Hurricane Earl

[jeremy benjamin]

I just ran into the last of the Nova Scotian Smizzles on the road and he told me that Duck Head got destroyed from the recent hurricane. I also caught some photos on facebook of recent changes at Prospect, Again. The Prospect photos I saw showed changes in big boulders between the backside of the Backbreaker boulder and the Toejam roof. I know there have been changes there earlier in the year but it looked different again. Does anyone know of lost (or gained) problems from the recent storm. Is Sang de Dragon still accessible? Has anyone been to Dover since the storm?

[Scooter]

I have not heard of anyone on Dover since Earl.... anyone interested in heading out there this weekend should the rain hold off????

[Zamboni]

Ryan was out there this week and got on Sang de Dragon. He didn't say it changed any.

[Rowan]

I was at Prospect the day after the storm, and I did notice one block that looked like it had just toppled over. I don't remember ever seeing it there before. Here it is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54433808@N ... 020986226/
Well, that dihedral looks pretty fun now.
Here's a video too, that I took at Herring Cove the day of, and Prospect the day after (yeah, I shoulda taken my little tripod!).
Big waves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re3rq95OVzA

[patzer]

Yeah, so here's the deal with Prospect as I recall. Some minor movement in the amphitheatre area, but no visible changes to any lines other than.... Backbreaker is finally back to the way it once was! A real start, and no worse of a landing than there was before. But no more jump starting, or big falls, etc. As I never completed this problem I'm excited to get back on it now.

At the roof, yes the slot broke on Right toe jam, but you can still do the problem coming out the roof in a few different ways... Where it broke, it makes a pretty good layback type grip, or you can pinch the bottom, and I ended up doing it another way - crimping the lip a little left of the opening and it felt pretty positive. It's just different now, definitely no more difficult for tall people like me, I'm reluctant to say it is harder for shorter people... I will guess the slot just seemed more positive than it ever really was, and the new holds are just as good but they'll take some getting used to. Not as cool as that slot was though. But shorter people can correct me once they have a go at it.

One of the holds on left toe jam was also damaged (still usable though), but as you just bump from that hold (or skip it entirely if you're around 5'10+) it barely changes the problem.

The holds all seem to have been sharpened by the storm too!

Finally, there is a brand new block with some neat shorter (8') problems on it that seems to have fallen from above maybe? Heard Vicky is credited with some FAs on that boulder. The line up the corner deserves at least ** for sure! And where there was a big block on the right, it's now slammed up against the middle part of the roof cutting off access to Debbie Does Dynos, and maybe another problem or two no one ever really did. But in moving, it opened up some more stuff. One of the the blocks looks like it has a nice traverse along the length of it (20' maybe), and there is a warmup slab with a crack on a right face. And a previously unavailable part of the roof has now opened up, with a nice looking layback crack (bad landing but easier grade) line, and a moderate looking roof problem out to a slopey arrete (also bad landing). Heard Rockmaster is credited with some FAs on those and some may be unrepeated... That roof problem looked terrifying to blow off dude, and not at all obvious what the line might be, good job! I was too intimidated to even get on.

Past the roof the shorter cube (not in the guide) that is frequently traversed is still mostly intact, although it's surrounded by rock shards - be careful, there is a lot of loose rock there now and some small roofs come off the ground, but they seemed ready to break with any weight.

Too bad about duck head, I've never made it out there myself. But Prospect may even have come through the storm slightly better all in, although it's always too bad to take a * off a *** classic!

[Gavin]

A group of us were out to Prospect on monday and played on some of that new stuff. I tagged CNS in the album on facebook so the pictures should be open for people to see. There is also a little cave open to the left of the San-De-Dragon area that seems to have something hard in it. I found Toe Jam easier now, not so much power and more movement, it seems to be harder for shorter people though they were having a hard time getting out far enough to grab the new shape of that broken hold.

Vicky's new line is nice hard V2 called Friendly Giant, starts on the boulder with a hard left pull and the arete, cranks up and around onto a nose half way up then up some crimps to the top. It is sharp!

Ian went up a crack on the rock just to the right of that nice big crack. He called it Wet Wipe (it's right over the puddle) and it is a V0.

I went up that crack starting from a sit start with a nice big left pull and a right crack and moved up to the right into the crack. It is a fun little climb but the fall would suck if you don't have a couple pads and a spotter. the hardest point to making the turn and getting your feet up onto the slab so you can lay back on the crack. It is about a V1 and I called it beanstalk.