The Rurp Belay Sea of Dreams El Capitan Yosemite
by Dave Diegelman
Title
The Rurp Belay Sea of Dreams El Capitan Yosemite
Artist
Dave Diegelman
Medium
Photograph - Archival Photographs
Description
The Rurp Belay Sea of Dreams El Capitan Yosemite was captured on the first ascent of Sea of Dreams. I had just led a pitch that we named the Z rurp pitch which followed a perfectly backwards "Z" series of rurp cracks. Rurps are the smallest pitons, about 1" in area and about as thick as a butter knife and don't hold a whole lot since the webbing is only rated at 800lbs. The rope drag was so bad that I had to fight hard each placement in order to get enough to continue and I was pretty spent by the time I ran out of rope. I started drilling the bolt anchor and after 20 minutes I barely had a 3/4" hole because of the dense rock. It was, as Jim Bridwell (RIP) proclaimed, "harder than a whore's heart." I yelled down to Jim and Dale that I was planning to put in a single 1.5" bolt and use 5 sequenced rurps for the belay since drilling was so difficult and we only had one remaining drill bit to finish the entire route. Dale, who would be cleaning the pitch, wasn't having any part of it, so we compromised by me drilling another 1" bolt as a back up. The rurps were bulletproof I told them and besides the next section also started out with the same. Finally Dale agreed. I sensed that the photo op was going to be classic so I had Jim put the camera on the tag line. It was so windy when I captured Dale's priceless expression that I couldn't control the webbing that blew into the photo. There wasn't a second chance at the capture so this is what I got.
The Rurp Belay was published first by George Meyer's "Yosemite Climber" book and subsequently featured in several books, magazines and films.
If you're interested in acquiring a mural-sized wall covering of this piece, feel free to inquire via email. It's a part of my Limited Edition series, with only 100 prints available. Please note that the price increases as it sells. Just like all my editions, you can obtain certificates of authenticity by providing proof of purchase and your mailing address. Please send the necessary information to ddiegelman@gmail.com.
Photo & Text All Rights Reserved © Dave Diegelman
Curious about living in Southern Utah?... Here’s what’s AVAILABLE NOW: tinyurl.com/yw26y77p
Uploaded
April 14th, 2023
Statistics
Viewed 279 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/14/2024 at 7:09 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments (1)
There are no comments for The Rurp Belay Sea of Dreams El Capitan Yosemite. Click here to post the first comment.