Tieton River Basalt 7/4-5/98  with Erik Neumann

Saturday
We only saw one other climber on this day.

- Honeycomb Wall  (hexagonal matrix of column ends)
1. new route 5.11c/d, Erik led bolt to bolt.  I yarded near the bottom
and had some hangs.  Erik then TRed with one fall.
2. crack 5.8, Clint TRed.
3. Honeycomb 5.11b, Erik led.  Only 2 hard parts, one of which I was
able to reach past.
4. the monster 5.11d, Erik led w/ one hang.  A big corner on the
arete, with the left wall vertical/blank and the right wall overhanging.
I yarded at the crux.
5. left route 5.11c.  Clint tried to lead, but couldn't make it to the 3rd
bolt.  It was sustained there, with no obvious jug to clip from,
and I was barely in range to downclimb back to the 2nd bolt (3 times,
as I tried it to the right and left).  Erik led, and I followed.
Good and sustained at the top.

- The Bend   (regular columns)
1. Salmon Song 5.10a ***, Clint led.  Jugs through a tiered roof, then
thin hand crack, where tape was useful on the rough rock.
2. Ambient Domain 5.10c ***, Erik led.  Thin pro on this one; Erik did
a nice job.  On the rappel, we eyed the arete just to the right, for Sunday.

Sunday

- The Bend
1. Ed's Jam 5.8 ***, Clint led, for the warmup.  Brief thin hands at
the bottom, then lots of face holds and rests for the upper hand crack.
2. Tragically Hip 5.11c **, Erik tried to lead this "technical arete".
But it was pretty tough and the bolts were widely spaced.
3. Pure Joy 5.10c ***, Clint led this thin crack that split an obtuse
arete near its top.  I was worried it might be too tough, but I had
plenty of time to psych up for it, after eyeing it for 2 days.  It also
had plenty of good fingerlocks, protection, and enough footholds.
4. Tragically Hip 5.11c **, Erik TRed it, briefly using the crack to the
right at about midway.  I TRed it with a hang midway.  Right after I hung,
the holds looked a lot better, so I wished I had fought for a bit further.
Basically my sequence was to stabilize on the arete with my left hand,
then find the best crimp on the face for my right hand and pull up on it.
My left arm got fairly tired from slapping and liebacking on the arete.
I also did the lowest section with my body on the left side of the arete
(the bolt here is on the right side of the arete).  Erik TRed again,
with hangs.
5. Zero Tolerance 5.10d **, Clint TRed.  Slightly dirty, and quite a bit
harder than the 5.10c, without as many rests and good fingerlocks.
Erik passed, saving it for the future lead.

The guidebook (zipped .gif) to Tieton can be found online at
   http://users.ewa.net/larrynjr  .