Tag Archives: Super Slab

Jun4

15, 16 & 17-April, 2016 – Another tough weekend climbing

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15, 16 & 17-April, 2016 – Another tough weekend climbing
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 15, 16 & 17th of April, 2016
So last weekend was a bit rough – I tried to train on Mt. Hood, only to run into trouble from the start (getting started late, etc…).  Then the next day Sarah and I bailed out from Smith without even really starting up a climb… Not a bad thing, since it would be worse to try to force a climb when it wouldn’t be safe.  But still – disheartening.  So when another weekend threw us off our game… well, life is full of challenges, right?  
The original plan for the weekend was to do Prime Rib of Goat, a huge climb that Sarah’s had her eye on for a long time.  It’s beautiful – 11 pitches of 5.9 sport climbing out in the wilderness.  But snowed-in passes held us at bay, keeping us from even driving out to the start.  Instead, we aim for the lofty goal of 12 pitches in a day at Smith – to make up for the lost adventure.
Specifically, we aim to do Super Slab (3 pitches), Dirty Pinkos (4 pitches), Moscow (3 pitches), and then a few climbs in Pleasure Palace.  Sort of a training weekend, you know?
So it starts on Friday – we drive out, find a campsite… and then get told by an old dude that we’re too close to his truck (75+ feet away)… thankfully we’re leaving early, so we convince him to let us stay for the night, as long as we’re gone early in the morning.  A rough start, but nothing we can’t beat.
Saturday dawns, and we get up a bit later than planned… but still damn early for me. we’re hiking by 7:30, starting into the park with a newly risen sun at our back.  We start up Super Slab, but run into some traffic… It’s a fun route, but that mean’s that it’s a popular one, and we’re behind another team from the start.  Thankfully they let us pass, but we pretty quickly run into some troubles on it, in regard to gear and more traffic.  But we persevere, pushing through to a very pretty summit after a fun final pitch.
Dirty Pinkos is a traffic jam, and we end up sitting around at the base waiting for a solid hour or two.  By the time we start up, we’ve been sitting for almost two hours, waiting on a team who’s “just about to start, hold on a minute”.  By then we’ve lost the mental game, and we end up bailing off the top of Pitch 1.  It’s a tough choice, but we throw in the towel and head home.  We’re tough, but that’s a strength that Sarah and I both have – we know when we’re beat, and when we don’t have the energy to push through… and when we don’t need to force it in the first place.  So we pull back, rappel down, and head back home.
Some rage against shoes may have taken place as well… I don’t know what you’re talking about.  We totally didn’t beat up Sarah’s climbing shoes, because they kept pinching and not fitting right.
Definitely not.
Sunday we take it easy.  Go to the park with Ollie.  Relax.  Re-center.  Enjoy the simplicity in life.
Or try to, at least.  Bailing on a weekend’s adventure is hard, and it’s not something that either of us likes doing.
Apr3

Weekend of 12-February – Valentine’s Day weekend!

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Weekend of 12-February – Valentine’s Day weekend!

Weekend of 13 &14 February; Saturday and Sunday

 

In the great tradition of Halloween, Sarah and I spent Valentine’s Day rock climbing at Smith.  We had planned on heading down Friday afternoon, but we got a bit overcome by events and the stress of trying to pack and leave the house early enough to get down to Salem and out to Smith… so instead, we headed to Hood River for a relaxing Friday night in town.

Saturday, however, we locked down and got moving.  Not… not super quickly, still, but acceptably early.  I mean, we got to Smith in time to get a few routes in, so that’s what matters, right?

Super Slab – 5.6, trad.  Technically 3 pitches, but we only did the first one.

Route next to super slab (unknown?) – ~5.6, sport, 1 pitch of fun climbing.

Ohh, and camping Friday night?  I used a battle axe to chop firewood.  Just… you know.  FYI.

 

Sunday dawned bright and pretty, doubly-so since we’d camped out at Skull Hollow in the cozy back of Sarah’s truck.  We got moving pretty early, since we had a specific mission that was doubtlessly shared by a dozen or two other teams/couples – Climbing the route called “First Kiss” on Valentines day.

Sarah and I had already climbed First Kiss before, but not since we’d started dating.  So the goal this time was to have just as much fun as before, but also take cute selfies and make out at each of the belay stations.  Yep, sickening.  I know.

But you know what?  That’s like… a huge amount of the fun of life.  Do what you enjoy, with the people you love, and be just as ridiculous as you want to be.

 

So we got up early, trekked our way to the base of the climb, and got in line.  Or so we expected… but somehow, some way, we ended up being the first people in line!  So we racked our gear up, and headed into the first pitch.

(Ed note: By the time Ben and Sarah were actually climbing, three teams were lined up at their backs, and another two teams had turned away due to the long wait.  Turns out: Ben and Sarah have really good timing)

The climbing was just as fun as I remembered it, being pleasant and just committing enough to be interesting.  I think we actually kept roughly the same lead sets as last time – I took the first and third pitches, Sarah took the second and fourth.  Actually, last time I think Sarah did four and five, so I guess we did mix it up a little…

First Kiss – 5.7, Sport, 5 pitches.