Meetup & Black Corridor

Summary Haiku

It's a ladies day
Fifty mile-per-hour wind gusts
Lowered dogs on rope

View from the Meetup Wall.

From front to back: Althea (dog); Stef; Letti (dog); Michelle; and Joy.

DATE OF CLIMBS: September 28, 2019
WALLS HIT: 2 (Meetup and Black Corridor)
NUMBER OF CLIMBS: 5
NUMBER OF PITCHES: 5
NUMBER OF FALLS: 0
NUMBER OF TAKES: 0
VERTICAL FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 285
TOTAL VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 3,380
NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 201
VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: ~46,782
DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED: 0
DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TO DATE: 3 (still)

START & END TIMES:

This was a fun ladies- and dog-day out, where we talked, ate, hiked, and climbed. I (Stef) didn't bother to keep track of time...approximately 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Routes

Stef leading Member Profile. The expression on my face shows a bit of the reaction once getting past the surprising challenge. Photo Credit: Joy Jones

The four 5.7s at Meetup. Photo Credit: Joy Jones

Stef on Message Board. Photo Credit: Joy Jones

Meetup Wall

Climb: Member Profile (Sport) (5.7)(1 pitch - 55')
Wall: Meetup
Conclusion WTF? What the FEISTY!

The first bolt is very high with a challenging steep slabby start. I decided to use the first bolt for Let's Meetup (the climb immediately to the right) and extended it with an alpine draw, but that didn't protect well with the the distance between bolts and the traverse to the left (combined with the spicy terrain). I supplemented the protection by placing a cam at the bottom of a hollow flake in line with the true first bolt of this climb (a fall before reaching the second bolt would likely result in decking.) It might have been better to just go straight up, place the cam and skip using the bolt for "Let's Meetup" (which actually has the most challenging start of the four climbs.) In addition to the challenging start, there are a couple thoughtful spots further up this climb. It is fun and spicy.

Climb: Let's Meetup (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch - 60')
Wall: Meetup
Conclusion WTF? What the FEISTY!

This climb has the most challenging, bouldery start of all the climbs. My guess is they decided on the grade by ignoring the first 10-15 feet and deferring to "the majority" of the climb, which is a fun 5.7. I won't ignore the starts in our WTF ratings :-) - it's feisty!

Let's Meetup shares and anchor with Member Profile.

Climb: Message Board (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch - 60')
Wall: Meetup
Conclusion WTF? What the FEISTY!

The start is still challenging and muscle-y, but getting easier as you progress right. There is a fun undercling to pull up on.

Like climb number 1 (Member Profile) there is a little more thoughtfulness in spots and a tiny roof/protrusion to navigate. Seems like clipping around this little protrusion would be easier for a taller person.

Climb: No Teaching! (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch - 60')
Wall: Meetup
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!

Probably the easiest start of the 5.7s, but it's still got some personality with some flakes to pull on. The climb is juggy and straightforward and falls in the solid fun zone.

There's also a 5.6 amongst this cluster of 5.7s, then further down the wall to the right are some 8s, 9s, and a couple 10a's.

Michelle on the flake on Member Profile (that's the flake where I ended up placing a supplemental cam). Joy is belaying.

Michelle making the most of an undercling.

Joy navigating one of the blank starts. Michelle is belaying.

Joy getting to the features.

Black Corridor

Climb: 757 2x4 (Sport) (5.7)(1 pitch - 55')
Wall: Black Corridor
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!

This is an interesting route and not necessarily straight forward, although it may appear that way from below. It shifts personalities a couple of times and can feel a little awkward in several spots, almost pushing it into some spicy terrain. The bolt distances are good, which helps keep the spice level reasonable. It's fun!

757 2x4

Stef leading 757 2x4. You can see some of the awkwardness in the body positioning. Photo credit: Michelle

Flying Dogs

The lower boulder blockage in the Black Corridor is not particularly dog-friendly. Although our dog Althea and Michelle's dog Letti are both mountain dogs and pretty darn agile, we felt it would be safer to lower them through this section, which happens to be right next to the climb 757 2x4 - so we just used our anchor for that climb as the anchor for lowering the pups. (We didn't feel like going back up Black Corridor and over to Sweet Pain to exit.)

The photo with me and Althea shows the harness rig I created using Althea's Backpack and some alpine draws around her hind legs and some additional draws as backups. Because Rick and I have rappelled with Althea before, she remained quite calm. This was Letti's first time for such craziness and she freaked out (we gave her lots of loving reassurances). Photo 2 shows Michelle helping to coax and calm Letti over the edge.

It was pretty hilarious to observe the dogs during and after this process. When Althea saw Letti flying through the air she started barking, almost as if saying "you got this!" When Letti landed and was unclipped from the rope, she must've had a ton of adreniline to burn off and went nuts running around in circles and barking. I wish we had captured some video, but the three of us were focused on making sure the dogs were tended to. All flying dogs landed without incident - all four paws safely on the ground!