![]() Simul-climbing on one rope on low-angle terrain is doable, but it’s better to belay everyone up on separate ropes, or bring up one climber, then throw the rope down to the lower climber if getting the rope to that person is a sure thing (a near impossibility on an overhanging route, and difficult in many situations, such as when the pitch traverses). Tying two climbers to one rope on an overhanging route isn’t advised. There were other climbers on High Exposure who could have climbed level to the dangling climbers, then tossed them long slings or rope and hauled them back onto the rock. In this situation, however, cutting the rope wasn’t necessary. ![]() I guess it’s good to carry a knife when you climb. The top, still dangling climber, unencumbered by the weight of another climber, was able to get back on the route and finish the pitch. Luckily, or we might say “likely” owing to the route’s popularity, a climber on GT ledge was able to toss a rope to the screaming climber, pull her to safety, and rappelled with her to the Carriage road below. The lower climber “dropped another 10 feet,” says Snyder, “screaming and hollering, swinging in the breeze, 15 feet away from the wall.” “Cut the rope,” the guide yelled to the higher climber.Īmazingly, the top, higher climber had a knife and, more amazingly, was willing to use it. What happened next defies imagination unless you’ve just read Joe Simpson’s harrowing Touching The Void, and happen to have a knife somewhere in your team kit. “Tie in to the rope,” he yelled, or something like that, to the lower climber, who followed orders. In a moment of inspiration or perhaps desperation, Bob tossed his tail end of the rope over the side where it was latched by the suspended climbers. (Illustration: David Snyder)īob, now holding two climbers in midair-an undesirable situation-was unable to help the climbers back onto the rock, and couldn’t lower them to the ground because the rope was too short. The situation after the two followers fell and were dangling in midair. They simul climbed presumably because they only had one rope, and consequently this was the only way to get all three of them up the route. ![]() Bob anchored atop the cliff then had his two partners on the GT ledge, who were tied into the same rope 20 feet apart, begin simul climbing. After climbing to the GT and belaying his two partners onto the ledge, the team leader, who we’ll call Bob, blazed up the gently overhanging 5.6. Pitch 2 is the goods, 60 feet of 5.6 that can feel more difficult depending on your tolerance, or lack of it, for air.Įnter our trio. The first pitch of High Exposure is moderate, 180 feet of 5.4 climbed in either two short or one long pitch to the Grand Traverse or “GT” ledge under a large roof. First climbed by Fritz Weissner and Hans Kraus in 1941, “High E” would be five star anywhere on Earth and in the Gunks it’s a magnet for anyone who wants air without having to pull too hard to get it. High Exposure is one of the Shawangunk’s finer outings, offering two pitches of flint-hard horizontally banded stone that goes vertical to overhanging and even pulls a small roof, all for 5.6. This article originally appeared on Climbing
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |