Photos of Rick and Stef's first reaction to this climb/experience.
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DATE: July 3, 2019
WALLS HIT: 1 (Dickies) NUMBER OF CLIMBS: 1 NUMBER OF PITCHES: 1 NUMBER OF FALLS: 0 VERTICAL FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 70 TOTAL VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 855 NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 225 VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: ~ 49,230 DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED: 0 DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TO DATE: 1 START & END TIMES:
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DICKIES CLIFF - One 5.7 climb
- CLIMB: Seams Like a Butt (TR)
- CONCLUSION: WTF? What the FRUSTRATING! (Ok, it was more frustrating to Stef than Rick... but both of us were ultimately frustrated by the experience.)
- Why was this climb frustrating?
- (1) It took a freaking hour to set up the top rope.
- We debated whether to do a nearby climb to access the anchors of the 5.7, which would've been more fun, but since there is access to the top via a scramble, we decided to do that, thinking it would be faster (since we also wanted to also hit Gnat Man this evening.)
- The scramble up has some tricky sections with a couple of "broken bones" level exposure points.
- NOTE: The 5.10 trad climb next to the 5.7 would have worked to access the TR anchors (which are up further and to the left of the 5.10 anchors). The 5.6 trad climb would have resulted in long sketchy runout to access the anchors - not much better than the scramble access issues.)
- The anchors to this TR are NOT safely accessible. Are there people that would feel comfortable walking the sloping the slab with a 70 foot drop off to get to those chains? Sure. Although I believe we have a pretty high exposure threshold, are we those people? Nope. So, we set up an anchor using trad gear to safely get us down. Rick belayed Stef to the TR anchor, then Stef secured herself and belayed Rick down after he cleaned up our trad anchor. Finally we rappelled down.
- We debated whether to do a nearby climb to access the anchors of the 5.7, which would've been more fun, but since there is access to the top via a scramble, we decided to do that, thinking it would be faster (since we also wanted to also hit Gnat Man this evening.)
- (1) It took a freaking hour to set up the top rope.
- Why was this climb frustrating?
- (2) While on the climb, Stef tried to follow the features she thought looked and felt more like a 5.7 (compared to a straight shot up), but there was no "line." It ended up being a back-and-forth zig zag that was slow and puzzling - more frustrating than fun. Rick took the "seam" (after which this climb is named), which is a more direct line, and concluded that it felt harder than a 7.
COMMENTS ABOUT THIS CLIMB:
- TRAD LEAD: A Mountain Project post insinuates this climb can be lead on gear. Rick and I completely disagree with that assessment. It would be rated X.
- BOLT IT AND MAKE IT A 5.9: We're all for TRs. We're all for trad climbs. But this climb is almost a complete waste of time as a 5.7 toprope. It would be far more entertaining and in character with the "climb" to make it a sport 5.9 up the seam (there is NO WAY to place pro in that seam so bolting would not compromise a trad climb.) (Of course, no bolting in areas with moratoriums.)
- ANCHOR TIPS: Unless you like danger and sketch, either climb the 5.10 next to it to access the anchors or, if you scramble, bring gear to the top to protect the approach to the anchors. If two people go, you can belay each other (like Rick and I did) and not have to re-scramble to the top to retrieve your gear.
CONCLUSIONS & RANT: Rarely do I get grumpy about a climbing sesh, because, hey, it's climbing, but this one grumpified me (Stef). We drove 45 minutes to snag three climbs on two walls adjacent to one another. What did we get? One marginal climb. In addition, rarely do I actually diss a climb or say it's not worth the effort. But that's where I seriously lean with this one. Rick is a little more forgiving about this climb, but he took a different line. Perhaps I should've made the best of TR and climbed it again using the line Rick did. But, we BOTH agree, this climb, as a toprope, the way the TR is currently configured, is NOT worth it AT ALL. "Seems Like a Butt" would gain its true value as a sport climb.
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