I went rock climbing last weekend for the first time; a 5.9 or 5.10, and nothing death defying since I was on top rope the whole time, but I'm counting it. Here we are parking and unpacking, arriving after a 30 min hike, and setting up at the base of the wall.
I managed to get up this wall, which is slightly sloping, but as you can see from the third photo (the one with my bum in it) it was really smooth and hard for me to learn how to stick to. Please do note that in this second photo, Official Trip Photographer Todd has the camera tilted, making it look easier. He's since been let go. That's Former Official Trip Photographer Todd.
Here I've got one hand hanging onto an undercut in the rock, which made it easier for me to lean back and kind of stand.
All in all, not a bad time for a first climb. The second route I took (the one in all the photos) was much harder than the first. I'm not used to how much or little the shoes grip, and it was frustrating to try to find purchase on what seemed to me like a smooth wall devoid of any purchase. At one point I gave up and said "I want down." only to look up and declare, seconds later, that I was going to finish it. Robb was not amused, but he complied because he knows what's good for him.
2 comments:
My friends and I have a tradition out here to rename all of the things that we've climbed. We have one called sippy cup because it's so easy to hold everything, another called coffee mug since it's just a hair harder than that one...and other stupid names for things we've climbed. What would you name this one?
I would say... coffee buzz. I got 'Elvis leg' on the way up, where I couldn't stop shaking. I was all jazzed up, and to continue the grip analogy, there is only a brief, tenuous hold on a coffee buzz and you're at its mercy.
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