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Machino
Joined: 08 Dec 2008
Posts: 20
Location: Missoula, MT
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 Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:09 am Post subject: Poison Flower Direct III 5.11a |
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FFA Poison Flower Direct III 5.11a.
On April 6, 2009, Scott Parker and I headed out to Shoshone to see if we could finish Poison Flower. I first heard of this route from Rick Torre and Craig Kenyon during an early morning session at the gym and it sounded like it had a lot of potential.
The route takes a line right of the Standard Route and heads straight for the summit. The first two pitches had been climbed, (1st by Alex Lowe, 2nd by Keith Schultz), but after that aid tactics were used by Craig Kenyon to climb the final pitches, mainly the finger crack. After getting some beta from Craig as well as some encouragement we headed out mid afternoon after school was out. The first pitch sucked (cause we were on the wrong one), and was probably also an FFA we will call Poison Ivy 5.11. I sussed the second pitch because Craig said it might need a bolt. After looking it over, a #3 stopper in the middle of the crux protects perfectly, so no bolt needed. It was late that day, so we bailed.
Easter: April 12, 2009. We found ourselves back out there with a much earlier start and lots of anxiety. We gained Lunch Ledge by 11:00. Winds were up, but the sun was out and we had all day. P1 5.9 We climbed the right start this time and was much more enjoyable than the shit show we thought we were supposed to climb. A crack rises just right of the Standard Route and slants left at the top ending at the right tree at a good belay stance. A good pitch. P2 5.10c Another gem. Cracks rise from the belay and you follow them for a while with a great crux bulge at the end. Good sporty climbing on nuts! P3 5.11a The crux. We thought we were going to have to aid this pitch, but Scott got on the sharp end and kept going. Some fine climbing. This pitch follows a finger crack to a corner. Once at the corner, you pull through it to the next face and follow more cracks; pinching, jamming, and stemming to the belay ledge. Originally, Craig followed the corner on easier ground, aiding to the same belay. A fixed cam is here. Some of the cracks are still a little dirty but we cleaned quite a bit on lead and on second. Bring a nut tool, make it better for the next guy. (consensus says the crux could be 10+, I still think it is an 11. Also, a hand crack lies to the left after you pull through the corner/roof, making the rest of that pitch quite easier). P4 5.10b The final pitch. Craig went left here joining the standard route. He did say however, if we pushed straight on we would find a hand crack through the roof to lead us to the summit. There is no hand crack through a roof, but there is one leading to it. From the belay you climb right to a left facing corner. It looked really good, but melting snow on top of Shoshone dripped down the upper face and into this corner. Bummer. There was plenty of cracks on the face though just outside of this corner. These lead you to the crux between the upper and lower corners. Pull the crux and climb hands up into the next corner. When almost to the roof, pull right out of the corner and up into a flaring easy chimney. It should be fun when dry, but this is where the drip was coming from. After Scott and I had not fallen all day, this easy wet chimney proved the crux for me. Mustering all I had, draws gone, wet cracks to work with, feet road-runnering, I cursed myself to the summit. Scott was soon on top. A great day of exploration, I believe, revealed another classic on Shoshone.
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Last edited by Machino on Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:07 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Machino
Joined: 08 Dec 2008
Posts: 20
Location: Missoula, MT
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| Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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Some more photos
1st pitch
2nd pitch. I am right below the crux of this pitch and you can see the finger crack of the 3rd pitch.
3rd pitch
Summit
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brett
Site Admin
Joined: 31 Dec 1969
Posts: 81
Location: Missoula, MT
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| Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:01 am Post subject: |
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| nice work guys! that is so awesome. i've often wondered about the potential lines on shoshone. poison flower is a sweet name too.
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crackclimber
Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:53 pm Post subject: |
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Great climb guys, pretty sustained! Ashley and I climbed Poison Flower on Friday, July 10th. The route description was very accurate and easy to follow. Ashley led the crux pitch and took the hand crack to the left after the roof. I think I'll go back to lead the crux pitch and try the finger crack.
Loved the mantle after the last roof!
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