Over the roar of motorcycles this tale was told to me by a very excited Needles climber named Richard. He spun a yarn of folks from the Black Hill Climbers Coalition gathered in the Ten Pins to set top ropes (good thing too, I hear the leads are truely frightening) Our fellas climbed a lot of routes; Hairy Pin, Super Pin, Ten Peg, End Pin, Tee to the Ball. They also climbed Nantucket Sleigh Ride on Moby Dick. Descriptions of all these routes at can be found here.
Yes, there was lead climbing too!
The Warden Locked up Tricouni Nail, a Needles Classic, of which he can be very proud. That's it in the photo.
Mountain Project says this about Simul-rap required in this climb.
This is one of the most classic climbs in the Black Hills, and the descent is a notorious though completely secure simulrappel from the top. No anchors exist on the summit, so the rope must be layed in between two of the horns with one climber rappeling off each side simultaneously. Be sure to maintain good communication with your partner while doing this because you end on opposite sides of the spire. Local climbers harvest booty almost daily from people unfamiliar with this technique.
I'm not sure what it means to "harvest booty" but I bet Ward would want to do that too. Ward was a very bold belayer as well. His climber told him "If I fall between the first and second bolt, you jump off the 20 foot rock, We will both get scraped up but we will both live" Jeez. That's a dynamic belay!
After all that excitement, the threesome went for a refreshing swim in Sylvan Lake, then found Hill City closed to mere autos. You shudda taken the bikes, guys!
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