Climbing at Summersville - Day 2 of 3
Hung felt that we didn't get enough climbing yesterday because we got up late, so today we woke up at 7, and left the campground by 8 o'clock, along with Eric and Rob, who arrived late the previous night. We planned to go back to Summersville so Hung can work on some of his projects, and also so I can get on some 5.10s. I was skeptical about me getting on any 5.10s, but I went along. The rest of the group, by now a fairly large group, was heading to Bubba City for some easy climbs.
We were again the first to arrive at Summersville. Eric went up Jeff's Bunny Hop (5.8) while Rob led Sniff the Drill (5.8) as warm ups. After Eric and Hung were sufficiently warmed up, they left so Eric can get on Narcissus (5.12a). I led and cleaned Sniff the Drill, which I have done over a year ago, but I still felt kind of sketched on it. Rob and I both led another easy route - That Eight (5.7) to continue our warm up, and that 5.7 didn't feel any easier than the 5.8. I was really doubting my lead head at this point.
We moved to where Hung and Eric were and watched Eric put up a great fight on Narcissus. The route looked very overhanging and fun, I thought about getting on it on a toprope, but I also didn't want to spend another day just toproping. So Rob got on it on toprope after Eric finished leading, Hung and I left to look for a 5.10 that I can get on.
Hung belaying Eric's shadow on Narcissus (5.12a)
The Long Wall has a 5.9, two 5.10b, a 5.10d, and a bunch of 5.11s. Hung wanted to put me on the 5.9 or one of the 5.10b, but there was a large group there who had a toprope on all the easier routes. So we decided to let Hung get on Flirting with E (5.11d) and come back later when that group is done toproping. Flirting with E looked like a fun route, thin face moves, a deadpoint, and some funky traverse moves. Hung didn't get it clean the first time, got lowered, and redpointed it later.
Rob and Eric also came over, and Rob decided to try Maximum Overdrive (5.11c). Meanwhile, the group that was toproping around the corner showed no sign that they were leaving. The only two routes that were open were a 5.10b and a 5.11d. I decided to try the 4-bolt 5.10b called For What?, but only if Hung clipped the high first bolt for me. He did it without complain, then I went up. The route climbs a smooth face that was slightly overhanging. The holds were incut, and sometimes a bit reachy. I really wanted to work on my lead head, get over the fear of falling, so from the beginning I decided that I wasn't going to ask for take. I tried to shake out whenever I had a pretty decent stance, but the angle of the climb make it impossible to depump completely. Soon I was pumped and shaking because of the lactic acid in my system, but I fought on. I climbed until the third bolt was 6 feet or so below my waist, but I was so pumped that I couldn't hold on to the jugs anymore. I yelled "falling!" and just let go. It was a nice, clean 15 feet fall. I came to a slow stop, and I wasn't freaked out at all, unlike when I was in RRG. I batman up to the third bolt, rested for a bit, then climbed on. I took another short fall above the fourth bolt going for a deadpoint, but I made it to the anchor without much difficulty, and more importantly, I didn't freak out taking the falls. I did what I wanted to do: break the mental barrier I had of taking lead falls, and climb until I fall instead of asking for take.
I got lowered, then belayed Hung on Flirting with E again for his redpoint. I was pretty happy at this point, I completely my goal for the day: to get on a 5.10 on lead. The day was growing short, Hung still wanted to try Mutiny - a climb you can only get on in winter when the water level is low, so I opted not to toprope Flirting with E. Rob toproped it, then belayed Eric as Eric tried to lead it. Eric wasn't able to get to the top because he was just trashed, so Hung led it a final time and cleaned the route.
The big group that was toproping around the corner was finally ready to pull their gear. Rob decided to lead Chewy (5.10b) on their pre-placed draws, and clean the anchor for them. Unfortunately the crux for Chewy was getting off the ground. After many tries, Rob eventually gave up. I didn't intend to climb Chewy, but all the sudden it seemed like I should, otherwise we'll have to ask either Eric or Hung to clean the route. So I asked Hung the Human Stick Clip to clip the first bolt for me, then I tried to get on it... which proved to be harder than I thought. After many false starts, and some beta from people, I made a desperate lunge for a jug, and finally was able to get myself off the ground. The rest of the route was no where as hard as the start, but it was pumpy. I messed up the sequence on a move, got my body in a weird position and couldn't reach the next hold, and peeled off for my third lead fall of the day. But it was a short one, and after some rest, I was able to complete the route.
But finishing Chewy really took some time, by now the sun was dipping close to the western horizon, and it doesn't seem like we have enough time to try Mutiny. Hung had already led another 5.11b called Spice while I was hangdogging Chewy, Rob gave it a go on toprope, and we packed up to leave.
On the way back to the parking lot, we stopped by the Coliseum where many of the hardest routes at Summersville is located, and watched for a while a young girl working Apollo Reed (5.13a). It was really impressive to watch.
Back to the campground for dinner, the rest of the group arrived at about the same time. They also had a pretty good day out, it was crowded where they were, but they climbed a lot of routes. After Terence cooked up a huge spaghetti and meatball dinner, Hung had the brilliant idea of going climbing under the bright moonlight. Not one to pass up on an opportunity to be totally hardcore, I agreed to go with him. He wanted to lead Mutiny, I told him the route would be in the shadows until early morning, so we settled for night bouldering instead. Ocean, being a hardcore boulderer, was not too hard to convince into going with us. The rest of the group thought we were nuts.
We drove over to Lower Cotton Hill, where the boulders were only a 2 minute approach from the parking lot. First Ocean put us on this V3 problem that starts with a dyno. We worked on it for a long time, each of us got the dyno move at one point, but none of us was able to top out. Then we moved on, did a couple easier problems, then got on a short V4 that involved slopers and an ugly top out. My elbows were starting to hurt at this point, but I gave it a shot anyway, and topped out when I said, "this is the last time I'm going to try it". By now it's about 10 o'clock, we went back to camp, and scattered to our individual tents.
Ocean going for the dyno
We were again the first to arrive at Summersville. Eric went up Jeff's Bunny Hop (5.8) while Rob led Sniff the Drill (5.8) as warm ups. After Eric and Hung were sufficiently warmed up, they left so Eric can get on Narcissus (5.12a). I led and cleaned Sniff the Drill, which I have done over a year ago, but I still felt kind of sketched on it. Rob and I both led another easy route - That Eight (5.7) to continue our warm up, and that 5.7 didn't feel any easier than the 5.8. I was really doubting my lead head at this point.
We moved to where Hung and Eric were and watched Eric put up a great fight on Narcissus. The route looked very overhanging and fun, I thought about getting on it on a toprope, but I also didn't want to spend another day just toproping. So Rob got on it on toprope after Eric finished leading, Hung and I left to look for a 5.10 that I can get on.
The Long Wall has a 5.9, two 5.10b, a 5.10d, and a bunch of 5.11s. Hung wanted to put me on the 5.9 or one of the 5.10b, but there was a large group there who had a toprope on all the easier routes. So we decided to let Hung get on Flirting with E (5.11d) and come back later when that group is done toproping. Flirting with E looked like a fun route, thin face moves, a deadpoint, and some funky traverse moves. Hung didn't get it clean the first time, got lowered, and redpointed it later.
Rob and Eric also came over, and Rob decided to try Maximum Overdrive (5.11c). Meanwhile, the group that was toproping around the corner showed no sign that they were leaving. The only two routes that were open were a 5.10b and a 5.11d. I decided to try the 4-bolt 5.10b called For What?, but only if Hung clipped the high first bolt for me. He did it without complain, then I went up. The route climbs a smooth face that was slightly overhanging. The holds were incut, and sometimes a bit reachy. I really wanted to work on my lead head, get over the fear of falling, so from the beginning I decided that I wasn't going to ask for take. I tried to shake out whenever I had a pretty decent stance, but the angle of the climb make it impossible to depump completely. Soon I was pumped and shaking because of the lactic acid in my system, but I fought on. I climbed until the third bolt was 6 feet or so below my waist, but I was so pumped that I couldn't hold on to the jugs anymore. I yelled "falling!" and just let go. It was a nice, clean 15 feet fall. I came to a slow stop, and I wasn't freaked out at all, unlike when I was in RRG. I batman up to the third bolt, rested for a bit, then climbed on. I took another short fall above the fourth bolt going for a deadpoint, but I made it to the anchor without much difficulty, and more importantly, I didn't freak out taking the falls. I did what I wanted to do: break the mental barrier I had of taking lead falls, and climb until I fall instead of asking for take.
I got lowered, then belayed Hung on Flirting with E again for his redpoint. I was pretty happy at this point, I completely my goal for the day: to get on a 5.10 on lead. The day was growing short, Hung still wanted to try Mutiny - a climb you can only get on in winter when the water level is low, so I opted not to toprope Flirting with E. Rob toproped it, then belayed Eric as Eric tried to lead it. Eric wasn't able to get to the top because he was just trashed, so Hung led it a final time and cleaned the route.
The big group that was toproping around the corner was finally ready to pull their gear. Rob decided to lead Chewy (5.10b) on their pre-placed draws, and clean the anchor for them. Unfortunately the crux for Chewy was getting off the ground. After many tries, Rob eventually gave up. I didn't intend to climb Chewy, but all the sudden it seemed like I should, otherwise we'll have to ask either Eric or Hung to clean the route. So I asked Hung the Human Stick Clip to clip the first bolt for me, then I tried to get on it... which proved to be harder than I thought. After many false starts, and some beta from people, I made a desperate lunge for a jug, and finally was able to get myself off the ground. The rest of the route was no where as hard as the start, but it was pumpy. I messed up the sequence on a move, got my body in a weird position and couldn't reach the next hold, and peeled off for my third lead fall of the day. But it was a short one, and after some rest, I was able to complete the route.
But finishing Chewy really took some time, by now the sun was dipping close to the western horizon, and it doesn't seem like we have enough time to try Mutiny. Hung had already led another 5.11b called Spice while I was hangdogging Chewy, Rob gave it a go on toprope, and we packed up to leave.
On the way back to the parking lot, we stopped by the Coliseum where many of the hardest routes at Summersville is located, and watched for a while a young girl working Apollo Reed (5.13a). It was really impressive to watch.
Back to the campground for dinner, the rest of the group arrived at about the same time. They also had a pretty good day out, it was crowded where they were, but they climbed a lot of routes. After Terence cooked up a huge spaghetti and meatball dinner, Hung had the brilliant idea of going climbing under the bright moonlight. Not one to pass up on an opportunity to be totally hardcore, I agreed to go with him. He wanted to lead Mutiny, I told him the route would be in the shadows until early morning, so we settled for night bouldering instead. Ocean, being a hardcore boulderer, was not too hard to convince into going with us. The rest of the group thought we were nuts.
We drove over to Lower Cotton Hill, where the boulders were only a 2 minute approach from the parking lot. First Ocean put us on this V3 problem that starts with a dyno. We worked on it for a long time, each of us got the dyno move at one point, but none of us was able to top out. Then we moved on, did a couple easier problems, then got on a short V4 that involved slopers and an ugly top out. My elbows were starting to hurt at this point, but I gave it a shot anyway, and topped out when I said, "this is the last time I'm going to try it". By now it's about 10 o'clock, we went back to camp, and scattered to our individual tents.
posted by Boer @ 11/12/2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home