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Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Crack

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:02 pm
by skykilo
Plans for the Black Canyon were aborted due to snow and cold temperatures. The desert seemed more promising so let's go to The Creek!

After a long drive through pretty country on Friday, we arrived in the zone with just enough time to give Naomi an intro. Naomi and I both led Twin Cracks, a nice 5.9 at Supercrack Buttress. Then I ran the rope up 3 AM to give her a taste of something more splitter.
09, 00

Friday night it actually rained some and Saturday morning was grey and cold. But Pasha got there and he did not care; he wanted to climb. So we jumped on some cracks at Scarface Wall. This picture is deceptive, because these were the only 5 minutes of the day that were truly sunny. Pasha leads Scarface.
09, 01

That night Liz came with a crew from SLC. They were four deep with climbing and camping gear in a Prius. Wow!
09, 02

The next morning I sandbagged Pasha into climbing North Six Shooter Tower with us. Naomi and Liz hike toward our lightning rod.
09, 03

Doesn't that look stellar?
09, 04

Liz on the funky approach with Naomi and Pasha following.
09, 05

The first pitch of Lightning Bolt Cracks is the technical crux. You can tell I thought it was difficult by the amount of gear I placed through the start. Somehow I managed to fire it clean.
09, 06

When we arrived at the base, Naomi looked through her pack and discovered that she had forgotten her climbing shoes. Then she and Liz realized that they share the same shoe size. So we had a plan. Naomi would follow me; we would lower the shoes; Pasha would lead and Liz would follow and give the shoes to Naomi again. I felt bad for the four Spanish-speaking fellows who arrived as we implemented our plan on the first pitch.

Then it got funkier. Pasha approaches the 5.10 off-width section near the top of the first pitch.
09, 07

A #5 protects it until it gets wider and a few overhanging OW moves must be made before further protection becomes available. I recall jamming my foot into a constriction just above where I left my #5 and thinking, "I really wouldn't want to fall on this." I locked an arm bar for all I was worth and climbed past that spot quickly. The crack got a bit of indigestion while Pasha was climbing that section and he spent an excruciating few minutes extricating his stuck foot. He was fine in the end, but not without a bit of howling. Somewhere in the middle of it, the two fellows who climbed the tower before we got there arrived at the base and one of them tried to offer Pasha advice about his predicament. He gave them a heartfelt STFU! He eventually won the day and finished the pitch, but not before those two hiked down the talus and declared us, "an effing Gong Show." Which we surely were at that moment. But oh well shit happens!

Meanwhile I was loving the second pitch. I started up the finger crack side but jumped to the chimney on the other crack instead of making a 5.11 fingers move. The chimney was pure bliss. Here I'm getting ready to return to the other crack for killer fist jams through the roof.
09, 08

Pasha kept his composure for the rest of the route; here he leads the second pitch past the roof.
09, 09

The other fellows aborted their plan somewhere in the midst of all this. But I saw them hiking down the hill without packs; hopefully they returned the next day for a great climb. Lo siento, amigos.

The third pitch was more crack-laced bliss. Hands through a roof then traversing dual-crack hands and fingers on overhanging, spectacular exposed terrain. The rock got softer near the end but who cares!? Naomi follows.
09, 10

I was so elated after finishing the unprotected 5.9 chimney at the top.
09, 11
I would never have expected myself to on-sight this whole route. Yeah yeah yeah!

Naomi followed the chimney with bare feet. We left some rope for Pasha and Liz to follow the chimney. It seemed good to spare Pasha the run-out wideness since he'd already found some serious "adventure." Here he follows the chimney.
09, 12

Liz liked the chimney.
09, 13

Summit shot.
09, 14

It's two rappels off the other side with a 70 m rope. Happy time!
09, 15

I can't wait for more desert adventures in another week or so here....

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:45 pm
by BettyBoost
Haha! I love the pic of you "elatedly" humping the rock at the end. You should have your t-shirt in your hand.

Here's a few more:
Sky, leading the first pitch. Look at them legs!
Image

Lowering the shoes. How the hell was I suppose to reach those babies? Somehow made it work.
Image

Naomi rappin shoeless.
Image

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:42 am
by Hannah
lol. Having your helmet dangling from your harness for the entire climb is a pretty classic Sky move.

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:59 am
by PeteH
Ha. I always liked saving weight by climbing with one helmet and just having the belayer wear it.

Nice work Sky. That lightning bolt pitch is hard! Can't wait to get down there next week.

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:34 pm
by Diamond Dachshund
Wow looks awesome. You nailed the sunset epic. Unlike us last time.

Now that Liz is on the Indian Creek training program I'll have to make her carry the water and pastrami sandwiches. Maybe some rocks and a laptop too.

Strong work. Looks like some really nice pitches. December sesh?

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:29 am
by naomig
Soooooooooo psyched to go back to the CREEK so soon again! WOOT!

Man, that first pitch on the Lightning Bolt was truly a gong show: lowering shoes, Sky dropped a cam and Pasha shouting in agony as his foot got stuck. It still makes me laugh each time I think of everything that happened on the tower.

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:26 am
by skykilo
It's important to rack the helmet on the correct side of the harness for difficult chimney and offwidth sections.

December could be good. Or cold. Or both.

To be fair, I dropped a cam on the second pitch.

Let's climb more towers next week!!!

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 5:36 pm
by Atraslin
Hanging the helmet off the harness reminds me of the people that commute on there bikes in the city with there helmet hanging off the handlebars.

The climbing looks amazing.Splitter mania.

Re: Indian Creek, North Six Shooter Tower, Lightning Bolt Cr

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 6:36 am
by ryanl
These photos are unreal!!! Glad to see and hear you, Naomi, and others are having such a good time down there. Looks phenomenal.