The Quest

[Ascentionist]

I want a "like" button for that last post. Amen krampus!

[nemanji]

Not to be condesending, just naive i guess, but i didnt realize doing the quest was that big of a deal. how often do you think it gets done?

For those of us who do not live in the valley or ever care too, for those of us who learned to plug gear in the forgotten corners of the Daniel Boon, who fought the poison ivy and gigantic spiders for a little excitement, for those of us that are not softened by the perfect splitter every ten feet. We often look at these 30 year old routs and wonder about the ones who got on them first. Routs like the quest, insanity ceiling, and tower rock are the test pieces that let us know when we have truly broken a grade. The adventure that you don't get anywhere else in the red. Maybe when you got on it, the rout felt easy, maybe you were already a 5.11 trad climber, for those of us that were not, we fought like hell to make it the top, and won't ever forget it.

No i totally understand. The quest has always been at the top of my list for trad routes at the red. Although ive been lucky to have been able to plug gear in granite and sandstone in various parts of the country, my first trad routes were at the red and bushwacking to old unihabited crags of yesteryear have set the scene for some of my favorite climbing days. Just not knowing much about the trad scene at the red, i didnt realize the quest was as respected as it is. Got a buddy of mine pysched to do it a few weeks ago so i hope to go do it soon.

[krampus]

... first trad routes were at the red and bushwacking to old unihabited crags of yesteryear have set the scene for some of my favorite climbing days. Just not knowing much about the trad scene at the red, i didnt realize the quest was as respected as it is. Got a buddy of mine pysched to do it a few weeks ago so i hope to go do it soon....

cheers man, the trad scene seems to be growing but the classics still remain. I hope you all have fun and if you find it too easy send me a pm and I'd be happy to give you some suggestions.

[LK Day]

I'd moved west in the spring of '77. In the fall of '79 I came home for a family visit and, teaming up alternately with Tom Seibert and Ed Pearsall, we went after a bunch of stuff that was on our combined wish lists. In the period of about two weeks we did first free ascents of The Underling, Jungle Beat, Wimp Out, Insanity Ceiling, Tower of Power, and Gold Digger. I was just a middling 5.10 climber at the time and was totally sketch on several pitches, but everything went first try, no falls. Lots of big spiders everywhere and I recall carrying a "spider wand" and winding up webs as I fought my way up desperate laybacks. Our only failure was on The Quest. The final slot was green and slimy and I couldn't get established in the thing. It was getting late, and in frustration I pulled up on a big hex. Once I had my entire body in the slot, I climbed to the top. A few days later I was back in Colorado and just assumed that Pearsall would go back and free it. I was shocked to learn that the route stood five years before Souders and Hayes bagged the FFA. The Quest remains my proudest failure, if it saw a reasonable amount of traffic (check out the spray list) it wouldn't be so dirty. As others have noted, be mindful of the ledge at the top of the first pitch. It's loose and dangerous.

[Ascentionist]

the trad scene seems to be growing

It's funny how it ebbs and flows. When I started in the mid 90s sport was all the rage, and then Kris and Ray and their posse came along, and a bunch of us from KY Wilderness started getting together and seeking out old classics and new opportunities and it seemed we were on the verge of a trad revolution. Maybe it just happened and then things went back to normal. Obviously a lot has happened in the trad arena since the 90s.

We revisited a lot of obscure routes and areas and dispelled a few of the myths about some routes. Of course there are still those historical mysteries that remain. The internet has been great for the sharing of a lot of that historical information.

Man, makes me want to drag out my rack and go bushwhacking off toward some line with a 1970s FA!