Showing posts with label slabs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slabs. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Connecticut Rock Climbing



Shaka from the top of Wiessner's Slab
Ragged Mountain, Connecticut

Spent the Memorial Day weekend with Nicole and climbing in her neck of the woods. It was amazing an amazing day!







On the first day Nicole and I went to Ragged Mountain. I wanted to lead a slab so Nicole showed me the Wiessner's Slab. I quickly learned their slabs aren't the same as the slabs I'm accustomed to in NH. 













Nicole didn't want me to miss an opportunity for an on-sight - so I lead Wiessner's Slab and it sure was fun. There were a couple of hand and finger jams as well as a couple of foot jams to satisfy my crack fix! LOL!

Right: bringing Nicole up!







Rain the second day so we shopped at REI. It was cool to see Wilson hanging out!















Afterwards we headed over to Prime Climb climbing gym to do some indoor climbing. There are two crack climbs (in the wall) and I got on both. They're both narrower than the crack I get my lessons on, but I was able to climb both several times. Still fun and it satisfied my urge to climb crack!










The last day we climbed at Pinnacle Rock. I followed Nicole up Double Crutch.  

Nicole at the belay up top!!
Trad is Rad!












Vee Zee (5.4)
FA: 1988 Claude Mallegol & Nunzio Marino

Then I saw this crack that I just had to lead. It's located immediately right of the Emerald City Slab. The start was tough and a reachy for me. It was wide in the beginning and my small hands and feet weren't jamming. But there were good foot places at the back of the crack and the crack was wide enough for me to fit up to my calf. However, as I got higher the crack narrowed and I was able to get a few (shallow) hand jams and a 4-finger slot. Near the top and at the end of the crack I was able to get a couple bomber foot jams in as well. It was an amazing weekend!






Bringing up Nicole on Vee Zee.



















Pano from the top of Pinnacle Rock, Connecticut

Monday, November 6, 2017

Joshua Tree National Park 2017, California - Day 7



Rappelling off the top of The Bong


Another amazing day with Seth Pettit of Mojave Guides at Joshua Tree National Park. I spent the day climbing 8 pitches using the crack climbing techniques I learned during my first day with Seth. I was pretty stoked to climb crack so I can practice jamming. Like my first day with Seth, I took every opportunity I could to jam my hands, fingers or feet! Enjoy some photos taken of our day.




Our first stop was the Reggie Dome West Face. We parked in the (Wonderland North) parking lot of the Boy Scout trailhead and followed the climbers trail to Reggie Dome. I'm really impressed with the climber's trail signs throughout the JTree park!




This climber's trail was once a road used to access Keys Ranch many years ago.












Reggie Dome West Face




Right: The Chief
I followed Seth up the The Chief (5.5)
then top roped the fun slab climbs 
Speed Bump (5.6) and Fender Bender (5.8).
We were the only climbers here at
the Reggie Dome West Face.














We headed over to Bear Island for lunch and more climbing.
Like the Reggie Dome, we were the only ones at Bear Island.


I followed Seth on Shardik (5.3)
Just look at that crack! 


Then top roped 3 routes on the northwest side;
Kodiak (5.3) - super fun start with crack near the top
Polar Bears in Bondage (5.7) - fun layback crack at start with reachy mid section
Ursa Major (5.7) - my fave! 

Right: Ursa Major (5.7The crux is right at the start but 
that crack was a super relief! It was sweet to slot my fingers
in the crack for a solid rest right off the cruxy start! #fingercracklove





For my last climb we headed over to The Blob
and I followed Seth up The Bong. But not after
we watched two solo climbers go up it first.

The Bong (5.4) - jam time! Now this is a super fun route
with lots of places to jam. The crux is a small roof but beyond
that the angle lessened and I got to practice "shuffling" my jammed
hands while smearing the sides of the crack with my feet.


Seth and I at the top of The Bong

Pano from the top of The Bong
Another beautiful day for climbing in Joshua Tree NP! 
It was a bit windy (at the tops) but still a great day for practicing newly learned skill sets. 
I never thought I'd learn how to crack climb, or if I would even like it. Learning the 
basics was fun and I'm totally in love with it! I love the technicality and the mental
aspect of this style of climbing. There is a lot of satisfaction of being able to obtain a 
good hold when you have your fingers, hands, toes and/or feet jammed into a crack.
Thanks so much Seth and Mojave Guides for a memorable time learning in JTree!






YouTube Channel - Hawaii Girl Adventures

Check out my YouTube channel at:  Hawaii Girl Adventures I will eventually be phasing out blog posts and be posting videos of my climbing, h...