August, '04

Loose Ends on Lumpy Ridge with with Jason and Pavel

    With 10 days to go before my wedding, I managed to schedule a day at Lumpy with two of my best friends.

    I was excited. Neither Pavel or Jason had done much climbing at Lumpy so I picked a route that I knew was top-notch from personal experience. Loose Ends sports three wonderful pitches of 5.9 and an awkward finish that's sandbagged at 5.7+. It is also my favorite 5.9 on the ridge.

   We certainly had one of the most enjoyable days I have spent at Lumpy. What a fantastic place!

 

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Starting the first pitch. I would take a careless fall near the end of this pitch. Yikes!
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Working through the thin crux section of the first pitch. This is one of the best 5.9 pitches on Lumpy Ridge.
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Jason laybacking through the first pitch.
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Jason passing an optional belay on the first pitch.

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Working around the easy layback near the end of the pitch. This is where I fell off. I must have finished the hard moves and started thinking about the wedding. Yea, that's got to be it... :)

 

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Pavel on the second pitch which ascends a tricky finger crack as it leaves this small ledge.

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Pavel cheating by using holds that are more than 7 feet apart from one another. :)

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Taking a better look at the options. This can be a difficult onsight for a 5.9 leader.
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Jason hanging ten while belaying.
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Pavel committed to the sequence and not yet sure of the outcome. :)
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Taking my turn on the same tricky section.
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One more move and it will be easy... one more move and it will be easy...
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Jason casts off on his lead.
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This was an exciting lead for Jason who had not been climbing much rock before this trip.
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He took his time and found the excellent protection.

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This is the probably the crux of this pitch.

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Pavel working his way up the third pitch.
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Taking a look for the camera.
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"Hey... it's kind of steep here..." :)
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Pavel arriving at the base of the 4th pitch.
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Me leading the relatively easy 4th pitch as the wind and the clouds moved in.
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Nearing the end of the 4th pitch with the Cave Exit looming above.
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Pavel took all the fun out of my moment by climbing smoothly through the fissure on his first try.
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I guess he has spent too much time on those "5.9" Valley climbs.
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Jason about to take his turn.
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"Hmm... it looks like you can just crank out on that lip.... no need for any unsightly chimneying..."
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A short battle of physics ensued.

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And the verdict is...CHIMNEY :)

In all fairness, I fell out of this thing on lead twice before I figured it out the first time.

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