ML10a(o) - "Neck Meat"
As 10a's go, this was fairly tricky. I DID fall, but it was due to a spinning hold, and after going and fetching a wrench to fix it, completed the climb clean. Had a bit of a dihedral roof, but otherwise pretty straightforward.
ML10b(o)
I was very fortunate in that Chuck brought his rope, and he and Gita lead the 10b in the lead cave that the GWPC uses for their toprope test. After they were finished there was essentially a toprope setup on the route, so I got the opportunity to mock-lead the test route (normally there's no rope set up for the test route, so you have to onsight it for your test). I had an additional challenge in that I had to clean their rope on the way up as well as clip my mock rope in, so I got to spend twice as much time with the quickdraws as I would just leading it. I still managed to climb it clean, however, though not without REALLY pumping my forearms by the end of the climb - it was a long climb, and though it had no roof it did have a long, increasing negative incline. Big holds kept it fairly friendly, though.
I would not have passed the test, however, as I stepped behind the rope and spent a bit of time futzing around with different positioning, trying to figure out how to do the move without the fault.
10c/d(f)
Another Jim problem, this one had LOTS of neat features - a little slab, a little dihedral, some delicate traversing. My forearms were so pumped by the end of the climb, though, that I just could not complete a step-up and fell. A little rest and I was able to complete the move (and climb) without trouble.
Climbing clip! Here's Chris Sharma red-pointing "La Rambla," a 5.15a in Spain.
2 comments:
That looks brutal! What does 9a++ mean?
It's the French rating system, which translates to about a 5.15a.
Which, when you think about it, is so rarefied a rating, only...what? a dozen people in the world could climb that? two? At what point do the ratings even mean anything anymore?
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