 |
| Long on Ultra Violence |
|
|
|
|
We were supposed to go to joshua tree this weekend. It turned out that everyone would be busy and the trip would be all but canceled, but scott decided to be generous and have a half day mt woodson trip on Sunday instead. It turned out to be a really successful day for me. I have been really hitting it hard at the gym lately, and I'm up to a solid 5.10 strength and ability. I didn't think I would be able to do that outdoors where the rules are a bit.. different.. but I ended up surprising myself. If you told me that I would go out and climb a 5.10b in mount woodson this morning, I would tell you that you were crazy.
 |
| Woodson rocks. |
Being in woodson means that you have to hike, albeit even a little. We all had our packs on, with scott carrying the bulk of it at 35 pounds. He had our rope and cams, but I should have been more sympathetic. The hike is part of the fun.
 |
| A paved trail |
Then we got to our first climb point. Scott chose the "rockwork orange" formation so we could climb milkbar. At this point I got my second ever anchoring lesson. I am really starting to get the hang of it. I don't know that I could set up an anchor and use it myself without worrying at this point, but I know I will all in due time.
 |
| The view from the top of Rockwork Orange |
Here is a map of all of today's climbs. You can get san diego topos from
this website , with this specific topo coming from
here. I put hearts around the climbs we undertook today.
 |
| Topo featuring today's climbs |
Firstup was Milkbar (5.9). Scott did this one twice, showing us two different betas. The first was a crack climbing method and the second was face climbing. I did a mixture of both when I climbed it. I did sort of a shimmy friction body rub type climb, but climb it I did.
 |
| Long Belaying Scott climbing Milkbar (5.9) |
 |
| Ambiance Shot |
Then we moved onto the face climb directly adjacent to milkbar. This one was called ultraviolence (5.10). If you haven't noticed, the entire formation is Clockwork Orange themed.
 |
| Long on Ultraviolence (5.10) |
Long climbed this one in like 2 minutes. It took me more like 10, but I climbed this one as well. At this point I started getting ahold of some confidence. I was really keeping up. And I climbed a 5.10 outdoors. It was a crazy miracle. I can't believe how far I've come.
Then we went on to climb Girls Climb (5.10b). They thought I could climb it because I am a girl, but I assured them that I couldn't climb it because it was a hard 5.10. There was a finger crack I had to do, and it was a lot of arm pulls without a lot of handholds. I didn't get any photos of this spot because we repelled down from the top and I didn't want to take my camera down there. Regardless, it was a grand achievenment for me when I accomplished it. I almost cried from happiness! Really!
Then we went over to silk banana where Long wanted to prove to show how big and strong he was. If you aren't familar, silk banana requires a lot of shoulder and forearm strength because you have to hold onto the ridge (arete) and transverse to the top. Its crazy, and it takes a lot of strength. I am still overcoming from my rotator cuff shoulder injury, so I didn't even try. This one has NO appeal for me.
Its rated at a V4.
 |
| Its a beautiful piece of rock. |
 |
| LONG IS REALLY EXERTING |
 |
| He didn't actually get it, but he will some day. |
Overall it was a great day. I climbed harder climbs outdoors than I ever had, and really built up my confidence. I feel now that I am no longer holding Scott and Long back, and I'm not even embarrassing myself when I try.
