Red Rocks May 2014 Trip Report
As I sat alone in the MSP airport for the long wait between the time Nicole dropped me off and my nearly midnight flight I had lots of time to think about the upcoming trip. I wondered what this week would bring: long routes with a ton of exposure, short hard sport routes meant for good whips, or lots of easy but enjoyable moderate routes. I was up for anything but the one climb that I wanted to check off the most was Dream Of Wild Turkeys (DOWT). The clean line has captured me since I saw a picture of the beautiful second and third pitch. However, after partying all weekend my mind quickly shut down once I sat down on the plane. By the time Katie and Todd picked me up I was beat and the only thing I could think about was passing out and getting some sleep.
Day 1
I was awoken to the sound of pots and pans being shuffled around as breakfast was being made. I slowly leaned over and hoarsely uttered good morning. Todd asked me if I wanted an apple, to which Katie quickly interjected “or you could get your own apple and oatmeal and contribute to the stash”. I rolled out of bed and shambled to the main office for breakfast. After grabbing a handful of granola bars and some fruit I went back up and got ready. As we drove out to the park the stoke level in the truck began to increase. Katie was amazed as we drove in to the first pullout. The Panty Wall would be our first days target.
 |
| At the First Pullout |
The Panty Wall is a nice sport wall that gets sun most of the day and has a large collection of easier sport routes ranging from the great 5.4 Panty Prow to the 5.8 Boxer Rebellion. The hike up to the wall was short and for the first time did not leave me huffing and puffing. We threw down our packs and got the music and food out. I racked up and quickly lead Sacred Undergarment Squeeze Job (5.7-8). Katie was up to clean it. She roped up and got about 15 ft up before she the froze up and seemed to be stuck. I have seen her climb much harder things and just attributed it to the fact that she had not been able to climb at all before this; about 4 months. After about 15 minutes of hanging in the same spot unwilling to move up or take she asked to be lowered. She was upset at herself for not being able to fly up it. She felt that she had disappointed Todd and I. Neither Todd nor I was disappointed and we did the best we could to let her know that. She had nothing to feel bad about as 4 months is a long time to not be climbing. We pulled the rope and Todd led it and cleaned it. We ticked a few more climbs off this way, Boxer Rebellion (5.8), Black Lace (5.8) before moving up the gully to the easier Panty Prow.
I told Katie about the climb and asked her if she wanted to rope up and lead it. I told her that it was only 5.4 and that although it felt mentally tough due to the exposed gully on the right side that it was well within her ability. She reluctantly agreed and tied in. She got slightly above the first bolt before the exposure got to her and she was unwilling to make the move to go any higher. Even our mascot Tino (the large chuckwalla that we found at the base) could not cheer her up the route. We lowered her down and I led the route. Todd then pulled the rope and proceeded to lead and clean it. On the way out I ran up one of my favorite routes. A tall clean face climb called A Fraction of the Action (Shere Kahn 5.10b). I quickly dispatched of what was once my hardest lead. We called it a day and headed off to Costco to gather supplies for the upcoming week.
Day 2
Once again we headed out after a nice hearty breakfast of eggs, fruit, and granola bars. The weather was beautiful and the skies were blue. I decided that after yesterday’s shakedown that we might need to get some easy climbing under our belts to knock some of the cobwebs out of Katie. Chips and Salsa would be the perfect target. 3 pitches of 5.4 or easier climbing would give us some elevation while not being super committing or difficult. On the way in we hit up a small bolted slab climb called Smear Campaign (5.8). Since I had climbed it before I offered the sharp end up to Katie hoping that her immaculate slab technique would allow her to float up the route and help clear her head. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. Once above the first bolt she locked up and had to be lowered. It was killing her that she couldn’t lead like she did last summer. But Todd and I were just enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. He flew up it and soon after I cleaned it. We then finished the fifteen minute hike to the base of Chips and Salsa.
 |
| Base of Smear Campaign (5.8) |
 |
| Katie trying to unlock the low crux. |
 |
| Todd Bob cleaning Smear Campaign (5.8). |
After a short break I summoned the courage to lead one of the runout routes to the left of Chips and Salsa. The line looked good and after looking it up in the book we found it was called Albacore Man (5.8). Getting to the first bolt was not bad and once it was clipped the consequences soon lessened. The route was all face climbing with some delicate moves and I was at the chains. Todd lowered me down and we pulled the rope. He took the direct start and said it climbed about the same as the small left traverse I did. He cleaned it on rappel and we went back to the packs to scarf some more food down.
 |
| Not quite to the first bolt of Albacore Man |
We packed up and headed back to Shere Kahn so Todd could lead it. A quick walk back towards the car deposited us at the base of the beautiful Tiger Stripe Wall. He racked up and found the trouble between the first three bolts just as I did my first time. Smooth moves and good footwork are Todd’s hallmarks and it showed on this one. He got to the top and declared that it was an amazing route. After cleaning it we had plenty of daylight left and I thought that we should do Mans Best Friend (5.6). They agreed and we drove towards the Sandstone Quarry pullout.
Once at the base of the climb I gave the first pitch lead to Katie. She put on her harness and draws, and sheepishly went up to the first bolt. After a couple of small stalls something in her head must have snapped because she cruised up the second half of the first pitch like nothing was ever wrong. I was happy because she has finally broke out of it and would be good to climb. Todd lead the second pitch and we were soon rapping off the top pitch. Two quick raps and we were on the ground. We took the fast way out through the one or two moves of 5.2 climbing through the chimney. Somehow Todd managed to do it with Katie’s pack over his shoulder. I still don’t know how he did it as I had to remove my pack and hand it to Katie so that I could squirm my way up. We were back at the car in five minutes and headed out of the park.
 |
| Game face! |
 |
| Katie coming up pitch two of Mans Best Friend (5.6) |
 |
| Katie and Todd at the Pitch 1 belay station |
 |
| Todd working his awkward height anchor at the top of pitch two. |
Day 3
My plan for Day 3 was to get to Physical Graffiti and then wait out most of our day at the base for the inevitable line of gumbys to slowly make their way up the climb. We took the easy way up and we didn’t see anyone on it the entire time. I was sucking air hard as we arrived at the base. The skies were overcast and I was worried about rain but we racked up anyways. I lead the first pitch and brought Todd and Katie up. While I was belaying Katie up I started talking to a pair of guys climbing the next route over (Big Bad Wolf 5.9). They were locals but one of them was a transplant and his thick Chicago wise guy accent gave it away quickly. We chatted with them for a bit before Todd took off onto the money pitch. He lead it clean and I went second and cleaned his gear. He only used 1 cam, the rest were nuts. This was something that he was very proud of when I brought it up to him. We got to the top and it started to sprinkle. While Katie was climbing the long pitch Todd and I debated about the safest way down in the rain. We could rap Big Bad Wolf in three raps or we could do it in 1 to climbers right and some gully whacking. By the time Katie got to the top, the rain had stopped and everything was already dry. We rapped off climbers right and easily descended through the gully back to the base. We munched on the food we brought and enjoyed the cool temps while surveying the entire Calico Hills from our perch.
As we racked up to take on Big Bad Wolf, 4 parties had shown up to take on Physical Graffiti. This was the crowd that I had expected to see when we got there. But the rain must have scared some people away in the morning. The first pitch of Big Bad Wolf is a dead vertical edge fest. I enjoyed my way up it, clipping the bolts on the entire way. I brought Todd up second and he stacked the second rope while I brought Katie up. We swapped draws and Todd led up the slabby second pitch. When I got up to the anchors I quickly realized it was not going to be comfortable. A hanging belay on a not quite vertical slab is just painful. We let Katie know this and she tried to expedite her journey up to us. Both Todd and I wanted to lead the 3rd pitch which looked to be the best. A section of blank looking slab right off the anchors gave way to a stunning vertical and a slightly overhanging headwall on large holds. We rock paper scissored and I won. The moves off the belay were tenuous but soon eased up. The headwall was great. A combination of good jugs and sidepulls allowed me to surmount the hard stuff and I was soon at the anchors. I yelled down to Todd to simply pull the rope and lead it. I untied and dropped the rope. He lead up the pitch while we talked about how great it was. We brought Katie up to the anchors and asked her if she wanted to do the last mini pitch. It had two oddly placed bolts and did not look fun. She thankfully declined and Todd and I began the debate of the trip: Two rope rap or one. He finally convinced me that we should do a double and see if we could do it in two rappels instead of three. We tied the ropes together and tossed them into the abyss. I insisted Todd go first to figure out the plan. He agreed and went on rappel. He rapped 10 feet before saying “look” as he took both hand off the rope! We both were shocked that someone would do this then declare that if he fell it would be our problem not his. Katie glared at him and he grabbed the rope and made his way down. Eventually he yelled off rappel and told us he was able to make it all the way down. Katie and I rapped off and were back at the base somehow in one double rope rappel. Todd gloated that he was right and I told him I didn’t want to be there when he wasn’t. We packed up and headed down to the Cowlick Crag.
Once at the cowlick crag Katie roped up and attempted to lead Flying Chuckwalla (5.7) before getting in her head and stalling out at the first bolt. I told her it was no big deal and that we all have those days. I took the rope and draws and went up. It was much less secure then I remembered and I instantly felt bad for sandbagging Katie. Todd Cleaned it and we moved one climb over to Cowlick Co. Crag (5.7). Todd led up and said it was OK but nothing special. Katie cleaned it and we packed up again and headed back towards the car to Cannibal Crag. Todd had to take a phone call so Katie shot me a belay on Mac and Ronnie in Cheese (5.10a) where I messed up the sequence and had to take a hang. After seeing a hold I had missed I finished and moved over to A Man in Every Pot (5.8+). I found the climb to be oddly bolted but fun none the less. By this time my forearms were starting to feel all the climbing but I did one more for good measure. What’s Eating You is only rated 5.9 in the Handren book but it felt much harder than the 5.10a I had just done. I got to the top with no falls but I made plenty of noise doing it. By this time Todd had finished his call and hopped on What’s Eating You. He took a small fall after getting pumped out at the second to last bolt. But he finished strong and we called it a day as darkness crept in.
After some very good climbing and as a thank you for picking me up from the airport so late I took Katie and Todd to Wahoos. Lindsay pointed the place out to me on our last trip and we ended up eating there twice since the food was so good. Wahoos is a cross between a Chipotle and a cool outside bar. Todd and I both ordered burritos while Katie took a different approach and went for the tacos. Once the food came I ate as fast as I could to keep up with Katie but I just couldn’t do it. She wolfed down both her tacos and was picking at Todd's burrito before I was half way done with mine. I couldn’t finish mine and gave it to them. We left and headed home beat from the long and enjoyable day we had.
Day 4
With the weather supposed to be one of the warmer of our trip we decided that we should probably chase the shade if possible. Todd remembered that Dark Shadows was in the shade and that the climbing was some of the best he had on his last trip to Red Rocks. My friend Stephen had also made a similar comment about the climb. We didn’t get an early start so the hike in was hot and left me wheezing while Todd and Katie zipped ahead of me. My stomach was still adjusting to the super high fiber diet Todd and Katie had put me on. When we arrived at the base after some stream hopping we saw a line of people waiting at the base. There were at least 4-5 parties ahead of us and I wasn’t sure that even if we waited we would be able to climb it. So we chilled in the shade and I lent my guidebook to some nice fellows from Kentucky and somewhere else down south. They were friendly and were thinking about doing Cookie Monster the following day. After some deliberating and discussion we decided that we would do Cookie Monster. After walking back out of the lush valley towards Cookie Monster, we took a quick look at the finger crack at the top of Birdland. We decided that since the hike looked horrible to get to Cookie Monster we would do Birdland. A short but completely horrendous uphill approach deposited us at the base.
 |
| Lush gully near Dark Shadows wall |
 |
| The stream in the gully coming from the east side of the Mescalito |
 |
| Looking towards the Brass Wall from the approach of Birdland |
 |
| Looking across the valley from near the base of Birdland |
On the way towards Birdland we hadn’t noticed anyone on the route but, when we got there we noticed parties on every pitch. But at least they seemed to all be moving quickly. A party of three was ahead of us waiting on the ground, but by the time my stomach had settled they were already on top of pitch one. We decided that since I led the money pitch yesterday, Todd would get the famed pitch five finger crack. This gave him the odd numbered pitches and me the even ones. He easily led up the dead vertical pockmarked face of pitch one. I cleaned the pitch and once again it was nut after nut after nut. We brought up Kaite to the spacious and shaded pitch one ledge. We snacked and sipped on the food and drink we were hauling with us in our daypacks. We waited for the party of three to start on the third pitch before I took off on the second pitch. The second pitch was a beautiful corner and chimney with sections of easy face climbing to round it off. I felt confident and the pitch went well. Soon I was atop the smaller pitch 2 ledge. I slung a boulder and brought up Katie and Todd. Both agreed that pitch 2 was great climbing and we began to wonder if I had accidentally climbed the best pitch of the route!
 |
| This is what you look like when you eat the driest sandwich ever made. |
 |
| Pitch two of Birdland |
After again waiting for the party ahead, Todd started up pitch three. A weird corner move turned quickly into a slabby traverse on the slick black varnish. Luckily someone had put a nice bolt there for the 5.7 leader. Todd clipped the bolt and then attempted to proceed straight up before realizing his mistake. He backed down and did the traverse. The rest of the climb was on nice edges with some sidepulls thrown in for spice. I followed the pitch and thought that Todd had climbed the hardest pitch of the trip so far. I was actually glad that he had taken it and not me. The slab moves left me feeling insecure, so I was glad to be on a top rope for it. The protection on the pitch was not stellar as the incipient crack that the pitch followed was too shallow for cams and the nut placements were not the greatest. Either way it was a good pitch and I would hesitate to call it PG-13 due to the easier nature of the climbing after the bolt. I arrived at the 1x3ft ledge that was atop pitch 3. As we brought Katie up, Todd and I discussed the rest of the climb and the great exposure. Since the nice gear loop topo I borrowed from John had a red dot for the next two anchors we knew that they would be uncomfortable and even more so if we ended up with 6 people on one of them. We decided that we should wait for the party ahead of us to finish 4 and 5 and start rappelling before we would start up. This turned out to be both a good and bad idea.
 |
| Enjoying the food and drink we brought, top of pitch 3 Birdland |
 |
| Since there was no one else to take it. Selfie |
The good was that we were able to eat and relax before we did the last two pitches. The bad was that the party ahead of us had no clue as to what they were doing. We waited on the ledge for about an hour before they finally reached the top of pitch 5. We talked and laughed about this and that and snacked more. The feeling of fright that the exposure gave Katie seemed to lessen the longer we sat there. The week before I had felt the same way but now it didn’t seem to bother me that we were up 400 feet hanging from 2 bolts. After a while though the sun set behind the canyon and we decided that we needed to move no matter what the crowding situation would be on the next two anchors. The fourth pitch was about 80ish feet of semi-run out face climbing. The climbing was easy so the lack of pro didn’t seem to matter to me. Just as I clipped into the anchors the party above yelled rope. I waited for a rope to come down but nothing happened. Another minute went by before they yelled rope again and I called back for them to toss it. Only one of the ropes made it down to me. The other quickly got hung up on the face. I pulled down a bite of the rope and unstuck the other side. One of the threesome rapped down to me and asked me some questions about the raps. Together we pulled up both his ropes and tossed them towards Todd and Katie. The ropes were about 5 feet short to my dismay. This meant that all three of them would be at the anchor with me. As the gong show rapped down and joined me they clipped into my anchor and were friendly. What happened next still flabbergasts me.
 |
| Cool shadows looking out. |
 |
| This was when we decided we should get moving. |
After telling him that he would need to rap down to my partners on the top of pitch three and that he should lap coil his ropes to keep them from getting stuck, he simply tossed them into the abyss where they quickly got snarled up about 50 feet below us. He attempted to rap down and clean the lines but for some reason he just kept rappelling down. Down, down, down he went till he was even with Todd and Katie except he was 30 feet to climbers left. He skittered over to them and began to fumble with his ropes. I yelled down to clip him in as if he fell he was going to take a 60 foot pendulum with the all rope he had just fed through and the fact that the rope had gotten hung up again. Todd clipped him in and the other two in his party took turns rappelling down to the top of pitch 3. Lucky for Todd and Katie the ledge was just large enough for all of them. Once the gong show was all on the top of 3 I brought Katie and Todd up to me. The hanging belay had already become painful from having the party ahead of us take their time and then get their rope stuck.
From the top of pitch four you cannot see the finger crack at the top of five because of the angle of the rock. Thankfully Todd took off quickly and soon yelled down that he could see the crack and the anchors. He climbed the pitch quickly and put me on belay even quicker. I went second so that I could hopefully get feeling back into my legs which had fallen asleep while hanging at the belay. I reached the crack but could not enjoy it as much as I should have as my toes had started to feel like they were on fire as the blood rushed back into them. I congratulated Todd on his great lead and we brought up Katie. Once again we had the great double or single debate. Once again Todd won and we double rapped to the top of 3. Since we had a 70 meter rope and a 60 meter we were able to make is unlike the twin 60 meters of the party ahead of us. We pulled the rope down and it came down clean and we rapped down to the top of 2.
 |
| Beautiful finger crack at the top of pitch 5 Birdland |
By this point the sun was far down and we started to worry about getting the $150 late exit ticket. We agreed that Todd would rap down and leave his gear and the base and run back. This made the most sense as we figured that he being a professional tri-athlete would give him an advantage over both Katie and I. We told him that once he hit the ground to just take off and we would take his gear back. Well, we see him get to the base and quickly grab as much of our gear as he could before taking off down the trail.
We laughed as we had BOTH told him to leave it. Before we knew it he was out of sight almost a mile down the trail. Katie and I rappelled down and packed up our gear and strapped on our headlamps. We briskly walked back in the dark and made it to the car at about 8:30. Luckily no ranger had come to the parking lot and told Todd to keep it moving. We got back to the car and we were happy but tired. A great day of climbing was capped off by the Stone IPA I had in the shower once I got back to the Extended Stay.
Day 5
The next pitch was Todd’s. A wide fracture up a steep varnished wall would cap the climb off for us and would give Todd more trouble than he remembered. Listed in the guidebook as 5.8 we both assumed that he would easily cruise up and we would soon be at the top of the climb. As he started up the pitch it was soon obvious that this might be the crux of the climb. After getting in two nice pieces of gear he continued left, away from the widening crack. This turned out to be the wrong way to go as he was soon putting in stitches. He yelled down that he was out of sequence and that he needed to traverse right back into the crack. The face between him and the crack was devoid of all but the tiniest of crimps and zero feet. At this point he was getting pumped and his legs looked like they would give out at any moment. He knew that once he reached over that he would have to go all or nothing. He reached as far as he could and was just able to grab what appeared to be a good hold. He swung his body towards the crack and managed to just hold on by the skin of his teeth. Both of his feet were pedaling on the wall looking for even the smallest divot or edge. I took in what little slack I had given him and was ready to catch what assuredly looked to be the first trad fall of the trip. Somehow he managed to hold on and gain the crack completely. He breathed a loud sigh of relief and he cheered him on. After that the climb relented and he was soon perched on the most uncomfortable belay of the entire trip. As I cleaned the route behind him I realized just how hard the move he made was. I looked over to where he had traversed and saw a clean varnished slab with two small holds and even worse feet. Between his stance and mine there was nothing. And to top it off the hold that he had lunged over to was a horribly sloping edge. Once I got to the top I told him that there was no way I would have been able to make the move and that he had lead the hardest pitch of the trip. Katie didn’t seem to have too much trouble with it and joined the party at the top.
 |
| This is where he realized he was off route. |
We quickly began to argue over how to best descend. The guidebook states that you rappel with one 60 meter rope down an adjacent route. Todd was sure that if we did doubles that he could reach the top of pitch 2. Again I relented and he went first. After a while he yelled up that he made it with rope to spare. When it was my turn I reached the belay and found a maximum of 5 feet of extra rope. He gloated about being right and rappelled down with another double rope setup and was soon at the base. I waited my turn and decided after some talk with Todd that we could keep the ropes out of the pool at the base and allow me to rappel off the doubles. Once down I grabbed a stick and planted it against the wall as I stood as far into the pool as I could. Katie stood on some rocks right by the edge and Todd began to pull the ropes. The excitement was palpable as we waited to see what would become of our ropes. The tag line was down completely before the rope started to fall. After a perfect pull and a bit of luck the rope was down with only the tail 6 inches falling into the pond. We packed up and enjoyed the peaceful day we just had. A nice hike back and we were back at the truck before 5PM. Even though we had only climbed four pitches we all felt very content about the day. Plus it allowed us to hit up the Strip and I was able to show Katie and Todd my Vegas routine.
 |
| Clean rap from the top of pitch |
 |
| Keeping the rope out of the belay pool |
After some showering and dinner we headed down to the strip. The first stop was KGB for a Captain Crunch Milkshake. I quickly mowed mine down with a huge smile on my face. Katie got the double chocolate and after a small taste I decided that the CC was the way to go. Todd finished his and worked his way to the bottom of Katies. After that we headed over to Rhumbar for some mojitos. Rhumbar is one of my favorite places in Vegas. A great atmosphere, killer music, and tasty drinks make this a great place to simply sip some cocktails before hitting a club or party all night. We sipped our drinks and talked about how great our trip had been and then Katie schooled me in on backcountry skiing. We finished our drinks and walked back to the truck. On the way through the Bellagio we stopped and played a few hands of Blackjack. Todd got dealt a blackjack on his first hand and quickly cashed out. Katie lost her first hand and was done, I played a few more hands and managed to win 20$. All in all a great day.
Day 6
We all woke up on our last day pretty tired. After a week of hard climbing my legs felt like they were made of cement and I was sure that I would not be able to do something big today. We all felt the same way and decided that we would chase the shade and climb at the Wake Up Wall. I discovered the Wake Up Wall on my second trip as the heat was unbearable and we needed a place to climb in the shade. The wall is in the shade all day after 11AM and a short hike to the base was just what we were looking for. We loaded our packs up with all the food we could carry and headed out. Once at the Sandstone Quarry I decided that I wanted to lead the White Slab (5.8). It was a climb that I had seen every trip but I had backed off of due to a high first bolt. A fall getting to the first bolt would be nasty and I was never that sure I could do it. This time I felt strong and that I could easily get the tick. The climbing itself was not difficult to the first bolt. I was able to clip it off of a decent stance and after the first bolt my mind calmed down and I was able to easily finish the climb. Once I was back on the ground we pulled the rope and Todd took a shot on it as well. He easily dispatched the climb and was soon back on the ground. Katie was not feeling well so she opted out and was fine with just hanging out with us for the rest of the day.
As the sun came up over the White Slab we headed towards the Wake Up Wall. On the way we met a pair of climbers who were also headed there. A nice and short approach made getting to the wall with our food laden packs easy. Once at the base we found some shade and began to chow down. After some cheese, chips, and chocolate I convinced Todd to lead XTZ (5.8). A short ugly bolted off-chimney was something that I did not want to do in shorts so when it was my turn I declined. Moving down the crag we roped up and Todd and I both led Blame it on my ADD (5.9). Since someone was on the climb we wanted to do next and were feeling strong, we moved down and quickly ticked Poundcake (5.8) Then we moved on to Mic’s Master (5.10a/b). I went first and found the climb to be well suited to my strong points. The steep, juggy, and overhanging nature of the route made it a blast to climb and I was soon clipping the anchors. I cleaned it as I was lowered and Todd went next. He cruised up the climb and we both agreed that that was in the top three climbs on the trip. Next up was Spanky Spangler (5.10b). A hard boulder start leads to a vertical flake. The start was hard. Todd attempted it a couple of times before handing the rope over to me. I gave it a shot and was able to just grab the first good hold. The whole climb was very sustained and tons of fun. I cleaned it on the way down and handed the rope back to Todd. Not to be outdone, he gave it another go and just barely was able to scrabble up and get above the hard start. We all laughed at his horrible moves as he finished the rest of the climb in style. Katie gave it a go and got all the way to the last bolt before asking to be lowered. She made the starting move look much smoother than Todd or I did.
The next climb was still up in the air but after some talks with a pair of Swedes we got on Shut Up and Climb (5.11b). They had both just led it and left their draws up for another go. We asked if we could give it a shot since we were not sure we could make it up. They agreed and I tied in. The start of the climb is trivial and I soon clipped the second bolt. After that the climb quickly gets hard. The climb becomes overhung and thin sections between large holds give it the 11b rating. My height was quickly advantageous as I was able to clip the third bolt before making any of the hard homes. I managed an all point off dyno to get to the clipping stance of the 4th bolt. I scrabbled my way to the 5th both before taking a fall. A perfect catch given by Katie gave me the confidence to go up and try again. I got one move away from the anchor before the unrelenting nature of the route sapped my strength and I fell again. Katie lowered me down after I conceded that I was spent and would not be able to finish the climb. Todd was up next and was excited to see if he could beat me and finish the climb.
I gave him a belay as he worked his way up to the second bolt. He was not able to clip the third bolt from the easier stance I was able to. After much struggling and a good attempt he fell back onto the lower angle slab of the start. Luckily he was fine and after a short rest he went up and tried it again. A short struggle ensued but he was not able to clip the third bolt and took a fall while trying to clip. I took as much slack out of the system as I could in an effort to keep him from slamming into the slab at the bottom. As he swing down onto the slab he slammed down onto a flake which quickly broke into three or four golf ball sized pieces. I instantly took a step towards the base of the climb, put my hands between my legs and looked straight forward. I expected the pieces to hit me but to my surprise only a few small slivers bounced off my helmet. The other pieces managed to miss me and everything was fine. Todd gave it one more shot before declaring that it was not his day. I lowered him down and we called it a day. We walked to the parking lot with smiles on our faces knowing that this would be a trip that would be hard to beat. But it sure wont stop us from trying!
 |
| Broken pieces of Shut Up and Climb |
