party time April 29, 2011

Might have spoken too soon about climbing = over. We got a very quick low-80s snap, and Merrick and I grabbed one, maybe 2, last moments on our late-spring project at Reimers, Bloc Party. Today I felt amazing on it. it’s a weird, chossy at the bottom, glorious traverse of jugs, tweaker headwall situation. But the last 3 days we got out to it, Merrick and I have both been pumping out at a low crux, not making it to the end of the traverse. The classic screw up is to get to the headwall and fall a move or two into it for the pump.

Today, I finally got to there! Twice! It was so simple! Whorray for traditional flailure!

Here’s Zoolander John Garcia doing Bloc Party years ago, falling just about where I did. He rests and is precise and blah blah blah. I don’t look like this on it, but whatever. I FELL AT THE REAL CRUX!

We’re going back tomorrow morning to catch the end of this bliss, and THEN climbing in Austin in pretty much done for me I promise.

127 seconds February 27, 2011

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Last week coco hung draws on a random Reimers 12a for me. I know it’s so noob nerdy but I still feel like a total baller when I do a new 12. I have this fear that on any given day I’m gonna lose my ability to rock climb so there’s really never any time to waste, and I didn’t want to futz with draws. Hang the long ones, coco! And yay! I did it first go, then coco followed it up to clean (servicy!). So I’m lowering him, and we’re yammering on about nothing, and a huge hunk of my hair gets caught in the ATC. Everytime I moved it gets pulled in further, following the rope through the metal, then curling around  and up the other side oh my god oh my god oh my god coco my hair is stuck in the ATC shit it just went in further oh no.

He was still pretty high up,  dangling in empty space, no easy trees to reach or anything. I felt him swing the rope a bit but nothing. There was no one at Reimers. We’d seen a hiker down by the river earlier, but the place was dead (on a cloudy 67 degree afternoon because people in Austin have no idea). I looked at our stuff, out of immediate reach but, eh, maybe.

“Do you have a knife?” I asked.

“Uhh, I do, but it’s in my bag, way over by the other wall.”

We stood/hung there saying “Ummm” and kinda laughing. The day had started with Vinny’s dog….well nevermind that’s another epic. Ummm. I grabbed my hair and tugged it just to see how it might feel to, ya know, lose it by force. It was a lot of hair. I broke a few strands. It was a lot of hair.

I looked at the dogs, and pondered how they might help. Nothing came to me. The ATC was getting closer to my scalp.

I pinched the lock off at my head, then coco grabbed the rope and did a weird rope pull up, and I got it out. I lost some length, but no blood. So Aaron Ralston right now. OMG, he has my same initials!! It was MEANT TO BE.