Rock Climbing – North Table Mountain, Golden, CO

Jenny Enjoying Deck Chairs (5.9)

Coors Brewing Factory in Winter
On Saturday morning, I woke up early and joined Jenny in a birthday run. We ran around her place, near downtown Denver. It was a Ghetto style run, but also featured a long stretch adjacent to the Platte River. (What a treat that was!). We ran for about 45 minutes, a great way to start the day.

Later that day, we met Jenny & a gaggle of her friends at Hot Cakes (a Denver Breakfast hotspot). It was yummy. I ordered Huevos, with black beans & vegetarian green chile sauce. Dennis got the sweet potato pancake, and he thought it was yummy too.

At Jenny’s brunch, there was talk of climbing, and before I knew it, plans were drawn to head up to Golden for the afternoon. Yippie! First outdoor climbing of the year! And to go with a small group of females, how awesome!

So, I met Jen & Jenny at around 1pm and we headed up to Golden. Even though North Table Mountain is not my favorite crag, I was totally psyched to be outside climbing.

I only hoped it would stay warm out…a cold front was building and who knows what would happen.

Here’s Jen & Clare (Jenny Obscured by Clare’s Big Huge Head)
Jen & Clare All Smiles

Here’s Jenny on a Mission to Climb
Jenny on a Mission to the Crag
We got to the parking lot around 1:45pm and things did not look great. But, who knows, maybe by the time we put on our gear and got to the crag…

About 500 feet above the Parking Lot, at the Crag:
Jenny Preps for Climbing

Jen Preps for the Sharp End

Lucky for us, the weather held out and we were able to climb 3 routes before the wind picked up and sun died down!

In addition to the climbing, Jen discovered a buried #2 BD Cam at the start of Killian’s Dead. She mentioned it to us, and when it was Jenny’s time to climb, Jenny spent a good 30 minutes working on the piece. She got it loose enough so that it was freely moving around, now how to get it out of the flared crack?

It was my turn to give it a whirl, so I stuck my little digits in the crack and experimented with different angles. Finally, I decided to angle the lobes downward and, using my nut tool, I squeezed the trigger at the same time as pulling the cam out. It was tricky, but I finally dislodged the cam.

I gave it to Jen, as she had done most of the work on the piece. I was happy to have been there for Jenny’s first booty experience! It’s an exciting opportunity for Jenny…and that it was successful is even better.

My first attempt at scoring free booty almost turned into disaster…

I was in Red Rocks in the Icebox Canyon and spotted a #3 wedged in a crack about 30 feet off the deck. There was a bolt about 10 feet below it. I was a big sport climber at the time, and with about 2 years of climbing experience. I decided to go for the cam, but I didn’t have any other gear. I climbed up into the crack and tried to retrieve it. Only one lobe was moving and my arms were pumping out. I almost had it, when my foot slipped and I took a pretty big fall, nearly landing on my belayer, as the bolt creaked. Darn it! After that, I did not feel the urge to continue with the confiscation and went home in defeat.

But, I digress…back to the climb at hand! Jen was fired up to lead Killian’s Dead, a wonderful short 5.6 crack with good pro and a fixed anchor.

Here are pictures of Jen’s lead of Killian’s Dead (5.6).
Jen Placing Pro on Killian's Dead Jen Drops a Knee on Killian's Dead (5.6) Jen Jamming Killian's Dead (5.6)

Here’s the Birthday Girl, Jenny, Ascending Killian’s Dead (5.6)
Jenny Working the Start of Killian's Dead
Jenny Working Double Cracks on Killian's Dead (5.6)
Jenny Matches Feet on Killian's Dead

Then, we set up top ropes on Deck Chairs On the Titanic (5.9) and Pee on Dee (5.8)-no pictures the light was dying.

It was nice to get out climbing. For a half day effort, one can’t beat the sunny crags of North Table Mountain! However, I can’t wait to get over to Eldo, Clear Creek, or Boulder Canyon. Any one of these would be preferable, for a full days time 8^)

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