5.11b
It’s the last week of TASI. They’ve been keeping me super busy here at physics camp. We have many, many hours of lectures a day interspersed with horrific cafeteria food and tons of socializing. Its taken a lot of effort to find time to go climbing outside (but I’ve managed, really) and I’ve fallen way behind on the blog. I hope that I haven’t lost my entire readership by now. (And I'm sorry to everyone whose phone calls and emails I haven't returned!)
On Sunday, Lukas and I went climbing at the Sport Park in Boulder Canyon. (yeah, yeah, I know. Its Boulder, I’m supposed to be on the Flatirons or in Eldorado Canyon or something. But Boulder Canyon is sooo wonderfully close and I don’t lead trad (yet)!) We warmed up on some easy routes and then something caught my eye.
Oh boy It was a beauty. (It’s the one in the middle)
Check out that horn. More than anything in the world, I wanted to pull through that horn. Yes, it was very OCD of me but I absolutely had to give it a go. I was willing to lose gear on this one, just for the horn.
I asked a local for the rating and he informed me that it was “Killer Fish Tacos 11b but really 10c-ish. The crux is balancing through a nasty pinch on the slab before the last bolt.” Balance? Slab? No problem! Those are my specialties! (Says the girl was projecting 10c’s last summer and has never tried to lead anything harder than a 10d and only once nearly flashed an 11b on TR. yeah, yeah, yeah)
The bottom was easy 5.8 and the falls at the top were clean so I hopped on it. The horn was a fun little move. And the slab was tricky but manageable: I fell (a lot), I hang-dogged it, I cursed, I laughed, and I made some very strange noises. But I did it, The crux wasn’t too bad.
Then I got to the top. All I had left to do was to stand up, throw in a hand-jam, and clip the anchors. (Either that or some nasty, reachy move from a pinch to a crack…) Anyhow, I could not do the last move. I tried and tried. I cursed. I grunted. And I could not make the reach.
I ended up coming down and had Lukas (who is a full foot taller than me) give it a go. He clipped the anchors without much problem.
I tried it again on toprope. Again, the moves were balancy but reasonable. I did them without too much hanging. But I could not get to top. I had to pull on the anchors to clean the damn thing. They were just too high.
After my exhausting flirtation with 5.11, Lukas and I went over to the Clock Tower section of the Sport Park and tried a couple of routes there. I was knackered but we had fun on a 9+ and a 10b. I’d like to go back and give some of the other routes a go.
By the way, Lukas gets the gold star for catching my many, many leader falls and letting me hang dog my way up a route that was really, truly at my limit.
Here I am, knackered and completely manic after Fish Tacos. (Lukas also gets the gold star for listening to me sing Lou Reed all day long)
On Sunday, Lukas and I went climbing at the Sport Park in Boulder Canyon. (yeah, yeah, I know. Its Boulder, I’m supposed to be on the Flatirons or in Eldorado Canyon or something. But Boulder Canyon is sooo wonderfully close and I don’t lead trad (yet)!) We warmed up on some easy routes and then something caught my eye.
Oh boy It was a beauty. (It’s the one in the middle)
Check out that horn. More than anything in the world, I wanted to pull through that horn. Yes, it was very OCD of me but I absolutely had to give it a go. I was willing to lose gear on this one, just for the horn.
I asked a local for the rating and he informed me that it was “Killer Fish Tacos 11b but really 10c-ish. The crux is balancing through a nasty pinch on the slab before the last bolt.” Balance? Slab? No problem! Those are my specialties! (Says the girl was projecting 10c’s last summer and has never tried to lead anything harder than a 10d and only once nearly flashed an 11b on TR. yeah, yeah, yeah)
The bottom was easy 5.8 and the falls at the top were clean so I hopped on it. The horn was a fun little move. And the slab was tricky but manageable: I fell (a lot), I hang-dogged it, I cursed, I laughed, and I made some very strange noises. But I did it, The crux wasn’t too bad.
Then I got to the top. All I had left to do was to stand up, throw in a hand-jam, and clip the anchors. (Either that or some nasty, reachy move from a pinch to a crack…) Anyhow, I could not do the last move. I tried and tried. I cursed. I grunted. And I could not make the reach.
I ended up coming down and had Lukas (who is a full foot taller than me) give it a go. He clipped the anchors without much problem.
I tried it again on toprope. Again, the moves were balancy but reasonable. I did them without too much hanging. But I could not get to top. I had to pull on the anchors to clean the damn thing. They were just too high.
After my exhausting flirtation with 5.11, Lukas and I went over to the Clock Tower section of the Sport Park and tried a couple of routes there. I was knackered but we had fun on a 9+ and a 10b. I’d like to go back and give some of the other routes a go.
By the way, Lukas gets the gold star for catching my many, many leader falls and letting me hang dog my way up a route that was really, truly at my limit.
Here I am, knackered and completely manic after Fish Tacos. (Lukas also gets the gold star for listening to me sing Lou Reed all day long)
posted by Michelle at 1:21 a.m.
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