The Milk Road - 9p, 5.10d A0 (5.11d)

[harihari]

The falcon closure has been lifted. The Milk Road is open for business.

I caught wind of a rumour that the belay bolts atop pitch 8 are now gone. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

i found belay bolts everywhere on the route when I did it abotu a weeke ago. FRIMER-- it's FA day today. I am hoping for a send...and when I arrive at the top, for a bevy of nubile dancing girls carrying flasks of icy beer and vials of ibuprofen. Bust out the scopes!

[andypl100]

How is P2 (the flake, to bolt ladder, to crack downclimb) for the second? Can the leader put in enough gear to make it reasonable for a second?

Thanks
Andy

[Optimally-Primed]

Yup pitch 2 protects well for the second. The traverse part is all well protected. And the downclimb part is almost below the anchor.

On pitch 8 (Crescent Dyke), be sure to tell the second to always do moves past bolts then reach back and unclip.

[Don]

The falcon closure has been lifted. The Milk Road is open for business.

I caught wind of a rumour that the belay bolts atop pitch 8 are now gone. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

I have a little story and a suggestion regarding this belay. We were on this route yesterday, had a fantastic time by the way, big kudos to Jeremy and others for the work done. Every pitch was just stellar. Anyway, my partner led the crescent dyke pitch, and maybe due to a combo of not reading the topo and summit fever, ran out the 5.0 bit after the last bolt, missing the belay along the way. I seconded the pitch fine until i unclipped the last bolt (before the last moves, and not after), and then, at the worst possible moment, fell, and took a massive pendulum whipper all the way to the one bolt on the last pitch...so maybe 40-50 feet? Scraping, spinning, smashing head, body, etc. Holy f, what a way to finish! A long prusik up the rope(s), to sit on top and lick the wounds, and reflect on why we climb with ropes and helmets..

Not to take anything away from the fact that my partner and i both made mistakes which led to this accident, but i thought i'd throw out this suggestion of maybe having just one more bolt be placed after the final hard moves, because the way that last belay is positioned can be easily forgotten or just skipped, and who knows, someone else in the future might do the same as us and come out of it with worse results...

[Optimally-Primed]

Don,

OMG! That's nuts! I can't believe you took that fall! That must have been scary+! 40 or 50 feet of scraping, spinning, flying out into space. That's crazy!

You're not the first group to accidentally skip the belay atop pitch 8 (Crescent Dyke) and accidentally link pitch 8 into pitch 9. When developing routes, I try to put myself in the shoes of people experiencing the route afresh. I try to run through scenarios. To be honest, I entirely missed this scenario.

I could add a bolt after the final bolt, true. Or I could put some flagging tape on the anchor bolts (they blend into the wall). Some rusty old chain would also help make them visible. It's funny... it's the top of a hard pitch, an ENORMOUS ledge on which one could even unrope safely. Yet the tendency seems to be to get the blinders on, miss the bolts, and keep trucking. Or putting a caution on the topo about "don't miss the anchor bolts!"

Other feedback I've received includes

- atop the Ramp pitch, moving/adding a belay over by the tree, and moving the chain over there. Nicer ledge. This advice seems good to me. Any thoughts?

- at the beginning of pitch 5 (Changing Corners), adding a bolt beside the wide crack at the start so that a #4 isn't needed and it's less likely a fall would be onto your belayer. I have mixed feelings about this.

[Don]

Ya, it was a wild whip and to be at the very last move, at the top of the Tantalus Wall, made it quite memorable. Still feeling lucky that it wasn't any worse. Don't know, maybe that anchor should be moved over and you could call that the final pitch... if its not too much work....i could help out if need be. Glad you agree though that something could be changed there. Regarding the changing corners, my two bits would be to leave it as is. I protected the start with a 3.5 and a 3 further up...not a big deal to carry the extra piece on the rack. Also, on the chimney pitch, the loose flake-type boulder there is looking like it could be undermined in time and could let go..even stepping on the cedar stump above it feels sketchy...thought about wrapping a bunch of webbing around it and prying it out and lowering it to the ledge below (?)

[Anders Ourom]

Sounds like a scary adventure - glad it worked out. It's an interesting exercise, trying to put yourself in the shoes of either those who first did a climb, or of those who are likely to do a climb you're restoring. Something we had to consider on the traverse pitch of Slab Alley - some leaders won't put in enough protection, or belay the second attentively. But you can't foresee every eventuality and protect against it - climbing is an adventure.

[hans]

The last pitch belay is pretty clear from the topo, and it's also the resposibility of a leader to think of the second anytime there is traversing. I think it's fine. I did find it intimidating to get started on the dyke pitch though, but that was me, not the bolting.

And it's not a big deal to bring a #4, or even to run that bit out. It wasn't that hard compared to the rest of the route.

[another matt]

Just a little feedback on the route and recent questions.

Awesome work Jer, super fun moderate route with lots of variety. Thanks for the efforts, they are much appreciated.

Regarding the prospect of a bolt on the corners pitch, please don't. It protects well with a #4 or as mentioned run it a bit to a #3 if you don't want to carry the weight. It could be a slippery slope to start bolting things to save people from having to carry a certain piece of gear. A #4 isn't that heavy. Stick with your original ideas.

As for the last anchor people are missing/ falling on. When we climbed it my partner led that pitch and missed the anchor, linking the dyke and the last pitch. It was clear from the topo and I yelled up when it looked like he was passing the last station. I think your idea about the extra note in the topo/guide would be best. My 2cents.

Once again cheers for the work.

[another matt]

Just a little feedback on the route and recent questions.

Awesome work Jer, super fun moderate route with lots of variety. Thanks for the efforts, they are much appreciated.

Regarding the prospect of a bolt on the corners pitch, please don't. It protects well with a #4 or as mentioned run it a bit to a #3 if you don't want to carry the weight. It could be a slippery slope to start bolting things to save people from having to carry a certain piece of gear. A #4 isn't that heavy. Stick with your original ideas.

As for the last anchor people are missing/ falling on. When we climbed it my partner led that pitch and missed the anchor, linking the dyke and the last pitch. It was clear from the topo and I yelled up when it looked like he was passing the last station. I think your idea about the extra note in the topo/guide would be best. My 2cents.

Once again cheers for the work.

[Optimally-Primed]

Don, the block you mention (under the stump on pitch 7, The Tower) is in there pretty good. I crowbarred at it for 20 minutes, and only managed to pivot it slightly left and right. It didn't seem remotely close to coming out. But as the tree rots, I agree it could become looser. Luckily the tree is a cedar so it won't rot quickly. With regards to removing the rock, I am quite concerned about damaging routes below. Perhaps bolting it in place with chain is a better option. I dunno.

To Matt and Hans, thanks for the feedback on pitch 5 pro. I'm happy to leave it as is...

Might update the topo with a cautionary note... "don't miss or skip this belay"

J

[AVesely]

Responding to the comment about the bolts atop P8. We were up there a couple days ago and were surprised to find no anchors as indicated in the topo -- just a short dead tree stump. We used the roots around the stump for a sling and belayed from above to avoid a potential big pendulum for the second.

[Optimally-Primed]

The bolts are still there.

[AVesely]

Wow. We really looked for them. Thanks for clarifying. By the way, we had a terrific time -- great route.

[gnarnaphobe]

Amazing route My friend and I wrestled our way up there today, A0 forsure ... triple finger size is the key beta(for my ability anyway). that corner is relentless, it just goes and goes.. If you, or your partner are tall you can plug a #4 wildcountry off the belay on pitch 5 (thats all we had, a camalot would have been ideal) my partner also ripped a base ball size rock out as he led upper section of that pitch. Cresent tower was fun, and the dyke was incredible.

Nice work jeremy on completing a historic line!

-luke