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brutusofwyde
Nov 1, 2003, 6:06 PM
Post #1 of 3
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Registered: Nov 3, 2002
Posts: 1473
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Dug this up from a dusty corner of th Old Climbers' Home library. Seems amazing that teams these days are lined up three deep for a chance at the Hulk, while just across Little Slide Canyon is a kind of climbing completely different, and hardly touched...
From: Brutus of Wyde (bbindner@ebmud.com)
Subject: TR: Reggie Pole
Date: 1996/09/06
Warning: the following describes ramblings of a seriously
disturbed individual (at least that's what my "friends"
tell me. My camalots may have a different opinion)
Read on at your own risk.
****************************************************
Regge Pole: First ascent of East Face Dihedrals
III 5.11a Pat Brennan and Bruce Bindner
The grating sound of a thousand-pound granite block
in motion sends a shock of dread through my entire
body. A split second later a thundrous roar echoes
across the canyon. The rope running down to Pat snaps
taut as a drawn wire. Crashing rockfall and the
clatter of rubble assault my ears as the choking
dust from a geologic bowel-movement clogs the air.
"PAT!!! are you OK?!!!???"
"Oh, man.... oh, mannn....."
[It is September 1, 1996. Smoke from a huge backcountry
fire casts an eerie gloom over our efforts of this day.
We're in a seldom-travelled canyon above Bridgeport,
California on one of the steepest, wildest lines we
have ever attempted.]
"I almost died mannn....."
"ARE YOU OK???"
"dunno..... gimmmeaminute...." [silence]
[The "5.11x" entry pitch had gone for me at 5.10c (R)
and was the scene of our current state of affairs. This
pitch is uniquely "entertaining" for both the leader
and the second.... thin, technical and traversing, I
utilized exotic techniques to reduce friction in order
to complete the runout sketchy lead: Triple runners,
double rope technique utilizing our 8.8mm haul line as
a second lead rope..... Midway through the pitch, I had
slotted a hand into a seemingly solid crack..... the
pressure of the jam caused the huge block forming the
right side of the crack to shift imperceptibly.... but
terribly obvious to my adrenalized senses. The hand
whipped out of the crack as if it had just been dipped
in scalding water, automatic reflexes taking over
without conscious thought. I shouted down: "Pat. Watch
out here. This f*cker's LOOSE!!!" ]
Something Pat had apparently forgotten.
Below, after endless minutes, the dust was finally
clearing. Pat had taken a 20-foot pendulumn-into-ledge
jump-out-of-the-way fall, which he survived with only a
fist-sized abrasion and contusion on his left hip.
Shaking and nauseous, he completed cleaning the pitch,
eyes saucer-wide. This was only pitch two, with
steeper, more difficult ground above. What fun.
Pat's next pitch was one of the "easiest" on the route
-- an incredibly overhanging series of ton-sized flakes
stacked in the corner of the steep dihedral: 5.9.
Above, the route steepens. Over our heads is the pitch
that stopped Pat and Steve Untch five years ago: a
sustained gently overhanging 5.10 offwidth too wide for
the #5 camalot, too wide for heel-toe jams, too narrow
for t-stacked foot jams, too loose for secure bigbro
placements.... come to me you beautiful lovely
horrible spank me beautifulhurtmehateyouloveme
lovelyhorriblewatchmewatchme ahhh... ahhhh... ahhh...
fff.... ffff..... foothold. time for a bolt.
[breathe] (retch)
P1 on Doktor Offwidth's "Puke factor" rating system.
More gently overhanging wide corner.... then I am
finally at the base of a rotten, 40-foot high headwall
split by a solitary flaky hand crack, a critical
section which will bring us into the beautiful,
sweeping upper dihedral we spotted years ago. Time to
belay. I drill another bolt, back this up with both of
our #4 bigbros in the now-10-inch-wide slot [gouging a
crater for one end of a bigbro in the decayed rotten
matrix], find a flared TCU placement, and call it good.
"OFF BELAY!!!"
[one pitch and one fall later]
Finally a good ledge where Pat belays. The thin seam in
the corner accepts my fingertips only. The haul rope
hangs free in space straight down to Pat... steep.
Right wall still rotten and overhanging. Left wall
blank, holdless, vertical... inner wall of my fear the
steepest and hardest of all not what I bargained for
Pat tells me i may have to lead the pitch after this as
well he holds up an injured hand from the fall he took
leading the last pitch shut up pat i'm trying to
concentrate here shallow breath ragged and not at all
under control blood on the slings of the anchors the
smoky gloom funeral pall i close my eyes alone under
the shroud feel fear running through me deep swift
current sucking me under cool darkness icy deep silent
waters smoke blood fire
Its 6:30 pm. Pat whooops and hollers in the evening
of the day, the last of this incredible climb below
him. He disappears onto the flat summit to set anchors
and bring me up. Soon "Belay ON!" floats down. In the
deepening twilight, I clean the station, and, finally
calm, start up rock overhanging to the very last.
********************************************************
NOTES:
Reggie Pole, Little Slide Canyon out of Bridgeport,
California: East Face Dihedrals III 5.11a
FA me n' Pat
September 1, 1996.
15 hours round-trip from high camp.
This route ascends the spectacular system of
dihedrals visible from the Barney Lakes Trail,
and ends dramatically at the very top of the spire.
Start in the huge right-facing corner on the right
side of the pole. After several pitches (5.10 (R) face
and 5.10 offwidth), step left into a crack splitting a
40-foot, rotten headwall (5.10) to a ledge. The
slightly overhanging corner above, (some 5.11a LB but
never easier than 5.10 OW,) leads directly to the
Summit of the pole in two more wild pitches. This is
without a doubt one of the most incredible lines in the
area.
Brutus of Wyde
Oakland, California
*************************END****************************
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jer
Nov 1, 2003, 6:33 PM
Post #2 of 3
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Registered: Sep 26, 2000
Posts: 426
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OH yes...Oh yes...
BOW;
I knew someday the details of this corner system would come to me. I meditated, envisioned, and now realize the beta..ohhhmmmmmm....
even better that it comes from the mighty FA-shunest.
This summer my good pal Al and I slid into Little Slide, with memorized copies of Croft's new mini bible. Although we had a blast on the Red Dihedral and Positive Vibrations; for me, being a virgin hunter (virgin rock that is)- the highlight was shooting pictures of Reggae and the surrounding corner systems on both sides of the canyon. It was very hard to settle down to the bivy as I was fixed on picking lines out like a pre christmas shopping spree. (read of our Hulky day on ST.com; I am the short spidey, Al is the skinny spidey)
The rest of the season all I could dream of was that corner system..wondering, wondering, wondering if it had been done. Finally I found some info that it had. I can't remember where, but still I am interested in doing it; if anything to get a better look at surrounding lines that I had in mind. Is it still crusty, nasty, loose (that's what I thought from below), and what are your thoughts on the outer prow? doable? any systems I couldn't see?
What's the descent like? Does anyone have a complete record of what all has been done in LS? I have ohh...about twenty ideas of stuff I'd liek to attempt, but would love more beta before humpin it up there.
Thanks for the writing...better than lounging round watching cartoons on this dreary saturday morning.
Piece out,
Jer
p.s. always enjoy your TR's
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brutusofwyde
Nov 2, 2003, 4:36 PM
Post #3 of 3
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Registered: Nov 3, 2002
Posts: 1473
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In reply to: OH yes...Oh yes... [snip] even better that it comes from the mighty FA-shunest.
It is a good ascent to shun.
In reply to: Is it still crusty, nasty, loose (that's what I thought from below),
It is one of the most serious routes I have ever done. The corner in the first several pitches is extremely rotten, and (on the second pitch I believe) the rock quality was so bad that we had to traverse to the right to avoid the worst of it. This is where you will need double rope technique AND triple runners to make the pitch doable. I have a topo somewhere.
In reply to: and what are your thoughts on the outer prow? doable?
Absolutely. The outer east face, as I recall, had some features that definitely looked like they could connect with bolted face climbing. I'm sure you were looking at the same thing. Wild and steep. Out of my league, methinks, even back when I was trying to be hard-core.
In reply to: any systems I couldn't see?
The stuff on the left side of the face has been done (kind of south facing) and, I believe, has more recently been freed.
In reply to: What's the descent like?
A couple raps off the top and you can bop into the gully between the Pole and the Duck. Straightforward gully descent. This is much easier, BTW, than the gully on the south side of the Duck, and should be used for descent from the Duck as well.
In reply to: Does anyone have a complete record of what all has been done in LS? I have ohh...about twenty ideas of stuff I'd liek to attempt, but would love more beta before humpin it up there.
Secor plus more recent editions of AAJ are all that I know of. You might also check with Andy DeKlerk, Dave Nettle, Brandon Thau, Bob Harrington, Pat Brennan, E.C. Joe, Alois Smrz... the usual suspects.
In reply to: Thanks for the writing...better than lounging round watching cartoons on this dreary saturday morning.
Always a pleasure to dig something out of the archives here at the Old Climbers' Home. Helps me remember back when getting out of the wheelchair didn't feel like 5.12.
Brutus
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