First Ascents 756 routes
P1 of Agony
From Up Rope. Vol 20, No. 10, October 1965 (1965-11).
Monday dawned.a bit on the cloudy side, but the overcast broke off quickly to offer another beautiful day for climbing. Though many bodies departed for home early, and several took to horseback riding, the diehards were again heading for the rocks. Of prime interest was the reassault of "No Name Yet", this time with George Livingstone, Tom (Blevins), and Bobby (Adams?). After alternating leads for several hours, they finally got to the chimney. Since light was beginning to dwindle it was decided to traverse to the top of Triple S instead of continuing the route up. A significant amount of.hardware was left behind as proof of the effort. The suggested name. was G.B.T. to indicate the leaders hardy' enough to put it up. Another suggested name was Agony. This was felt to be quite appropriate, especially when a full day of climbing might reveal in the summit register "The Agony and the Ecstasy!"
· Up Rope Volume 20, Number 10; Oct 1, 1965 (1965-11.pdf)Army soldiers according the register read by Jan and Herb Conn:
"First ascent, East Face under summit, April 28, 1944 - Private John Stearns, P.F.C., George Kolbuchar, Sgt. Bob Hecker, Sgt. Jim Crooks"
DESCENT
· Climbing Seneca Rock (October 1939) · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaThis is the first recorded ascent found to date.
· In Spirit Land (AAJ 1950)This might the first free ascent according to Seneca 1971 citing Up Rope Volume 16, Number 8; Aug 1, 1961; search for "Extasy" and "Jim and Joe F."
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia · Up Rope Volume 16, Number 8; Aug 1, 1961 (1961-08.pdf)Seneca 1971 states these climbers are "probably" the first ascentionists.
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaVariation 34b: Pitch 2a
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaVariation 34b, but see Chris' Lead.
Webster & Pleiss (Seneca 1975) and O'Brien & Weinmann (Seneca 2021) mention that Scoredos, Jacobs, and Britton were the first to climb Ecstasy Junior - but do not provide a reference.
Robinson (Seneca 1971) does provide evidence for this trio climb a variation of Ecstasy Junior - but not the route itself.
· Seneca, The Climber's Guide · Up Rope Volume 11, Number 4; Sep 24, 1954 (1954-11.pdf) · Rock Climbing Along the Potomac (June 1944) · Seneca Rocks, West Virgina - A Climber's Guide
"Following Army Pitons" (Seneca 1971)
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaNorth Face, High Route
· A Climber's Guide to the Teton RangeSeneca 2021 Edition has it marked as 1971, while Seneca 1971 has the FA as July 4, 1971. However, the John Christian photo collection has the date as July 7, 1971, the date used here.
· John Christian Photo Collection · Seneca, The Climber's Guide · Gendarme Missing, Markwell Suspected · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaBetty is not included in the FA in the Seneca Guide from 2021, but she is listed as part of the team in Up Rope 1954-07 (Vol. X, No. 20, May 2, 1954) and in the Seneca Guide from 1971.
· Up Rope Volume 10, Number 20; May 2, 1954 (1954-07.pdf) · Seneca, The Climber's Guide · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaPossible First Ascent
· Up Rope Volume 5, Number 4; Sep 28, 1948 (1948-18.pdf) · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaThis was 5 days before Rex died on Mount Howson.
· The Northern Coastal Ranges of British Columbia: A Climber's GuideThis is "Lunge N' Plunge" in the Seneca Guidebook.
· Seneca, The Climber's GuideThe North Ridge is a long snow covered edge running from the col between Damocles and Tiedeman.
· New Peaks in the Coast Mountains"Following Army Pitons" (Seneca 1971)
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaSeneca 2021 lists John Stannard as the FA in 1971, however, Orange-Aid is listed as a Seneca climb in Up Rope Volume 34, Number 9; Sep 1, 1969. Robinson (Seneca 1971) lists John Stannard and Party as first free ascent in 1971.
· Seneca, The Climber's Guide · Up Rope Volume 34, Number 9; Sep 1, 1969 (1969-09.pdf) · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaUsing aid
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia"Following Army Pitons" (Seneca 1971)
· Seneca, The Climber's GuideVariation of Pitch V, a: Climb jam crack in the north edge of the flake to the top.
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaVariation of Pitch V, b: Climb west face of flack at outside corner to small hang, pass on right.
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaP2 only, P1 was FFA in 1975
· Seneca, The Climber's GuideA pun on "Roo".
· Seneca, The Climber's Guide · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaSeneca 2021 had the FA date as "1971". Since Seneca 1971 was more specific with "October 1969", we have used the earlier date.
· Seneca, The Climber's Guide · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaSeneca 1971 reports this FA as happening on the same weekend as Satisfaction #1 - but that is not reported in the Up Rope it references. Therefore, we provide the climbers, but not the date.
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaFirst ascent on SKIS!
· Summer Ascents of Columbia, North Twin and FarbusIt may have been July 13th - it seems Rex lost a day in the telling of the story.
· New Peaks in the Coast Mountains"Reputedly Fritz Weisnner and party, ca. 1960s." Seneca guide, 1971
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaAccording to the Seneca's guide, The Con Man was whoever talked Howard into leading this nightmare.
· Seneca, The Climber's GuideThe 1971 Seneca guide has the date as May 28, 1971 - but Up Rope has the FA on Sunday May 29, 1971, the date used here.
· Up Rope Volume 15, Number 8; Jul 1, 1960 (1960-07.pdf) · A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia · Seneca, The Climber's GuideThanksgiving Day
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaP1 variation - from the ramp in the first pitch, climb directly up inside corner for 20 ft and rejoin regular route at end of traverse.
· A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, West VirginiaLabor day weekend - this was a multi-day FA. Arnold led the first pitch - past Army pitons. Johnny then extended up the crack and semi-chimney. The next day, Labor Day, Earl went all the way up.
· Seneca, The Climber's Guide