Climbers overtaken by darkness
By Ed Hill
Three
brothers, Dave, Jim and Bob Black attempted a
route called Super-pooper on the west side of
Tahquitz Rock in back of Idyllwild. They got a
late start and darkness overtook them with Dave
forty feet from the top. The other two were on a
ledge below him. The night was absolutely pitch
black. It was so dark that one could not make out
the holds in the rock.
Two climbers
on the White Maiden reported their problem to the
Sheriff. The call came at 7:45 PM. I had
Veteran's Day off so was able to go. I called my
people, assembled my technical gear and was on my
way half an hour later.
I reached
Humber Park to find that the first crews had
already started up to the rock. Only Mary and
Jack Bowman were in base. I checked in and
decided to hike up to Lunch Rock where I would
pick up a load of gear, from a member who was
carrying a double load.
The trail was
in worse shape than I remembered it. I was
confused once as to where it went but continued
up hill and found it again. At Lunch Rock I found
the rest of the group. Mary had told them I was
coming and they had waited.
I was given a
300 foot rope, and we started around toward the
south side of the rock. We decided to climb up
the third class descent route rather than hike to
the notches and go across the top of the rock.
The route starts with a long friction traverse to
an easy gully that leads up to a series of
ledges. Then another gully leads to the top of
the rock. In several places we had to pass packs
and equipment and then mantle up to the ledge
above us. It is much easier to descend this route
than it is to climb it. We put in a fixed rope
that we were able to use as a handline. At about
1:00 AM we had everyone on top. We quickly found
anchor points for the self equalizing anchors
that would support the rigging. Bernie McIlvoy
was elected to rappel down to the climbers. He
carried sweaters and jackets for them.
Jim Fairchild
took photos of the operations while Pete Carlson,
Walt Walker, Chris Smith, Larry Roland and I set
up pulleys for a mechanical advantage. Later on
we decided to simply haul the climbers up
especially since they could climb under tension
from above.
The first
climber up was Dave. He was just cold, hungry and
thirsty. I fed him some peanuts, gave him some
water and wrapped a sleeping bag around him. By
the time Bernie was ready to have the second man
come up, Dave was able to help us haul.
With the extra muscle on the haul
line, raising Bob was straight forward. As soon
as he was on top, he received the same treatment
as his brother. Jim was brought up last, and we
immediately started tearing apart the rigging,
coiling ropes and packing gear for the trip back.
Dave, Jim and Bob volunteered to help carry gear
down which made it easier on everyone.
We went down
the same way, dropping down onto the ledges that
we had had to mantle up going up. At Lunch Rock,
we met Craig Beasley, Joe Erickson, and Kevin
Walker who had hiked up to help carry gear down.
We reached the
vans at four in the morning, held a brief
critique, and most of the team went off to
breakfast. The climbers were in very good shape
when we reached them. I think that this was due
to the mildness of the night. There was almost no
wind. I was comfortable in a down vest and parka.
In years past at this time of year, I have been
cold on top of the rock with most of my winter
clothing on.
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