ssehlhorst's Logbook (3 ascents)

<I>...from my TR...</I></BR>
I foolishly decided to follow Scott's lead up the face on the start of Hoover Head, avoiding the crack and the sporty moves it held. I wanted more of a challenge, and the crack looked like it had a couple really fun layback/underclings that I knew I could totally crank. I didn't know if I could pull off the greasy/balance/crimpy moves up the face. I took the first step up onto the rock, leaned forward, and placed my hands on an obvious half-inch deep shelf with a really crisp edge, and some talc outlining to make it visible from the other side of the river as the official starting hold. Then I looked around for holds - I knew that Scott had to do some really arm-heavy moves navigating up to the left of the starting bolt, and I wanted to avoid that. There was a clean shelf, a foot wide and three inches deep at the deepest, about a foot above and two feet to the right of the starting hand hold. It would make a perfect (really) high step if I could find the feet to lead into it on this slickery limestone. Slickery is the official term for "you can hold it with an open grip, but shoe rubber won't stick to it without an edge." Getting that foot would allow me to reach out to any of a number of pockets in a 2' high band of "cheesy rock" - mottled with semi-pockets, imagine a thousand impact craters made from handballs thrown into a stiff mud, and then fossilized. Surely one of them would be positive enough to pull a bit of a layback against this right foot placement. That would get me through the crux of the route, and topping it out would be mechanical after that.</br>
Working backwards from the potential high step, I looked for the left-foot hold I would want, and found a tiny shelf edge - maybe 3/8" of an inch deep, but an obviously crisp edge, and wide enough to place both feet if I toed into the wall. The edge would be good if I could do about a three foot high step, and I can, so I decided to use it. I knew I could reach this from an intermediate position, and so I stepped up to catch a toe on something, did the beginning of a gaston off a small left handed hold, lifting my right foot onto the edge, and then semi-mantled against my left hand to rock my center over the edge, slowly swinging my left foot, straight-legged out to the left, rotating clockwise like the minute-hand on a clock, keeping the move as controlled and smooth as possible. When my center was over my right foot I strightened my right leg (which was bent and frogged out with my big toe on the edge and the inside of my knee against the rock), while reversing the swing of my left leg, scissoring closed my legs and bringing my toes together on the edge just as I finished the extension of my right leg. I found a nice right hand for stabilizing, a little above my right shoulder, and nearly at the extent of my reach to the right. Now it was time for the high step. I leaned back slightly, and lifted my foot for the step. The last six inches took a little concentration to apply the isometric force against the opposition of my own body, but it was still a mostly smooth movement.</br>
My right arm was fully extended, and my first two fingers (ring and center) were now positively engaged against the stabilizing hold, and felt really solid for a layback move. I don't remember what I was doing with my left hand, although it was somewhere roughly above and to the left of my head, and against the wall. Pulling with my right hand, I rocked my weight onto my right foot, chicken-wing style and it was solid as a rock - as I approached being able to sit and rest if I wanted, I turned my left hip out, flexed my knee and lifted my left foot up to the next edge above. I wasn't completely splayed out on the rock, no more than 40" from foot to foot. As I was finishing the left foot move, I noticed that my left hand was a smaller grip than I would have expected to be able to hold, about a full pad, with really only my ring and middle fingers set solidly, and the index there for support and the pinky "looking good." But it stuck out in my mind that I was totally solid with the hold, and I formed half a smile realizing that this hold was now in my repertoire. The rest of the climb was mechanical, except for avoiding the tree at the base of the climb when finishing the abseil.

<I>...from my TR...</I></br>
Eventually, it was my turn at Short People. At 5'10", I don't think I qualify. Anyway, toproping a route is always easier than leading it, but I was excited to try whatever it was that threw Miles before. When I was belaying Hoover Head, I heard someone yell at Scott telling him that a knee-lock was off route - apparently, that was the beta everyone was using to clear this first overhanging outcropping (really only about two feet wide, but enough to throw you backwards).</br>
Getting to the first bolt was pretty easy - the crux was placing one left foot out a bit, and trusting your shoe rubber to hold on the slightly rounded lip - no more than a quarter inch deep and two inches long, but with a little positive pull on an undercling close to the center of my chest, I was able to create enough friction to hold it steady on the first try, until I placed a solid right foot, toed in, and pulled hard with my left hand to get my right up close to the shelf and into a deep pocket about four inches wide and a foot high - all three pads were placed solid, and I knew I could try any left-move my heart desired. I guess the other people were going up the right side of the outcropping and having trouble, since I went around it, hooking my left hand up over the top of the left side, and was able to get a good foot out to the left, and pull up over this shelf without any trouble at all - I placed a highstep right on the shelf and was through the crux.</br>
I don't know what I did wrong on the second shelf - about five feet above the last one - like an overly steep staircase - the second shelf was nearly a foot deep, with an unreasonably smooth wall up above it for the next few feet. As I was moving towards this shelf, I heard Stacy, who was my belay, comment to someone on the ground that I was flying through the route, having blasted the crux without the illegal knee-jam. I could hear the necks turning, and the eyes focusing on my ascent. And then the weight of the jinx hit me, and the next thing I knew, Stacy was asking me if I was laying down. Someone shouted "get the camera" - but since it was my camera, no one knew where it was. I was laughing too hard to gracefully get upright again, and I was laying fully prone, but rolled up onto my right hip, with my left hand down across my shoulders and reversed, underclinging into a wide short pocket at shelf level. I could only save face by reaching back with my right arm, laterally to my chalk bag, chalking up and feigning a casual rest. My laughter was so deep that it jiggled my body, and I had to suppress it. I pulled in my foot, rocked my wieght up onto it and eventually got my balance back, and proceded to finish the climb. I still don't know what I did wrong to end up in that ridiculous position, but we now refer to it as a "lay down" hold, when everyone else is mocking me at the gym.

<i>...from my TR...</i></br>
When my turn came at Roo Dog (5.7), it was really an easy flash. After a year of only climbing plastic holds, it took a moment to readjust to the rock. My fingers were initially surprised by the smoothness of the limestone. The best way to describe it is almost greasy, but it a dry way - like if you had used powdered teflon to lubricate the rock, and then cleaned it off later. As my fingers got used to the idea of a smooth surface - so divergent from the embedded sandpaper feel of new holds at the climbing gym, it became much easier. Mono pockets also crept back into my memory - placing your finger into a hole, to the middle of the second pad, and having that sharp edge to pull on - felt so secure - I was sure if I fell on it that my finger would stay in the pocket forever, even if the rest of me made it to the ground. The route was too easy to need to use the pockets, I was just trying one on for size. There are some rougher projections in the limestone that are nice and grippy, with a rougher texture like sandstone. These felt much more familiar after all of the time in the gym. The route was really very straightforward, no real stretchy moves, or anything pumpy - just a nice up and a quick abseil down.