Kor Beck Wreck - October 2, 2010 - PART 1

Our good friend Alex had made plans to be in Yosemite for the weekend and had gotten a campsite in Upper Pines. He had space for us, so we headed back into the Valley for the weekend.  As luck would have it Adam and Yumi were also looking for something to do, and we made arrangements to meet up in the Valley.  Ken wasn't too excited about heading into the Valley to climb on a Saturday, but it's always great to see friends!

Anja really wanted to climb Central Pillar of Frenzy so we headed to Middle Cathedral, racked for a trad climb and headed up the short walk.  We got to the base, and (not surprisingly) 3 parties were already on the 5 pitch route and one party was at the base.  Route traffic wasn't too bad for a Saturday, except that the party currently on the first pitch was rumored to have taken out aiders.  For those who don't understand this, it would be like someone putting on tire chains (in the middle of the road) to drive on a dirt road. We waited for a bit, and realizing we were not going to make it further than 3 pitches on this route Ken headed up to look at the line on the Kor Beck.  There was a party on the first pitch moving fast and a party descending from the top, so there was only one other party on the route.  That sounded better than joining the circus on Central Pillar.  The weather was looking questionable, but it was sunny down in El Cap Meadow, so we decided to give it a go.

Anja really wanted to climb, so she headed up the first pitch.  The team who was directly in front of us rappelled off after the first pitch and took off which just left the one team above.

Shortly after the other team left we felt our first rain drops.  It was 3:15 pm.  Anja asked what to do and Ken suggested she climb faster.  Luckily the route had bolted belays, so it was easy to bail off the route.  The rain quickly turned to a down pour and the first pitch turned into a small river.  To get off the route as fast as possible, Anja set the rope through the rap chains and lowered as Ken climbed up.  We both cleaned gear and Ken set a quick anchor to lower Anja using the second rope.  When Anja got to the ground she stood and waited so Ken could single line rappel using her as the anchor. Soon we were both safely on the ground.  Part 2 of this adventure tomorrow.