carolyn Posted April 1, 2004 Posted April 1, 2004 Im going to leave most of the story telling up to Mike Layton when he returns because Im not feeling too creative right now. I think Im still thoroughly exhausted. Hopefully in the next week I will get some of the photos uploaded, tho. Basically I had my ass handed to me many times a day. And, as Jay said, "My body and I are not on speaking terms"...still. I dont get much crack climbing here in Minnesota. Since Mike and Jay tend to lean more towards cracks this was a great opportunity for me to rip up my hands, have my feet throb 24/7, and flail like an idiot! Actually, I learned a lot by both watching and climbing myself. Anyway...here are the highlights (or not) for me... *Walking around LAX for 5hrs waiting for Mike's plane to arrive. *Following pitch after pitch. Following someone is a "special treat" out here. Everyone just topropes or clean their own gear. I learned a lot by doing this. *5 fuckin hour backpacking/scrambling expedition looking for a particular climbing area (cant remember the name- I have permenantly blocked it out of my mind). *Taking my first leader fall!!!!! My first lead in Jtree. My first since mid summer last year. First time using cams (Ive only used passive pro before this). The fall was short and kinda stupid, but probably one of the most impactful moments on the trip for me. It demonstrated that when everything is done properly the safety systems really DO work. Knowing that its okay to fall gave me the confidence to try a few more leads over the week. It will most definately allow me to push my limits both mentally and physically more than I have in the past. *Teaching myself how to aid up the first part of climb (clean and jerk) cause I couldnt get my ass off the ground and the gear needed to be retrieved. I cant count how many times I told mike I hated him on that climb...just like I cant count how many times I fell. *Following on Sidewinder. I LOVED the traverse at the top! Something about the fear and uncertainty of being able to do it, along with the type of climbing gave me a great adreniline rush *Watching Mike climb Imaginary Voyage. Holy Shit, did he ROCK! Photos to come!!!! *Being completely humbled when I couldnt get my feet off the ground on any of the boulder problems we tried one day. Its hard being able to recognize how far you as an individual have come in your climbing when you are surrounded by a number or amazing climbers. God, I felt sooooo suck that day! *Backing off on lead of a 5.3ish climb cause I couldnt find a piece that fit and I was scared Glad I can laugh about it now. *FINALLY getting the "crack" technique down somewhat on Illusion Dweller. What an amazing climb! *Leading White Lightening. Though I was a bit freaked out the first 15ft or so, I pulled it together and enjoyed it immensly. That was a big lead for me. * Sun!Sun!SUn!Sun!Sun! Here are a list of climbs I remember us doing... Poodles are People Too 10b Taxman 10a Bloody Tax Return 10b Mr Bunnys Refund Check 10a Illusion Dweller 10b Sidewinder 10b SuperRoof 9 Hobbits Roof 10b Douple Dip 6 Mike's Book 6 Imaginary Voyage (I didnt climb this one...mike led and followed).10d Right Basterville Crack 10a Clean and Jerk 10d Mel cracks L 10b Mel Cracks R 10b Toe Jam .7 Aint Nothin but a Josh Thing 6 Sphincter Quits .9 Gunsmoke Traverse v4?/.11a? White Lightening .7 Headstone .8 Jumping Jack Crack 11a Again, I will leave it to Mike to tell the stories. -c Quote
sk Posted April 1, 2004 Posted April 1, 2004 HELL YES CAROLYN the summer I spent learning from Texplorer I could only tell my self "if you arn't falling your arn't learning" ON p.s. i luv mikey Quote
Farrgo Posted April 1, 2004 Posted April 1, 2004 Gunsmoke is a v2 traverse. It blem me away, by far the pumpiest v2 i've ever done, at least you can lay down on that ledge midway while you dry hurl. Awesome problem. Quote
layton Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 Just got back from J-tree. Thanks for putting up with the 3rd grade behavior Carolyn! Hope you are recovering from the spankfest! Jay and I went to Tahquitz for a few days after you left and climbed in the American climbing history books which was neat and a good spanking on different granite. Then we went back to J-tree for 4 more days and respanked ourselves silly. I did imaginary voyage again today super clean and jay was able to follow it (mostly) this time. I ran it out a bit more too. This time after jamming both feet under the flake and reaching out backwards i was able to swing each foot out and cam them into the offwitdth and hang upsidedown from both feet and easily grab the final pinch holds. Weirdest moves I've ever done on lead and the most fun i've EVER had climbing. I lost a good deal of skin and blood these past 14 days. Good times. Thanks again Carolyn. Hope sunny MN seems easier now. and nice job on your leads once again. didn't see any other cc.comers, but i really didn't look. hope you had fun too those who went or are going. Quote
thelawgoddess Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 wow; sounds like you guys got quite a bit of climbing in! Quote
Dave_Schuldt Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Carolyn, looks like your back is OK now. Quote
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