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Went climbing at The Shrine with K8 today.
There were another couple there just ahead of us, and unfortunately they were on the route we wanted to start with, so I ended up having to lead a 5.8 that I'd had trouble completing on top-rope last year. I was able to lead it, though not the smoothest lead and with a couple falls, but it went, and that was good. K8 was able to climb it as well, despite fearing that she'd "flail like a girl" on it -- which is what she says she did last year. (She did flail last year.)
After we were done, they were almost done the next routes we wanted, so we had a bite to eat then I led Ali Baba, a 5.7. I took a fall on this one just as I was reaching to clip the 2nd bolt -- so I fell down past my first clip, probably 2-3m (6-9 feet), though it felt like more. Everything held, and I was fine, and completed the lead. We both climbed this, and Fern Crack (another 5.7 off the same anchors).
The other couple were just about done on the last climb we wanted to do, but it looked nastier than I wanted to lead (5.8/5.9 range), so one of them offered to carry our rope up behind her, and set a top-rope for us. (She was also top-roping after her climbing partner had led it.) She had difficulty, and ended finishing by cheating. K8 tried and failed, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to climb up and retrieve my anchor gear. But, with a bit of work, I was able to finish the climb, take down the T-R anchor gear, and rappel off. Then, pulling the rope through I had my little oops -- I forgot to make sure there wasn't a knot in the end of the rope, so when I'm just expecting the rope to pull through and fall, instead it jams! Doh! I did not want to climb on the rope, and I didn't want to try and lead this route on the other end of my rope, so we had to do the climb around and rescue the rope. This added a bunch of unexpected time, but otherwise went reasonably well. And, I found a shirt hanging on a tree at the top of the cliff.
gabriel_le tells me I'm a bit pink from the sun, so I will have to make sure to wear sunscreen tomorrow. Spindrift wall is more sun-exposed than the shrine, which is mostly shaded.
There were another couple there just ahead of us, and unfortunately they were on the route we wanted to start with, so I ended up having to lead a 5.8 that I'd had trouble completing on top-rope last year. I was able to lead it, though not the smoothest lead and with a couple falls, but it went, and that was good. K8 was able to climb it as well, despite fearing that she'd "flail like a girl" on it -- which is what she says she did last year. (She did flail last year.)
After we were done, they were almost done the next routes we wanted, so we had a bite to eat then I led Ali Baba, a 5.7. I took a fall on this one just as I was reaching to clip the 2nd bolt -- so I fell down past my first clip, probably 2-3m (6-9 feet), though it felt like more. Everything held, and I was fine, and completed the lead. We both climbed this, and Fern Crack (another 5.7 off the same anchors).
The other couple were just about done on the last climb we wanted to do, but it looked nastier than I wanted to lead (5.8/5.9 range), so one of them offered to carry our rope up behind her, and set a top-rope for us. (She was also top-roping after her climbing partner had led it.) She had difficulty, and ended finishing by cheating. K8 tried and failed, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to climb up and retrieve my anchor gear. But, with a bit of work, I was able to finish the climb, take down the T-R anchor gear, and rappel off. Then, pulling the rope through I had my little oops -- I forgot to make sure there wasn't a knot in the end of the rope, so when I'm just expecting the rope to pull through and fall, instead it jams! Doh! I did not want to climb on the rope, and I didn't want to try and lead this route on the other end of my rope, so we had to do the climb around and rescue the rope. This added a bunch of unexpected time, but otherwise went reasonably well. And, I found a shirt hanging on a tree at the top of the cliff.
gabriel_le tells me I'm a bit pink from the sun, so I will have to make sure to wear sunscreen tomorrow. Spindrift wall is more sun-exposed than the shrine, which is mostly shaded.
