CreatorWorship

The weather allowed and the schedules cooperated for a nice day at the crag.

    It is important to have a belayer who you can trust. This one is looking laid back. The “cool” sign is a bit disconcerting  though.  Is his hand on the rope in brake position?  And I hope that he made a better grade in belaying than science class.  Oh yeah, I’m tied in at the shuts at two points. I’m OK for the moment.  This place is great for winter time climbing because it is south facing and fairly low elevation. The forest fire actually assisted with that but it is regretable for the forest and eliminates shade for summertime climbing. Rope management at the cold shuts is imperative. Checking and double checking and  triple checking if distraction or any degree of uncertainty is present are necessary. After leading an easier route to these shuts, we tried straight up where the footholds were thin. We moved on to a climb that I had not done before that seemed more serious upon inspection that it did to actually climb. Finally, we worked on a climb that used all of our technique and strength to get onto. We both made progress but neither pulled through the 3 or 4 move sequence of the crux. It involved an overhang, slopey footing, an undercling for me (my partner has 7 inches height on me), and a reach to a blind hold all in the first move followed by a campus to the next rail. I had actually done it before but it was too much for the limited time on the rock I have had lately.  The climbing included toprope, sport, and trad. We had some friction, face, overhang, and bouldery heel hooks. The protection was bomber; the conversation was substansial; the weather was agreeable. The sun and breeze came and went so that we found ourselves adding and peeling layers but all in all is was, as you can see, a beautiful day. I actually had the camera passed up to me via the rope to get this shot of the distant view. It was an enjoyable way to end the year.  For those of you somewhat mistified by my vocabulary I include a dictionary: http://www.rockclimbing.com/Articles/Introduction_to_Climbing/Climbing_Dictionary_528.html