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viciado
May 20, 2011, 4:11 PM
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I wrote this up for something else, but them more I thought about it, it seemed appropriate to this site. Hopefully it is in line with what GBurns was looking for in the OP... here's to the weekend warriors.
It hadn’t rained for two days and the sun was shining, beckoning, even teasing me to come out to play. I tried to ignore her pleas and was successful for the most part. Then at lunch a phone call changed my need to resist. I had the afternoon free! Cramming the rest of my packed lunch into my gullet, I drove through the noontime traffic dodging pedestrians who acted like I was driving on the sidewalk. Driving in this North African city is more of an art than a science. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and “tootled”(actual word on the driving test) the horn as if to mark a rhythm and continued the slow dance down the road. Finally, I hit the roundabout that leads to the “open” boulevard and home. Inside, I change clothes, grabbed the waiting daypack, scratched a quick note to my other half and hopped back into the car.
As the jeep growled up the steep hill past the King’s palace and I felt the magnetic pull of the rock (Faster! Faster!). But sometimes faster does not result in the shortest travel time. I carefully watched my speedometer to avoid a lengthy delay with the Gendarme. Fortunately he just saluted-waved (a strange motion reserved for foreigners) me on and I slowly rolled ahead. Once I was allowed to accelerate, I passed several tourists taking pictures and more of the ubiquitous two-wheeled small cylinder “motors”. I got to the cape in good time. Slotting the jeep between a couple of trees, I waved and greeted the goat herd come guardian who would watch the jeep while I was “up the hill” and headed for the trail. The owner of the access property had warned me about the wild boars before, but I had never really worried about them. They make a mess of the trail digging up plants to get at the tasty roots, but pretty much are out of sight out of mind. I heard some of them thrashing around in the heavy brush and was sure they would continue to just make noise. I had once or twice seen a couple on the nearby road at dusk. They are not as big as an Arkansas razorback, but certainly could do some damage if they felt so inclined. The trail narrowed and began to rise steeply. I relaxed knowing that the tusked critters preferred to stay on the flatter down lower. As I approached the actual cliff face, I heard the cry of a medium sized falcon. A big cousin of the small American Kestrel it had taken flight and was wing hovering over my head. Fearing that I had been the one who provoked it and that I might not get to climb after all due to the location of the nest, I watched carefully. I saw with relief that it was fighting with the larger neighboring ravens and trying to fool, them into thinking the nest was on the crag nearer to the ocean. They weren’t falling for it, but apparently didn’t really care. It was just another normal everyday “argument” over nothing. I moved on and neared the spot where I would have to turn to catch the trail to the top of the crag. As I rounded the switch-back I spotted the falcon’s mate hunkered down on the nest. They had a new spot this year in a large deep slot which I imagine is easily defended from the allegedly marauding ravens. Given the contents of the pellets I had seen below last year’s nest, I suspect the crows might have more to worry about from the falcons than vice versa.
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Still watching the amazing flight antics of the birds taking turns dive bombing and fleeing from one another, I topped out following the trail to the cliff edge and located the bolt hanger I would use to secure myself as I set the top anchor for my TR burns. I slotted a cam into a nearby crack in addition to clipping the bolt and proceeded to build an anchor over the edge and set the ropes. The ends tossed and rap device attached, I added a prussic back-up. It was my first time out for solo this year and I felt inclined to double up on everything. That is when the nagging started. It would take at least an hour for anyone to get to me… assuming I was conscious and could actually get my phone out of the chalk bag and use it to call for help should I screw up. As I began to lower and weight the rappel device, recent discussions on rc.com floated through my head… rappelling off the end of ropes, systems similar to mine resulting in ground fall, experienced climbers having fatal accidents due to inattention… what the heck was I doing? I gingerly settled onto the ropes and checked yet again. Everything was still in place, but the accidents and analysis thread kept nagging at my brain. I looked one more time at the rappel device and back-up loops then unclipped from the safety line. In spite of the imagined nagging shouts of “n00b” and “gumby” that echoed along with the discussion of the TR solo accident report, I arrived without incident at the base of the route on which I intended to run laps. I had taken advantage of the rappel to inspect the deeper cracks for snakes (supposedly all harmless here in the North) and the dangerous, but rare arachnids that would warrant an immediate trip to the sketchy hospital. It all looked good, which was encouraging in spite of the strange rc.com static buzzing in my ears.
I weighted the TR line with the backpack and moved the separate rappel line out of the line of movement. I looked up at the rock face I had led once on gear and remembered the spot about 3 meters up where the pro was thin and the move to better pro was tricky… not hard, just not comfortable. I usually enjoy that kind of challenge, but was strangely glad today to be on TR. As a gentle sea breeze rustled the lush green leaves of the surrounding trees and brought the scent of salt water, the aroma mixed with the earthy smell of the forest. Breathing deeply of the rich odors, I reached for the rock and then exhaled slowly. “Yur gunna die” taunted me as I ran through the opening moves past a low bouldery crux and off tiny feet to a left handed horizontal ring lock on up to a right handed sloping horizontal. The self belay set-up was running smoothly, but I looked often to check it. I crossed through with my left hand feeling as though my feet were going to blow at any second. Just like the nagging rc.com voices, the anticipated problem was just annoying static. The solid left hand led to good matched toe points in the previous finger slot and an uncrossed right hand. I stared at the blank face in front of me trying to remember the route and wondered what I had been thinking leading this thing on gear. I had clearly lost my lead head over the long, wet winter. I found (then remembered) the sharp vertical right hand fingertips crimp and the left hand feature that pretended to be a small sloping hold, but was more of a crease in an otherwise featureless spot (If only this were granite!). I briefly wondered whether the small right hand feature would still accept the abuse of a climber pulling on it in ways nature would never do. In order to initiate the upwards move I placed my right foot on an unseen smear set back in a slight indent from which had once dropped a big block -- I could see it on the ground below the swaying backpack. Wondering just how solid the rock was, I flagged my left foot out to gently smear and reduce the pressure on the textured, but minimal left hand and hopefully keep enough pressure on the right hand. I made the delicate rise pushing on the right foot smear and arching slightly to maintain position. Oops! I was holding my breath. Breathing gently, I moved my right hand up to the indented spot and found the solid but less-than-first-knuckle in cut crimper. Shifting my left hand slightly, I side pulled on the sloper and smeared fully with my left foot and then added a right foot back stepping smear to bring the left foot up to match the minimal left hand on the sloper to become a decent foot. With the right hand and left foot on reasonably positive holds, I felt comfortable enough to look around for alternative pro possibilities for a future second ascent on gear. In spite of the now well featured rock, I concluded that it was going to have to remain an “R” rating and I would just have to continue to double up below in the thin horizontals to try to prevent decking when marginal gear pulled. The next three meters of the route offers up two options. One is straightforward and to my mind uninteresting even though it turns you to face a worthwhile ocean view. The other option runs under a small overhang (not big enough to call it a roof) followed by two meters of slight overhang. For this first lap, I chose the right hand roof. Where the wannabe roof joins the lower wall, there is a horizontal thin fingers seepage crack that offers nice pro OR three fingers when dry, which it was. To the right is a larger vertical finger slot that accepts all four fingers but is an awkward placement that inspires no confidence. Since I was not on gear I had the luxury of choosing the thin finger slots without worrying about which was better for the cam. The three finger slot makes it easy to pull through to the thin-ish but comfortable face moves after the roof. I don’t think I appreciated the moves so much because I was still scouting for better placements. Besides a nasty old (WW2?) pin that will probably come out by hand this summer, there was no reward to the search. I would have been better off just enjoying the climb. If I wanted to climb the line clean again, it was going to be on the edge of “R” until the upper section where the options are more plentiful. Cruising through the upper section I recalled the previous feeling of disappointment that there wasn’t more to this line and I clipped the anchor in order to switch to rappel. After another uneventful 23 meter rappel, I ran up the line again taking my time to enjoy it. After the subsequent rappel, I then shifted my start to the right a bit to climb the more continuous and heavily dimpled aręte. Lastly I squirmed up the easy, pock marked OW just to the right of the aręte that narrows to a fist crack in the last two meters to the anchor. Sweat running into my eyes, I clipped in to the still hanging safety line and topped out. While breaking down the anchor I reflected on the whole experience. I was feeling good having made a much needed and unexpected break in the weekly routine. The static that had distracted me had dissipated, but it bothered me that I had allowed it to come along in the first place. Stuffing the last of the gear into the bag I looked at my watch and headed down the trail. I would be home in time to help with dinner! That’s extra points with the wife! Encouraged by how the timing had worked out, I wondered if I might be able to manage a couple quick burns if I took longer lunch breaks the next week. With my head in the clouds as I was planning my next escape, I was startled by a sudden loud grunting to my right. A pair of beady eyes glared at me from the bushes and a white of a pair of gleaming tusks flashed menacingly. I shouted but the beastie didn’t budge. I dropped my backpack from my shoulders to let it hang down in front of me like a bull fighter’s cape. I guess I was thinking that the gear might pad me if the boar decided to do something drastic to protect his truffles or palm hearts or whatever he was digging up. I worked my way past him keeping the pack between me and his snuffling snout and headed down the trail towards the farm house. I kept an eye on him and he returned the favor until the farm dogs came loping down the trail. I glanced quickly and saw that there were three of them… big ones… and then looked back to see what the boar was doing. He had disappeared and the dogs shot into the brush to take chase. I didn’t wait around to see the end result. This was a whole different scene than the falcon and the crows. It was somehow a bit more personal. I shook my head to clear the haze that had obviously formed there and headed down the trail.
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I tipped the guardian and pointed the jeep towards home. The details of the drive home other than deciding to take the longer way rather than dealing with the Gendarme again are pretty hazy. I felt a bit bipolar in my musings. I was so energized by finally getting out and having some quality time on the rocks, but as I remembered the self-talk I was amazed that I had even walked out the door. Two years ago, I lived where I could climb three or four times a week year round. I had forgotten what climbing out of the winter slump was like. Working to establish a new business in combination with the heavy rains this past winter meant a long lay-off from climbing. Winter training on the system wall and cycling helped keep the body fit, but my mind had gotten out of shape. More importantly, my spirit had drifted. In an effort to feed my climbing habit (viciado = addicted) in place of getting to the rock I indulged in reading about climbing… about safety and trad versus sprad versus sport, how n00bs and gumbies are all gonna die… how experienced climbers got hurt and (too many this year) DID die. This is all helpful information and can help us make informed decisions, but in the end, climbing is not about tradition vs innovation or even ethics vs aesthetics. These issues are important only in so much as they influence our collective enjoyment of an activity. They become largely irrelevant when I am out soloing. I had allowed the static from those discussions to enter into a place that is normally a private haven. Just like the crows and the falcons or the boar and the dogs, it is normal to have disagreements and knock down drag out arguments. It’s a part of life. But there is a time and a place for it. There are a whole lot more important things to which I can give attention… the cry of the falcon and the flash of its wings, the smell of the ocean mixed with forest humus, rock dust and sweat; the feel of the rock under hand and foot, the pull of gravity and the tension from the friction that resists gravity, the wild mix of Spring colors on the mountain and even wild boars rooting through the dirt. Next time out, I’m turning up the volume up those. Sure, I’ll still double check everything… twice, but I hope I can keep the ghosts of rc.com in cyberspace where they belong.
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Gmburns2000
May 22, 2011, 4:17 PM
Post #602 of 1159
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That had a bit of everything in it. Yeah, that's an excellent contribution. Thanks!
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viciado
May 22, 2011, 6:47 PM
Post #603 of 1159
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No, thank YOU!  Glad you liked it.
It was fun to write up even though it was originally for clients at work. The folks that I wrote it for seemed to like it and encouraged me to post it up...
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dagibbs
Jun 6, 2011, 4:03 PM
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I finally got down to the Adirondacks.
Saturday morning, got up bright and early to meet a friend for 6;30am, and drove down to Chapel Pond Slab -- about a 3.5 hour drive from Ottawa.
Got there, and there were, not surprisingly due to the beautiful weather, people already on both the routes we were interested in doing (Empress and Regular Route), so we decided to go with Regular Route. It is a lovely, long (800' / 240m), generally easy, and reasonably well protected slab route. Unfortunately, the pair ahead of us was moving really slowly -- a couple times we'd have both of us up to the next belay before their leader had even started on the next pitch.
We finally got done, hiked down and looked at the time -- 5pm -- time enough for another run up the cliff is we were moving better -- and this time there was nobody ahead of us. We decided to climb Empress, using something close to V1 at the bottom (avoiding the jog right, then traverse left again) up to the end of pitch 4. Pitch 4 has a true slab section -- about 90' of completely protection free slab, which goes at about 5.5 (though it felt a bit soft for 5.5 to me, but I wasn't leading it). After Pitch 4, we chose the Greensleeves variation for the finish -- which involves an interesting short rightward traverse (probably the hardest moves of the day) over a steep slab section to a long rising corner with a crack in the back. This went nicely, to the top.
At the top, the usual descent is to traverse rightwards to the top of the regular route, and descend the north gully -- but the traverse (accross slab, again) was soaking wet -- so we decided we'd just finish up into the trees, then bushwhack our way accross. This became a bit more than we bargained for. (Aren't the descents often that?) But, we did eventually find our way to the regular descent and back to the car for around 8:30pm. Then, home by about 12:30am.
It was a great day of climbing, with beautiful weather, on gorgeous rock. If you're looking for long, easy, slab climbs -- Chapel Pond Slab is a good choice. (And a good non-intimidating introduction to multi-pitch climbing, too. Especially Regular Route with its comfortable belay positions.)
And, Sunday, I did a bit of local cragging, too.
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gblauer
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Jun 6, 2011, 5:31 PM
Post #605 of 1159
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Sounds like a fun outing.
Not sure I would like un-protected slab. I really do like gear. Was it nerve wracking?
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dagibbs
Jun 6, 2011, 6:15 PM
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gblauer wrote: Sounds like a fun outing. Not sure I would like un-protected slab. I really do like gear. Was it nerve wracking?
It was a fun outing. I didn't lead the long unprotected bit, my climbing partner did -- and he said it wasn't bad, and that (at the end of it) he had really enjoyed the pitch. In following it, there wasn't a move on it that felt at all tense, of course, I was (essentially) on top-rope.
I did run things out on other pitches I led, for example, the first pitch we did in a 65m (about 200') run (it was pitch 1 and a chunk of pitch 2), and I placed 4 pieces on that.
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darkgift06
Jun 7, 2011, 4:01 PM
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I finally got some photos of the inukshuk we built up at Skaha Bluffs a few weeks ago.
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gblauer
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Jun 7, 2011, 4:52 PM
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hey, that's cool.
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losbill
Jun 12, 2011, 2:39 PM
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Viciado - Thoroughly enjoyed your TR. It told a story and brought your outing to life for me. Good job.
DaGibbs - Long drive but seems you got a pretty full day in. I used to day trip the Gunks, just short of 4 hours one-way, but that got real old, real quick. Gail slab climbing is a different sort of beast. My first time on a real slab was at Whitehorse with two very experienced slab climbers. Each pitch they offered me the lead, each pitch I deferred commenting I needed just a bit more time to get used to it. Somewhat unnerving about going without a gear placement for 30, 40, 50 feet or more. Finally after about 6 pitches or so I look up and see a long flake and then a crack up a headwall. "Okay, guys. I'll take this one!" So much for getting used to runout slab.
Chad -- Cool pics. Very artistic structures!
Spent the last two weekends at the Gunks working out the early season kinks. One "highlight" was a route-finding mini-epic on Hans Puss (5.7). The first pitch goes up a big, overhanging, juggy, left-facing corner then breaks right out on to a face. I ended up going too high before exiting right ended up 12 feet above the belay. The second pitch was supposed to traverse far right. Decided to move right, create a anchor bring my second up and sort things out. Moved right, no gear; moved further right, pretty dicey 5.8ish terrain, still no gear. Further right, peered around a corner, "knowing" there would be a nice fat crack to anchor in. No such luck, just smooth rock covered by an ocean of untrod lichen. I look back. Gee I'm 25 feet from my last gear. Tail between my legs I head back very, very carefully. Half way back there is a left-facing corner with a finger crack that will take gear above my head. Okay I will bail out here to the GT Ledge. I start up to the base of the corner and someone shouts up that I'm headed up to the P2 crux (5.10a) of Feast of Fools. Okay. That's not going to work. I am just starting to do 5.9's at the Gunks. I finally give up. Back to the gear I placed when I gained the face. Downclimb to the belay and bring my second up with a ton of rope drag. Duh!
Although I am not near mid-season climbing form, I am in mid-season s'more eating form. Thanks, Gail! Got a little sloppy however. Had my headlamp out last night and there was some sort of sticky white stuff on it. Took me a second to make the connection to last weekend's campfire!
(This post was edited by losbill on Jun 13, 2011, 11:20 AM)
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jakedatc
Jun 12, 2011, 3:18 PM
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losbill wrote: Spent the last two weekends at the Gunks working out the early season kinks. One "highlight" was a route-finding mini-epic on Hans Puss (5.7). The first pitch goes up a big, overhanging, juggy, left-facing corner then breaks right out on to a face. I ended up going too high before exiting right ended up 12 feet above the belay. The second pitch was supposed to traverse far right. Decided to move right, create a anchor bring my second up and sort things out. Moved right, no gear; moved further right, pretty dicey 5.8ish terrain, still no gear. Further right, peered around a corner, "knowing" there would be a nice fat crack to anchor in. No such luck, just smooth rock covered by an ocean of untrod lichen. I look back. Gee I'm 25 feet from my last gear. Tail between my legs I head back very, very carefully. Half way back there is a left-facing corner with a finger crack that will take gear above my head. Okay I will bail out here to the GT Ledge. I start up to the base of the corner and someone shouts up that I'm headed up to the P2 crux (5.10a) of Feast of Fools. Okay. That's not going to work. I am just starting to do 5.9's at the Gunks. I finally give up. Back to the gear I placed when I gained the face. Downclimb to the belay and bring my second up with a ton of rope drag. Duh!
Haha.. Doc went too high the first time we did Hans Puss.. but someone told him so he could back down that roof and traverse over to the bolts easy enough. I had P2 and similarly wasn't sure where to go upward. There is a shallow L facing corner that you go up at.. i had a yellow TCU a bit below me and had to do a pretty committed move on not great holds to get up to some nice jugs. (i went too far at first and got to a bush that i plugged a few cams and hung for a few mins to examine the situation haha) P3 is kinda fun.. bouldery moves up to the ledge then an interesting roof at the top.
I followed Ed up P2 of FoF and you should be very glad you didn't give that a go.. that corner is pretty thin and pulling the lip out of it was burly for sure.
My weekend was short.. hit up rumney friday. did 9 routes.. including TRing Tropicana as one giant pitch. some friends led it as 2 pitches but the 2nd didn't 'want to do P2 so they both lowered off and i did the whole thing. hung on P2.. that thing is hard for 11a.
got rained out of saturday and sunday.. came home saturday morning instead.
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dagibbs
Jun 13, 2011, 2:46 AM
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losbill wrote: DaGibbs - Long drive but seems you got a pretty full day in. I used to day trip the Gunks, just short of 4 hours one-way, but that got real old, real quick. Gail slab climbing is a different sort of beast. My first time on a real slab was at Whitehorse with two very experienced slab climbers.
Whitehorse ledge is on my list of places to make it to, but the drive is even longer -- would have to be a stay-over trip.
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Gmburns2000
Jun 13, 2011, 1:46 PM
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Bill, that story seems to be too typical for P2 on Hans Puss. I almost went up FoF before traversing right (just thought that FoF was the small corner I was supposed to be looking for. Took me a while to find it, but I eventually found the right way. But yeah, that was an adventure. I think Kurt got sunburned at the belay that day.
BTW - that traverse right on P1 is pretty easy, but it's WAY scarier when you first get to it. I remember Kurt leading it and me saying, come on, it cant be that hard. Then I got there as the second and I asked him, "are you sure this is the right way to go?"
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sethg
Jun 13, 2011, 2:03 PM
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Hey losbill, was that you starting Hans' Puss first thing in the morning on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend? I was headed to the start of Cold Turkeys and you weren't sure you were in the right place? I told you how I almost backed off of pitch two, but when I saw the piton all became clear? Sorry it didn't work out that way for you...
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losbill
Jun 13, 2011, 6:12 PM
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Jake --- For once I made the right call on the weather. No climbing for me this weekend, camped out in the backyard with the grandson. Sounds as if you were getting after it, pretty hard climbing for a trad climber and all that! Too bad the weather didn't turn out better for you.
Seth --- It wasn't me, the Han's Puss adventure was a week ago Saturday. BTW was that you leading Maria Direct a week ago Sunday about 3 PM?
Greg --- Yeah, poor Rachel got pretty toasted in the sun as I took forever to make my way across the traverse. As it was I ended up finishing on Silhouette's crack. Talk about lousy route finding.
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sethg
Jun 13, 2011, 6:18 PM
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I did lead Maria Direct a week ago Sunday (fun, worth doing once), but I think it was a few hours earleir than 3 p.m! Then we T.R.'d the Redirect, which I shockingly almost sort-of got on my first try. Then we did City Lights and by the time we left the wall it was a little after 3.
Where were you?
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jakedatc
Jun 13, 2011, 6:26 PM
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losbill wrote: Jake --- For once I made the right call on the weather. No climbing for me this weekend, camped out in the backyard with the grandson. Sounds as if you were getting after it, pretty hard climbing for a trad climber and all that! Too bad the weather didn't turn out better for you. Seth --- It wasn't me, the Han's Puss adventure was a week ago Saturday. BTW was that you leading Maria Direct a week ago Sunday about 3 PM? Greg --- Yeah, poor Rachel got pretty toasted in the sun as I took forever to make my way across the traverse. As it was I ended up finishing on Silhouette's crack. Talk about lousy route finding.
yea... the forecast looked alot better thursday night when i went up than what turned up saturday.. at least friday was nice.
hoping to hit up the gunks sometime next week.. then giving the SPCI crew a tour at rumney the weekend after next.
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Gmburns2000
Jun 13, 2011, 6:31 PM
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you coming to BH the last week of June? I hope to return Bless Me, Ultima to you. Easy reading. Not as enjoyable as The People of Paper (too much religion for my tastes), but good still. The PoP was PHENOMENAL. One of my favorite books.
Anyway, if you're joining us then I look forward to seeing you. I'll be in NH next week climbing with N/A and some other rc.com n00bs. You're welcome to join us if you want. PM me if you're interested and I'll shoot you my new phone.
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gblauer
Moderator
Jun 19, 2011, 2:56 AM
Post #618 of 1159
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Gunks Peregrine Closure=baby chicks= Happy juveniles?
Sadly this is not the case for at least one of the chicks. We found a banded leg and talon from one of the juveniles abandoned atop Madame G's. Alysha (a fellow climber) collected the evidence and brought it to a Mohonk Ranger. He indicated that the Rangers knew about the massacre, but was pleased to have the evidence.
Don't know how many are left, we sure heard a lot of them today.
Ran up Columbia today, I have never done P2. It was covered in a fine layer of dirt, but a decent climb nonetheless.
I finally lead V3, I turned it into a 9 by climbing the right face, up and down at least 5x! Finally committed and sailed through the v-notch with joy and happiness.
I am up at the gunks for the next 8 days, let's hope for wonderful weather.
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Gmburns2000
Jun 19, 2011, 3:06 AM
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nice job on V3 Gail. I knew you had been thinking about it for some time.
What was it like? I've heard good and bad things about it.
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gblauer
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Jun 19, 2011, 3:09 AM
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V3 was really fun. Easy peasy in the v-notch. All good. My big effort was going up and down the right side of the climb before the v notch. I wasn't stemming, make the moves much more strenuous. When I finally decided to climb like a normal person, I was totally fine. NIce stem, good stance, great gear and then up and through the notch. The big trick is to square your shoulders on the wall behind you and just pick up your feet and start squinching up the chimney. It felt very secure.
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jakedatc
Jun 19, 2011, 3:15 AM
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Ha nice Gail.. I traversed right and up the slab face on V3 instead of the notch when i led it ;) i couldn't figure out how to get into the corner so i bailed out right.. not much gear out there but not super hard climbing.
Sad about the falcon.. these things happen though. the stronger ones will make it and they will have stronger genes so it works out in the end.
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Gmburns2000
Jun 19, 2011, 3:19 AM
Post #622 of 1159
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Registered: Mar 6, 2007
Posts: 15266
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pffttt...I forgot that I had already done it. I was confusing it with another climb.
nice job on it, though. it's kind of tricky to figure out the sequence, but once you get it it is cruiser.
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gblauer
Moderator
Jun 19, 2011, 10:48 PM
Post #623 of 1159
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Registered: Oct 4, 2002
Posts: 2824
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Three star weather = Three star climbing
Enjoyed a fabuolous weekend here at the Gunks. The weather was stellar.
Yesterday: Columbia p1/p2, V3 x2, Raunchy, Feast of Fools and Absurdland
Today: Jackie, Classic, Birdie party, Higher Stannard, Something Interesting and Strictlys
Feast of Fools (I seconded, clean) was burly through the traverse and the overhangs, a great climb. Not sure I will be leading that very soon.
I lead Something Interesting for the first time today, it was a very nice cruiser, albeit long. No rope drag, just a heavy rope by the time you hit the GT ledge.
It was strangely uncrowded at the gunks today. Father's day perhaps?
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dagibbs
Jun 21, 2011, 2:37 AM
Post #624 of 1159
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Registered: Oct 1, 2007
Posts: 921
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Saturday was a beautiful day for climbing around here -- bright, completely clear, comfortable temperatures but with a good breeze all day to keep the bugs away and the sweat off.
I started the day with a lead up a 55m (180') single-pitch climb at Montagne d'Argent. Hadn't climbed it before -- it was soaking wet last time I was in the area -- but wanted to go after it. Long, tiring, but never all that hard -- though I did take a fall when a hold broke off under my hand. (Doh, lost the clean send!) Did another bunch of fun climbs.
Sunday, I went out to Mont King in Gatineau park, ran up a classic 3-pitch trad climb called Rocketman. Then, the rappel off the bottom anchor descends over another climb, Ron's Climb, which is, also, rated as 5.8+. I took a look at it on the way down (it goes through a quite impressive overhang) and thought I'd have a shot at it. I made it clean -- but the crux was about at my limit, my limit on top rope.
Both 5.8+, both in Quebec, both within about 100 miles of each -- but totally different climbs and totally different difficulty levels.
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blueeyedclimber
Jun 21, 2011, 12:54 PM
Post #625 of 1159
(17585 views)
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Registered: Nov 19, 2002
Posts: 4602
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 Haven't climbed outside in a couple weeks, although I do have some climbing coming up. Rumney on Thursday, climbing a couple days next week, then 4 day weekend in North Conway....and then.....off to California. 3 days in San Fran and then a week in Tuolumne. Yahoo!
Josh
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