What the FAIL!
Well, damn it, we ran into some trouble with this one because of the freezing cold and we made a poor choice...
Here's what happened... We knew that most of the walls in Willow Springs had morning sun, and, since it hadn't rained in over two weeks, we thought we should hit that area, since the climbs might actually be dry (Willow Springs is notorious for seepage). We thought we'd first hit the two climbs at the Graduate - Walk to School and Pre Skool (2 pitches) - then hit the "one-off" 5.7 climb on Case Face.
When we arrived, Walk to School was in the sun and half of Pre Skool was in the shade (blocked by an adjacent protruding wall). We should've chosen to do the climb in the sun, but instead we chose Pre Skool, thinking we'd be in the sun "soon enough" on pitch 2. Wrong. Holy shit it was cold, and, that roof on Pre Skool - with frozen hands - damn! We finished pitch 1 and bailed. Read on below to find out about our experience with Pre Skool.
We will return another day to do second climb, and maybe even redo/finish Pre Skool (we will post it on Instagram and Facebook to announce when it's up.)
Well, damn it, we ran into some trouble with this one because of the freezing cold and we made a poor choice...
Here's what happened... We knew that most of the walls in Willow Springs had morning sun, and, since it hadn't rained in over two weeks, we thought we should hit that area, since the climbs might actually be dry (Willow Springs is notorious for seepage). We thought we'd first hit the two climbs at the Graduate - Walk to School and Pre Skool (2 pitches) - then hit the "one-off" 5.7 climb on Case Face.
When we arrived, Walk to School was in the sun and half of Pre Skool was in the shade (blocked by an adjacent protruding wall). We should've chosen to do the climb in the sun, but instead we chose Pre Skool, thinking we'd be in the sun "soon enough" on pitch 2. Wrong. Holy shit it was cold, and, that roof on Pre Skool - with frozen hands - damn! We finished pitch 1 and bailed. Read on below to find out about our experience with Pre Skool.
We will return another day to do second climb, and maybe even redo/finish Pre Skool (we will post it on Instagram and Facebook to announce when it's up.)
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DATE OF CLIMB: JANUARY 11, 2019
WALLS HIT TODAY: 1 (Graduate Cliff) NUMBER OF CLIMBS TODAY: 1 (there are two climbs here, we will do the second climb another day, and maybe even re-do Pre Skool) NUMBER OF PITCHES TODAY: 1 VERTICAL 5.7 FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 110' NUMBER OF FALLS TODAY: 0 TAKES TODAY: Yes (Rick on lead over the roof) (Stef seconding over the roof) DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TODAY: 0 |
TOTAL CLIMBS SO FAR: 80
TOTAL PITCHES SO FAR: 101 TOTAL 5.7 VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 7,755' NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 157 (out of 237 - although we may redo Pre-Skool) VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: ~42,542 FALLS SO FAR: 0 TAKES ON LEAD SO FAR:
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ARRIVED AT PARKING LOT: 7:30 a.m.
APPROACH TIME: ~20 min STARTED CLIMBING: 8:10 a.m. BACK AT BOTTOM: 10 a.m. BACK TO CAR: 11 a.m. (sat in the sun to eat a snack and warm up) |
Climb - Pre Skool
Rick below the roof on Pre-Skool. It's difficult to tell from this angle, but the rock is protruding out over Rick's head.
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Conclusion WTF? What the FAIL!
The difference between sun and shade was amazing, and we underestimated just how damn cold it was (below freezing). The rock was painfully cold, sapping any warmth from the hands as soon as you touched it. This certainly affected our ability to climb - especially me (Stef). After belaying Rick, who lead the first pitch, my hands (even though I was wearing gloves) and toes were painfully cold. I began climbing, hoping that would warm me up. Then I encountered the roof (which is not too far from the start). This roof gave 6'-tall Rick significant pause - completely undercut with no feet and no "gimmie" holds. Rick was able to place a piece of gear above the roof, then hung on the gear and worked the moves. The only holds were two "teaser-handles" too far to the side to be useful, and a small undercling above the roof (which I discovered I couldn't reach when it was my turn.) By the time I got to the roof, my hands were colder, not warmer. Then, I spent time struggling, trying to figure out the roof moves. |
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All this time, I was reaching my hands above my head, with blood rushing away from them. Then, I couldn't feel my hands any more. I couldn't grip at all. I couldn't do anything. I asked Rick to take, lowered my hands to warm them by my breath and in my jacket pockets, then BAM! Pain in my hands like I'd never felt before. It was tear- and nausea-inducing pain - it was the screaming barfies. There is a reason this experience is called the screaming barfies.
For several minutes all I could do was moan and cuss and cry, all while experiencing waves of nasuea. I wondered if I could even get past this roof - if Rick would have to lower me back down. He could hear my wails of pain and he talked supportively to me through our walkie talkies.
Determined to get past the roof and get my body moving to warm up, I opted to yard on the gear that Rick had placed. At this point I didn't give a shit about yarding on gear. I could barely hold onto the body of the sling, much less some freezing cold tiny piece of stone. My sole goal was to get moving.
With some utterly graceless, desperate moves, I somehow managed to get myself up over the roof.
I had to use two hands to pull back the cam lever - lacking enough strength and feeling to pull back the lever with the usual thumb and two fingers on a single hand.
Although the rest of the terrain was straight forward, my body moved like a stiff board, clumsily over the rock. Every hold and every step hurt. Then, by the time I reached Rick, pitch 2 of the climb went into the shade. I was shivering violently, even with my layers on - I could not climb. We decided to bail.
We traversed over to climber's left to a pine tree to rappel. The tat on the tree was bad, so we added new webbing and moved some dangerous rocks out of the way. By the time we got down, we thought, perhaps after warming up, we could do the other climb. But now, all of the wall was now in the shade. We were done. All we wanted was sun and warmth.
We decided we will return to Graduate Cliff on another day to complete the other climb, and perhaps re-do Pre Skool. Right now, we hate that roof - haha! But, we both find ourselves wondering how much the cold negatively impacted our ability to do the climb and the experience of the climb. We shall see. To be continued...
For several minutes all I could do was moan and cuss and cry, all while experiencing waves of nasuea. I wondered if I could even get past this roof - if Rick would have to lower me back down. He could hear my wails of pain and he talked supportively to me through our walkie talkies.
Determined to get past the roof and get my body moving to warm up, I opted to yard on the gear that Rick had placed. At this point I didn't give a shit about yarding on gear. I could barely hold onto the body of the sling, much less some freezing cold tiny piece of stone. My sole goal was to get moving.
With some utterly graceless, desperate moves, I somehow managed to get myself up over the roof.
I had to use two hands to pull back the cam lever - lacking enough strength and feeling to pull back the lever with the usual thumb and two fingers on a single hand.
Although the rest of the terrain was straight forward, my body moved like a stiff board, clumsily over the rock. Every hold and every step hurt. Then, by the time I reached Rick, pitch 2 of the climb went into the shade. I was shivering violently, even with my layers on - I could not climb. We decided to bail.
We traversed over to climber's left to a pine tree to rappel. The tat on the tree was bad, so we added new webbing and moved some dangerous rocks out of the way. By the time we got down, we thought, perhaps after warming up, we could do the other climb. But now, all of the wall was now in the shade. We were done. All we wanted was sun and warmth.
We decided we will return to Graduate Cliff on another day to complete the other climb, and perhaps re-do Pre Skool. Right now, we hate that roof - haha! But, we both find ourselves wondering how much the cold negatively impacted our ability to do the climb and the experience of the climb. We shall see. To be continued...