I spent this splendid Friday climbing ... yar so what's else is new? And unofficially I suppose my blog has become my rockclimbing journal. Today Mere and I headed to Great Falls on the VA side, tied up Seclusion: Great Beginnings and Snowflake, and something in between. Did I mention I HATE laybacks??? I hate feeling like my shoulders are being pulled out of my sockets! My favorite climbs are face climbs, with the little nubs for handholds and footholds. True, it's more of a balancing act and there's rarely a handhold that lets you wrap your finger around it ... grip tight and use the power of your legs and balance! I've found my male counterparts hate face climbs just as much as I hate cracks.
Great Beginnings is a climb I remember from last summer, but I remember taking the easy way up (literally a steep hike through the mid section) and then copping out at the top when I got to the flat face with cracks (yes it was a layback). Today we went up the way we were supposed to. Involved lots of interesting underhand laybacks and after my second attempt, when I finally gave up on that luscious looking hold for my left foot did I budge up through the face I had given up on last summer. Next we made up something between Great Beginnings and Snowflake ... started with a face climb, got stuck on a roof, swung over, cheated, using a crack traversed and continued climbing. Snowflake was the crack ... my shoulders weren't up for it after 3 layback-heavy climbs, maybe next time. It was fun to swing around though ... like the monkey I am. (I'll have pix too whenever I send my film in).
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