I've been up Slick Rock something like 25 times, starting back in the early 70s when we did it with pitons, goldline, and mountain boots. I did this route back in the 70's with Mr. Takeda before there were any bolts on it. I've posted several reports on this site that include pictures: Tom and I left Boise a little after 8am. Tom had been up late the night before, but was excited to be heading off for some good climbing. It was, after all, a beautiful day; sunny, 70s, with a light breeze. As we drove up Lick Creek road, Tom bet me $5 that there wouldn't be anyone there, a bet which I took, and won. There was a single car, and the pair of climbers appeared to be at the top of pitch 1 of our route. Bummer. Oh well. We casually grabbed out stuff, threw out all the pro except a mess of quickdraws, and headed up to the rock. By the time we got there, the pair had only moved about 1/2 a pitch, but they seemed to be traversing? Whatever. |
|
We scrambled around a bit looking for the start of our route, using beta I'd gotten off SummitPost. Of course, it was a little different in my head, so we were looking about 50' from the dihedral that begins the standard route. I finally spotted a cairn further to the right, which led us to a bolt...and we were good to go. At Tom's suggestion, we gulped water as hard as we could and left everything on the tie-in ledge except our hiking shoes. We were going light, so no camera, sorry. Just our rope and what we were wearing. With our shoes clipped to our harnesses, we were off. |
Photo: Dan Robbins from IdahoSummits.com |
My beta:(with ratings from SummitPost)
When we got back down to our stashed backpack, the other pair were a pitch short of finishing. When we got back to the car, they were still a pitch short of finishing. But we didn't stay ... there was an ice-cold beer calling my name back in town. EpilogueThat evening, the expected change in the weather came in. After dinner in town, we felt a few sprinkles. When we got back to the cabin, the wind was up and the lake was white-capping. Then the all-night light show started. Art and Carol were attempting Victor Peak, and woke to snow on the pine needles. I sure hope those guys figured out how to finish that last pitch! |
|
