What: Rock Climbing! (Learning how to climb cracks)
Where: Smith Rocks, OR
When: July 18th, 2009
We woke up early to ensure we had enough time to grab a bite to eat at the local diner. Filled with French toast we were off to climb at Smith Rocks.
At the parking lot we were all assigned instructors. I was stoked when I found out that Bob B. would be my instructor (Vermon’s too). Bob B. is one of the intsructors who attended 2 of our climbs for the BCC class. He was obviously one of the more experienced climbers who helps out with the BoeAlps programs. The 2 weeks before this climb he had been up having a crazy time at Yosemite doing some really big wall climbs. His stories by far beat any i've ever written. Though I’m not sure if I’m jealous or not...
It was really fun to also note the interaction between instructors. Especially the youngish but more experienced ones. There was tons of playful banter; the better you can give it back, the more respect you earn. My kind of team!
Every group was assigned a starting area as well (to space us out on the rocks). As we walked to our assigned spot, Bob asked us about our skills. We admitted to not knowing anything about cracks, but we showed a lot of enthusiasm to learn. Bob decided that our wall would not be as fun for learning (for on the second pitch is when we really get into the crack section) and brought us a bit further down for some practice crack climbing.
Before getting on the wall Bob told us of the many methods for holding on such as fist jams, hand jams, and finger jams. He noted how some people use tape gloves (tape covering your fingers/back of your hand to prevent the rock from scraping it up) but wanted us to know that he didn’t use them. He claimed he didn’t feel tougher than others, but it was just his preference not to use them.
I personally wanted to wait to use tape. I wanted to see what the cracks felt like first, because the tape is only going to lesson your feeling (perhaps in a good way!). All in all, after a day of climbing cracks, my hands were barely marred. For now I’ll be tape free.
After practicing crack methods we crossed to the other side of the wall to the Spiderman Buttress Area. Apparently this area is always SUPER crowded, but this weekend, there were no lines. We hoped on Spiderman (a 2-pitch route) and Bob led with two ropes. This way Vermon and I could climb at the same time (well, relatively, about 15 feet apart). With a reverso (a model name) belay device Bob could belay us both from his position on a ledge above. Once we got to the ledge, the process repeated, with Bob leading and us climbing.
It was a super fun climb. At the beginning of the second pitch there’s a really awkward exposed move that got my heart pumping a little. Later on up, there’s an overhang roof that we had to navigate. I just kept telling myself that this pitch is supposed to be easier than the first pitch so there’s got to be really good handholds somewhere. I just have to find them!
By the time we got down it was about noon and all the rocks were hit with the suns oppressive rays. We found an overhung section and decided to take a lunch break and we got to hear some of Bob’s ridiculous Yosemite tails. If other climbers passed by, we’d just tell them we were projecting a route (planning how to go about it). Some people joined us in our "project". Side Note: the route we were actually sitting under was rated as a 12d, once thought to be just barely under the edge of an impossible climb rating.
Once there was some shade available we made our way back to our practice wall where there were some BoaAlpers climbing. They recommended the climbs adjacent to their current spot claiming they were good routes.
So we jumped on. There was this one route, Bookworm, that is rated a 5.6 (not very hard), but I think that’s if you use the face. I tried to only use the crack, and it proved to be one of the most challenging routes of the day! But I really wanted to get a full crack experience, especially since that’s what most the routes will be when we go to Squamish, BC later in July.
We squeezed in another crack and when we came down from the last crack we noted that the time was right for us to head back, if we had jumped on another climb we would definitely be late. We moseyed back to the cars (and by mosey, I really mean, suffered while walking in the heat up this uncessessarily steep hill leading to the parking lot. I’m not sure if it was good ending, getting your muscles stretched, or if it was just depressing (and oppressive), because you had to use your last few ounces of energy). Either way we made it back to the cars, first.
I think Bob was a little disappointed that his reputation might suffer--if people found out he was first back, instead of being the hardcore-always-late-climber. Alas, soon a few other climbers joined us. Unfortunately, it took the final climbers 2+ hours past the deadline and we ended up being late for our dinner reservation.
It’s ok though, we were still served, and the greek hummus pita was most excellent with a glass of strawberry lemonade!
No comments:
Post a Comment