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darkgift06
Jul 27, 2009, 10:04 PM
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Registered: Mar 16, 2009
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This is my first trip report, & its just a day trip but what a day indeed. So I went climbing this weekend with a partner that I don't climb with all to often, & we turned a nice day at the bluff's into a scramble for the car.
So I called up a buddy who I've climbed with a few times in the past & we decided to head out for a day on the rock. We meet at the bluff's parking lot & talk about where we want to climb that day, now, I know he has been slowly buying gear to make up his trad rack & he tells me that he now has a full set of cams, & might want to try some easy trad leading today, so we head out to an area that has some nice easy 5.9-11 sports & a nice easy 5.7 crack for him to try.
We get to the spot & decide that I will go first & lead a 5.9 & set up a TR for his friend whos just learning to climb. I climb it with no problems & little to few rests along the way, set up the anchor & rap down. His friend gets on to the rock & gets about 1/4 of the way up & his arms burn out & he comes down from lack of technique, we talk for a while & decide that we will leave my lockers that I used for the TR up there & we would move over a few climbs & my buddy would do his first trad lead on this 5.7 crack, & I would second/clean & we would retrieve my lockers from the top.
My partner gets on the rock taking everything he owns for trad on his way, soon after he starts I can see that he is not very comfortable with trusting his gear & that hes getting tired trying to climb & place. He calls down from about 1/3 of the way & tells me that the rock quality doesn't make him very comfortable & that hes going to place a few peaces for an anchor & bail. & that we will have to walk around & rap to get the gear, I agree & he comes down. Well here is where the story gets fun.
On his way down the sky becomes dark & it starts getting windy, & starts to spit rain. I grab the rope as he gets down & I start coiling as I can see the weather is about to take a turn for the worse. We place our gear in our bags & place the rope tarp over them to keep them semi dry while we hike up. Well we didn't get very far & the sky opened up started dumping heavy rain & streaking the sky with lightning, at one point I saw a bright flash & started counting 1, 2, 3... BOOOOOOM the loudest thunder I've ever herd echoes thru the cliffs scarring the new guy out of hiking up & around with us.
We make it to the top in short time having the weather push us all the way, I tie in & my partner gets into position to belay me off a rock so I can reach over to grab my lockers from the first climb. I near the edge & quickly kick off my flip flops as my feet are wet & slipping in them, & I soon find that the rock is also very slippery. I get some footing & reach down retrieving my lockers. I scramble up & we move over to where we need to rap & retrieve his gear. Again he belays me over the edge & I anchor myself into the bolts, & set up the rope for our rap, & toss up the rope to my partner & he raps to me & stops. By this time its really raining hard & he tells me that he loves this stuff, meaning he loves having to work situations out in bad weather or tough situations, & I agree were both junkies for it. He then passes me & starts trying to collect his gear. He quickly finds out that he forgot his nut tool at the back packs, I confirm that I have my tool & will collect the gear. By this time I'm soaked & a little scared because I'm at the top of a 30m cliff with a waist full of steel/aluminum conductors. He makes it down nice & safe & its now my turn, I rap down & collect his gear with little effort & no use of the nut tool. We packed up quick tossing random gear into bags & made for the car. As we approached the car the rain slowed to a spit & we sat under a tree & organized the gear we had thrown in to our bags while smoking a relaxing j to calm ourselves after an exciting afternoon at the bluffs.
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ukkonen
Jul 27, 2009, 10:23 PM
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Registered: Jul 22, 2009
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Nice report, sounds like fun.
However, "&" should not be mistaken for punctuation. (and) Try to figure out how to say things without saying "and" so much. (and) It will improve the writing a lot. A lot of times you just need to start a new sentence instead of using &.
Is it just me, or does anyone else get a bad feeling whenever someone starts out to describe their climbing partner as "a buddy." I don't think "buddies" should be allowed to climb. They always seem to find ways to get their "friends" in trouble.
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scrapedape
Jul 28, 2009, 3:29 PM
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
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So your "epic" day consisted of:
1. Some rain.
2. Some lightning, about a kilometer away.
3. Getting high.
Just wanted to make sure I had it straight.
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darkgift06
Jul 28, 2009, 4:08 PM
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Registered: Mar 16, 2009
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I knew there would be some input to my writing, I work for an Engineer & typically only write small paragraphs more like instructions, when I started writing this Trip report I realized fast that I needed to copy it & past it into word to give me some help, but thanks for your input I will keep it in mind on my next shot at a trip report.
as for your sum it up..
1. I climbed an easy rout.
2. Partners buddy the"new guy" bailed on said easy rout.
3. partner bailed on his first trad lead.
4. rescued our gear during the worst thunder storm of the year. (which I felt was epic enough)
5. smoked a j after reaching the car, & recapped what we just went thru.
but you were close.
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hafilax
Jul 28, 2009, 5:24 PM
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Do you mind my asking what routes you were on just to complete the mental image? Friends got caught on Yak during that storm but they saw it coming early enough to start rappelling before it got too serious.
Problem solving is often rewarding. The closest I've come to dealing with diversity when climbing was when a girl in the group I was climbing with got her arm seriously jammed in a crack.
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shimanilami
Jul 28, 2009, 6:08 PM
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scrapedape wrote: So your "epic" day consisted of: 1. Some rain. 2. Some lightning, about a kilometer away. 3. Getting high. ...
Sounds like good times to me. This weekend, I'm hoping to "epic" in exactly same way.
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scrapedape
Jul 28, 2009, 6:43 PM
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
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hafilax wrote: The closest I've come to dealing with diversity when climbing was when a girl in the group I was climbing with got her arm seriously jammed in a crack.
I've dealt with plenty of diversity while climbing... white climbers, Asian climbers, black climbers...
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hafilax
Jul 28, 2009, 6:48 PM
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scrapedape wrote: hafilax wrote: The closest I've come to dealing with diversity when climbing was when a girl in the group I was climbing with got her arm seriously jammed in a crack. I've dealt with plenty of diversity while climbing... white climbers, Asian climbers, black climbers...
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darkgift06
Jul 28, 2009, 7:04 PM
Post #9 of 12
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Registered: Mar 16, 2009
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no major routs.. we were at Skaha in the Corridor & I can't remember the name of the slab climb but the crack was called the Nutter.. I believe.
the only thing that made this day epic was calling a retreat & having to get our gear off the rock during the very bad weather.
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boymeetsrock
Jul 28, 2009, 8:14 PM
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Registered: Feb 11, 2005
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Thanks for sharing!
I think I may have personally waited out the lightning, but good on the two of you for working under adverse conditions!
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sonso45
Aug 6, 2009, 2:15 AM
Post #11 of 12
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Registered: Sep 1, 2002
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Good start on writing TRs. Lots can happen and I like hearing that all worked out. Stay safe.
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zeke_sf
Aug 6, 2009, 2:25 AM
Post #12 of 12
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Registered: Apr 28, 2006
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scrapedape wrote: hafilax wrote: The closest I've come to dealing with diversity when climbing was when a girl in the group I was climbing with got her arm seriously jammed in a crack. I've dealt with plenty of diversity while climbing... white climbers, Asian climbers, black climbers...
Well, I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War Era.
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