Utahclimbers.com

Has anyone got this thing clean without a cheater stick? We got shut down 15' below the top at what looked like a mandatory knifeblade placement.

Somebody strong should go free that thing - maybe 5.12ish with good rock and some runouts?

are you bleeding internally yet, andrew?

Is that the one with the spitter off fingers crack on the first pitch, or is that Dale? I noticed it in the guide a couple years ago, but haven't gotten around to trying it.

you are definitely thinking of Chip Mike. You should go look at it - it is very good Wingate. The two aid pitches definitely look freeable. The first and longer aid pitch would be 5.10 or 5.11 fingers to hands into a tough runout traverse on thin cracks(small gear is possible, but would be hard to place fwile free climbing). The second has some runout scary 5.8 climbing, and probably 5.12ish arete climbing on nice varnish protected by bolts. It would be runout in places, but it would go I think.

The route is terrific as a clean aid line(if you bring a cheater stick!!!), and it looks like it would be a real classic as a hard free route.

Here is what it looks like:

bitchin!

It just moved up a few notches on "the list".

I finally tried this thing on Sunday. I used two points of aid and a tension traverse on Pitch 2, and about 3 points of aid on the summit pitch.

The second pitch is really awesome, probably the best tower pitch I have ever done. It was really enjoyable. The point where the crack pinches down seems very "futuristic" to me. There just aren't many features and the gaps between them are pretty big.

On the summit pitch, you clip a drilled angle right at the start, then do one hard move, or pull on the QD, to some easy (5.9?) moves to a horizontal crack where you can place a bomber #1 camalot. The moves to the crack aren't hard, but they are scarry because if you fall, you will either hit that big spikey thing, or get wedged in the crack between it and the main wall. Above, that I was able to free a few more moves, up to the 3rd bolt I think then it's pretty damn blank, so I just A0'd the rest of the way.

It was a fun time. When we got back to our car, we had a flat tire. We rode the spare into town, where, of course, nobody could fix our tire on a Sunday...yeehaw!

someone could make a lot of money opening a tire store on sunday in moab. i had the same problem after a flat at the creek. drove all the way to denver on my donut - not cool.

how did you get past the KB move on the last pitch? is there something fixed there now? i had to lead the last pitch - and 5.9 is pretty much my free climbing limit. i was scared shitless on the free climbing above the spiky boulder.

That's BS - I've seen you climb harder than 5.9! Are you going to Australia by the way?

I'm not sure what you're talking about here. On the last pitch, I climbed up on the spikey thing, there is a drilled angle I could barely reach. I clipped that, then did one hard free move (5.11?) then a few easy free moves (5.9?) to a horizontal crack which is about 6 feet above the DA. It would be very bad to fall there. From there I placed a 1 camalot, did a couple more free moves to reach the next fixed piece which was another DA, then a bolt, the next piece was a keyhole hanger over a rivet, then a stardive bolt sticking out about 3/4".

sounds like there is a new rivet. that was the blank spot that shut joe and i down last fall. we tried hooking there but no dice. i'll have to go back this spring sometime.

australia probably isn't happening anymore, definitely not until july. i got yanked off that project to work at a site in evyleth minnesota for the next few months. i am very depressed. anyone looking for a unix administrator?

Mike,
Sounds like you didn't get up to Millcreek,
damn, I was looking for a conditions report.

I went up there to check it out. There is around 8"-12" of snow on the ground on the top of the killer Crag. I didn't hike down to the base, but I drove around to where I could see the tops of Tiki Man and Bowsprit, etc. the topouts were snow covered (2-4"?) and water was running down on the routes. If you were really psyched, you could easily brush the snow off the top, and the routes would probably dry out pretty quickly.

the multipitch routes in lower canyon are good to go.

How are those routes anyway?
I have only gotten down to Scirpico but
the rock seems to be black all the way down
the canyon. I have heard you park on the
north side of the canyon, then look for the
field which gets you onto the north rim trail,
then you rap into what you want. Are they
mostly bolted slab pitches, trad pitches or a
mix of both? Thanks for the weather beta!

i've only done greg child's route. it's pretty good, all bolts. vertical edging for the most part. the crux had a tricky dihedral to a slabby slab belly flop thing. the other routes require gear. i have topos, but no scanner.

you're right about finding the field on the north side. from the field, hike towards the edge and find the "diving board". this is a rap point for greg's route (one 5.12 pitch) and petrified feline (5.11).