Anyway, I just entered this video in the American Alpine Club video contest — the video with the most views between now and Feb 15th wins some cool stuff, and is featured on the AAC site.

Sending on Reservoir Wall and Cat Wall -- Watch in fullscreen and HD for best effect

[Click on any of the photos below to launch [...]]]> Words, words, words.  I have a habit of writing too many.  This time, I’ll try nothing but pictures and video.  Enjoy this quickie!

[Click on any of the photos below to launch a slideshow starting there]

View from the base of Think Pink (5.11-) on Battle of the Bulge

Tad onsighting Pente (5.11-) Awesome climb. I can't believe how good this climb is!

Colin flashing Pente (5.11-)

Tad goofing around at the base of an Unnamed 5.11 (climb #23 from Bloom 2nd ed) on Reservoir Wall while Colin hangs his way up on toprope

Sunny on Tom Cat (5.10)

Clowning around at the base of Kitty Litter (5.10+)

Tad laybacking up Kool Cat (5.11), Cat Wall

There are more pics on my Picasa page.

So all you basking in the glow of florescent light, here’s your dose of what it’s like outside your self imposed jail.

Until next time,

-Tad

Hanging in Moab, after cranking hard in the ‘Creek for the past four days.  Whoo, perfect weather, splitter cracks.  What more could you ask for?

[Click any picture to launch a slideshow starting there]

Tower shadows

Haven’t cranked out a large number of pitches yet, but I’ve been working to [...]]]> Yo Yo,

Hanging in Moab, after cranking hard in the ‘Creek for the past four days.  Whoo, perfect weather, splitter cracks.  What more could you ask for?

[Click any picture to launch a slideshow starting there]

Tower shadows

Haven’t cranked out a large number of pitches yet, but I’ve been working to redpoint a bunch of previous projects and get on some new stuff.  So far, it’s turning out well, and I even have a new project for the next trip (Fingers in a Lightsocket).

This trip is a bit different than my previous ones, where I was with a crew of friends from home.  This time, I’m climbing exclusively with friends I’ve made during my climbing trips, primarily from Yosemite back in the spring.

Tad at the base of Fingers in a Lightsocket (5.11+), Supercrack Buttress

So far, my muscles are doing fine, but my tips and cuticles are starting to hurt and get shredded.  Yeah, that’s finger cracks for ya.

The ticklist to date:

Day 1: Donnelly Canyon (with Sunny)

Sunny following Unnamed #12

• Generic Crack (5.10) (redpoint)
• Mr. Peanut (5.11-) (redpoint)
• Unnamed #12 from Bloom 2nd edition (5.10) (onsight)
• The Naked and the Dead P1 (5.8) (redpoint)
• The Naked and the Dead – 5.11 tips variation (TR – 1 hang)

Day 2: The Battle of the Bulge (with Sunny)

Tad redpointing Think Pink (5.11-)

• Railroad Tracks (5.10) (redpoint)
• Think Pink (5.11-) (redpoint)
• Crack Attack (5.11-) (redpoint)
• Pigs in Space (5.10+) (flash)

Day 3: Bridger Jacks (with Sunny)

Sunny and Tad on the summit of Easter Island

• Sunflower Tower – East Face (5.10+) (I onsighted the crux P2, Sunny led P1 and P3)
• Easter Island – Thunderbolts (5.10) (I onsighted the 5.8 P1, and followed the 5.10 face P2 clean)

Day 4: Supercrack Buttress (with Colin)

Colin psyched at the top of his first ever IC climb (Supercrack - 5.10) after onsighting it

• Supercrack (5.10) (Colin onsighted, I followed clean, easily)
• Fingers in a Lightsocket (5.11+) (I led with many hangs, then TR’d with the gear in place with 1 hang at the top)
• The Wave (5.10+) (redpoint) – I cruised it this time, with very little trouble.

That’s it so far.  I’m heading back into camp tonight.  I’ll be back to civilization in about another 4 days or so with the next update.

You know you want to join me here.  I’m climbing until the 20th of October, so pack it up, load it up, and hit the road.  Bring your desert rack and let’s get on some hard pitches.  Stop by the message board at the Beef Basin and UT-211 intersection to find my note about where we’re camped and climbing.

So all you cubicle pukes — it’s a beautiful day outside, and life is passing by.  If you can’t get yourself out to the crags, at least live vicariously to keep your psych up.  Yeah.

Sunset behind North Six Shooter

-Tad

The drive to Indian Creek from home is about 16 or 17 hours. I split it across two days, with an overnight in Las Vegas. Bored during the drive on the second day, I found [...]]]>

On the road from Las Vegas, NV to Moab, UT -- Watch in fullscreen and HD for best effect

The drive to Indian Creek from home is about 16 or 17 hours. I split it across two days, with an overnight in Las Vegas. Bored during the drive on the second day, I found a new “continuous” mode on my camera. This mode keeps taking pictures as fast as the camera can, as long as you hold the shutter button down. Anyway, enough words. You can see the results above.

Enjoy,
-Tad

Tad

Derek

http://picasaweb.google.com/tadhunt/RedDihedral20090816

6:00 PM: Swing by Derek’s house, load up his gear.

6:30 PM: Hit the road.  Grrr, gotta fight the traffic escaping the Bay Area for a while.  237 to 880 to Mission Blvd… Crap, [...]]]> The Objective:

The Incredible Hulk

The Protagonists:

Tad

Derek

The Slideshow:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tadhunt/RedDihedral20090816

The Trip:

Friday, August 14, 2009

6:00 PM: Swing by Derek’s house, load up his gear.

6:30 PM: Hit the road.  Grrr, gotta fight the traffic escaping the Bay Area for a while.  237 to 880 to Mission Blvd… Crap, radio says there is an accident on 680, and our soul sucking internet access devices (yeah, we’re wired) glow bright from red lines on the map.  So we try something new, stay on Mission until it hits 680 again.  This works out fine, and we avoid the worst of the slowdown.  205.. I don’t need to say anything, do I?

8:00 PM: Pull into Chipotle (my favorite burrito joint) in Manteca for a quick dinner.   Mmmm good.

8:30 PM: Back on the road.  120, rock on.  Our destination for the night is Sonora Pass, to suck up some thin O2s to get our bodies used to the altitude.

11:30 PM: Pull off onto a dirt road on the right just over the pass.  I toss out my bivy sack onto some flat ground, and with one look at the dark sky, lit by the Milky Way, I drop immediately to sleep.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

7:30 AM: Crawl out of bivy sack, stumble around, pack up and hit the road.

8:30 AM: Pull into Hays Street Cafe after cruising down Main Street in Bridgeport.  It’s the place with all the cars, must be good.  Breakfast is filling, that’s for sure!

9:30 AM: Hit the ranger station for our wilderness permit.  No problem, the ranger is friendly.

9:45 AM: Take off for Twin Lakes.

10:30 AM: Arrive at Mono Village Campground, pay for parking ($10!), and start racking & packing.

11:30 AM: Finish packing, toss the packs back in the truck and head over to the cafe for lunch.  Nothing on the menu is appealing (still full from breakfast), so we each have a small salad.

12:30 PM: Toss the packs on our backs and start walking.

1:30 PM: Arrive at the turn off for the climbers trail up into Little Slide Canyon.  The hiking trail to this point has been great.  I don’t know how anyone could miss the turnoff, there are no less than five cairns, and this big tree & boulder marking it…

The Turnoff to Little Slide Canyon -- well marked with a tree, boulder, and no less than five cairns!

1:35 PM: Arrive at the river crossing.  This also seems to be impossible to miss.  We didn’t get wet on the way across, but Derek slipped and got a foot wet in the dark on the way back.

The river crossing

2:11 PM: Phew.  We finally made it past the “switchbacks through the trees” part of the approach.  We didn’t have good luck finding a trail through here, but found one once we emerged near the top.

2:13 PM: First view of The Objective!

The Incredible Hulk

3:50 PM: Finally arrive at our bivy spot.  We scored a great site that had just been vacated from a couple of climbers from South Lake Tahoe.  They attempted Tradewinds, rapping (for purity, I guess?) after the leader took a fall one pitch from the top.

5:45 PM: After chilling in camp, listening to tunes, and checking out the views for a while,  I decide to fill my thermos with coffee for the morning.  This didn’t go so well… my coffee-making-device seems to clog up with grounds so the water doesn’t drain through fast enough.  This causes two problems:  the coffee is cold, and it is bitter.  Grrr.  I try using some toilet paper as a filter instead of the mesh, and this turns out much better.

6:45 PM:  Mmmm. freeze dried mac & cheese.  Turns out we both brought the same dinner, hah!  It didn’t help that I tried to heat up my coffee by sticking the thermos into the hot water, without cleaning off all of the granite sand stuck to the bottom!  Whoops!  I recover by cleaning out the stubborn coffee filter and straining the water through the fine mesh, and it turns out OK.  No crunchies in my mac & cheese (well, other than the bits that didn’t re-hydrate!)

7:40 PM: Watching the sunset with a hot cup of tea while agreeing on a strategy of attack for tomorrow.  Sunrise is 6:11 AM, so we set the alarm for 6:00 AM, and figure we’ll be hiking to the base by 7:30 AM, and on the climb by 8:00 AM.

Sunset on Incredible Hulk

8:30 PM: The long day catches up with me, and I’m asleep almost as soon as I get in my sleeping bag.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

6:07 AM: Dude, wake up!  Ugh, what time is it?  I stick my head out of my  bivy, and brrrrr, it is cold!  The peak gets last light, which means it gets no morning sun.  What is this?  There is ice on my bivy sack from the condensation!  Dude, it’s too cold to climb.  Let’s sleep some more.

7:00 AM: Rattle, rattle, scrunch, scrunch snaps me awake.  What’s that?  Crap, a party of three is heading up to the base, braving the cold!  We better get going.

7:15 AM: Breakfast water is on, and we’re gearing up and getting ready.

7:20 AM: Yum!  Outback oatmeal rocks.

7:30 AM: Rattle, rattle, scrunch, scrunch.  Crap.  A party of two is heading up.  Rattle, Rattle, scrunch, scrunch.  Oh no, there is another party of two on their heels!  Hey, it’s our friends Sarah & Chris!  Double damn, we better get a move on before someone else jumps ahead of us!

8:15 AM: Arrive at the base.  The party of three is moving really slow.  They’re not linking pitches.  This could be bad.  Sarah is belaying the leader of the first party of two, while the follower gets ready to go.  Before long, he’s moving up and Sara is leading up behind him.

9:37 AM: Finally, it’s our turn to launch.  I start up P1.

The protagonists getting ready to launch

10:00 AM: I arrive at the P1 belay.  Chris is still there belaying Sarah on a linkup of P2 and P3.  We chat a bit while I bring Derek up.

10:15 AM: Derek arrives.  Chris has to simul a bit so Sarah can reach the next belay.  We have a 70m rope, so we figure we’ll be OK.  Turns out that 70m is barely enough to get into the corner at the base of the dihedral.  I  built my anchor in the corner, and had to move over to Derek’s first piece (barely in reach!) to free up enough rope for him to make it.  Not quite simul-climbing, but almost.

11:00 AM: Did I mention we were last in line?

Last in line on the Red Dihedral

In this picture, the party of three is out of sight above.  The second in the first party of two is visible at the belay at the top of the dihedral.  Chris is leading the dihedral with Sarah belaying, and Derek is finishing up P3, almost to the base of the dihedral.  Phew.  Luckily this is the last time we felt bottlenecked.  Above the dihedral, the party of three sped up and we all kept on each others heels without waiting.

1:08 PM: I’m belaying Derek up the dihedral, with a huge grin on my face.  No matter that we were last in line.  I finally had my turn to lead it (5.10b crux, which felt easy).  Mostly it’s 5.9 hands in a corner.  Whoo!  Awesome pitch.

Derek following P4 -- the Red Dihedral as the sun arrives

2:00 PM: Derek nears the top of P6.  I linked P5 and P6, moving from the shade into the sun.  While belaying, I stripped down to a T-shirt, removing my sweat shirt, long sleeve shirt and long johns (don’t worry Derek, I had you on an auto-block belay).  First time I’ve had to remove my leg loops on a climb!

Derek nearing the P6 belay

2:15 PM: Derek is moving on up P7, a beautiful 5.10a face splitter, which he dispatches after a small spot of trouble getting established in the upper crack.  With a “Whoop!” he’s over the bulge and into the easy climbing beyond

Derek leading P7

3:15 PM: By this point, I have reached the top of P8, and Derek is following.  He will link the next two pitches to the summit ridge.  Yeah.

3:35 PM: Derek heads off on the final two pitches of the main face.  After this, we have a 200 foot scramble along the top of the ridge and two more pitches to the top.

Derek heads off on P9

4:40 PM: Derek arrives at the bottom of P11, after I followed his P9 & P10 linkup and scrambled across the ridge to the base of the final headwall.

5:00 PM: I start bringing Derek up to the top the short P11.  We would have linked the last two pitches, but we had to wait for Chris & Sarah here anyway.  So I led P11 and Derek got P12.  He was grinning at this.  Not only did he get to top us out, but he didn’t have to deal with the pack through the hole!

5:35 PM: I’m staring out the hole at the top of the chimney at the end of P12.  Somehow I have to squeeze through this with a pack!

The hole I have to squeeze through to top out!

5:40 PM: without too much trouble, I figure it out and have gotten the pack and myself through.  Whoo, success!

6:30 PM: Finished the scramble down to the rap anchor, and started the descent down the South gully back to camp.

7:17 PM: Hoist our packs on our backs and start the hike back to the trailhead.

9:16 PM: Hit the campground after an uneventful hike back down.  We found a much better way down through the “switchbacks through the trees”, that dropped us out directly above the log crossing.  Sarah and Chris had no such luck and ended up wading through the stream!

10:00 PM: After spending some time chatting with Sarah & Chris back in the parking lot, we hit the road for the long drive home.

12:30 AM (Monday): I stop in Jamestown and trade off driving with Derek.  I suck down a half liter of water and some crackers and cheese (dinner), and promptly pass out.  I don’t come to until we’re on 205, about to miss the 680 interchange!

2:15 AM: Arrive at Derek’s place.  Unload his stuff, and head home.

2:38 AM: Crash in my own bed, and sleep like a log.

Whoo.  An excellent alpine weekend.

]]> http://www.csh-east.org/blog/2009/08/red-dihedral-a-stellar-alpine-weekend/feed/ 0 38.12156288615667 -119.4155931472778338.12156288615667-119.41559314727783 http://www.csh-east.org/blog/2009/08/two-days-at-woodsfords/ http://www.csh-east.org/blog/2009/08/two-days-at-woodsfords/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:46:23 +0000 Tad http://www.csh-east.org/blog/?p=318 Over the last few weeks, I’ve been checking out this cool area near South Lake Tahoe called Woodfords.  It is an obscure area, with not much of a guidebook, except an old old one that you can download here:

http://www.supertopo.com/topos/obscurities/woodfords_guide.pdf

That old guide lists about 90 routes.  According to Dan (modern route developer and all [...]]]> Over the last few weeks, I’ve been checking out this cool area near South Lake Tahoe called Woodfords.  It is an obscure area, with not much of a guidebook, except an old old one that you can download here:

http://www.supertopo.com/topos/obscurities/woodfords_guide.pdf

That old guide lists about 90 routes.  According to Dan (modern route developer and all around cool dude), there are now more than 225 routes spread across many crags, with year round climbing.

Some recent discussions on Supertopo got me interested in checking it out.  I have to say, that this place is a worthy destination.  Since it’s not very popular, most of the lines are a little dirty, but not exceptionally so.  On top of that, there are just lines everywhere awaiting development.

Here’s some overview pics with routes sketched in, most of which I have climbed:

One of These Days / King Diamond cliff.  Routes from left to right:

• (unmarked) Unknown (5.??) — I saw bolts going up the left-hand arete, but didn’t ask about it
• (unmarked) Unknown (5.12b) (didn’t climb this, but it looked cool) — Bolted face just left of One of These Days.
• (red) One of These Days (5.10c) (onsight) — sweet 5 star route. Great moves.  Fingers and hands.  120 feet.
• (unmarked) King Diamond (P1: 5.11b, P2: 5.9+) (didn’t climb this) — I think this one goes up into the low angle corner and then up the diagonal crack splitting the sunlit face
• (yellow) Pictures of Me (5.10c) (TR)
• (purple) Bush League (5.10a) (onsight)
• (green) Little Mrs. Manners (5.11d) (TR – 1 hang)
• (blue) Dan’s Unnamed FA (5.10b?) (put up on 2009-08-10) (I didn’t climb this but watched him put it up)

Next up is _______ Cliff (I forgot the name).  We did two routes on this cliff, both of which I would consider 4 star routes at any other cliff.  These climbs were my introduction to Woodfords and Cloudburst canyon.  We used a 70m rope, and were able to lower off.  I don’t think a 60m would be long enough.

Routes left to right:

• D-Cup (5.10c) (onsight)
• Offwidth Your Panties (5.8) (onsight)

Another great crag, no real name, other than “Cloudburst Canyon – West Side – Second Tier”.  This one is on the bottom left side of the canyon, up on the 2nd tier of cliffs above the valley floor.  You hike up just past where the trail to King Diamond / One of These Days cliff splits off left, and then head off right, cross the creek, and scramble up some slabs.  The trail is well marked.

The first four climbs share an anchor.  There is a low anchor without chains, and a high anchor up in the corner with rap rings.  Skip the lower anchor and just use the upper one.  A 70m rope gets you down, not sure about a 60m.

Left to Right, the marked climbs are

• Unnamed – Left Arete (5.10d) (TR)
• Cartwheel (5.10b/c) (TR)
• Numb Bunion (5.10d?) (didn’t climb)
• Groove Tube (5.11a) (TR) — can’t see most of this in the photo, it starts on the right arete in this photo and works up the face and the next arete to the right.  Don’t get sucked into the lichen covered face right of the hidden arete — the climb finishes on the face itself, with some fun, hard slab moves.
• Dan’s project (5.11-something)
• Ativan Grin (5.10b) (onsight) –  fun, balancy moves, slightly tricky pro.
• Halcion Hallucination (5.9) — (unmarked, didn’t climb) — anchors under the little roof right of Ativan Grin

Click on any of the pics below to start a slideshow from that spot.  Most of the photos in the slideshow have additional captions to let you know what they are.

[salbumphotos=4,max,2,n,n,picasa_order,center]

Note: click on any image to overlay a slideshow starting there

Seems like Peter Croft loves this crag, and has established at least a few lines there.  Practically everyone I talk to that has been to the [...]]]> Just found this online — a cool video of Peter Croft and Conrad Anker establishing Solar Flare, a new route on The Incredible Hulk up in the High Sierra.

Seems like Peter Croft loves this crag, and has established at least a few lines there.  Practically everyone I talk to that has been to the Incredible Hulk to climb something chimes in with a story how they saw Peter up there on [insert hard route here] having fun!

Enjoy,

-Tad

So, right now I’m late getting out the door to pick up MattL [...]]]> Phew!  This unemployment thing is a lot of work!  I haven’t had a spare moment to sit down in front of the computer for anything other than quick responses to email since I posted my last blog entry, about 15 days ago!

So, right now I’m late getting out the door to pick up MattL for our Leaning Tower attempt.  Yosemite ho!

Since the last update, here’s the quick summary.  Photos and details later, when I get back from Yosemite at the end of the week:

• Indian Creek: Supercrack buttress, Petrified Hornet …
• Red Rocks: Brass Wall, Icebox Canyon – Sunnyside Crag
• Joshua Tree: Big Horn Mating Grotto, Gunsmoke traverse, and Echo Cove / Echo Rock area
• Home for a day
• 3 days at Lake San Antonio with Danielle, supporting and cheering her on for the Wildflower Triathlon
• Home for a day
• Heading out to Yosemite as soon as the photos finish loading off the camera.

Like I said — Phew!  Awesome trip so far.  I’ll get some more photos and stories up this weekend.

Ciao,

-Tad