Tech News... March 1998Tech News... March 1998The WWW edition of the newsletter sent to Technical Section Members.
Tech News Editors: Trish Botsko and Teri Kazama.
Laura Zaruba has informed TS News of proposed improvements to Eldo and our opportunity to have a say in the "Eldorado Development Plan". Eldorado Canyon State Park has received 1.2 million dollars to redevelop the park. New developments being considered by park management will permanently affect the Eldo climbing experience. The Action Committee for Eldo (ACE), a non-profit corporation representing Eldo Climbers, seeks feedback (support?/oppose?) on the plan. The full plan may be reviewed at the Boulder Rock Club.
TS News has also learned that NIKE is planning on building a "massive headquarters site" on top of South Table Mountain If you're interested in voicing opposition to this, or support of the Open Space habitat for birds, animals and plants, or like the buffer zone between Golden and Denver, or just appreciate South Table as a rare and unique place where people can be alone with nature while still within the metro area, speak out!
Update: Nike has since dropped their plans for South Table Mountain.
Please be aware of the following area closures from February 1st through July 31st. It is against federal, state and municipal law to enter any closed area. Help protect Boulder Mountain Park wildlife by respecting all area closures, immediately leaving any nesting area should you accidentally enter one, and urging cooperative respect for these closures from others. Volunteers and ranger staff monitor the areas. Additional information is posted at the trailheads. Contact the ranger staff at 441-3408 or 441-4495 for more information.
Due the ever increasing number of climbers, access has certainly become an issue for us. As a result, the CMC has developed an Access Committee to address these issues as they impact the Club's abilities to conduct trips, schools, etc. They are working with the Access Fund, National Forest Service, Park Services as well. Steve Bonowski will chair the Committee, and Tech Section members Tom Maceyka and Sam Klaus are participating. We will keep you apprised of any new developments.
Dust off those rock shoes, the weather's improving. See ya out there!
Mat has once again outdone himself in putting together the summer schedule. It's attached at the end of the newsletter so you may easily remove it herefrom and hang it in a conspicuous place. The front of the refrigerator works pretty well, especially if you have those cute little magnets. Duct tape works if you're too cheap to buy magnets.
And if Mat didn't call you about leading a trip or you're interested in becoming a leader, see Mat at Old Chicago on March 19th. We can always add trips to the schedule.
Submit anything (or many things) you want prior to the May meeting. Members present at the May meeting will vote on "best of" or "worst of" in each category. Winner in each category gets an "award". Prizes will be awarded at the July picnic in Eldo. The "rules" are loose, some would say non-existent.
Here are the categories:
In an obvious case of a researcher with too much time or tax money on his hands, Benjamin Chao, a NASA physicist, reports that the earth is spinning faster today than it was 40 years ago, and that its axis has shifted. Mr. Chao's theory is that the storage of ten trillion tons of water in the reservoirs has shifted water from the oceans to the northern continents. This "reservoir effect" has shortened the length of the day by 8 millionths of a second, according to the researcher. Perhaps this accounts for the feeling we've all had about there not being enough time these days?
There is no better alpine rock face in the lower 48 than the Diamond of Longs Peak. Climbing the Diamond is an awesome experience! The year I took BRCS, I began to hear about the "Diamond". I was convinced it was NOT for me – too hard, too scary, too big! My climbing goal at that time was to be able to, somehow, find a way up the Licorice Stick at Castlewood Canyon, on a top rope.
Five years later, climbing the Diamond became reality. Since my first climb, I have been fortunate enough to have climbed three other routes on the Diamond. Below I share some thoughts and suggestions.
The Diamond is the shear upper east face of Longs Peak, in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). The Diamond begins at 13,100 feet, on a horizontal ledge called Broadway. It is actually tilted slightly to the northeast, so the warm morning sun disappears around 11:00 a.m. An additional advantage to this orientation is that you have no idea if those big afternoon thunderstorms are building to the west!
Getting to Broadway is no walk in the park. Although it is possible to rappel in from Chasm View, almost nobody does this. From the ranger station at 9,405 feet, take the trail to Chasm Lake, and then up Mills Glacier to the North Chimney, which starts at about an elevation of 12,400 feet. The last 100 feet or so getting to the base of the chimney can be difficult on the steepening slope and hard, early morning snow. Steps can usually be found, and finding a sharp rock to use as a temporary ice axe works somewhat okay.
The North Chimney is a bowling alley. The rock, in places, is really loose! Beware of the clutzes above you, and try not to maim those in the rear! The first part of the chimney is fourth class, but the majority of it is lower fifth class (5.2 – 5.4). Near the top, the short 5.6 crux is passed and Broadway is then only a short ways away. If you climb the chimney in traditional style, where every pitch is lead and belayed, then you can forget about climbing the Diamond! We've had the best luck with soloing the fourth class stuff and then simul-climbing (leader and second climb together, at each end of the rope) the rest of the chimney as one long pitch.
Broadway is one of the coolest places to be in Colorado. Most agree, especially your first time there: It is very intimidating, the base of the Diamond. There is already a lot of air below you, you're above 13,000 feet, and you haven't even begun to climb the huge Diamond face above. Descent feels like the only sane option.
The most popular Diamond route is the Casual Route. The best route on the Diamond (in my opinion), in the 5.10 range, is Pervertical Sanctuary. Both routes are six to seven mostly full pitches long. The cruxes on the Casual Route are short, one move of 5.10, and about thirty feet of 5.9. There is a lot of 5.8 on the route. The second pitch is a very memorable lead! A short (ten feet) 5.9 finger crack leads to a long, rising leftwards traverse that is sparsely protected, but fortunately easy (5.7). Good placements are found here every thirty to forty feet. The next three pitches are comprised primarily of a right facing dihedral system, and all go at about 5.8. At the base of the final pitch, you stand on the yellow wall bivy ledge. Climbers of a different era actually slept on this ledge! Unbelievable, its only about 24" wide and 15 feet long, with so much air below you don't even want to think about it! The final pitch, the crux, begins at almost 14,000 feet. It is an awesome pitch! A stiff 5.9+ start leads to a 5.8 chimney in the middle of the pitch, which is very difficult to protect (so don't). Then an easy section leads to the final crux move (very well protected). The pitch ends just above the crux, at a bunch of slings. The protection on the Casual Route, other than the two sections described, is excellent!
After the last pitch on the Casual Route, there is one more pitch, the tricky 5.8+ pitch that traverses horizontally left to Table Ledge, considered the top of the Diamond, and the start of the recently established Diamond rappel route. Logistically, it is easiest to descend the Diamond by rappel, as almost all parties do. Another option is to summit and then descend the Cable Route (North Face) or the Key Hole Route (standard way up the peak). Also, the lower half of the Diamond is littered with rappel anchors, allowing for a quick retreat, if the weather turns.
From Table Ledge, five long double rope raps bring you back to Broadway. The traditional way down from here is to rappel the North Chimney, but there is now a rappel route about 100 feet to the South (to the left as you are facing the Diamond) of the North Chimney, directly below and just slightly to the left of the start of the Casual Route. Four or five rappels below Broadway, you reach terra firma.
Clothing: capilene first layer, pile jacket, goretex jacket, goretex pants, liner gloves, thin and medium balacava, space blanket. I wear cotton socks and tennis shoes on the approach, and then switch to climbing shoes and a capilene liner socks once in the North Chimney. My goretex jacket is the warm, three layer North Face mountain jacket. We also usually pack one down jacket for the belayer.
Gear: helmet, double ropes (8.5 – 9.0 mm each), fifteen slings (two of which are screamers), set of nuts, #3 Camalot, #2 Camalot (2), #1 Camalot (2), #.75 Camalot (2), #.5 Camalot (2), small aliens or similar size cams (3). Leave the tri-cams at home! If climbing Pervertical Sanctuary, bring a #4 Camalot and an additional #3 Camalot.
Miscellaneous: light weight alpine climbing pack, headlamp, water tablets, two quarts of water (can make additional water at Chasm lake). For food, the best I have found for alpine routes is GU (syrupy carbohydrate gooey stuff in a little packet – a GU an hour is all it takes)! If you plan on rappelling the Diamond, what works best is to leave one pack at the base of the North Chimney and the second pack on Broadway.
| My best Diamond Day: | My worst Diamond Day: |
| 2 a.m., get up | 3 a.m., get up from car camp spot in Estes |
| 3 a.m., meet lame partner | 4 a.m., leave trailhead with another lame partner |
| 5 a.m., leave Longs Peak Ranger Station | 8-9 a.m., Broadway |
| 7 a.m., at the far end of Chasm Lake | 12 noon, finish 3rd pitch, we're cruising |
| 8 a.m., base of North Chimney | 1 p.m., aid 4th pitch in the rain |
| 9-10 a.m., Broadway | 3 p.m., aid 5th pitch in the snow |
| 2 p.m., complete route | 5 p.m., aid last pitch in the snow |
| 3 p.m., finish rappels | 7 p.m., rappel ropes get stuck, last Diamond rap |
| 5 p.m., back at the car | 8 p.m., free rappel ropes (its still snowing) |
| 6 p.m., The Dark Horse | 9 p.m., start lower Broadway raps in dark |
| 7 p.m., eat E-Coli burger | 10 p.m., finish raps, look for pack (buried in snow) |
| 8 p.m., enebriated | 11 p.m., find pack |
| 9 p.m., home | 12 midnight, head lamp batteries go out |
| 10 p.m., bed | 2 a.m., crawl back to car |
Want to climb the Diamond (or another coveted RMNP alpine route). Don't wait until June! Start now by climbing at Eldo, the South Platte, Lumpy, etc. Sorry bolt clippers, North Table will help improve climbing technique, but won't help you with placing gear and moving along efficiently on a route! The key to a successful alpine climb, besides good will from Mother Nature, is being efficient! Being in very good physical condition and being an efficient trad climber is key. If it takes you all day to get up the Redgarden Wall, you are obviously not ready!
Don't let the weather/temperature/weather forecast deter you. If it's cold (temp in the 20s), you can still climb (outside – real rock). Learning how to handle conditions that are less than ideal is a part of successful alpine climbing!
A list of good preparation climbs for the Casual Route on the Diamond, in approximate order from least committing to most, would include the following: Ruper - 5.8 (Eldo), Yellow Spur - 5.10b (Eldo), Rosy Crucifixion - 5.10a (Eldo), any one of the number of fine multi pitch routes at the Book – 5.8+ to 5.10d (Lumpy), Center Route – 5.9+ (South Platte, Cynical Pinnacle), any one of the number of fine multi pitch routes at Sundance Buttress – 5.7+ to 5.10d (Lumpy). Experience gained on moderate alpine routes will be the most beneficial for dealing with the environment of the Diamond. Make sure to complete a handful of the moderates before attempting the big one! A list of good RMNP alpine climbs includes the East Face of the Sharkstooth – 5.6, the North Ridge of Spearhead - 5.6, Northcutt Carter – 5.7 (Hallets Peak), Culp Bossier –5.8 (Hallets Peak), South Face right of Petit Grepon – 5.8, South Face left of Petit Grepon – 5.9+, Sykes Sicle - 5.9+ (Spearhead), Chasm View wall routes of Longs Peak - 5.10a, to name a few.
I could go on and on about the Diamond. Climbing the Diamond is an experience that will remain with you for a lifetime!
Congratulations to Jean McKeon and Wally Malles on the birth of their daughter, Erin Nicole on December 16, 1997.
IMAX currently is showing "Everest", a movie about a hike up a mountain in 1996 that killed a lot of people. Some folks have gotten rich, or at least a lot of publicity, from capitalizing on this event, and IMAX and David Brashears plan to be no exception. You should reserve tickets (still 268 tickets available) by calling (303) 322-7009 listen for the Imax prompt.
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Last Modified June 6, 1998 by Keith Jensen .