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Any early morning start was negated by the clouds and intermittent drizzles
as the day began. We decided to go for a real breakfast - I prevailed upon
Barb and Rikk and Jim and Geo to try the Valley View.
I much enjoyed my grits and OJ, but most of the group indicated they
preferred the 4U (unless it was crowded)
Ross Potter and I were scheduled to climb with Stacy Waksmonski
who was to come down to Seneca with John Hrizo, arriving about 9:30 Saturday
morning. Our plan was to climb "Northway" which would be a good first
multi-pitch experience for Stacy. Nine-thirty came and went and there was
no sign of Stacy. About 10:30 Ross and I drove down to the parking lot and
started to "gear up." We took Ross's rack and my twin ropes,
Ross's climbing pack and my fanny pack. Geared up and optimistically
slathered with sun-screen, we were ready to start out.
Still no sign of Stacy, so I decided to save myself from the "Stairmaster"
and opted for Ecstasy Junior. It was after 11:00, still cloudy, but no
rain and some signs of clearing off.
As we approached the base of E.J.
we could see there was a team of two
just ready to start up.
It turned out to be Ted Davidson and Caitlin Reynolds. We decided to wait
in line and climb after them. We snapped some photos and flaked our ropes
and relaxed. I changed my shoes. Ross climbs in his 5-10 approach shoes -
sticky rubber, but heavy and rounded edges.
When Ted went "Off Belay" I took Ross's rack. "No stoppers????? - Ross, would you climb with this rack - a bunch of cams, a fair set of wired hexes, but no stoppers?"
Ross responded, "I thought since you were leading you would take the lead gear - I just brought what I might need to set belay anchors and stuff." Then he added, "If you want, I can run down to the car and pick up the stoppers." I delayed a few minutes, considering whether I could lead with the rack we had. There were probably about 8 cams and six hexes, and I had brought a couple of my favorite pieces. Finally, I decided on the side of caution…"Yes, Ross, I think it would be safer to have my stoppers - just the three larger bunches - not the tiny h.b.'s."
I gave Ross the car key, and he took off down the hill. Good thing we weren't all the way up at the upper wall. Ross must have really moved. He was back, perspiring, shirt and stoppers in hand, just as Caitlin was finishing the pitch. We had re-learned a lesson that keeps coming back to us time and again: Never Assume - Always Check that both you and your partner are properly equipped, tied, and prepared.
Ross put me on belay and I set off on the first pitch. I used to go to the upper traverse directly from the second tree (the tree right above where Ross was belaying). That is the route that Ted and Caitlin had used. However, the last time I led this pitch I traversed the easier, lower ledge directly south from the tree, then climbed up when I was directly below the main crack. That is the route I took this time. It has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the spots (or single spot?) to place gear on the way across are (is?) more reachable, and the hand holds while traversing are more plentiful. The disadvantage is you are much more exposed when doing the moderately difficult five foot climb up to the level where the crack begins.
Climbing that long, deep crack is a neat mind game. There are some fairly difficult moves at some places, and it would be nice to put in pro at those spots, but putting in the pro means holding with just one hand and concentrating on working with the gear and rope with the other hand. The fairly difficult section is short and there are obvious great holds right above it. My choice in most of those instances was to run it out a bit to the easier ground. I hope that choice never comes around to bite me.
While I was climbing the crack, Ted dropped his rope to my right and he and Caitlin bailed from the first belay ledge. (I learned later that they had decided to go to "Old Man's" where Caitlin wanted to practice leading on the first pitch. Ted, I think it would have been about as fast to lead and clean the second pitch of E.J. and walk to Old Man's as it was to rap down and climb the stairmaster and talus to Old Man's.)
At the belay ledge I anchored comfortably and brought Ross up to join me.
We used Ross's FRS radios for communications.
From there, I could see
Barb and Rikk on the corner belay ledge at the top of the first pitch of
Ecstasy. I managed to snap a photo while Ross was setting anchors to belay the
next pitch.
We got all set for me to lead the second pitch, but by this time it was clouding over pretty ominously. Ross suggested we eat some lunch and see what the weather would do. No sooner had we decided to do that than a light rain began. We figured our decision may have been a good one. Then the cloud burst and a huge, heavy rain, (gigantic drops) hit us; we KNEW our decision to wait had been a good one. This rain was heavy enough that we knew to rocks would be too wet to climb even after it stopped, but we decided it was easier to wait for it to at least let up a little before we tried to set up our rappel. We hung tight. I was wearing my Gortex jacket; it is great for light rain, but with this torrent it was pretty well saturated through.
Our plan to wait for the rain to let up did not work for long. Soon we heard thunder not too far away and moved quickly to thread and drop our ropes for rappelling. One clap was very loud and very near.
Ross went down first. He used the rap device extended from his harness by a sling. I recommended against a Prusik backup on the wet ropes (the friction makes it almost impossible to slide the prusik down the rope), so he used an autoblock instead. He later reported that that had worked perfectly. I followed with Ross giving me a Fireman's belay from below.
We had checked carefully…"pull the orange rope." I pulled…Nothing. We both pulled…Nothing perceptible, but maybe a couple of inches. We moved the ropes out away from the wall and pulled again. Inches again. Ross suggested I snub the rope around a tree trunk and pull in and hold the slack as he pulled down with his full weight on the rope. We did that, and Ross put on a pair of leather gloves for the repeated full weight pulls on the rope. It probably took us about a half an hour (certainly more than a quarter of an hour) to pull down our rope.
The Schneider/Boychuck clan and their students (Melanie and Geo) came down
the stairmaster as we were finishing up, and we all soggily went back to
the parking lot together. The rain had finally stopped, but we were all
thoroughly soaked.
Despite the rain, It was obvious that the students had enjoyed good climbs.
Melanie, especially, was ecstatic, having made the summit.
Back at the parking lot we put our gear in the minivan and went for pizza.
Melanie and Geo joined Ross and me for a large order with Mushrooms and Onions.
Maggie, Duke, Jeremiah, and Carrie went back to the campsite to cook a good
dinner.
When we got back there, we discovered they were struggling to keep
the tarp up in the heavy winds that were now blowing. I found it good to
change into dry clothes and extra layers to keep warm in the chilly wind.
I hung around the campground for a while and went to group site F to visit
with Ann Mathias and her husband and her son Sam who was just getting first
aid for cuts and scrapes from a bike accident on the slippery roadway.
I got to talk to some of the climbing teams and to new arrivals Gary Long
and John Beckley, setting up prospective teams for Sunday.
Then early to bed and a good night's sleep. Some of the campers told me the wind beating on their tents had kept them awake most of the night. I had no such problem. I slept soundly.
Sunday morning was a good bit chillier than Saturday morning had been.
There were intermittent light drizzles and no signs of clearing in the
overcast sky. Melanie was scheduled to climb with us, and I was looking
forward to taking her up another route (probably Old Ladies').
But the cold, drizzly weather was making it look doubtful.
We went to breakfast at the 4U. I had eggs and toast.
Then back to the campsite where I packed my tent and repacked my gear in the
car for the trip home.
There was even some time for group photos and snapshots of some of the students.
Ross and I checked once again that we each had our gear back from the
previous day.
The Schneiders and I were the last to leave the campsite.
I waited at the entrance to Seneca shadows for Dave and Ted who had gone
with a group of others to the 4U for breakfast. When they arrived we made
one last stop at the Visitors Center.
There I saw Geo, Gary, Melanie, and Ross
who were starting out on a hike to the North Summit. Only Shingo and Debbie
had enough confidence in the weather clearing in reasonable time to climb.
We later learned they had a great climb on Greenwall and later did The Burn.
Dave, Ted, and I had a good drive back to Pittsburgh.
I drove as far as the I-79 interchange, and Dave took it from there all
the way up to West View. From Elkins on we had good weather.
Phil Sidel