Red & Yellow tape

[Shawn B]

Anyone know who (other than me) uses red and yellow tape to mark their gear. I cleaned some tat off of the right side of Gallery Wall by the start for Astroboy yesterday. I have your maillion and rap ring if you want it.

[Richard Eh!]

That's me Shawn. I wondered if anyone would find that jerry-rig
By the way, do you know the name of the route where you do a right horizontal disappearing crack to a vertical flaring off-width crack to the top on the left of where you found that tat? We didn't know what we were climbing.....

[Shawn B]

Certainly was "interesting". I've got your maillion and rap ring if you want them back Richard. The webbing and cord...well...you can have the pieces if you wish. Can't figure out where you are talking about. The horizontal crack where you had the maillion is the start for Astroboy. It traverses out right to where you join the vertical finger crack. But it is not an offwidth. There is an offwidth left of Astroboy's last 20 feet. Are you talking about the dirty chossy stuff on the left wall or the cleaner right face? The dirty blocky stuff is Boulevard and it is usually wet and always mossy and dirty.

[Fred]

SWEEPSTAKES 5.9+ R 50’/N/T
FA: G.Gilchrist, G.Hull, J.Holmes 1991
From the first belay of Waterwalk, traverse right 4’ and climb the thin vertical crack on the right hand wall way up high off the deck. The crack can be seen in a clean streak from the ground.

JACKPOT 5.8 R 50’/N/T
FFA: M.LeBlanc, C.Jones 1994
From the first belay of Waterwalk, traverse right 8’ along a horizontal crack to gain the off-width to the right of Sweepstakes.

ASTROBOY 5.8 G 50’/N/R(2)
FA : G.Losier, M.Leblanc 1996
FFA : unknown
From the first belay of Waterwalk, traverse right 15’ along a horizontal crack to gain a nice vertical crack way up high off the deck. Awesome exposure.

[Richard Eh!]

Thanks Shawn. I don't know if Pat wants his rap ring back but you can keep my maillon.
And thanks for the info Fred... although I'm still not too sure what we were on.
It was on the right and the horizontal crack kind of petered out at the vertical crack which was in clean dry rock and definitely off-width at it's bottom which was about a 2-3 foot step-up from what wasn't much more than a smear. The step-up required an immediate arm/shoulder bar in flaring rock(I added a butt scum with my right hip)..... might have been "Jackpot" but the traverse seemed more like 15 than 8 feet out to it??? Really exposed for the step up into the vertical crack..........nothing but air when I looked down.

[Shawn B]

Fred that description of Jackpot sounds whacked. Unless it was just tr'd. If you traverse 8 feet out the astroboy traverse, you have to climb about 30 or so feet of face to get to that off-width. The off-width is only the top 15ish feet. Richard, I'd say you climbed Astroboy. The first part after the traverse where you start going up you have to climb out of kind of an alcove...which is somewhat tricky to figure out the sequence and very awkward if you don't. It is flaring too. Goes into a steep vertical finger crack after that. There is now a bolted direct start to that crack and anchors top and bottom to facilitate getting down. So you won't have to rig up a rap anymore. Bolted section goes about 5.9 but it still need a good scrubing.

[Fred]

by the sounds of Shawn's post, he found your gear at the small ledge on top of Waterwalk first pitch. From this ledge, if you go out onto the right big face (high top left of joe's) you'll get the three routes is posted. In the photo below they go from left to right: Sweepstakes, Jackpot, Astroboy.

[Richard Eh!]

Well that certainly makes it easier! ...up Sweepstakes to last horizontal crack, out right to the flaring off-width and up to top then left to large tree then rap to the jerry rigged rap station that Shawn found.....
Thanks guys!
Hey Fred are you putting pics like this in your new book? If so, put my name on the list for a new guide please!

[Fred]

hmmm yeah I see what you mean now that I look at the photo. How is this?

JACKPOT 5.8 R 50’/N/T
FFA: M.LeBlanc, C.Jones 1994
From the first belay of Waterwalk climb up the corner until you reach the next horizontal crack that leads out right way high on the blank vertical wall. Traverse the crack until you reach the off-width to the right of Sweepstakes.

[Fred]

Hey Fred are you putting pics like this in your new book? If so, put my name on the list for a new guide please!

nope. sorry. Too difficult to get photos of the walls. I am however still considering getting photos for some of the walls like Gallery, Pooh, Cheeckbone but other walls are just too difficult to get photos of.

However, there will be a topo for every wall in Welsford. The existing topo for Joe's left did not show Jackpot but showed Astroboy and Sweepstakes although not accurately. These details will all be ironed out for the next book. I hope anyways.


Shawn,

FFA on Astroboy Direct?

[Shawn B]

Yeah...although I'm torn on the grade. I don't like to sand bag and that would be the case saying it was 5.8. Once all clean, it could be a rather stiff 8 but I'm thinking 5.9. Ben Turner climbed it with me last weekend and he thought more like 9. Pretty steep and you are on your arms alot through that one section at the 3rd bolt. Sure was nice to climb it when it was dry. We did a 3rd pitch up the clean cut corner and over the block then up to the right of the totem (starts just left of the big tree). It is super nice but very dirty. Prob 5.7. Some hollow blocks and flakes but for the most part what's there is solid. I don't know what this is. Joe K and I did it prob 5 or so years ago. There is a route up in that area graded 5.3 with some old pins in it I think. But that is harder than 5.3. Finished at the same tree as Rythym Stick.

[Fred]

Nice work gents. 5.9 is fair I think. I was trying to keep Astroboy Direct a secret until you sent it. A good route indeed but it will certainly benefit from some cleaning. At least now there is a nice rap line to get off the darn thing. Rap station on top of Astroboy and rap station on right side of gallery. Now we just need a rap anchor on top of the totem.

So does Enchanted Evening start at the same crack system but maybe doesn't go to behind totem? Says 5.3. It's definitely the start for it. But seems there is a nice vertical crack about 6' left of the bigger crack system too.