Rumbling Bald: Drivin' and Cryin'

Well, I managed my first serious injury while climbing.  I was climbing with Amy Nail at Rumbling Bald in the Flakeview Area.  She led Drivin' and Cryin' a balancey 5.10a with six bolts.  I followed and made it to the third bolt when I lost my footing and when down.  There was considerable rope stretch and slack, so I feel about 10-12 feet back down to the second bolt.  As I was falling my left foot caught the wall and became hyper-extended upwards.  I don't remember exact if I heard a noise when that happened, but I tried to put weight on it and climb, and after about 10-15 seconds, I realized there was a serious issue.  I had Amy lower me to the ground, and that's when I realized I couldn't put weight on the foot.

Amy found two sticks for me to balance with, and I hopped out of the crag (about a mile) on my right foot, scrambling part of the way on my butt.  She carried both packs out, shuttle style, one pack at a time.

I'm left with thinking about the fall and how I could have handled it better.  As for falling off the route, it always takes me a little while to get the hang of balancey/slab-like routes.  I wonder if I could have pushed away from the wall some to avoid falling along the wall and instead have fallen through the air.

Tomorrow I will go see an orthopedic doctor to assess the extent of the damage and get a sense of the recovery time.  As for climbing, I will have an extended break from it unfortunately.

Red River Gorge - Muir Wall

Glory and Consequence
Spinner

Red River Gorge - Fortress & Military Wall

Fortress Wall
Calypso III (5.5) trad lead, mock trad
I climbed this route first on top rope while placing protection, mostly cams and a nut.  After cleaning this route, I led it again, this time without a top rope for protection.  The crack that runs along the entire route makes for very easy cam placement, mostly #2 and #3's with a #4 towards the end of the route.  It's an easy climb with easily placed protection and lots of ledges to stand on while placing protection.

Snake (5.8) TR, mock trad
I did a mock trad lead on this route and cleaned the gear when coming back down.  It's a difficult crack climb, but placing protection is easy with the right cams and nuts.  I had the option to do a real trad lead on this route but declined.  I didn't feel I was ready for this type of challenge yet.

Military Wall
Moonbeam (5.9) sport lead
I was the first person in our group to send this route.  We clipped the first bolt, and I led from the lowest point on the route which is likely a V2 start.  By far the scariest lead climb I've done to date.

Red River Gorge - Muir Valley

I took the two day lead class with Fox Mountain Guides.  Karsten was teaching the course.  This was money well spent, as I learned quite a few things that would have been

Muir Valley
Bruise Brother's Wall
Sweet Jane (5.8-) mock trad lead
I climbed this on mock trad lead.  Karsten spent time looking at each piece of protection placed and commenting on the quality of the protection.  This was a useful exercise.  I had to think about the direction of the force applied during a fall amongst other things.  Tapping on the rock with a #2 would reveal how solid the rock was.  If it sounds hollow, then it's looser than solid sounding rock.

Trundling Kentucky (5.8) mock sport lead
Also sent this route placing protection while on top rope.

Critters on the Cliff (5.11a) TR
Epic!  I didn't look at the rating before I got on.  I didn't fall.  I did find it hard.

Return of Manimal (5.10d) TR
Again I didn't look at the rating before I sent this route.  It was also a tough climb.

I would love to go back and do those two routes on sport lead.  That would be fantastic.

Champney Falls

Day 5

Kancamagus Highway (The "Kanc")
Champney Falls

1.5 mile approach on fairly level terrain

Two routes on the main wall (right side of corridor)
Champin at the Bit M8+ (left side of corridor)

Day 6

Frankenstein
The Amphitheatre: Chia 3+
The Trestle Cut Flows


An Ice Climber's Guide to Northern New England
Third Edition
S. Peter Lewis & Rick Wilcox

North Conway Ice Climbing with FMG

I have been ice climbing for four days. It's been nothing short of spectacular. It's amazing how quickly I've been able to improve considering I've never climbed on ice before. There's definitely a lot of lessons learned from regular rock climbing: conservation of energy, balance, reading the route, etc.

It's an amazing sport. I can't get enough. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow most of the gear save for the boots which I rented. Fortunately the borrowed gear is high quality. The harness, belay devices, beaners are all the same as regular rock climbing.

Ice climbing, in a way, is easier than rock climbing. If you need a foot hold, you make one. If you need a handhold, you can make one as well, and it's a jug! That being said, there are still considerable challenges since a monkey bar/pull-up approach will result in burning out on even the shortest routes.

Areas we've visited so far (I haven't kept track of individual routes; these are areas)

* Cathedral Ledge (North End Slab 2)
* Texaco Slab
* Frankenstein
* Trollville

All the climbing has been on top rope. Our instructor for the first three days (Ron Funderburke) led the routes and built anchors at the top with either trees or ice screws. Karsten Delap is the instructor (and owner of FMG) for the last three days. The FMG courses (the first three days is technically ice climbing 101 and the second three days is ice climbing 201) are great. It's very professional, tailored to the individual and there are many lessons in between climbs, to break up the day into climbing, learning technique and tricks, best practices, etc.

There are simply too many things that I've learned in the past few days

Black Rain -- First 5.9 Sport Lead

I just led my hardest route yesterday at Pilot Mountain.  Although apprehensive about the send, especially the first precariously positioned bolt which took me a while to clip into, I was able to control my fear and make it to the anchors, just shy of running out of juice.  It was an interesting experience and one I won't forget.  My belaying partner, Demian, was quite patient with me, soliciting the occasional beta or reminding me to take my time.

One interesting thing about fear is that it overtakes you.  All the lessons learned and technique gained go flying out the window.  Panic modes kicks in, and then you just become a bundle of nerves with sweaty palms and shallow breathing.  Controlling this physiological reaction was harder than the actual route.  In the back of my mind, but not too far back, was the fear of falling (It would have been my first lead fall).  I don't think I was too scared of falling.  I was more scared of failing at something I knew I could do.  I would have been disappointed in myself, and letting oneself down is painful.  In my mind, I had already flashed a few tens and almost completed some 11's, so this route was well within my flash abilities, and the beta did indicate that it was a 5.9, not a 5.9+, not sandbagged route.

I should do this route again but in a calmer state of mind.  I think this would be a good mental exercise.  There are route variations that make it harder too, so that's an option.

Demain and I also climbed Thin to Win (5.10, TR, not flashed) and Chicken Bone (5.7, TR, flashed).  Thin to Win was tough but short.  I didn't want a project, so I had to make a second attempt to finish it after a couple of other climbers gave it a go.  The second time I still needed extra beta to finish it and even took an unexpected fall on TR before sending the crux.  Unexpected falls are unnerving to me.  I don't mind the ones where I know I can send, but a foot slip or losing my grip is a frustrating mistake.  Of course, now that I think back, I don't know why I couldn't send it the first time.  It's actually a fairly straight-forward 5.10.

For the record:

• Thin to Win (5.10, TR, not clean)
• Chicken Bone (5.7, TR, flashed months ago already)
• Black Rain (5.9, sport lead, flashed)