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Conundrum of a budding Alpinist

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

We are excited to be exclusively publishing McKenzie Long’s report from a December venture down to the amazing Patagonia. Enjoy!

As someone who is completely in love with climbing and mountaineering, when my partner Luke suggests a trip to Patagonia, even though I have to take out a loan to go there, I can’t turn it down. We head there with low expectations. I expect the weather to be pretty bad, so to keep disappointment at bay, I try not to imagine too many great successes. My imagination gets the best of me.

For some reason, I expect rain, but in reality what keeps people from climbing is the wind. When we first arrive in El Chalten, I walk down the street looking for a hostel as Luke waits with our enormous bags full of expedition gear. The wind is blowing so hard that I can’t walk a straight line.

In a few short days, a weather window arrives with sunny calm skies, and we eagerly head towards the hills. The approaches are long and gorgeous. The first time up there about kills me. I am seeing stars as I carry my humongous pack up the steep and rocky hike toward Lago de los Tres in hot sunshine. I look up the glacier towards Paso Superior and think I’ll never make it. We continue on. Slowly, I put one gore-texed foot in front of the other, marching my way up the glacier in steps kicked by a party before us. I stop noticing the blisters on my heels. My heavy pack melts into my shoulders. I stop noticing the pain and just move.

When we arrive at Paso there are three other parties planning on sleeping there and climbing Fitz Roy the next day. We have our sights on Poincenot. I feel confident. An Adidas sponsored Austrian gives us beta on our chosen route. He says the entrance snow ramp is tricky and scary, but “you will do it.” I like his confidence.

At 3 a.m. the next morning we realize we have made a terrible mistake and have not brought enough fuel. There is no realistic way we can climb for 20+ hours without water. We hike back down, dejected.

In El Chalten we are joined by Jason, our third, and we make plans to try Poincenot again when the weather gets better. Each time hiking up to Paso Superior feels shorter. Either my pack is getting lighter or I am getting faster. On our way up we run into some skiers who tell us in broken English that they don’t think the weather looks so good for the next day. “No Poincenot, try Guillamet.” We take their advice.

We cross the glacier in the dark, watching the sun rise. Jason takes the lead and climbs over the first schrund. We simul-climb the vertical snow pitch towards the base of the Amy Couloir as it starts snowing gently down on us. We climb excellent ice in the couloir, but when we reach the notch below the rock step, we decide not to summit because of the weather. It’s snowing harder. It has turned into a white-out and I begin to wonder how we are going to make it back across the glacier to our snow cave. We rappel back down and thankfully can still see our footprints disappearing into the whiteness beyond. Roping up, we start to cross the glacier even though we can’t see to the other side.

 

I squint in to the whiteness, desperately looking for a dark silhouette of rock in front of me. No matter how hard I look, nothing appears. I keep glancing over my shoulder at the wall of rock behind me that is slowly being enveloped by the whiteness. In a few moments I won’t be able to see anything at all. No landmarks, just white. We will be blind and lost in the middle of a crevasse field. I stifle my panic. To avoid the hopeless search for rock in front of me, I start scanning the snow for our earlier footprints, which have all but disappeared. Luke is on the rope in front of me, carefully scraping his ice tool back and forth in order to feel their icy outlines. I resume my squinting search for the rock face in front of us. “Hey guys, I think I see a dark outline, straight ahead.” Jason calls from behind. I let a whoosh of air out of my lungs as my eyes find the same spot in the blurry fog. We continue our roped trek across the snow, now towards hope. When we arrive, I rejoice. I never thought I’d be so happy to see a snow cave in my life.

As I lay in the snow cave that night, irrational thoughts buzz through my mind. What if the snow cave collapses on us? What if I get cold at night and can’t get warm again? What if I get wet? What if the storm doesn’t clear and we are stuck up here without food? What if it avalanches on us as we hike down the glacier? Even though I am exhausted, I lay there restlessly. I can’t come up with a single peaceful thought to latch onto to ease me into sleep. I start repeating the words warm….rest….warm….rest. Eventually I drift off. For no discernible reason I dream of a girl I knew years ago in high school and her two young children whom I have never met.

Back at the cabin I sit at the table drinking gross coffee and eating Zopft, an amazing Swiss bread made by my new roommates that I like mainly because it is mostly butter. It’s the third day since we have come down from the mountains, uneventfully thank goodness, and the weather has been bad since. It looks to be bad for a few more. Three days of sitting and doing nothing except eat has made me restless. Now I am anxious to get out in the mountains again, with all the risk and uncertainty it involves. While in the snow cave I yearned for the steamy security of the cabin, and now I yearn for the cold, high peaks. What is wrong with me? This doesn’t seem sane. Is this the conundrum of every alpinist? Or is this a problem unique to me, as I mentally tackle my personal failures and self-doubt?

After three attempts up at Paso Superior, we get one more go of good weather before we leave. This time we head into the less snowy Torre drainage, which blows me away with the might of the peaks and the strangeness of the receding glacier. Crunching over the ice and rocks, I feel like I just walked into a Planet of the Apes movie. Sheer exhaustion and some doubts about loose rock make us turn around on our last climb. No send for us in Patagonia.

The day we leave El Chalten the wind is blowing so hard I cannot stand up straight in the street.

I’m not disappointed. I took the giant leap to come to this iconic place, I gave it my physical best, and I learned a great, humbling deal.

The US Customs Officer glares at me warily as I hand him my passport. I wait for him to ask me about my travels outside the States, but they never come. He barely looks over the document as he stamps my passport with a succinct thump and gripes “Why are you smiling? I can’t handle people who are always smiling.”

McKenzie tries her best at climbing and making a living, working as a gear reviewer for OutdoorGearLab.com and as a freelance graphic designer. She is usually based in California, but not always.

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A Day…in which I milk the goat

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Thank you to Lisa V., a chick in her second ice climbing season that headed out to the Bozeman Ice Fest last month. She sent us her trip report which was full of photos and tips from her experience at the fest. You can check out her blog here.

Not literally. I have no idea how to milk a goat. That’s a Montana skill to be learned another day. Or never. What I did do was take another ice climbing clinic. Milking the goat refers to getting the most from your strength and endurance in order to climb more efficiently.

You might not know this (I sure didn’t before moving here), but Hyalite Canyon outside of Bozeman has over 225 pitches of naturally-forming ice. This is the most concentrated area in North America for ice climbing. This year marks the 40th year of climbing in the canyon. And it marks the 15th year of the Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival. And it marks the beginning of my second season climbing as well as my second women’s clinic at the Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival.

Reasons why climbing clinics are amazing:
1. You get to demo all kinds of high-end gear that you probably can’t afford on your own.
2. You get to learn from some of the top climbers in the world. Kitty Calhoun was my instructor.
3. You get to meet amazing people from around the country.
4. You learn that your body is capable of more than you ever dreamed it would be.
5. You get to hang out all day in a place that is breathtakingly gorgeous.
6. I’d list more, but let’s just let pictures tell the story.

So excited to start! Before lap 1 and before the burning arms.

Pro photo. Copyright Ari Novak.

Lap 2! More successful than lap 1.

Lap 4. Not as successful. That nonsense was hard.

Swing, kick kick. Triangle!

Not the kind of swinging I wanted to be doing…

Karen (in the gray) and Kitty (in the blue) try to unstick  a frozen rope.

In all, I did 5 laps (although I only made it to the top of 3). I got home around 4:00 with 8 hours of climbing under my belt and with muscles aching that I didn’t even know I had. So, what I’m saying is, Friday was a great day!

So, in summation, here’s my official review of the 2011 Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival:
1. Demo gear checkout- much smoother than 2010. Gear was back at the Emerson on time from the day’s clinics, we were able to get in on time at 5:00, and the staff had the process dialed in. (Or maybe they were volunteers. Whoever they were, they were great!). I loved the opportunity to try all kinds of gear that I haven’t tried before. Here is a quick round-up of what I demo’ed and my (newbie) opinion:

Me in all my demo glory.

    • - La Sportive Nepal EVO GTX boots = amazing. I’ve also tried Scarpa and Kayland boots, and for me the La Sportivas are the first boots I’ve tried that have accommodated the width of my feet. I even had some extra room for a heat pack if I wanted. My feet aren’t really that wide, they’re quite average, but apparently with mountaineering socks they become wide, and the Nepals are the first and only boot I’ve tried that doesn’t squish my poor toes together. As a result, I could actually feel my feet all day. And now I own a pair of them.
    • - Black Diamond mono-point Cyborg crampons = good. These felt nice and lightweight, I didn’t really notice them at all. I have only climbed in mono-points once before, but I think I like them better than a dual-points. At first, it was hard to trust only have one point, but once I overcame that mental block I appreciated having the more targeted, deeper penetrating mono-point. Apparently they’re also more flexible for mixed climbing, but I have not yet dared to venture into that world.
    • - Black Diamond Viper axes = definitely not my favorite. On the plus side, the grip was comfortable in my hand, meaning it was small enough for my tiny girly hands. For me, the way the weight was distributed made the axes feel really heavy, especially as the day went on. By the top of each climb I was exhausted. I was definitely happy to try out some Grivel tools at the end of the day.
    • - Rab Neutrino Endurance down jacket = super warm. The Pertex shell material felt strong and held up to a day of me tossing it around on ice, tree stumps, etc. without any escaping feathers. The double zipper is also nice for belaying, as you can just part the jacket around your belay device without having to bunch anything up or unzip your whole jacket. The Neutrino Endurance is also a longer length, which I prefer because it helps block any chilly breezes from finding their way up my back.
    • - Rab Latok gloves = super sticky grippy palms, but wetted out after a few hours. To be fair, it was a wet day on the ice and for the conditions, I thought these held up very well. A word of warning, my boyfriend has the men’s version of these, and the sticky palm decals are peeling.

This is the best photo I could get of the peeling.

    • - OR Extravert gloves = not as sticky as the Latoks, but still comfortable and I didn’t notice any slipping. I only climbed in them once or twice, so I can’t give much more of an opinion.

2. Travel up to Hyalite- the plow job was top notch. Probably helped by the fact that we haven’t really had much snow. But well done Hyalite plowing!
3. Check in on clinic morning- also more efficient than 2010. Free hot drinks and pastries in the morning and a very clear check-in point, as well as a volunteer who directed us to our clinic meeting areas.
4. Instruction- My clinic was led by one of the top female climbers in the country, if not the world. She was very inspiring to watch, although I think I learned a lot more from my instructors last year. This could be because I was a never-ever last year, but I think it was because in 2010 we spent a good hour to an hour and a half working on fundamentals as a group. This year we had about a 10-15 minute talk, a quick demo by the instructor, and then we were set loose. That’s not to say that I didn’t learn anything or that Kitty was neglecting the class. She was very good about calling up to us with tips while we were on the ice, and I did pick up some good tips over the course of the day, specifically about picking muscle movements to focus on and also some good stuff about reducing fatigue and neck pain while belaying.
5. Mini-clinics- We were supposed to break into a couple mini-clinics in the afternoon, but the anchor clinic never materialized. That was kind of a bummer, I’d really like to get some experience with setting up anchors.
6. Gear return- Super simple. And a volunteer was waiting for us with hot chocolate and optional peppermint schnapps. And there were more pastries. Pastries make me happy.
7. Evening events- fun and informative, as always! Great gear giveaways, engaging speakers, interesting films and slideshows.

Going up!

If you’re in Bozeman and haven’t tried ice climbing, you should attend this festival. If you’re not in Bozeman, you should visit and attend this festival. They let you demo all the gear you need, you get a full day of climbing with amazing people, and you feel so empowered that you think you can rule the world. No joke. The sense of accomplishment I get from ice climbing makes the runner’s high feel like nothing. For all of you out-of-towners, we’ve got a futon, an extra bed, and plenty of floor space. I expect to see you next December.

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Chicks climbing in the Dolomites

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

This Chicks sighting comes from an e-mail sent earlier this fall from Cheryl Wallace (our original Chicks “graduate”) to Kathy Cosley, who was one of Cheryl’s guides at Chicks. Kathy and her husband co-own Cosley & Houston Alpine Guides. It’s fantastic to see two of our Chicks alumnae taking on major climbing trips on their own! 

Photo courtesy of Cheryl Wallace

Kate Higgins and I just returned from the Dolomites. I had been there once before two years ago with Kitty Calhoun, her husband Jay and his climbing partner. Obviously, this trip was going to be a little different because I couldn’t give all the tough leads to Kitty! Kate and I selected some routes that looked fun that we found in guidebooks and (this is where you come in), we looked at your web site and pictures with clients and we prioritized our list with input from your descriptions of cool routes. We owe you a fine bottle of wine!!

Our routes…
Cinque Torre Torre favorites were Lusy, del Barrancio, Torre Quarta Bassa and Torre Grande Cima Ovest;

Paternkofel (got this idea from you…I bet your clients just love this climb. It has it all…cool approach next to Tri Cime Lavaredo & the super bad ass feeling of peeling away from the folks on the via ferrata and heading up the scree pitch.) We were the only ones on the route and oh was the route finding interesting! We were the only team on the summit! We hiked out alone as the sun was setting and the full moon was rising. Kate had never done any alpine climbing before & she was just in awe.

Via Ferrata Cesare Piazetta to Piz Boe’…a cardio workout with people sprinting up the route…on cell phones! Still a great experience.

Sport climbing days: (we moved to Canazai area) Settore Grotto (next to our apartment) in morning and Palestral Marmitta in afternoon. Fun! Then a full hard core day at Frea…we had the place to ourselves! Stopped at Chalet Gerard for an awesome dinner on the way back to town.

Vajolet Towers (thank you for this one!!!)…what an approach! Wish we had spent a night(s) in a refugio here because we loved the climbing/atmosphere. Enjoyed Delago Tower…one of my favorite days on the trip.

Punta Delle Cinque Dita…we wanted to complete the traverse but were getting a little tired (it was day after Vajolet Towers) & we decided to just enjoy the Thumb. We did until we messed up the descent! Yep…it took me a bit to find the 1st rap bolt (the downcllimb/traverse from summit) & then we got sucked into the rap trap & missed the shoulder…i think the book we had was confusing. Anyway, 11 sketchy raps later & we were scree skiing back to the car. This was Kate’s 1st ever “things aren’t going as planned” moment but we made it back safely to the car & we made great decisions together as a team.

Anyway…just wanted to thank you for helping us make good route choices and for being such an inspiration to us…through meeting you & studying your book. I had never ice or rock climbed before I went to Chicks…and to think that I could lead us through this amazing Dolomite trip blows my mind. [Emphasis added by Chicks] I have learned so much from all of the guides. I hope this makes you smile…you have helped make our world so much bigger.

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First ice climb of the season: Direct North Face

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Just returned from a short road trip doing a little climbing and put the new Columbia Sportswear goods to the test!

Gary and I decided we needed a little sun and warmth before the winter really sets in so we headed off to the desert.  Before leaving our sweet home in the San Juan Mountains, Gary decided we had to get out on the early season ice at least once.  Reluctantly I agreed and we started out our adventure in South Mineral Creek, just outside Silverton, CO.  As we left the truck for the shaded Direct North Face of 12,579 peak, the nagging feeling of dread of being cold and miserable lingered in my mind.  “Why do I like this ice climbing stuff again?” I pondered aloud to Gary.  Fearful of being chilled, I left the truck with all the layers on – starting with the Women’s Baselayer Midweight Stripe top and bottoms, then the “Windefend” ½ zip and the “Reach the Peak” Hybrid Down Jacket, topped off with the “Key Three” softshell jacket.  Needless to say, I didn’t have to go but 40 meters and I was starting to shed layers.  Down to the “Windefend layer” we tip-toed across the barely frozen creek and trudged through the snow up to the base of our ~300m climb.

As we approached, it appeared the first pitches were going to be pretty straightforward, whew!  Tucked in next to the wall at the base of the first vertical ice, I threw the Hybrid down jacket back on as I strapped on my crampons, and sorted gear.  Nice and toasty warm and ready to climb, I packed the “downie” away, put the softshell back on and tied the rope on my back to solo the first few pitches of WI3 ice.  As I climbed and warmed up, I unzipped the neck and sides vents on the shell to regulate.  To my surprise, that was enough to keep me from overheating.  Added bonus – they overlapped just enough to prevent snow getting in as I scratched around for ice underneath the foot of powder snow covering the scary, thin, top-outs.  Once the initial ice steps were past, we stacked the ropes out for the “real pitches”.  As we transitioned, I kept warm by zipping back up the ½ zip and the shell vents and throwing the hood over my helmet.  While not designed to fit over a helmet, the hood did stay put and kept me comfy.

I won the toss for the first pitch.  With excitement and trepidation, I stepped around onto the pillar and started the dance.  Part way up the first pitch, that question was arising again “why do I like ice climbing?”  I fumbled for the zipper-pulls with my gloved hands as sweat started to build underneath and the burn in my hands intensified.  As usual, first climb of the season I was over-gripping the tools and working much harder than necessary.  With a bit more effort, I topped out the pillar, quickly placed a nice long ice screw for an anchor and shouted “off-belay” to Gary.  Zippers and hood back up to keep the precious warmth in, I quickly built a solid anchor and drew the rope in to bring Gary up.

He made fast work of the pitch that seemed to take me forever and was off on his own adventure on the lead.  While he tapped and tip-toed up the delicate ice above the chill started to set in again.  With that, the dreaded feeling of being cold started to occupy my mind.  Remembering my advice to clients to “keep moving”, I started shrugging my shoulders and tapping my feet.  Quickly the “Omni-heat – Make Your Own Heat” layer started its magic.  Cold staved off and mind relaxed I started up behind Gary.  As I danced around the delicate ice I remembered why I love ice climbing – it’s one of the few times I feel graceful in this world.  As warmth grew across my smiling cheeks, I noticed a few flakes of the silver inner liner – the “Omni-Shield” – had rubbed off while putting the shirt on that morning.  I was wearing glitter with out even trying!  An even wider smile grew across my checks and I was back in the flow of the season.

Danika Gilbert has made the San Juan’s her home since 2002 and is passionate about sharing her love of the outdoors with others, whatever the activity. She has traveled around the world both as a scientist and climber.  She makes her living as a full-time guide now, leading people on adventures from rock and ice climbing to mountain biking and skiing. Danika lives above Ridgway, CO with her sweet dog Avellana who is a constant companion on runs, bike rides and ski adventures in the San Juan Mountains.

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Railay Beach, Thailand trip report

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

This year, we finally made the move to experience the sport climbing paradise of Railay Beach, Thailand. After shredding 5″ of October shrub/snow hybrid on Teton Pass, we promptly embarked on three days of Xanax, wine and airplanes – JH, SLC, LA, Tokyo, Bangkok, Krabi – to ultimately be dumped off by long-tail boat 100m off the shore from East Railay Beach.

Without further ado, this Ungrounded featured video edit by Michelle Smith tells the tale best of all:

Teton Thai Warp from getungrounded on Vimeo.

Wanna go? Here are Ten Thai Tips…even radder than Herman Cain’s 999 plan.

1. How much you’ll spend: Unless you fly from LA directly, it’s probably going to cost $1,100 – $1,500.
2. Once there…$1,200 for three week trip is easy for two people living kinda large and succumbing to the occasional silly tourist splurge. You’ll eat the most epic food ever straight from the source with each dish costing all of $1.50 – $2.00. You’ll never feel the same about spending $12 for Pad Thai in the States again.
3. Railay.com is a starter one-stop shop to get some essentials and book a place for a few nights when you arrive.
4. Diseases and poisonous things? Nothing seemed too bad. There are supposed to be cobras and rad vipers in that part of Thailand, but we saw none. Bring a headlamp for nighttime walking to the bar for good measure as poisonous millipedes may be creeping around your toes.
5. It sucks but is necessary to drink bottled water. Be sure to seek out the big re-usable 5 gallon tubsof clean drinking water. Thailand is also working on recycling, which is encouraging.
6. We managed to avoid the bug, but maybe we were just lucky. If in doubt, stick to hot food boiled or stir fried right there – an easy proposition with Thai food.
7. Climbing Gear: 12 quickdraws + a few long-slings. 70 meter rope. As far as guidebooks, the new edition by King is the most current.
8. Safety check: Before going, learn about the unique way in which the seaside Thai air beats poopy out of fixed protection. Visit Thaitanium Project to get a complete read on the situation and learn how you can help.
9. Favorite climb: Maybe Monkey Love (6b+/10c) on the incomparable Thaiwand.
10. Best rest day journey: Book a self-paddle sunset sea kayak tour of the incredible caves and coves of Phang Nga.

Check out more photos from Michelle’s trip on Get Ungrounded here.

Michelle Smith is an east coast native who moved west to Jackson, Wyoming to follow her passion of snowboarding in the Tetons, and has developed a site dedicated to documenting and writing about those that make a lifestyle out of “getting after” their passions in the mountains.

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Red Rock wrap up!

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Tape gloves! Photo by Dawn Glanc.

Chicks Rock! wrapped up the rock climbing season with the fall Red Rock clinic hosted by Dawn Glanc and Kitty Calhoun.

The clinic was a complete success. Six women came to Vegas to enjoy the warm sun and amazing rock climbing.

The weather was perfect, each day was sunny with little to no wind.

The Chicks in attendance had three solid days of climbing, experiencing both face climbing and crack climbing.

Each chick came with her own set of goals and each her goal and exceeded her expectations of ability.

It was a great weekend and an excellent way to wrap up the rock season.

- Dawn Glanc

*We have been collecting photos from the Chicks who attended the Red Rock clinic and compiling an album which you can check out here on Facebook or on Flickr here.*

- Emily trusting her feet. Photo by Dawn Glanc.

- Sarah sending the crux. Photo by Dawn Glanc

- Red Rock scenery. Photo by Dawn Glanc.

What’s next for Chicks? Ice climbing in just a few months! Here’s what we have planned:

The Sampler
Jan. 13–16, check out the 17th

The Complete
Jan. 25–29, check out the 30th

The Quickie
Feb. 3-5, check out morning of the 5th

The Graduate
Feb. 3-6, check out the 7th

We hope to see lots of you out in Ouray! Please contact us at Chicks if you’ve got any questions or want to sign up for a clinic. :)

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Leading Classic NC Lines at Looking Glass

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Thanks to Chicks alumna Tonya Graham (Chicks with Picks AND Chicks Rock!) for sharing this awesome trip report from a recent lead climb she did at Looking Glass Rock – congratulations!

Looking Glass Rock, located in Brevard, North Carolina is famous for classic Aid Climbing routes like Glass Menagerie, as well as moderate classics such as The Nose.  If you’ve never climbed there, the unique “eyebrow” features and classic slab climbing are well worth your time.

It’s also a great place for a new trad leader like me to cut my teeth.  Moderate, but challenging, multi-pitch routes with generally great gear, bolted anchors (for the most part), and clean rappel stations allow for plenty of fun, challenge, and just enough fear to feel like a significant accomplishment.

Last Saturday was my first time leading a significant objective with my new female partner, Amy Glenn.  It was also my first time leading where I am the most experienced climber and there is no Ben (my crusty trad-master fiancé) to bail me out.   Amy and I targeted Sundial Crack, a classic, 3-pitch, 5.8 line located just to the right of The Nose.  I have led The Nose with Ben, so I have some experience at Looking Glass, but I had climbed that route twice before leading it.  Sundial Crack would be an onsite (meaning I’d never climbed it before).  After a read-up on mountain project, and studying the route description in the guidebook, I felt ready to take it on.

Saturday proved to be one of our first fall days to FEEL like fall (or maybe even winter).  Amy and I awakened at the crack of dawn to get our day started, and we got to the base of Sundial by about 8:00.  At just over 40 degrees, and in the shade, the wind was howling and I was wishing I’d brought more layers.  This was to be a consistent theme for the day!

I set out to lead the opening 5.5 pitch – which requires the same move over and over again as you move up the “eyebrows.”   I felt super-confident — right up until I started climbing!  Then, suddenly, I had a little of that scared feeling in the pit of my stomach.  It felt good to get my first piece in, and I started to remember how to climb on slab (I hadn’t climbed at Looking Glass since May and it was October!).

The last section of the first pitch includes two bulges, and when I got to the ledge before the first bulge, I regretted that I hadn’t taken the opportunity to place another piece of gear right before that ledge.  I had passed up gear because I had placed a solid cam about a foot below, but after looking all over the ledge for gear before the crux move – and not finding any – I was wishing that my last piece wasn’t 8 ft below me.  I finally decided to pull the crux with the gear I had.  Using the great handholds on the bulge, I went for it.  Once I got above the first bulge, I was happy to plug a piece before pulling the second bulge.

At that point, I was about 10 ft from the anchors and it was easy “slabbing” from there.  I was happy to clove hitch into the first bolt and call down, “Off-belay!”  I quickly got on the other bolt as well, and began setting up my ATC Guide in auto-block mode to belay Amy up.  While I pulled the rope up, I looked down and counted my pieces.   I think I placed five pieces of gear on the entire pitch, but I felt like each piece was really solid.  I was feeling like I was starting to get into the “Zen” of leading, and just in time, too.

Amy joined me at the P1 belay after uneventful climbing, and she asked if I’d looked at P2 (the crux 5.8 pitch).  I laughed and said, “Hadn’t even glanced up yet!”  I got her tied in to the belay system, re-racked the gear she had cleaned (did I mention that Amy is a meticulous second, re-racking the draws as she climbs – Ben says I could learn something from her!), and began looking at P2.  I was super glad I’d kept on my Nano Puff over my expedition weight jacket, because the wind was crazy and it was COLD!

P2 traverses up and right at a 45-degree angle until you reach the bolted anchors.  It looked like pretty tame climbing leading off the anchor, so I clipped into one of the anchor bolts as my first piece on the route and headed up and right.  I felt like I was moving efficiently, placing good gear, and ignoring the wind.   At about the halfway point, I made a couple heady moves up with no hands, and placed two bomber tri-cams.  I called down to Amy to tell her she’d need her nut tool for them.

Finally, I reached the crux, a point about 20 ft below and slightly to the left of the anchors.  My last gear placement was about 5 feet below me and to the left.  I could see the next spot for good gear, but, unfortunately, I had to make some hard moves through blank slab with little feet and no hands to get to the next gear.   I made the first hard move and stepped up to a decent stance.  I was still too far from the eyebrow crack I needed to reach to place my next piece of gear.  I had to step up one more time.

I studied the options carefully, and then moved to step up on my right foot.  I had really no hands to speak of to hold on with – just some slabby slopers for balance.  I got my weight up on my right foot and realized that I had put myself in “no man’s land”.  I looked down and left at my last piece of gear, and assessed the fall potential.  If I took a fall, I would swing about 10 ft down and left to below my last piece – not pretty.  I could feel that process starting in my mind where you start panicking, and I told myself to pull it together.  I managed to step back down and left back to my stance.  I studied the moves a while longer, stepping my weight up a couple different ways and backing down again.  I finally made a waist-high step up with my left foot, using my left hand to grip a side-pull and pushing down with my right hand on a high sloper.  I felt my right foot smoothly drag behind me and got it up even with my left foot on the ledge.  Yes!!!  I had made it!  I placed my gear, and was super relieved to clip into it!

Looking up, I had two easy moves to the anchors.  I made the moves and quickly got clove-hitched into the bolts.  Whew!  I yelled out a “Whoopee!” as I called down to tell Amy I was off-belay.

I set up the belay for Amy close to the bolts, and gave myself enough length on my rope that I could sit sideways and get my weight off my feet, which were killing me!  Slab climbing is super hard on your feet, and with the cold everything was stiff and my heels and toes needed a break.  I huddled into the rock wall while I belayed Amy up the pitch.

Amy was slow going up P2, but made it pretty efficiently to the crux move before the anchors.  She spent some time studying the moves after making the initial hard step up to the first stance.  Finally, she made the moves and joined me at the anchors!  Two pitches down, one to go!

P3 of Sundial Crack starts out with a 20ft crack just to the left of the P2 anchors.  What’s cool about this route vs. The Nose is that you totally switch gears on P3.  You move from slabbing up eyebrows to a full crack climb (unless you cheat and just climb the face to the left like Ben does).

I clipped the anchor bolt as my first piece, and easily traversed left into the base of the crack.  Like many cracks, getting into it was a little challenging.  The crack was about my fist width (I have small hands) and took yellow and red cams beautifully.  I felt really confident making the crack moves, as I always was able to get gear placements above me before making the next step up.  At one point, I hung off a fist jam to move both my feet up, and once I got higher, I walked my last cam up the crack.  I even pulled a piece out below me once I had good gear placed above to conserve gear for the belay I had to build at the top of the pitch.

To me, the crux of the P3 was at the top of the crack – as the crack ended, the slab blanked out and you had to make two steps up with no hands.  I did place a bomber little offset cam in the eyebrow above and to the right of the end of the crack.  I did the first hard step up, felt my foot slip, and weighted my piece as I stepped back to my last solid feet – also known as “an aggressive down climb”.  Finally, I made the two steps up, starting with a high right foot and a little mantle move.  Then I was finally moving back in the eyebrows.

The top of P3 is a gear belay in an awesome horizontal crack that sits on top of a bowl.  I kept looking for it as I moved up and up the eyebrows, placing sparse pieces as my gear dwindled and I knew I needed at least 3 solid pieces for the anchor.  Finally, I saw the spot just 10 ft above me and I carefully made my way there.  I plugged my red, green, and yellow cams in the crack (for some reason the color coding works better for me than the sizes – maybe it’s a girl thing?).  I felt like I got three bomber placements, ran a cordelette through each piece’s carabiner, pulled the loops between down to equalize, tied them off in a knot, and clipped into the power point with my locking biner.  I called down “Off-belay” and felt super psyched to have made it all this way.  Just one more half pitch to the parking lot where the rappel anchors sit between The Nose and Sundial, and we begin the descent.

I got to work pulling the rope, setting up the belay using the “shelf” above the knot in my cordelette, being sure to clip into a strand going to each piece of protection, and called down to Amy to begin climbing.  Each time I set up the auto-block, I made sure to test that the line running to the climbing would correctly auto-lock if pulled down.  This is a critical step for a new leader – as setting up the auto-block wrong can be really dangerous if the climber takes a significant fall.

Amy took a little fall on the crack, barely weighting the rope, but I felt good knowing I was hanging on the anchor I had built with full confidence and that it had easily held her weight as well.  I watched my pieces as she climbed up and they stayed solidly engaged in the rock.

Amy finished the pitch in good style, and joined me at the belay.  I got set up to lead off toward the rappel anchors, and took off to the left.  I placed a piece in the crack to the left of the anchor, so if I fell I wouldn’t put my entire weight on the anchor, and moved left.  I chose to go left and climb up the crack toward the rappel anchors.  I was super tired of slabbing up eyebrows with no hands, and even though the crack might have required some harder moves, there was a great layback flake to hold onto all the way up!

Before I knew it, I was at the rappel anchors – meeting up with another party that was there, too.  I clipped directly into the bolts, leaving the rappel rings free for them to rappel down first.

This is where I made my first serious mistake of the day.  I should have clipped in, and just waited to bring Amy up after the other party had rappelled down.  Instead, I set up my belay feeling pressure from the other team to hurry.  As a result, I forgot to clip the locking biner into the auto-block slot on my ATC Guide, and as Amy starting climbing I felt the rope flowing a little too freely.  I quickly grabbed a locking biner and fixed the problem, but I think I would have avoided the mistake altogether had I simply been patient and waited.

The other team rappelled down, Amy joined me at the belay, and we clipped in on slings (me) and using a personal anchor system (Amy) so I could untie from the rope, tie the rope to the extra 60 meter rope Amy had carried up the climb using two overhand knots side-by-side with a long tail, and run the rope through the rappel rings.  I rappelled down first, feeling good about finally being on the ground soon and out of the cold and wind.

I got to the 2nd rappel anchor, clipped in to the bolts, and took myself off rappel.  Here is where I made my second mistake of the day.  I should have held on to the ends of the ropes, pulled them up and stacked them, running the yellow rope (which I’d already noted was the end to pull) through the rappel rings.  Instead I just hung out there, freezing, while I waited for Amy.  Had I done those things, we wouldn’t have had the consequences we were about to experience.

Amy joined me at the second rappel anchors, clipped in, and took herself off rappel, then proceeded to undo her prussik … and we both watched in slow motion as the wind whipped both ends of the rope away about 20 ft to the right.  We were hanging out at the anchors with no rope.  And, with no rope, you have very few options.

Luckily, Looking Glass, and particularly The Nose Area, is a high traffic area.  There was a guy to the left of us starting to rappel down the first pitch of The Nose, and a party of two at the top of P3 of The Nose getting ready to rappel down the anchors we came from.  We sent up a message asking the party of two to rappel down our rope, bringing the ends back to us.  They did so, we were careful to secure it, and the last rappel was uneventful.

I made it to the ground, feeling a sense of accomplishment for what I had done well, and grateful for an opportunity to learn a couple crucial lessons in a situation where the consequences only meant hanging out while freezing a few more minutes.

On Sunday, I came back with Ben, Wes, (the Tattooed Teddy Bear) and Barry (aka the Nature Boy) – my regular climbing crew – and I led the single, 200 ft 5.8 pitch of Gemini Crack.  The crux was much more strenuous than Sundial, but I was very proud to also bag that classic.  I placed a bomber Tri-Cam on the top of the crux that the team left for each climber to observe – and Barry took a picture.  They were so proud.

And so it goes in the life of a new trad leader.

Do you have a cool trip report you’d like to share with some Chicks? Let us know by sending an email to chicksclimbing[at]gmail.com! :) 

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Chick report from Yosemite at the AAC International Climbers’ meet

Friday, October 7th, 2011

I just returned last week from my first trip to Yosemite, and it was quite an experience. Those who know me well understand that my real passion in climbing is for ice. Even though I started on rock, once I went to my first Chicks with Picks the love was full-on for ice ever since. Couple that with a move to a city that is 5 hours from the nearest outdoor crag (not to mention NO climbing gym within 2 hours), a broken hand this spring that hasn’t healed correctly, and my rock climbing skills are definitely not in top-notch form.

So, how does an out-of-shape rock climber end up in Yosemite? Thanks to the American Alpine Club! The AAC hosts an annual International Climbers’ Meet and this year was the first time it was opened up to climbers in the U.S. to apply and attend. It was simple enough to apply, answer some questions, write a short essay and a few weeks later I was in! It is an awesome deal, too. I paid for the price of plane tickets, and a fee of less than $500 to the AAC and they picked me up at the airport, fed me three meals a day, provided rope guns in the form of “host climbers” and dropped me back off at the airport one week later. Undeniably a great deal – and that’s even before the experience of meeting and climbing with some really amazing people from all over the world! It was also a chance to get some great quality time with Ryan, who’d just returned home from a deployment.

We flew across the country and arrived on a Sunday afternoon in Fresno. We crammed into a van with some international climbers with John Bragg and George Lowe riding up front. So early on we were chatting away with some rock climbing legends! At the Yellow Pines Campground – for volunteers in the park (which we qualified for with our trail stewardship day) – we set up camp.

Monday morning we divided ourselves into groups to go cragging with the host climbers. This was a good chance for those of us who had never climbed in Yosemite before to get a little experience on routes of different grades. One group went to do some more ambitious climbs anywhere from 5.9-5.12 and Pat & Jack’s, while the rest of us went to do 5.7-5.10 at Church Bowl. The first climb I got on was an awkward squeeze chimney with a 5.7 rating. I had never actually climbed one before, so I was surprised at how difficult it was and began to get really worried about the rest of the week. Next I hopped on a 5.8 crack and cruised it, no problem – whew! Feeling better :) . Next we got in line to climb the 5-star rated Bishop’s Terrace, which was a really, really fun crack climb. We ended the day climbing a few 5.10a finger cracks, Peruvian Flake and the first pitch of Serenity Crack which is essentially climbing a piton-manufactured crack finger crack – FUN! (P.S.: too psyched on the climbing day 1 to take pictures.)

Tuesday, Ryan and I partnered up with host-climber Ashley, the only female host climber of the bunch, who lives in the valley for about half the year. She’s a total badass, leading 5.12+ trad and having done some of the big walls in the valley as well. She took us up to do the 5-star rated 5.8 Nutcracker at the Manure Pile Buttress. It was a really, really fun climb, with the exception of the mantle on the last pitch (or maybe that’s just me?). Aside from that one move I was feeling really confident in my climbing, but, the struggle with the mantle left six of my 10 digits a hot, bloody mess. A rest day was in order!

Since all I’d really seen of the valley was from the back of a mini-van, we decided to make Wednesday a rest day – a nearly 15-mile rest day, to be exact! We started out from camp and headed up the Four-Mile Trail (which is actually 4.6 miles from the trailhead) to the top of Glacier Point. It was a lovely hike to do in the cool early morning since it was 100% in the shade and still relatively cool. On the way up we passed a few folks headed down who ALL told us about the Mist Trail and the falls on the other side of the valley. They all emphasized that it was a definite “must see.” Luckily, one of the last guys who also recommended the trail described how that one linked up to the one we were on via the Panorama Trail. So, we ended up heading down and across the valley on the gorgeous Panorama Trail, had lunch with our feet soaking in the cold river, and getting up close and personal with both Nevada and Vernal falls which were still really flowing for being so late in the season!

Thursday we paired up with a group headed to Pat & Jack’s Pinnacle. We went out with host climber Corey who was a wonderful instructor (and lover) of chimneys and off-widths. He set up a top rope for us in a 5.7 chimney and worked with me as I groveled up, came down, demo’d some more, and put me back up. I was having so much fun, in spite of how much work it was! Dirty, ugly climbing – just my style! We also climbed the 5.8 Nurdle and a 5.10 called Knob Job before practically melting into puddles of water in the hot sun. While waiting for some shade and debating bailing on the day we turned a corner and saw a monstrosity that appealed to several of us…a 5.9 offwidth and chimney, Desperate Straights. Corey led the route and the rest of us climbed it – well at least part of it ;) A really fun day, overall.

Friday, Ryan and I were hooked up to climb with John Bragg. When John asked what we wanted to do my only request was that we have a day that is simply “mellow and fun” since I wanted to leave the valley on a positive note. So, we headed to the base of El Cap to climb a one-pitch easy route with a great ledge for relaxing, before planning on going over to Glacier Point Apron to climb a 5-star classic crack route called the Grack. However, at the base of El Cap Alex Honnold, who’d been hanging out at camp with us, came over to wait for us to climb and take us to the Alcove to do the rope swing. (I’d missed the heckling John had gotten at breakfast over not having done the swing, so since Alex was taking a rest day he volunteered to make sure it would happen.)

John Bragg on the Alcove swing

The swing itself is simple, and on a fixed rope. Simply clip into a biner with a GriGri2, take in the slack, coil the rope in one hand, and run off the edge of the slab until the rope pulls you off the ground. From there you just simply soar. As you swing out wide you fly far above the tree tops before heading back towards the slab. You can lower yourself right away to land up high on the slab, or wait until the swinging slows down for a “softer” landing. It was SO FUN. Maybe even more so because it was Alex Honnold giving us the tour and hanging out with us; really, it was so cool to get to talk to him, especially after reading interviews about him for years, to see how he really is in person. (Very cool & calculated!) P.S. I totally have a video of this on my Facebook page that I cannot for the life of me get to load here. So, look for it on the Chicks Climbing Facebook page here!)

Saturday was our trail conservation day, so we headed up to the Cookie Cliff to await instruction…which came about three hours later. So, John Bragg put up the first pitch of the 5.11 The Enema which he had the first ascent of – how cool! It was actually a really fun climb, despite the weird crack/off-width combo. The rest of the day we spent covering up trails and making the “right” ones more accessible. It was just an overall good last day, capped with a SHOWER before our travels home. Does it get any better than that?

Sunday morning came VERY early thanks to a guy in our group who apparently missed the whole “don’t book a flight before 9 a.m.” instructions we got from the AAC. Of course, being the responsible person he is, Ryan was tasked with driving the van back to the airport at 4 a.m., with myself as the navigator. I did get to see a coyote, which was pretty cool though!

All in all, I can’t express how great of an event the AAC put on. I thought it was really fun to climb with people from the UK, Denmark, France, Sweden, Portugal, Brazil, and some other countries too, I’m sure! It was a pretty large group, bordering on 40 total, so to keep everyone fed and arrange transportation and climbs for all of us was really no easy task for the event organizers. The AAC also hosted several clinics including a gear placement & anchor building as well as self-rescue taught by Dave Bengston, the Director of the Yosemite Mountain School, and a off-width clinic taught by Jay Anderson, an AAC host climber. In the evening there were some yoga clinics taught by Jackie Helton, and slacklining available for all! We didn’t get to personally do all of the climbs we wanted (I really wanted to do Royal Arches) but that’s OK, now we know where it is in the valley, what valley grades feel like, and how to plan to go back. If the AAC International Climbers’ Meet is open to residents of the U.S. again next year, I HIGHLY recommend you apply to go – it was really a very good time!

Maijaliisa Burkert is the Marketing & Social Media Chick at Chicks Climbing.

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The Bite of the “Tarantula” – Linville Gorge

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

General view of Linville Gorge

Thanks to Chicks alumna Tonya Graham (Chicks with Picks AND Chicks Rock!) for sharing this awesome trip report from a recent climb she did up in Linville Gorge!

We set out this Saturday morning, August 27, 2001, for what we knew would be an extended adventure in Linville Gorge, North Carolina.

We met in the Table Rock parking lot at 9:30 am … an eclectic group of six climbers:

  • - Me (Tonya) the newbie of the bunch and the only girl,
  • - Ben – my fiancé and regular Onthesharpend.com star,
  • - Wesley – our tattooed teddy bear,
  • - Barry – aka the Nature Boy
  • - Buddy – Old-time hard man who has put up many lines around North Carolina, and
  • - Les – world-traveler, originally from Canada, and Buddy’s trusty partner for over 10 years.

Our target was a beautiful, but little climbed line in the North Carolina Wall of Linville Gorge called Tarantula.  The 3-4 pitch route was downgraded to a 5.9 in the newest guidebook, but the original 5.10a grade seemed much more appropriate (I’ll explain that later).

If you’ve ever climbed one of the moderate routes in the Amphitheater like the Mummy, the Daddy, or the Prow, you are familiar with at least the start of the descent into North Carolina Wall.  I knew I was in for a long day, because Wesley and Buddy kept asking me if I was “up for it.”  Plus, they all let me lead the pack as we headed out from the Table Rock parking lot.  (I am the shortest and tend to struggle to keep up on the approaches.)  Since they were letting me set the pace, I knew they were concerned I wouldn’t be able to make it!

Now, I’ve been climbing 2 and ½ years, and I’ve been lucky to climb very frequently and have been exposed to more multi-pitch traditional climbing than many climbers ever experience.  I’ve been following trad consistently, and am pretty confident up to grades in the 5.9, 5.10a range.  However, if you’ve ever climbed multi-pitch in North Carolina, many of the routes are sandbagged since they were originally years ago when 5.10 was the hardest grade possible.  So, I’ve learned that ratings can be deceiving …

We took the trail out of Table Rock toward Shortoff Mountain, but then we turned right at the 2nd turnoff point, and followed the trail down.  The descent gully is steep, has a few scary unroped down climbs, but was familiar to me as I’ve been down it several times.  However, when we reached the point where we stood under Bumblebee Buttress, we moved left and began bushwhacking through barbed brambles and ivy trees, and tromping through waist-high brush as we moved left along the bottom edge of the rock face.  Eventually, we came to a 50-60 ft rock face that we had to climb up, again unroped.  It was easy climbing, but we were already high up on the side of the Gorge and it felt very exposed.   The views from that remote point across the Gorge to the Gold Coast and the Linville River are breathtaking.

Once we reached the top of the rock face, we hit another section of bushwhacking through briars. (I was glad I wore pants and I still don’t understand why Buddy insisted on shorts – you should have seen the bloody scratches on his legs – you’d think he’d learn after doing this for 30+  years!)  Then, suddenly we came into a little clearing and found ourselves in front of the route.

So, the intention was to lead off in teams of two climbers – Wes and Barry, Buddy and Les, and Ben and me.

The first pitch is definitely 10a in my book, but it’s a very short pitch.  It’s a traverse left under a roof, and it’s easier if you stay low.  It’s about 3 strenuous moves in a row, then eases off and you’re suddenly on the belay ledge.  It didn’t seem too bad on 2nd (although I did weight the rope once on those first strenuous moves), but on lead it is heady.  Part of the intimidation factor is that the strenuous section has some very loose rocks above you, and you have to be VERY careful where you pull.

Barry was the first to lead off, and he placed a piece of gear, proceeded to climb above it, reached for a hold that turned out to be no good, and took an immediate leader fall.  Wesley made a great catch, as Barry’s piece held and luckily Barry didn’t come smashing into Wesley who was standing on top of a huge boulder at the start.

Then Buddy decided to do the harder, more direct start to the left of Barry – and he struggled, made an aggressive down climb, and we all decided we’d follow Barry on his rope!

The 2nd pitch is some of the best crack climbing you’ll ever see in North Carolina.  It’s definitely a stemming problem, but there are two distinct sections where you absolutely have to fist jam and hand jam, as there are NO other holds.  Wes led this pitch for his team while I brought Ben, Buddy, and Les up to the belay ledge for the first pitch.  Les did climb the direct start on 2nd, and he sailed through it.

Wes moved efficiently, but definitely stopped to take a long rest at the top section where you get a great “butt” rest.  He even stopped to drink water!  As Barry followed after him, the Tarantula ate the first piece of gear of the day – a nut that was the first piece Wes placed (which, of course, belonged to Barry).  Barry, Buddy, and Ben all tried to get it out.

So, the belay at the top of pitch 2 is a small hanging belay, so the plan was for Wes and Barry to already be leading off the 3rd pitch by the time Les arrived at the belay.  Les led off on Pitch 2 once Barry was out of site, and he moved efficiently.  Pretty soon, Ben, Buddy, and I were left at the top of the first pitch – and we could hear Les at the belay talking to Wes and Barry, who seemed way closer to the belay than they should have been by that time.  However, we couldn’t understand what they were saying, so we weren’t sure what the problem was.  Ben walked off left and could see that Barry hadn’t gotten very far on the first pitch, which was rumored to be a 5.7, but we couldn’t see what the problem was.  Buddy followed Les, trailing our rope and then put me on belay.

I headed up the 2nd pitch, supposedly 5.9+ (the infamous +), and it was super hard and super fun!  At one point I had to get a fist jam in all the way to my wrist and hang my entire body off it while I moved my feet up.  It was hand over fist over ring-lock, and I definitely hung on the rope a couple times.  But I made all the moves and got out of the crack and over the roof – and then made the awkward traverse right and up to join Buddy and Les at the hanging belay where I would spend the next 3 hrs! (Yes, I did say 3 hours.)

I belayed Ben up, and while he definitely stopped frequently, he never weighted the rope and joined us at the belay.  (He’ll probably want me to confess that he arrived parched with thirst and when he asked for a drink from the water I was carrying for us, I had drunk it all.  I am atoning for this by publishing my shame to the climbing community – so HA!)

By this time Buddy had led off – sort of.

Now, I need to explain a few things.  First, Buddy has been leading trad for over 30 years.  Second, Buddy is typically the one in our group who will lead something that someone else has backed off of.  I have seen him lead 5.11a/b trad.  Buddy is a very solid leader.  However, part of why Buddy has survived so long is that he is very good at mitigating risk.  As an example, when Buddy gets up to a gear anchor, it’s not uncommon for him to add 5 other pieces to the anchor.  In fact, the belay at the top of Pitch 2 must have had 12 pieces of gear in it.  Additionally, Buddy is very good at finding and placing gear – even in tricky situations.

This pitch, which was supposedly 5.7, had Buddy stumped.  And, he had climbed it before.  Buddy climbed straight up, placed a piece, and down-climbed.  Then, he went around right, climbed up, placed a piece, and down-climbed.  Then climbed up again, got past the initial piece, and down-climbed.  He came back to the belay.  He finally led up straight, and very, very slowly, with much down-climbing, moving left, then right, then finally going straight again, he got moving.  Ben, Les, and I stood at the hanging belay for hours watching this delicate dance.

Finally, Ben decided to lead off behind Buddy on our rope – he decided he would clip our rope into the gear that Buddy’s left-running rope (they were using double-rope technique – another Buddy stand-by) was running through.  At this point, Buddy was so far above that gear as to make it no longer needed.  Les and I determined that I would belay Ben, tie into Buddy’s left rope and our rope, and climb on both, cleaning the anchor and all gear on Buddy’s/our rope.  Les would climb Buddy’s right-hand rope, as he needed to traverse waaay right in places to get gear Buddy had placed as he had searched for the path of least resistance (which was not to be found!).  Ben moved quickly, pink-pointing the route and adding gear where he could, and soon Les and I were alone.

Long story short – too late I know – I found myself alone at the belay, unable to communicate, with my kind belayers repeatedly pulling both ropes tightly on me while I took down the monstrosity of an anchor.  I finally started climbing.  The route had significantly overhung sections, most of which had good feet, but not always great handholds.  I came to one gear placement where Buddy had placed two TCU’s side-by-side in a horizontal crack.  The left-hand piece came out easily, but the blue one stubbornly refused to budge no matter what I did.  I hung on the rope, and beat on it with my nut tool.  As by now I was keenly aware of the sun getting closer to the other ridgeline, I finally left the piece.  Tarantula had taken another bite!

I kept climbing and reached a section where you had to make a huge step up to a shelf, but there were no real hands to pull up on, and it was extremely awkward.  I finally made the move, but I pretty much just flung myself up there.  When the pitch finally eased up as I hit this left, upward moving ramp, I found myself at an entry to what looked like a bush tunnel. This was the end of the route?  I had so much gear on me at this point that I could hardly drag myself through all the bushes.  Somehow, Buddy and Ben together had found plenty of gear on the pitch, as I cleaned about 15 pieces.  As I fought gear and slings hooking on branches left and right, I reached my climbing partners and stated that obvious, “That was no 5.7.”  It had to be at least 5.9.

You would think at this point that we were done, but we had one more little pitch to get through.  By the time I followed up an easy scramble of rock, and bushwhacked to the base of the final section of vertical rock, Ben had already let the section and Les was getting ready to follow.  This section was supposed to be 5.4 – but as I watched Buddy make the move around the big jutting flake, smearing with his feet on no footholds, I decided Tarantula had once again sandbagged.  Buddy left me two pieces of gear, but before I started to climb the first of those two popped out and slid down the rope – not exactly making me feel confident.  I calmly cleaned the piece and started up.  I decided NOT to make the move Buddy made, and instead climbed the mossy face.  There were tiny feet and tiny hands, and before I knew it I was up and back to bushwhacking and scrambling, and then, voila! I had topped out on the ridge.

We changed out of our climbing shoes and started the work of getting home.  Dusk had fallen and we needed to get back to the main trail before real dark.  We headed left, scrambling over deadfall and bushwhacking through the brush.  Ben led, then Les, then me, and then Buddy.  Wes and Barry were long gone by this point.  After about 10-15 minutes of moving steadily up and left, we hit the main ridgeline trail.  We followed that trail all the back to the main descent trail, and found our backpacks just in time to put our headlamps on.  Just about 10 more minutes uphill and we turned left onto the main trail back to Table Rock.  I checked my phone, as I heard it ringing (yes, Verizon works out there), and had a missed call from Wes.  It was 9:00 pm – so I called and left the message that we were back at the main trail.

Finally, we trudged into Table Rock parking lot and met up with Wes and Barry about 9:30.  I will say that it could have been a longer day – we did not get lost finding the climb or hiking out, and that is a definite possibility for anyone attempting that climb.

Tarantula makes for a very fun adventure – with varied climbing.  Pitch 1 is very short, but is a strenuous, left-moving traverse.  Pitch 2 is an awesome crack that never lets up (think Triple S at Seneca, but with less feet and longer).   Pitch 3 is hard to protect and overhung, with much stiffer climbing than the rating suggests.  And the little Pitch 4 is worth protecting and roping up for.  If you’re up for an adventure, Tarantula will deliver.  Just beware of the bite!!

Do you have a cool trip report you’d like to share with some Chicks? Let us know by sending an email to chicksclimbing[at]gmail.com! :)

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Reality check: Caroline George reflects on the rapidly shrinking glaciers in the Alps

Monday, August 29th, 2011

Five years ago, this was a snow-covered glacier. Photo by Caroline George.

Summer in the Alps went from being inexistent to full blast. It’s the hottest month of August in years. I am grateful for this spell of beautiful weather myself, but after this past few days in the mountains, I realize that glaciers aren’t as happy as me. They are downright hurting.

I just had an amazing week with my client, Michele. Michele is a well-rounded climber who goes out climbing on her own (as in, without a guide), both on rock and ice and has climbed all over the world. She’s been to destinations I still dream about going to myself. After a week of hiking to acclimate around Chamonix, she was ready for our trip into the mountains. Since I hadn’t climbed with her before, we headed to the Albert 1er hut the first day to climb a moderate ridge to the summit of the Aiguille du Tour, a peak which sits on the border to France and Switzerland. Upon reaching the hut, though, I wondered where the glacier had gone. The last time I’d been there was in 2002, and the glacier was minutes from the hut. I blamed it on my bad recollection of the area but a fellow guide confirmed that the glacier had just shrunk drastically.

After a beautiful climb up the Arête de la Table (called as such because a flat rock somehow sits on the ridge and you have to climb around and then on top of it) to the summit of the Aiguille du Tour, we returned to Chamonix. We spent the following days climbing perfect granite on the Aiguille du Peigne’s Papillons Ridge and ice on the Goulotte Chéré followed by the classic Cosmiques Ridge. We then headed over to Switzerland to spend three days climbing around the Trient Hut, located on the Swiss side of the Mont Blanc Range. Although I had hiked up to that hut earlier this summer, it was still early and the snow hadn’t fully melted off so I wasn’t as shocked as now.

I first came to this area in 1996 with my parents to climb a route right above the glacier. We had stayed at the Orny Hut, just an hour down valley form the Trient Hut. From there, we hiked a few minutes to reach the nearby glacier and hiked on it to reach the climb. Nowadays, you couldn’t even imagine doing that. The glacier is 150m below the hut and nowhere on the way to that climb anymore. Five years ago, the glacier in that area was still fully an accumulation zone, but now, it’s turned to an ablation zone, leaving very little time for this glacier to survive.

After a nice night of sleep at the newly guarded Trient hut with Michele, and the most amazing vegetable curry cinnamon (yes, cinnamon) soup I have ever eaten, we headed out the door at 5 a.m. for our climb, the south ridge of the Aiguille Sans Nom (Nameless Tower), a beautiful line up perfect orange granite. This area is a little remote and both times I was back there this summer, I didn’t see anyone! A treat! We hiked up the Trient glacier to the Col des Plines and headed down into a wind scoop to come out at the pass. I expected the backside to be fully covered in snow, as it had been when I was there five years earlier. But instead we found scree and very loose terrain, leading to a totally dry glacier. I couldn’t believe it. Poor Michele, she had to listen to me repeat over and over how different it was this time around, just like an old woman saying: “Back in the day…”

It didn’t stop us from having an amazing climb up perfect granite to the summit of the Aiguille Sans Nom, followed by some ridge climbing down the easterly ridge of the Aiguilles Dorées (Golden Needles) and some rappels back to the Trient glacier. We had an amazing week with great weather and I was in great company with Michele. Yet, I can’t brush off the images of the once-huge glacier that I knew and wonder how much longer it will be around for us to see and marvel at. We used to look at pictures from the 1920s to see how much glaciers had shrunk. But now you just need five years time to no longer recognize a location you thought you knew. I don’t have a solution, of course, but this was a reality check I thought I should share.

Editor’s note: Check out more pictures from Caroline’s week with Michele at here at First Ascent.

Keep up with IFMGA/UIAGM Guide Caroline George’s alpine adventures on her website Into The Mountains and on the First Ascent blog. Into The Mountains is Caroline’s guiding site where she and her husband, Adam George, share their passion for climbing with others by offering guided trips and instruction on rock, ice, and alpine climbing in the European Alps and North America. Check it out!

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