Fear of falling, part three… taking it outside

Yesterday was a super fantastic day at Vantage (Frenchman’s Coulee) here in Washington… it’s one of my “home” crags, at only about three hours away from where I live. We got an early but not alpine start, and by the time we got out there around 9am, the place was PACKED. As in, more cars and more tents than I’ve ever seen there before. But, we managed to find a nice quiet crag that we had mostly to ourselves for the day. There were a few other parties, but we avoided the circus of the more populated areas, which were extremely busy. It turned out nice. The weather was beautiful… my freckles popped out big time, despite sunscreen… and it was nice to get some sun and warmth. The guys and Candace all pulled hard… we had a party of five leaders, and picked up a fun sixth at the crag, so we got in a lot of climbing and solid leads all the way around.

The climbing was fun. We started harder than I usually do, and I had fun alternating between leading projects at my onsight level, and toproping harder ones. One of the harder routes was really inspiring… I finished it clean on my second or third toprope try, then had a snack and rested up to work it on lead.

My first lead attempt was okay… I got up to the crux, which was well-protected by a bolt, and I chickened out. That lead to me tossing a mini-wobbler… partly, I was scared. Partly, my grip had just totally given out, so I knew that moving above the bolt would just mean a fall for sure based on how my hands felt, so I took and got grief for it from my climbing partners who thought I looked strong and on my way to a send.

But, I figured I’d rather not take an unnecessary risk when I knew my hands didn’t have it in them to get to the anchors, and took another rest and snack break. I lost track of how many times I tried the route on lead… but I made progress on each go. On my last run on it, I was tired, and my skin was starting to say “enough is enough.” I tried to summons enough energy to finish it up… I pulled the crux, clipped the next bolt, and moved above the bolt thinking I had JUST enough juice to finish it off even though I could feel the fatigue. I got to where my waist was a few feet above the bolt, and my grip was gone… I could feel the slight twinge of desperation and the increased fatigue as my footwork suffered, and the animal noises of stress and tension started up… and I did what I used to do in the gym when I knew I was going to reluctantly fall … I called out “falling” and then hung on as long as I could before my hands slid off the tenuous holds, my grip failing. I let out a blood-curdling scream of fear on my way down… it wasn’t more than a six or seven foot fall, but I haven’t ever really taken falls outside, so I was super scared. My belayer caught me, perfectly.

I apologized for making so much noise… thanked my belayer for the catch, especially after my wobbler earlier in the day, took a few deep breaths to ward of the tears that sometimes come for just a few seconds after I push to my limit outside… then knew despite being super tired I had to finish it up, so rested long enough until I thought I could get to the anchors and then moved up again. The true crux of the route is clipping the anchors — I wasn’t able to get them clipped on that last attempt in good style, I had to grab a draw.

But… it was still awesome, despite my frustration with myself for getting scared enough to toss a little wobbler with one of my most wonderful, most trustworthy climbing partners on that first belay, and scared enough to make all that unnecessary noise on the last. And, despite the fact that I didn’t actually send on lead.

The old Sara would never have tried a lead that hard, under any circumstances… and would never have taken a risk that would lead to even a small fall like that. The old Sara wouldn’t have been able to get back on the rock after the first unsuccessful lead go because I wouldn’t have been able to calm my fear enough to get my head back on straight, and the old Sara wouldn’t have been able to get back on after taking a lead fall. I’m a little bit bummed that I still don’t have a perfect sequence worked out for getting the draws up on the anchor and then getting them clipped — because of the awkward finish, I’ll have to have someone get the draws on the anchor for me to try it again. But, even so, I’m excited about the day, and look forward to doing better next time… trying to stay more calm, not let my fear grip me, and to remember while I’m on lead that climbing is fun, and part of climbing is falling on occasion, and my belayer will catch me.

My climbing partner (and other climbing partners who’ve given me the same advice) are right… working harder stuff on lead (at least on bolts) IS more fun. It’s easier to find harder, project-worthy routes that are closely bolted with clean falls, than the easier stuff. It’s going to take me awhile to really internalize that — but yesterday definitely helped prove it to me.

On the hike out, even though it had been some time since that last go, and since the fall, my little brain was still having trouble processing all the conflicting feelings about it. I felt like the fall was a mix of exhilaration, fun, and fear all wrapped into one. I don’t really know how to describe it — but at the moment it happened, and then in retrospect, I had more positive feelings than negative ones, which was cool.

Thanks, all, for all of your contributions and thoughts on the topic… keep ‘em coming, and I’ll keep you posted on the saga…

Filed under: Vantage

The Climbergirl Abides

Some day, I’m going to have to take a day off from both jobs to actually get some sleep and write a longer than a paragraph blog post. No long winded trip report this Monday… just a quick “the weekend was fantastic, we climbed as much as we could given the weather at Vantage… it was HOT.”

The summer desert climbing routine… wake up as early as possible, get out as early as possible, climb until your shoes melt and you get woozy, siesta and swim until it cools off, then hit it again until you wind up cleaning a route by headlamp.

Nice.

It’s not getting my apartment clean, my laundry done, or my bills paid, but it’s awesome for my muscles and my tan.

The “small world” phenomenon kicked in this weekend… when we wandered over to the Feathers for some sunset climbing on Saturday, there was a crew of rowdy young-uns… two nice girls, and a herd of boys climbing in their underwear. One of the boys looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t look too closely since, you know, he was in his underwear so I had to keep my eyes averted out of decency. Then I saw one of the girls wielding a lovely Digital SLR, and hear one of the folks call one of the boys Jared, and I thought… that has GOT to be Lacey (aka, MoshPitRockChick). I asked the one called “Jared” if the dark-haired girl was a blogger, and he said yes… and I said, “MoshPitRockChick?” and he said, yes… so, two planets in the girl-rock-climbing-blog-universe collided and Lacey and I met in person.

Despite the scantily-clad boys, we all had fun hanging at the feathers into the evening, and it was very cool to meet Lacey. She’s offered to photog for me sometime, so perhaps I’ll actually get some more photos on here sometime soon. We had a lot of snapshot cameras going this weekend, but don’t know whether any shots will be forthcoming due to some packing mishaps (we thought we’d done so well)…

Off to court! Stay tuned for next weekend’s plan… weather’s looking awfully encouraging in Yakima…

Filed under: The climbing life, Vantage

a little more rock climber girl… Exit 38 and (surprise!) Vantage

Whew! What a weekend!

Saturday was planned to be a girls’ day with Kari (my climbing life partner) and Megan (my incredible sister) but Meg woke up with an ear infection… in true climbergirl form, she txt-ed to basically say… I can only lay on my left hand side, but I still want to come! I encouraged her to see a doctor instead, and presume that’s what she did…

So, Kari and I met up at the super convenient Eastgate park and ride to carpool from there. My original plan was to do Mt. Washington area at Exit 38, but when it turned out to be me and Kari, I suggested maybe we do another exploratory trip of the Far Side. Historically, I’ve been crag-and-route-finding challenged at the Far Side, but she and I were both just so excited to get to see each other, and to be outside, that we decided it was a good day for exploring even if that meant a little less climbing.

We headed off looking for Interstate Park (like I always do), and took the wrong trail (like I always do) and wound up at the base of a really low-angle slab (like I always do). I thought we were at Headlight Point (like I always do) but this time were lucky enough to have another climbing party there, with a new book, who could point out that we were actually at Easy Street. Kari and I did one “vertical hike” there, a “5.6,” then headed out with our new friends toward the real Interstate Park.

For the first time in my climbing career, despite a few attempts, I actually got to climb at Interstate Park. The routes were fun (more fun than average at North Bend) and despite the highway noise, the place managed to be scenic and peaceful.

Kari and I did Swerve (5.7) … fun. We then did Swarm (5.7) which was more fun, and felt like the first real rock climb of the day. We toproped the “10b” variation, Carnage Before Bedtime, which was FUN. It was so FUN, we pulled the rope and I lead it — for, I think, my first 10- lead. While we were climbing, my cell phone vibrated with a climbing invite for Sunday… the plan was to work Sunday but… why? What can’t wait until Monday? So sure… I’m in for a whole weekend of Washington climbing.

Anyway, back to Saturday… Kari and I went up to Eastern Block next, and scouted out the routes… I was aiming for Ellie’s Sweet Kiss, a 10a, identified as having six bolts in the old Burdo guidebook. There’s been new development up there… everything looked fun, and, from the ground, do-able… but I didn’t see anything that looked like it had six bolts. I set off, and then followed my instincts up what I do think was Ellie’s Sweet Kiss, even after looking at the new guide. It was a great lead… I felt confident, had fun, and kept my head despite there being a rather large runout on the route. Kari was a champ all day, despite basically being right off the couch after a knee injury… anything I can lead she can follow, and she’s leading a lot harder than last season… we have a great time together, and typically wind up with the crags all to ourselves since we talk so freaking much we scare everybody else away.

After Ellie’s, Chinese food in North Bend beckoned, and we called it a day.

So, Sunday…

An auditor and a lawyer walk into a bar…

But, that’s the end of the day, so I guess I should start at the beginning. Don’s partners all bailed but me, so we headed off for North Bend despite the weather being a crapshoot. I figured, even if it was damp we could try Amazonia, and, before leaving in the morning checked Vantage (clear and in the 70s) so tossed my copy of “Rock Climbing Washington” into the bag so that we’d have a backup if North Bend wasn’t climbable. We got to North Bend and just about Exit 32, it started to drizzle… by Exit 38 it was a definite drizzle. I suggested Vantage and we pressed on. Unlike most Washington climbers who start out outside at Vantage, Don hadn’t been, so it would be a fun adventure. The weather lifted once we hit the east side of the mountains… it felt more like the California I left a few weeks ago than the Washington we’d just driven through.

We arrived at Vantage to … drumroll please … one car in the DFW parking lot below Agaltha Tower. Sunny, breezy, 70-something… prime, beautiful day, and we had the place practically to ourselves.

We started out at M&M Wall on High Five (5.8) and my favorite 5.9 of all time, Ridin Sidesaddle. I always forget to take new-to-Vantage folks somewhere else to warm up… I just love both of those routes, and M&M Wall generally, but forget that they’re technical for the grade, and not the easiest leads in the world at the grade. But — we both lead both, and both did Ridin a couple of times because it’s Just That Good. After climbing out those two routes, we headed back up to Sunshine Wall.

Sunshine Wall, for those unfamiliar with Frenchman’s Coulee/Echo Basin, is a long line of desert rimrock basalt columns. To the trained eye, they don’t all look the same. To a rock climber who comes there a couple times a year, without a detailed guidebook, it all looks kinda the same. There are a couple of routes that are unmistakable… Party in your Pants (aka, Twin Cracks for the PG version), a 5.8… and Air Guitar, a 10b gear route and the site of a heartbreaking climbing accident which is marked with a memorial. So, if one uses her eyes and brain, there’s really no excuse for not being able to orient one’s self at the Stems and Seeds area; alas, my route reading just wasn’t up to par yesterday. We looked at the routes and saw one that looked particularly fun, thinking it was Clip’em or Skip’em, 5.9. Don got on lead and made it look easy (it wasn’t) and I started up and all I could think is, this feels familiar, and I’m pretty sure I had to take on this the last time I did it… and indeed, I did take twice… but it was super fun. We scouted routes a bit more and then hit up the one other party at Sunshine Wall for beta — turned out they are Randy and Katy, local climbers from Ephrata. They commented on our climb of Hakuna Matada (10a) … so *that’s* why it felt so hard. We asked for recommendations on other 10a-ish routes, and had a great chat… I think, after that conversation, I won’t get “lost” at Stems and Seeds again.

We took turns leading Whipsaw and Clip ‘em or Skip ‘em (both 5.9, and both super fun). The wind was whipping on both of our leads of Clip ‘em, and despite the rope bag being a pain in the ass for the belayer, the climbing was really fun. Then, on Randy’s tip, we headed for Ride ‘em Cowboy (5.9+) on the right edge of Twin Cracks wall. I lead and had a BLAST… it was one of the most fun 9s I’ve climbed in a long time. A bit burly, a bit technical, well-bolted… at one point about 2/3 of the way up I was pretty sure I was going to pitch going for a horizontal wide pocket, but decided to give the move a shot and stuck it. The leads were good all day, but that one was *particularly* good, and a great way to end the day. Don lead the route and cleaned, wrapping up a slightly atypical first-trip-to-Vantage, without a stop at the Feathers, and we hiked out just before dusk.

I came home to an email full of camera advice from Tim Kemple himself, thanks to my buddies at F-Stop, a very cool company staffed by very cool people that makes bags for active/outdoor photographers. You can follow F-Stop on Twitter here, or stay tuned for more about them in a future post.

Anyway, life is good. I had a great rock climbing weekend with no tears, no partner drama, no blood (well… Don bled a bit, but I didn’t), very few takes, and only one small injury (my right index finger tendons are a bit tweaked, but nothing, I’m sure, that a few days of rest won’t heal right up). Thank goodness, since I may have a bit of a hiatus the next few weekends with other commitments.

As an aside, apparently (YES!) some girls are actually starting to read this blog, judging by a handful of comments that have come in the last few weeks from girls. I would love to hear more from my fellow climbergirls… please comment abundantly (despite blogger’s less-than-perfect commenting system, I do respond whenever I can) or if you’re shy, you can always email me at thegirl@rockclimbergirl.com.

Have a great week…

Filed under: Climbing, Exit 38, Vantage

a little more rock climber girl… Exit 38 and (surprise!) Vantage

Whew! What a weekend!

Saturday was planned to be a girls’ day with Kari (my climbing life partner) and Megan (my incredible sister) but Meg woke up with an ear infection… in true climbergirl form, she txt-ed to basically say… I can only lay on my left hand side, but I still want to come! I encouraged her to see a doctor instead, and presume that’s what she did…

So, Kari and I met up at the super convenient Eastgate park and ride to carpool from there. My original plan was to do Mt. Washington area at Exit 38, but when it turned out to be me and Kari, I suggested maybe we do another exploratory trip of the Far Side. Historically, I’ve been crag-and-route-finding challenged at the Far Side, but she and I were both just so excited to get to see each other, and to be outside, that we decided it was a good day for exploring even if that meant a little less climbing.

We headed off looking for Interstate Park (like I always do), and took the wrong trail (like I always do) and wound up at the base of a really low-angle slab (like I always do). I thought we were at Headlight Point (like I always do) but this time were lucky enough to have another climbing party there, with a new book, who could point out that we were actually at Easy Street. Kari and I did one “vertical hike” there, a “5.6,” then headed out with our new friends toward the real Interstate Park.

For the first time in my climbing career, despite a few attempts, I actually got to climb at Interstate Park. The routes were fun (more fun than average at North Bend) and despite the highway noise, the place managed to be scenic and peaceful.

Kari and I did Swerve (5.7) … fun. We then did Swarm (5.7) which was more fun, and felt like the first real rock climb of the day. We toproped the “10b” variation, Carnage Before Bedtime, which was FUN. It was so FUN, we pulled the rope and I lead it — for, I think, my first 10- lead. While we were climbing, my cell phone vibrated with a climbing invite for Sunday… the plan was to work Sunday but… why? What can’t wait until Monday? So sure… I’m in for a whole weekend of Washington climbing.

Anyway, back to Saturday… Kari and I went up to Eastern Block next, and scouted out the routes… I was aiming for Ellie’s Sweet Kiss, a 10a, identified as having six bolts in the old Burdo guidebook. There’s been new development up there… everything looked fun, and, from the ground, do-able… but I didn’t see anything that looked like it had six bolts. I set off, and then followed my instincts up what I do think was Ellie’s Sweet Kiss, even after looking at the new guide. It was a great lead… I felt confident, had fun, and kept my head despite there being a rather large runout on the route. Kari was a champ all day, despite basically being right off the couch after a knee injury… anything I can lead she can follow, and she’s leading a lot harder than last season… we have a great time together, and typically wind up with the crags all to ourselves since we talk so freaking much we scare everybody else away.

After Ellie’s, Chinese food in North Bend beckoned, and we called it a day.

So, Sunday…

An auditor and a lawyer walk into a bar…

But, that’s the end of the day, so I guess I should start at the beginning. Don’s partners all bailed but me, so we headed off for North Bend despite the weather being a crapshoot. I figured, even if it was damp we could try Amazonia, and, before leaving in the morning checked Vantage (clear and in the 70s) so tossed my copy of “Rock Climbing Washington” into the bag so that we’d have a backup if North Bend wasn’t climbable. We got to North Bend and just about Exit 32, it started to drizzle… by Exit 38 it was a definite drizzle. I suggested Vantage and we pressed on. Unlike most Washington climbers who start out outside at Vantage, Don hadn’t been, so it would be a fun adventure. The weather lifted once we hit the east side of the mountains… it felt more like the California I left a few weeks ago than the Washington we’d just driven through.

We arrived at Vantage to … drumroll please … one car in the DFW parking lot below Agaltha Tower. Sunny, breezy, 70-something… prime, beautiful day, and we had the place practically to ourselves.

We started out at M&M Wall on High Five (5.8) and my favorite 5.9 of all time, Ridin Sidesaddle. I always forget to take new-to-Vantage folks somewhere else to warm up… I just love both of those routes, and M&M Wall generally, but forget that they’re technical for the grade, and not the easiest leads in the world at the grade. But — we both lead both, and both did Ridin a couple of times because it’s Just That Good. After climbing out those two routes, we headed back up to Sunshine Wall.

Sunshine Wall, for those unfamiliar with Frenchman’s Coulee/Echo Basin, is a long line of desert rimrock basalt columns. To the trained eye, they don’t all look the same. To a rock climber who comes there a couple times a year, without a detailed guidebook, it all looks kinda the same. There are a couple of routes that are unmistakable… Party in your Pants (aka, Twin Cracks for the PG version), a 5.8… and Air Guitar, a 10b gear route and the site of a heartbreaking climbing accident which is marked with a memorial. So, if one uses her eyes and brain, there’s really no excuse for not being able to orient one’s self at the Stems and Seeds area; alas, my route reading just wasn’t up to par yesterday. We looked at the routes and saw one that looked particularly fun, thinking it was Clip’em or Skip’em, 5.9. Don got on lead and made it look easy (it wasn’t) and I started up and all I could think is, this feels familiar, and I’m pretty sure I had to take on this the last time I did it… and indeed, I did take twice… but it was super fun. We scouted routes a bit more and then hit up the one other party at Sunshine Wall for beta — turned out they are Randy and Katy, local climbers from Ephrata. They commented on our climb of Hakuna Matada (10a) … so *that’s* why it felt so hard. We asked for recommendations on other 10a-ish routes, and had a great chat… I think, after that conversation, I won’t get “lost” at Stems and Seeds again.

We took turns leading Whipsaw and Clip ‘em or Skip ‘em (both 5.9, and both super fun). The wind was whipping on both of our leads of Clip ‘em, and despite the rope bag being a pain in the ass for the belayer, the climbing was really fun. Then, on Randy’s tip, we headed for Ride ‘em Cowboy (5.9+) on the right edge of Twin Cracks wall. I lead and had a BLAST… it was one of the most fun 9s I’ve climbed in a long time. A bit burly, a bit technical, well-bolted… at one point about 2/3 of the way up I was pretty sure I was going to pitch going for a horizontal wide pocket, but decided to give the move a shot and stuck it. The leads were good all day, but that one was *particularly* good, and a great way to end the day. Don lead the route and cleaned, wrapping up a slightly atypical first-trip-to-Vantage, without a stop at the Feathers, and we hiked out just before dusk.

I came home to an email full of camera advice from Tim Kemple himself, thanks to my buddies at F-Stop, a very cool company staffed by very cool people that makes bags for active/outdoor photographers. You can follow F-Stop on Twitter here, or stay tuned for more about them in a future post.

Anyway, life is good. I had a great rock climbing weekend with no tears, no partner drama, no blood (well… Don bled a bit, but I didn’t), very few takes, and only one small injury (my right index finger tendons are a bit tweaked, but nothing, I’m sure, that a few days of rest won’t heal right up). Thank goodness, since I may have a bit of a hiatus the next few weekends with other commitments.

As an aside, apparently (YES!) some girls are actually starting to read this blog, judging by a handful of comments that have come in the last few weeks from girls. I would love to hear more from my fellow climbergirls… please comment abundantly (despite blogger’s less-than-perfect commenting system, I do respond whenever I can) or if you’re shy, you can always email me at thegirl@rockclimbergirl.com.

Have a great week…

Filed under: Climbing, Exit 38, Vantage

Damn it feels good to be a gangster

Yes, Shawn Campbell, I am going to blog about yesterday.

Chris wanted a day at home to do yardwork and other productive stuff that desperately needs doing around the house, but my priorities were elsewhere, so I talked Shawn and Chris “Smitty” Smith into spending the day at Frenchman Coulee for a day of early season sun and climbing. Last weekend, our friends spent Sunday at Vantage… they left here at 7am, and on arrival decided they could have been climbing an hour earlier, so we departed Bremerton at 6am and on arrival decided we could have been climbing an hour earlier. Anyway – the weather was perfect… very sunny and ranging from warm to very hot… so it was the perfect escape from the Western Washington gray.

We started out at Sunshine Wall, King Pins area. Shawn lead George and Martha (5.10a), an ultra classic crack that was an ambitious warm-up. At least, an ambitious warm-up for Smitty and I… Shawn made it look like a breeze. It is always a huge treat for me to get to toprope cracks that I’m not competent to lead yet, so that was a really great start to the day. Smitty and I took turns leading Peaceful Warrior (5.6)… it’s easy moves up an arete to a very short section of chimney, and I only wish the chimney section were longer since it was fun to get to lead a chimney with bolts for pro. Shawn cleaned, taking the tougher face variation up. The crowds had started to assemble by that point, so we headed for our next stop, the M&M Wall.

I fell in love with M&M wall last year… I rarely find projects outside that I really am interested in working, but Ridin’ Sidesaddle (5.9) was one that got stuck in my head. I worked it on toprope for the better part of a climbing day last year, but couldn’t put it together. One of my goals for this year was to lead it, so yesterday was my chance to make some progress. We started out on High Five, a fantastically varied but not 100% straightforward 5.8. I lead it, Smitty got on it, and then Shawn ran up it. Shawn dispatched Cold Cut Combo (5.11a) … I think … I apparently am notorious for not paying very good attention to my partners’ climbs … and then I worked on Sidesaddle and Shawn worked on Walkin’ on the Moon (5.11b). I don’t remember how many falls/takes I had on my first Sidesaddle lead, but I lead it clean on my second try so that was huge for me. The song that played in my head during the climb was “Damn it feels good to be a gangster…” which apparently is a pretty good sending tune. Smitty did Sidesaddle, and Shawn worked hard and got Walkin’ done, and I did a pitiful (but fun) toprope on Power Hitter (5.10b) off of the Walkin’ anchors. By then, I was starting to feel… fatigued. It was getting late in the afternoon, the most beautiful and peaceful time of day to be at Sunshine Wall, so we headed back up to the King Pins to get in a couple more pitches before the walk out. I lead (pitifully — I took a few times, and the guys didn’t notice, but I french freed two of the bolts) Vantage Point (5.8), an 11-bolt route on a beautiful exposed arete, with a few moves at the very top that make you think. Even though my lead wasn’t good style, it was still really fun, and I would like to do that one again when I wasn’t so tired. Smitty TRd it clean, with what looked like zero effort, and Shawn climbed it in tennis shoes. Show off.

With the sun starting to drop, I lead Clip’em or Skip’em (5.8) which was very similar to Vantage Point only without any thinking involved. It was a cruise up ten bolts to fantastic views. Smitty followed and Shawn, again, climbed it in his tennis shoes to clean. Show off.

I don’t know what it is about Sunshine wall at dusk… I spent a top-five-climbing-days-ever weekday afternoon there with Shawn and Heather and another climber last spring break, and have remembered it fondly ever since. The wall is typically very busy, but once the climbing parties start to clear out, and the sun drops a bit in the sky, the place just has an overwhelming feeling of peace and happiness for me.

We stopped climbing just about 24 hours ago, and I am still in a total state of bliss for having such a perfect climbing day and having the privilege of spending another late afternoon in the Coulee. Good company, good climbing, good weather, and a fantastic dinner at the Tav in Ellensburg (holy crap, who knew that Rainier beer and fried chicken could taste that good) made for a perfect Saturday … with only a few pangs of guilt that Chris was at home cutting back blackberries and burning yard debris. Poor guy.

Filed under: Vantage

Cross your fingers

So far this “spring” (which, to climbers means everything after the snow stops) has sucked. We’ve had three potential trips cancelled because of inclement weather, including one where we had gone so far as to pack all of our gear and just short of packing the car. But, the “winter” comes to an end this weekend, when we depart for Smith on Sunday the 1st. We’ll be at Smith until Wednesday and then we’ll likely wind up the week at Vantage. Chris is super excited about the new cams he’s ordered, so we’re hoping they come today or tomorrow so that he can unwrap and mark them and then daydream some more about how we now have about enough of a rack to do single pitch trad leading ourselves.

The trip report will follow. Please, friends, cross your fingers that we have decent weather…

Filed under: Gear, Smith Rock, Vantage