TR:When life looks like easy street: 5 days in Vegas
Jeff Amato
Seeing that an opening in my schedule coincided with some cheap fares to
Vegas, I persuaded a local partner to join me for a 5 day excursion
during the 3rd week of February to Red Rocks. Although I've been there
several times, this was the first time I'd flown to a climbing
destination. Here in Las Cruces, NM, the 10 hour driving radius
includes JTree, Red Rocks, Moab, and Boulder, among other equally
excellent places, so generally I just take weekend road trips. But this
time I wanted to maximize the climbing time and be able to get back to
work without the recovery time an all-night return drive requires.
I taught my last class until 4:00 and raced to the airport, and with
minimal effort we were driving the rental car to a camping area near
Black Velvet. We threw down the bags and for me it was a relatively
cold night with minimal sleep. At 6:00am we started hiking up Black
Velvet Canyon, passing two other guys who were still packing. We were
the only groups there, and of course we both were going to climb
Epinephrine.
This was my second attempt. During Spring Break 2 years ago, my partner
from Boulder and I tried to get on it. Woke up early, hiked in, found
two parties on the climb and one at the base, before 6 am. We did Dream
of Wild Turkeys instead and decided that the last week of March is NOT
the time to go to Red Rocks. I don't think it holds a lot of climbers
as easily as a place like Joshua Tree (camping issues there
notwithstanding).
So we were the first ones on the route and decided to bring a pack for
water, shoes, 2nd rope, extra clothes. It slowed us down a little but
it was not a big deal. The other team, two guys from South Platte, were
coming up fast climbing only with a 2nd rope and a litre of water for
both of them. A little before the last chimney pitch they asked to
pass, saying that they were planning on climbing 2 other routes that
day. Since it was still early (9am), we said no problem and they
proceeded to climb through as we waited on the big ledge.
Now, one of the things about passing parties is that you have to do it
efficiently. These guys blew that aspect of the etiquette. After
passing, the next leader missed the proper belay before the last
chimney, then got sucked WAY inside the chimney, started begging for
mercy, then was lowered back to the belay, where his partner took over
the lead. This guy TRed through the already placed gear, then climbed
the pitch quickly. After these maneuvers, we were set back at least an
hour and a half.
It was still not a big deal, because above the chimneys they did climb
fairly quickly and we didn't need to worry about sharing belays all
day. And we still had plenty of time to finish the route. But you can
be sure this other party underestimated the amount of time they needed,
and I'm sure they didn't get even one other climb finished that day, AND
they had to do the whole descent in their climbing shoes. Ouch. So IF
you're going to pass, try to have your act together to do it
efficiently.
The rest of the climb was superb. I think one of the hallmarks of a
classic climb is consistency at a particular grade. The more pitches at
one grade, the more of a classic it's going to be, whether it's the 3rd
Flatiron or the Nose. Epinephrine has a lot of 5.9 climbing, but the
diversity (chimney, crack, face) makes it even better. The other reason
Epinephrine is a classic is that you actually NEED to summit the peak in
order to get to the proper descent route (don't rap! You miss out on a
great summit).
The next day we cruised the Strip, had a great all-you-can-eat breakfast
at the Nathan's upstairs at New York^2. It's a good place because you
don't have to drive the Strip to get there, it's right on the edge, easy
free parking. We walked to the Barbary Coast where I won $200 in 45
minutes playing Blackjack. And there was free camping that night at the
13mile campground. Everything was working out nicely on Easy Street.
Until the next morning, when there was danger at my door. I woke with
severely congested lungs and a hacking cough. So suddenly! What
happened? Must have caught something on the plane, and the lack of
sleep, cold climate, and the long endurance day on Epi must have caused
a major illness. I stumbled around kind of dryheaving, with my head
about to explode, couldn't eat, could barely move without sharp pains
and coughing spasms.
Now I felt bad for myself and also for my partner. Day 2 into a 5 day
trip, and Amato goes out of commission? By noon I decided that I could
at least belay, so we went to the 2nd pullout and clipped some bolts on
the Magic Bus where we witnessed a guy take his first leader fall. He
was from Arkansas, and was with some friends who were teaching him to
climb. This was his second day of climbing, and he was leading "Neon
Sunset" (9 bolts in what, 70 feet?; Kevin Pogue's route, of course).
Anyway, this guy was doing fine until the 5th bolt, where he clips, then
goes up to the right, off route, can't downclimb, can't traverse,
decides to go even higher, then tries to traverse again, finally clips a
draw and grabs the draw, but can't let go to clip the rope. He's
shaking, the rope is behind his foot....finally he peels, the rope
flips him onto his side, he bounces/slides down the face about 20 feet
with the rope twisted around his fingers. His belayer lets him down,
and he's a bit shaken by the whole experience. He unties and lights a
cigarette, happy on solid ground.
I was feeling better climbing than sitting around. The adreneline or
whatever seemed to at least take my mind off of my sickness. The next
day we did Sour Mash in Black Velvet. For me the crux was the hike in,
I had to take a lot of breaks, plus the belays were really cold because
I was having thermo-regulation problems. But I led both of the 10
pitches and really enjoyed the climb. Slow hike to the car.
Last day: Atman at Calico basin. Sweet hand crack, wish I had one in
my backyard. By this time I was fading fast, so Steve went to do some
bouldering near 3 models who where being photographed against the red
boulders. I slept in the car and then we headed home.
Now I'm out of commission for a little while, the diagnosis was
pneumonia in my lungs so I'm resting it up.
--
Jeff Amato
http://www.nmsu.edu/~geology/amato
Lg
Butt. of Mid. Cathedral. I said, "Suure, as long as you do it efficiently
and you don't drop anything on me or my partner". Well a softball-size rock
did miss me about 8' near the top but they never really could pass us. The
point of passing is to pass through and get the hell on, so we finally had
to just chill for a while to let them get ahead. They were very apologetic.
I guess because my partner was wearing painter overalls, wool socks and two
different shoes they thought they could blow by us. I would have been afraid
if I saw a sight like that, oh yea I was.
Heh, I like the visual at the Magic Bus.
Lg
"Jeff Amato" <am...@nmsu.edu> wrote in messa
ge news:3C7FCDB3...@nmsu.edu...
stinkwagen
> Now I'm out of commission for a little while, the diagnosis was
> pneumonia in my lungs so I'm resting it up.
Hey! Welcome to the club. I was diagnosed with pneumonia about 10
days ago. I had this hacking cough, then got a fever, so I took a day
off to rest, then went climbing the next day. Got sicker and sicker
and finally went in to the doc after the holiday weekend. X-ray
verified.
The day I was climbing I onsighted a 5.9 offwidth at Index. I thought
of boasting "5.9, pneumonia onsight" to the
hardest-climb-you've-done-in-approach-shoes thread, but I see you've
got me beaten handily with two 5.10 pneumonia onsights. Nice job.
Hope you have a speedy recovery. I'm hoping to start exercising in a
day or two.
Chuck
[to reply replace home with attbi in address]
Rob Williams
[snip]
Great TR Jeff. Bummer about the illness. Next time drive, practicing
Greg Daughtry's sleep-regulations strategies. Do a google search.
I'm a believer. I need to get to Red Rocks someday.
Rob
Bill Wright
Nice TR, Jeff. Thanks for it and sorry that your sick. I hope for a
quick recovery for you.
> Now, one of the things about passing parties is that you have to do it
> efficiently. These guys blew that aspect of the etiquette. After
> passing, the next leader missed the proper belay before the last
> chimney, then got sucked WAY inside the chimney, started begging for
> mercy, then was lowered back to the belay, where his partner took over
> the lead. This guy TRed through the already placed gear, then climbed
> the pitch quickly. After these maneuvers, we were set back at least an
> hour and a half.
Sorry to hear about this and I hope it hasn't soured you on letting
parties pass. Yes, they did blow it. Nice of you to let them pass
though, considering you were a fast party also. Trashy and I did this
route a number of years ago and it sounded like your Spring Break
attempt. We raced two parties on the way in - and I mean raced. By the
end of the approach I was nearly running with my rival. Thankfully, we
won the race and blasted up the route. We passed yet another party
that had bived just below the chimney - off to the left of the route
on a ledge. Thankfully we passed these guys before they could traverse
back to the route. We then enjoyed having the climb entirely to
ourselves as the others were held up by this party.
It is indeed a classic route. Great and varied climbing all the way
and, yes, you should definitely go to the summit. The summit is great
and the descent off is pretty quick and not too bad - compared to
other long routes at Red Rocks anyway.
> The next
> day we did Sour Mash in Black Velvet. For me the crux was the hike in,
> I had to take a lot of breaks, plus the belays were really cold because
> I was having thermo-regulation problems. But I led both of the 10
> pitches and really enjoyed the climb. Slow hike to the car.
I enjoyed this climb also. Challenging, but not too desperate. Fun,
exposed moves.
Great well soon,
Bill
GaryFike
Hey Jeff, hope you're feeling better. If you'd stayed at the DCR (deluxe
climber's retreat) perhaps you could have avoided the bug. Next time maybe.
>The summit is great
>and the descent off is pretty quick and not too bad - compared to
>other long routes at Red Rocks anyway.
Bill, I'm trying to get my mind around this thought. I agree the summit is
great (especially that little exposed catwalk area) but 'pretty quick'? You
must be a machine. I thought the descent was the crux of the route, (I'm sure
it had nothing to do with wearing Tevas!) especially if you need to make your
way back to the base. I must have slipped and fallen four times. You must be
comparing to Resolution Arete or Lev 29, eh? I mean, compare the descent to
other trade routes like Frogland, Olive Oil or even Tunnel Vision.
Can't count the folks you went epic by trying to descend the first gully you
come to instead of going up to Whiskey Peak first and traversing.
If you want the route to yourself, do it when it's hot. You're in the chimney's
when the sun is on the wall and when you move into the corner system the wall
is in the shade. Water's a little problematic but whatever.
Did you guys do it in 9 pitches?
Gary