Trip Report
Photos of The Hourglass Left

by Peter Haan
Friday May 26, 2006 1:54am
Here is the Hourglass from afar:

[Click to View Linked Image]

top left corner top right corner
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Here is a closeup of the 350-400 ft profile:

top left corner top right corner
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Here it is from below:

top left corner top right corner
bottom left corner bottom right corner

and here is a closer view:

top left corner top right corner
bottom left corner bottom right corner

and here is a view of the beautiful right side:

top left corner top right corner
bottom left corner bottom right corner

These photos were taken late winter, early spring of 2000, when I went back up to the route during a light snow storm, to photograph it and to feel it again after 29 years.




  Trip Report Views: 3,395
Peter Haan 		About the Author
Peter Haan is a trad climber from San Francisco, CA.

Comments
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 26, 2006 - 02:03am PT
Oh sh!t, that thing is calling my name.

YOU sure do make this site better, Peter.
slayton

Trad climber
Here and There
  May 26, 2006 - 02:05am PT
WOW!! That thing looks too freaking cool. Thanks for posting the pics.

sean
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  May 26, 2006 - 02:14am PT
hhmmmmmm
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 26, 2006 - 02:30am PT
It's really beautiful.

Does it get climbed a lot?

Is it polished?

how much goes free, at what grade, and does it go to the top?
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
  May 26, 2006 - 02:45am PT
'Always wanted to do it, never did.
It's a known Arse Kicker.


Shipley had a great reportage:
Got up to the undercling, had some mondo piece, tube chock, big cam or whatever, slid it back and forth, left and right, got nothin' but air and just started pimpin'.

Peter?
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 26, 2006 - 03:08am PT
Lets do it Tarbaby.

Get yer arms well, I'll get well, we'll hit that thing.
mcreel

climber
Barcelona
  May 26, 2006 - 03:49am PT
The upper part of the R side looks pretty interesting, too.
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 26, 2006 - 03:54am PT
tar-babay, I got two gold big bros, they oughta work there.

Let's do it.
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 26, 2006 - 04:08am PT
Wake up Tar!!!

TWO gold big bros, what can go wrong? LOL!

YOU gotta carry those sucker though.
Patrick Sawyer

climber
Originally California, now Ireland
  May 26, 2006 - 07:05am PT
Peter, great article.

http://www.terragalleria.com/mountain/info/yosemite/hourglass.html
yo

climber
Mudcat Spire
  May 26, 2006 - 08:54am PT
I was okay from afar. Closer we got, worse I felt.



Now I will go climbing. (Not on that thing!) Out!
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
  May 26, 2006 - 09:24am PT
That thing would be perfect at bomber hand size.

Maybe we could find a way to screw it back down to the wall to get it down to 10c or so, like the boot flake.

Thanks Peter. Nice that you are here

Peace

Karl
hardman

Trad climber
love the eastern sierras
  May 26, 2006 - 10:10am PT
when the walls


come tumbling down
Grug

Trad climber
Golden, Colorado
  May 26, 2006 - 10:25am PT
Very nice pics. This was the only climb I ever did with the late Andy Embick - probably 1975.
bachar

Gym climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
  May 26, 2006 - 10:35am PT
Peter! Nice photos....I think me and Kauk did one of the early repeats on that. Horrendous and terrifying as well.....the undercling pitch and the roof-pitch thing up higher! Even when we did it there was a crushed tube chock at the start of the undercling. I heard the whole thing keeps creeping down all the time - like dozens of feet from when you guys did it?
Landgolier

climber
the flatness
  May 26, 2006 - 10:41am PT
Give us flatlanders an idea of size here. 4-5" below the big brow/roof thing, not quite man-eater above?
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
  May 26, 2006 - 11:37am PT
...comme la chanson des filles d'Achelous
WBraun

climber
  May 26, 2006 - 11:38am PT
Six inch tube chock fits just barely at the foothold on the undercling. Now you probably can get some huge cam in there that they make now.

It's and awesome route, and demands some good leading exeperience.

When Peter first freed it and decided to run it out he was looking at sure death fall. Yikes!

This one is left for those that want the best.

Thanks Peter for the "Left side of the Hourglass"
Largo

Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
  May 26, 2006 - 01:26pm PT
I remember that crushed tube chock John B. mentioned and unless I'm mistaken it got crushed right after an earthquake when the exfoliating slab moved a bit.

I sure didn't like the looks of that old Kamps bolt, and wonder if it ever got replaced. For shortish classic routes on exfoliating formations, I think Slap Happy Pinnacle and the Hourglass are maybe my favorites. You really got a prize there, Peter. Both routes on the Hourglass are "mans" routes, and always will be.

JL
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
  May 26, 2006 - 01:31pm PT
driftin' here:
ya, left side of slab happy is also quite a cool off the beaten path classic.

i recall some exhilarating flared, bombay hands...
(yes curt, heal up, rack up, get out: i'm all for that).
Fluoride

Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA/Joshua Tree
  May 26, 2006 - 07:14pm PT
Patrick, thanks for posting Peter's article, that was one of the better climbing reads I've had in a long time.

Peter, keep the photos and classics coming. They're much appreciated here.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Wyoming
Author's Reply  May 26, 2006 - 09:06pm PT
Hi Buds,

Thanks all of you for the really kind and generous words. This was not the hardest route I ever did, but it sure as hell was the deepest. To go through that lead….in those days, with certain death at hand, many route issues unknown (no review no pre-scoping), and no valid protection, was rewarded by a set of the biggest feelings I have ever had as you can tell from the article. BTW I have continued to edit the article and it is pretty much done now, so I should post the update (and to the many sites that seem to have it up as well). It was hard to edit it, since the subject is so emotional and hard to structure. I set out to write something that occurred to many of us, and to some of us on this forum obviously, but of which the emotional part was not getting chronicled much. And I think if truth be told, most top level climber climb for very strong emotional reasons, whether they know that or not.

JIMB, there is the possibility that Rick Linkert or Mike Farrell took some photos of my lead…I don’t recall. But someone MUST have in later years. I would LOVE to see them too. Yes wood, yes. And a video of someone putting the whole lead together would be very interesting too.

Largo, that bolt was a joke wasn’t it, especially by current standards. A quarter-inch compression bolt placed in 7/62! Looking up at it in the year 2000, it looked like maybe it had not been changed out…..It would be REALLY appropriate if someone went up there and replaced that bolt with a modern one, but kept it right where it is, behind the climber as he offwidths to the roof and then would turn to undercling. Not to keep it difficult but to keep the appropriate protection point location for the big-deal undercling. When you are leading it, you are glad the point of protection is NOT on the dihedral as the current location really reduces the pendulum effect (angular momentum) by being to the left several feet. And Largo, its true Slab Happy and Hourglass are superb formations in superb locations!

And the business with the slab sliding downwards, it hasn’t, It is in the same place vis a vis the old bolt etc…what is going on is probably ice-wedging---the crack probably gets bigger in winter a little, in areas since it is completely open at the top of the slab and gets packed with snow and ice probably in spots. And of course an earthquake too would mean the thing would probably shake like a dog! Imagine. The whole 350-400 ft slab is detached from the wall and spaced with chockstones here and there, on both sides. BTW, there are some other route possibilities on this thing….


And it is interesting to hear that some of you have done the left side. Wasn’t Bridwell the only subsequent party that lead it in the same manner? Big pro was coming out soon after, right?



technical route info (Landolier et al):

pitch 1: start at the obvious beginning, with a guillotine slab standing at the base, pull up over an “ear” on the edge of the book (easy), climb a 5.9 left facing offwidth (maybe 6”-9”?) about 20 ft to a downslab in the crack, pass this formation (maybe 5.10a?) and reach the striking undercling, with the bolt behind you under the roof as the offwidth gets a little harder as you ascend.

Figure out how to clip in…. with this bolt positioned behind you, and turn around to undercling left (5” to 6”) 5.10d-ish, to a sloping but reasonably good polished edge 15 ft away where you could place protection in the roof (I did not/nothing existed then), try to rest here, but it will be hard. Get back into the undercling and proceed further left another 6 feet (5.10c and harder) then turn the corner, liebacking a delicate, very polished thin flake-ear formed on the edge of the dihedral. The thin flake is delicate enough to worry you, by the way. The main wall is also extremely waterpolished here too. All the crack edges to this point are very good, the rock is perfect; there is some big lichen under the undercling, though. Note also that there are better places than others for your feet while you are underclinging: that is key; don’t just try to gun it but figure how to move with this much pressure developing.

Gain the top of this ear and the offwidth leg-pod above it, and swing into the pod to rest. A bong endwise near my knees here was my approach, but it was a joke and very very hard to place since my body had pretty much filled the available space…god…. Modern stuff would work here and could appropriately be placed above you instead. The rest stance here is not really no-hands as you are working still to be there and your feet are in heel-toes and kind of also using the top of the ear which is not as fabulous as you might have hoped. This section from the bolt to the knee-pod is very powerful climbing and as a whole ends up being 5.11a. My seconds, who were good climbers, could not get anywhere with this section, after repeated attempts on my upper belay and had to jumar.


Above, the crack is quite varied in width, features, and character, and wants to trap you in its undulations. So, word to the wise, if you are tired at this point, you better be very sensitive and careful here. And that might be hard because of what you have been through up to this point. This upper section is kind of 5.10b/c ( by itself) in places I think.

In general, the protection you may have put in may be compromised in a load/fall situation because of the sharp change in directions from wide vertical crack to wide roof to wide vertical crack, too….This pitch ends in a really cool kind of small basin that again is polished to bits, and should still have the one bolt I placed as anchor and as my mark for this FFA. It of course was a 1/4” comp, and probably can’t be trusted 35 years later (grin). One could get anchors in the main crack though.

Pitch 2 and 3 are very fun, 5.8-5.9ish and interesting, reasonable, scenic and kind of stimulating but safe. You end up behind the slab, chimney to its top where there should be some large anchors. You rappel the right side, and here you must be very careful. You go from summit to the tree, and from the tree to the ground. The dihedral below the tree has eaten ropes and will eat yours too if you let your rope get in that s.o.b. It almost got mine a couple of times, and there is an old one way in there btw.

Best to all of you, PH
NinjaChimp

climber
someplace in-between
  May 27, 2006 - 12:30am PT
Recollections of the First Free Ascent of The Left Side of the Hourglass

Nicely done Peter. Haven't experienced anything of that intensity myself (although I've flirted with somthing like it several times) but I think your story goes a long way toward explaining why many of us climb. Thank you for sharing.

-Justin-
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
  May 27, 2006 - 01:26am PT
guys like millis and cochran used to goodheartedly taunt me for being a "deck ape" and this is the climb they wanted me to do...
pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
  May 27, 2006 - 01:31am PT
took a hike around that area and felt "skittish".
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 27, 2006 - 02:19am PT
Hey Roy, we can redo the quarter incher, looky here what I got:


HAHA, these are good, right?

Maybe we don't need the gold bros, how wide is the widest part?

GOt two blues and a green, two 6 friends, two 7 tricams, what can happen?
James

climber
My twin brother's laundry room
  May 27, 2006 - 02:53am PT
I'm drinking with a gaggle of college co-eds but instead of slobbering over them I'm salivating over the Left Side. Who's got some big bros?
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
  May 27, 2006 - 03:01am PT
thank you peter for bumping back ragmeats posts with something that has to do with "climbing"...
Tom

Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
  May 27, 2006 - 06:56am PT
We are not worthy. We are not worthy. . .. . .
Largo

Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
  May 27, 2006 - 12:00pm PT
I always kind of wondered how much of the upper part, after the undercling, Kamps free climbed on the first ascent. I think I remember him telling me he nailed the roof and other parts with bongs placed endwise, and that they were very poor -- like bodyweight, A4 placements. There's no way he could have placed that bolt except on aid since it's on the wrong side of the wall, facing away from the direction you face when chugging up the first off size bit. Yet that first bit is (I think, it's been like 30 years) too wide for even endwise bongs, ain't it??

Also, Slab Happy is also good. The Left Side (Chapman and Bridwell first free) is great but a grunt but the right side (Dihardral) is terrific and a real accomplishment for Sachar to have done 40 some years ago. I know Vern did the center route free as well (old Robbins route originally rated A5) but I never got around to doing that one.

JL
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 27, 2006 - 11:44pm PT
james, meet Tarbaby n me when we are all well, I have a pile of big gear, looking to do that thing, seriously.
Bruce Morris

Trad climber
Soulsbyville, California
  May 28, 2006 - 02:50am PT
Slabs come and slabs go, but an Off-Width crack is forever.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
  May 28, 2006 - 04:17am PT
Amen Bruce.

jeebus that thing looks intense
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
  May 28, 2006 - 09:07am PT
Munge, it looks like fun!

Unless you don't have gear to fit it, like the guys who did it originally. They must have been pretty daring.

LOL, where there is gear, there is no fear.
Rick L

Trad climber
El Dorado Hills, CA
  May 28, 2006 - 01:25pm PT
Peter-

The photos and story brought back memories from 35 years ago. I am convinced that you enlisted me on the project because I was, quite simply, the heaviest belayer you could lay your hands on. Anyway, thanks for the tutorials on off-widths and all the other great climbs we did together.

Here are some of my memories.

The Hourglass was, at the time, pehaps the only unfininshed Sacherer project in the Valley. Peter was a briliant free climber whose fingers touched the past and the future. In between was the Left Side of the Hourglass. As an exfoliation slab, the Hourglass is a spectacual piece of granite architecture in a wild and remote setting. I remember the marches to the base. The scent of formic acid and bay leaves as we thrashed our way up the oak and talus to the base. We waited until late afternoon to make sure the sun was off. We all knew just how serious the lead would be. I was lashed to some ancient roots as the base of the short dihedral leading up to the roof. The first off-width was pretty straightforward for Peter. Clipping and then swinging into the undercling was strenuous and awakward but relatively trivial in comparison with what lay ahead. From my perspectice, I was absolutely spooked that there would be a fall that I either could not catch, was caused by not being able to quickly feed out the rope or from a spot where Peter would hit the deck no matter what I did. There is a sloping foothold, as I recall, midway across the undercling. The "rest" is not necessarily a good thing- particularly since he could not place any pro. First, it did not appear to be much of a rest. Second, it provides the leader with a spot where indecision can easily set in. Reverse and you are at the safety(?) of the then-old 1/4" bolt. Keep going and you are in it for the ride. When Peter launched into the final segment, Mike and I were transfixed. There was a hideous, delicate "barn-door" move at the end to transition into the left-side-in off-width. The water polish was extreme and a fall at that point would have placed Peter either on the ground if I could not yard in enough rope or into the guillotinne flake immediately above me. I was absolutely focused on hauling in as much slack as I could if he came off- these were pre-belay device days. We uttered a huge sigh of relief when he got into the off-width- we figured it would take a stick of dynamite to get Peter Haan out of any crack he could get his knee and shoulder in. It remained hard, however, and still very spooky in the pre-giant cam days of yore. I have done the "bong-endwise" drill on a number climbs but I have to tell you that I never had any level of confidence that they would actually hold a significant fall. The rule of the day in off-widths was "Don't Fall. Bad Things Will Happen If You Do".

I was last off the ground at near-darkness. I would like to have had a shot at following but doubt I would have had much of a chance at the time. The chimney pitches were a trip in the dark. With all three of us safely on top, the feeling of being present for Peter's success was pretty damned good. Because it was now pitch black, we had the choice of sitting on top in T-shirts for the night or rapping. For reasons I can't recall, we decided to tie the two ropes together and rap to the base. The lights-out transfer past the knot at about 150 feet off the deck was as engaging as you might imagine. The night was damned cold and we huddled together for warmth. In the morning, Peter went back to visit his summit and made the two raps down.

From my perspective, it was a privilege to have been there and witnessed a young man's powerful dream realized.

Take care

Rick

p.s. Peter- for God's sake did you think Mike or I even owned a camera let alone were calm enough to take photos? We were too gripped.
Roger Breedlove

climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
  May 28, 2006 - 02:42pm PT
Nice post, Rick. A cool perspective and great story. I wondered about Peter's assertion that maybe you had taken pictures. As you said, "who had a camera?"

Best, Roger
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Wyoming
Author's Reply  May 28, 2006 - 03:13pm PT
God it’s great to hear from you Rick!! I had no idea where you were these days, or even if you “were” at all . Wonderful! I will email separately with particulars.

This warm openhanded post of yours is really interesting and contributes a lot to the history of this climb and the Ribbon Falls area. It’s all accurate too. And as Rog just mentioned, it is really one of the very sad things about climbing back then that so few of us had cameras or took the time to use them. Fortunately my father’s camera was available and eventually destroyed recording history and then my old used Nikon F in mid 70’s.

Right, the barn-door move above the undercling was really dangerous, and also difficult for an additional, special reason. Not only are the leader’s hands, arms and everything else running out of gas by this point and everything is incredibly smooth, but also to perform such a different, balancey and delicate move contrasted hugely with what he has just done, grunting across the undercling in big, powerful moves. And of course doing this all with no protection made that moment pretty special. To make matters really hideous was the critical question whether the earlike flake you are liebacking on would actually break off and send the leader into a really wild, uncontrolled fall. The thing is pretty thin, and really unusual.

It is also true as you say that the “rest” hold under the roof did provide a psychological crisis and classic dilemma. At this point you could kind of get back to the bolt and safety without getting hurt, but to continue from the hold means having to take an even worse fling at the ascent than the one of starting the undercling to begin with. If this hold were not there, this climb would be in the 5.12+ region….but there would not be the mental crisis of having to “re-commit” as you imply. In other words, I guess, it is very hard to make yourself climb this pitch.

It is true that the rest of the pitch as you say (I guess about 50 more feet, above the knee pod) is serious too, although not quite as technical. In this upper section I was able to get a bong or two in and climb over them as was standard in the day, as they were on the outside of the crack, not deep inside it like camming devices usually are at this size.

The story of this ascent is ever so much more complete with your perspective from the belay now added.

I took you along because we were climbing partners, I loved your personality and that you treated me so well. Everyone liked you too. I should mention that I often did extremely nasty climbs with partners who were not part of the central climbing elite “because the puzzle of my life required I be on this major quest with no real competitors, only friends and hopefully, neutral parties, and enough bodies to handle my likely emergency. And guys that could keep our efforts a secret until the experience was complete” as I said in the article. I even did the fourth onsight ascent of the Twilight Zone with essentially a 20 year old nonclimber, Cliff Coleman, whom I had grown up with in Berkeley…hard to believe….and of course I had taught him how to jumar the day before (g).

I had kind of forgotten that we finished the Left side upper pitches in twilight, Rick. We were flying though. And I had definitely forgotten that we had tied the ropes together end to end for the rappel on the rt side (I just edited my initial post to add a photo of the rt side, btw). This was because the hanging complex gnarly bay tree is a real scene getting into and out of, the crack below it wants to eat your rope like no other I have known, and there were three of us which required that all three of us would have had to have been in the tree at once with our two ropes…. perhaps not the best plan especially in full darkness and no lights.

Best to you all, P
here I am in a light snow storm, March 2002 sitting at the base of the Left Side, at the age of 52:
Roger Breedlove

climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
  May 28, 2006 - 05:15pm PT
Hey, you are looking pretty good there Peter, sausage fingers and all. (I like that way you interlaced them to mak'em look fatter. He,he)

As far as I am concerned, none of us look any older than we did then, in a manner of speaking.

Nice thread. Happy Memorial Day.

Best, Roger

PS: Is the angle of main wall as shown in your Right Side photo more or less correct? The pictures of the Left Side make it look steeper.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
  May 29, 2006 - 11:47am PT
I'm pretty new to Supertopo, but I say this is among the best threads so far. A lot of soul exposed here and an outstanding offering to the Supertopo community.

I remembered a bit more flavor from Walt Shipley's ascent: Walt told me that when he arrived at the rest in the undercling, not only was he distressed to find that his gear wouldn't take, but things became so urgent that he just tossed the piece to the ground in lieu of racking it, so that he could save precious energy needed to keep moving.

From my time in Yosemite, late 70's to late 90's, there were very few reports surfacing about ascents of this route.

The intensity and wonderment of first ascent experience of this type stands head and shoulders above most all other types of climbing encounters. Peter and Rick, you guys tell it with a sincerity, candor, and brilliant recall that really brings it home.

Again, much appreciated and very well done.
Cheers,
Roy McClenahan
Danielle Winters

Trad climber
Alaska
  Nov 11, 2008 - 07:50am PT
Classic climb for sure ~. Thanks for the great photos . I stood at the base of it in the mid seventy's, and looked up one time. Just to walk away in awe . With my head hung low . never have been back . Posts like this inspire me to pump my game back up to a new level and make plans for the future.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Wyoming
Author's Reply  Nov 11, 2008 - 11:08am PT
I realize I never got back to this thread in regard to the actual true angle of the right side. That nice photo was tilted; here is the correct aspect of the rt side:


It is plenty steep and is roughly equivalent in steepness to the left side.

And in regard to the crushed protection, it is pretty easy to imagine this monster flake not only moves out a bit with ice-wedging every winter but, yeah, with earthquakes too. It is NOT attached above ground but spaced out with various chockstones both sides and deep inside. Kind of a gigantic Boot Flake situation.

best ph.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
  Nov 11, 2008 - 11:59am PT
Peter

Great to see you at the Nose Reunion.

Forgot to mention this article I unburied this summer that I had written in 1962. In the summer of 62, Kamps, Sacherer and myself made numerous trips to the Hourglass. Sacherer and I began with the Right Side but took a break to climb the first one-day ascent of North Buttress of Middle Cathedral. After that we never again climbed a major route together. Long story.

So Kamps and I decided on the Left Side. What I remember most was the difficulty above the undercling. We climbed the remainder of the route free above here. As usual I wore shorts and suffered for weeks with raw knees. Climbing with Kamps was always a pleasure.

Oh, if only we had carried a camera more often in those days!!!!!!!!!!

cheers
bluering

Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
  Nov 11, 2008 - 12:29pm PT
The unprotected fall off that undercling would be really bad. Stopping to jam in pro would be pumpy too.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
  Nov 11, 2008 - 12:35pm PT
What a bitchin' thread, with the real dogs on it!!!
WBraun

climber
  Nov 11, 2008 - 12:39pm PT
I'll tell ya right now that beast moves while you're climbing it.

I've done the left side 5 times and each time the tube chock I placed out on the under cling was stuck. I had to kick it out on rappel.
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
sawatch choss
  Nov 11, 2008 - 12:39pm PT
Please don't write any more, gentlemen. I am beginning to fell the pull...
Mighty Hiker

climber
Outside the Asylum
  Nov 11, 2008 - 08:13pm PT
Bump. Or perhaps I should say kick - see Werner's post just upthread.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Nov 11, 2008 - 08:43pm PT
The angle of the diagonal undercling is similar to the crux section of The Cobra (although it can be protected). People have still taken some huge falls (like 50') on that crux of The Cobra, as it is quite hard to stop and place gear in such a barn door lieback.
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Nov 11, 2008 - 08:46pm PT
Always wanted to do the Cobra...too.
bluering

Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
  Nov 11, 2008 - 09:19pm PT
"it is quite hard to stop and place gear in such a barn door lieback. "

that's kinda my point, it may be better just to run'er out like Peter did BITD. if you stop and fumble around with gear....derp!!!!!!!

The fall still sucks ass!!
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
  Nov 11, 2008 - 09:44pm PT
Peter, I must say - that account of the climb (in the link) surpasses anything I have read about climbing thus-far in my life. I was crying in joy and amazement at the feat and the prose.

Absolutely stunning.

Erik Wolfe (Borghoff)
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Wyoming
Author's Reply  Nov 11, 2008 - 10:19pm PT
Thanks Erik. Really.

ph
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Nov 11, 2008 - 10:21pm PT
Didn't look like a good place to fall, to me.

I'd take all that cams that fit.
Lynne Leichtfuss

Trad climber
Will know soon
  Nov 11, 2008 - 11:26pm PT
The photos are simply awesome. Only arrived on the Taco in the Spring of 2008. Glad when Threads like this one are brought back to life and also glad to have met you Mr. Peter Haan at the Nose Reunion. Best, Lynne Leichtfuss
Mighty Hiker

climber
Outside the Asylum
  Nov 12, 2008 - 12:47am PT
Link to GM photo of mangled nuts found below the Hourglass.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=261800

And another link to Peter's thread about Crackjacks, the right side of the Hourglass, and such things.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=199325
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Nov 12, 2008 - 12:51am PT
Schneider told me about finding earthquake squished nuts on Pink Dream, or one of those other elephant rock climbs.
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
  Feb 25, 2009 - 10:42am PT
bump for the good stuff
Jan

Mountain climber
Colorado & Nepal
  Aug 20, 2009 - 04:22pm PT
Thanks Peter. This is my favorite climbing thread on ST so far. And reading your account on the link, was a kind of religious experience! I've never seen climbing better explained.
Brunosafari

Boulder climber
OR
  Aug 21, 2009 - 09:28pm PT
My first read of this too. Isn't this what you'd call an instant Literary Classic? The apology, sneaker climax, tore me right up.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
  Aug 21, 2009 - 11:04pm PT
Peter

Bonnie sent me this a while back-my recollection was the bongs were from Long and not Chouinard? Big write up from Mr Kamps, hey what! Mellow man he was.
Mighty Hiker

climber
Outside the Asylum
  Aug 21, 2009 - 11:12pm PT
Guido, you mean bongs like these?
They are Longware bongs, given to me by Leif Patterson's family, and now in the Yosemite Climbing Association collection. (I have one as a keepsake/paperweight.) The largest is 5.8" at the widest.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Wyoming
Author's Reply  Aug 21, 2009 - 11:14pm PT
Well, Joe, that was a loquacious Bob Kamps there, yeah! From 1962. What was the story on the FA? What were the trips up the talus and how long was he on the thing? It was A4 according to the Green and red guides. And I have to agree given the equipment.
Russ Walling

Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
  Aug 21, 2009 - 11:16pm PT
Peters great story on the Hourglass:

http://widefetish.com/features/hourglass/hourglass.html
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
  Aug 22, 2009 - 04:06am PT
Peter and Anders

First pitch was 7 hours and for some reason,for what it is worth I think the bongs were made by Long. I was working part time for Long in his "garage" while he slaved away in Med school and I had a good supply of them. Couple of things I wrote in the past may clarify or cloud the first ascent. My notes are buried in one of hundreds of boxes in storage.

I do recollect one funny incident on the approach when Kamps stepped on a group of baby rattlesnakes. When I called him back he told me how cute they were and he hoped he didn't injure them! We made the trip up to the Hourglass a number of times and it was always a different adventure.


Ed's thread- Name This Route:

Ed

Funny, I didn't recognize this. But 46 years is a long time and there are some gray areas, whereas other memories are still vivid. The summer of 1962 was a busy one. Lots of climbing with Sacherer and Kamps. Sacherer and I had an agreement to climb all the classic Grade 5 routes. In between we would work on shorter first ascents that we both had our eyes on. Ribbon Falls area always had an attraction, especially the Hourglass. After several attempts on the right side we reached the tree.

Time for a break so we headed off to climb the first one-day ascent of the North Buttress of Middle Cathedral. I had done lots of climbing with Sacherer, but on this occasion all hell broke loose in our relationship. At one point, he was out 60 ft on a blank wall, off route, zero protection, flagellating and screaming at me some of his famous epithets. I threatened to keep belaying but detach myself from the rope; I would have my own anchor. Near the top, on some fairly dicey third class he asked me to throw him a rope. I let loose with some fairly abusive language myself and quickly headed down to the Valley. Needless to say we climbed together little from then on. We remained good friends, but our climbing relationship suffered.

Back to the Hourglass; Sacherer teamed up with Kamps to finish the Right Side. Later Kamps and I would make the first ascent of the Hourglass Left Side. As always climbing with Kamps was the ultimate pleasure and a memorable experience indeed. As always I wore shorts and deservedly suffered for several weeks from abrasion.

For years I would return to the majestic Ribbon Falls amphitheater, sometimes set up a "base camp" and just explore. Thank you for opening up the doors for a memorable peek at the past.


"When Kamps and I did the first ascent of the Left Side of the Hourglass in the early 60s, he used a masterful combination of Long bongs, placed back-to-back,edgewise, with a sling in center both for aid and protection on that wild first pitch. I can't begin to imagine how Haan led the roof and undercling free, years later".

I posted this a while back. Yes, that was the crux. Tenuous even for a flyweight like Mr Kamps.

joe


Alexey

climber
San Jose, CA
  Jan 22, 2018 - 07:02am PT
bump to top best TR
le_bruce

climber
Oakland, CA
  Jan 22, 2018 - 10:25am PT
The business section of the Left


From the approach



Here's Alexey, standing under the Right and come to climb the Right, but why are you looking off to the left there hmmm...


Not an easy spot to access, no matter which side you choose
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
  Jan 22, 2018 - 10:39am PT
These got sucked up in the PhotoF*#kit fiasco so here they are again...........
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