Zion NP: 104 Degrees and Climbing
This is a trip report from a climb John (coldclimb) and I did on our fairy recent trip which took us to 15 states and ended with 17,400 miles on the Jeep. I thought this epic deserved its own little report however and If I already wrote this then please forgive me, cause I am going to write it again! 
We drove into Zion and were greeted with enormous walls surrounding us in all directions. It was with sheer excitment we boarded a Zion shuttle and headed into the canyon where the climb Touchstone Wall awaited us. The climb was rated at Grade IV (5.9) A2 and we imagined it would probaby be one of our toughest of the trip so far. After getting our butts kicked on The Mace I was hoping that John was feeling better then I was about making it to the top. I tried to talk him into climbing something else because to be honest I was a bit afraid of the giant wall that faced us. Thankfully he knew better and talked me into getting excited about the climb the next day. Anyone we asked about climbing the route basically called us insane. "Climb Touchstone right now? It will be a furnace! Facing the sun all day." Well we were eager to prove them right.
We woke up early and hopped onto the bus for the ride in. It dropped us off and we were glad to see that the sun had not made its way onto the face quite yet. We were climbing by 9am.
John checks out the route before the ascent.
The route follows the blue line.
We didn't waste any time in getting to the base of the climb and gearing up. We knew that it was going to take quite a bit of time to get to the summit of this one and we knew it was going to be hot. It had been going over 100 degrees and thats not something that is smart to climb in. John is the skilled one at Aid climbing so he started climbing first. I followed him jugging the rope. During his climbing he unknowingly dropped a piece of gear that sounded like a rocket whizzing toward the ground. Had I been under it I probably would have been unconscious at the very least. The problem with having to carry so much gear is that it can be hard to keep track of it all.
We climbed and climbed the hours were melting away. We ended up in the sun by the second pitch. That pitch was a hanging belay where I sat free hanging in my harness for atleast 45 minutes while John worked his way through the aid section. I am glad that he works as well as he does or else I think I could have been there an eternity. That pitch was the longest of the climb. By the time we reached our first good ledge we had done 4 pitches of aid climbing. I felt we were moving a little slow but John (having done most the work) felt the time was moving much quicker.
"Were doing great! What is it, noon?"
"Uhh...its 3pm."
Feeling tired from the sun, parched, and hungry. This was a good time to bring out the only bit of food we had. A sandwich I had purchased on the way through the canyon. We split it in half and chewed slowly knowing it was our only energy we were going to get. We also organized our gear and enjoyed our first good ledge where we could get a rest for our feet.
This was a little bit of a reality check to us because we knew we only had almost 4 hours of good light left and we had already used 6 hours up. The remaining 5 pitches were supposed to be easier with more climbing then aiding and the climbing goes much faster. So we began to climb only to realize we had underestimated the pitch in front of us. We both flailed and eventually had to pull through on our gear. The energy that can be lost because of frustration is amazing. I was angry at the inability to climb and was not sure I wanted to go on. There was no way I could stop though, I couldn't stop just because I was angry. I had to continue climbing because I knew I had the ability and that was overriding everything else.
After finally getting through all of the tuff pitches we could see that the climbing became easier. We could now see that we could climb up instead of aiding and it was definatly something I was excited about. Then came the bad news and time to assess the situation.
5pm.
Out of water.
Out of food.
4 pitches left.
If I fell here I would fall asleep before I hit the ground.
We continued climbing each of us knowing we would never make it before night fell. It wasn't said though as both of us didn't have the courage to quit. Failure wasn't even a possibility. To quit now would be in good judgment and to go on and summit would just be a bonus.
So on we continued through 4 pitches of chimneys, off width, and dusty rocks. Fatigue took over more and more during every step and soon my legs began to cramp. I had to ignore it, if it took over we were done.
We came to a big ledge, it was large enough for me to lay down. I layed down and contemplated never getting back up. Or, I could just sleep here tonight and finish tomorrow. We didn't have the gear or the nutrition for that. Only one choice and that was to keep going. We finally reached the summit as the sun went down. 7:30pm. No food for 4 hours and no water for almost 3. We sqeezed the water container and imagined it was a river instead of a drop. Then the next great news came, the route we planned on descending we couldnt find. We saw the gully but it didn't look pleasant anyway and decided to go back down the vertical face we had come up. Not something I was hoping to see again right away but we had no other choice.
We rappelled off of the anchors and each time pulled our ropes through. John had become to fatigued to pull, he just couldn't do it any longer and had to stop. I felt energized by my anxiety as I yearned for the ground and pulled as hard as I could while trying to encourage him not to stop now. Then I would become to tired to pull and John would have to muster whatever was left until that too was gone. Everytime the knot would get caught in a crack my heart would drop, I thought for sure our ropes were stuck and in turn so were we. We put all our weight on it and pulled with all our might and each time it broke free, oh thank you great rock gods. After several rappells my hand began to lock up and I could no longer grab the rope. The lack of water was finally getting the upper hand. I hit my hand on the rock trying desperatly to losen the muscles enough to grab and the pull more through. We went through this process for what seemed like forever. After the second rapell it was dark and we lowered ourselves into the abyss. It seemed to swallow me whole as I rapelled. The ground never appeared closer because I just wasn't able to see it.
Finally John says "This is the last one. Seya on the ground." I know I want to yell and say "I MADE IT!! WE DID THAT!!" but it wasn't over yet. I kept my anxiety below and we swam through the darkness until we reached land. We stumbled back to the road and walked to the bus stop where the bus would pick us up. There was a group of people who had watched us for the last 2 hours thinking we were going to stay up there all night. Our headlamps had dangled down the wall for the last 2 and half hours and they said we were "Hero's". Whoever gave me the water on the bus was the hero to me that day. We did nothing heroic, we just went out to have fun.
On a reflection I see it was the biggest thing I have ever done in my life. It was changed me and my confidence.
11 1/2 hours of straight climbing
104 degrees is how hot it got that day.
5 liters of water.
No water for 6 1/2 hours
Memories I will never forget.
We drove into Zion and were greeted with enormous walls surrounding us in all directions. It was with sheer excitment we boarded a Zion shuttle and headed into the canyon where the climb Touchstone Wall awaited us. The climb was rated at Grade IV (5.9) A2 and we imagined it would probaby be one of our toughest of the trip so far. After getting our butts kicked on The Mace I was hoping that John was feeling better then I was about making it to the top. I tried to talk him into climbing something else because to be honest I was a bit afraid of the giant wall that faced us. Thankfully he knew better and talked me into getting excited about the climb the next day. Anyone we asked about climbing the route basically called us insane. "Climb Touchstone right now? It will be a furnace! Facing the sun all day." Well we were eager to prove them right.
We woke up early and hopped onto the bus for the ride in. It dropped us off and we were glad to see that the sun had not made its way onto the face quite yet. We were climbing by 9am.
John checks out the route before the ascent.
The route follows the blue line.
We didn't waste any time in getting to the base of the climb and gearing up. We knew that it was going to take quite a bit of time to get to the summit of this one and we knew it was going to be hot. It had been going over 100 degrees and thats not something that is smart to climb in. John is the skilled one at Aid climbing so he started climbing first. I followed him jugging the rope. During his climbing he unknowingly dropped a piece of gear that sounded like a rocket whizzing toward the ground. Had I been under it I probably would have been unconscious at the very least. The problem with having to carry so much gear is that it can be hard to keep track of it all.
We climbed and climbed the hours were melting away. We ended up in the sun by the second pitch. That pitch was a hanging belay where I sat free hanging in my harness for atleast 45 minutes while John worked his way through the aid section. I am glad that he works as well as he does or else I think I could have been there an eternity. That pitch was the longest of the climb. By the time we reached our first good ledge we had done 4 pitches of aid climbing. I felt we were moving a little slow but John (having done most the work) felt the time was moving much quicker.
"Were doing great! What is it, noon?"
"Uhh...its 3pm."
Feeling tired from the sun, parched, and hungry. This was a good time to bring out the only bit of food we had. A sandwich I had purchased on the way through the canyon. We split it in half and chewed slowly knowing it was our only energy we were going to get. We also organized our gear and enjoyed our first good ledge where we could get a rest for our feet.
This was a little bit of a reality check to us because we knew we only had almost 4 hours of good light left and we had already used 6 hours up. The remaining 5 pitches were supposed to be easier with more climbing then aiding and the climbing goes much faster. So we began to climb only to realize we had underestimated the pitch in front of us. We both flailed and eventually had to pull through on our gear. The energy that can be lost because of frustration is amazing. I was angry at the inability to climb and was not sure I wanted to go on. There was no way I could stop though, I couldn't stop just because I was angry. I had to continue climbing because I knew I had the ability and that was overriding everything else.
After finally getting through all of the tuff pitches we could see that the climbing became easier. We could now see that we could climb up instead of aiding and it was definatly something I was excited about. Then came the bad news and time to assess the situation.
5pm.
Out of water.
Out of food.
4 pitches left.
If I fell here I would fall asleep before I hit the ground.
We continued climbing each of us knowing we would never make it before night fell. It wasn't said though as both of us didn't have the courage to quit. Failure wasn't even a possibility. To quit now would be in good judgment and to go on and summit would just be a bonus.
So on we continued through 4 pitches of chimneys, off width, and dusty rocks. Fatigue took over more and more during every step and soon my legs began to cramp. I had to ignore it, if it took over we were done.
We came to a big ledge, it was large enough for me to lay down. I layed down and contemplated never getting back up. Or, I could just sleep here tonight and finish tomorrow. We didn't have the gear or the nutrition for that. Only one choice and that was to keep going. We finally reached the summit as the sun went down. 7:30pm. No food for 4 hours and no water for almost 3. We sqeezed the water container and imagined it was a river instead of a drop. Then the next great news came, the route we planned on descending we couldnt find. We saw the gully but it didn't look pleasant anyway and decided to go back down the vertical face we had come up. Not something I was hoping to see again right away but we had no other choice.
We rappelled off of the anchors and each time pulled our ropes through. John had become to fatigued to pull, he just couldn't do it any longer and had to stop. I felt energized by my anxiety as I yearned for the ground and pulled as hard as I could while trying to encourage him not to stop now. Then I would become to tired to pull and John would have to muster whatever was left until that too was gone. Everytime the knot would get caught in a crack my heart would drop, I thought for sure our ropes were stuck and in turn so were we. We put all our weight on it and pulled with all our might and each time it broke free, oh thank you great rock gods. After several rappells my hand began to lock up and I could no longer grab the rope. The lack of water was finally getting the upper hand. I hit my hand on the rock trying desperatly to losen the muscles enough to grab and the pull more through. We went through this process for what seemed like forever. After the second rapell it was dark and we lowered ourselves into the abyss. It seemed to swallow me whole as I rapelled. The ground never appeared closer because I just wasn't able to see it.
Finally John says "This is the last one. Seya on the ground." I know I want to yell and say "I MADE IT!! WE DID THAT!!" but it wasn't over yet. I kept my anxiety below and we swam through the darkness until we reached land. We stumbled back to the road and walked to the bus stop where the bus would pick us up. There was a group of people who had watched us for the last 2 hours thinking we were going to stay up there all night. Our headlamps had dangled down the wall for the last 2 and half hours and they said we were "Hero's". Whoever gave me the water on the bus was the hero to me that day. We did nothing heroic, we just went out to have fun.
On a reflection I see it was the biggest thing I have ever done in my life. It was changed me and my confidence.
11 1/2 hours of straight climbing
104 degrees is how hot it got that day.
5 liters of water.
No water for 6 1/2 hours
Memories I will never forget.
My Pictures can be seen at http://prezwoodz.smugmug.com
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
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Comments
I am really impressed with couraage climbers have ! i always see these shows in Nat geo or A1
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Frank
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I am not scared of heights in the least.... but this one gives me some vertigo for some reason:
Just Great!!!
Great report!
Amazing! I can't begin to comprehend what it takes to not only get in shape for something like that, but to overcome the obvious fear of accident or death possibilities.
When we were there for the Shootout, I remember passing underneath and looking at the climbers high above through the roof vents while safely seated in the shuttle bus.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Awesome writeup Kelsey, nice work there. Although to uphold my manly reputation I feel I must point out that we traded off being too thoroughly exhausted to pull the ropes.
If anyone wants to see Prezwoodz himself in action on this climb, here's a couple links: The last one is both of us. Enjoy!
http://morffed.com/2006.php?action=slideshow&image=climb13
http://morffed.com/2006.php?action=slideshow&image=people07
http://morffed.com/2006.php?action=slideshow&image=climb14
http://morffed.com/2006.php?action=slideshow&image=climb15
http://morffed.com/2006.php?action=slideshow&image=climb16
www.morffed.com
some gallery shots from either of you. Seriously.
Outstanding trip!
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
Great shots.
ann
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:yikes :yikes
http://morffed.com/2006.php?action=slideshow&image=climb13
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Gallery of mine...caution, it's under CONSTANT construction! | Photo Journal
In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
Zion, 104F, with barely enough food and water for a few mile easy hike!
Nice shooting, too:-)
Congrats on this accomplishment.
Good job on making it to the top
"If I fell here I would fall asleep before I hit the ground"
Now that's funny
Fred
http://www.facebook.com/Riverbendphotos