Remillard Park
Thanks to Jerry for taking this awesome pic!
Climb Review:
The climbing routes were easy enough with not too much trash (especially for a park in a city).
The bolts were new-ish and bomber, but they were bolted a bit away from the edge. I didn’t bring a long enough accessory cord, which meant that the rope dragged along the edge.
Bucket Prow (5.6; Pinnacle Rock)—I climbed to the left side of the official route, but still had lots of fun. I think basically, I climbed Bucket Prow, then traversed on to The Pocket Problem for the second half of the climb. It made it harder for myself, but it was definitely more fun.
Finger Crack (5.8; S Formation)—This route was the main reason I had wanted to come to Remillard, and it was as fun as advertised. It was my first finger crack rock climbing route and it was interesting to see the unique challenge of finger cracks—some cracks feel way too wide to feel secure, and most crack spots were way to thin for my fingers. But, in the end, there were enough goldilocks finger cracks to make this climb enjoyable (and a solid 5.8).
What I Learned:
I need to bring my 30’ accessory cord and make sure that the anchor point is over the ledge to save my rope from dragging.
I also think it’d been good for one of the adults to be on the bottom because at Pinnacle Rock, we set the anchor a bit too left of the actual route.
Friends:
Jerry, who is Gene’s college friend, joined us for the first time. I really appreciated how friendly he was, how he was on-time, was an attentive belayer, and a strong climber. I hope he comes to future climbs!
Gene also came and climbed with us. Like usual, he spread his gospel about taping up, took awesome pictures, and was a joy to be around.
What Happened?
I got there with the girls about an hour later than planned due to the lack of accepts on the calendar invite, but it turned out that Jerry was there waiting for us... oops! He was super nice about it though, and we scoped out Remillard together. I showed him the guide book, and we both went up the left side of the rock, to get to the top. Once there, we setup the anchor together, walked down, and started climbing. While we climbed Bucket Prow, Gene showed up to join the party. Jerry sent The Pocket Problem and then the girls gave Bucket Prow a shot. They didn’t get very far as they found the rock to be too sharp for their little hands, but it was still cool to see them try their best.
We then moved the anchor to the rock in the back. Getting up to it was tricky, as I didn’t see the 3rd class access trail. So, I ended up climbing an easy (but high consequence) rock face to get to the anchor. Jerry then threw me the rope and I setup the anchor for the Finger Crack. I walked down the much easier/safer path down.
Jerry, me, and Gene all sent the Finger Crack. We had a great time climbing them, then we headed off to eat delicious udon and to watch Gene show us the magic of eating food with chopsticks on each hand!
Thank you Gene for the above four pictures!
I think before Jerry sent The Pocket Problem, there was an incident at the park that we all witnessed. What we saw was the following. There were two dogs and dog owners. There was a small white dog that was on a leash that was being held by an older woman. There was a larger dog that was off the leash and was accompanied by a middle age woman. The older woman was walking her dog on the grass when the large dog ran towards and started attacking the small dog. The older woman tried her best to get the large dog off of her dog, but to no avail. The middle age woman came over and also tried to get her dog off of the little one, and it must have taken her a good 15 seconds to get a leash on her dog. The small dog didn’t look to have any blood on it, but it may have been injured in other ways; I’m not sure. The older woman was upset and swore at the middle age woman who offered a weak apology. When the older woman swore at her a second time, the middle age woman started arguing back, which caused the older woman to throw a paper cup or some lightweight object at the middle age woman, who then started swearing back. They went back and forth for a few minutes until the older woman found her leash (I think she let go when her dog was attacked) and walked back to her home. The middle age woman then sat next to the bench, acted the victim, and cried. She soon left when we didn’t engage with her.
I don’t mind dog owners who take the responsibility of having dogs seriously, but I really think dog ownership should be regulated and come with a license. And if you have your dog off leash, you should have that license revoked.