Saturday's "Clean & Climb"

[peter]

So, the weather forecast is good: wet on Friday, but sunny and mid teens on Saturday.

Meeting at the highy graphittied NS Power lot at the foot of Morris, on Lower Water (for you locals, "Where the Cunard oil tanks used to be, when the Power Plant was a power plant.")

Bring what you need to scrub and lead climb, and we will pair up out at the Face. A folding saw for cleaning branches, wind fall may be applicable to your choosen route, so bring if needed. Should be a decent day for a quick dip to clean off, after the hard work is done.

Hope to see about a dozen smiling faces there Saturday morning.

Peter

[Stevo]

I'll see you at the crag Peter.

Cheers
Steve

[The Teth]

So is someone bringing extra ropes and brushes? I am completely self-sufficient, but I don’t have any extra stuff for people who might not have their own rope or brush.

Teth

[The Mitt]

Bringing my own stuff I might have an extra brush or 2. Unless someone needs a ride I will be meeting you guys on the cliff.


Mitt

[peter]

As long as you are there, Mitt, and Stevo brings the rainbow sling, everything will be in its place ... P.

[The Mitt]

I have convinced Steveo to test the sling to destruction. Finally the thing is older than me.


Mitt

[Stevo]

Hey Mitt,
How did you go on cleaning that new line? I came looking for you late on but you had already left.

Steve

[The Mitt]

Well things went OK after the refridgerator size block almost fell on me. Spray painted my shorts The line is going to be outstanding but I think alot harder than first thought. Getting to the rap line is a 20minute struggle with all the dead trees. Brining up a bow saw next.

How about you? I think we had about 10 people all over the cliff.

Mitt

[ben smith]

hey sean- is that the cool looking double arete feature- if so it looks like a stellar line. what lines got cleaned and sent? I wish I could have come out.

[The Mitt]

Its in between Buffy and miss whiplash. Getting to the top just to set up a proper clean is a nightmare. Going to be a quality route though.

Mitt

[Stevo]

Finished cleaning the second pitch of my latest route, couldn't bear to leave it untidy. Cleaned the first pitch of Seize The Day. Climbed a couple of routes with Nate including Up Over Down Under. A real gem..Not. Don't bother with that one, zero stars! Don't know what the guide book author was thinking!

Cheers
Steve

[peter]

ya, it was a nice day weather-wise, and lots of scrubbing got done. Mitt, Stevo, Peter, Teth, Nate & Rich, with a guest appearance, I am told, by the Cassinator.

I took the tree off, that had fallen on the lower part of "Itchy & Scratchy", so we can climb it ground up again. The lower section could use a scrub.

I cleaned the top half of Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde, sort of; that is, I cleaned a variation finish, which is much better than the original gully finish. I would like to link it up with a different first pitch, to make a new route on the arrete, so if folks could leave it for me, I would be a happy boy.

Nate was cleaning "The Abyss", and Teth ... another one near that who's name escapes me (again). Rich worked down "Directline", which we then climbed. Good job on cleaning the key holds. For an off-width, it is now almost pleasant.

We also finished up an apparently unclimbed direct route to the top of the North Face, now affectionately known as "Direct Pine", for the unorthodox use of a tree made by a lazy, tired and dirty leader of the final pitch ...

The water in Pace's Lake is a wee bit chilly, but I braved it, to get some of the grit off. "It shrinks?", Mitt asked.

All things considered, a good day out.

[Stevo]

Hey Peter,

I have that new first pitch to your new finish. Already done some work on it, more to follow, should go at 5.9.

Cheers
Steve

[chameleon]

Some of you think I wasn't workin that day, but I was....
Using my patented sloppy ploppin' footwork, all the critical holds on Popcorn (1st pitch) are clean [well, ok they were pretty much clean to start with]. Despite this impressive effort...the second pitch remains a neede-cluttered mess!

Finished on the top pitch of Mainline. Pretty fun, but I wish we could've done Up Over Down Under---now that's a Classic line. If only it had a dangling fixed RP in place to really draw the crowds!!!

[Fred]

did anyone clean that nice trad line to the right of Tracstarr's new bolted line? I forget the name. Starts with a nice easy open book (clean) but then traverses right and then up a vertical crack system (dirty)

[Stevo]

I think the line you are talking about is "Point of View". No. Probably does warrant a brushing, along with the super classic "Epitaph" for a first pitch. This combo should be on any 5.8 leaders must do list.

Steve

[The Teth]

The route I cleaned, or started to clean, was “Don’t Let Go” [5.10d]. I removed all the moss, bushes, grass roots and packed dirt from the slab at the base, only to have all the cracks refilled with loose dust and lichen parts from the tope of “The Abyss”. That might have been bad planning, particularly since Nate had to be extra carful about dropping stuff with me working below him. Anyway, since it is all loose I am sure most of the new dirt will get washed away in the next storm. At least I know where to dig for the placements now.

I have concluded that due to gravity (with the exception of updrafts) it is more efficient to clean from the top down, on repel, than from the ground up on aid lead. However, I had a blast and I think the vertical section I cleaned after getting past the slab was less subject to falling dirt. Unfortunately after five hours on the rock I only managed to clean about 35 feet (10m) of the route. Cleaning on repel appears to be faster. The first 6 m is shared with “The Abyss” though, so provided the loose stuff washes away, I helped Nate to get the bottom of his route cleaned. The slab had probably accumulate more dirt than other sections due to the low angle.

I would like to clean the rest of “Don’t Let Go” on repel if I get the opportunity. I found when trying to clean some of Nate’s gear on “The Abyss” that although I am now feeling comfortable up to 40 feet, I am still getting a little tweaked out when I get up over 50 feet, so if I clean “Don’t Let Go” on repel I will likely use two independently anchored ropes, just to give me that comfy secure feeling. I expect that a couple hours of bouncing around on a rope cleaning the route from the top should get me acclimatised to the height.

The only drawback to my plan of having two repel lines is that “Don’t Let Go” is 27 m and I only have one 50 m rope (not long enough on its own) and a 60 m rope that has a couple of questionable spots which I don’t trust. So I got out the scissors last night and now in addition to my good 50 m rope I also have a 32.5 m rope which I do trust and a 27.5 m rope which has been officially retired. I can repel in to the top of “Don’t Let Go” (can’t walk in) with my 50 m rope, tie it off to a tree at the top of the route and drop it down for one line. Then use my short rope as a second line, giving me two independently anchored lines. The other plus is that since there are so many shorter routes around, that depending on what routes I intend to climb, some days I can save some wight and just take the shorter rope.

Teth

[Fred]

I think the line you are talking about is "Point of View". No. Probably does warrant a brushing, along with the super classic "Epitaph" for a first pitch. This combo should be on any 5.8 leaders must do list.

Steve

I think "Point of View" is correct. It was a nice little climb. Would have been even better if clean. I'll have to get back there someday.