A Weekend of Firsts

Do you remember your first climb? I do. I was a 24 year old senior at UNL. Jason Bakewell took me to the climbing wall at the campus rec, tied me in and told me to climb to the top. I started off with vigor, but at 30 feet I was ready to come down. I wasn’t too pumped. The route wasn’t too difficult. I was too sketched.

Bakewell laughed, and told me I wouldn’t be coming down until touching the bar at the top.

Contrast that with my Mom, Kris’s, first climb on Saturday. Already 100 feet up from the canyon bed after our hike, onlookers below stood still to spectate. The tip of our 70 meter rope dangled a few feet off the ground and Mom tied in. Tyler was a speck on the horizon as his yell of “On Belay!” echoed through the canyon. With a deep breath she set off to tackle the lower ramp. Keeping her eyes squarely on holds immediately ahead, she moved quickly. If she was nervous, she showed no signs and 230 feet later, she sat at the top, on the Grand Giraffe ledge, with a panoramic view of Eldorado Canyon.

We lowered her down the south side of the ramp. On the ground, she took a drink of water and gazed up at the beautiful crimson Redgarden cliffs. I could see her thoughts running.

The Lower Ramp was a perfect way to start the 4th of July weekend adventure, but the climbing had just begun.

We continued with Suparete, a mixed 5.11 up the edge of a deep red panel. It’s a fun, sporty climb that can be toproped with a 70 meter rope. Mom got in another line, the west face of the lower ramp, before the distant rumblings of thunder gained intensity and giant raindrops pelted the ground, like crumbs falling from Rush Limbaugh’s third chin at his fourth honeymoon.

Like so many Front Range storms, the rain was gone in a matter of minutes, leaving a vibrant canyon, gleaming in the scattered light of dispersing clouds.

On the 4th of July, we slept in, had an overpriced breakfast, took long naps, sat around, enjoyed short siestas and then got our act together and went climbing at Der Zerkle in the Flatirons.

Bravo to Ron for onsighting Touch Monkey, a pumpy 5.11b with a little spice during the easier top section. It was Ron’s first 5.11 onsight and was well-deserved. If you’ve seen Ron boulder, you know the crazy potential he has in climbing.

We continued with April Fools, a difficult 5.11c that pushed me to the limit. The route required strenuous heel hooking through the crux, a technique I’m not used to on sport climbs. As Tommy discovered, though the route eases near the top, it remains pumpy. The bolt spacing reflects the easier terrain and he took an awesome 25 footer – quite a show for Mom. Good work, Thomas.

As with any area of the Flatirons, slabs abound and we took advantage to get Mom on a great 200 foot climb, Sunny Side Two. She enjoyed the line, but once again rain chased us off the mountain. I would have loved to have gotten her on one more route. But these rocks aren’t going anywhere. Just like the day before, the rain lasted only 10 minutes, just enough time to give Lizz a nervous run up a sandbagged 5.9, Big Bob Cranks.

For a nice cap to the long weekend, Tyler and I headed to Eldo for some Monday evening adventure. We parked at 6:50, were at the base of C’est What around 7:00 and managed to get three great lines in during the two short hours before dark. Cheers to Tyler for redpointing C’est What, his first Eldo 5.11, a day after onsighting Knot Carrot, his first Flatirons 5.11. I think sending Eldo 5.11 is a big achievement and Tyler did it in style – C’est what is 5.11c PG-13. Nicely done, Tyler.

After that romp, we hiked over to Downpressor Man (5.12a). I had given this line a few tries several weeks ago and have been wanting to get back to it. My goal was to reach the third and last crux without falling and then give the route another go with the draws hung if there was spare daylight. To my surprise, I had plenty of gas left to fire it off on the first go, collecting a nice oval bail biner to add to my collection in the process (it seems everyone bails with ovals in Eldo). A half hour after Tyler sent his first Eldo 5.11, I sent my first Eldo 5.12. Not bad for getting to the park at 7 pm. In the fading light we even had time to run up Guenese, an entertaining 5.11a that shares the first bolt with Downpressor Man. I love summer.