Cragmama

May 17 2016

“Some weekends everything falls together and you send. Other times you work your ass off and walk away empty-handed. But those “work” weekends are what make the “sending” weekends so magical.”

Those were my words exactly one month ago, after a hard-fought battle with Jesus and Tequila 12b, one of my (many) unsent projects from the New River Gorge last fall. The “moral” of that post was that investing hard work into a project will EVENTUALLY reap successful dividends, even if you currently have nothing “on paper” to show for it. That particular weekend was a “work” weekend. So was the next one, this time on a new project at Hawksbill Mountain. Both trips sparked a flurry of training in the gym – 4X4’s, roped intervals, core workouts, etc. All in preparation for one of those “sending” weekends at some point down the road…

Creeping out of the hueco on Mirage 12c

…which apparently was this past weekend at the Red! I’m not sure whether it was the training, the SPECTACULAR spring weather conditions, or just a little bit of luck falling in my favor (probably a combination of the 3), but I just enjoyed what was probably one of my strongest climbing weekends ever…and days later I’m still finding my lips poised in a perma-grin.

70 feet down, 30 to go! Trying to deflate my forearms in the upper hueco on Mirage.

I drove up to Kentucky with one goal in mind: Galunlati 12b, a route I’d gotten on at the very end of our trip there this past April. I drove home on Sunday with THREE 5.12 ticks, one of which very well might be the hardest route I’ve ever sent. Here’s how it all went down:

It’s red eft season in the Southeast!

Galunlati 12b: 95 feet of awesomeness. Tricky, technical crux down low, with a pumpy traverse on crimps halfway up. No huecos to hop in, but I did find a decent kneebar to rest up before the last 30 feet of 5.10 jugs. To save time, (at a premium with 4 climbers and two kids), I warmed up by going bolt to bolt…and it did NOT go well, probably because I should NOT be warming up on 5.12. But I got the draws in and got to rehearse my beta. Second go the crux felt way easier, but I botched the end of the traverse and fell. I figured out a better sequence, and my third go was the charm (and send.)

Mirage 12c: 95 feet of even more awesomeness. I’d wrapped up Galunlati with enough time to do one more route on Day 1, and my friend Bennett had suggested this one. He’d just sent, and I figured I had nothing to lose since the draws were still up. The climbing turns on at the 2nd bolt while exiting a big hueco, and does not relent until the 5th bolt. The moves out of the hueco are precarious and balancy, and the bolt is a lot lower than you’d like it to be, which makes for an exciting combo rather low to the ground. In fact, my first time up, I actually climbed with the 3rd bolt already clipped so I could work out the moves fear-free. The next moves are equally tenuous, as well as the next clip. The crux comes next, between bolts 4 and 5, a deadpoint move to the first decent-sized hold in about 20 feet. After that, a few more pulls on small, but positive holds leads into a hueco you can lay down in. The climbing post-hueco is a lot easier – probably no harder than 10a/b, but the angle is still pretty darn steep, and the route keeps going for another 30-40 feet or so. I was super stoked to get to the top, and very excited to add this one to my tick list for the fall season.

The CragDaddy getting oh-so-close on Abiyoyo 12b

But as luck would have it, our crew ended up back at the Solarium again on Day 2. Since my “warm up on the project” strategy had been successful the day before, I decided to stick with that. I struggled on the deadpoint move. There are a lot of ways to do it, but each seemed ridiculously hard to do when I was pumped, as I most certainly would be on a redpoint run. I worked the moves for a while until I had to come down out of sheer exhaustion.

A post-dinner hike to the Natural Arch

I wasn’t feeling that optimistic for a send on my 2nd go of the day…I knew I could do the moves, but stringing them all together seemed like an impossible feat. Not to mention that scary clip at bolt 3. But I tried hard, and actually didn’t fall until the deadpoint move. I hung, tweaked the beta, and took it to the top.

I waited a good long time before trying it again, cheering on the CragDaddy as he worked Abiyoyo 12b, and sprayed (solicited) beta at our newfound friends from Colorado as they took their turns on Mirage. When I tied in again, I wasn’t at all confident that I’d even have enough gas to make it to my previous high point. But before I knew it, I was there…and this time I executed my beta correctly and latched the deadpoint! I came really close to punting off in the next section, but somehow managed to slide into the hueco with forearms flaming.

I stayed in the hueco until my neck just couldn’t take it anymore…then I moved up into the kneebar to shake out a little more. The finish was not desperate, but it certainly wasn’t a sure thing. The pump clock was ticking faster and faster but I just kept moving as fast as I could until both chains were clipped. YAY!!!!!!!!!!! An unbelievably amazing (and unexpected!) send for me!

Crossing the creek at Miller Fork.

On our last day, we decided to check out Miller Fork, a new-ish area that has recently come out with a new guidebook. It was fun to try a new place, and the routes we got on were good…but the rock quality seemed inconsistent. The routes we did were all great, but will probably be even better in a few years after more traffic cleans them up a bit.

Weird Science 12a: This vertical climb was perfect for Day 3 – thin boulder problem down low to moderate climbing. Very un-Red like (ie, no guns required, just technique), but the neon orange lichen only visible from the top made it worth the effort.

Witness the Citrus 11c: Also worth mentioning was this monster of a climb. 100+ feet of pure jug haulin’ fun! Definitely 5 stars!

Climbing can be a very fickle sport. I’ve learned that having the physical and mental fitness for a certain route is really only a small piece of the puzzle to success. Sometimes the real crux is having that perfect weather window occur on the days you are actually free to climb, rather than days you are stuck in the office/house/etc. (And finding someone else that wants to climb at the same area you want to climb at!) Fortunately for me, all the stars aligned and everything worked in my favor this time. And with imminent summer heat and humidity on the way, I’m going to savor every minute of this “sending feast” while I still can, knowing the famine is just around the corner! (And, right on cue, the forecast for THIS Saturday looks pretty dismal…) 😉

Crux moves on Witness the Citrus 11c

New Project at Hawksbill Mountain

Climbing. North Carolina.

2 Comments.

May 10 2016

For our family, the month of May marks perfect sending conditions at one of our favorite crags – Hawksbill Mountain in the Linville Gorge. The sending season here is short – if you come in April your hands will for sure numb out due to a frigid combination of chilly temps, shady rock, and brutal wind gusts. But if you wait much past early June, the humidity makes for pretty manky crux holds, especially by late afternoon once the sun comes around.

Although we can be at the crag parking lot in 2 hours flat, the hike is pretty intense, especially with the kiddos…a relentless uphill slog for 30-40 minutes, followed by a rocky scramble down a rhododendron-laden gully for another 20 minutes or so. Once your down there, the cliff base is rocky, with very few flat areas, which makes chasing after a climbing toddler even more stressful (and tiresome) than usual. All that said, despite the fact that we love the climbing here, we tend to only hit this area a time or two each year.

The New Proj: Tips Ahoy 12d

But after this past weekend’s excursion, I’m hoping that we can start to change that. As opposed to previous years where the approach took over an hour (and about a pound of hiking bears), Big C dominated the hike on Saturday. He even said his favorite part was scrambling up and down the gully. Apparently 6 year old legs ARE stronger and longer than 5 year old ones!

Blooming rhodos made for a beautiful approach!

The great part about Hawksbill is that there are a whole hosts of routes that are in a good project range for the CragDaddy and I. On the 5.12 wall, the only route either of us has sent has been Hard Rock Cafe 12c (and congratulations to the CragDaddy on the send this past weekend!) As for me, I am now completely invested in a new route obsession – Tips Ahoy 12d. Grade-wise it’s a little harder than some of the other lines on the wall, but I’d been told by more than one person that this one would be a good one for me to try. Apparently, it’s more sustained than the other lines, but the moves are not quite as big. Add that to the fact that my friend Drew already had the draws up, and hopping on it was a no-brainer!

My first attempt I opted to toprope it. I’d never led 12d before, and that pre-hung rope was just too tempting to pass up! The initial moves were hard but I actually made it through clean – long NRG-style lock0ffs to small but positive edges. Then came the crux – getting paired up on two tiny razor blades to make a toss to a sharp, pointy crimp, followed by another deep lockoff to another sharp crimp (as the name suggests, this route is not exactly easy on the finger tips.) I flailed around a LOT before finally settling on some beta that worked for me, but i got it figured out eventually. After the crux comes a traverse that is more technical than it is hard, followed by a ladder of crimps that, while significantly easier than the rest of the route, is still way to hard to be considered a “victory lap.”

Next I tackled the route on the sharp end – a big step for me, as I’d never led anything this difficult before. I was surprised at how good I felt. Everything was going great until I reached up to clip the 3rd bolt and realized that no matter how hard I tugged, no more rope was coming. I heard a bunch of commotion below me (which included a few choice words that I generally don’t like my children to hear), and saw my belayer desperately trying to pull my rope out from under a big rock. I managed to hang on long enough for things to get sorted, but sat on the rope immediately after getting the bolt clipped. I would LOVE to say that my first 12d would have gone down 2nd go had it not been for that incident…but I am 99.9% sure that I would have fallen at the crux. Stuff like that happens and is all part of the game – my belayer obviously felt really bad about it and apologized profusely…but if you are local, feel free to give Kurt Fischer hell next time you see him 😉

CragDaddy in sending mode on Hard Rock Cafe 12c

After the hang, I actually shocked myself by making the crux move 1st go, although I immediately rested before the traverse (the fall is clean, but I always have a hard time committing to traverses!) Once I started the traverse, I took it all the way to the top. Despite all the shenanigans I felt awesome about a two-hang, and was confident that while it might not be in the same day, a send was definitely attainable!

More spectacular wildflowers along the approach!

By the time my turn in the rotation came up again, my spirit was willing…but my flesh was obviously weak. I took a rather awkward but safe fall trying to hit the clipping hold for the 2nd bolt. On the crux holds my fingertips felt so raw that I imagined only a microscopically thin layer of skin was keeping them from becoming completely shredded. I limped my way through the crux, linking only a couple of moves at a time, and hobbled my way to the finish, after resting on the rope several more times along the way.

Part of me wishes I would have stopped while I was ahead at attempt #2, because I left the crag feeling more destroyed than confident. But I know the more mileage I get in on it, the better I’ll have it dialed. And I will not be able to send it unless I have the moves COMPLETELY dialed in, since there are pretty much zero rests on the entire route, save a stray shake here and there.

It feels great to be able to focus on something new. I realized I’ve spent most of the spring focused on unfinished business from the year before (ie Jesus and Tequila 12b.) Since I probably won’t be able to touch that one again til the fall, it is really nice to have something else on the horizon that could go soon.

I’m hoping to get another crack at it in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, it’s 4x4s in the gym, followed by a long weekend at the Red. Hopefully the weather will be more spring and less winter this time around!

New River Gorge: The (Almost) Day of Reckoning

New River Gorge. Climbing.

4 Comments.

Apr 18 2016

I’d love to know how many Friday nights our family has spent picnicking at this VA rest area off Hwy 77!

If you follow our family on instagram (@cragmama1), you may have noticed a family photo taken along the Endless Wall Trail on Saturday morning, with a caption entitled -“Today is a day of reckoning out the NRG…let’s do this!” It was my first (and potentially only) chance this spring to send Jesus and Tequila 12b, the mega classic sandbag that I’d came heartbreakingly close to ticking off last November as the fall season closed out. After some annihilating circuit work in the gym, along with recent success at both the New and the Red in recent weeks, I was feeling reasonably strong and my mental game was in a great space. I was ready to tackle this monster again.

The first crux of the weekend was finding willing partners to drag down to Endless Wall with me, with a forecast of 70 and sunny. With no leaves on the trees yet and a wall that bakes in the sun, it was a hard sell. The CragDaddy was more than willing, but unless I wanted to find Baby Zu rafting down the river after looking away for 10 minutes, we needed someone else as well. Fortunately for me though, I have some pretty awesome friends who were willing to suffer in the sun with me. (And actually, they had sunny projects in mind as well, and their alpine start + twilight climbing schedule meshed reasonably well with my midday brawl.)

Trying hard on the J n T crux…

UNfortunately for myself and everyone else, however, no one’s efforts on Saturday resulted in a send. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be…yet. Except for the obvious fact that I didn’t send it, I feel really good about how the day went. I gave it 4 tries – one was a bolt to bolt warm-up to re-familiarize myself with the moves. I was really psyched to figure out a completely different sequence of moves for the upper roof crux…the same move that spit me off last fall on my epic un-send. The new beta is MUCH more secure and higher percentage, and I am certain that when the time comes to do that move on point, I won’t be falling there again.

…aaaand I’m off.

My second go of the day was a one-hang – I fell at the crux after fiddling with my foot placement too much (the rope management is a little weird there.) I pulled right back up and finished the route strong, and felt really good about my next attempt. My third go I made it through the crux! I was pleased at how much I was able to get back at the rest stances, and was thinking it was my time…then I fell at the big deadpoint move. Ugh. That move has always been hard for me, but I had never struggled on it until that day.

Big C’s super cool nature find along the trail.

By this point I was running out of time, but I owed it to myself to give it one more go. The days will only be getting hotter from here on out, so it was probably my last shot before fall. Predictably, however, I was pretty gassed, and fell at the crux, again. Ironically, the deadpoint move felt the most solid as it had all day, and of course, with the new beta, I cruised right through the roof.

I’d be lying if I didn’t feel just a little disappointed, but like my friend Caleb said, “It’s all part of the process.” The real story here is about an amazing piece of rock that so many people have on their bucket list. I would consider myself blessed to be able to experience it even once, let alone have a chance to invest so much of myself in it. This all probably sounds a little silly to a non-climber, but there is a very personal, almost relational, connection, between a climber and a project. Whether the route is personified as a nemesis that you want to exact revenge upon, or an old friend that you keep coming back to for a friendly duel, the emotional investment can be pretty intense. For me, I think finding the right balance is key – training hard for a goal and leaving everything out there on the rock is good, and necessary for the send. But at the end of the day, I hike out with my family with a smile on my face, knowing deep down it’s really just a hunk of rock.

Can you guess which kid is a morning person?!?

Sure I wish I would have sent, but this trip was by far not a waste. The next day I tried hard for a 2nd go send of All the Right Moves 11d, a 100 foot journey with a funky roof crux that had previously seemed really intimidating. I also came super close on Control 12a, and am confident that those power moves will go down fairly easily when I’m fresh. Not to mention the new roof beta I have for Jesus and Tequila.

CragDaddy cruxin’ on Control 12a

Some weekends everything falls together and you send. Other times you work your ass off and walk away empty-handed. But those “work” weekends are what makes the “sending” weekends so magical. I’m not sure when, but one of these days I will pull the crux on Jesus and Tequila and not take the swinging whipper. I’ll stay clean through the dihedral and nail the deadpoint move. I’ll teeter out across the roof and plant my foot exactly where it needs to be, and execute the final sequence. I’ll stand at the top and savor the magnificent view of the river below, feeling that mix of pure exhilaration and exhaustion that I so wish I could bottle up and sell. We’ll go out for dinner and I’ll celebrate with a round of margaritas for anyone that wants to join me. Then I’ll walk the cliff again and wait for inspiration to strike, and the cycle will start all over again. Ah, thank you God for creating rocks to climb on. 🙂

The magnificent view atop J n T.

Spring(?!?) Break at the Red River Gorge

Climbing. Red River Gorge.

2 Comments.

Apr 12 2016

Hueco wackos enjoying themselves out at Left Flank.

When we started planning our spring break trip to the Red a couple of months ago, we decided to reserve a cabin in lieu of camping, just because the weather can be a bit of a toss up this time of year. Turns out that was a pretty good decision, because 4 days straight of high’s in the 40’s mixed with clouds, rain, and even a little bit of snow is not my idea of fun family camping. To be perfectly honest, it’s not exactly my idea of fun family climbing either…but we decided to go for it anyway…and I’m really glad we did!

For starters, the weather ended up not being quite as mean as initially forecasted…temps were still pretty low for every day but Sunday (our last day, of course!), but instead of constant precipitation and clouds, we escaped with just a few passing showers and flurries, and just enough sunshine to keep the rock warm.

Day 1:

LEFT FLANK: Everyone’s objective for the day was Mercy the Huff 12b. We probably should NOT have warmed up on Fast Food Christians 10a…the slab was cold, and the opening moves were damp and a little tweaky. Considering the too-little-too-late power endurance I was coming in with, I wasn’t terribly optimistic about the send. I felt pretty good on the moves, however, and had a good bolt to bolt run on my first attempt. My second go I came up juuuuust short of the clipping hold at the 4th bolt, but linked clean until there and for several bolts after. No one else from our crew sent either, but we all agreed it was a good start to the long weekend.

Steve on his way up Mercy the Huff 12b

Day 2:

SOLARIUM: This place is my new favorite crag in Muir Valley for sure, and possibly in the entire gorge! Loads of tall, aesthetic lines, most of which are littered with huecos to perch in and enjoy the views (while your forearms slowly deflate back to their original size!) I started my day out on Air Ride Equipped 11a, which I probably would have enjoyed more had my hands not felt frozen and numb. Next I hopped on Banshee 11c…and shoulda (coulda woulda) had the onsight, had I not completely missed the fingerlock in the back of the second hueco. Womp womp. I pulled the rope and sent it fairly easily second go.

Since the draws were already up, I decided to try my hand on Magnum Opus 12a, a long line that packs a short, but powerful punch at the beginning. I figured out the crux beta fairly quickly, but I think putting it together would have taken more time than I wanted to spend at a new area.

Enjoying the jugland on the upper section of Banshee 11c

Day 3:

With temps not getting out of the 30’s until late in the day, and 15-20 mph winds in cloudy skies, our family decided a rest day might be in order. We stopped by to hang out with a fellow climbing family that had coincidentally arrived on an extended 3 month trip just days before, and then in the afternoon Big C and I went to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo as part of the Snake Study we are doing in his homeschooling right now. I can’t say enough how cool this place was – first off, it has one of the largest collections of venomous snakes in the entire world. We got a very personalized tour of all of their snakes on exhibit, and even got to watch some angry cobras getting their venom extracted! My little nature geek was in heaven.

We rounded out our day on a scouting hike to Funk Rock City, to check out Orange Juice 12c, a route that has been on my bucket list to try since I first laid eyes on it in 2012. Unlike many routes at the Red, this one does NOT do well in the rain, and the forecast had kept us away until this point. Also, the hike is long, and includes a stream crossing which can be a little temperamental depending on water levels. We thought a rest day was a good chance to see how 6 year old legs would handle both the hike and the stream. He crossed the stream like a champ (except for when he came back to “help Mommy” and fell in…), but the hike was still a 45 minute slog one way. That combined with the fact that it was 30 minutes from our cabin in the OPPOSITE direction from our house meant it was not ideal for our last day when we have a 7 hour drive ahead of us. So OJ got put on the backburner…again. One of these days I’ll get to it.

My three favorites!

Day 4:

SOLARIUM/GREAT ARCH: Instead, we opted for Muir Valley again…it was half the hike, and on the way out. Plus we’d had so much fun there the previous day! This time I warmed up on Black Powder 10b, a rather non-descript line with a couple of surprisingly burly moves down low.

The CragDaddy had his sights set on Beef Stick 12a, and his hard work earned him his second ever 5.12 onsight! He lowered pronouncing it “reachy, but I think you’ll be able to get your feet up.” I figured I had nothing to lose so I tied in. It WAS reachy…but I WAS able to get my feet up, and I was very psyched to nab the flash! The climbing was very odd, and very un-Red like (which is probably why Steve and I both did so well on it…) There were 3 distinct cruxes, each separated by pretty good rests, and all involving some sort of scrappy rockover/mantle maneuver. The moves were a lot more committing than they were hard.

High-stepping along the black streak of Beef Stick 12a.

I ended my day on something I should have tried far earlier – Galunlati 12b. What a fantastic line – technical face climbing on terrain that doesn’t feel very steep until you lower off and see how far back you are. I regrettably only got one crack at it, and after taking 10 minutes to hang the 4th draw (darn those reachy clips!), realized that another flash was not in the cards for the day. Had I gotten on it on our first Solarium day (as opposed to Magnum Opus), I’m pretty sure I would have been able to link it 2nd or 3rd go, but I guess it’ll have to wait for the next trip.

Speaking of next trips…usually we only make it to the Red twice a year – once in spring and once in fall. But the kiddos have been doing great in the car recently so we may (fingers crossed!) be able to eek out one more Red trip in early May (hopefully before the weather gets too hot!) Next weekend though, it’s back to the NRG, where I am hoping the weather will cooperate long enough for me to excise my revenge on Jesus and Tequila!!!

Spring Climbing Season Has Sprung!

Climbing. New River Gorge.

1 Comment.

Mar 30 2016

CragDaddy fingerlockin on Reckless Abandon 12a

This past weekend represented the official “start” of spring climbing season for us. The CragDaddy and I both came into the weekend with somewhat mixed emotions. On the one hand, we were SO PSYCHED about the chance to get back on a rope, back up to the New River Gorge, and start spending our weekend on the rock again. Ordinarily there are plenty of opportunities to get some climbing in during the winter on clear, calm days at south-facing crags (sun’s out, gun’s out!) But this winter it seemed like it rained on just about every free weekend we had, and as a family we have been subsequently going nuts…so the opportunity to spend a whole weekend outside in brilliant weather was heavenly!

On the other hand…neither CragDaddy nor myself felt particularly “ready” for a season of sendage. Last year at this time, I was just finishing up an RCTM training cycle, and after planning out every detail or every workout for months, I was ready to reap the benefits of my hard work and commitment. This year…not so much, due to a myriad of random things that have wreaked havoc on our schedule (starting homeschooling and battling walking pneumonia, to name a few.) While we’ve been getting to the gym consistently 2-3x per week, the actual days/times vary by the week, which makes sticking to a training program difficult. Not to mention, climbing hasn’t been occupying much of my focus lately with everything that’s been going on.

Not a bad backdrop to spend your day in front of…

Needless to say, our performance expectations were NOT very high, to say the least. My only agenda was to get out and try hard on something that was fun and worth doing. And it’s a good thing I had a good attitude about it, because aside from one unexpected high note at the end of the trip, I climbed pretty terrible!

These tree stumps (which will be underwater in just a few weeks), are perfect for hiding eggs around, playing house inside, and of course, climbing up!

Our weekend started off at Summersville Lake at the Coliseum. The warm-ups were fairly promising (Talk About It 10b and Do It 11a), but things started heading downhill on Reckless Abandon 12a. A classic route with gorgeous position out over the water, it had been on my list to try for a while. I scrambled up the opening block, got paired up on some good edges and launched for the first big move…again and again and again. I just couldn’t make the move. A few times I actually latched the hold for a split second before peeling off, but never once snagged it…Strike 1.

Next I decided to hop on Tobacco Road 12b, a juggy line that traverses right along sharp(!) jugs to a short but powerful crux sequence pulling onto the headwall. The clip before the crux proved to be a heinous reach for me, but I finally figured out some beta that involved batting at the draw to get it swinging closer so I could reach it. I figured out the initial part of the crux relatively quickly, but the last move was a giant toss to a hero bucket hold, and once again, I just couldn’t make the move. Once again, I latched it for a split second, but never once snagged it. After just a few tries I lowered off, getting tired of having to boink back up every time I fell. Apparently the move used to be substantially easier up until recently when an intermediate hold broke off, so too bad I didn’t get on it before! I’m pretty sure with a little more work I can do it in it’s current state, as it felt far more doable than Reckless for me, but apparently it wasn’t meant to be this weekend! Strike 2.

The next day was spent at Butcher’s Branch, where I set my sights a little lower (or so I thought), on Bicycle Club 11d. Everyone says this one is easier than it’s 11c neighbor, Sancho Belige, which I’d sent 2nd go a while back, so I was optimistic that I’d be able to put this one down relatively quickly. But FOR THE THIRD TIME, I tossed for the big move at the 1st bolt (a relatively non-move for my taller partners), and FOR THE THIRD TIME I just couldn’t make the move. Again and again and again.

The CragDaddy reaching tall on the Reckless Abandon move that shut me down.

Up until this point I had still been in pretty good spirits despite my dismal performance. I’ve found that when I am in a season of life that is not as focused on training, I’m not as emotionally invested in the routes I’m doing, and I don’t get as frustrated when things don’t go my way. But STRIKE 3 did not feel good! My friend Sam convinced me to try Ministry 12b with him, and since he sent it first go, I opted to toprope it first so I could get his draws back without shenanigans if things didn’t go well (after all, my track record up until this point wasn’t looking good.)

Tobacco Road 12b

I’d been on Ministry before, a couple of years ago, and had been unable to make it to the top. It’s basically fun 5.10+ climbing for a handful of bolts, where a crimpy boulder problem awaits at the top. This time around I surprised myself by figuring out a crux sequence that worked for me, albeit via two pretty terrible rounded crimpers (aka “slimpers.”) The moves felt pretty darn hard, and I wasn’t at all confident about sending, but I tried again anyway.

That little pointer finger…;)

As soon as my right hand hit the first hold of the crux sequence, I felt my attitude shift. For the first time that weekend, I really wanted it. It was like something switched on in my brain and I all of a sudden wanted to fight for the send. Each move felt easier than the last, and before I knew it, I was standing at the chains.

Me going “full blowfish” on Ministry 12b

Emotions are a very curious thing. The feeling that I get when I am in the heat of a redpoint attempt on a project I’ve poured a lot of myself into is indescribable. I can ride that high for weeks, and if I could bottle it and sell it, I’d be set for life! But unfortunately that feeling can be as fleeting as it is strong. And for me, I have a hard time sending if I don’t want it bad enough. Perhaps that was part of my problem earlier in the weekend? Maybe Ministry awakened some psych that had been hibernating over the winter. Then again maybe I really am just weak and out of shape from the crazy couple of months we’ve just had. More than likely, it’s a little bit of both. But either way, I’m looking forward to upping my psych level at the Red River Gorge next week. Spring has sprung!!!

“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN

Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

A Red River Gorge Sending Spree!!!