Break through to the other side...

[RuMR]

So, what routes represented a breakthrough for you? And how did you achieve them?

[Peter_Puget]

I was 16 and wanted to try "real climbing" for a change. Up until then I had only top roped or done weenie leads on the small local crags around the Bay Area. (Oh and some 4th class stuff in the Sierra) So a buddy and I drove to Yosemite. When we saw the Salathe come into view we were too freaked to climb anywhere in the Valley so off to the Meadows we went. Mostly 5.6/7 stuff but it was the first time either of us had ever been more than 70’ up a route and the only guidebook was the Roper High Sierra guide. I was using boots that I later ice climbed in. An amazingly great weekend full of tears, laughs and adventure.

 

PP

[Peter_Puget]

Now that I think about it we didnt even have a guide. We got some route advice from a ranger.

[sk]

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my story and I'm stickin' to it

 

> The truth is in fact a very difficult thing to

>take. It is a personal challenge to see ones self

>clearly without diminishing yourself, or exaggerating

>yourself. I believe that it is a persons

>responsibility to be as truthful as possible.

> My truth in this case is that I am NOT a natural

>athlete. I have rarely been one to enjoy physical

>activity at all. I've never excelled or found

>enjoyment in a sport, or even exercise. I do indeed

>still struggle with that. Yet three summers ago, a

>woman I love as my sister, did for me, one of the

>grandest things in my life. She taught me how to play

>again.

> At that time, my youngest child was almost 1 yr

>old. I was still carrying a lot of baby weight (I

>weighed 210 when he was born) I was unhappy with

>myself and not taking care of my body at all.

> Amy had been climbing for the last year and a

>half with her boyfriend. They were breaking up, yet

>she was un willing to give up the sport for lack of a

>climbing partner. Her solution changed my life.

> It is a challenge for Amy and I to find time to

>spend alone together. We have very opposite schedule.

>But, she called me and asked me to take a weekend to

>go camping with her, and maybe climb if I wanted to.

> I had often imagined myself in the mountain,

>climbing rocks...touching the earth and being

>effected. But being me, I was afraid, or at least I

>thought I was.

> We left on Friday and I DROVE (big deal-I HATE to

>drive). As we neared Smith the sun was setting as it

>only can in the high desert, purples and pinks

>splashed in the sky like some sort of mystic water

>color painting. That night we slept out in the open,

>just our sleeping bags on a tarp. The sky was so

>beautiful and so clear. I remember there being a

>meteor shower, and making a wish on every falling star

>that I could find it in myself to be a better stronger

>me.

> Amy and I got up with the sun the next morning.

>We chopped onion peppers, and potatos, and fried them

>with tofu and cheese over the top (in case you have

>never been to the keystone... it's called a

>POWERHOUSE) We packed up Amy's pack with20 or so

>pounds of gear, and she handed me an over sized fanny

>pack with water and sun screan. And we drove to Smith

>Rock.

> It was so BEAUTIFUL it took my breath away. I

>was moved and affected by the "FEELING" that I had

>there, as if god arranged it so that humans might go

>there and be thankful.

> We hiked all morning, stopping when I was too

>tired, resting when I needed. We made it to some place

>around the back side, I can't remember exactly where,

>but there were many smallish boulders around. We ate

>lunch, and then Amy handed me her rock climbing shoes

>and told me to put them on. She told me to just get on

>the rock and to not worry about it. To play. NO BIG

>DEAL. so I did. I was amazed that I got off the

>ground. I was astounded that I LIKED it. I climbed up,

>I climbed over. I found places for my feet, and things

>to hold on to. I felt more gounded on that peice of

>rock than I had felt AT ALL over the past several

>years. I kept moving, and I crossed my foot over and

>looked at her and asked " can I do this?" and she

>said, "can you do that?, yeah, thats awsome!" and then

>she laughed and laughed because she was as shoked as

>I was that I took to climbing so well. I could move

>comfortably and confidently in the vertical world.

> After that we hiked twords monkey face and ended

>up turning around when we ran out of water. We were

>elated by my success, time spent together talking shit

>about life , men and everything else.

> On sunday we got up with the sun and ate. We

>headed to the rock that I know as "Practice Boulder".

>It is really a bouldering problem, but there are bolts

>at the top. Amy scrambled up the back, and I followed

>her. My confidence comming from the fact that Amy is

>an EMT and would never let me die. She told me about

>S.R.E.N.E. as she set the anchor for a top rope. We

>scooted back down the scramble and again she handed me

>her rock shoes and told me to put them on. She showed

>me how to put on the harness and tied me in as she

>talked me threw the knots and the comands.

> I said "climbing" and she answered back, as she

>always does "climb high"

> As i stood there looking at the rock I felt a

>peice of my spirit slip into place. I knew at that

>moment, if I could climb that rock, I could do

>ANYTHING. Not what anyone else told me was "okay" or

>acceptable for me to do, but ANYTHING truly ANYTHING.

> So I climbed and I climbed, and I shook, but I

>didn't stop. Amy constantly guiding me, "look left, by

>your knee,that's it,put your weight on it,commit,

>straighten your leg, it will stop shaking." And I did.

>I touched the anchor without weighting the rope once,

>and my life was forever changed.

>

 

[willstrickland]

Kor-Ingalls on Castleton - 1996

 

It was my first tower, first time I had to "carry" the team (I ended up leading the whole thing after my partner backed off the pitch 2 lead), and first time I set-off on a section of climbing that truly scared the shit out of me, knowing it was gonna be at my limit. It was also my first taste of semi-hard OW when it really mattered. After the constriction in the squeeze on the crux pitch, where you go out on the face for a couple of moves and then squeeze back in, I couldn't stretch far enough to get the good calcite rib hold. And my OW/chimney technique was almost non-existent having climbed almost exclusively on the steep juggy southeastern stuff. I grabbed the edge and liebacked that mother, getting more and more pumped, and looking at a huge fall the higher I climbed. When I finally pulled back into the chimney where it widens I thought I was gonna puke. My head felt like it was on fire and I was breathing like a locomotive...felt pretty good

 

Standing on the summit I felt like I'd become a real trad climber that day...doing an old-school route, getting worked, and standing on top of this rad platform in the sky at sunset. At 5.9, the Kor-Ingalls isn't that hard in the grand scheme of things, but ask anyone who's done it...it gets respect. Three months later, I repointed Malvado and Linus in American Fork (still the two "hardest" rated pitches I've climbed)...I think Castelton was harder!

 

 

[RuMR]

Hey will...isn't Linus .13d??

 

I'd call that a breakthrough!

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

That would have to be The Quickening (referred to then as "The Chickening", as committing to the moves over the roof was kinda scary). Definitely marked the transition from years of relatively unfocused fucking around on the rocks to a period of focused, goal-oriented sending.

 

Really, if it hadn't been for Andy, who knows where DFA would be at, climbing-wise. But Andy got the Doctor on the thing, and Andy climbed hard and was just psyched to be out climbing and making sure everyone was having a good time, and the motivation was infectious. So after some prodding and some work, both on sequences and a pathetically fearful brain, The Chickening went down.

 

That same season saw some of DFA's most cherished climbing moments, including sending Chain Reaction (at that point still a mythical and awe-inspiring guillotine, to be pointed at and whispered about, but climb the thing? Yeah, right!), again with Andy's beta and motivation; and onsighting Up For Grabs (or "Up For Slabs" as Andy liked to say) and Flat Earth in the same day; and turning Toxic into the most casual of warmups.

 

It really opened the Doctor's eyes as to what it took to advance in climbing, and what was really possible, and replaced the hands-off sense of awe with a take-it-by-the-throat sense of enthusiasm.

 

Those were good times.

 

Sorry, Andy.

[assmonkey]

ca. 1996 “The Domino,” Mulkey Gulch, MT- At the time, I had just started lead climbing, and I had the misconception that you weren’t really a climber until you could lead a 5.10. This is just a short 4-bolt affair, but I worked the piss out of the route over four full climbing days. I can still clearly remember the opening crimper shelf and how the jugs at top would not feel like jugs under the solid pump that would develop as I inched my way past the bolts. When I finally topped out, my girlfriend at the time gave me a bunch of shit because I had left the draws in place for the complete ascent (as opposed to re-racking them and clipping the bolts again on the ascent). I was so stoked from actually linking the moves, that her critique didn’t bother me. Plus, I had seen the hardmen at Smith redpoint burly routes with draws in place, so if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me.

 

For me, the route was totally mental. At the time I didn’t think I could actually climb 5.10. I would let go at the slightest hint of a pump, or the second that I realized that I had blown the sequence. What I learned was that I shouldn’t buy into failure before I even tied in. Plus, knowing I could actually get up a 5.10 opened up a whole new world of routes for me.

 

ca. 1998 “Tips City (I think?),” Broughton Bluff, OR- At the time, I had been climbing on my own gear for over a year, but I had never fallen on any gear that I had placed myself. A friend of mine told me that in order to break into the world of 5.10 crack climbing, you have to be willing to fall on your gear (and it’s been my experience that he was right-on about that). At the time, this route was just at my climbing limit. When I got below the crux, I hung on for a long time. I reset my gear about ten times, talking myself through it. I went for it with half a heart, sketched my feet, greased off the crux, and plummeted onto a red Metolius TCU, (which I still climb on today). It held, and I was stoked. I lowered, climbed back up, (yeah, I yo-yo’d it), and hiked the crux with confidence that my gear would hold.

 

Climbing on gear is still a crux for me sometimes. If I have periods where I’m climbing over gear a lot, I get more confident. The first fall of the season is always the scariest, right? And when gear pulls, as it does every so often, I get all sketched again.

 

[Bug]

First time I climbed Shoshone in Blodgett, 1976.

[iain]

definitely those climbs where I first pitched on gear (and it held, obviously).

[willstrickland]

RuMR said:

Hey will...isn't Linus .13d??

I'd call that a breakthrough!

 

Not quite that hard, couple letters easier. Seriously though, it's just mindless crimping, one pretty techie move on it about 1/3 of the way up (and it's way confusing in that cave with routes crisscrossing everywhere). I remember before I started working it I spent close to an hour comparing the guidebook and the cave to figure out what went where. I've heard people say Malvado is soft too, it seems to be the first route at it's grade the people tick there. The K-I was a much bigger breakthrough for me, falling a few feet onto a bomber bolt 100 yards from the road ain't no thang.

[Distel32]

Doja in Squamish. My first 7, and then in the next couple weeks I ticked two more.

 

But on this next trip to Bishop I'm hoping for a few more break roughs. The TR will be appearing on this site on the 25th of december (break throughs pending)

[EWolfe]

- Onsighting Crack of Doom at City of Rocks was an inspiring and much-anticipated (5 years) send.

 

-Sending Latest Rage at Smith was a glorious moment, and my path into 5.12 (you can't buy one, I hear )

 

-Bouldering: Finally getting Ginsu Knife (V6) at Hueco Tanks 2 days before I left after being there for 2 months was a real upper, and at 30 feet long, no mean feat.

 

-Working Japanese Gardens for a couple of years was disappointing (I never got it), but it gave me the head for trad leads and falling.

 

-Putting up "Schleppin' For Hollywood" at Smith took a lot of work. At .11c, I didn't know if I was going to be able to do the F.A., but I got it.

[scott_harpell]

i was leading 5.8's on gear and saw the bale cramar route and decided to lead it and got it. says a lot about the mental aspect of climbing and how we sel our selves short so easily.

[Dru]

weeping wall was my first official 4 and on the crux i wanted to back off but i was scared my screw would rip if i weighted it the ice was so thin, so i kept climbing

 

drag the magic puffin, at the cheakamus gorge, was something i couldn't even TR successfully when i first rried it but i got motivated by seeing the holds and envisioning from the other side of the gully while belaying my friend carl on HIS too-hard project so i scrubbed and worked and bolted and gear-placed and finally SENT with a belay and some encouragement from Snoboy and it is still my hardest technical rock lead

[lancegranite]

Doing the onsight first ascent of Livacation crack.

Out of gear, my belayer reminds me of the two pitons we are carrying... One fits and I climb to the belay.

 

 

[Bug]

When I was in college in Missoula, a bunch of us used to go out, get stone and do first ascents. Freshman year, I knew I could only climb 5.10a so that was what I rated a new climb I put up that seemed really hard. When it was seconded, it was upgraded to 11.b. Doh!

All of a sudden, I was making it up 5.11's.

[scott_harpell]

Bug said:

When I was in college in Missoula, a bunch of us used to go out, get stone and do first ascents. Freshman year, I knew I could only climb 5.10a so that was what I rated a new climb I put up that seemed really hard. When it was seconded, it was upgraded to 11.b. Doh!

All of a sudden, I was making it up 5.11's.

nice! bet that felt good.

[lummox]

when i realized that shaking like i had parkinsons because i hadnt slept in 3 days didnt significantly affect my lead ablility. elvis lives!

[mattp]

The North Face of Mount Stanley, in the Rockies, was a "breakthrough" for me. I'd climbed mountains and hiked on glaciers before, but I'd been mostly a rock climber and I had a friend who said I should try alpine ice climbing, and I said OK: let's go to the Rockies AND the Bugaboos on this upcoming vacation. It was a breakthrough that eventually lead me away from rock climbing for several years.

 

After I returned to rock climbing (with my re-activation brought on by a trip where we were supposed to go alpine climbing in Camonix but ended up in the Verdon Gorge), I had a great day leading every pitch on the Davis Holland/Lovin Arms route -- that was the first time I was the sole leader on a climb of that overall steepness and sustained difficulty, and I took from that day a significantly heightened confidence. I couldn't lead that entire climb now, but the confidence remains.

 

Breakthrough's are as much mental and emotional as a physical leap from 5.10d to 5.11 or whatever, and these two experiences represent a couple of times where one day's climbing changed a whole lot about how I feel about the sport.

[lummox]

and then there was the day i realized that there was no spoon.

[carolyn]

A year or so ago I was pushing it on 5.6/5.7's.

So, a lot of climbs this past season were "breakthroughs" for me. It was fun to go back to do climbs I struggled on or couldnt do in the past and just fly up 'em this time.

 

Even though there were obvious improvements, it was difficult for me to actually see it and be confident when faced with challenging grades.

 

There are two climbs this season which opened my eyes...

 

1. 5.8 offwidth on the N.shore here in MN. A year and a half ago I tried it. I swear it took me like an hour or more to get my ass up 100ft. I was so scared of being 'stranded' (if you dont get up these climbs you be swimming accross lake superior). I cried. I never wanted to climb rock again. This year I was terrified as I rapped down to the base of the climb. I had to put into practice all the mental tricks Ive learned to keep myself calm and focused (I swear I thought I was literally going to shit my pants ). Closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths and off I went. Flew up in 10 min or so. It was a super fun climb! I did shed some tears...this time they were 'happy' tears (or maybe just tears of relief).

 

2. I went back to the N.SHore after my trip out to Wa/Or this fall. The folks I climbed with warm up on .10/.11's. I got a few .10's under my belt over the season and out at smith. I always felt like it was a fluke that I could climb them, tho. I followed their leads this day and warmed up on some .10's successfully. Then....I made it up my first .11!!!!! Yup, I cried again! It wasnt so much the grade. It was more the fact that I could finally see and believe how much I have improved both physically and mentally in my climbing.

 

Its been fun to see my confidence and ability carry over to the ice (I know this isnt and ice forum ). My first climb of the season was a grade higher than Ive ever done. And tho I flailed a lot, I got myself up mid grade mixed routes, leashless...the first time I had tried either. What a f'in blast!!!!!

 

 

[carolyn]

Ok, I have one more...it doesnt so much relate to breakthoughs in climbing, itself. More so in my life.

 

A year and a half ago (?) I climbed my first multipitch with Erik and another friend of his. I think it was R&D out in L'worth. ANway..near the last pitch, his friend forgot to trail the rope for me. Hahahaha! He was new to climbing too and neither of us knew what to do once we realized what happened. He continued up to Erik, while I hung out, clipped into the anchors. It was a kewl moment by myself as I looked around at the scenery. I was right where I wanted to be, doing something I had always wanted to do...and I got myself there (w/a bit of help). I know this might sound strange, but I will go with it....It made me realize how my choices and efforts in life got me to this spot. There always seemed to be so many mental, physical, and financial barriers which kept me from climbing. i had finally worked thu those barriers. I often remind myself of that experience when I face new or scary situations in life.

 

There ya have it!

Im done now!

[erik]

[willstrickland]

Right on Carolyn! Like Erik said: