Dancing i.t. Light cleaning-- Sunday the 10th.

[harihari]

Hey Squamish friction junkies--

In the spirit of Adopt-a-Crag, Don Serl and I are going to scrub and replace bolts on Dancing in the Light this Sunday (10th sept). We will be starting at about 10:00 A.M. so you would probably want to not climb the route that day as you will be going around two guys and their ropes etc.

chris

[harihari]

OK folks. Don Serl and I cleaned this route today, fixed bolts, moved a belay etc. Thanks to Don who did most of the drilling and to Peder Ourom for lending us the drill. We removed one belay (but left one of its bolts) which lengthens one of the pitches and we now have belay-protector bolts on two pitches. Yes, it's still run-out and intense!

-- gear 6 draws and a .75 or .5 camalot.
-- Approach as for Snake, then scramble up right to a ledge after top of v-groove.
-- climb 1st pitch of Dream On-- the right-most route-- (10a) past 3 bolts to chains.

P1-- step right past gear placement, tricky move onto slab, up past 3 bolts to belay (10a/b)
P2-- loooong 10b pitch straight up.
P3-- crux #1: straight up 11a?
P4-- crux #2: step/mantle up and right (small nut or #00 Metolious says Don, I don't believe him), hard left traverse then up (11b)
P5-- easy 5.8/9 up to chains
P6-- 5.5 to broadway

Also thanks to the Access Society for getting folks out to Murrin on Sat. (If every climber in Vancouver or Squamish cleaned ONE old pitch every TWO years, we would have 200 more routes to climb!)


chris

[Don Serl]

Hi. Clarification (cuz I wuz doing the bolting while Chris was brushing down below):

On P3"A", both bolts were left in place at the scoop 3/4 of the way up the pitch, altho the chains were removed. This makes "new" P3 close to 50m, whereas the original version had a plus/minus 35m pitch and a short one of 12m or so. You can still break the pitch if you're getting too much rope-drag or if the intensity is getting to you.

And you'll need more like 10 draws to climb it as the "long" pitch...

As for protecting the mantle on P4, for SURE a #5 RP drops in solidly - you just gotta look for the place - otherwise we'd have placed a protection bolt on the FA. And a not-too-inspiring #0 (not #00) Metolius TCU dicks in a bit above. At least with the new re-direct bolt 1m above the belay, if you fly and if your gear pulls (or you can't get it placed in the first place), you don't whang directly onto the belay!

(Besides, the mantle is more like a layback, and it's not as hard as it looks, maybe mid-5.10? Certainly not 5.11 - the crux is on the face above, with a big fat bolt right nearby.)

Enjoy,

Don

[J Mace]

Thanks for the clean up on this one. Hit this on Friday and it didnt dissapoint.

This is a very good route with excellent climbing, I didnt think the climbing was about one particular hard move but more how long could I keep the voices in my head under control.

We used double ropes which helped with the the big 4th pitch, the bolts seem to go everwhere so I didnt clip all of them, some must belong to the route on the right.

I didnt belay at the scoop because its small, just one bolt and one old one,and its just two more bolts to the base of the next pitch with a bigger ledge.

I took my first slab fall here, I coulndt imagine how it would work before hand but its actually ok, you start sliding then instinct kicks in and you start walking fast backwards no probs, i got about 15-20 feet out of it.

We did manage to get the #5 RP in and the 0 cam to back it up on the crux 5th pitch.

Thanks for the retro, the new bolts were all really nice to clip

[harihari]

glad you liked it! more folks should climb those slab routes-- great head training, and when everything else is busy, you can have a splendid lien to yourself! Plus, in APril, when you aren't in shape yet, they are doable, since your weight is on your feet.

[slopr]

Saw a party on this yesterday and climbed it last week. It is awesome this climb is getting traffic it's nice and clean and you definitely get to practice concentrating a lot more than usual. We used the old anchor but linked the short pitch and the bulge, 2 rps The bulge move is not too bad 10- but the gear is nice, i thought the slab up higher was more difficult. Every pitch was awesome and exciting! Thanks great job!

[harihari]

hey Slopr, if you havn't done it yet, do White Lightning. A bunch easier, but still kinda heady...plus you get to enjoy the Deirdre show 20 feet to your left while you are belaying.

DitL for me was hard because, esp ont he 5th crux pitch, the footholds were time-limited: things only held for 10 seconds before you had to re-set, so I really felt somewhat under the gun.

[damien]

Also thanks to the Access Society for getting folks out to Murrin on Sat. (If every climber in Vancouver or Squamish cleaned ONE old pitch every TWO years, we would have 200 more routes to climb!)

Interesting idea. I am never that keen to officialize things, but perhaps there could be a Squamish "Golden Scrub Brush" award. Could go to best easiest, moderate, hardest climb. Most interesting climb. Award for retro work. Best squeeze job (just kidding). Emphasis could be put on quality climbs that fill some void in Squamish climbing options (i would say easy and moderate multi-pitch routes). The whole point would be to encourage the development of quality climbs that service the 'needs' of the climbing community and relieve pressure on many routes that get line-ups. It could be an venue for sharing good route cleaning practices. A down side that it could bring a spotlight to the idea of cleaning and removal off green growing things which many folks aren't keen on.

...Imagine having a tick list of 100 brand new climbs every single summer. ...a Squamish top-ten that has to get revised every six months. Just an idea.

Since being invited to clean a pitch of Everything Under the Sun, I committed to one new pitch a year. So far I am at about 2 per year. It is fun, rewarding, and brings a sense of adventure back into climbing.

[harihari]

Seriously, there should be a "to-do" list of climbs to scrub. I have only done 2 (Dancing in the Light and Unfinished Symphony) but both got more traffic afterward and yea, it feels pretty rewarding.

Ok let's get it going on: folks you recommend what ought to get scrubbed, and I will collate a list, and put it on the gumbies! on! crack! blog and folks can take it from there.

My suggestions:

Powaqaatsi (doesn't need much)
Koyanisqatsi-- needs a fair bit of work, but with a few bolts etc, would be an AWESOME new moderate...and it leads to the base of our upcoming La Gota Fria

Mr Picklebits in Murrin

[J Mace]

I was thinking about the cleaning final pitch of the sickle on the apron this winter, I love that first pitch and it would be fun to clean up that last little corner, besides the tree I bet it doesnt take much.

[damien]

a direct pitch into snake (skipping the first scrambly bit).

[harihari]

a direct pitch into snake (skipping the first scrambly bit).

Damien, do you mean, there is one and you want to clean it, or you want to put a new first pitch up? If you wana put one up, I woudl be down for that. I have a drill and I will have some time this summer.

[harihari]

I was thinking about the cleaning final pitch of the sickle on the apron this winter, I love that first pitch and it would be fun to clean up that last little corner, besides the tree I bet it doesnt take much.

DO IT!

[Anders Ourom]

The upper corner of Sickle may be just climbable in one 70 m pitch, but probably will involve two pitches.

There are already some "direct" starts to Snake. Whether there is an unclimbed one that is of similar character and grade to the rest of the route seems unlikely. As Snake weaves all over anyway, and the usual start is reasonable and protectable, it's hard to say how helpful an alternate start is.

[damien]

a direct pitch into snake (skipping the first scrambly bit).

Damien, do you mean, there is one and you want to clean it, or you want to put a new first pitch up? If you wana put one up, I woudl be down for that. I have a drill and I will have some time this summer.

I'll attempt to describe with words. On the approach to diedre and snake etc (, there is that water cleft/groove you scramble up (it likes to pinch onto your flip flops). At it's top, you are basically at the start of snake.
From the bottom of the cleft, if you look up there are flakes and corners and it looks pretty doable. Not hard slab climbing, but rather featured. I would wager that the climbing is less than the 9+ 10a rating of snake. I figured that a pitch up there would plunk you at the bottom of the first corner system of snake (P2?).

I stake no claim to it, if someone wants to take it on go for it. If you want a partner then lets spend an hour an sus it out.

I wouldn't know if it was climbed, but I am sure there are lots of folks that do know.