Memorable gear placements

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 fuzzysheep01 14 Jan 2017

To get us pondering a bit while we all sit waiting for the rocks to dry, and in the absence of anything better to discuss...

For our last day cragging of 2016 we nipped down to Birchen for a few easy ticks, including redoing Topsail (VS 4c) for the umpteenth time. Despite my appalling memory I could remember two features of the route - the great flake above the roof, and the mega, would-trust-it-with-your-granny's-life thread underneath it. This got us discussing memorable gear placements - placements that, for whatever reason, stick in the memory. There were a few placements that I could still picture vividly in my mind, here are a few:

The Friend 3 at the lip of The Sloth (HVS 5a) (memorable for the sinking feeling while placing it that my forearms were about to give up, and for the relief when they didn't and I clipped the piece).

The slung metal loop on Dead Ringer (E1 5b) - totally pointless, but satisfyingly novel.

A 120 sling weighted down with approach shoes and cams, lovingly draped on a flat hold on the arete of The Edge (VS 4c) somewhat optimistically.

And many more.

The more I think about this the more I realise that most of my most memorable gear placements are either novelty placements or 'thank god' placements.

Go on then, anyone got any particularly memorable placements?
Post edited at 22:39
 Michael Hood 14 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Cave Gully Wall @Stanage - the bold first bit - horizontal slot - upside-down rock 1 stacked in with a microwedge, pretty secure I reckon but not tested.
 John Kelly 14 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Yesterday, cam slot in scary old school VD
The Slab (VS 4b)
and
Slip Knot (VS 4b)
sneaky sling, above traverse pitch 2
 spenser 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The wire protecting the crux on Tower Face Direct (E2 5b) is certainly memorable, I was genuinely surprised I didn't test it!
The gear you get behind the flake on P2 of Super Direct (E1 5b) is also memorable, it's not often I end up cuddling a flake in joy!
 kwoods 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:
Something or other at Lover's Leap Dunkeld, topping out a route by climbing a steep slope of plant and dirt. Tied off gorse bush shoots, one after the other. Then an almighty sinker hex just below the top. Oh the relief!
Post edited at 00:12
 verticon 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The wire of a #2 Wallnut hitched over a pebble protecting the crux of Finesse (E4 5c) at St. Loy Cliff
 Mick Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Inverted cam in the little overlap near the top of Great Wall (Cloggy). Up until then, I really hadn't been treating the route with the respect it deserves. And with new shoes (Ninjas ffs, straight out of the box!) killing me and just a few indifferent wires below (one had popped out), the route started to bite back. Apparently, the day before, someone had taken a circa 120 footer from here, gone well past the belay and almost decked it!

Mick
 Doug 15 Jan 2017
Is the bicycle crank (I think that's what it was) still in Kaisergebirge Wall (Clogwyn y Grochan) ?

1
 Rob Exile Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

2 particularly stand out - from very early days! The first was a Clog zero - a brass hexagon on tiny wire - that fitted perfectly in a slot before the 5b/c step up on Tensor to the roof. (It was backed up by a quart inch angle a couple of feet away, so not too bad...)

The second was on an early ascent of Concrete Chimney, no beta in those days. My mate had wimped out of the top pitch so it was sh*t or bust, not a situation I usually rise to! I finally screwed up the courage and stepped across the void, and found a perfect placement for my virgin Stopper 6. I turned round to my mate and shouted down: 'I could kiss that Chouinard's a*se!' We referred to that stopper for a while after as a 'Chouinard's a*se nut'.
 neuromancer 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

I seem to remember the first peg I clipped was the rusty junk before the overlap on Scratch Arete. I wonder if it's still there?

I also apocryphally placed a nut key as a piton on my first e1 (and fell a good way onto it; it held).
 Mick Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Doug:

I heard the bicycle crank had rusted away to next to nothing. Would be good if someone who's been up there recently would let us know for sure. Highly memorable placement - I've always been amazed that Harding got away with it.

Mick
OP fuzzysheep01 15 Jan 2017
In reply to neuromancer:

Barbarian right? I was on Scratch when you fell and I remember chatting to you about it at the bottom afterwards. That was one of my first days out climbing, so I've always assumed a nut key is a perfectly valid placement since!
 Duncan Bourne 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The first bomber rock 9 placement on Bochlwyd Eliminate (HVS 5a) after the traverse section. I got to the end of the traverse placed a cam (I think) then went up and up and up towards the arete. I thought any minute I now I will find a gear placement but none came. It felt like a very long run out by the time I found the bomber placement which occasioned a huge cry of relief.
 cragtyke 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The nut, any nut, the bigger the better in the triangular pod on Billy Whizz (E2 5c). Gives the confidence needed for the last few moves when you're starting to pump.
 zimpara 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Mick Ward:

> A few indifferent wires below (one had popped out)

That is often but not always a sign that your belayer is not doing his job or you are lacing badly extended gear. Both are signs of inexperience. I recon you would have done well to lead 5 years worth of VDiffs before getting on something tasty again to avoid hurting yourself. Crouton
68
 Mark Bannan 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

I guess it must be memorable as I still remember it 16 and a half years later!

Leading pitch 2 of Spectre on the Grochan. Bridged across the steep groove, hanging off a hand jam and putting in an amazing sideways large (old fashioned) hex. Superbly enjoyable!

M
 Doug 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Mick Ward:

I remember threading it circa 1980, wonder when (if?) it went
 Rob Exile Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Mark Bannan:
I got a brilliant Hex 6 at the top of Cemetery Gates, that's another one I can remember! Oh and of course the perfect MOAC on Diagonal - as Tony Booth said, that placement was more like the mould that Brailsford used to create them.
Post edited at 14:22
 zimpara 15 Jan 2017
3
 Valkyrie1968 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

> For our last day cragging of 2016 we nipped down to Birchen for a few easy ticks, including redoing Topsail (VS 4c) for the umpteenth time. Despite my appalling memory I could remember two features of the route - the great flake above the roof, and the mega, would-trust-it-with-your-granny's-life thread underneath it.

That's weird, there's an incredibly bomber cam placement right under the roof - almost as good as the ones just over, on Orpheus Wall (HVS 5c). Those take a hammering, let me tell you...
3
 sjminfife 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:
The MOAC undneath the final overhang on Saul's Crack. A real confidence booster for that final hard section.

 deepsoup 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Valkyrie1968:
> That's weird, there's an incredibly bomber cam placement right under the roof

I'm not sure if you've just posted that to wind Offwidth up, but in case you're serious - the 'incredibly bomber' cam placement on Topsail is incredibly worn and getting worse. There's no need to use it thanks to the 'would-trust-it-with-your-granny's-life thread', so please don't!
Post edited at 15:35
Doug Kerr 15 Jan 2017
In reply to zimpara:

> That is often but not always a sign that your belayer is not doing his job or you are lacing badly extended gear.

Have you done the second pitch of Great Wall? I'm guessing not as your first sentence indicates that you are, in this instance, talking out of your back passage. The rest of your post is rude, unsolicited nonsense.

 Michael Hood 15 Jan 2017
In reply to zimpara: 17 dislikes - have they not heard of irony?

 Mick Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to zimpara:

> That is often but not always a sign that your belayer is not doing his job or you are lacing badly extended gear. Both are signs of inexperience. I recon you would have done well to lead 5 years worth of VDiffs before getting on something tasty again to avoid hurting yourself. Crouton

While I'd love to blame my belayer (he tried to burn me off en route to Cloggy but ended up sorely distressed on the ridge above Cwm Glas), in this case, I really can't. And I'd love to cite inexperience but, in truth, there was so much experience I was laid-back, verging on horizontal. And thereby due a sharp wake-up call. The moral of the story for me - for all of us, I suppose - is never to take stuff for granted.

Mick
1
 Mick Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

> Oh and of course the perfect MOAC on Diagonal - as Tony Booth said, that placement was more like the mould that Brailsford used to create them.

Not Tony Booth, crag-rat, who used to live in a caravan near Tremadog?

Mick
 Rob Exile Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Mick Ward:

Don't know about the caravan, but he was certainly a Tremadog habituee in the days of Mr and Mrs Williams.
He and his wife (much younger than him, natch,) used to have some (very inexpensive) cottages near Carreg Hyll Drem, and a cottage in Blaenau where they lived in a bit of a commune. He'd also been a professional skater(!) His wife thought he'd been an extra in Passport to Pimlico, but I think that may have been bullsh*t - I've never been able to make him out anyway.

I knew him pretty well; I met his son a few years ago, who was remarkably unimpressed that his dad had been welcome in USSR in the 30s and banned from Spain at the same time! He also did some new routes at Llanymynech.
 zimpara 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Michael Hood:
> 17 dislikes - have they not heard of irony?

It would seem not It must be that new super sneaky Irony I have been hearing of
Post edited at 16:54
2
 peebles boy 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Slings, most winters, most routes, weighted down by the well loved winter mountaineers technique of packing good sticky snowball snow on top of it to stop it lifting as you climb.
 Rick Graham 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:


> The Friend 3 at the lip of The Sloth (HVS 5a) (memorable for the sinking feeling while placing it that my forearms were about to give up, and for the relief when they didn't and I clipped the piece).


I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but every time I have seconded the Sloth, the cam placed at the lip has inverted and been useless by the time I reached it.

I use a big hex in that placement when leading
 planetmarshall 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Spoilers!
OP fuzzysheep01 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Rick Graham:

Oh aye it did on that occasion too, but by the time I realised I was long past caring! (I.e. clipped into a nice solid anchor at the top)
 David_Gledson 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

"I got a brilliant Hex 6 at the top of Cemetery Gates, that's another one I can remember! "

That one sprang to mind for me as well. And the other memorable one happens to be the same number 6 hex in Picnic at Brimham. Fantastic keyed placement. Very confidence inspiring before 'that topout'.
 Pbob 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The piton I placed on Mam Tor Gully which gave that reassuring 'ping' to say it was sound, which also let me know all the other pitons I'd placed were pants. Also the no 7 hex I hammered home on the same route after I gave up on pitons.

The no 5 rock I took my first real winger on at Carrag Wastad. My partner was a very good, experienced climbed and he thought it was going to ping and we were both heading for the deck. It held, I ended up clinging to a tree. Shaking. Elated.
 C Witter 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Three "placements" stick in my mind:

1. Slinging a puny sapling on an esoteric severe (The Gremp (S 4a)) as a newbie, out of pure desperation. Good nut around the corner, but I was suddenly too gripped to see anything...

2. Slinging all the big knobs at the top of Thomas (S 4a) - Wallowbarrow. All the gear on that top pitch is about slinging phallus-shaped protrusions.

3. My second time in crampons, winter climbing up the Central Gully Left Branch (III 3). It was getting dark. My friend asked me to lead through as "this belay's shit". He gave me a sling, pointed me to a spike: go build a belay over there. When I got there, the spike was shallow and rounded all to hell. I looked at my harness and I only had one green no.5 rockcentric hex on it. Somehow, it slotted perfectly (perfectly!) into a lightning-bolt crack - absolutely bomber.

On the same climb - my partner led the next pitch by torchlight, in absolute darkness, so I never saw it, but perhaps my partner's "memorable gear" list would include an absolutely shite, rusted through peg. "If it's all rusted to hell, why are you clipping it?", I yelled up. "Wouldn't you?" "Good point." After that, I think he had one nut in the rest of the pitch.

On the related subject of memorable belays - we really enjoyed the cave above. His shout down to me, in the dark - "We could sleep in here if we have to!" - resonated with an equivocal mixture of reassurance and anxiety, followed, for comic relief, by: "I'm just going for a piss."
 Gary Gibson 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01: A sideways Rock one in the first section of Cystitis by Proxy on th Rainbow, bomber hex 3 in a little pocket halfway up the bold flake on Souls in Huntsman's Leap, tied back sling on a spike on Sidewinder on the Roaches. There's plenty more.

 johncook 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Valkyrie1968:

The cam placement is now just about worn out. It looks a mess. Soon even cams won't stay in it.
 d_b 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The one that failed the one time I hit the ground.
nellyonarope 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Not so much a single placement but a magic piece of gear. Those new wild country super light offsets in particular number 6 is like a trad climbing skeleton key it goes in every time a definite favourite piece for me now
 Rich W Parker 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Two rock pegs equalised in turf on a new route in the Grey Corries. Next gear down was a turf thread.
 John Ww 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

There's a tap on the end of a pipe (handle turns and everything) halfway up a route at Toix near Calle). Don't ask me why.

JW
 d_b 15 Jan 2017
In reply to nellyonarope:
I hadn't come across these before. Better than the HB/DMM offset design?
Post edited at 19:32
 Mick Ward 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

> I knew him pretty well; I met his son a few years ago, who was remarkably unimpressed that his dad had been welcome in USSR in the 30s and banned from Spain at the same time! He also did some new routes at Llanymynech.

Gosh, sounds as though there are a few stories there! I had a brilliant ten days or so at Tremadog in 1974 and met him then. Remember asking him how hard Hardd was. The, "It's HVS." came back a little too quickly and a little too defensively. Sure enough, my second (and third) took the ride into space and got lowered off, me abbing after them.

Would like to have known him more and am sorry about his demise. I've always imagined there are some really colourful characters knocking around rural Wales.

Mick



Removed User 15 Jan 2017
In reply to zimpara:

It's a sad indictment on the users of this forum that you've received 41 (at present) dislikes while only Mick has actually had the decency to reply to you. Allow me to also reply: I don't think I've ever met Mick but I have it on good authority that he has done more climbing than you've had hot dinners and furthermore is probably the most considered and thoughtful poster on this site and is always worth listening to. Conversely, you are a turnip.
1
 Allovesclimbin 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Sergeant's Crag Gully , in winter at night about 1996 , tricky climb after work. My mate came up from Manchester and forgot his crampons, so had to hack steps. However, one pitch had a brilliant belay , a frozen sheep , solid as anything , which took a good sling.
Removed User 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

There is a placement for a nut, I forget which size, on the second pitch of The End at Polney which looks like it was manufactured for a nut. Doubtless a MOAC will fit perfectly.

One that springs to mind is a nut on a route on the Penon which I was very glad to get in. I was a long way above the last runner, I had sunstroke and was not feeling good at all. I had a small rack and it was the last nut of that size and last extender but no matter as it wasn't far to the belay. All was good with the world when I clipped it. Then I stepped up, lifted it out with my knee and watched it slide 15m or so back down the the last one.

In reply to zimpara:

hmmmm.......
 C Witter 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Allovesclimbin:

Vacca boia! You win. Poor sheep!
 leland stamper 15 Jan 2017
In reply to Removed User:

Still missing the point.
 mark hounslea 15 Jan 2017
In reply to verticon:
In the old days it was E2!
 danm 15 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:
After mis-reading the guidebook, I ended up doing a new route by mistake in Icebox Canyon in Morocco.

I ended up totally committed, miles from my last gear and looking at a groundfall from around 30m up. Somehow I kept my cool despite knowing I'd totally screwed myself, and convinced myself that a small rounded blob of rock could take a draped sling which might stay on and hold a fall. Alas, I didn't have any slings left, so I used a tatty old prusik loop which just about fitted. This gave me the confidence to tackle the mossy and delicate slab above which lead to a belay ledge, where I lay down and had a bit of a meltdown. The image of that prusik loop draped hopefully around the rock will stay in my memory for ever!
Post edited at 21:56
 BrendanO 15 Jan 2017
In reply to John Ww:

> There's a tap on the end of a pipe (handle turns and everything) halfway up a route at Toix

Not too far away, I think at Marin (or one of those crags north of Alicante) there's a climb which has three or four bolts, other protection includes a fence stob jammed in a crack and old car parts. It's in a kind of cave about halfway along the crag.

Clauso 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

I still fondly remember the time that I placed 1kg of heroin in my father's rucksack, as he flew away for a business trip to Saudi Arabia.

He sometimes pens a note from his cell on death row in Riyadh, and my mother reckons that it's saved her a small fortune in divorce proceedings.
 ben b 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Tied off Avro Lancaster TX264.

Quite literally, bomber.

Fuselage Gully (II) Beinn Eighe.

b
 Toerag 16 Jan 2017
 lummox 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The stacked hexes on Botterill's Crack in Ilkley Quarry are fun. As is the threaded wire on the Traverse of Eliminate A on Dow.
 Andy Hardy 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

On my very first lead I placed a #7 rock, at the top of the sentry box on Josephine Superdirect (Ilkley), it looked pretty good to me. My second asked me if it was any good - so I said yes, grabbed the quickdraw and did a pull up on it . He nearly crapped himself, I definitely wouldn't think of doing that now - ignorance is bliss I guess!
 jkarran 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

There are loads of interesting placements I've seen and used over the years but the one (strictly a pair) that is etched into my memory is the pair of slightly-too-small, tipped out friend 5s I shuffled up the final crack of Lost Arrow Spire holding back tears of terror as they slipped and crunched and spat crystals at me, constantly threatening to dump me on the leg breaking ledge far below before it too would spit me out into the wind. Top notch type II fun
jk
 Dave Garnett 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The RP you can fiddle in by the last hard move on The Chicken Run (E2 5b) . It's a lonely long move if you are short and potentially a ground fall if it goes wrong.

I used to be big fan of RPs. There's a nice one by the crux of Javelin Blade (E1 5b) that is almost cheating in that avoids the famously trivial run-out from the original thread.

In reply to fuzzysheep01:

One piece of gear sticks in my mind. There's a tale, of course.

One July, on a very wet Saturday, a mate and I had climbed Milestone Direct in big boots and with sacks as alpine training and then, as the rain poured down, gave climbing up as a bad job and ended up in Pete's Eats for an early tea. Eventually, we convinced ourselves that the rain was easing and dragged ourselves up to climb Nea (VS 4b). Pretty much as soon as we started climbing, the rain came back with a vengeance; nevertheless, on we went. It seemed to take a long time and then, after climbing the second pitch, the guidebook stopped making sense (we later found out that rocks that formed the old third pitch had fallen off a few months before). We couldn't identify anything and, by now completely soaked and rather cold, I set off through heather and boulders just to get to the top of the crag by whichever way I could. That took a long time too, testing holds for stability and balancing precariously on the roots of vegetation that I hoped was firmly anchored. Somewhere in the midst of this, I found a no. 6 hexentric in a crack. Why it was there in the middle of the heather and boulders, far from any route, I had no idea but since the only protection I'd managed to get so far was slings hopefully tied round some heather, I clipped it and carried on, eventually reaching the top of the crag in what was by now a dreadful evening. By the time my mate had followed me to the top of the crag and handed me what protection I'd had - including that hexentric - it was dark, and we had no torch. We wandered around trying to find the path down, but couldn't; we thought we could see a spot where it ought to be lower down, so rather than shiver and drip our way around the top of the crag we set up an abseil and slid down the rope to, happily, the path. We left the ropes where they were, got back to the car and just made last orders at The Vaynol by a whisker. The next day we got the ropes back and drove home with the car heater on full.

About five weeks later, we'd just climbed the Aiguille du Plan by the south face and were heading for the Aigulle du Midi, so doing the Midi-Plan Traverse (AD) the opposite way to the usual route. The ice was a bit thin and rather than traverse under the first rognon, we climbed onto it; we'd seen a piton, so thought that was ok. It wasn't, really, but we didn't want to get back onto that ice. My mate (the same one as before) led a traverse left along the rock, at one point improvising protection from jammed knots in slings as we didn't have much rock gear wih us. I followed and then on my lead, tried to find a way upwards. I could see a ledge with a small crack splitting the rock and running down. I made my way to it cautiously. It would need a committing move to reach the ledge, one I couldn't easily reverse or back out of once started. What did I have that would fit in that small crack?

You guessed; that no. 6 hexentric. It slid into the crack as though it had been designed for that sole purpose, seated perfectly. I made the moves to the ledge and from there much more easily to the top of the rognon and a safe belay. And that gear placement was lodged not just in the rock but also in my memory. Sun-warmed Chamonix granite, a great gear placement and moves you have to commit to but which are easier than you thought. Could a climber really ask for more?

T.
 neilh 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Threading a rabbit hole for a belay on top of the cauldron in pembroke, cannot remember the name.

Hanging belay on 2 chounaird 1 wires on Uhuru in wen zawn-- just a bit exciting.

On assagai there are some lovely flutings to thread a sling,

 Blue Straggler 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:
If we are allowed to include belay anchors, I'll nominate:

Tall Clare lying in a shallow ditch atop Shining Clough during a silly epic on the now legendary Trungel Crack.

And as the not-so-intrepid second, I did more than just weight the rope - I had to do "Superman" flying swings to get to some of the diversely placed off-route gear!
Post edited at 13:32
 Al Evans 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The thread on the roof move on The Tippler, now usually replaced by a friend placement which is less fiddly (but probably not as safe).
 Rog Wilko 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

I recall being on the crux section of Albion (VS 4c) and wanting, but not finding a good piece of gear. Then, out of reach I spotted a peg. After a couple of precarious moves I could just reach it. As the carabiner touched it I realised that it was so rusted that most of what was left was a layer of black paint.
 Bulls Crack 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Remember being happy with a tricam in a sandy pocket on Red Wall - happier than I was with the crap spike anyway!
 Oliver Houston 16 Jan 2017
In reply to neuromancer:

> I seem to remember the first peg I clipped was the rusty junk before the overlap on Scratch Arete. I wonder if it's still there?
There was a peg in Scratch as of Mayish last year, I backed it up, but it felt surprisingly solid to me.

 Hat Dude 16 Jan 2017
In reply to Oliver Houston:

The peg on Scratch Arete seemed like a very substantial piece of ironmongery when I first did it 30 odd years ago.

It was the first HVS I'd ever climbed, let alone led and the piece of gear that sticks in my mind was the perfect small wire I got in after the overlap (rock 3 I think) and the immense sense of relief that it gave coupled with the elation of doing the route.
 nniff 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:
A bit of tat sticking out the the ice on Slav Route. Absolutely no idea what (if anything ) it was attached to, but it appeared better than the token half-in ice screws that preceded it. Memorable as an exemplar of wishful thinking.


Frankly, not much followed it either. There was a decent hex right at the very top, flicked into place at full stretch and then given a sound thwack with a hammer, just so that it understood what was expected of it


Sparrow of this parish will remember a warthog pounded into the Devil's Kitchen in the early 80's. Two convenient icicles held it nicely in place so that it could be hammered, but also prevented him from turning it to remove it - much chopping and colourful language followed. The joys of one-handed warthog placement
Post edited at 16:28
 Fredt 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:
On Sunset Slab you could get a Moac No. 1 hex in the little crack at the crux move, - I'm told this is no longer possible, but I'll hang on to the Moac in case.
The same Moac went inside the big hole on Three Pebble Slab between two pebbles.

On Namenlos, I manged to wiggle a very dubious 3CU in the horizontal crease below the crux ramp. I wasn't happy, but I was well within myself, or so I thought. My foot popped off the ramp and I found myself head down about a foot from the floor. Wonderful, wonderful things are 3CUs..
Post edited at 16:54
nellyonarope 16 Jan 2017
In reply to davidbeynon: Personally I'd say yes because of the weight also a bit slimmer , I have my dads old hb offsets so probably not as drastic a weight difference than the dmm ones but until I have a full set of wall nuts I'm reluctant to replace the hb set (gear ocd)
 neuromancer 16 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

I've won many a beer in a climbers pub with that story. Aye, Barbarian. You probably heart my yelp as I came off too!

Small world!
 string arms 17 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

I remember climbing with a mate on gogarth once who had a camper van. I had the notion of hiding a toy one inside a pocket for him to find whilst seconding. Unfortunately I ended up running out of gear and having to jam the thing into a crack and putting a tape around it. Can't remember the route but I recall it was some seldom repeated E1 crack covered in that pale green Moss/grass combo that reverses the effects of boot rubber. My mate thought I'd put it in for a laugh. I didn't disillusion him.
 SenzuBean 17 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

Looking back I could list a lot of memorable placements. I always try and make a special effort to remember the unique ones, so that if I come across anything similar I'll be able to protect it.

The wooden chock on Osiris (VS 4c) - I was so excited to clip it, that I forgot to back it up. Only realized when I had traversed a few metres away under the roof and was getting boxed!

...One for All (HS 4b) - the welded in hex that's used as a thread.

Aventura (HVS 4c) - the missing ammonite thread belay!!!
 spartacus 17 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:
I remember a climb at Wintors Leap (one of the first pinnacle rib routes) where on the second pitch an open corner needs a move or to to get gear into a vertical slot. My partner selected a medium hex, stood on tip toes and swung it upward on the end of about 2 meters of rope. It landed in the slot first time, slid down a few inches into the most bomber placement ever without him leaving the ground.
 Rick Graham 17 Jan 2017
In reply to Dorchester:
Standard technique up North
Post edited at 17:04
 oldie 19 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

How about the bomber thread just below the crux on Javelin Buttress on Holly Tree Wall.
In my student days one guy did the initial traverse, placed nut, climbed up, fixed thread and fell off the mantelshelf. Lifted nut out and ended up almost level with belayer.
The thread was often used for a hanging belay as when one friend fell off Javelin Blade with no runners (didn't place nut as his fingers would have rested on it) and was held by a girl using a waist belay.
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

The formerly old and rusted (now re-drilled and re-glued) spanner:

Spanner Wall (E2 5c)

And of course the hole on TPS (sorry), whatever sticks is rembered!
 Tim Sparrow 21 Jan 2017
In reply to nniff:
I remember that indeed you nasty git!
I swear my shoulder injuries 35 years later are down to that day.
Post edited at 18:09
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 Tim Sparrow 21 Jan 2017
In reply to fuzzysheep01:

There is a slot on pitch 2 of Diagonal on the Mot before you traverse right to gain the groove. A rock 9 is OK but is was designed to be a keyhole fit for an original Moac.
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