Major North Rim Linkup
Kurt Krueger
Keeping up with the big link ups of routes in the Alps and Yosemite, I completed a major link up last Tuesday at Mill Creek. Leveraging maximum daylight from the longest day of the year, I teamed up with Brian Quilter to complete Pie for Strength after work. This was done after getting the second ascent of Because It's There on Saturday with Michael Moore. So to repeat: Both Because It's There and Pie for Strength were enchained in 84 hours. With a little more training, I think I can get the time down to 68 to 72 hours. With my dog Gracie's help, I have also stashed about 3 gallons of water in the area. With the gains of a lighter pack obtained from this cache, I could likely knock off another 2 hours. In fact, taking advantage of the warm weather, a bivy might be possible. I believe it is not unreasonable to consider a 30 hour link up (car to car) for the two routes.
Some may find it hard to compare my link up with those of, say, Half Dome and El Cap in a day. But consider the following.
Climbs like Half Dome's Regular Northwest Face or the Nose on El Cap have seen thousands of ascents. You can watch videos to see exactly how the routes are done. The climbs themselves are clearly marked with chalk and shoe rubber and topos abound. The Half Dome route has even been climbed solo, without a rope, and the Nose routinely gets climbed in under 3 hours. But as anyone who's climbed Give and Take knows (and that includes all four of us), there are many challenges including vegetation, loose rock and a guano-filled chimney, plus nothing in the way of chalk to show you what holds to use. To make matters worse, Michael, when he followed, tossed off most of the holds I used, claiming they were "loose." Obviously, there's no comparison between Give and Take and those other routes.
Second, as anyone who's climbed with Brian knows, he prefers slings and oval mountaineering carabiners to lightweight quickdraws. The cumulative effect of carrying that extra weight can't be ignored. There's no doubt in my mind that these factors combine to level the playing field.
So, the challenge has been laid down. This could be the hardest link up in Montana. Or at least, the only one I know of.
Editor's Note: Five or so years ago, Kyle Neeley and partner Eric climbed Flat Head, Shoshone and Nez Perce in a single day. Just sayin'...
Kurt third class on an all-natural, top secret crack
located somewhere east of the Divide.
