Climbing Journal: First Outdoor Climb
Today I made my first official outdoor climb.
Since January I have been seriously pursuing rock climbing as a hobby, and while climbing at Stone Gardens I've managed to progress up to V5 and 5.11's (Top Roping).
The weather has been beautiful lately and the gym has been less and less crowded-(lonely even) as people get outdoors. Thursday night was the tipping point, the place was practically empty and just no fun to be at. Friday I decided that come this Sunday I was going to climb outdoors no matter what ... I of course needed a partner but I wasn't going to let that stop me. The initial plan was to just show up at Exit 32 and pick up someone's 3rd, but on Sat. I decided to check the gym for posts.
Ian was the first person I called and he turned out to be a super nice guy. Once we were at the crag, he didn't have any problem giving me a couple quick lessons on lead climbing.
The exit 38 crags weren't that crowded (everyone was probably at seafair), and from 10:30 to 4:30 we each climbed about 7 routes, mostly 5.9. leads. I lead a short 5.10 which was a bit intimidating as it required some serious finesse. I got a little impatient, took an exciting 10 foot fall, and smacked the wall with a satisfying 'WHUMP'. I got some nice scrapes that I'm very proud of, but my body absorbed most of the impact and I'm otherwise quite ok.
Quite a different experience, definitely what I was looking for. I got home around 5:30, ate a little and promptly took a "quick" 6 hour nap. Funny, at the gym I can pump out my forearms in 30 minutes but that didn't happen all day, and in this case I'm just all around really tired.
It is good.
-JD
http://www.deceptioncrags.com/Deception/WeDidRock/index.htm
http://www.deceptioncrags.com/Deception/DeceptionWall/index.htm
http://www.deceptioncrags.com/Deception/Nevermind/index.htm
Since January I have been seriously pursuing rock climbing as a hobby, and while climbing at Stone Gardens I've managed to progress up to V5 and 5.11's (Top Roping).
The weather has been beautiful lately and the gym has been less and less crowded-(lonely even) as people get outdoors. Thursday night was the tipping point, the place was practically empty and just no fun to be at. Friday I decided that come this Sunday I was going to climb outdoors no matter what ... I of course needed a partner but I wasn't going to let that stop me. The initial plan was to just show up at Exit 32 and pick up someone's 3rd, but on Sat. I decided to check the gym for posts.
Ian was the first person I called and he turned out to be a super nice guy. Once we were at the crag, he didn't have any problem giving me a couple quick lessons on lead climbing.
The exit 38 crags weren't that crowded (everyone was probably at seafair), and from 10:30 to 4:30 we each climbed about 7 routes, mostly 5.9. leads. I lead a short 5.10 which was a bit intimidating as it required some serious finesse. I got a little impatient, took an exciting 10 foot fall, and smacked the wall with a satisfying 'WHUMP'. I got some nice scrapes that I'm very proud of, but my body absorbed most of the impact and I'm otherwise quite ok.
Quite a different experience, definitely what I was looking for. I got home around 5:30, ate a little and promptly took a "quick" 6 hour nap. Funny, at the gym I can pump out my forearms in 30 minutes but that didn't happen all day, and in this case I'm just all around really tired.
It is good.
-JD
http://www.deceptioncrags.com/Deception/WeDidRock/index.htm
http://www.deceptioncrags.com/Deception/DeceptionWall/index.htm
http://www.deceptioncrags.com/Deception/Nevermind/index.htm
posted by jerdavis at 11:33 PM
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