On Saturday we wanted to go climbing, but neither Amy or I really wanted to drive very far because of our recent trip to UT. That limited us to where we could go climbing so we decided to just hit up the quarry. As usual, our area of choice was Slab City since it is great for the kids.
We started on our usual warm up, "Mantle Marathon" 5.10a. I ran up the route and hung the draws for Amy, then she lead the route. She did very well, but did fall off at the crux once before getting through it. When she was about halfway up the route we realized that she had forgotten to take anything to clean the route with, so I told her to just not clip the final two draws on the easy slab section so that she could steal those to anchor herself in with. She did so and made it back to the ground safely.
Next up was a 5.11b called "Marathon Man". It feels like I've been trying this route forever but have yet to get the redpoint. The crux of the route is between the first and second bolt, and involves some very interesting, balancy, and hard to read moves. My first try on the route I couldn't get past the first bolt, the second try, I TR'd the route to figure out the moves, but still didn't really feel comfortable with them, on my third try, I ended up taking a fall and coming within inches of decking when I lifted Amy off the ground, oh, and we also colided in the air both getting a few bruises in the process, so this time I had a new plan. As Amy lowered off of Mantle Marathon, I had her clip the second bolt with a long draw so that I could clip it lower and eliminate the possibility of decking. This would have been a great plan if there were any holds that you could clip the long draw from, but of course, there weren't. I ended up having to grab the long draw to clip it which worked, but there is no way I could clip it from any of the holds without getting thrown way off balance. At least I was able to figure out the moves without having to worry about decking that way, and I now feel confident that I can get the redpoint (with someone a bit heavier than Amy belaying me of course).
After the crux of Marathon Man, the route eases up considerably so I quickly reached the anchors and let Amy TR the route. She wasn't able to do the crux without any help, but a little descrete tension goes a long way;)
Next up was Shattered Dreams since Amy is still working on getting the crux figured out. As usual I ran up the route without any problems, then Amy tried it on TR. I do have to say that she is getting much better at the lower section of the route. She got higher than she ever has before without having to rest which was pretty awesome. At the crux though, she still had a very hard time, so we'll have to keep working on it.
Danny of course also had a blast being hauled up Shattered Dreams a couple of times. The route is prefect for him to "swing" on (as he likes to call it) since it is a bit overhung and allows him to be hauled clear up to the anchors.
Well by this time it was just after noon and the shade was quickly leavng so we decided to follow it's cue. Sorry about the lack of photos, but I forgot to set up the camera.
No comments:
Post a Comment