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kimmyt
Jun 14, 2004, 7:00 PM
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Back from the New, covered in bugbites (apparently they weren't aware that the bugspray I'd used contained DEET), scratches and bruises.
Got thoroughly beaten all weekend, flailed my way up almost everything, including my very first 10! (Though I don't really count it, as I hangdogged it like a fiend till I got it, and was too tired to try it again all the way through).
Attempted to go to the new retrobolted section of Bubba City, Tattoo Wall, only to discover after the heinous descent in that 1) the rock was soaking wet from the previous week of rain and 2) that the bolts seemed to be handily created for someone a foot taller than us.
Gave up eventually and went to Junkyard Wall (see above mention of 5.10) where we toproped lots of harder stuff before heading home. Managed to not get mauled by the other climbers staying at Roger's as we cooked our steaks, mango salsa couscous for dinner, topped off with a yummy salad and two bottles of red wine.
The following day I discovered the meaning of pain as I continued to flail my way up some of the easier climbs at Summersville. (My poor little nerve endings in my fingertips make typing this extremely difficult).
All in all was a wonderful weekend, despite the disappointment at Tattoo Wall.
Lessons learned: Don't go to Tattoo wall when there has been rain earlier that week, always bring stick clip, check all horizontal cracks and finger pockets for small squishy living things, and don't forget your bathing suit for after-climbing dips!!
K.
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costellobr
Jun 14, 2004, 8:19 PM
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Kimmy
I didn't use the DEET and I didn't get that many bites. Go figger. The mosqiters just love the flavor of your phermones.
My thighs are soooo sore today.
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charley
Jun 15, 2004, 12:19 PM
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It's a good thing this is not community. That thigh comment would not be left alone. Glad you two had fun.
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leaverbiner
Jun 15, 2004, 1:07 PM
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Kimmy . . glad you had an enjoyable trip to the New, but I am curous as to why your decent into Bubba was so heinous? The new access trail and the original access trail are both very well maintained. Yes, they are not flat, but the slopes are not treacherous or anything.
Bubba definitely seems to be on the slow side for drying out . . Summersville and endless tend to dry out much quicker. Part of the problem is that there has been sooo much rain at the new the past couple of months that the ground is saturated so any new rain immediately runs off and seeps through the rock . . . there are places at just abotu every cliff that stay dry or at least climbable through ust about any weather, but they may or may not have been within your desired range.
Definitely get back down as often as you can, there are sooo many areas and soo many climbs .. . you will also find that the climbing at one area can be very different from what you experienced at another . . most people seem to develop an affinity for a particular cliff, but the greta thing is the variety that exists.
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send513
Jun 15, 2004, 1:10 PM
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Tattoo Wall is one of the newest areas at Bubba and isn't as easily accessible (i.e. no nice estabilished trail)...
as for the bolts being for someone about a foot taller, you are probably right... I really do appreciate all the work that Erik has done bolting stuff there, but I also really wish he would remember that NOT EVERONE is over 6 feet tall... grrrrrr
I love being in the MIDDLE of a crux and clipping - NOT!
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gblauer
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Jun 15, 2004, 1:11 PM
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Kimmy sounds like you are an officially addicted climber!
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kimmyt
Jun 15, 2004, 1:16 PM
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Officially, Gail! Heh.
Leaverbiner, it wasn't so much that the descent was bad...it was mostly that the trail was so wet and steep that you slid a great deal of the time due to loose moist soil. Also, probably most of the 'heinous' part was that the entire way down I was thinking about having to hike back up. Heh.
But other than the wet factor, the trails were pretty well marked and maintained.
K.
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leaverbiner
Jun 15, 2004, 1:19 PM
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Yeah, at the New, the hike out is usually a lot worse than the hike in . . i guess it is the price we pay for clifftop access!! If you didn't already see it, wait until you try hiking out of Butcher's branch (Kaymoor) in the heat and humidity!! The switchbacks that were put in about 2 years ago are nice and so is the elimination of the long walk through the chest high grass, but it is still a thigh buster . . not to mention feelign like you are doing it in the middle of a sauna!!
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charley
Jun 15, 2004, 11:05 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: It's a good thing this is not community. That thigh comment would not be left alone. Glad you two had fun. Charley, don't even go there, you bad boy.
No not me. Wouldn't think of it.
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mccallew
Jun 17, 2004, 4:15 PM
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Sorry to hear that you had a less than stellar time at the Tattoo Wall. It definitely stays damp longer than some of the other crags at Bubba. Also, you should have seen the decent trail when we cut it in last Fall. Hours and hours have gone in to route finding, cutting, and digging steps, but as you now know, the last 100 yards are the trickiest and still need some work (our next rain-day project?).
I just wanted to make a couple of clarifications to some of the comments above...
First, ALL of the routes at Tattoo, and the other new routes at Sandstonia (and Bubba), are new. Nothing has been retrobolted out there, though some routes at other Bubba crags have been retro'd by the first ascentionist or with their permission. Prior to Fall 2003 there were no routes at Tattoo. Now there are about 27 side-by-side sport climbs ranging from 5.5 to 5.13b, and 30' up to a whopping (for the New!) 100'! Tattoo was quite the find and has seen over 25% of the new route activity since beginning three years ago... Hard to be believe Tattoo saw it's first route go in during Sept./Oct. 2003!!!
Secondly, though it's entirely impossible to equip these routes to suit all people's climbing styles and preferences, great care has been exercised to NOT bolt these routes just for those of us 6' or taller. Our general rule of thumb is to place bolts within reach of the shortest individual we climb with (5'3"). If LA or Cindy can't reach it we will lower the bolt. There are exceptions (i.e. to keep from decking or due to hollow/poor rock), but that is our general rule. You'll find the 100+ new routes to be pretty liberally bolted compared to other New River routes. But we know we can't make all people happy even though the majority have been... and for those that aren't, at least take solice in the fact that the bolt you just had a devil of a time clipping is not a rust-ridden stud poised for failure. Stainless rules at Bubba!
Great to hear people enjoying the climbing in general, and definitely don't miss Tattoo! Cheers,
Eric M.
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kimmyt
Jun 17, 2004, 4:34 PM
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I guess my confusion mostly lies in the fact that, as an area that has a large amount of low to moderate level sport climbs, I was under the impression it was designed as a place for beginning leaders to go to climb at the New.
If (as I'm presuming) the place is designed for the beginning leader, why shouldn't some of the easier climbs be bolted for the beginning leader, that is to say leaning more towards the overbolted side than the run-out side?
I'm just confused, and I'll admit that I've only ever lead a couple times, and two of those times the routes were ridiculously overbolted.
But I have to say, it's good of you to get someone who is shorter to take a test run on the routes, but I'm willing to lay down money that that person probably climbs way harder than 5.7 normally. Therefore, a 5.7, no matter how runout, might seem just like a cakewalk to them.
Well, and that's all just my opinion. I really do think the place is great, I just wish it had been dry enough to test it out! And also, the wet factor, as I mentioned in my TR, could have added to some of our uncertainty given that it was more likely for us to take a fall so a normally spaced bolt might have seemed more sketchy at that time.
Cheers!
K.
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mccallew
Jun 17, 2004, 4:58 PM
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Get on Bobby D's Bunny 5.6, Plumber's Crack 5.6, Five-Five My Ass 5.5, or Butterfly Flake 5.7 at Tattoo. Bobby D's some may argue is over bolted (11 bolts in 85'), but felt it needed it because of the ledgy nature of the easy climbing. These moderate routes all have been bolted while keeping the pucker factor of a budding leader in mind. You are right though, our "short testers" do climb much harder than 5.7. What they have that many new leaders need to gain, is a willingness to climb to a good clipping stance and not clip as-soon-as-I-can-reach-the-bolt, thus getting pumped and inceasing the fall distance by pulling too much rope. We wage a constant battle between each other regarding protecting a route and over-bolting it. We've gone back and added bolts on easier climbs when we've been convinced they *should* be there, and left them off harder climbs because they would have been superfluous. We hope we've struck a happy middle ground.
Enjoy!
Eric M.
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kimmyt
Jun 17, 2004, 5:03 PM
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True, and I realized that after I'd posted. Perhaps overbolted routes would get a new leader too dependent upon said routes, and make the transition to leading harder even more difficult.
Those were some of the routes we wanted to try....hopefully I'll be able to get back down there at some point in the Fall and give them a go when it's a bit more dry out, I'm willing to concede that that may make the difference entirely.
K.
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mccallew
Jun 17, 2004, 5:16 PM
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Cool! Definetly make it back. Not much beats Fall at the New!
See you at Bubba. Cheers,
Eric M.
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