Cragmont Rock Park
Climb Review
After six months, I came back to Cragmont Rock Park, but with a whole new crew.
There were two guides teaching classes, but we were able to grab one of the bolts and one of the guides was super cool about switching anchors (as they were on other routes).
Cragmont Crack (5.6, Northeast Face)—Frankly, it was so easy that I don’t even remember the climb. Still, I’m sure it was a good warm-up, since I had a good climbing day today.
Face (5.8, Northeast Face)—I was just reading back about how this was really challenging six months ago, but it wasn’t so bad at all today. I just trusted my feet to stick, and they obliged.
Senior (5.10b, Northeast Face)—This was a difficult one, and I fell off three times, but it was pretty fun. The holds felt microscopic and I struggled to find good footing to go with the awkward hand holds that I had found. Still, made it up without veering off route by trusting my feet! This is my most difficult outdoor climb to date! Also, I topped out, so that I could stay up and take photos. I think it’s my first top out too!
The Undercling (5.7, Northeast Face)—It was a nice and easy one that I chose so I could go clean the anchor and rap down. It was pretty easy, but I guess once the crack turns to the right, it got slightly more difficult and I had wished I had taken my watch off. Still, a no worries climb.
What I Learned
It feels like I last rappelled a year ago, but I totally remembered how. One of my smoother rappels too!
I protected the left bolt with an additional sling because one of the hangers was a spinner. I totally forgot it when we left to go eat lunch and had to come back after 3 hrs to see if I could find it. The guide who had used the sling was still there, so I was able to get it back! Yay!
Friends
I climbed today in the magnificent company of Jerry, Mike, Jo, Sarah, and Graham. It was awesome to meet and climb with Mike and Graham, who seem to be awesome folk who are kind and full of stoke. It was fun to climb outdoors for the first time with Sarah, who I was impressed by as she sent Senior in a super clean fashion! It was great to climb with Jo who tried her personal best to send 1.5 routes after months of not climbing. Lastly, Jerry was his brilliant self and we had lots of jokes and fun. I really enjoyed this crew and I hope we get to climb again soon!
Oh, and a special shout out to Auden, who is just the sweetest cutie :)
What Happened?
I think I might have scheduled this climb in Berkeley so that I could eat at Steve’s Korean BBQ. I don’t remember exactly why I chose Cragmont, since we climbed at Remillard only about a month ago—which means it was probably the food. I don’t want to spoil too much, but yes, we ate lunch at Steve’s, so this day was a success in multiple ways.
When I arrived, Jerry and Mike were waiting for us (though I don’t think they waited long at all), so we made introductions and made it down to the Northeast Face. No one had claimed the bolts yet, so I hurried up to the anchor with rope/anchor and took the left one. We then put our harnesses on and started climbing. Soon, Jo, Sarah, and Graham all joined in and everyone got to climb at least one route on the left bolt.
After what must have been two hours of climbing, we switched anchors with the guide who had taken the right anchor, so that we could climb The Undercling and Senior. At this point, I probably should have taken off my sling from the left anchor, but I didn’t feel good about leaving an anchor in-place with one spinner. After I had topped out on Senior, the guide actually came up to inspect the anchor and right then is probably when I should have taken my sling back.
Anyways, we climbed what we wanted to climb on the right anchor, then headed off to lunch at Steve’s! It was absolutely delicious and a perfect end to an ideal Sunday morning.
Thanks to Jerry for the above four pictures!