Alabama Hills—Paul’s Backyard
Climb Review
As a part of the lead climbing class organized by Coalition Crag, I ended up climbing four routes. These routes were awesome in the morning, as they had great shade. By the afternoon though, they were totally exposed to the sun and energy draining.
The rock was granite, which meant they were mostly bomber, but super sharp, leaving a tingling sensation of the finger tips. I state that the rock were “mostly” bomber because there were many flakes which were hollow. Still, nothing broke off while we were climbing all over the rock.
Annie Get Your Gun (5.7; Paul’s Backyard)—This climb starts off easy, but about 10 ft off the ground, there is a move where the hands aren’t great and one of the feet aren’t great either. Past that, it’s bomber all the way through.
Guns and Roses (5.8; Paul’s Backyard)—I thought this was easiest routes of the day, with it being easier than Annie Get Your Gun, which is rated a 5.7. The holds were all positive and the feet were great. Just a straight up climb.
Top Gun (5.10a/b; Paul’s Backyard)—This route was pretty fun with a crack that I did a layback on, followed by crimps and really shallow footholds. It was the most difficult one of the day, but I didn’t have to max out to top out. Really glad I jumped on it though.
North Face (5.8; Paul’s Backyard)—This route was the first route I did and I found it more difficult than it was as I got used to the granite. Still, once I got the feel for the rock, the holds came easy and I made it up slowly but surely.
What I Learned
I really like how solid granite feels and how because of the sharp rock, crimps are super positive compared to something like sandstone. Still, the cost is that at the end of the day, I ended up with tingly fingertips.
I got to practice lead belaying more and I felt very confident doing that. I knew my stuff and I feel very confident about lead belaying someone in the future.
I also got to practice lead climbing (with mock lead climbing), and I feel really confident about that too. I did not have any issues clipping in and felt solid while climbing.
I sun-burnt my lips so bad on this day. Totally forgot lip balm and probably didn’t drink enough water. Gotta do better for myself in the future.
Friends
I climbed with Marina, Jerry, Sarah, Shari, Mike, Kimberly, Sydney, Mariah, and Louie.
I really enjoyed climbing with everyone here as we were very positive, respectful, and tried out personal bests. I hope I get to climb more with all of them in the future.
Our instructors were Ting and Hannah.
I thought our instructors were fantastic. They went at a great speed, which was not too fast, but not too slow, and they were able to adapt to the student’s knowledge levels, which was perfect. It was also great to compare their preferences to the other instructors I had—everyone agreed on the big concepts, but there were preferential differences in the edges.
What Happened?
As a part of the lead climbing class, we climbed in Alabama Hills—specifically, Paul’s backyard. We learned clipping, setting anchors, rappelling, lead climbing, and lead belaying. I really enjoyed the location in the morning as there was plenty of shade. By the afternoon though, there was no shade to be found on the north facing wall (as it was summer). Still, it’s a beautiful location and the routes were just about perfect for our climbing levels.
With this training behind me, I hope I can get one of my friends to lead belay me at Shark Fin tomorrow!