This is a shot that Pilar got of a very cute collie mutt at the Trophy. But moving onwards to climb-based narcissism...
At last! I sent my second 5.12a, which hopefully proves to my buddy Masa that the first one wasn't a total fluke. Keep Your Powder Dry goes at 5.12a (7b) if you stop at the ledge, which I did. My second 5.12a ever. First was Maneater, and for both routes I required 4 shots of espresso in the car ride to the crag. Another thing they both have in common is that they are short, which favors my bouldery side because I have no power endurance. However, since I was pretending to be sport climber, I tried to pace myself by resting whenever possible to avoid a flash pump. At the crux, I dynoed with my right hand instead of the left. Most people go left. To me, the right hand is more like a body twist versus the left hand dyno being practically a campus move off of a poor crimp. There's a pic of me sticking the dyno in a
previous post . After the crux, you can gain a kneebar rest that if done properly allows you to fully depump before completing a three moves on flat crimps, which aren't that easy after you're tired.
Above, Shawn lowers off The Trophy 5.12b after working out the moves. He had already sent Keep your Powder Dry so he focused on the Trophy. Shawn cleared all the hurdles today, styling the traverse, modifying the rest, sticking the dyno, and deciphering the topout on the ledge. All that remains is the linkage. He probably just needs a good night's sleep, some good ol' beer and masturbation and it'll be done. His all out dyno attempts cost him some skin though. And now for the overdone pic of wounded climber hands:
For an idea of what Shawn was trying to do and eventually did, see this
link. Love the fact that the title of pic in the link is "Brilliant Footwork". I found a different way while shamefully hangdogging on second, which was to match on a bad crimp and go right with different foot positioning. I guess "different" is not the right word here as Shawn's feet were not on the rock whereas mine were... it maybe should read "go right WITH foot positioning." Not as dramatic and glorious as a three points off dyno, but my skin is intact. Part of my shameful hangdogging allowed me to put on a silly show of trying to get back on an overhanging route.
Afterwards, Captain Shawn of the Climbship Burlyprise decided to try Sharkwalk, 5.13a. Despite the horrific pun nauseating the Captain... he nonetheless put forth a valiant effort. Pilar's photo below is of Shawn after the crux dyno (what is it with these dynos?) off of an abominably tiny crimp on an overhang. Somehow the photo makes the route appear like a slab, but it was in actuality quite overhung. I dunno. Maybe 30 or 40 degrees?
But that's when things took a turn for the deadly, almost. Above us, some hooligans started mocking Shawn's screams. This was followed by a shotgun blast. OK, it wasn't a gunshot, but somebody above threw down a stone the size of a large brick and it almost hit my wife, shattering on the ledge next to her and sounding like a gunshot. We yelled up to whoever it was that they should NOT throw rocks but I was furious that somebody nearly hit my wife. After Shawn lowered, I fashioned a weapon made of a gri-gri attached to 2 quick draws and ran around the cliff intending to bludgeon whoever threw the rock. When I got around to the top of the Trophy, whoever it was had left... dismayed by the disappearance of the perpetrators, I was left with a sinking feeling surrounding the thought that people tend to hurt others not out of malicious intent but rather out of commonplace thoughtless ignorance.
Below, Shawn grows impatient while waiting for me to mete out vengeance on the absent stone-thrower on the other side of the cliff.
"... Where is that muther ucker?"
Glen
Keep Your Powder Dry 5.12a - redpoint
The Trophy - 5.12b - incomplete/hangdog
Sharkwalk - 5.13a - hangdog/left behind a bail biner (more shame!)
Shawn
The Trophy - 3 tries incomplete (next time Gadget!)
Sharkwalk - incomplete
A##hole rock thrower
My wife - missed
East Mountain...
Problem of the day for me was Try Harder because it contained all the necessary ingredients for my type of climbing: Big moves between big holds, no crimps, and demanding some power. Sort of like the Pearl at Red Rocks. I think Try Harder is old school also, as our guide Chris said it was put up back in the day by some hard man like John Sherman or something like that. Try Harder and Hobbit in a Blender were the only problems on the whole trip to make me scream my ass off. The primal yell is very satisfying to release. However, not any scream will do... it must be pulled out of you by a very demanding move (mentally or physically, preferably both simultaneously.) In other words you can't intend or plan such a spontaneous act. The problem has to pull it out of you. All you can do is get on the boulder and if it happens it happens. Below is me on Try Harder.
I'd like to extend many thanks to Masa for filming my attempts with his tripod; I wasn't in a filming mood at the time but now I'm very thankful he did it. Also many thanks to Takako, a budding climbing photographer, who took the sequence shots above with Yusuke's DLSR.
