Another moral - do not sing when you are freezing on belay.
I took one fellow Russian on the Bear's Reach climb there. It
was his very first climb in his life. I taught him how to
belay and how to retrieve gear right before we started...
It snowed. On the second belay I started to freeze out
and sang a very sad Russian song about a lone rider in
'stepp' who was freezing to his death. My friend, who
suggested that a snowfall is what the climbing is all about
and never complained (tough guy) nevertheless almost
went nuts when heard the wind singing in a sad and scary
voice.
7) About teaching how to retrieve gear - week before that trip,
I climbed with another Russian first-timer on Mount Lemon.
We toproped a bit then I leaded a pinnacle near parking
lot. My friend did not show up for a while, then I heard
a maniacal laugh of the guys, who were relaxing nearby.
They say my friend trying to retrieve a .75 Camalot, the
only one I placed, by pulling it out without pulling on a
trigger. Now I trust my gear much more, because this guy
failed, and he is known for ability to break foot thick logs
with his pinky finger. He also does Ph.D. in Quantum Mechanics...
8) And yeah, do not do the Travelers Buttress first two pitches
after it rained. It still hurts...
Take care.
Daniel.
Dale Bish
NoHorses (noho...@aol.com) wrote some of the dumbest stuff ever:
I was there the next day and talked to a guy who was on the main
wall when the hail hit. He laughed about and said he spent a couple
of hours going up and grabbing the bail gear off all the climbs. He
got 6 cams, 7 tapers and a hex because people got freaked out by a
little hail.
Think about this. People climb 5.10 in the Sierra during winter
storms every year. Hypothermia is a serious condition that would
never, ever be fixed by a car heater after a few minutes. I've had
it and believe me, there is no way my Honda could have done the
trick when I had to spend 4 hours in luke warm water to get it back
together.
There are major snow, rain and hail storms in Yosemite year round.
People climb big walls, hard aid and thin cracks despite the lousy
weather and would never consider posting about it.
The East crack is a mellow climb that should take no more than 2
hous to complete, especially considering the last pitch is basically
a walk off with one 5.6ish move. 2 pitches is hardly anything to
whine about. Thankful to be alive? C'mon dude, get some balls and do
some real climbs. Last week it started to rain while we were doing
the North Dome Gully decent-a real life and death situation when the
rock is wet and you're pulling your lifeless body, packs and ropes
across a 5.4ish slab 2,000 feet off the floor. We celebrated with a
Snickers and the guide book planning the next day.
: course, I was thankful to be alive, and to fing that my climbing partner
: 1) Who says cotton has no insulating value when wet?
I do-cuz I've had hypothermia with cotton on while my partners
tekware kept him relatively warm
: 2) It is possible to climb 5.8 in the worst weather conditions.
It's possible to climb 5.10 in bad conditions-meaning that it is
dumping over 3 feet per day, the temps are well below 0 and the wind
is blowing so hard that you can barely hear yourself-let alone your
partner telling you on belay.
: 3) Never start up a climb after noon in the Tahoe region.
What?!?!?!?! That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard! my
hangover doesn't wear off til at least 2!
: 4) Always bring more clothing that a tanktop and shorts.
I thought every climber knew that....
: 5) If a storm is coming in, get the %$#^ off the climb!
: and most importantly:
:
No!!!! Start looking for bail gear!
: Never climb with a Canadian, eh! =)
:
Can't argue there, but remember, Trevor was Canadian...
dale
--
***************************************************** /\
You can't be lost if you don't care where you are. * _/ \
***************************************************** __/ \_
_/ \
Dale Bish / \_
Student, ski bum, future problem for social inequities \
Email me at: Or check out my websites:
drb...@ucdavis.edu http://www.hyperski.com
http://www.wzone.com/snozone/bishzone
alpin...@geocities.com http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/7705
http://asucd.ucdavis.edu/orgs/other/sos
http://www.rockandice.com
Chata
Daniel Engovatov wrote:
>
> > 3) Never start up a climb after noon in the Tahoe region.
????????
--It is possible to climb fast.
--matt (I soloed 17 pitches at the Leap this afternoon) theilen
...I know, I know, it is not really that big of a deal! But it felt
good.
Chata
--I am a local at the Leap and I would have to say that replacing that
bolt would not be such a good idea. It doesn't need to be
replaced--there is plenty of natural pro! New bolts are a bad idea at
the Leap.
next time do Epitaph!
--matt
Glenn Murray
Dale Bish (ez05...@chip.ucdavis.edu) wrote:
: NoHorses (noho...@aol.com) wrote some of the dumbest stuff ever:
Actually, "NoHorses," who should have used her or his name,
wrote a good trip report. There is much dumber stuff
in the responses; you should be able to find it easily.
GM
--
************************************************************************
Glenn Murray
mur...@mscd.edu
************************************************************************
John Rogers
Dale Bish wrote:
> It's possible to climb 5.10 in bad conditions-meaning that it is
> dumping over 3 feet per day, the temps are well below 0 and the wind
> is blowing so hard that you can barely hear yourself-let alone your
> partner telling you on belay.
[various comments in a similar vein omitted]
This is true for you perhaps. For many, it is not true. More important
than never/always absolutes is that climbers need to know what their own
abilities are. It doesn't help me to know that you can climb 5.10 in a
snowstorm if I know through experience that I cannot. I'm glad you have
such well developed skills, but climbers without them do need to have a
sober awareness of their limitations. Of, there's no sense in expecting
others to have the same limitations, any more than there is in thinking
that everyone can (or wants to) adopt your personal standards and style.
I find that on days I don't want to climb in thunderstorms it is usually
easy enough to tell what's coming just by keeping an eye on the clouds
and checking a weather forecast.
-John Rogers
Climber Dude
I was also up there (on The Line) when the storm hit...
I would have to add to the list of morals:
- When climbing in Tahoe, don't assume that the weather is
going to "blow over"
It was the most drastic change of weather I have ever seen.
(No, I have not climbed Everest or Yosemite)
To think we were just an hour before bitching about it being
too hot :-)
I'm sure there is worse weather, but people have failed to
mention that the second round of hail was the size of marbles,
and it _hurt_! Also, I don't know about anyone else, but
lightning _really_ makes me nervous when I'm up 115', wet,
and carrying lots of metal and a convenient grounding line :-)
The guys in cutoffs (no shirts), BTW, made it down okay.
While I have seen postings that seem to indicate it is okay
to liberate gear left on the rock, what makes you think people
aren't coming back for it? Anyone who thinks that isn't
stealing is an expert in rationalization. Removing a stuck
nut is a different story, but I heard from one of the parties
that in the hour between when the rain stopped and the sun went
down, that someone rapped down Pop Bottle and stripped all of their
gear (which they intended to retrieve), then split.
They found this out to their dismay early the next morning...
What a world...
- climaroc
===============
Daniel Engovatov wrote:
>
> NoHorses wrote:
> >
> > Greetings,
> >
> > I just got back from the best trip of my life, and I thought I'd share
> > it with you all.
> >
>
> > Morals of the story( aka : things I learned from this experience)
> >
> > 1) Who says cotton has no insulating value when wet?
> > 2) It is possible to climb 5.8 in the worst weather conditions.
> > 3) Never start up a climb after noon in the Tahoe region.
> > 4) Always bring more clothing that a tanktop and shorts.
Evan Bigall
In article <3384B7...@mxim.com> Joe Owens <jo...@mxim.com> writes:
Anyone have info on lovers leap ie when the snow melt allows access
to the campground and also what the weather is like in june. Also how
many hours drive from reno.
The snow is gone, the campground is open, the weather is great in June
and I've never been to Reno.
Peter K. Williams
No No No
The snow is 20 feet high, the campground has been turned into a KOA and
climber's are all turned away, plus there are swarms of mosquitos the
size of bats.
--
Peter
Doug Knight
Joe Owens wrote:
>
> Hi:
>
> Anyone have info on lovers leap ie when the snow melt allows access
> to the campground and also what the weather is like in june. Also how
> many hours drive from reno.
>
You are in _The Clouds_. The snow is gone, and the campground is open
and the mega-crowds have returned. Weather? Wait five minutes and see,
the only ones interesed in predicting the weather are touroons and
fools. Me, I hope the cadis hatch will be happening on the river by
then.
--
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doug Knight metalfab<at>efaxinc.com
Junk e-mail, solicitation, sales, products and services gladly
accepted at $50.00 per mailing and billed directly to your ISP.
Joe Owens
Hi:
Anyone have info on lovers leap ie when the snow melt allows access
to the campground and also what the weather is like in june. Also how
many hours drive from reno.
Thanks
Joe
Evan Bigall
No No No
The snow is 20 feet high, the campground has been turned into a KOA and
climber's are all turned away, plus there are swarms of mosquitos the
size of bats.
Oh yeah, forgot about that part. What he said!!!
Seriously, I played AWOL from work, and was fully amazed about the
number of climbers there on a *wednesday*
Can't imagine what it would be like on a weekend. We managed to bag
Travelers and The Line on about 4 hours sleep though.
John R. Black
: The snow is 20 feet high, the campground has been turned into a KOA and
: size of bats.
I've been going to the Leap every weekend (save one) for the last 2-3 months.
It went like this: colder than #*%@, rain, snow, wind, (climb anyway, no one
else there AT ALL), then suddenly it got REALLY warm. There was *one* week-
end where it was super warm and very few people were there. The following
weekend it was PACKED. It's been that way for the last month or so... :(
If you come to the Leap on a weekend to do one of the popular moderates,
expect a long wait at the base of the one climb you'll do that day.
Booty: I've gotten something on each of my last 3 trips there: a casio
watch, bail-off gear from Deception (2 weeks ago), bail-off gear from
Knapsack Crack (yesterday). My policy, as always: describe it and it's
yours.
john//
P.S. Does anyone know who/why a dude was drilling to the left of Surrealistic
Pillar on Memorial day morning?
Dale Bish
Climber Dude (clim...@pacbell.net) wrote:
: It was the most drastic change of weather I have ever seen.
: (No, I have not climbed Everest or Yosemite)
Or any other high altitude climbing spot?
: and it _hurt_! Also, I don't know about anyone else, but
ohhhh, poor baby.
: lightning _really_ makes me nervous when I'm up 115', wet,
: and carrying lots of metal and a convenient grounding line :-)
Of course it does, but then again, think of allthe guys on porta
ledges during the once a week lightning hits in Yosemite...
Just get used to the fear
:
: The guys in cutoffs (no shirts), BTW, made it down okay.
:
Too bad...
: While I have seen postings that seem to indicate it is okay
: to liberate gear left on the rock, what makes you think people
: aren't coming back for it?
Of course they were, you know they would...
: stealing is an expert in rationalization. Removing a stuck
: nut is a different story, but I heard from one of the parties
In one case, someone isn't willing to spend the time to get the nut
out, in the other, someone isn't willing to spend the time getting
wet to get the climb done. Either way, the guys bailed on the piece
and it's not up to us to determine if they are coming back in the
morning. Gear left on the rock (other than fixed ropes, etc.) is
free game, and that includes draws on bolts ;)
: that in the hour between when the rain stopped and the sun went
: down, that someone rapped down Pop Bottle and stripped all of their
If you were on pop bottle, you can walk off of ever pitch, why bail
off gear unless you are so freaked out that you can't think
straight?
:
: What a world...
I know, isn't it great? Darwinism on the rocks :)
:
: Daniel Engovatov wrote:
: >
: > NoHorses wrote:
: > >
: > > Greetings,
: > >
: > > I just got back from the best trip of my life, and I thought I'd share
: > > it with you all.
: > >
: >
: > > Morals of the story( aka : things I learned from this experience)
: > >
: > > 1) Who says cotton has no insulating value when wet?
: > > 2) It is possible to climb 5.8 in the worst weather conditions.
: > > 3) Never start up a climb after noon in the Tahoe region.
: > > 4) Always bring more clothing that a tanktop and shorts.
: > > 5) If a storm is coming in, get the %$#^ off the climb!
: > > and most importantly:
--
William Folk
> : that in the hour between when the rain stopped and the sun went
> : down, that someone rapped down Pop Bottle and stripped all of their
>
> If you were on pop bottle, you can walk off of ever pitch, why bail
> off gear unless you are so freaked out that you can't think
> straight?
Actually, the guy soloed pop bottle, cleaned the gear, and then went to the
bulletin board at the campground, with the intention of leaving a note to
the people who left it. What he found was a nasty, abusive letter. He still
intends to return it...
Bill