Was on P2 of MF last weekend - wonder why this doesn't get done more often, great pitch - and after the roof I wandered left to across a thin traverse to some schwag tat anchor of fixed cams. Afterwards I read that the pitch goes up to the ledge, can anyone tell me were we on some sort of variation or wander onto another climb?

Thanks - and this pitch in question was the final one of Cam Pavone's (he guides for Marty) quest for 45 pitches in a day to celebrate his 45th. He started 11pm Saturday night and climbed straight through with only 2 falls - not bad for 45. If anyone knows him send along your congrats, and thanks to the huge group who turned out to support him.

-foto

Sounds like a variation (and a fun birthday party.) I remember the pitch going pretty much straight up to the gt ledge (as straight as any Gunks climb anyway), up a bunch of nice steep jugs after the roof, after which we walked left and rapped off of 2.5 Pines.

My understanding is that old tat anchor was put there to allow a TR of the Mother's Day Party roof with a 70m(?)rope years ago, I didn't trust it to rap from after MF's second pitch and went up the large flake just right of that, which I believe to be the original line. Harder to get back to the ground since there is no fixed anchor up there. Maybe nearby, or go up to the 3 Pines station.

After the roof, you step right, climb up to a very prominent horizontal crack (maybe 12 feet up?), then traverse, a few feet straight left and then diagonally up and left, eventually to a right-facing inside corner with a tree at its base that is probably directly over Birdie Party. Up this corner to the GT ledge.

The traditional descent is to solo down 3 Pines. As if, nowadays.

The reason people don't do this excellent pitch is the bolts at the first belay that are part of the conversion of the Mac wall into a climbing gym.

... but there was a fixed anchor there before the Preserve installed bolts, no?

I saw a (Canadian, I think) couple rapping o'er the Mac Wall this summer - they declined to stop at the tat, and baaaaaarely made it to the anchor above Birdie Party - it took them maybe a half hour to an hour of dangling, trying to swing in. Didn't look like fun!

Seems like that intermediate tat would be best gone altogether, lest it tempt the less-aware into relying on it {shudder}.

I've always done the second pitch. The way I do it, it ends right about at the start of The Dangler.

GO

There are many anchors that require two ropes to reach the ground. Yes, in some cases, a single 70 will reach the ground, but that's a call for the climber to make....or bright neon signs...not sure which I'd prefer.

Yeah, I did something like that the first two times I did that pitch. Pulled the roof and immediately went left in search of more gear, didn't find much, moved up, and diagonalled back up right. Only on the third go did I pull the roof, keep going up maybe 6 feet, and find the obvious "Move up to a horizontal" described in the Williams book. It was a "well, duh!" moment.

i always felt MF would be best served by moving the bolts up past the roof move. then it would combine the best of P2 with p1