Nose Solo November 18-21, 2005
Day 1
Left the car at 6am with haul bag and walked to pine tree ledge
where I harnessed & all for the climb. Soloed pine line and
hauled. Put the straps back on the bag and moved it up to the base
of the 1st pitch.
Climbed pitches 1 - 4 in 4 pitches, hauling each pitch while on
rappel except for #4 traversed to Sickle where the haul was prepared
and backed up with extra rope left out for a partial lower out.
I rapped the lead line to clean the pitch and left the traversing
pieces in for the return back up. Lowered the bag or more tossed
the bag for a clean swing under Sickle. Cleaned pitch with small
lower out while using the GriGri as backup. 5hrs from the car to
Sickle with hauling pine line, moving bag from top of pine line
to base of route (nightmare). Also was passed on pitch 1 by Mark
Melvin, Chris McNamara joined me at the belay where we had a good
quick chat.
Rested for 30min while letting the party of two who slept on Sickle
moved into the stove legs proper (i.e. past the traversing). I walked
up to the top of the next pitch (5) where I fixed the rope and rapped
back down where I carried the bag on my back up to the belay. I
led pitch 6 mostly free and pulled the rope close to tight before
fixing it. Rapped down and swung below Dolt Hole and kept climbing
to the next belay (7) below Dolt Hole. Cleaned the pitch as the
bag came back up from the top of pitch 5 proper (half way up Sickle).
Went back up the fixed rope to the top of Sickle and lowered out
before jugging back up to Dolt Hole
From below Dolt Hole, I swung right and climbed three more pitches
to the top of Dolt Tower making belays at the end of line. During
this section, I passed the belayer for the party of two above (Matt
& Mark) two times and felt like I kept Matt the leader moving...
During this section, I turned on my headlamp. I slept on Dolt where
Matt & Mark had the best spots. I told Mark that he had a ledge
and should use it, and if not, I would. He agreed and set up his
ledge from the high bolt. I thought I ended up with the best spot
for not having a ledge. Mark and Matt were going to get up at 5am
so I set my alarm for 3:45, hardly an alpine start.
Hauling total on day 1
9 hauls, 2 carries
Day 2
I took my time and started climbing right around 5am. I was able
to link the next two pitches (12 & 13) from Dolt up and hauled
the pitch while cleaning on the way down. Matt did assist me here,
as the hook for the haul bag did not lift off the sling on Dolt,
as it should have. That saved me the extra work of having to physically
haul the bag. Thanks Matt!
I led the next pitch only stopping at El Cap Tower (14) to clip
the anchor in passing. I fixed the rope at the base the Texas Flake
and used the remainder of the rope to go straight back down to the
middle of El Cap Tower. I walked across the ledge over to the belay
at the end of it and rapped down from that point after setting up
the haul. Upon arriving at the belay (two above Dolt, my first)
I tossed the haul bag over below El Cap Tower and cleaned the gear
and returned to El Cap Tower to finish the haul. Here I took a short
rest while grapping another 1.5 gallons of water for the rest of
the route. There was lots of water on El Cap Tower. At least another
1.5 gallons for Matt & Mark. I normally do not drink water left
on ledges but with the hot days (in November!) I was happy to start.
I most likely would have been forced to rap from above if I did
not grab this extra water.
I left the haul bag on a hook at the anchor on the arête
at the end of El Cap Tower (14). Cleaned the remaining piece or
two up to Texas Flake. Dropped a good portion of the gear and led
up the Texas Flake flipping the haul line around Texas Flake while
continuing up to the 2nd and third to last bolts on the bolt ladder.
Made an anchor and completed most of the haul while going back down
to clean the gear on rappel, unclipped the haul line and slithered
back into Texas Flake to clean the anchor at its base. Back up and
out of Texas Flake, finished the cleaning and hauled the remainder
of the pitch.
I hung the haul bag off the fixed white line hanging from Boot
Flake. I led Boot Flake, threaded the end of the rope and lowered
off cleaning any pieces on the way back down. This seemed interesting.
To lower out on a top rope from the top of Boot Flake, haul bag
hanging from a locked biner attached to the fixed white rope hanging
from the Boot Flake anchor. I did the King Swing 1st try and finished
the pitch (17 per the SuperTopo). I pulled the top rope from the
top of Boot Flake, set up the haul and rapped down while the haul
bag started into the king swing. I met the haul bag about even with
where you finish the King Swing, unclipped it and returned to the
anchor to finish the haul.
From here I linked the next pitch & a half to the top anchor,
threaded the rope, cleaned the last section of the pitch and swung
over to the intermediate belay at the Grey Bands. I pulled the lead
line from anchor above, re-fixed to the anchor at the Grey Bands
and rapped to clean the anchor after the King Swing (17) while the
haul bag came up. I led across the Grey Bands traverse and fixed
the rope in many places Via Ferrata style as Hans Florine had suggested.
Anchored again to the anchor at the end of the traverse and continued
up to Camp 4 (20). It was almost dark. I set up the haul and pulled
most of the slack out. Rapped down to the anchor below, daisy’d
into the Via Ferrata, turned on the headlamp and traversed over
to get the bag. I shuttled the bag across the Via Ferrata and returned
to clean it all back up. Back to Camp 4 to finish the haul.
I made Camp 4 as good as I could using the haul bag to even out
the ledge. Relaxed, made a couple of phone calls and went to bed
by 8pm
Hauling total on day 2
6 hauls
Day 3
Again started rusting at 3:45 am and climbing by 5am or so. This
was an exciting lead in the dark. I actually lead the whole pitch
free of aid in the dark stopping at the 1st anchor with the good
ledge. Saw some loose rocks, etc. I hauled this pitch on rappel
while cleaning the traverse leaving some pieces in for directionals.
I led the great roof turning off my headlamp mid pitch. I took my
time as needed anywhere I felt the need to do so. I rapped the haul
line back to the belay, tossed the bag and cleaned the pitch. Led
all the remaining pitches up to Camp 6 hauling while on rappel &
cleaning the pitch. This included a 1 hr rest on Camp 5 seeking
shade behind the haul bag. I tied off the pedestal for a good upward
pull anchor at the base of the Glowering Spot pitch. Another 1hr
or so rest at Camp 6. As the sun set, I fixed the next pitch (20)
turning my headlamp on about half way. It was so hot that it was
tough to climb in the sun and conserve water. The haul bag again
helped even out the ledge & I set the alarm for 2:45am to limit
any climbing I would have to do in the heat of the day
Hauling total on day 3
6 hauls
Day 4
I awoke at 2am, 45min before the alarm and took my time to get going.
Jugged to the top of the Changing Corners (27) and hauled the bag.
Two more pitches, cleaning and hauling while on rappel put me at
the 'wild stance'(29) where I was able to make it to the top anchor
(31). I made short raps to the edge to bring the bag up, and moved
the gear & haul line to the tree. And one more lap to bring
the bag up before the final time down to the lip where I cleaned
a few pieces on the way back to the wild stance, and finally returned
to the tree. When I looked at the time, it was 11:15am.
I cleaned everything up, took a couple swigs of water and headed
down. Stopping only for water I found and video above Tangerine
Trip. Did the raps riding the haul bag down and was back at the
car at 2pm.
Hauling total on day 4
4 hauls, 1 carry
80 hrs car to car
I may be off on some of this gear! Wow, it sure seems like allot.
Slowing it down and taking the extra time & gear made for a
pretty comfortable and very enjoyable climb.
-Brian Biega
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