Last weekend my friend and I did the Ho Chi Minh Trail on Middle Cathedral.
It took us about 12 hours for the climb and 5 hours to negotiate the catwalk and get to the car, soo tired!
I won't write too much about it but instead paraphrase from Clint Cummins' First ascent write up located here: http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/rep/dnb.htm

The start was an immediate problem. It seemed we had to pass the gauntlet of a flaring chimney with a hand crack deep inside to reach the promised face climbing above. Rated only 5.7, I was barely able to manage it, with much foot slippage and hand pumpage.


I was the presumed expert on mantles, so I drew the lead. The 5.7 lieback was surprizingly hard, and the long reaches and runout 5.9 mantles which followed really raised the excitement level. I stared at the W-shaped hold of the crux mantle and clipped both bolts. I could press up on the hold without too much trouble, but I couldn't lift my foot up to it. The wall above was glassy smooth, and I was going nowhere. After a few attempts with different positions, I brought John up for a try. He didn't have much luck either, finding even the press quite strenuous. It looked tough for the kids, but I just had to try again, even though I had no good ideas. This time, I just jumped up into the press position, as my left tricep was too weak to muscle the move in the normal slow manner. I tried to bring my foot up, but it wasn't even close. Just then I thought of something crazy. Why don't I just grab my foot with my "free" hand and pull it up forcibly to the hold? A move only a cripple would have thought of, but it worked like a charm. Soon we were both at the belay, scoping the white, grey, and orange- colored wall above.



The topo said the next pitch took the third corner on the right and then traversed back left under a roof. It looked wild, but I was at least consoled by the fact that the route had been soloed (only once, though). It was a beautiful finger crack with plenty of the multicolored face holds and incomparable textures that Middle Cathedral is famous for. A classic pitch, but as I neared the roof, it got hard fast.

I couldn't imagine myself soloing this, that's for sure. After placing the last pieces of my rack from wild one-arm positions on the traverse, and somehow managing to style the final undercling, I arrived at the belay with a real sense of accomplishment...



The first pitch on the new ground started easy up nice hand cracks, but it got tough as I did some hard runout face climbing over a roof to gain a dirty crack. A long shower of dirt followed for John as I cleaned out the crack and aided up it on wireds. It looked like hard 5.11 to free, including a short pendulum, so I was discouraged. The next pitch was only 5.8, though, and we arrived at a good ledge and dropped off the pack. John used a pin to protect a hard face move and quickly moved up the interesting dark grey rock. I arrived to find him at hanging belay high up in a large corner. I barely cranked off the headwall traverse moves which started the next pitch -- it looked loose but luckily wasn't.





Soon we were at the tree below the mossy chimney, peering out right at the potential traverse. It went free at about 5.6 on incredible knobs. A second traverse followed which was slightly harder, and I set up a belay below a flaring squeeze chimney. Again, I felt we had to avoid any such chimneys, and a way out right seemed possible, but we were running out of daylight, so I aided up a thin crack and cruised up easier ground to a reasonable bivouac ledge.The next morning it took me four hours to lead the next pitch -- massive dirt mining up what will be a nice double cracks pitch in the future. Joel ran up the next two pitches as I followed dizzily with the sack. Reaching the Turret, we looked up at the final part of the buttress, but had neither the water nor the strength to finish.



The next day we managed to solve the key first pitch above the Turret by a blind traverse around a corner which allowed us to avoid an offwidth crack. The next pitch went up a solitary crack which started thin but turned into a corner and then an arch. My feet pedalled on lichen as I completed the arch and looked up at a singular white, blank, but short inside corner. I managed to aid it with a few moves and eyed some loose-appearing but solid holds for an eventual free ascent. The crack continued at a nice hand size and slowly narrowed to fingers...




//Another arch, this time right, avoided an overhang and a few aid moves gained a belay at a large hollow flake. Above and right we could see the spectacular "Flake of Destiny", a wavy flake right on the airy edge of the buttress. It was definitely the climactic finish which the route demanded, but the start looked a little loose, and we were tired, and short on time and water, so we opted for a fairly nice 5.8 cracks pitch straight up above the belay. A final short but classic 5.7 hand/fist crack brought up to the base of Thirsty Spire and third class ground.//





Finish off the weekend with a run up the Arches and down North Dome Gully to watch friends on Astroman, and you have a good reason to be tired on monday.


Later,
Zack