UKC

I have some friends up on Cloggy today - off to do White Slab. It got me thinking of the lasso move from many years ago. My climbing partner got it spot on, first go, and of course it was all a bit easier for me anyway, seconding.

Do people still do the lasso?

Or has better gear made it all respectable without shouting Yee-haa!

In reply to Babika:

I once spent about an hour trying to work out what the hell I was supposed to lassoo. Eventually I just traversed right without it. And then back again as it started to rain.

I wear contact lenses now.

In reply to Babika:

My mate was leading that pitch. He said it looked tiny and would be impossible to lasso. He then threw a loop of rope and got it first go. He almost fell off with surprise. He was then too scared to trust it so led the pitch clean anyway. I do not think there is any gear to protect it.

In reply to Babika:

I missed with my first throw. Then a climber appeared up WBE, so further casting would have endangered him. He caught the rope and draped it for me. This was in 1976. Do I need to go back and redpoint it?

In reply to Babika:
BETA ALERT: The trick is to throw a bundle of loops. I've done it both ways and IMO the route has more interest and character if you lasso the spike. Possibly could be better described as a nubbin

Al

In reply to GridNorth:

Yes, nubbin from my recollection as well.
Heavily disguised as part of the rock face from a few metres away

In reply to Babika:
I you cant get the Lasso / want to do it normally there are some sneaky cams by your feet half way for pro. My mate who lead this pitch spent about 15 minutes trying the lasso in vein - its not a big spike!

In reply to ebdon:

It took me 6 or 7 goes, but I agree it's part of the route - you haven't had the Hard Rock experience without the lasso.

In reply to GridNorth:

Grids right.

Throw a bundle of rope into the groove above the spike and when it trickles down over the spike its 50/50 if the rope loops around it.

Even if you can free the traverse, try the throw first, flick it off before you scamper across.

You need to know if you are a first time cowboy.

In reply to Rick Graham:

What's the quote in Hard Rock? Something like, 'The fortunate get it first time, the doomed never'.

In reply to Babika:
We couldn't figure out what we were meant to lasso, even after we had climbed the pitch!

In reply to Babika:

From what I remember, the spike's about the size of a cumberland sausage. Worth lassoing -- even if you do it free -- as you can make the move across on a top rope.

In reply to Babika:

I and my partner spent ages trying to lasso it, decided going diagonally up without it was too scary and ended up traversing a bit lower no problem. Turned out we had been trying to lasso something which wasn't even a spike at all.

In reply to Alex Winter:

That's what I remember doing some decades ago, although it took an embarrassingly long time to lasso it and while climbing there was so much friction I had to stop mid-crux to pull it through. On the plus side it was probably a fairly early free ascent.

In reply to Misha:

I remember - I think it was a case of climb across slab without to much ado to try and find the 'spike' - never did and carried on.