등반 (야크등반자료)Yak check route 분석

[Ropemate(Eddie)]

Yak Check Pitch By Pitch "Opinionated" Description by Drew Brayshaw ..

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August 05, 2002   (1 days) Calculated Length: 5 km     Elevation Gain: 800m Difficulty: 5: III 5.9 Equipment: Rock rack with double to triple sizes of finger sized cams; double 55m or 60m ropes preferred for linking pitches. Abstract: An opinionated description of the climb "Yak Check" on Yak Peak offering a pitch-by-pitch summary and discussing discrepancies observed between guidebook grades and pitch lengths and the actual climb. Value: 36

Access Level: 1 = Any Car       Final Access Road: Highway 5

Trip Report: Every published topo I have seen for this was off in some way compared to the actual experience of the climb. Here is my own take on it (based on observed conditions August 2002).

Approach via climbers trail stating from east end of concrete divider ~ 400m east of Zopkios Ridge parking lot/pullout.

Hike flagged trail to base of route - 20 minutes or so.

There are various ways to start - don't try directly up the lower corner as it blanks out and is hard (we saw a bumbling party try this and end up bailing). One way that works is to solo up corners (5.2) to the ledge and block below Reality Check start then traverse left to the bolt belay at p. 1 of Yak Crack.

P1 - make 5.7ish moves left from the belay up a flake to gain the hand crack on the front face of the flake (small pro). Climb 5.6 crack to a belay out right at a slung pinnacle on the arete. ~55m

p2 - climb crack to a slung block in a chimney. 5.6 60m rope stretcher. can split this pitch in two at a slung tree half way up.

p3 - climb crack to top of pinnacle (Lunch Ledge), belay 10 feet higher at bolts. 25m 5.6

p4 - climb sometimes crumbly rock left at first, then up and right (some pro behind flakes and a fixed piton) to a bolted stance. 35 m 5.7. can link 3& 4 with 60m rope and long slings on gear to avoid rope zigzags.

p5 - an obvious vertical wall can be climbed via a corner on the left side (5.8) or a series of face holds to a vague hairline crack on the right (5.8+) then follow cracks and ramps up and right to a two-piton belay (back up with cams) 50m

p6 - move right from belay and climb a left facing 5.8 corner for about 10m then step right around arete at big hold (can also step right of corner at bottom but you miss out on the cool layback). climb up flakes, pass tree, up to two overlaps at a roofy feature. place gear then move thru overlaps into crumbly, easy groove, climb to bolt belay c. 55m 5.8+ (junction of Yak Crack and Reality Check)

p7 - You are now leaving Yak Crack for Reality Check. Climb up 5m from the belay on rock resembling oatmeal, then move left on a solid horizontal dyke until you encounter many flakes. undercling left, then up at end of first flake, climb more flakes to highest undercling at roof. move left (5.9) awkward under roof, to corner "Cave". there is a possible belay here under roof on a fixed nut and piton. HOWEVER, despite topos, it is best to go right here on to the arete of the cave and climb up about 10m (5.9 face) to a big ledge with bolted belay on the right. this avoids the spelunking tunnel thru the flake done on the FA which is awkward with a pack on, and avoids belaying on sketchy fixed pin and nut tied off with a single webbing chunk. ~50m 5.9

p8 - traverse ledge (top of through-flake) to a bolt belay on left. 30m 3rd class.

p9 - climb flake and ramp up and right for a pitch ~40m 5.8

p10 - supposedly one of the two 10a pitches. face climb up 3m to a bolt, move up and right 3m to another bolt, then back left and up 5m to a corner (bolt on left arete) climb right of the corner up the face on dishes and flakes then move up and right on a nebulous line past more boltsd and gear under flakes to a bolted belay on a small right facing corner/ramp (cant see belay until 5m below it). ~45m, easy 5.9 face, total of 5 bolts on the pitch plus gear

p11- climb up flake above belay and either climb directly where it goes right, or move left and up good cracks on the face, to a ledge. above this is a low angle slab with 3 bolts. originally graded 9/10a by the FA party, subsequent ascents have cleaned holds on the slab of lichen making it more secure - now feels like an 5.8/9. belay at bolted stance on ledge above. ~40m 5.8/9 this is where you would rap from if you planned on rappelling.

p12 - 4th class up low angle slab (no pro) for full pitch to trees above. 45m 4th class. Can escape into trees lower down if you want to.

From here, hike and scramble up towards the top, pass the subsummit on the right side on a good ledge (exposed) - see below:

put on your shoes and walk down - faster than rappelling and you do not have to trust rusty bolts and bleached out webbing. Takes c. 1 hr to descend climbers descent trail to the base. Follow cairns up to a ledge on E side of S. peak, then easily down to saddle with main peak. A seasonal snow patch at the saddle between main and south peak can be tricky to descend in approach shoes and with no ice axe. It is possible to rappel over this snow patch off a slung boulder. Descend east into meadows and follow trail down through forest and granite slabs, where trail becomes vague, cut left to base of Yaks SE face and descend edge of face to base, then hike back 10m west to pick up approach trail.

Our time to do this route was 6 hrs climbing and 8 hrs car to car. We were a pretty experienced party (I was with Don Serl who had done just about every route on the face already...) but I've heard of parties doing the route in 4 hrs. On the other hand there is evidence in the form of cleared pads and fire rings of people having to bivi, so... be prepared for changing weather conditions and take a headlamp.

The technical grades on this climb are pretty soft, in my opinion. There is nothing as hard as, say, the roof traverse on Snake (Squamish Apron), or the crux polished slab of Sparrow (also on the Apron). There are about 4 pitches that have short sections that feel like hard 5.8 or easy 5.9 climbing. About 2-3 more pitches are easy 5.8 and the rest are 5.6/5.7

Gear wise, having doubles of the cam sizes from #0.5-1.5 Friend (= yellow, orange and red TCU) is important. The biggest cracks are fist size, and there are some thin flake cracks, so gear from purple TCU up to #3 Camalot or 3.5 Friend is used. Take one set of wires, maybe a few Tri Cams will help. Double ropes, 60m is best, you could get away with 55m.

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Trip Report: Trip Report: Yak Check (Grade III, 5.10a, 12 pitches) Russ S./Chris M. ? August 8, 1998

Timing is everything - we had a rare 3-day weekend, the extended period of dry weather in the Pacific Northwest appeared to be holding, and now we needed a climb. I really had an itch to get on a long route, but I knew I'd have to find one acceptable to both my partner and I - not always the easiest task. The criteria (some Chris', some mine): multi-pitch, not crowded, classic setting, good rock, and not too much distance between the start of the climb and the martinis in the ice chest.

The cover photo of "Central B.C. Rock" provided the inspiration I was looking for - Yak Peak just north of Hope, B.C. It's a beautiful Tuolumne style granite dome that just begged to be climbed. We decided we'd aim for 'Yak Check', a variation that combines the first half of the popular route 'Yak Crack', with the second half of 'Reality Check' (the routes cross half way up the face). We planned to leave Seattle on Friday, so we should have plenty of time to check out the logistics and make appropriate plans. I was worried that with the peak being on the guidebook cover and the great weather, we might run into a crowd. If so, I wanted to be first on the route for Saturday morning (don't we all!). If we got done early enough and had energy, maybe we could then do the other half of each route on Sunday (another 15 pitches - yah, sure).

I drove last time, so it was Chris' turn. He showed up after I'd gotten the kids to daycare and as we were loading up we had our most serious disagreement of the weekend - I like large crispy green olives in my martini, Chris likes those little mushy suckers. Since he had already packed the makings I give in, but not without serious reservations mind you. As we headed north his Trooper started to misfire; nothing major at first, just an occasional knock. Not wanting anything to interfere with our plans, I suggested filling up with high octane gas as a potential quick fix - of course it didn't help. A couple of miles (sorry, kilometers) outside of Hope, the occasional knock turned into major spasms and the car died. But we knew our karma was right when we found a battered pay phone that still worked at a deserted tourist info stand - 200 meters from the dead Trooper.

The tow truck showed up within half an hour and the driver entertained us with accident stories and also told us that Hope was where the first Rambo movie was filmed - I knew it wasn't near Portland like they portrayed. The diagnosis was a timing gear problem which MAYBE they could fix the next day - no guarantees. Hope doesn't have a rental car agency, but the Chevy dealer set us up with a new Malibu - we were cruisin' again.

The first sight of Yak Peak was even more spectacular than the cover photo showed - a massive hunk of granite, glowing in the late afternoon sun. Man, this was going to be good! We pulled over on the side the highway beneath the dome and crossed to see if we could find the trail - no problem, big cairn, and trail marker tape every twenty feet (somebody was a little over enthusiastic with that tape!). Now, time to kick back, enjoy a martini and watch the sun set from a camping site across the highway.

An early start the next morning showed no sign of other climbers, so my fears of crowds were laid to rest and a 45-minute hike deposited us at the base of the rock. We decided the second would carry a small pack with a couple quarts of water, food and a 7 mm. static line. The guidebook suggested rapping Reality Check as the best descent.

The first three pitches followed a continuous finger/hand crack that split the face of a prominent dihedral. All three were 5.6, which made for fast climbing up solid rock - a great way to warm up. The pitches are actually a variation to the original route, which followed the corner of the dihedral for three pitches of hard to protect climbing. At the end of the day when we rappelled a hundred yards to the side, we could see the potential for looonnngggg runouts - so it's not surprising that the crack has become the recommended path. The third pitch ended a top 'Lunch Ledge', certainly a misnomer - it should be 'Breakfast Ledge' or at the most 'Brunch Ledge'. But I managed to pulled a boner when I talked Chris into leaving most of the food hanging there, we had too much, and we could retrieve it on the descent. I forgot we'd be rappelling the other route, so I hope the next party enjoys the bagels and oranges; of course the sling and biner with it should not be touched, I'm planning on going back sometime in the next few years or so to get it!

The next four pitches up to the intersection of the two routes followed a diagonal crack system up-and-right. The rock wasn't as solid as the upper and lower pitches, but it was still good climbing with most pitches rated 5.8. On pitch 6, the topo says 'challenging routefinding' - there was a clean looking left-facing corner and a few feet further right a crack going up. We didn't understand what they meant about the routefinding challenge - Chris choose the crack on the right because he was there, but the corner looked like a fine option as well (if anyone reading this has done the corner or gone another way - let us know what you thought).

Pitch 7 called for climbing a "runout groove". It turned out to be a fun pitch with face climbing, well protected from a crack on the right, to get into the groove; a solid nut at the entry of the groove and a bomber alien about 15 ft further provided adequate protection. The runout occurs on a slightly broken up section, but the climbing is pretty much over by then.

We were now at the intersection of Yak Crack and Reality Check; later we were really glad we took the R.C. option - dynamite climbing. Although, the upper part of Y.C. looked good as well. Chris led out up and left toward an obvious arch, which we were able to see from the highway the previous day. He stopped in a broken section just before the roof forming the right side of the arch, so I got to have all the fun! The guidebook mentions the great exposure on this pitch, but I forgot to look down so I'll have to take their word for it. Looking up, I wasn't sure I had brought enough larger pieces on the rack, but it turned out to be not as wide as it appeared and protected well with a #2, #2.5 friend and the largest alien. The roof went straight left for about 20 ft, then vertical for 4-5 ft, then left another 10 ft, at which point you tunneled behind the arch for 15 ft of grunting offwidth chimney. When you exit you're standing on top of the arch and walk it most of the way to the belay. Another 5.8 corner system led up to best two pitches of the climb.

By now we had climbed 11 pitches and it was around 2 p.m. Before we tackled the last two, which were both 5.10a, we stopped for a drink and something to eat. We didn't delay too long because we had a good rhythm going and I didn't want to break it. The crux of the next pitch came right away as you clip a bolt not to far from the belay, then start a series of face moves on good edges up to another overlapping corner system. I was focusing so much on the sequence that when I looked down to place my right foot, I saw it was level with a bolt I'd missed. It seemed kind of weird to reach down and clip it, but I was glad to shorten the runout. Once in the overlap system, the rest of the pitch returned to the 5.8ish climbing that had made up most of the route.

The last 10a pitch Chris polished off without a problem. The crux was a smooth slab covered with lichen that had poke-a-dot sections cleaned large enough for a foot placement. In retrospect, we thought it surprising because there were 3 bolts protecting the 30-40 foot slab. Our surprise was because the crux pitch of lower section of Reality Check had a couple of 30 runouts on 5.10+ climbing (as the guidebook says "the reality check"). Why bolt the easier pitch and runout the hard one? Might have to do with the drilling stance on lead, but either way, my hat's off to the first ascentists - major huavos. [Note: we saw the runouts while rappelling the route, but of course we didn't preview any of the moves ;-)].

A couple of 4th class pitches led to the top, where we chilled for awhile taking in the great views - a lot of nice granite in the surrounding area. Then started the rappels - all 14 of them. We had decided on using a 7 mm. as the second rope because it was light enough to carry in the pack and then we didn?t have to deal with extra rope management each pitch. But it's only fair to point out some of the disadvantages of that approach, because it certainly extended the descent time. First, the 7 mm. is so light it catches on everything. Knowing that, we made sure on every rap we pulled the 7 mm., so the climbing rope would drop and having greater weight, would be less likely to snag. This was pretty successful, the rope only hung up once and a good stout pull managed to free it. It also extended the rap time because we couldn't do the normal practice of threading the end of the pull rope to set up the next rap - we had to wait until the knot arrived, then pull a bight of the 10 mm. through at the knot. It may not sound like it would make much difference, but the extra time and pulling X 14 had a cumulative effect.

At a few of the rap stations we extended the knot to clear obstacles, which might snag the knot. The 7 mm. runs through the rappel device faster than the 10 mm., so the knot had a tendency to travel back up to the rappel ring (probably not stated very clearly). Since we were always pulling the 7 mm., this was no big deal, but it's something to watch for if you alternate pull ropes?. Given these factors, it was getting dark when the last rap deposited us on the downclimb slab. But the trail wasn't too hard to follow in the dark (Headlamps! We don't need no stinkin' headlamps!).

By the time we reached the car, the beverage of choice wasn't even in debate - ice cold Snapple Lemonade did the trick - martinis would have to wait for another time. Although, an olive on the side might have been good, but we only had those little mushy suckers!

p.s. They couldn't get parts for the Trooper. CAA towed it to the border. Chris and I pushed it across to the U.S. side. AAA towed it back to Seattle. There went our Sunday and any thoughts of a second day climbing.