The Milk Road, a blog

[dberdinka]

I'm just going to ignore all the Fapping and ask....Whats you're cleaning schedule like? Are blocks going to crush my skull if I'm climbing in the area on a somewhat dry weekend. Thanks.

[Optimally-Primed]

I was hoping that this thread would just go away but I see that a final note is needed.

Cleaning is complete on The Milk Road (and has been for a few weeks). I have also spent 4-5 days doing my best to restore the other routes in the area to their original state. In total, I put in 26 days of work, the majority of which were on my own. This was my biggest cleaning project by about a factor of 2. And it's looking like it might be my last for a good while.

The Milk Road is not yet open for business but will be shortly after a good stretch of sunny weather dries out the crux pitch and lets me climb the thing... hopefully by mid-May.

The route will be 9 pitches, 5.10d (A0) or 5.11d. All in all, the route will be harder than Angel's Crest but easier than the Grand Wall. The crux will be higher Milk Run corner pitch--sustained finger locks in a corner with as much gear as you want. The climbing above Milk Run is in the 5.8 to low 5.10 range, "about Angel's Crest hard". Six of the 9 pitches are new.

I'll start a new thread on this forum with photos and a topo when the route is open for business.

-Jeremy

[Dooley]

Thanks for putting the time in Jeremy. If it wasnt for people like yourself we wouldnt have new routes to explore. I look forward to climbing this after mid-may

[Anders Ourom]

Thanks, Jeremy. Maybe I can talk someone into hauling me up this later in the summer - no doubt some traffic will help keep the route in shape. Some of us once explored the left side of Yosemite Pinnacle as a possible reasonable access to Crescent Ramp, and so a bottom to top route. But the left side isn't exactly reasonable...

You say six of the nine pitches are new. I thought you mostly followed Milk Run and Crescent Ramp, except some of the upper wall?

[Optimally-Primed]

Thanks for the comments, Dooley and Anders.

My advice to those who are intimidated by the 10d crux but feel up for well-protected climbing to 10b is to swap leads with a rope gun. Whoever gets p1, 3, 5, and 7 will have the easier go of it. Pitches 2 and 4 are the most committing (with 8 having its share of spice too).

Anders... the new 6 pitches.
1. Entirely new pitch 1
2. Entirely new pitch 5 to Tantalus Ledge
3. Mostly new pitch 6 up the Ramp... partly follows a very cleaned up Crescent Ramp (retro) but mostly follows a new crack system to the left of the Ramp
4. Half new pitch 7 up the Tower... heavy cleaning was needed on the start, which was the Crescent Ramp chimney. After 10m, the route veers left leaving the original Crescent Ramp route (via finger cracks on the face).
5. Entirely new pitch 7, a dyke walk
6. Entirely new pitch 8

All this will make more sense when you get up there...

By 6 "new" pitches , I meant "new to about 99.9% of Squamish climbers" in that almost no one has climbed Crescent Ramp. For those that have, the 6 pitches I worked on are about 80% new and 20% retro-ed.

Pitches 2, 3, and 4 are identically the pitches of Milk Run.

[Aaron]

Saw a party on final pitches yesterday afternoon. I assume it was you Jeremy. If so is the route "open for business" or what?