Ok can’t seem to search anything here on Zion, RR and I are going to drag our lazy asses up some walls out there. Have been reading beta here and there. Were forgoing any bivy’s and are set on doing the routes in 1 – 1.5 days (I.e. fix couple of pitches one day, send the next) Prodigal Sun is a no brainier on that approach.

Couple of questions on Space Shot

Anyone do it in a day, or fix the 1st couple of pitches? It seems with the rolling lose couple of pitches in the beginning of Space Shot it would make fixing ropes a pain.

Is there a ledge at or near the start of P3 or P4 to crash out on, then fire the rest the next day?

You might want to find Ron Olevsky (piton ron) on supertopo.com.... I think he has his email listed in his profile.

Thanks, I heard of piton ron, he did a few of the first accents out there. Was looking for any homegrown info from any users lurking around these parts.

when you going? want a 3rd?

I did Prodigal Son a couple of falls ago. Didn't think we were too slow but ended up fixing 2 pitches, spending a night and still humped out the pig and a pack in the late evening. Granted, we had short days, but it wasn't as fast as I had thought we would have gone. The last pitch sucked trying to get the load up the ramp. PM me if you want to chat.

smike clean out your pm's

Almost forgot, bring a set of .5-#2 tri-cams. These were key.

Actually looks like you are the one in need of a PM cleaning...I Tried sending you one.

wow this is the 2nd time i deleted all my pm's. let's see now how it works

still couldn't pm you though

Tico lives out there these days.

I've done Prodigal and Space Shot. If you fix the first two real pitches of Prodigal, you should be able to finish it in a day. There is a good topo of it at the ranger's station by chris mac.

I never used tricams on that climb, but a big one might be nice.

I don't really remember Space Shot other than that it was really frigging hot. Moonlight Buttress looks really nice, I think you'd be better off doing that...

Thanks Gram

I haven't done spaceshot, though my brother has so I am using his beta. You should be able to fire it in a day if you are at all efficient with aid. If not, you'll know by the end of the first aid pitch. There are a couple of moves on that pitch that give lots of people problems. You could sleep there, but i'd be inclined to fix a line or two on the aid pitches, rap back down to the ground, and then reclimb the first pitches in the morning since they go so quick.

Touchstone is wonderful for what you are trying to do. The upper free climbing is great.

At this time of year geting over to moonlight and prodigal are the crux. I don't bother climbing on that side of th river in the spring because it sucks so much to cross.

"Couple of questions on Space Shot

Anyone do it in a day, or fix the 1st couple of pitches? It seems with the rolling lose couple of pitches in the beginning of Space Shot it would make fixing ropes a pain.

Is there a ledge at or near the start of P3 or P4 to crash out on, then fire the rest the next day? "

I've fixed the first couple of pitches both times I've been on it, mainly to save our spot in line. If you do fix pitches, include the first aid pitch (the one that starts with the bolt ladder) This will save you time the following day and take the time pressure off while you dial your system. Drop a rope from the top of the free pitch if needed, or stash it up there and get it the following day. You could sleep on the lower parts of the route (after the first pitch there is the better ledge but a so-so ledge right at the base of the bolt-ladder) Be sure to take a hook,offset nuts and ball-nuts in addition to other junk. This route is great for short fixing due to fixed intermediate belays on some of the pitches. Don't let the drilled pin belays freak you out, they seem kinda solid. Bring a small hammer
(a 14 oz smaller impact hammer works great) to tap out the stuck nuts and reap the other stuck gear.

Hahaha... That's what I like to hear!

On Prodigal there is one mandatory hook move, for which we used a talon. Also important is that Prodigal doesn't get a ton of sun until later in the year. I think we had about 20 minutes of sun as we left bivy for the whole day, but at least we were warm to take down the ledge. That was in early November.
For a fun day, you might try some canyoneering. Info is availabe at backcountry desk in the visitor's center. We did Mystery Canyon, which the reports cal a 8-9 hour trip, in about 5 hours without rushing. This time of year, the water will be cold and require wet suits/boots.
Good to see you all skiing Saturday while we were silly enough to get in a pitch, Smike.

Thanks Steve, exactly what I was hoping to get beta wise. Don't have any HB offsets (most topos call for double sets) but we have a set of Metolius offsets, and may be able to score a set of HB’s Were bringing the rest of the bag of tricks as you noted. We hopefully can free a lot of the 5.10 and under pitches to speed things up as well.

Hey Chip,
Good to run into you and Chris at the uberfall. Gotta say love the dedication……

The current sole distributor of the HB offset nut is Yosemite Mountaineering. I'm not sure that they are called HB anymore but they will know what you are talking about. They are being manufactured now by a Yos local who bought the rights.

They sure are still called HB's

Now I just wish someone had picked up the helmet line that HB made... Most comfortable suspension system of any I've tried on.

Hey Smike, here's some pictures that might give you an idea of the route



The first free pitch to the fixed drilled angles belay



The smaller ledge below the first aid pitch (bolt ladder)



First aid pitch bolts, hooks moves and small stuff (Did this pitch the first day, the blue skies didn't last long)



The 2nd aid pitch. (Note the blue lowe ball, I wish I had the next one up in size (Yellow??) It would have helped)

Soon after these shots were taken the clouds rolled in. One pitch below the Earth Orbit Ledge, the skies opened up and it started to rain (and rain and rain, turned out it was a 20 hour downpour) So we bailed (headed to Red Rocks and did Rainbow Buttress, another amazing route). Rapping off a traversing aid route was interesting but a great learning experience. The rock in Zion turns to crap when wet. Most people give the rock 24 hours to dry out after the rain stops.