Sessions

Enough is enough with this getting school thing. Maybe the Filibuster is too much for me. Or then again, maybe not. It's time to go to work!

Session 1. JB and I went for another schooling last week. And the Filibuster schooled us again, even with the belay half way up. JB led pitch 4, and went piece-to-piece. Without enough traffic and with warm wet springs and summers of late, the face had lichened in again, making the right foot smears slippery. On my lead up pitch 5, I worked my way up the steep corner to the crux ... tried to get a stance to rest. No dice. Trying to rest made me more tired. From then on, I was gassed. We reached the top of the Filibuster and bailed. Humbled, again. But inspired.

Session 2. Opting to finish the route via the right-hand finger crack variation, we sessioned that pitch on TR. I suspected that the entry moves would be the crux... an arete pinch way over to the right then fighting the barn-door as I move right. But JB unlocked a better way through: stemming higher then using the pinch as a foot-pedal, moving right higher up. For some reason, it's not a barn-door up there. We then rapped into the Filibuster and gave the lichens a quick retroscrub.

Session 3. Jay joined us for more sessions. The plan was a ground up session. But two parties were in line at the base of Eagle's Domain so we hiked around to rap to Political Ledge then sessioned pitches 4-6 on lead. That plan, too, got stymied as a party was coming up Right Wing. We did, however, have time enough to session pitch 6. After each having TRed it clean, JB pulled the rope and led it clean.

What an amazing pitch!

Next we rapped in and sessioned pitches 4 and 5 on a rope. For me, it's all about knowing where to rest and where to punch it. Getting the two confused gets me ultra pumped. I think I worked out the rest below the crux. It's 1m lower than where I tried to get it last time. The route is feeling all there...

The Pipe Dream is to

• lead pitch 4 clean
• lead pitch 5 clean
• lead pitch 6 clean
• do a team clean ascent with JB
• lead all pitches clean

Filibuster now 2 pitches

Having deliberated the matter for 4 years and watched Right Wing not get enough traffic, I finally pulled the trigger today, literally. I rapped in and reinstalled the bolted belay in the middle of the Filibuster, along with 1 protection bolt just above it to protect the belay. The new belay is where the original belay (that I chopped in 2007) was. There is still no stance. Bringing a belay seat or extra slings to stand in would be smart. So now the Filibuster is

• 10b, 20m then 10c, 25m. or
• 10d, 55m

I hope this means more traffic for this outstanding route.

Third Time Still Unlucky

I tried Right Wing for the third time recently with Sarah. Our Finnish friends, Pauli and Enni, followed close behind us.

Finally, I sent Pitch 2, the bolted 10c corner. After balancing up past delicate features, a critical step left into a stem, a wet finger lock layback move, and a dash of commitment awarded me the jug that ends the crux!

But then the Filibuster had its way with Sarah and me. Sarah, fresh back from flashing a 12a in Canmore, tried to lead the "just 10d" Filibuster. Grunting, quivering, pulling, hanging, she got about 20m up before running out of steam and courage, and built a hanging belay at a place where someone had bailed. I took over, with 38 m left to the chains, and a head full of steam. Getting into the chimney proved challenging, with Sarah belaying exactly where I would fall. Once in, the steep handcracks went well... but with much effort. Alas, by the time I had laybacked up another 10m of the corner, I was well out of steam. I went piece to piece the rest of the way to the chains.

Sarah then led the 10c/d fingery finale to Godforsaken Land, which didn't go too smoothly either. Like What's Left, the finish to GFL is burly!

Here are some photos of Super Enni leading the end of the Filibuster (she pulled on one piece to give a "*" to her onsight) and the end of What's Left (which she did onsight). Also be sure to check out the video of her topping out, gassed. The end of the never-ending Filibuster

the kneebar, undercling, crux reach move on the well-overhung What's Left

A video of Enni topping out on Right Wing.

Grades Confirmed

I climbed Right Wing (again) with Katherine and Julie. Katherine impressively on-sighted the Filibuster over the course of an hour-long battle. I know that Katy Holm onsighted it several months back. Anyways, with all the activity, I think that the grades have finally settled as 10c for the bolted pitch, 10d for the Filibuster, and 10d for What's Left. Here's the topo.

The Filibuster was entirely dry and much cleaner than it was in the spring. All the traffic knocked off the grit on the right face, making smearing much more secure.

In Action

My friends Katy and Kelly went up on Right Wing yesterday; they thought that it was a great route. Comparing notes, it's much drier now (still not perfectly dry though) and cleaner... it's been seeing some traffic. They suggested the grades of 10c for the bolted pitch, 10d for the Filibuster, and 10c for What's Left. I went up today to try it but some folks from Seattle were on it. Here are some photos of them as I rapped down to inspect. They seemed to like it but also had to say that the Filibuster is full on and not the type of terrain for a 5.10 leader. It's a Buster of a 10d for sure.

<-- Here's the mighty Filibuster! She hollered over to me "Exasperator's second pitch is 10c. This ain't 10c!" That's right, it's 10d.


Below left: Looking up at "What's Left". Note the rope hanging vertically down.


Below right: meat and potato handjamming on Right Wing.

Updated Topo

In light of my recent adventure on Right Wing (see "Served" next), I'm posting an updated and more tentative topo. The grades are unconfirmed and suggest a range, somewhere in which the true grade exists. If you climb the thing and have any comments, please respond to this message or get in touch with me with comments/suggestions: jeremyfrimer(at)gmail.com

Served!

I finally found an opportunity to climb Right Wing yesterday, with my friend Jacqui. Let me start with the most important point: Oh My Goodness! P2, the bolted corner, was wet but the water wasn't a big deal. Jacqui did some mix free and aid past the bolts (+ a blue metolius) and found it to be a pitch easily frigged. I followed it and found the moves to be in the 10b/c range with the exception of the move past the 3rd bolt, which may be harder.

Then the "Filibuster". To put it simply, I got served.

Even after 2 weeks of dry weather, the bottom 15 m were wet. I suspect that snow melt run-off is a problem for this route. The climbing was unrelenting in the mid-10 range. Get a piece in, suss the moves, layback for 10 feet, NO REST, look for gear while hanging onto a 5.10 move, repeat. Then the squeeze chimney, then the steep hands. Then 40m up from the belay, even with a set of doubles and even triples in some sizes of cams, I was out of gear. I built a hanging belay and brought Jacqui up. The last 20m to the chains were easier (5.9/10a) but required the same sort of gear that I needed below so I'm happy with my decision to break it up.

"What's Left". Holy moly! A 15m corner that overhangs 3m. Getting up to the flake has a tricky/burly move or two. But then the flake: stuff in the 4.5, undercling up, kneebar, reach for the top, pull up, then throw a leg over it and straddle. Once back in the corner, a #5 camalot will then go in. But in the midst of all this monkey business, there's no gear to speak of. The final moves to the chains are burly too (overhung laybacking).

Take-away messages:
(1) Wetness is a problem in spring;
(2) The Filibuster is a pitch perhaps unparalleled in Squamish in the 5.10 range. The closest analogue is probably the 5.11a final pitch to the Truck Stop on Freeway.
(3) I'm not ready to confirm the grades of any of the pitches on Right Wing. I believe that the ones posted on the topo (they are the historic grades) may be sandbagged. I await feedback on that.