While riding with Mike last Monday at Whistler we, figured out that we were both rock climbers. It seemed silly to not get out climbing at that point so we set it up for Thursday evening after work to go blast up "Rock On"."Rock On" is a 5 pitch route in the gulley that runs up the side of the Apron at the bottom of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish. Its a Squamish moderate classic that's all crack climbing involving laybacks, finger locks, hand jams, and chimneying. Its got it all!
It went beautifully until the tag line that we were trailing got stuck. I lowered Mike off of a couple of cams until he could free the tag line. He then climbed back up and without any hesitation carried on to lead the next pitch. This next photo is Mike on that very lead.
I drew the crux pitch lead and made it look way harder than it is. The sight of my legs shaking and the sounds of me whining like a little girl would make anyone roll their eyes. Aside from all of that it was a really fun evening.
It was only the 3rd time I'd been out climbing this season. Sometimes I really miss it. More and more, tho, I'm thinking of stepping back from it. Mountain biking and building on Hornby Island are what is on my mind most of the time these days. Grabbing a nice positive hold at a good stance, and being able to check out the 500 feet of air between you and the ground is an exhilarating experience that is hard to give up. though.
1 comment:
D,
Putting it on the back shelf doesn't need to equate to giving it up. I'll be glad to lead your whinny arse up an occasional climb. It'll give me an excuse to leave AZ, visit BC and keep you from completely going to the dark side of bike butt ;-)
B
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