Page 24 - 1996 AMA Spring

By Maj S J Derben & W02 S Blake
Legendary tales of bad rock, tenuous protection, epic descents, inhospitable climates, poisonous flora and fauna and wicked vertical bushwhacking keep most American climbers from visiting Zion National Park’s sandstone cliffs. Unfortunately, we were not aware of this and anyway we were so desperate to get a big wall climb in, to resurrect are poor encounter with the Californian weather, that it probably would not have made any difference.
The team had planned to climb routes on the big walls of Yosemite Valley. Unfortunately, we had been washed off Washington Column while half way up the Prow (V, 5.10a/A3, 1200 ft) and did not manage to get within 200 ft of the Nose on El Cap before we were given a good soaking (200 ft up it was snowing!) The forecast was much the same, so with spirits dampened we had headed for some sun kissed cragging in Joshua Tree, Southern California. After 3 days of wearing are fingers and knuckles to the bone, and bronzing are bodies, we drove up to Zion for a last attempt to get a big wall route in.
Zion National Park is a 31/2 hour drive from Las Vegas and a 41/2 hour drive from Salt Lake City. The park is host to many steep big walls ranging from 600 feet to 2,200 feet, all located along the Virgin River Canyon and its drainages. Zion’s Navajo sandstone is soft and unpredictable; loose blocks teeter in cracks and on ledges, and flakes can break offat any time. When the rock gets wet it loses two-thirds of its strength and can crumble easily.
W 02 Steve Blake and I decided to attempt Spaceshot (V,5.6, A2+, 1100 ft, 10 pitches), a moderate classic. As yet there is no route guide for Zion; Topos, which have to be copied, are held by the Rangers in the Visitors Centre together with bird restrictions and
a recommended rack.
The following the day we found ourselves on the last big ledge of the route, gearing up for the first aid pitch, having despatched the first three pitches in good fashion. It started with a bolt ladder of dubious quality. Luckily, being new to the game, I was marvel­
Steve Blake high up on the lead wall.
lously unaware of the different types. The distance between the first and second bolt was huge and I convinced myself I could not reach it. Steve had found a long stick with some tape on it at the ledge - a cheater stick. We had brought our own extendible ver­ sion, but because of the small hole size on the hanger I could not clip it. Struggling I stepped up into the top step of my etriers to get a better angle and then realised I could reach it anyway! W ith the 70 foot bolt ladder out of the way I got into the crack proper. The gear was superb, all big nuts, and because of the nature of the rock they seated really well.
I was about three quarters of the way up when I heard a loud, dull clang. Steve shouted up, “good job I was wearing a helmet you’ve just dropped a wire on me! There’s another one, it’s raining nuts down here.” I had badly clipped the medium wires back onto my chest harness and had lost 2 x No 5 rocks . Luckily they had land­ ed on Steve’s belay ledge. Pressing on, I was about 40 feet from the belay when I heard a rumble and 30 seconds later it began to rain. It was like the Prow all over again and within a matter of minutes I was soaked. I looked down at Steve who had managed to get his waterproof on. I knew this was our last chance to get a big wall route in, so shielding my eyes I moved on. The possible brittleness of the wet rock concerned me, but luckily the headwall was so steep it protected the route from the worst of the weather. By the time I reached the belay the rain had stopped.
The Sun came out for the next 2 pitches and we were treated to some fantastic scenery in a superb climbing position. The expo­ sure was breathtaking. I had just led a superb 150 ft diagonal crack and was hanging on 2 dubious pegs with a friend backing them up in the crack. The pitch above looked a complete nightmare!
Steve: At this stage the overhanging nature of the wall made upward progress by whatever means preferable to retreat. The next 50 m pitch continued the diagonal and was too large for any of our nuts, moreover we only had 5 Spring Loaded Cams (SLCs) that would fit.
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\R\H MOUNTAINEER