hardest thing i worked for? hmmm...there are many, but i'd have to say it was the second pitch of a route that i was expecting it to be 5.7 (turned out to be mid 10-ish)...i'd been climbing for about 4 months at the time, and the hardest thing i'd done was a 5.8, my buddy had done the first pitch and i was gonna do the second, easier pitch...i thought i was gonna die, i puked when i topped out...the top out itself was scary, very scary and sandy...i had never fallen on gear before, so i had no idea what worked...drag was bad, could barely move...
when we got home that night i looked in the guidebook which we'd forgotten and saw that the 5.7 pitch cut LEFT from the belay...the route wound up being 5.10 and was steep, cutting up a dihedral and topping out in a notch
THis is my most memorable climb to date...
the route was Fantasy direct at the NRG...it lit a fire under me that hasn't stopped for almost 20 years now...
Oh...and chuck...are you done diddling yourself? Feel better?