We got out to Shelf Road last weekend. Besides the $#!+house Traverse, we got in some actual climbing. It was a learning experience as always…
Adam Breaks Hold from Climbing House on Vimeo.
By now I’ve realized the rock at Shelf is friable and brittle. I’ve seen microwave sized block come off of well traveled routes. As such, this trip I decided to ware my helmet the entire time I was at the crag- climbing, belaying, sitting around…
Photo courtesy Ron
The photo above is a dude stuck at the anchors on Cactus Cliff because he dropped the rope. This should never happen. It’s possible to clean a route without ever disconnecting from the rope. Just tie a temporary knot in the rope prior to untying the figure 8.
I can’t help thinking of all the other errors that are easily avoided. Such as rappelling off the ends of the rope. Establish habits that avoid these mistakes (tie knots in the end of the rope when rapping).
Cactus
Emily on a classic 5.10 on Spiney Ridge
The ladies in our climbing group are really coming into their own. It’s a pleasure to watch them push themselves. Here’s a few more pictures from the weekend.
Wow, that hold break incident sure came out about as ideal as possible. Great catch, soft landing, no one hit by rock, etc… almost casual. Just curious, does anyone know what type of belay device she was using?
It was an ATC.
Nice post, Eli. That picture of Emily is fantastic.
Kris, that route was strange all around. It got three stars in the guidebook and was rated .12b. The first boult could be clipped casually and the second was high and right. Straight up was just a blank face with some lichen. There was no chalk on this thing and probably for good reason. I saw no way to get to the second clip without heading left and using that flake, then reaching right for the bolt now waist high. The top of the line was very difficult and thin and I was lucky to piece the moves together after several attempts so I didn't have to bail.
Sounds exciting. All the better you had an A+ belay.