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Something's Burning E9 7a |
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7-Sep-2012 6:04:52 AM
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On 6/09/2012 One Day Hero wrote:
>Doesn't count if macca is only using it as part of a cunning ploy to hang
>shit on davidn :)
His cunning ploy was to hang shit on me before I responded to the thread? That's possibly the most cunning stunt this place has ever seen!
Speaking of subtlety though, apparently next time I should just write WGAF WGAF WGAF, lest someone come to the conclusion that I really do care what grade they climb or whether they want to troll Macciza er I mean go to England to climb ;)
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7-Sep-2012 9:11:12 AM
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On 6/09/2012 Wendy wrote:
>I think part of the problem here is we have the only grading system that
>covers this grade range in any detail. So everything is going to be a bit
>skewwhiff when you move to working on a system that only has 4-5 grades
>covering that range. Anything you jump on could be 2 of our grades either
>sides but fit perfectly reasonably into 5a or 5.6. Have I previously mentioned
>we also have the only grading system that really makes sense?
Oh, well, in UK parlance I'd say they've got E, M, D, HD, VD, MS, S, HS, MVS. Depending on the area you can also add MVD, HVD, or MHS. The real weirdness is that low grades never change, so something given S when S was the hardest grade is still S, and their variation between areas is even worse than ours. Oh, and very little graded E or M still makes the guidebooks, and HD, MS, HS and MVS are inconsistent. So, they cover it with plenty of grades, just not with any real accuracy.
I don't think any grading system really makes sense, but at least they indicate if I'm likely to get my arse handed to me or not.
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7-Sep-2012 9:17:18 AM
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On 7/09/2012 Macciza wrote:
>Oh and Neil, seeing as how you have aided Gigantor, how do you think you'd
>go freeing it? Grade?
>
I took a full pitch whipper on Gigantor on aid, tearing out all my placements. Would be terrifying on lead.
P
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7-Sep-2012 9:35:09 AM
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On 7/09/2012 PDRM wrote:
>I took a full pitch whipper on Gigantor on aid, tearing out all my placements.
>Would be terrifying on lead.
I hope you were leading it on a static rope - otherwise you might have come to more permanent harm!
[for anyone who can't see the sarcasm dripping off their monitor, I'm being sarcastic]
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7-Sep-2012 12:32:04 PM
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Hey Paul
Yeah - we took some pretty good falls as well, but we also skipped a lot of dubious placements, and nested gear a bit, but still managed to blow stuff on occasion . . .
And if you think of it as 'invigorating' rather than 'terrifying' it tends to help more . . . Actually 'engaging' was an oft-used term, not actually 'scared' but definitely 'engaged' . . .
On Collossus we ended up laughing quite a bit at the absurdity of what we were doing . . . making it slightly less adventurous but a hell of a lot more humorous, joking helps to defray the nerves somewhat . .
Probably the best moment was Zac punching it out to a 'bomber' hand-hold which exploded, depositing sand through most layers of his clothing, and giving us both the giggles . . . Great fun if you can get it . .
I think you've also done Thumbs Down at Sublime Point? Did you do it clean or hammered?
I am freeing that at the moment, up to the high roof currently, where it gets a bit thinner and more engaging . . . Awesome route hey . . .
You still doing much aid these days?
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7-Sep-2012 1:12:58 PM
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On 7/09/2012 Macciza wrote:
>Hey Paul
>You still doing much aid these days?
I did all my DF routes in the early 2000's along with a bunch of new(?) solo-aid routes on Shipley, Megalong, etc. during that same period and after. Mostly stuff no-one would ever want to do again so not written up anywhere. Had a few diff partners willing to do Dog, incl. Richie Charlton who I did Gigantor with. He was climbing really strongly at the time and did a lot of his pitches free with thus usual suspect (engaging) placements. I always liked that you could make a crimp where you wanted with some rubbing of the fingertips, a hex placement was only a couple of hammer blows anywhere you wanted one. Having cams track down the crack while you were standing on them always gave incentive to keep moving too.
Moved on to alpine climbing and then PG'ing for a while after that and then no climbing for a while due to other commitments and a heap of work travel. Having blown a knee earlier this this year am just now getting back into things with some bouldering and smaller roped climbing. Still have all the aid gear fest so who knows, could be back into the whole vertical trench warfare sometime soon-ish.
Kudos for freeing those Dog routes though.
Paul
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7-Sep-2012 2:42:41 PM
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Sounds cool - I'd be interested in checking out some of the stuff you did.
Sometimes I think the stuff no-one might want to do is the best stuff to record.
To boldly go , where few are are likely to go again is a great legacy - separates the adults from the kids . ..
'Not as Thick as Some' M7 at Lower Shipley is a classic example for me . .
Am hoping to be able to do some alpine stuff before I get too old, gradually getting boots, crampons etc
Hope to be able to at least get over to NZ in the next few years, and hopefully further afield . . .
And likewise - kudos for just getting on the Dog, where pussies fear to tread. John would be proud of you . . .
For me, the fact that no-one (as far as I know) has tried Gigantor free in several years since we did it only adds to the ascents value.
MM
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7-Sep-2012 3:09:38 PM
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On 7/09/2012 davidn wrote:
>On 6/09/2012 One Day Hero wrote:
>>Doesn't count if macca is only using it as part of a cunning ploy to
>hang
>>shit on davidn :)
>
>His cunning ploy was to hang shit on me before I responded to the thread?
> That's possibly the most cunning stunt this place has ever seen!
>
>Speaking of subtlety though, apparently next time I should just write
>WGAF WGAF WGAF, lest someone come to the conclusion that I really do care
>what grade they climb or whether they want to troll Macciza er I mean go
>to England to climb ;)
seems subtlety is your strong point, yeh sharp as a brick. if you dint care then why post?
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7-Sep-2012 3:29:34 PM
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Gawd Macca, I was trying to avert the impending meltdown of this thread into a chosscentric sprayfest!
Too late now, better change the subject............has everyone worked out that the weird gem collecting hose abseiler is actually Stugang? That joke kinda flopped. Wonder what the punchline was supposed to be?
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7-Sep-2012 5:15:21 PM
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Sorry mate -
maybe next time you should just accept that sometimes grades of climbs reflect the fact that bold climbing is harder than safe climbing at the same technical grade . . .
And though I figured it was a troll, I wasn't sure who or why . . . . Thanks for clearing that up . . .
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7-Sep-2012 5:31:28 PM
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On 7/09/2012 One Day Hero wrote:
>Too late now, better change the subject............has everyone worked out that the weird gem collecting hose abseiler is actually Stugang? That joke kinda flopped. Wonder what the punchline was supposed to be?
>
Na, not Stugang.
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7-Sep-2012 5:42:31 PM
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I reckon it is
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7-Sep-2012 6:10:53 PM
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And White Trash is ODH or Stugang.
This forum's a joke, honestly, except for the Safer Cliffs section. Even that degenerates into pointless bolting debates!
It's pretty hard to not respond to some posts with something like 'i climbed a hard ladder once'. (okay, I may have fallen off the ladder, but don't tell anyone)
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7-Sep-2012 8:38:14 PM
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On 7/09/2012 davidn wrote:
>And White Trash is ODH or Stugang.
>
Ur funny sometimes davind. reckon theyd be laughin like me to!
>This forum's a joke, honestly, except for the Safer Cliffs section. Even
>that degenerates into pointless bolting debates!
>
>It's pretty hard to not respond to some posts with something like 'i climbed
>a hard ladder once'. (okay, I may have fallen off the ladder, but don't
>tell anyone)
why do you think it a joke?
ive learnt heaps since i found this site.
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7-Sep-2012 9:10:49 PM
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Gigantor free - the aid version was pretty unpleasant choss, and I fail to see the attraction of trying to free it! But each to his own. I thought the gear was pretty solid most if the way up, apart from a short section on the third pitch. I made the mistake of trying to free a section up there and ended up hanging off the rope with a clump of sand in my hand. The whole of Dogface isn't really an inspiring aid paradise - at least compared to decent northern hemisphere granite.I'd call dogface some sort of sub branch to aiding. When I went to Fisher Towers a few years ago it had the same sort of chosstastic attraction. Looks pretty from a distance - a nightmare of dirt and sand in reality. At least the Fisher Towers had good summits.
Shaihulad - didn't you only lead the first pitch Macca? You can't really comment on the grade of a route you haven't led fully...
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7-Sep-2012 9:59:03 PM
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On 7/09/2012 nmonteith wrote:
>Shaihulad - didn't you only lead the first pitch Macca? You can't really
>comment on the grade of a route you haven't led fully...
>
For those that weren't around and who may be wondering what all the fuss is about, here is a link to the original thread that led to the Shai Halud exploit.
There are posts on it that connect to many pictures...
... And a classic post on that thread; summation report of same by the second ascentionist!
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7-Sep-2012 10:57:24 PM
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On 7/09/2012 davidn wrote:
>And White Trash is ODH or Stugang.
>
>This forum's a joke, honestly, except for the Safer Cliffs section. Even
>that degenerates into pointless bolting debates!
>
>It's pretty hard to not respond to some posts with something like 'i climbed
>a hard ladder once'. (okay, I may have fallen off the ladder, but don't
>tell anyone)
Well I reckon you are ODH (or vice versa) so there.
I also reckon simey failed a weekend aiding course run by M9 - hence the animosity.
There's quite a few other things I reckon too.
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7-Sep-2012 11:05:16 PM
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On 7/09/2012 nmonteith wrote:
Gigantor free - the attraction is that it is not just physically difficult (the easy part), but mentally challenging both climbing wise and protection wise.
As Zac says" strength does little for uncertainty, if you cant stop your wheels spinning it can often be a stressful pursuit."
He also commented that putting all the factors together it was harder than the 33 he working on at Diamond Falls at the same time . . .
33 sport on bomber rock with bomber rings is easy - it is just hard climbing thats all - punching it out above dubious gear on dubious rock is HARD.
Yes there is some decent gear on it when aiding - free it is a somewhat different matter - can't hammer hexs in whilst sitting, like you did . . .
There are some obligatory runouts, you are not hanging on gear and the falls you take are completely different to anything that might happen on aid.
>Shaihulad - didn't you only lead the first pitch Macca?
Yes I only led the first pitch - that is the one that is dangerous, the others whilst engaging have nowhere near the same objective danger . . .
In fact, I am probably far better over that sort of terrain than Zac, and he was the better choice for the following pitches . . .
The rock and the gear leading up to roof is not very inspirational and the honeycomb stuff protecting the crux does not give much confidence.
A fall there would most likely have had quite serious consequences - the addition of an audience made it quite confronting mentally . . .
>You can't really comment on the grade of a route you haven't led fully...
WTF? Considering that you have not even attempted it, gives you NO right to question my appraisal of the route whatsoever ! ! ! . . .
I seconded the other pitch, we did it in two because Zac did not like the 2nd belay, the upper pitches are far milder than the first . . .
So I have climbed the whole thing and can comment on the grade - the same as anyone can comment on any pitch they have climbed . . .
If you (Neil) can't comment on a pitch that you have seconded then there is something seriously wrong with your comprehension of climbing . .
Otherwise it means that you cannot comment on the grade of any of the big walls you have ever done unless you led it all
And did you lead all of Gigantor? I can't remember, but if you didn't then by your own theory you can't comment on it then . . .
Are you serious or what ? ? ?
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8-Sep-2012 12:00:00 AM
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Thanks for the link M9 - I'd forgotten how much fun I had sandbagging myself into it . . .
And some of the shit I've copped over mentioning it since had dulled the memory of the praise I received for the ascent at the time . . .
My fave comments would have to be the bit about the gr30+ climbers who scouted the line and " apparently retreated dribbling something about being 'scared sh*tless' - or something like that." And the congratulatory comments from Davey J . . . Oh and Monty too, at the time . . .
I certainly consider it to be one of my finer climbing moments . . .
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8-Sep-2012 7:47:48 AM
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Yes I did lead every pitch of Gigantor (I was pretty over the route by pitch 3 - mentally draining!). And I couldn't care less what grade it would be in the English system as the route is in Australia.
I was and am still very impressed with your ascent Macca. Ive never seen anyone look so sketchy on a climb before and keep going in the face of terrible lookin rock and gear. Us spectators were terrified that we were about to witness a catastrophe - and that somehow I would be partially responsible for sending you up there! It's actually probably the single most engaging climbing I have ever witnessed. A new route on that wall still awaits though!
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