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Hi Nate,

Sorry, no pics from Best In The West. The one from the top was not taken when we climbed it, but rather on a hiking day. I've done the route twice, once with Rachel McCollum and later with Brent Ingrahm. The two crux pitches, up high, are wild.

By Jupiter is all free. We used a hook here and there to get the bolts in, but I have free climbed the entire route several times after. The route on Voyager I tried but could not free was Doughballs on a Rampage, which Charlie Crist and I called 5.11/A1. A few others tried it too then including Herb Laeger, Bob Kamps and Johnny Woodward. No go.

One evening I got a call from Greg Vernon who told me some guy from Fresno "flashed" it and so did his girfriend. On a later attempt of my own I found a chipped hold and a newly installed piton at chest level in the hardest section! Later I got to know Brian Jonas, who was there the day it was "flashed." He told me the real story...

Another mystery route there is the black dihedral Starry Night. I've watched the best climbers I know try that thing and get nowhere. I don't mean getting up it with falls, I mean totally shut down not able to even figure out what to try, and all this below where it gets steep. Makes a guy wonder...

Perhaps you know more than I?

Love the pics and stories

Thanks for these tidbits. I know next to nothing of Courtright's history, be it recent or old - but am always curious.

I wonder if there is any new route activity up there these days. JR?

A few more pics.

Our party of 3 on The Peraclete (left hand center black streak - 2 below, me above).



Another photo of Kris drilling on The Gold Standard, a little farther along.

Nate D wrote:Thanks for these tidbits. I know next to nothing of Courtright's history, be it recent or old - but am always curious.

I wonder if there is any new route activity up there these days. JR?

The History..... Nick Badyerka showes up one am at my home. (1980) All excited about the "new Toulumne Meadows" ... with no rangers!!!!!! It was on. Nick and E went and put up "Arruba" and E did the FFA of some bolt ladder...... Testostraossa. Next thing I know Herb is up there doing "welcome to courtwright"..... just a few years later, loom is adding "sport roots" on Trapper Dome.
Some east-coaster with his wife as a belayer, put up a pretty sick 5.12 with a ground fall potential.... It stands for a decade with out a second ascent.

Things really started rolling in the early 90's with lots of folks spending long periods of time up there enjoying the "free and easy" lifestyle.... with no rangers around.

Some Fresno locals started showing up.... chipped holds, added bolts, bolts placed "right next to good cracks" started to become the norm...... with some of their more offensive "climbs" removed they sort of stopped doing new roots and started concentrating on chipping holds so they could claim accents of the classics.

This is the history as well as I know it.... no names have been changed.

New roots ..... lets see. Herb and crew have, in the last 3 years, been adding new stuff on "Swiss Cheese Dome" The name says it all. To find it, go to the Sandstone Intrusion on Power dome, cross a small creek, and walk on the rim of Helms Creek for about 300 yds. You find some boulders and small trees at a place where it drops in to the creek very sharply. Look for some bolts sort of hidden between these boulders. Rap down 2 pitches (full rope lengths) and your on a ledge system. Look for the climbs, there are several, about .8 to .11. The normal Courtwright deal, bolts, small tri-cams and a minimal rack. These are pretty good fun climbs, they bake in the summer sun so early am to mid- day are best.

late.

Good Shee-ot Y'all! Kris and Guyzo.....love your knowledge of CR. I ran into Dwight Kroll one weekend and I slaved him on two FA's: one on Tiger Cage (New Jersey Attitude .10a/b) and Penstemon, some .11a (he never did tell me what he ended up naming it but its to the right of Captain America, starting at the lowest part of the dome on an apron).

Here's Jan at the end of the first pitch of a route 50' left of 'A Little Nukey'. No one knows who put it up but I'm pretty sure it was done in the last 5 years. I did it a year later after this photo. Checks in at .10a, especially off the 3rd pitch belay. Mostly solid 5.9 on all the pitches....great route. Well protected too. You have any ideas Kris?

Dave..... ask Jan. I think its called "the garden gnome" ....... ha.


So Dave you must show us these climbs. Heck dude, you need to drive up to Church Dome and meet up with us. no excuses.

If that's the climb I think it is, it's between Paraclete and Aplodontia. Some people would call it a tight squeeze.

Whatever.

It has some fun climbing, but the upper pitches join Aplodontia and they added bolts to the older classic. I don't know who put it up. I suspect they did not know they were on Aplodontia when they placed the uneeded bolts.

edit: Here's a shot Rico Miledi got of my butt on the same route when he, Herb and I did it.

Are the "fresno jocks" listed in the guidebook the same ones responsible for chipping?

Nate, in the last few years I know of a few routes that have been put up on the back (east) of power dome and I've climbed one, it was pretty good but I was so hung over and tired I was seriously thinking I was going to puke on my partner. There's some newer stuff (not in the guide, but I don't know if its new) on trapper.

Ksolem, awsome pics ( I confess I was secretly hoping you'd post some). On seamstress are you working in a piece there? I can't tell. Your chipping and flashed story surprised me, I didn't know that went down up there. I'm not asking for names but did this climber move out of state?

Getting back to trapper, there's a cave with some nice looking bolts on the uphill side I spotted two years ago(last year maybe) anyway looks way hard or an aid climb, anyone know what this is or did I just miss it in the seki book?

-jr

Edited for clarity...well clarity-ish

On Seamstress in that photo I am in aiders on a hook drilling a bolt. Got the bolts in one day, redpoint the next. It does take some thin/medium stoppers up higher though.

I don't know for sure who chipped Doughballs, so I would rather let sleeping dogs lie.

The cave route on Trapper up by Nosferatu is a Scott Loomis project. I don't know if he ever sent it or not. I've tried it, and could move up on it, but never linked it all up. Pretty hard.

I have a very entertaining story about Scott (not unflattering or slander) I'll post up later when I have time...

Guyzo wrote:Dave..... ask Jan. I think its called "the garden gnome" ....... ha.


So Dave you must show us these climbs. Heck dude, you need to drive up to Church Dome and meet up with us. no excuses.

As per showing you "these" route, I'm not sure what you mean? Haven't you already dun 'em Guyzo?!

Besides, I have a place I've been trying to show you and Kris for the last 2 years. You sir, have no excuse not to have honored my invitation to you.....what is it?.......at least a half a dozen times?

Church Dome......been there. Where were you?

It has some fun climbing, but the upper pitches join Aplodontia and they added bolts to the older classic.

Kris.....I didn't find that when I was on it. And I even watched Jan do the route while we were on 'A Little Nukey'.....almost pitch for pitch. When we got to the 3rd pitch anchors for ALN (three bolts w/carabiner shut by epoxy), I saw Jan head up over a dark bulge (.10a) (this is what I took when I was on it.....you can see that buldge on page 83 of the SEKI guide, left of the big flake). He never came over to his right to the anchors (Aplodontia and ALN's shared anchors) where we were. He went straight up. There are two bolts above that anchor (Aplodontia's 3rd pitch) but Jan didn't head that way. Just telling you what I witnessed on both accounts.

Boyz.....did Herb put up a few routes to the right of 'Solar Energy' (5.8X) on PD?? I looked at that area few years back and thought there was a pitch or two that could easily go in. Thoughts?

Dave your right... will try to get to Shut -Eye this season. The last few I have been on the IR reserve.... and just sort of playing around.

To the right on Power Dome.... I know of nothing right of that 5.8X climb, you should do that one if you haven't. You will look at that side of PD differently afterwords.

Swiss Cheese is Right of PD. .... you would really like those too, Dave.

gk

Edit..for clarity

Other fav stuff...... Nate, Savage et all.... To get to the start of the "Carson/Kodas" you must rap in from near the top of Traper, You rap down a overhung wall, this face has two really good steep sport climbs.... 10d and 10b ish... I'm pretty sure Scott put em up.

also..... a Herb special "A Knob to Far" 11d if I recall. It's on Punk Rock, you look right at the face from the "granite slab" camping spot. You need double ropes to make best use of herbs bolting style.

Anybody ever climbed that one??

It's probably time for all these "new" climbs - 15 years worth-to be collected someplace. SP?

The new route wanders into Aplodontia above the shared anchor with nukey. It is pretty much unavoidable - That is where the added bolts are. Probably about P5. I came across them while climbing Aplodontia sharing the last pitch with a friend who was doing the new line. I came upon them again doing the new line, which I have done twice.

You don't have to wander right much to get on Aplodontia up there - it's the way to go, the two routes simply share the same finish. That's why I figure whoever did the new route did not know they were on the finish of an old established route. How would they know with no bolts there?

It was pretty entertaining climbing Aplodontia that day with my buddy climbing 15 feet to my left with 3 times as many bolts to clip still whining about the runouts...

It was pretty entertaining climbing Aplodontia that day with my buddy climbing 15 feet to my left with 3 times as many bolts to clip still whining about the runouts...

HA! That's what I was doing while on that new route, heading above on pitch #3 (and a bit of cursing on the bottom too). You know my level of climbing so its easy to see that .10a/b-ish is kinda my "slab" limit.....especially if the bolts are 20' or more apart. Cry baby for sure!