climbergirl blog

The Climbers: Walter, Mike F., Clare, Dennis, Rod & Mike (both from New Mexico).
The Crags: Sunnyside & Boy Scout
The Climbs: Walk In The Park (5.8), Gold Finger (5.10c), Red Hot (5.12a), Fun In The Sun (5.9), Chick Flakey (5.10c) & Dog Ate the Homework (5.10a), Midway (5.10c), Make A Way (5.10b), Three Giant Steps (5.10a), Reaching Rayane (5.9).
The Crowd: NONE
The Clouds: Scattered
The Clothes: Tee Shirts & Pants (although we wished we had shorts).

I met Rod at a training class a few years back. I’ve been chatting with him about coming out to Cali to climb-along with his coworker Mike. We were finally able to put all that talk behind us, and GET ON SOME ROCK! Heck Yeah.

Turns out Rod lead his first 5.9, first 5.10a, and quite possibly could have lead some of the 5.10b’s (did he?). Look at the above pics of Rod-he’s just cruizin!

And, Mike took great initiative in setting up Red Hot (5.12a). After some monkeying around between bolts-he made it to the top. Much to our chagrin-we didn’t tease him TOO much about his style 8^) But his effort was more authentic than the LA crowds I’ve seen working this route using a Stick Clip to bypass the many little crux’s.

I think it’s great that these guys were able to come out and climb-and they were sure having a blast. Being stuck with gym climbing during the winter months; they were ready for some real rock action.

Mike F. and Walter climbed together all day. Mike F. was (for the most part) the ropegun and was giving the rock a thorough thrashing. For example, he took a big lead fall on the top of Gold Finger (pulling Walter off his feet). In a show of determination, sticking to the climb and working the upper crux, he got it. Woo-hoo! And, Chick Flakey was a simple diversion to this guy-great stuff there!!!

Walter’s knee did not stop him from climbing hard. He did great on Chick Flakey, and also leading several new routes with no problems. It’s awesome to see Walter attacking these kind of bouldery overhangy routes, RIGHT ON.

Unfortunately, there are no climbing pics of Climbergirl as of press time. But the reader should know that I had a great day of climbing. I got a redpoint on Chick Flakey (booyah!). I felt really strong on Make A Way, and really enjoyed the bouldery start. And, I had fun downclimb lead on Reaching Rayane (it’s actually more of a challenge than leading up!).

I made lots of progress on Gold Finger. I have it down to one lousy hang. So, next time I should get it since I know the sequence now. Is “four times” a charm? Stay tuned!

I did 7 climbs total (8 if you count the lead downclimb on RR). The frequency of climbs really doesn’t matter as much as the overall FUN FACTOR of the day. I’d rate it a 10, for sure. With Dennis as my belay slave, a great group of guys to climb with, and freaking good weather, what more could climbergirl ask for?!!!?

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Rock Climbing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.