Snake Dike-How Tough??
toller
Dike, and I have never done a multi-pitch climb before. I realize it is
all pretty easy, but it seems like doing 35 easy 70' climbs in a row,
and that seems rather tough. The idea of being worn out half way up is
not very attractive.
Is that a reasonable way of looking at it, or am I exaggerating the
difficulty?
Bill Zaumen
<tol...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
Snake Dike is a very easy climb with a short 5.7 section where the crux
is right next to a bolt. Most, but not all of the protection and anchors
are bolts. The climb is about 7 pitches long, mostly on knobs following
"dikes" on a low-angle slab, so it is not particularly strenuous.
The bad part for someone who hasn't led anything is that the easier pitches
have long runouts (one intermediate bolt per pitch, with pitches nearly
a full rope length long). If your partner can lead everything, this
would not be a problem, but the area is kind of isolated, and if for
some reason you can't finish it (e.g., a storm comes in), you better know
how to get down.
The most strenous part of the climb is the hike to the base. Leave
plenty of time: people sometimes get a bit lost on the approach if
they haven't done it before, and you can end up groveling through
manzanita if you go the wrong way.
You should be able to walk up the slabs at the end of the climb and
go down the other side, following the trail to get back.
Bill
--
As an anti-spam measure, my email address is only provided in a GIF
file. Please see <http://home.pacbell.net/zaumen/email.gif>.
Frank Stock
mega popular route. Nothing is quite as fun as waiting for a party to
fumble with the ropes at a belay while you are showered with gear fumbled as
it is passed back and forth. I might suggest that sometime in the next
month you squeeze in a multipitch route or two just to figure out the little
things.
Cheers,
Frank
toller wrote in message <3748A75...@frontiernet.net>...
Jason Perez
Bill Zaumen <nob...@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote:
-In article <3748A75...@frontiernet.net>, toller
-<tol...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
-
-> I am going out to Yosemite next month. My partner wants to do the Snake
-> Dike, and I have never done a multi-pitch climb before. I realize it is
-
-Snake Dike is a very easy climb with a short 5.7 section where the crux
-is right next to a bolt. Most, but not all of the protection and anchors
-are bolts. The climb is about 7 pitches long, mostly on knobs following
-"dikes" on a low-angle slab, so it is not particularly strenuous.
-
-The bad part for someone who hasn't led anything is that the easier pitches
-have long runouts (one intermediate bolt per pitch, with pitches nearly
-a full rope length long). If your partner can lead everything, this
Why are the bolts placed so far apart? I can lead up to .10+ and could probably
do 5.7's in my sleep, but leading a 5.7 with bolts 80' apart I'll pass. If there
were spots to put in gear I'd try it. Is it really that easy? One stupid mistake
and boom, a 160' fall. I'm not that bold.
--
Jason Perez | "Frodo Lives!" "Gig 'em!"
Austin, TX
Steven Cherry
> Why are the bolts placed so far apart?
> [...]
> I'm not that bold.
Seems you answered your own question.
-steven-
--
<ste...@panix.com>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
'What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?' and my answer
must at once be, 'It is no use'....
What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy
is, after all, the end of life. -- George Mallory
Inez Drixelius
(Jason Perez) wrote:
> Why are the bolts placed so far apart? I can lead up to .10+ and
could probably
> do 5.7's in my sleep, but leading a 5.7 with bolts 80' apart I'll pass.
That is the marvelous thing about climbing, one man's scare is another
person's casual stroll. There is leading and than there is *leading*....
--
Inez Drixelius
Berkeley, California
Karl Baba
will have, the hike up and down are really burly. There really are
long lead-outs though and folks get lost regularly and wind up on Snake
Dance (5.9r) or worse. If it is your first mutlipitch climb, your
partner should be prepared to lead every pitch and should have more
experience by far. There are plenty of climbs with pro to get your
multi-pitch feet wet on. THe climbing is not hard if you are on route
and don't let fear affect your climbing, but you have to be sure of
those "IF's
Enjoy Yosemite whatever you climb, it is nice here right now
Karl
http://extra.newsguy.com/~climbing/home.htm
In article <3748A75...@frontiernet.net>, toller
<tol...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
> I am going out to Yosemite next month. My partner wants to do the Snake
> Dike, and I have never done a multi-pitch climb before. I realize it is
> all pretty easy, but it seems like doing 35 easy 70' climbs in a row,
> and that seems rather tough. The idea of being worn out half way up is
> not very attractive.
> Is that a reasonable way of looking at it, or am I exaggerating the
> difficulty?
--
Yosemite Area Guiding (remove NOSPAM from the return address)
Pat Nay
> Why are the bolts placed so far apart? I can lead up to .10+ and could probably
> do 5.7's in my sleep, but leading a 5.7 with bolts 80' apart I'll pass. If there
> were spots to put in gear I'd try it. Is it really that easy? One stupid mistake
> and boom, a 160' fall. I'm not that bold.
The climbing on the dike proper is never harder then 5.3 or 5.4, I think it's
easier myself and that is where the runouts are. By the 5.7 section there is
a bolt protecting the move. There have been more bolts and stations added
since the original ascent. The used to be a couple of the pitches with no
bolts between stations. The oritinal Meyers topo shows no bolts between
the crux and the summit. The actual crux of the route for me was hiking the
endless 2nd class slabs to the summit, my calves were screaming.
I think one time a bunch of us did it car to car in 7 hours or so.
Tim Duffy
We did snake dike 12+ years ago. There is a minor crux near the bottom,
first pitch I think. Get past that and you have it made. The rest is a very
enjoyable moderate (5.4 I think) romp up the dike with exciting exposure.
Runouts are long but the holds are bomber and you'll feel very secure. One
of the best moderate routes we ever did.
--
Cheers, http://www.velotec.com
Tim mailto:tdu...@velotec.com
ph: (714) 695-1500
ôżô fax: (714) 695-1195
Bill Zaumen
> In article
<nobody-2305...@adsl-209-233-20-69.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net>,
> Bill Zaumen <nob...@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote:
-
-
> -The bad part for someone who hasn't led anything is that the easier pitches
> -have long runouts (one intermediate bolt per pitch, with pitches nearly
> -a full rope length long). If your partner can lead everything, this
>
> Why are the bolts placed so far apart? I can lead up to .10+ and
could probably
> do 5.7's in my sleep, but leading a 5.7 with bolts 80' apart I'll pass.
If there
> were spots to put in gear I'd try it. Is it really that easy? One
stupid mistake
> and boom, a 160' fall. I'm not that bold.
>
The runnouts are on pitches easier than 5.7 (more like 5.5). The route
follows some dikes running up the face, and the dikes contain lots of
footholds and handholds, with relatively blank faces on both sides of
the dike.
Not needing a lot of gear is kind of an advantage, given the approach.
Ron H.
wrote:
>The climbing on the dike proper is never harder then 5.3 or 5.4, I think it's
>easier myself and that is where the runouts are. By the 5.7 section there is
>a bolt protecting the move. There have been more bolts and stations added
>since the original ascent. The used to be a couple of the pitches with no
>bolts between stations. The oritinal Meyers topo shows no bolts between
>the crux and the summit. The actual crux of the route for me was hiking the
>endless 2nd class slabs to the summit, my calves were screaming.
>
>I think one time a bunch of us did it car to car in 7 hours or so.
>
According to Reid's topo and my experience (granted that was quite a
few years ago), the 5.7 cruxes are on pitches one and three (or one
and two if you use the alternate belays). The biggest danger on this
route, other than losing it in your head on the very easy dike above,
is the first section of unprotected 5.7 glacier polish on pitch one.
Blow that and you are at least going to lose some skin if not worse.
If 5.7 slab is your absolute limit, you may want to pass on this one.
Having said that, it is a really fun route, and rock climbers should
use it as opposed to the "Cable Route" (a long single pitch climb on
the northeast corner rated A0 with completely fixed gear) for their
first time up HD.
I'd concur that the real crux was getting to the route and the class 2
to the summit.
-Ron
(remove "No_Spam." from my address to reply)
John Black
: The climbing on Snake Dike is the only relaxing part of the day you
: will have, the hike up and down are really burly. There really are
: long lead-outs though and folks get lost regularly and wind up on Snake
: Dance (5.9r) or worse. If it is your first mutlipitch climb, your
My friend got the beta for Snake Dike from me, but still ended up on the
Salathe Route (10b R). Of course he was taking a complete beginner up the
thing. He backed off one pitch from the end, using his nut tool as a
hook while downclimbing!
I guess qualifies under Baba's "or worse" category! :)
--
john// (http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~blackj)
Pat Nay
>
> Wonderful. You gotta love it when people try there first multipitch on a
> mega popular route. Nothing is quite as fun as waiting for a party to
> fumble with the ropes at a belay while you are showered with gear fumbled as
> it is passed back and forth.
I gotta take exception with your sarcastic reasoning for not doing Snake Dike
as ones first multipitch route. On Snake Dike there is only a couple of
pieces of pro required for the entire route, therefore the bumbling of gear
is far less likely. The line is straight forward and the crux is protected
by a bolt. There is almost nothing for the rope to snag on besides the dike
and you can easily flip the rope off of any knob or horn it might snag,
making the fumbling of ropes at changeovers less problematic. Except for the
mental stamina needed for the runout parts its a good intro multi-pitch
route. Not to much to worry about once the approach is out of the way
Pat
Mick Bruha
approach and descent, is runout and trickier than the average 5.7 climb.
Spend a day or two on the Apron or the Watercracks on Lembert Dome in
Tuolomne, then consider Snake Dike.
Dave Johnson
toller <tol...@frontiernet.net> wrote in article
<3748A75...@frontiernet.net>...