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soulsurfer
Aug 10, 2005, 9:19 PM
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Registered: Jul 28, 2003
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Has anyone done Gorilla Warfare on the Witch Needle?
I know it is wide at the start. I have a #5 & #4.5 B.D. cams. Will I need more of that size or bigger still?
I am heading up there in a few weeks so hopefully I will get someone who know about the route. I am sure it does not get a lot of traffic being a 10+ squeeze chimney and all.
:shock:
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murf
Aug 11, 2005, 7:59 AM
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In reply to: Has anyone done Gorilla Warfare on the Witch Needle? I know it is wide at the start. I have a #5 & #4.5 B.D. cams. Will I need more of that size or bigger still? I am heading up there in a few weeks so hopefully I will get someone who know about the route. I am sure it does not get a lot of traffic being a 10+ squeeze chimney and all.
When I did it I know I had nothing larger than a #4 Camelot. For the life of me I don't remember if I had 1 or 2 of them. Normally I wouldn't have 2 #4 Camelots unless I was planning on something wide, and GW was something of a whim that day.
Using a #5/#4.5 might be a moot point, as at one point it widens considerably, and I wonder if even a #5 would work. My fuzzy recollection is that the true offwidth section wasn't all that long....
The move that feels hardest is the .10a move *after* the offwidth. Are you bringing two ropes to rap or are you going to continue up something else? Cause you could be the true offwidth hardman if you continued up Pit and the Pendulum offwidth as well ( which I have not done ).
Murf
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soulsurfer
Aug 11, 2005, 8:14 AM
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Thanks for the info Murf. Maybe I will just bring the one #4 cam. I was going to just bring one 60m rope and continue up Pit & the pendlum. I was going to skip the O.W. section because the book says the next pitch after the pendlum is classic.
Thanks again for the info Murf.
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murf
Aug 11, 2005, 8:44 AM
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In reply to: Thanks for the info Murf. Maybe I will just bring the one #4 cam. I was going to just bring one 60m rope and continue up Pit & the pendlum. I was going to skip the O.W. section because the book says the next pitch after the pendlum is classic. Thanks again for the info Murf.
Really?!! The pitch *after* the pendulum actually sucks. The "5.10" face moves are fine, but the gear and rock heading upwards are runout/poor and not classic climbing by any means. Plus, you can seriouly screw your partner placing any gear after the traverse for a while. It sucks for the follower, cause if you blow the traverse you could take a swing.
Given that I've actually done it twice, obviously it ain't *that* bad. The third pitch of P&P ( the one *before* the pendulum ) is classic. If you have two ropes, you can easily rap from big anchors to the base, skipping the last pitch.
Murf
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jsj42
Aug 11, 2005, 8:45 AM
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In reply to: Thanks for the info Murf. Maybe I will just bring the one #4 cam. I was going to just bring one 60m rope and continue up Pit & the pendlum. I was going to skip the O.W. section because the book says the next pitch after the pendlum is classic. Thanks again for the info Murf.
You have the book? Does ANYONE have a book they'd consider parting with? They're out of print and I'm leaving for a week in the Needles on the 20th...
Josh
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murf
Aug 11, 2005, 8:51 AM
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In reply to: You have the book? Does ANYONE have a book they'd consider parting with? They're out of print and I'm leaving for a week in the Needles on the 20th... Josh
Have a copy of the book, not the book itself....
Not parting with it on any terms, though.
Enjoy!
Murf
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soulsurfer
Aug 11, 2005, 9:04 AM
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MURF
"Really?!! The pitch *after* the pendulum actually sucks. The "5.10" face moves are fine, but the gear and rock heading upwards are runout/poor and not classic climbing by any means"
I must have the pitches read wrong. The books says there is a classic hand/finger crack somewhere on the P&P route. The classic pitch must be the one you were talking about before the pendlum.
Hey jsj42, I do have the book but I think most people do not have one. If you go there someone will have the book and most people seem pretty knowledgeable about the areas routes. Climbers there seem to be pretty friendly and strong too. It is one of the few places where you can leave your gear over night and not worry about it. Hopefully it stays that way.
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murf
Aug 11, 2005, 9:18 AM
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In reply to: It is one of the few places where you can leave your gear over night and not worry about it. Hopefully it stays that way.
Well to take it you'd have to carry it out!!
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cosmiccragsman
Aug 11, 2005, 9:24 AM
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Hello JSJ
I have an old stonemashers guide. I don't want to part with it but
I can email you copies of any pages you want. Just pm me with your email addy and Ill send the pages right off. #4s and a couple lg hexes will do but when I did it, I used my #6 homemade cam on it.
I'll be waiting for your pm.
cosmiccragsman
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tim
Aug 11, 2005, 10:24 AM
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In reply to: You have the book? Does ANYONE have a book they'd consider parting with? They're out of print and I'm leaving for a week in the Needles on the 20th...
Try to find a copy of Randy Vogel's "So Cal Select". It has an excellent best-of guide to the Needles, and once you're there, you can cross-reference it with Margie's copy of the Real Guidebook that she keeps at hte lookout, or other peoples' copies around the campground.
Some company "Alibris" seems to have it for sale (the Vogel book, that is). The people who rated them as a merchant did not seem thrilled with their service according to Froogle, but it's worth a try, at $8.95 for the book (which is worth a hell of a lot more than that if you're not from around here).
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?S=R&qisbn=0934641625&qsort=p&siteID=OmE0YUiQlCg-o3oVPPdVgbv4aEMFdJJIrA
give it a shot
ps. if you're coming through LA then of course you can make copies of mine, but I figured you might be flying in to Bakersfield or wherever. Regardless, once you get up there you will likely find a copy to peruse, whether at the lookout or from someone else around the campground.
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tim
Aug 11, 2005, 10:28 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: It is one of the few places where you can leave your gear over night and not worry about it. Hopefully it stays that way. Well to take it you'd have to carry it out!!
I've seriously considered leaving all of my really big gear under a rock for the rest of the season up there, and the above is exactly why. I'm going to take a shot at GW this weekend, thanks to the beta you provided -- much appreciated.
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tim
Aug 11, 2005, 10:33 AM
Post #12 of 15
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ps. one last note -- I'm using the Needles as my test data for the new routesdb area.php page -- it will be the first thing to go live, this week (if I am very efficient tonight) or next. Individual routes should go live today, for Partners at least, and the cleverer among you will probably figure out a way to at least *view* and *search* the routes if you so desire...
Beta like Tom is providing needs a home :-) thanks again murf!
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crackmd
Aug 11, 2005, 10:38 AM
Post #13 of 15
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Registered: Mar 23, 2002
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In reply to: In reply to: Thanks for the info Murf. Maybe I will just bring the one #4 cam. I was going to just bring one 60m rope and continue up Pit & the pendlum. I was going to skip the O.W. section because the book says the next pitch after the pendlum is classic. Thanks again for the info Murf. You have the book? Does ANYONE have a book they'd consider parting with? They're out of print and I'm leaving for a week in the Needles on the 20th... Josh
You are welcome to borrow my copy if you need it.
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murf
Aug 11, 2005, 3:02 PM
Post #14 of 15
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In reply to: Beta like Tom is providing needs a home :-) thanks again murf!
Yikes! I did mention it was a "fuzzy" recollection, yes?
In any case, you're welcome, new route db sounds great.
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takeme
Aug 11, 2005, 8:38 PM
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Registered: May 6, 2003
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In reply to: In reply to: Thanks for the info Murf. Maybe I will just bring the one #4 cam. I was going to just bring one 60m rope and continue up Pit & the pendlum. I was going to skip the O.W. section because the book says the next pitch after the pendlum is classic. Thanks again for the info Murf. Really?!! The pitch *after* the pendulum actually sucks. The "5.10" face moves are fine, but the gear and rock heading upwards are runout/poor and not classic climbing by any means. Plus, you can seriouly screw your partner placing any gear after the traverse for a while. It sucks for the follower, cause if you blow the traverse you could take a swing. Given that I've actually done it twice, obviously it ain't *that* bad. The third pitch of P&P ( the one *before* the pendulum ) is classic. If you have two ropes, you can easily rap from big anchors to the base, skipping the last pitch. Murf
I tried this route last year and we brought one 60 meter rope thinking we would do the pendulum, no problem. Well, we couldn't figure out how to do it safely for the 2nd, and the 10+ squeeze looked truly insane, so we rapped the route with our single 60, which (especially considering possibly noone else was even climbing in the Needles that day) was the most terrifying rap I've ever done.
By the way, the third pitch is considered classic but we didn't think it was really all that great, particularly compared to all the other amazing pitches we did there. So, not a route I would especially recommend, unless you plan to try the squeeze which looks incredible.
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