Pipeline - What Gear

[Jason]

He arm barred it.

There is an urban legend about Greg Camron's FFA that says he got inside the crack and squeeze chimneyed (a la the Harding Slot) at the pod before the crux. I have no idea if this tactic actually goes, I am certainly too scared to try.

[rich k]

crazy. soloing with arm-bars.

this reminds me of a discussion around a campfire a couple of years back. these climbers were talking about what takes to say you're a 5.10 climber - a well-rounded, solid 5.10 climber. they started making criteria, including being able to onsight run-out 10d slab, being solid onsighting finger/hand/fist/off-width/chimney cracks, vertical-to-roof sport, and bouldering the equivalent, on all types of rock. this was the goal of their climbing career, that night... after several beers. they probably didn't really care about any of it, it was probably just their way of being closer to the rock between sessions, but it was funny though cause they mentioned pipeline as the end of the road for their goal. i wonder what they would've thought had they heard of your buddy...

[CrackHead Brad]

Here's a trick you may want to try to protect 'pipeline' cheaply instead of shelling out for the fat gear:

Take your #2 or 3 camelot and fatten it or "shim" up one side with wood.
Use your regular cams -make them fat cams...i love fatties

Buy a small bit of softwood(spruce,pine, fir) 3/4 inch ply wood. Cut it into small squares about 6x6 inchs. Glue them together on the flat to make 3 inch thick squares. Plywood is best because it won't split. Drill a hole on the corner and thread a bit of cord thru and clip a biner' thru.

27 feet above your piece on pipeline, pull out your #3 cam. Put the ply against the side of a fairly uniform crack and place your camelot with 2 cam lobes against the crack and 2 lobes against the wood. The cam spring is usually strong enough to hold the wood in place against the rock- a long runner never hurts.

Go experiment on fat cracks close to the ground. Apparently it works pretty well. Good f'n luck.

[Anders Ourom]

You should ask Mike Hengeveld about Pipeline - he's done it, twice. (His website is the one referred to earlier in the thread.)

The route has something of a history and reputation. I've never done it. In 1965, Glenn Woodsworth, Hamish Mutch and Mavis McCuaig did the first ascent of the left side of Yosemite Pinnacle. Probably one of the first "real" off widths/squeeze chimneys at Squamish, and solid value. It's a real thrash. Anyway, apart from some chockstones, they couldn't do much to protect the climb, which ranges from about 8" - 12", gradually widening so that eventually you wiggle onto a chockstone inside.

In 1967 Glenn, with Leif Patterson and Barry Hagen, did the first (aid) ascent of Pipeline. They got to the base of the big crack/corner, more or less via cracks right of what is now Birds of Prey. The next part required some serious thought - the biggest piton of any kind then available was the 4" bong. Placed sideways - a doubtful proposition - they worked up to about 6". Pipeline starts wider than that.

Barry is a medical doctor, Glenn a geologist who eventually went on to a PhD, and Leif had a PhD in mathematics from MIT. So, bright fellows, they had this idea of placing pipe sideways in the crack, tapping it into place and hanging on it. They got at least some of the pipe from my father, who had until the year before worked for Alcan. They came to our new house on west 10th to get some pipe. They dragged the stuff up, sawed it into lengths, bashed it in. The bolts at the wide bit about 1/3 of the way up were for a belay, as ropes then were only 150 feet.

Greg Cameron's first free ascent, and first free solo ascent, was an astonishing landmark of Squamish climbing. It was probably only the second ascent of Pipeline.

I believe at least some of the pipes were there until the early 1980s or later, but don't know when they were removed or by who. Cool souvenirs!

In the early 1970s, Chouinard Equipment came out with the Tube Chock, for cracks 4" - 8" wide. There are rumours of other experiments with aluminum pipe in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And now we have Big Brothers, for optimists. But Pipeline may have been the first recorded use of the concept of the tube nut.

Anders

[harihari]

I was up there once and met this guy who was walking up with a harness, two ropes and an about 30 foot pole with a hook on the end. He'd just done it the day before and his second had dropped both Big Bros into the back of it so he was going to fish for them.

[Brendan]

I love it when "veterans" tell us tales of the old days!!
Anders, i much enjoyed that brief history of Pipeline...

[the alpine scrub]

Pipeline has been my goal since I picked up the McLane guide to find out what that gnarly feature on the squaw was....bought myself the gear to climb it: 2x #3 big bro, #4 big bro and a #6 c4 as a 'christmas gift' this year.

i'd loan em out for a six pack if you promised not to drop'em or yourself (and if you did drop'em, you'd replace them because you're just cool like that)

matt cooper

[davidbr]

Have you had the chance yet?

Be sure to let us know how it went - and if the gear was what you needed.

That cam in the photo in the McLane book appears to be bigger than a #6 C4, doesn't it?

[EnigmaM]

that's a #6 WC (green). that is from mike hegeveld's collection i think.

[hafilax]

Will a Valley Giant fit it.

The standard Yosemite offwidth strategy seems to be to lead/toprope by shifting up a Valley Giant placing Big Bros and other big cams for pro below.

Greg Cameron posted on supertopo about his onsight solo of Pipeline. I wish I could find it again. I remember something about having to work around some fixed aluminum pipe from the FA.

[the alpine scrub]

Mike Hengevelds website is MIA at the moment, which sucks because it was really well done. If anyone has contact information for him I'd be stoked to host it for him (if that was the reason its no longer up).

Wood blocks is a pretty good idea (as far as good ideas go when concerning climbing offwidths....).

I haven't had the chance to get up pipeline yet...I figure when I can comfortably lead Frayed Ends of Sanity to take a peek at it from above then I'll hit it up

[davidbr]

You can't seem to get to his website through the links above, but i tried his name in Google, and got through to it that way. Interesting read.

[Anders Ourom]

Greg Cameron's (short) story about his climb of Pipeline is at http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/threa ... _id=204679

[jeh]

After a protracted battle with Primus, Mikey's back

http://www3.telus.net/public/7394243/cl ... mbing.html

Enjoy

J

[Mikey]

The gear in my website photos are

#6 Wild Country Friend (green)
1 x #4 big bro
2 x #3 big bro

anything smaller won't fit. I wore quite a thin harness and tied in on the side to reduce my already girlish profile. It must have worked because my heavier partner couldn't fit into the crack in places. I used an 8 foot sling and clipped it to the #6 so that I could push it ahead as I went. There are places where it gets too wide for the #6, but judicious searching will turn up slight constrictions.

It's an awesome route and seems epic, but its totally doable. Tape your back and inside ankle.

M