Little Bear fixed ropes

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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dmccool
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Re: Little Bear fixed ropes

Post by dmccool »

Rock-a-Fella wrote:Ok, Ok I am going to wade into the "Little Bear Rap Rope Rap Anchor Swamp" and take one for the team here as there are beginners and novices who are reading and saying "WTF are they talking about?" or may not understand the gravity of what is being discussed (Did I say gravity?)

Knife between my teeth.......(oh, wait they use guns on Little Bear now) swimming out with the gators...................

I climbed Little Bear "standard route" this June on a Friday. On the way down, my climbing partner and I cut out ALL the rotten and damaged webbing anchors. Inspected the 3 ropes that were there, cut one damaged one out. Just because it looked good on Friday at 9AM doesn't make it SAFE on Saturday or At 10AM on Friday for that matter as it is an unattended piece of gear in a "Shooting Gallery" (Did I say shooting?)

It could be brand new gear attached to a steel piling, but left in that trough and I would suggest you either "inspect every inch" provided you know what you are doing or avoid pre installed systems entirely as it only takes one rock or a 1/2 tied water knot someone got distracted on to ruin your day.

That said, if you are committed to rapping down "The Glass"?? Take two 70m ropes, 10M of 2" webbing, 2 rap rings and install your own system.

Just sayin
Pretty sure this should be etched in stone as the final word on the Hour Glass Ropes. Thanks, Peter
Save a place for me up in the high country.
There's still space to breathe.

- Gregory Alan Isakov
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Roald
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Re: Little Bear fixed ropes

Post by Roald »

MountainHiker wrote:Dogs, guns, hot tubs, ropes on Little Bear. :deadhorse: :cartman:

The ultimate 14ers.com thread would be: Will my Subaru make it all the way to the Kite Lake trailhead so it will be easy for me to take my dog up to the Mount Bross summit, assuming that the fixed ropes left in place are safe to use?
chrismjx wrote:

Roald, in that one sentence you managed to demonstrate that A) you're an idiot and B) you're a hypocrite, and a perfect example of the cause of the modern-day problems in this country.
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lackerstef
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Re: Little Bear fixed ropes

Post by lackerstef »

Even simpler rule of thumb: don't use it unless you know every inch of it. Every climb should be prepped as if there is no established gear. Thanks to whoever left it. I looked at all of it on the ascent (which really does not require rope) and was all in good condition. I'm sure people will start stepping on it and weather will deterioate it. Again, it was good today but my word after leaving the route should be meaningless.
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soybean56
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Re: Little Bear fixed ropes

Post by soybean56 »

Roald wrote:
MountainHiker wrote:Dogs, guns, hot tubs, ropes on Little Bear. :deadhorse: :cartman:

The ultimate 14ers.com thread would be: Will my Subaru make it all the way to the Kite Lake trailhead so it will be easy for me to take my dog up to the Mount Bross summit, assuming that the fixed ropes left in place are safe to use?
^ Haha. That's pretty good.

Thanks for the advice and info everyone. Not planning on using the rope(s), I was just curious. Hopefully the weather will hold out another week or two for me to get down there.
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mtndude3737
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Re: Little Bear fixed ropes

Post by mtndude3737 »

d_baker wrote:
Ropes don't break article.
Interesting article. I took a 10 foot whipper on a trad climb last week on my old, scarred 10mm. The rope held, but carved a nice groove in the back of my leg. Curse those sandstone holds!

In an emergency I would descend something with my 3mm emergency para cord if I really had to.

Focus on the climb. Concern yourself more with each move and hold and less about someone else's rope.

Unless it had obvious extreme damage to it, I would use it.
What is there, beyond the mountain, if not the man? - Walter Bonatti

The simpler you make things, the richer the experience becomes. - Steve House
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mtndude3737
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Re: Little Bear fixed ropes

Post by mtndude3737 »

The hourglass was chocked full of ice today, and I felt like my older buddy would be much safer with an ascender going up it. We decided to use it going up and rappelling back down. The rope was safe, even though it was frozen to the ice in spots.

That being said, my 17 year old son made it up the left side (class 5-ish) without the rope and no real problems.
Little Bear Rope 9-15-12.jpg
Little Bear Rope 9-15-12.jpg (257.59 KiB) Viewed 713 times
What is there, beyond the mountain, if not the man? - Walter Bonatti

The simpler you make things, the richer the experience becomes. - Steve House
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soybean56
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Re: Little Bear fixed ropes

Post by soybean56 »

Quick update after summitting Little Bear on Saturday. There was only a trace amount of ice on the far east side of the narrowest part (right where the water flows). I'm sure that's changed quite a bit since Saturday due to the rain.

The orange rope there appeared to be in fantastic condition. My partner "rappeled" from the rock anchor all the way to the bottom. I chose to forego the rope entirely. Would have been handy for about 5 vertical feet in the narrow section though.
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