multi pitch routes

[Dru]

Is the blasting done?

[Brendan]

Is the blasting done?

you mean... you don't know??

[Cloudraker]

Is the blasting done?

you mean... you don't know??

They're almost done but there is one big hunk of stone that they haven't been able to remove. The final blast should be coming soon....

[hafilax]

I did the NN Arete a few years ago. At the time the crux pitch felt like hard 9-10a but I wasn't the strongest or most experienced climber at the time. I definitely wouldn't put it at less than 9.

It is a fun route for what it is. The climbing is pretty crappy up until the last couple of pitches. It has the best chimney I've climbed and coming out of the 'birthing hole' is hilarious. All that and you completely circumnavigate the Chief. Not a bad day's outing.

[bradley3297]

i recall the split pillar being upgraded to 10b due to Sandbagging. havent heard it called 5.9.

[Brendan]

i recall the split pillar being upgraded to 10b due to Sandbagging. havent heard it called 5.9.

that's cause it is .10b, according to every guidebook. in reality, there's not one move which is harder than .9 tho... that's what people mean when they call it a 5.9!
the climbing is actually quite boring, kinda like driving to Smith Rock. long and uninteresting (unless you run it out to amuse yourself). the sword is 4x better! and the bolt ladder is pumpier!!

[bradley3297]

reminds me of a little testis. climbed that. its rated 10 b/c yet the moves felt much easier

[itsonlyadream]

i recall the split pillar being upgraded to 10b due to Sandbagging. havent heard it called 5.9.

Strange link-up, NN Arete to Split Pillar, but recall:


Split Pillar FFA 1975 (Eric Weinstein and Darryl Hatten)

probably did not have cams, definitely no sticky rubber, so long cracks were harder when gear was nuts, hexes, or pins, without getting into what harder means

[Anders Ourom]

Eric and Daryl graded the Split Pillar 5.9 when they did the first free ascent in 1975. With the possible exception of a move low down, it probably is 5.9, although quite sustained and strenuous. It is similar to many Yosemite cracks that were climbed in the 1960s and early 1970s, and also graded 5.9.

There may have been an element of bravado in such grades, but in those days before "relaxed fit" jeans, grade inflation was resisted, and 5.10 was considered a pretty stout grade.

They had EBs (non-sticky), and I vividly remember Daryl telling about their hexcentrics being wedged between crystals i.e. not very solid.