As requested, Pollux - Crack climbing in Seneca Rocks

[@snooyen]

Can you make a whipper compilation vid if you have enough footage?

[@funwithmadness]

Ah.... This brings back memories. Only tried this once and never made it off of the ground when a nasty thunderstorm rolled up and chased me and partners off of the wall. Good job!

[@emilraev]

- you could pre-place the first piece (nut or cam) from the boulder on the right - plenty of >.4 options, instead of the .1/.2

[@ethanrabe673]

Have you done Marshall’s Madness- crack of dawn?

[@paulm.sullivan4427]

I always would put a shoulder length sling over the big horn right at the top of the crack, which is also the top of Castor, when you get to the ledge. It's a bomber directional for belaying a second from the bolts or to toprope castor and pollux using the bolts and this horn as the anchor. You can back up the sling on the horn with a cam in the crack of pitch 2 as well.

[@rickedeckard2006]

Awesome content as always!

[@LiveLaughJordan-oi6tg]

Great video! Looks fun!

[@davidredshaw448]

Nice to see the challenges of gear placing in close up. Not enough of it on You Tube. And you spared us any annoying rock soundtrack - or even worse, the noodling new age soundtrack.

[@JonSteitzer]

Great lead.

[@PistonsAndPitons]

This was so sick! great climbing. I know you were talking about a lack of feet at some points during the climb. Why not toss in a toe/foot jam? Saw a few opportunities during the climb where they would've been super helpful. Don't take this as a critique, just as a question, as I've never climbed this route.

[@willofwillendorf]

with the same respect-and i don’t know if the flaky jugs were too loose, but there were definitely a couple of sequences where you could have gotten a good heel hook along the edge while traversing between crack systems that could’ve helped you save some energy. to reiterate, i’ve never personally climbed this route, but definitely something to consider or look at if you were looking to repeat the route! the climb was sick without a question, and you killed it per usual!

[@toruko-ishibravo2zulu679]

I saw those same toe and fist jams. Maybe the climber taps his way upward with a white colored metal cane so everybody know's he is blind?

[@matthewchilds1834]

Loved this climb--remember it as one of the test pieces back in the day. Pat Miligan put it up and was way light at calling it 5.9.

[@harryg3889]

Matthew, is that you? This is Harry Graef. I also loved this climb. I remember getting to the very top and looking up at some guy who had been watching. His face was about 3 feet from mine and he said “ there’s a good hold!” I blurted out where? Anyway I did make though pretty gassed. Almost as gassed as when I followed you up Triple S. I think that must have been ‘74-‘76 ish.

[@scottmartin7213]

Love the videos, can you show your anchors please. Thanks

[@toruko-ishibravo2zulu679]

Agree. And the cordless choice that made a hole. If you're not using entirely all-natural anchors.

[@Lax-Sharks]

Ahhh the memories!!! Thank you so much for sharing this. Burning Calves when you head back to NRG?

[@toruko-ishibravo2zulu679]

NRG ? I own a Liquid Force NRG. It pulls my Salish Sea skiff. Departing Metro Detroit for Ohio I'm on that LF Moon Patrol. My 8 meter NRG is deployed for Beaufort Scale winds of #5, #6, and the low end of #7. Ahhh, as another calf-burn. Mostly from tacking turns upriver like a sailboat. Because, it rinses me after filthy buildering or cave climbing.

[@jamesbailey9386]

Nicely done, those Seneca routes are stiff eh.

[@jacobstr]

Early yellow bd 0.2, then a flared purple, backclean, then a bd 0.1, then that nut slides around... oi! I hate trusting my mobility to a single small piece on a climb. Seen those pop too many times. There’s not much margin. Combine an uneven crack, a bit of walking gear and you’re no longer in the safe zone with those lobes. Guy landed on his girlfriends head and broke her nose next to me when his 0.2 failed. Clearly a junk placement, mind you. Another dude popped 2 pieces, fell 60 feet and was about 4 feet off the ground when the rope stopped stretching on Nova Express at Donner Summit. For a split second we all thought we were about to watch someone die. Still love trad though, but I climb with an excessive amount of gear :)

[@ShallWeClimb]

Would that first nut actually considered secure, as the small chunk it's wedged against seems like a chossy bit i would be sketched to trust?

[@ClimbMitBourbon]

Notice how he immediately set another nut above that one. It's the beginning of the route so theoretically you shouldnt be pumping out and falling off right at those first two pieces.

[@FirstPersonBeta]

It seemed pretty solid when I pulled on it but like Miles said, I wasn't 100% it was sure so I just threw another peice in above it.

[@toruko-ishibravo2zulu679]

I climb rotten rock. I tolerate chossy bits but do add more protection. Lava, for example, with razor edges. I no longer do glacier ice.

[@toruko-ishibravo2zulu679]

@@FirstPersonBeta Smart. That's respect.

[@arlie505]

climbed there in the 70s !

[@ClimbMitBourbon]

Dmm offsets are the bees knees. They work well just about anywhere.

[@FirstPersonBeta]

I honestly had a hard time with them. I just don't understand the sizing/geometry yet.

[@DeltaHedra]

@@FirstPersonBeta I think in certain cracks it's easier to place a normal nut compared to an offset. Also do you have another set of nuts paired with your offsets on the same biner? Really really enjoyed this though, great video. Can I ask you where you place the gopro on your helmet? It's positioned perfectly to capture everything while not being too close to rock, it's really pleasant to watch!

[@maximecastilloux9049]

since I got my DMM offset, I pretty much only use them (I carry my normal BD set and a set of WC offset, but my heart is only for DMM now)

[@Strictlywaffles44]

whats the biggest whip you've taken on the .1/.2s?

[@FirstPersonBeta]

I had to go through some past footage to answer this. About 3 years ago, I switched from using TCU's for my smallest cam sizes to the X4's and since then, I'm not sure I've fallen on just one of them (with one exception). Generally, if I can, I'll back up a .1/.2 with a nut. The TCU's on the other hand, I've taken small whips on the #1 (the blue one if I remember correctly) but nothing too large. The one exception was only a few weeks ago. I pulled the .2 during a fall but I wasn't really expecting it to hold. There wasn't any real spots for gear, so it was just serving as a feel good piece. I had a bomber .5 (Purple Totem) only 3 ft below it so I wasn't too concerned if it didn't hold (made for a decent ride though).

[@JJ0n3z]

Pause your vid @ 15:34. Anchor to your 4:00- by your right elbow in the vid.

[@OojimaflipThingummy]

Ohoho if you're doing requests then I know a bunch at the New you should try~~

[@FirstPersonBeta]

One more month here to do so

[@OojimaflipThingummy]

@@FirstPersonBeta Two Bag Face, Springboard, and Ritz Cracker at Fern Buttress for sure. Party in My Mind, Autumn Fire, and Raging Waters at Endless Wall, a little spicier. and New Fangled Dangle because I gotta recommend it to everyone

[@apurposefullife4793]

That green totem looked sketchy

[@maxblair3317]

Sweet video, as always! I gotta say though, this route looks absolutely horrible haha

[@toruko-ishibravo2zulu679]

I prefer limestone solution crack(s). Using my wet muddy boots. By helmet lamp light and no chalk. Which I was doing when my single-jacking a star-drill was not making anchor holes in dome ascent exploration underground. In California, New Mexico, and east of the Mississippi River. Back when I made my own sewn rigging and most retail hardware today had not been invented. I did own a new Rappel Rack after 1970. As body rappel was always painful. Yes, I'd seen brake-bar usage but that that was before 'biner's had threaded gates, and it seemed too risky. I continued to use nylon Prusik knots until the mid-70's. Today, I only own 150 feet of German-made 11mm static for vertical. That's only for when my karst digs find an unknown abyss. Yeah, I drove past Seneca Rocks once, en-route to a cave.

[@ericmix1597]

5.9+, not 5.10. Seneca Man!