flyinhigh's Logbook (10 ascents)

Though I had topped this a month ago, it has still been tough for me & I finally figured out the crux move properly and ran up it 2 more times today. I learned from my friend & used his nice footwork skills to do this. We started a fire down there today so we could keep warm, it made it so nice. Hopefully we'll be able to continue climbing now that we have a warming station!

I spent this past summer & fall working on this route & finally nailed it. I had to take some time off to strengthen my fingers to get through the crimpers which are so nasty, when you fall off there your fingers burn. Once I had the finger power to get past that, it was the crux by the crows nest which proved to be the greatest challenge. After many attempts I used a one finger pocket up to the left of the nest where I leaned to the right and put my right foot into the nest & was able to stand up and then grab onto a pincher. What a great feeling to get through this route!

This was a route that I created this season that uses a mix of holds, I'll try to get a photo up soon with the route highlighted.

made it up clean 3 times in a row today.

here is a link to me doing it in youtube ---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caQfT1JwAUU

I finally made it to the top! It was a little scary for me being 8 feet above my anchor but I held on tight and went from the ground until I was level with the rocks above. It felt good & clean.

After taking a few days rest from climbing, biking and running my friends and I came back to Beam for some top rope fun. I free climbed up 52 card pick up to set up my anchors. I used 30' of webbing for one and 30' of 7/16" for the other, I like the redundancy of having 2. I wrapped the lines around the rocks up top and let them hang down about 10 feet on the climbing side of the pillar. I then went below and I started nice and slow and when I was at the crux, I toed in real tight with my left foot in this 3 foot tall crack until I was able to get the outside edge of my right foot onto this little edge where I was then able to stand on the crows nest. My new Evolv Defy shoes helped it seemed. I took a breather and then traversed a little to the left and worked my way up to the top of the rope which was about 10 feet from the summit. Next time I'll have to make sure I go until there is no more rock to climb.

I free climbed this again today a few times to set up my anchors since we were top roping from there. It was much easier than last time since my footwork has improved greatly. I got a new pair of Evolv Defy shoes as well which helped toe in.

I had to climb this after I got my rope stuck up top after trying to throw it over the top from across as I was anchoring to the trees above the pit. It's a fun & easy climb but I did feel uncomfortable coming down from there. I rigged up a rope for safety as I climbed down but it all worked out fine.

I sent this route on my 3rd try today after working out the crux yesterday. The sandstone chews you up but makes for some good holds at times. After passing the crux, the blank face, there are plenty of good holds to finish the rest. I only climbed to the base of the pillar as that is where our anchor was set. Next time I'll finish to the top.

To the right of the ledge ~30' up on M'crackin, there is a crack that can be followed to make the ascent. It is about half way up the wall. You traverse sideways to the right about 8 feet and follow the crack up until reaching another small ledge where you can rest momentarily. It was my most difficult climb to date and didn't have more than a 2 finger hold at the crux but felt great after finishing this. The only danger comes when losing your grip, you swing to the left quite a bit like a pendulum since your rope is inline with the main fracture.