rope from the past

[Optimally-Primed]

I recovered this rope on the Chief recently. It still had a loop with a bowline (tie-in knot) on one end.



Can anyone place it historically?

Does it belong in a museum? If so, which one?

[squamish climber]

Interesting find Jeremy. Where on the chief did you spot it? I know back in the day they used twisted ropes I think Goldline was one them. I can't imagine the one you found is that old but you never know -- any theories?

I would be interested to hear from Anders or anybody else who might know of the history of rope gear in Squamish.

Dave Jones

[Optimally-Primed]

I recovered the rope, half buried in the dirt, on Crescent Ramp (between Tantalus Wall and Freeway). The first ascent was by Fred Beckey & Eric Bjornstad in 1966. As far as I know, the route didn't see very many repeats. I emailed Fred to see if he recalls leaving some rope there.
Jeremy

[Dru]

Justin Brown found a chunk of very similar-looking rope on the west face of Blanshard Needle a few years back.

[pinnbasher]

We used rope that looked like that when I was commercial fishing.

[Anders Ourom]

Glenn Woodsworth (tricouni) may know - send him a note.

I don't know of any other ascents of Crescent Ramp, except for people going from the top of "Milk Run" to the start of upper Breakfast Run, and possibly a few going from the top of Cannabis Wall, up.

Would Crescent Breakfast be a good name for the revamped route?

[Tricouni]

This might be a rope I abandoned on a new route attempt with Dan Tate or John Rance many (very many) years ago. If it's Goldline, it's not mine. If it's grey, then it might be.

What is the diameter of the rope? They used to be measured in inches - 3/8", 1/2" and 5/8" were common sizes. Length was probably 120 feet, maybe as much as 150 feet, not more.

We (I) used a lot of bowlines to tie in. I sometimes didn't use a swami belt (never used a harness then). I either tied in with bowline-around-the-waist, usually only a single, or sometimes clipped into a swami belt with a locking steel biner. I don't know why I would have left a bowline tied in the rope.

As I remember, we left a fixed rope intending to prussik back to the high point and finish the route. Something came up (summer? rains?) and we never went back.

[Optimally-Primed]

Thanks Anders and Glenn for your input.

Anders, I've decided on the name "The Milk Road" for the whole shabang. It takes in the milk theme from Milk Run, the automotive theme from Freeway, and combines them into a play on The Silk Road. The route will involve 3 pitches from Milk Run but only about 20m of climbing on Crescent Ramp. Most of the pitches will be mostly or entirely new.

Glenn, I believe the rope is 1/2" and is grey. Fred Beckey said it wasn't his. Hamish Mutch said that it isn't Goldline, but rather the white/grey alternative rope of the day. The rope wasn't a full length; 30-50 feet were there for recovery with visible fray at the end. And the rope was not fixed to anything anchor-like. It was tangled up in a rotting log, which could conceivably have been a tree worth anchoring to some 40 years ago.

I fit the bowline-tied loop around my waist, which still left enough room for another person.

Glenn, the route you were attempting with Dan Tate or John Rance, can you say where it went? This rope was located about 60m directly above the top of Cannabis Wall. Does that coincide with your attempt?

[Tricouni]

Glenn, I believe the rope is 1/2" and is grey. Fred Beckey said it wasn't his. Hamish Mutch said that it isn't Goldline, but rather the white/grey alternative rope of the day. The rope wasn't a full length; 30-50 feet were there for recovery with visible fray at the end. And the rope was not fixed to anything anchor-like. It was tangled up in a rotting log, which could conceivably have been a tree worth anchoring to some 40 years ago.

It's definitely from the early- mid-1960s. Doesn't look like Goldline to me, either. Looks like the marine nylon rope we used to buy and cut to length.

Glenn, the route you were attempting with Dan Tate or John Rance, can you say where it went? This rope was located about 60m directly above the top of Cannabis Wall. Does that coincide with your attempt?

The Squamish guides I have are a bit vague as to what's meant by Cannabis Wall - the route or the area? But I know where Crescent Ramp is, and we were below that and probably to the left. I'm pretty sure we were on what eventually became Freeway or Big Stick - in the dihedral area. We got up maybe 3 pitches. I don't know if we left the rope tied to a tree or to a couple of pins. This would bew about 1966 or 1967. Sorry to be so vague

[Optimally-Primed]

If you were on Freeway or thereabouts and only 3-ish pitches up, it couldn't be your rope. The rope was at the top of what will be pitch 6 of The Milk Road. No pins in sight... again, it wasn't so much as fixed as it was tangled up in a tree and caught under a rotting log on a sloping ledge. The mystery continues...

Thanks for your recollections, Glenn.

Jeremy

[Tricouni]

No, can't be my rope, not if you found it on Crescent Ramp. We were too low and too far to the left. Yes, mystery continues, but some of us old guys from those days got around on the Chief ,,,

[Anders Ourom]

The not always reliable 1980 guidebook says that Tantalus Wall and Crescent Ramp were done in 1966. Tantalus by Fred Beckey, Mark Fielding, and Leif Patterson, Crescent Ramp by Fred Beckey and Eric Bjørnstad.

Fred's report, on page 366 of the American Alpine Journal for 1967, made clear that they sieged Tantalus Wall, finishing the climb in early April. His report on Crescent Ramp:

Crescent Ramp Route: After studying the western walls of the Chief, Eric Bjornstad and I felt that there were at least two possible routes up the area south of the Grand Wall, an area that appears from the road as a high-angle slab almost 1000 feet high. The name “Tantalus Wall” has now been accepted for this imposing stretch of steep, smooth granite. While a route to the tip of “Yosemite Pinnacle,” an exfoliation ending at about the 300-foot level, had been done, the logical conclusion had not been completed. Several climbing sessions in winter by numerous participants, including Leif Patterson, brought us to the tip of the pinnacle by a new crack line, mostly by difficult direct-aid. Icy conditions, bitter cold, and the inability to muster more than a continuous day of climbing prevented us from completing the route in one push. Bjornstad and I then climbed a sketchy suggestion of a route that curves leftward and up, blank in spots, to a ramp and finally to the top of ‘Crescent Flake” at about the 900-foot level. A major snowstorm forced a retreat, and so we had to complete the ascent on March 3 on a magnificent winter day. A final section of smooth granite, involving a difficult maneuver, ended the climb. This was the first rock climb of NCCS Grade IV done in the winter in the Pacific Northwest. About 73 pitons, two bolts, and one key fifi hook were used on the route, along with many safety runners tied to shrub evergreens.

This suggests that they did Crescent Ramp before they finished Tantalus Wall, utilizing the fixed ropes. I've never heard of a complete subsequent ascent of Crescent Ramp, from the top of Yosemite Pinnacle up, although it's quite possible - I'd never heard of a complete second ascent of the left side of Yosemite Pinnacle when we did it a few years ago, but found evidence and subsequent anecdotal reports of a few other ascents. The rope seems unlike anything that might have been left by the Cannabis Wall ascent team in 1969, assuming they went to the top. Likewise those who first did the lower corners of Breakfast Run ("Milk Run") in 1969. There were at least two parties in that area in the 1970s, on Breakfast Run. Tim Auger and Neil Bennett got above the roof on the upper wall in 1971, where Tim took a big fall abnd they retreated. There's a reference to an earlier attempt that got to about the same point, but nothing more. (Canadian Alpine Journal 1972, page 74.) Hugh Burton and Steve Sutton finished Breakfast Run in 1975, and it may never have had a complete second ascent. In any case, it seems unlikely that any of the late 1960s/early 1970s climbers would have had that type of rope.

Perhaps Fred and Eric fixed some of Crescent Ramp, and left it, dropped it, or didn't get around to coming back for it?

So Fred, Eric, Brian Norris, or Neil Bennett may be possible sources. Was the rope below or above the point where Breakfast Run branches off of Crescent Ramp?

[Optimally-Primed]

Thanks for the detailed history, Anders. Wow!

The rope was located about 60m above where Breakfast Run and Crescent Ramp cross/diverge... it was at the base of the treed ledge directly below High Octane. Even if one dropped rope off Breakfast Run, it still wouldn't have settled where it did.

One possibility, pointed out by a friend, is that Fred's memory of the ascent of Crescent Ramp is inaccurate. I understand that this type of rope was only used until the late 60s/early 70s. If Fred's ascent of Crescent Ramp was likely the only or one of very fews ascents in the 60s/70s, then this being his rope seems most likely to me.

A few years ago, I tried Crescent Ramp in its existing state. We got barely a pitch above Milk Run before retreating... loose rock and no gear. Didn't quite reach Tantalus Ledge. Given what I know of what was above at the time, I'm glad we retreated.

That said, I have heard of a local guide who has made it up Crescent Ramp in all its previously vegetated glory.

Jeremy

[squamish climber]

I second Jeremy's comment - that is very interesting history Anders. I didn't realize the history at that end of the Chief went so far back. Climbing a new route on the wall in a snow storm in 1966 -- wow.

Jeremy, do you have a picture of the route you can post identifying where you found the rope and some of the features?

[Optimally-Primed]

Here's a photo