Up, Up & Away!

   Back to Ibex with Britten, Rich, and the rest of the gang for a couple hours—very handy for working up an appetite for dinner at Thailand Restaurant!

   All the routes have changed since last time... but wait! There's more: weird giant red shapes! After my first couple of visits I figured out that it's best to begin with the hardest route you intent to tackle, while your fingers are fresh and ready to hang onto some tiny holds. I started with a 5.9 that certainly had some good problems, but I still made it to the top rather quickly. (YAY!)

My first run at the wall was a nice 5.9. Building up my skill level.

Half the gym was closed for tomorrow's competition, so it was more crowded than ever!

PJ coulda hadda V8!    So I moved onto a 5.10d, which was tough from the start. I got past the halfway point before my fingers absolutely could not hold on any more. Although I really wanted to conquer it, I had to admit defeat & be lowered back to the mat to rest. I belayed for others and chatted with friends until I felt I could try again. This time I went for a much easier 5.7, but the challenge was that it started out with a steep angle back, requiring a lot of upper-body strength. Again I climbed 2/3 of it, and then the agony of my poor fingers thwarted me. That's what's interesting about climbing: despite being mentally sharp and tenacious, there is a point where it just isn't possible to hang on anymore. No matter how hard I fight, all my hand strength is gone. It's quite humbling, actually—especially when you consider all the professional free-climbers out there, and the superhuman feats they accomplish! Respect for them. But I think I'll keep my day job... and my body in one small piece vs. many even tinier pieces.

Working out my route with fingers burning on a 5.10d; they gave out  before I arrived at the top, so I'll have to try again next time!

Lowered to safety... 'til next time!