"Free Friends" history

A bit of history on the East Face of Chimney Rock some might find interesting.   Chimney Rock sits at 7000 feet and at least an hour from your car on foot.  There is no easy way in or out if things go badly.

There has been at least one serious accident climbing (rock fall) on the face that was very close to fatal.

The history that follows is how I remember the time and the place.  I'm old now.  This may or may not be historical fact.  Darcy used to call me "the keeper of the rock".  I never assumed it was intended as a compliment :) 

The route?   Originally known as "Yellow Jacket" and far as I know never repeated on aid.  It was eventually renamed "Free Friends" once climbed free.   That took a good bit of doing over several years,  by a number of climbers.

Yellow Jacket,  East face,  FA, Jim Spearman- John Roskelley, 1970, originally rated III 5.7 A3

The 450-foot vertical east face was first climbed in 1961 by Ed Cooper and Dave Hiser. Some points of aid were needed on the upper sections of the route. The route was freed in 1972 by John Roskelley and Chris Kopczynski.  But notably, their ascent in 1967 had left only a single hang from one of Cooper's fixed pitons to be free climbed past.  The '72 climb was also the first free ascent of the east face. Cooper-Hiser (III 5.9-) remained for years "the" route to do on the east face. It is also the easiest route on the east side.   A good portion of the original line has fallen off but the general line/route is now a lot cleaner and still climbable at a moderate standard. 

2nd pitch of the "new" Cooper-Hiser" today.

Yellow Jacket?  These are my own recollections from personal conversations with all involved and noted in my journals at the time.

In the fall of 1977, approaching via the 4th class ramp from the north, to the base of the roof, John Roskelley and Kim Momb climbed the roof pitch and summitted on the north side of the east face.  By Kim's account, John hanging from a poorly placed tube chock at the lip of the roof but with good feet to stand on.  A key detail to freeing the climb.  (worth remembering there were no Friends or large, easily available cams in '77) 

 '79, Tim Ray and Momb do the roof pitch again. Momb taking a big fall above the roof. Both ascents did the 2nd and 3rd pitch of FF...but traversed right to finish on the easier NW face finish.  Both started up the 4th class ramp.   At that point no one had been back  to try the lower, 1st pitch cracks, since Bergner and Nephew. 

1979 Chris Kopczynski followed me actually freeing the roof for the first time (no hangs-no falls) and added the last hand crack pitch on the east face instead of traversing farther north to easier rock.  No hang and no falls only because I now had a small assortment of cams/Friends, and knew a short tube chock could be relied on at the end of the roof.  The key info from John R. that allowed our ascent free.  And I had cams to protect the run out above the roof where Kim had tried to run it out and failed.

Darcy when snowed off the roof and her leading the first free ascent of the lower crack earlier that day.

Midsummer 1980.  Darcy (D. Burns then) Oka lead the first pitch of Yellow Jacket, free, with a slight variation via a hand crack (attempting then avoiding, what would eventually become Illusions and eventually easier to protect with TCUs).  We then climbed through the roof, free again, and are snowed off before summiting. 

Below:   Climber and camera crew on a KXLY and Mt. Gear sponsored climb of Illusions.  Both FF and Illusions start in the same crack where the belayer is, the FF line steps right 1/3 of the way up the crack and joins a hand crack avoiding the finger crack on the left.

Gary Silver and I come back the next week and do it all free ground up adding the R rated free version up the last corner staying on the East Face (if only barely). 

1981 Darcy, Gwain and I come back that Fall and did the 2nd free ascent of the line. Gwain lead the roof. 

June of '82, Mark Colby and I come back and free the original finger crack, using a really ratty fixed pin, that Tom Nephew and Ron Bergner had placed attempting to free the entire line in 1974!  The baby angle pin came out in my hand as I clipped it on lead.  Disconcerting at best. 

From an in-person interview with Nephew in the late '80s Thom told me they had top roped Illusions, from the upper ledge and 4th class ramp in '74 but never lead it. "Bad Pro" the reason.  And enough personal ethics not to pin it out for a FFA.  Same summer the pair did free both Berg's Breeze, It aint Hay, Scuffin Up, East Face Direct and Canary Legs.  Both had earlier climbed a lot in Yosemite and Index.  If they had our "modern 1980's pro" I suspect they would have climbed pretty much ever crack on the rock in '74.

   

To end my personal FF saga, I eventually free soloed Illusions/Free Friends,  Oct 24 1987

One might wonder about the name, "Free Friends"?  Both Kop in particular and Gary to a lesser extent left a good bit of our, (Darcy's and mine)  "friend" rack on that route while following on both respective ascents.  For Darcy and I it was a significant cash outlay to Ray Jardine and his partner in Yosemite the previous year.  It was always a rush to get back to Chimney early every Summer, as soon as the snow allowed to retrieve our "friends".   I really didn't want the route to be named 'Free Friends" but it sure looked to be destined to for a couple of years.