jumpingrock
Apr 18, 2005, 3:53 AM
Post #1 of 1
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Registered: Dec 16, 2002
Posts: 5692
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I had run it out. I knew it. The first moves had been tricky and I was reluctant to stop and place a piece. My belayer was a heavier fellow so I wasn't really that concerned about whipping him up to the first placement. It was a nut, I have been trying to get away from active placements of late, especially on limestone where active placements can turn to crap in an instant.
A flash of doubt went through my head. Why was I here? Why was I on this climb. Either a 5.8 ** or a 5.9 depending on how you read the terrible guide book. The answer of course was the friend that I knew to be fixed higher in the pitch. A team before me had been in a hurry and hadn't had a long time to spend trying to clean the stuck piece. So I thought I'd have a crack at it.
The second piece I placed was a hex, it was placed below a roof that I had to traverse by. It was right here that I wished I had brought up my doubles. Initially, I had placed a short 12" draw on it but realized shortly after moving past, that I was introducing a nightmare of rope drag. I reached down to extend the placement, but I knew that I was looking at rope drag and there was no way to aviod it.
The next section of the climb was the crux. It was a relitively thin finger crack with less than ideal feet. I placed two nuts in short order at the beginning of this section, at which point I was at a decent rest. The problem of course was the feet. They seemed scetchy. I stayed here for a long time, testing differant hand combinations to see how to pull up past this 4 foot section with small feet. Eventually I found the side pull that I had been missing. The feet flowed and I was through the section. A few desperate finger locks and my feet were again on large holds. I could feel the blood pumping through my system and though my feet were solid my hands felt sketchy, my right hand had a choice of a few moderate holds and my left was in a decent finger lock.
Part of me thinks that I should have pushed on, part of my thinks that had I kept going I would have been fine. But most of me wanted a piece and it wanted it NOW. I looked desprately finding a placement. My mind flew through each potential trying to see something, anything that I would be secure climbing over. There! A small nut placement. It was easiest for me to release my right hand as it was less secure, but my nuts were on the left side. I needed to switch hands in the crack. I could feel the sweat start to build up in my hands, the holds feeling slightly less bomber as the seconds ticked away. I had my nuts, I saw the placement. I tried one, too large, try again. "Shit" I heard myself say as the nuts tumbled from my hand. "Rock" in the next half-hearted breath. The shakeing began, I knew Will was down there, watching me. His breath in his throat, expecting. In desperation I pulled out my biner with the number 1 camalot and robot, I thought I saw a placement, I tried it, crap too small, didn't want to lose the piece, there it fit! Please hold I told it, and I hung. It held. I cliped the rope. Checked the placement one more time then called down, TAKE! I sagged onto the rope, feeling defeated.
But up there, above my head, was not only the friend that I had been looking for but also the knowledge that I would be back. That I would be able to do this route the next time and that I wouldn't fail again. The rest of the climb was interesting with a bit of everything involved. Most memorably was my attempt shortly after the take, to jam my entire body into an alcove in order to place a piece and get some rest. And following this the rock humping moves needed to get to the next ledge where my new friend was waiting for me. It was relitively easy to remove and now my new friend resides on my harness, keeping my #2 camalot company.
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As I have recently been brushed with luck and had a cam returned to me, I feel it is my duty to attempt to get this cam back to it's original owner. Therefore, if you were climbing Kelso on Sunday, April 17th, and you left behind a cam, send me a pm and I will get it back to you.
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