On Sunday, I climbed a paltry 2 pitches in Eldorado Canyon, with Jay (whom I met at a local climbing gym). It was one of those days where I had a lot of expectations, none of which were met. While I was climbing, I enjoyed the experience, but the rest of the day was completely lacking.
I was to meet Jay at the carpool lot just East of Eldo Canyon at 7am, so I packed my bag and did the necessary research. He mentioned climbing Ruper, and I was really amped up since I haven’t climbed it, and it would be great to swing lead with a veteran…little did I know that all my preparations would be for not!
So, I was at the parking lot 5 minutes early, and chomping at the bit. What a gorgeous day, it was perfect outside. As I waited, I read the route discription, memorizing little helpful tidbits. After about 10 minutes, it was apparent Jay was running late.
So, I called him. He was, indeed, on the way. He showed up at least 15 minutes late. Loading into his car, I could see his climbing stuff strewn about the back. What a disarray of stuff…I was surprised cause he appeared so neat and well organized at the climbing gym!
He spent the next 15 minutes, in the parking lot of Eldo arranging his backpack. While I sat there watching, 3 parties passed us, heading up for their pick of the best climbs. Oh, the sheer torture.
I tried to remain patient. (In hindsight, I think the whole lesson for the day was patience!). Why did I wake up at 5:30am, when I could have slept in an extra 30 minutes!
The reader should know that Jay is a completely nice individual, and a good belayer…The main source of my inner conflict was his unpreparedness and lack of caring about schedule. Maybe in 15 years, when I’m his age, I’ll have the same qualities as him; I’ll be laid back and generally not care about how many pitches I do nor *what* routes I do. But for now, I am a total type A impatient and excitable climber!
And, apparently, I need to be with others who are just as in love with climbing and ready to go as I am…Willing to wake up at ungodly hours, pack bags in advance, plan the trip & descent, and even have a fresh pair of jeans/sandals in the car for after!
So, the details of the climb are as follows, since those 3 parties jumped on Ruper and all climbs in the near vacinity, we got the leftover climb: Green Slab Direct (5.9). We only did the first two pitches…You’ll read why, soon!
Me at 7:34 am (while Jay was finishing packing!)
At 9:07am starting pitch 1
At 9:29am bottom crux roof
At 10:30am starting pitch 2
At 11:18am Jay finished pitch 2 (This is me at the anchor waiting).
At 11:45am started pitch 3 (crux pitch). After 15 minutes of up & down climbing, the weather started looking sketchy and I felt a raindrop. And, then thunder.
At 12:19pm, we joined forces with a father-daughter team who were climbing nearby and bailed collectively.
Here, you can see Logan belaying her dad, Keith (in the tree).
Keith, setting up the bail rappel.
We waited around hoping the weather would clear up, but it didn’t. I went home massively disappointed, as would any type A impatient climber after a day like this one!