SUMMARY HAIKU
Three five-seven climbs
"5.7 Freak Out" yes freak out
Warmth in winter sun!
Three five-seven climbs
"5.7 Freak Out" yes freak out
Warmth in winter sun!
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DATE OF CLIMB: JANUARY 12, 2019
WALLS HIT TODAY: 1 (Straight Shooter) NUMBER OF CLIMBS TODAY: 3 (well, we also climbed some of the other awesome harder climbs here, but for the tour there are three 5.7s) NUMBER OF PITCHES TODAY: 3 VERTICAL 5.7 FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 150' NUMBER OF FALLS TODAY: 0 TAKES TODAY: Yes (Stef on lead on the climb called "5.7 Freak Out") DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TODAY: 0 |
TOTAL CLIMBS SO FAR: 83
TOTAL PITCHES SO FAR: 104 TOTAL 5.7 VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 7,905' NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 154 (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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APPROACH TIME: ~40 min
We didn't pay much attention to time today. We were climbing with our friend Joy and hopped on other climbs on the wall. |
Climbs presented below occur from left to right on the wall.
Climb: Freak Out
"5.7 Freak Out" photo 1: Stef doing a big, reachy traverse, avoiding the loose block in the crack.
Climb: 5.7 Freak Out (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch 60')
Wall: Straight Shooter Conclusion WTF? What the FREAK OUT!
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"5.7 Freak Out" dihedral challenge - this crux gives the climb it's "What the FREAK OUT" rating.
Video below is of Stef topping out on 5.7 Freak Out - Volume Up (warning foul language!)
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- The climb starts up the crack to the left of the corner near the Lazy Fireman (there are bolts on the Lazy Fireman). This was pretty straightforward climbing until you reach an ~10 inch long block inside the crack that moves if you apply any pressure to it - even when trying to jam a fist in the crack. If you stay in the crack, that loose block becomes a pretty important hold for the hand and the foot. I didn't want to mess with that loose rock at all, so I did a funky reach over to the crack further right to avoid it (see the photo labeled: "Freak Out" photo 1.)
- The crux of the climb is the featureless and challenging dihedral near the top (see the photo labeled: "Freak Out" dihedral challenge). It definitely turned on my adrenaline on lead and I needed to take on gear to work through the moves. I actually wish I could redo it and try it on top rope, then maybe redo the lead clean.
- The traverse to get to the bolted anchors (which are shared with Straight Shooter and Sidewinder) was pretty darn heady too. Because of the shared anchors, you may not want to do this climb on a busy day.
Climb: Crispy Critters
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Climb: Crispy Critters (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch 45')
Wall: Straight Shooter
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!
Wall: Straight Shooter
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!
- Crispy Critters was fun and easily protectable, even if the rock was a little "crispy."
- We added some fresh webbing to the boulder at the top since the other webbing was looking aged and "crispy" too. Because the boulder is set pretty far back, it's probably easiest to belay your second up to this boulder then rappel down.
Climb: Captain Crunch
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Climb: Captain Crunch (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch 45')
Wall: Straight Shooter
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!
Wall: Straight Shooter
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!
- This climb is the next crack to the right of Crispy Critters. Even thought it is not physically far from Crispy Critters, it's a different climb. I loved this climb. It was fun and had enough interesting moves to keep my attention.
- This is a wide crack that takes up to a number 5". I had a number 6 and used it near the top, but it was almost too big, and it was placed right as the terrain got quite easy. I placed it because, well, I carried the 6 all that way ;-), plus I had bumped my #4 for a good 20-25 feet (after placing my first #4 lower down) and I could bump no more. Knowing I only had one piece in for most of the climb, if something funky happened (e.g. if rock broke off) and that piece didn't hold, I'd deck. So I placed the #6 to be safe.
- This climb uses the same belay/rap boulder as Crispy Critters. This climb is more offset from the belay boulder and is definitely best to belay from the top and then rappel.