The Red - Sept 11-12, 2010 - UPDATE

D on the Burrito

Climbers - Marc, Kevin, Danielle, Calvin, Yoli, Christian, John, Jaime and Conor
Weather - soggy, then nice


Some Pics.


While Soph puts together her entry for the Labor Day trip, I'll put in a quick entry for another interlude taken this past weekend.

Major props to Danielle on her first trip to the Red for sending Breakfast Burrito .10d (uprated in the new guidebook since the flexijug broke) second try and flashing Whipstocking .11a! D took a day of getting her bearings on Corbin sandstone to start looking like a rock goddess. You could see the "click" on Burrito. A few hesitant clips, assessing the climb, then "click" and she started rocketing up the stone. Way to go!


Day 1 - Saturday
John/Jaime/Conor and Yoli & Christian got down for some Friday climbing, and apparently enjoyed the stone at the Gallery. I'll let them fill in the spots since that was before the rest of us got there.

Saturday was a drizzly overcast and misty day. We decided on Roadside to get some drier climbing in, and also to give Marc a chance to Ro Shampo, his project there. Marc had a great first attempt, falling at the last bolt on the crimps! Unfortunately, humidity really set in after and his first attempt proved his best for the day. It'll come soon. Kevin, Yoli, Danielle and Jaime all worked Ro and made good progress.

It was crowded on the .10 wall, so we traded draws on all of the routes, from AWOL over to Pulling Pockets. I put the draws up on Stay the Hand, .12a and got shut down on the opening moves. Hard! I think the extreme humidity didn't help, but Stay requires a pocket and fingery boulder problem to start and it kicked my arse. The rest of the climb went okay, but that's a reminder that I have to return to the hangboard to restrengthen my fingers. Several sessions last season really went a long way, but I've held off this year due to finger injuries.

Yoli had an epic time with Marc and Kevin on Return of Chris Synder, .11d. by timing her climb with a torrential downpour, complete with lightning and thunder. I wasn't there to see it, but I hear she had a great time. :P

Christian and I spent a little time on Tic-Tac-Toe, .12b, but it was slippery and humid. I've fallen at the crux multiple times now, and need to up my game.

Day 2 - Sunday

We were thankful to wakeup to a beautifully clear and sunny Sunday. We partially packed and headed to Drive-By!

Marc in the crux of Check your Grip

I've already given props to D for her sends above. I think she was a little frustrated to not climb well at Roadside, but it takes a little time to get used to a new area and the humidity really made it hard. I think she had a great showing and set the bar high for a first trip.

Kevin took a breather as his finger acted up, and John/Jaime/Conor headed back early to St. Louis as Conor had picked up a cold. I enjoyed 2 new climbs, Fire and Brimstone, .10d and Big Sinkin' Breakdown, .11c. Both were pretty pumpy, but felt good. Marc climbed the Burrito and warmed up on a .10b while Yoli & Christian warmed up on the .10b and Slick and the 9mm, .10b. Slick is an underrated climb; I highly recommend it.

That left Check Your Grip, something I'd always tried on the last day, last attempts of a trip, and hadn't sent. CYG now has perma draws, probably because of the level of traffic it sees, and that was really nice. Marc had a proud first attempt, getting to bolt five (traversing from crimps into the side-pull slopers) before taking a massive whipper. I apparently wanted to imitate Marc as I took the same whipper immediately after. Christian has video that I hope we can link to soon. Marc and I rested and tried again, and I was able to get it second go. CYG is definitely more of an endurance climb, not so much a cruxy one, so that played to my current (non)strength and allowed me to send.

It was only a two day trip for the four of us, but we had a great time. Thanks to Yoli & Christian for inspiring us for another trip to the Red!! I love that place.

End of the month will see us at the 24HHH. Stay tuned!