Jackson Falls - Nov 16, 2008

posted by Saucisson #3

Climbers - Yusuf, Joe, Calvin, Tall Tim, Carine, Josh, Richard, Eric

It's getting colder. You know that time of the year, when your buddies, who used to be psyched to climb, sorta start talking about how cold it was last time, eyeball the outdoors and mutter about frozen fingers and general discomfort.

Well, to be fair, it was pretty cold at HCR for the last trip and I distinctly remember freezing my fingers so badly at the Prophecy Wall that I climbed one .10c (Learning to Fly) and promptly decided to wait until we found a more sunlight drenched wall.

How soon one forgets. :)

Last Saturday, I called, wheedled, negotiated, promised and placated, everything short of using force to get people to climb. Yusuf was psyched to climb, bless his soul, but many others dropped out quickly. So, I was pleasantly surprised at 5:45 Sunday morning when 8 people showed up at the gym, ready to head to the Falls. And we were blessed: the climbing was good, friction was decent and the weather wasn't bad. We were prepared for way worse and found the temps very nice.

This was a good trip, notably b/c Joey Kreidel was able to come. Joe's been visiting from Tucson; he moved away about 2 years ago with his wife and kids and was up visiting his family. He's been talking alot of smack about the climbing around Tucson, enough that I'm probably going to have to check it out. It was also Carine's first time at the Falls - she's climbed twice in 2 weekends now. I'm impressed.

Okay, on to the climbing. After our usual warmup at the Gallery, where I did a fun new (for me) .10b, three climbs to the right of Earthbound Misfits, we headed over to the Beaver Wall - Josh/Joe wanted to climb some 12's there. Tall Tim and Carine climbed at Mr. Jimmy, a good 5.7 slab and also the 5.8 at Beaver. I think Carine's either fearless, or talks a good game. But she's been climbing great outdoors and has now learned to lead climb, lead belay and clean anchors, all like a champ.

Yusuf worked on Dynasty .13b, a variation that starts on Emperor of the North .13a (which he sent a couple weeks ago) and angles left after two bolts. Brad Weaver sent this open project a while ago, opening it up to the public. We spied a bail biner 5 bolts up - which Yusuf managed to put one bolt further up, but that was the end of the road. Apparently the climbing becomes rather difficult after that point. I'll just have to take his word for it.

Joey and I headed to Beaver, where Joey, as is his custom, onsighted Everybody Needs Friends .12a, then did Frizzle Fry .12b in two tries. Mother Effer. I could talk about how Joey's 6' 3" and his reach just exceeds mine, but that's irrelevant. It was cool to watch him climb those routes so well. I epic'd Frizzle many times before I got the send, which tells you about our respective talent levels.

Josh made great progress on Everybody, and I think he's down to 1 hang... which hopefully means he can send soon.

We then headed over to Lovely Arete, where people hopped on Lovely .11a, Fine Nine 5.9+ and I worked Lost Innocence .12c, my current mini-project. Big burly balls, but I one-fell the damn thing 2 times after a shaky warm-up try. It felt so good too, that last try. You start on these nice 2 finger pinches and pockets, with good feet, to the top of a slopey ledge above the first bolt. You do a shaky traverse right, with somewhat blind feet, then get a rest on some flat, but surprisingly good slopers. From here, reach above the break, make a hard but decent pinch, then work your way left to the same line as the start.

Here's the first crux: you match at a small break - good 3 finger left hold, matched with not so good 3 finger right hold, high step right, left foot on marginal hold, then bump your right hand up to a 2-3 finger half-pad sidepull crimp. If you're not precise, it's hard to hold it when your weight settles on your fingers. Then, bring your left foot level with your right foot and power to a relatively bad pinch/sloper with your left hand. Pause, and stab left-handed to a 2-finger side-pocket. It's good, and if you hit that, you're ok.

After another move, the next crux is immediate - lock off right handed to a left hand side pull pinch-sloper that is much worse than the first one I described, do some footwork, and stand up on your left hand only to a nice break at full extension.

Blah, blah, I know, too much detail. But as I am wont to do when climbing something hard (for me), I memorize the details and try to visualize. It helps me on each successive try.

I'll get it next time.

Joey had to bail early to see his family for dinner, so he didn't get to try Lost, which was too bad. I was hoping to see him crush it. Yusuf climbed Green Velvet, a .12a to the left of Lovely Arete. Looks pretty cool; I want to try it.