So on Saturday, we were pretty much worn out from our previous day of hiking, climbing, and beach bumming in Malibu, so we got a late start to the day. We had decided to go to Big Rock for some climbing, then to hit Lake Perris so that the kids could have some fun swimming in the afternoon. We finally got out of the house at around 11:00 and it was already like 100 degrees outside. Amy was saying that it was too hot to do any climbing, but I convinced her to at least try one route before we just played in the lake.
We drove to Big Rock and it was way hot, but there were two other people climbing there, so I guess we're not the only crazy people in the world. When we got to the rock we had a kind of funny conversation with the other climbers there. They were on the most popular route at Big Rock, a 5.5 called "The Trough". When we walked up they asked us if we were climbing and I told them that yes we were going to do a route or two before going swimming. At that point the climber tells me, "Okay, I'm just going to TR this quickly, so then you can do it" as if The Trough is the only climb on the rock or something. He then added, "or I guess you can do the other one" and pointed to the other 5.5, African Flake. I then told him not to worry and that we'd be find doing one of the other routes. I don't know if it was the kids or what, but he obviously didn't think that there was any way we would be climbing something harder than 5.5.
Instead, we decided to do a 5.9 called "Variation to Boogaloo". This route is very fun, and starts with the crux right at the first bolt. After the crux it is pretty much just continuous 5.7 slab climbing up through the last bolt, then it eases up to just a scramble to the anchors. The route is nice and runout in true Big Rock style with only 4 bolts in the 100 ft. pitch. I easily ran up the route getting the redpoint, and I think the other two climbers were a bit shocked with how quickly I did the route.
Amy on "Variation to Boogaloo" - 5.9
Next Amy TR'd the route without any problems and when she got down they were like, "wow, how long have you been climbing?" After telling them how long we've been climbing they quickly had to tell us that they were just getting back into climbing after a several year break as if we were judging them or something. I just thought the whole encounter was quite amusing. Next up, Danny put on his harness and worked on his slab climbing skills. With a bit of discrete tension, he made it through the crux without any problems and scampered about half way up the route before deciding that he was ready to come down and go swimming.
Danny practicing his slab skills
By this time, it was just too hot to continue climbing, so we headed to the lake where the kids had a blast swimming.
No comments:
Post a Comment