I have the '68 (2nd) edition of the Bonney guide for reference and wonder if anyone knows if this classic NE face route is same one listed there as the E face (IV, 5.8, A3, 1st asc. by Daley and Yensan in 8/62)? There is no NE face route listed in that guide...but it sounds the same. If they are the same route I find it remarkable that route is now only a 5.8 without any aid!!!
I climbed the ESE face route (IV, 5.7 A3, a Becky, Marts, Davis route from 7/63) with 2 friends in the summer of '77 (I think the E face sounded too difficult for us and our RR shoes...) There is no mention of that climb anywhere on the net these days - it was great! Although the top 300' of A3 (a single hairline crack on the blank upper wall) is hard to imagine going free at any moderate grade. As it was, we took awhile doing it (2 full pitches, all small stoppers if I recall), and ended up spending the night atop Pingora... waiting for the sun to rise.
applewood - Sep 3, 2011 12:59 am - Hasn't voted
A question of historyI have the '68 (2nd) edition of the Bonney guide for reference and wonder if anyone knows if this classic NE face route is same one listed there as the E face (IV, 5.8, A3, 1st asc. by Daley and Yensan in 8/62)? There is no NE face route listed in that guide...but it sounds the same. If they are the same route I find it remarkable that route is now only a 5.8 without any aid!!!
I climbed the ESE face route (IV, 5.7 A3, a Becky, Marts, Davis route from 7/63) with 2 friends in the summer of '77 (I think the E face sounded too difficult for us and our RR shoes...) There is no mention of that climb anywhere on the net these days - it was great! Although the top 300' of A3 (a single hairline crack on the blank upper wall) is hard to imagine going free at any moderate grade. As it was, we took awhile doing it (2 full pitches, all small stoppers if I recall), and ended up spending the night atop Pingora... waiting for the sun to rise.