Pinnacles:  Carpal Tunnel Syndrome   11/10-11/90
Subject:      Inviting myself on the FA of a Pinnacles classic

  In the course of working on the guide, I discovered that Jim McConachie had
a lot of nice first ascent ideas that were unfinished, so I called him up the
other day and offered to help him finish them in time to appear in the guide.
We went down with his brother Jon (also active in FAs there), and spent
Saturday getting in shape:  Exiles 5.9 PG ** (Clint led), Relayer 5.10b ***
(Jim), Sound Chaser 5.9 ** (Clint), Castles Made of Sand 5.10b * (Jim),
Organ Grinder 5.8 * (Jon), Me and My Monkey 5.9 * (Jim), Buzzard Bait 5.9 **
(Clint), Ali Baba 5.10b ** (Clint).  All flash except Jon didn't make it on
bulge of Castles Made of Sand.  Hiked out in darkness.
  Got an early start on Sunday (so early that we didn't have to pay for the
campground!), and hiked out to the Hand, where the project was named
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  It goes up the line of the old pine tree
rappel into the notch between the Thumb and the Hand, on solid overhanging
knobs.  Jim had been there 3 times before; he placed a pin and bolt the first
time but had since been unable to set a good hook for the next bolt.  At the
campground I got scared when he tried testing the proposed hooks on the picnic
table -- they were Leeper "lieback" hooks, which are intended for aid in thin
corners and have no "droop".  One of the hook was coated with rubber on the
load bearing surface, which really freaked me out.  Jim went up on the lead
with a helmet on, with good reason -- the proposed drilling spot had him
poised for a 30 footer into the chimney with a serious crash into the Thumb
likely.  The hooks wouldn't stick, and he was barely able to downclimb back
to the bolt.  From my vantage point on the Thumb, I saw a shallow crack left
of the knob he was trying to use, and I thought maybe a TCU would fit in, so
I got a chance to try my theory on lead.  I made it to the knob and shakily
tried to stick the TCU into the slot.  It seemed to stick and held up to good
tugs.  At Jon's suggestion, I clipped the haul line in and it held up under his
190 pounds (he's 6'5"), so I reluctantly weighted it (keeping hold of the knob)
.  Given the unthinkable fall if it blew, I was scared to say the least (I'm
quivering now just thinking about it).  I hauled up the bolt kit and slowly
started drilling.  I was greatly relieved when the drill got in far enough to
hold itself, at which point I quickly tossed a "tieoff" sling over the bit and
clipped the rope through.  I was leaning to make the hole by the knob, and by
this time, my harness was predictably making my legs fall asleep.  I made slow
progress, and Jim gave me good pointers:  hit the drill twice and turn it 45
degrees.  Started using the "box end ratchet" eventually, as we were using 3.5"
Rawlbolts (torque bolt), and got it in and glued, lowering off and turning it
over to Jim.  He fired the crux above, brushing lichen on lead and running it
out another 15' on 5.10c to an obvious large knob.  It was sloping but he never
mentioned it and just tied it off and fired in a bolt in about 3-4 minutes.
He polished off another vertical section, placing a last bolt from stance for
the final streak section.  The old pine tree is now dead, so he placed a belay/
rappel anchor and brought us up.  I tried to follow using his original idea of
not stemming back to the Thumb, but I fell off.  The stem avoids the loose
lower holds and it's still very challenging -- I barely cranked the unrelenting
overhanging to vertical knobs, and Jon had to take a hang.  The rock and knobs
are iron-hard, the bolts are big, and the runouts are scary but not deadly:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome 5.10c PG/R ***, check it out.