Life is Wild

Many things have happened to me since my last entry. I suppose i will start with the miscellany and move on to my recent climbing acomplishments.

Yesterday was a shitty day. Woke up to find out that my ride to work fell through. This resulted in by bus trip starting 10 minutes before my normal start time ><. I got to work two hours late. Work sucked, this is not a surprise. Eddie took me home from work, but on the way, we ended up being in the middle of a 5 car accident on Hurstbourne pkwy. A few people went to the hospital for whiplash, I have a mild headache and eddie hit his head on the stearing wheel. For the most part, everyone was ok. Thankfully headrests really do save from major injury, I know mine did, and those who where injured didn't. After that my plans to accompany a friend of mine to a party fell through and I spent the rest of the night in front of my computer, instead of the other plans that I had turned down previously.

The truck starts now, but it doesn't rev. I believe the cam is off a few ticks on the belts. I'm hoping to get this finished tonight, so that I will have it for the weekend.

Last weekend was awesome, Saturday turned out to be a beautifull day contrary to weather forcasts. Cory and I headed out to The Red River Gorge to meet up with some other climbers. We ended up not getting to the crag until about 5pm due to some delays in Louisville and some wrong turnsat the gorge but we still had about three and a half hours of daylight to get some climbing in.

We headed up to Sunnyside in Muir Valley, hoping to catch our friends after they finished at the Bruise Brothers crag. When we got there, we found an empty crag. In our excitement we started prepping to lead a 5.9 slab, Kokopeli's Dream. I soon realized that neither of us had cleaned(removed personal gear from) a route before and are rather inexperienced in leading routes. I know how, just never have myself. With this realization we opted to pack up and head to practice wall, a crag loaded with 20-30 ft low rated climbs that are as their name suggests, perfect for practicing lead basics and cleaning.

On our way from the crag another group is making their approach and we hear through the trees "I guess Cory's never gonna show up!". To which we made our presence known and laughter ensued. We headed back up to Sunnyside and with the new addition of more experienced leaders, we all sent Kokopeli's Dream with the exception of 2 that opted for the 5.5 chimney Velveteen. Here is an image of the slab and you can see the chimney behind it.

At 40 ft. this slab left me wanting more. Would be a perfect climb if your limit was 5.9

I found a sit start on the far left of this crag that makes for an interesting sit start to a route I believe to be known as Virgin Bolter Tag Team, a 5.10b. I prefer bouldering to sport any day so I stole my pad from the rest of them and got to work. I conpleted every move except for the last throw to what I would consider the official sat of the route. I would say it was a V2 problem until that point, maybe V3 because of the awkward hang on the sit start. that last move probably made the problem a V5 based on the lock off required on a 2 finger pocket(likely 1 for most, I have thing fingers) and the huge span to the next crimpy hold. I was rather proud of myself for working the beta and was able to replicate the problem with very low effort to work the last move. I'll get a few pictures of me working each move this weekend if we end up at sunnyside.

Sunday was very interesting, Cory and I started leading in the gym. I've since done a lot of research and feel silly for starting to lead before knowing as much as I do now but isn't that always the case. I'm sure 2 weeks from now, i'll feel the same way and even as far as 2 years down the road I'll still look back and think of how ignorant I was the week before. Experience is the best teacher.

We both lead a 5.9 with reasonable ease. Fumbling with the rope and biners the whole way up of course lol. Our second ascent was a lot smoother. We clipped propperly but where not aware of some of the other risks in clipping that are less commonly heard. The crazy thing is that some saftey precautions accually increase the risk of other incidents. So you have to assess each situation with a clear mind and good knowledge. This can be the hardest challenge in leading a route as you often find yourself 5-8 feet above the last place the rope is attached to the wall, with an excess of slack pulled out to clip. The potential fall is twice the distance from your hip to the last protection(bolt you've clipped into) plus the slack you've pulled out and rope stretch. This can be a sobering figure. The fall doesn't scare me but the wall does.

I know at least one person that reads this is probably worried sick right now, but you know me well and should realize I would not put myself in this situation without proper equipment and knowledge to be safer than 98% of the climbers out there. This sport wouldn't be fun without risk and I feel I have a better chance being injured in lets say a 5 car accident...

Tuesday at the gym was great. I feel like I've finally pushed my way into 5.10b territory. I can now run laps on a 5.10a sloper arete and have topped another 5.10a thats real beta intensive cleanly. I'm also flashing any 5.9+ or lower that they put up with reasonable ease. I'm headed off to the gym here this afternoon. I guess I'm going to have to start working some new routes since I've completed my previous goals. I know my brother has a new route on his list.

Until next time. I'm Rob Prince and this is We Dwell In Forever.