Ragged Mountain, Sunday Oct. 19

It was a brisk, windy day at Ragged on Sunday. Although it did warm up a little when the sun peeked around the cliff, it still made for a cold day sitting in the shade while you weren't climbing. This was our second trip rigging with our own gear, and it was a little trickier than Chatfield. The trees are smaller, and farther away from the cliff than at Chatfield, and I almost didn't have enough static line for our second rig of the day. I'll definitely be picking up some lengths of webbing to supplement the static line.

Not many pictures this time... the camera ran out of batteries early in the day.Here's Jun on the bottom portion of Juniper Wall, picture taken from on top of Juniper block.

And here's Darlene on the same section of Juniper Wall, from the ground.

Short trip to Chatfield Hollow

Well, we made a very short trip to Chatfield Hollow today, in Killingworth. This was our first time climbing outside with our own top rope gear, and we brought along a friend who had never climbed outside before. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, but it seems that we got to the crag too late. A large (30+ climbers) group of kids was there, and their guide had rigged topropes on just about every halfway decent beginner climb at the crag. We wanted to find a route suitable for the beginners in our party, and we were pretty stuck with Cornered (5.6) at the South end of the cliff. Cornered is a scrabbly little route, not more than 25' high. The crack was wet, although I think it had been days since we had any rain. And to top it all off, we had to leave early to take our cat to the vet. A disappointing day, but nevertheless it was good rigging practice, and a beautiful day to be outside.
Some photos:Darlene highstepping to get her toes into the crack.

Jun with an impressive edge, considering he's wearing sneakers.
I'm taking the stretch out of our new climbing rope while Darlene puts on her harness.

Anchor Clinic, 2 of 2

This time with pictures.

The second day of the anchor clinic was held at Pinnacle Rock. We got an early start, and had the crag mostly to ourselves the whole day. Thunderstorms the night before may have discouraged some potential climbers, but it was a great day to be outside.

We did a few practice anchors at the top of Right Wing Wall, and then set up top ropes on Lost World and Zambezi Hatchet Head. In addition to a refresher of the static rope rigging we learned last weekend, we practiced some webbing rigs, and touched briefly on gear placement and equalization. Don't worry, we didn't spend the whole day just rigging. We had enough time for everyone to hit both routes we rigged for, and it was my first time rappelling.

Here are the shots I snapped at the top. I hope to get some shots from other folks' cameras and put them up this week.

This is a view of the Right Wing Wall from a nearby overlook.




Cordelette practice with Nate and Vladimir.




Nate and Kathryn equalizing the anchor for Zambezi Hatchet Head.

Anchor Clinic, 1 of 2

No pictures this time, but I finished the first day of a two-day top rope anchor rigging clinic today. We started out with some class time in the gym, then went out to Chatfield Hollow for some practical rigging. We didn't do any climbing, but it was a beautiful day, and I think I learned a lot. Next week we're taking a trip to Pinnacle, where we'll get some more practical training and a chance to do some climbing as well. Expect pictures from that.

Cat's Hole - 1 Year Later

The 2nd week of April last year we headed out to Cat's Hole. 53 weeks later we went back. We had some great corner routes to work and John & I had some new gear to break in. It was a glorious sunny day to get some cuts and scrapes and work the rocks for all they were worth!



"Mama said these was my magic shoes!" John saved up his allowance and got what I'm starting to believe is the climbers equivalent of Playschool's My First Climbing Shoe. I feel like every body has an old pair of Coyote's lieing around!

Maura was practicing placing gear for some aid climbing she'll be doing this summer. Had a little trouble on the first crack, but it gave her a lot of good practice. (An explanation for my mom...there's not a person on the other end of that rope! Talk about trusting your gear!)


One challenging thing that we found; even on the climbs that were well within our skill level, the last 10 - 15 feet weren't! You'd work your way up there only to find an ending of slick rock with tiny holds and nowhere to put your feet. Though John's looking comfy at the moment.
What a difference a year makes. That's all I could keep thinking all day. Last year when we headed up to Cat's Hole I couldn't climb due to problems with my shoulder and wrist. Now check out that nice left reach!




I love that high step, baby!



Our resident climbing Goddess; here on the ground with us mere mortals!




We moved on to tougher pastures - and with it came this nice clear shot of John. This crack & corner system totally kicked our butts! Neither of us could finish it out, but that's what happens when you save your biggest challenge for the end of the day.

A geological side note if there's anyone interested - the reddish/orange appearance of the rock actually comes from rust. These rocks are volcanic rock (igneous rock) and therefore have a high iron content. Expose them to the sun & water & air and eventually = rust. :)

Climbing makes us happy. End of story!