When: Saturday May 9th, 2009
With: Half of BoeAlps BCC Team 7
Goals: Have fun climbing! And for me to make up Levenworth Skillset.
Photo of the 40m pitch we climbed at the end of the day.
We met at one of the many trailheads off Exit 38 at 9am (yes, we got to sleep in!). We stocked up on rope and protection (in the end I think we only used quickdraws) and headed down the trail to the official rock climbing areas with instructors Stefan and Charlie.
The parking lot wasn’t full yet, even though the day was already super sunny; we were stoked. It was about a 25 minute hike to the first rocks. Apparently climbers are a lazy bunch for we only passed 3 other people climbing.
I was able to practice some key skills such as, belaying without a belay device, tying off a fallen climber and rappelling past a knot in the rope (that I was currently rappelling on).
While I practiced these skills Matt and Ryan (who came along for fun) went up a 5.7 pitch that Stefan lead. I joined them after my skillset and climbed the fun juggy route as well, as Lingyung went over some key skills with the instructors.
A key skill is knowing how to take care of the rope.
Then we headed to the Gun Show area to a route called Endless Bliss. Stefan led the route as Ryan belayed. The route is a 40m 1.5 pitch 5.10a route (although the rating is questionable since there were some added hand holds…not sure if that was before/after the rating was stated).
Stefan set up the top of the route so it was simple sport climbing for the rest of us. Ryan went first, and was belayed by Stefan from the hanging belay at the top of the first pitch. Ryan raced up the route and stayed at the hanging belay, and belayed Matt up.
Matt found the route a little tricky. It’s an odd route, for there are barely any hand holds and it really forces you to trust your feet. This trust is in your foot sticking to an edge maybe half an inch big.
Matt stretched out on the route while Stefan and Ryan are at the hanging belay station.
Matt switched places with Ryan, and Ryan was able to belay down. Then it was my turn to climb the pitch. I was really excited to be climbing outdoors. It’s a ton different than gym climbing, and I like it a lot more. You’re doing all the work, finding out where each handhold is (versus following a color-coded route) and you really have to use your body imaginatively (while still staying in balance!) to reach the next hold or just to rely on your current footing.
The hardest part of the route for me was actually trying to get my feet in different resting positions. Since I’m shorter than the average person, I am always on my tip toes trying to reach the next hold. I think I’ll have to look into some calf and foot stretches to do before/after climbing and maybe some exercises to improve the muscles in this area!
The top of the route!
Once we all got back down (for times sake, I went up then down, without getting my shot at the hanging belay, and then Stefan belayed Matt down, and then came down himself), we decided to head home.
The rope that was about to belay me down to the solid ground.
When we got to the parking lot we were shocked not only to see an overfilled lot, but also cars lining the road. We didn’t actually see that many more climbers ourselves, but we did go to the “far” climbing area. There are some areas closer to the road (less than a 20 minute walk) that are much more popular.
Matt, Ryan, and I drove south to Whittaker’s bunkhouse where we spent the night to avoid a 3am wakeup call and a 2+ hour drive in the next morning for our Tatoosh adventure.
We also ate at the Higherlander bar next door to the lodge, and vowed never to eat there again. Worst service ever and typical sub-par bar food.
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