Millenium Falcon - Last 4 pitches?

[Blake]

Assuming that the dirt and rocks coming off Europa will not continue this whole spring/summer...

How long after rain does MF take to dry off/clean off? (I'm imagining a wet and muddy route after last summer's loose dirt got rained on for 7 months)
Is the falcon closure a pre-determined date, or decided seasonally?

Can someone describe the "Gold ribbon" pitch that ends the route above bellygood? I see different listings and descriptions in the different books.

THANKS!

[J Mace]

well you dont have to worry about dirt and rocks from Europa this whole spring summer because Falcon closure starts in a month, March 15th, and continues till August, the chances of it being dry before then are minimal.

[itsonlyadream]

Can someone describe the "Gold ribbon" pitch that ends the route above bellygood? I see different listings and descriptions in the different books.

THANKS!

That pitch is tip-toeing on dike nubbins like Women in Comfortable Shoes but longer, well protected by bolts, with a crux near the top that I would rate 11b as an onsight.

[pinner]

well you dont have to worry about dirt and rocks from Europa this whole spring summer because Falcon closure starts in a month, March 15th, and continues till August, the chances of it being dry before then are minimal.

If this was posted when it says it was (April), then the closure started a month ago - I think you got your "M" months mixed up bro

[matthewc]

You certainly don't have to worry about new dirt and rocks from Europa, because Europa is finished and open for climbing:

http://www.ubc-voc.com/wiki/Europa

Also, the falcon closures haven't started yet. The start of the closures isn't fixed, it happens when parks observe that the falcons have started nesting, at which point an announcement happens, and signs are posted. The March 15th date in the guidebook is a super-conservative date so that people who don't actually know they should check the campground noticeboard have something to go on.

I know for a fact that Rutabaga and Arrowroot (which are directly underneath the lower pitches of Europa) were cleaned off. I'm not sure about millenium falcon. If anyone gets on it and finds there is still a lot of dirt on it, let me know and we'll get a team up there to clean it.

[pinner]

Ahh, not so - see the "Europa FFA" thread. While I realize you have spent more time up there than most recently, apparently there may be loose stuff afterall. However, we should never assume any multipitch routes will be free of rockfall (or biner fall, for that matter!) so I can't see it beingtoo much of an issue - in fact, I would think most tradders will agree that a little adventure can only add to the aesthetics of a route.

[matthewc]

Agreed. There's always a risk of rockfall / biner fall. What I really meant was that you didn't need to worry about dirt or rock fall from the Europa cleaning process covering Millennium Falcon anymore. Arguably the chance of rockfall (and especially biner fall) is higher now for routes passing below Europa when people are climbing it, but I got the impression that Blake was asking about dirt from the cleaning process, rather than the more standard hazards of climbing.