Vuelva Usted Mañana (Attempt)

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Vuelva Usted Mañana

More Shirley on pitch 2.


Sometime during the night, the wind picked up and our tent was rocking almost as badly as it had in Frey a year earlier. There was also a distant howl above as the air flow, constricted between the towers, picked up speed – Venturi effect enhancing the already potent Harmattan winds. A hazy (stirred up sand and dust) and windy morning greeted us. Nevertheless, we grabbed gear and headed towards the south pillar of Kaga Tondo. Salvador joined us on the initial three pitches of the route Sans Mil (French 5+) that are required to reach a pedestal which runs along the base of the west face. Here we were fully exposed to the wind as it picked up speed in the notch separating Kaga Tondo and Kaga Pamari.

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Vuelva Usted Mañana

P2. Photo by Salvador.


We started up the Vuelva Usted Mañana route that climbs the 3-4 meter wide south prow of Kaga Tondo. The first pitch (6a+ hard) involved some delicate face moves and felt quite hard esp. with the blasting wind. Some 45 meters above it ended on a nice ledge directly below the famous A0 roof: fully horizontal and about 3-4 meters long. I led up and soon found the going quite difficult – hanging from a single bolts at a time and making my way under the roof deeper into the notch-space between the towers. The air flow kept spinning me around and the bolt to bolt transitions with only 2 etriers felt quite strenuous. Should’ve taken it more seriously and brought 4 aiders. I finally reached the belay just above the lip and in the path of what felt like a freight train. Shirley started up the ladder but by the time she reached the horizontal section, she had difficulty reaching and clipping the bolts with the wind spinning her around. After some struggle, we decided to bail…a fairly easy decision in those conditions. I lowered her 60 meters to the platform, pulled the ropes (sacrificing a few QDs) and set up a rappel. It was a curious sight to behold as the 35 meters of twin ropes were suspended perfectly horizontally in the airspace of the notch. A few rappels later we were back in camp and enjoying one of the watermelons. This would turn out to be our only failure of the trip.

Photos

Mali

Another dusty (wind-stirred) morning in camp (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley and Salvador following one of the approach pitches (route Sans Mil) to Vuelva Usted Mañana with shadows of Kaga Pamari and Kaga Tondo in the background (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

On Sans Mil. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Leading one of the (4) pitches of Sans Mil. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley and Salvador were simul-seconding on our twins. This is a mid-pitch photo of Shirley taken by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley and Salvador topping out on the ledge system that runs (partially) along the west face of Kaga Tondo (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley hiking the ledge system to the start of Vuelva Usted Mañana (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Leading pitch 1 of Vuelva Usted Mañana – spectacular!!

Vuelva Usted Mañana

More pitch 1 action (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley on pitch 1 of Vuelva Usted Mañana. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley following pitch 1 with the “chimney” (19 meter chasm where the tyrolean cable is) between Kaga Tondo and Kaga Pamari visible below.

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley nearing the top of pitch 1.  Another amazing shot by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

More Shirley on pitch 1 (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Leading pitch 2 of Vuelva Usted Mañana (A0; Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Pitch 2 bolt ladder. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Bolt ladder through a perfectly horizontal roof (A0) of Vuelva Usted Mañana. We should’ve treated this more seriously and brought 4 aiders and possibly adjustable daisies. The horizontal aiding in very strong wind conditions was harder than the A0 rating would suggest. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Looking back at Shirley from the lead of pitch 2 ladder. Click photo for some “ambiance video.”

Vuelva Usted Mañana

More pitch 2 action. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Nearing the lip of the roof on Vuelva Usted Mañana (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

About to pull over the lip – what an amazing fin of rock! Photo by Slavador (Dec. 2016).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Vuelva Usted Mañana. Pitch 2. Salvador photo (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Shirley starting up the bolt ladder on Vuelva Usted Mañana (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

The horizontal section in the wind tunnel gave her issues and we bailed – only failure of the trip. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

More Shirley on pitch 2.

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Vuelva Usted Mañana. Photo by Salvador (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Bailing. That’s 35 meters of our twin ropes suspended horizontally by the Venturi-enhanced Harmattan.

Vuelva Usted Mañana

…yeah, just a little breezy (Dec. 2015).

Vuelva Usted Mañana

Rapping off (Dec. 2015).

Mali

Shirley hiking back down to camp with the view of backsides (west side) of Wamgel Debridou, Wamderdou, and Suri Tondo (Dec. 2015).

Mali

Salvador prepping another watermelon in our high camp (Dec. 2015).

Mali

Camp life. Another dusty day (Dec. 2015).

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