Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles

Today there were no turned ankles, additional tail bone injuries, etc.  Just limping along with what I’ve already done! 

Matt popped out here at 9.  He’s a friend of Andy & Brooke, and tried climbing with us the other week for the first time on Thor’s Wall.  Ah, nothing like taking a newbie and putting them on a tough route.  He did well with it, moved a fair distance up the wall, and had his first climb.  Today we did something a little different….no hard stuff up front.  But we did work up to it.

We headed over to Time Zone once more.  It’s a great wall, pretty tall, and let’s you work into the climbs.  Plus you can set up top ropes from two different fixed anchor points on top.  So we headed up to the top of the wall first to set up.  Matt’s dog buddy was along for the morning, and he did great.  Lab / Shepard mix.  Buddy’s face reminded me a lot of Dana, so he was an instant pal.

After setting up we made our way down the walk off to the bottom of the climbs.  First climb for Matt was a 5.5.  The climb (if you’ve got the Prescott Bouldering guide book handy) is #7 on Time Zone, labeled “Can’t Wait, Gotta Go.”  Matt did well with it, finished quickly, and then it was my turn.

I spent a while talking about the belay before he went up, and then again when he set up to belay me.  No real worries, these climbs are easy and it’s pretty hard to fall on Time Zone.  You can always stop yourself.  A little more than 10 feet up I shouted falling (I’d watched his belay as I went up), and I dropped backwards.  My fall was slowed, but I looked down and saw him struggling.  2 things happened.

• First, the initial jerking movement pulled him forward and shocked him a little.  So he took a few steps forward.
• Second, the shock of the movement made him take his right hand off the belay, and he was holding both sides of the rope with his left.  Not a safe position had I really fallen hard.  He would have had rope burn or bloody hands, and I would have made a crater.

I could see the surprise on his face, and I wasn’t worried.  Where I was I could stop myself.  That’s why I did it there.  He got his right hand back on belay.  And my other test falls were properly arrested.  His belay improved immensely.  Ah, I wonder if my instructor and friend Eric ever saw that type of surprise on my face.  Probably given he spent 15 minutes screaming at me one day for looking away!  :)  Just how you learn.

I’ve found that everyone who starts belaying does it wrong the first few times (me included).  Once you get used to it belaying is second nature.  But the first few times you can get hurt, and the climber on belay can get hurt.  That’s why you practice in easier areas, let the belayer know, fall, get caught, and practice some more.

After playing around with belaying, falling, and some initial climbs we moved on to other climbs.  Each one was a change and Matt could tell the differences pretty quickly.  Nice to feel like you’re working up to something.

Our other climbs for the morning included:

• Minute Man, 5.5
• Quartz Movement, 5.7
• Hour of Power, 5.8
• And finally, my favorite, Nick of Time, 5.8/.9

In addition to helping Matt get his first series of climbs in, I also had a good day.  My confidence is totally back on the rock, free climbing areas doesn’t freak me, swapping from bolt set to bolt set is easy now, and I know that I can catch myself if I have to.  I think more leading is in my future.  Now I just gotta get some more arm strength going (left arm specifically).  Looking forward to another foray into the Promised Land, and redoing our last climb there.

For my last climb Matt belayed me, I cleared off gear, and then went up and over the top.  Cleared off the webbing, and then walked off the climb.  Once I got down we wrapped up the rope, and got under way.  I was hobbling due to the left foot (yesterday’s blunder), and Matt was going slow after hurting his knee cycling the other day.  Tons of self abuse going around.

Buddy the dog was not hobbling, stayed off the rock and away from bikes, and is clearly smarter than us humans.  He curled up in a shady spot, watched us climb, greeted us after each climb, and returned to his rest.  Yeah, dogs are smart.

So, another good day.  No photos.  No third person for the camera.  When you belay you can’t shoot.  And when you’re climbing you have other things on your mind.

Well, off to sort photos from the other day.  The wind is blasting today, the Airstream is shaking, and I’m feeling restful.  Just might nap for a few and be rocked to sleep by the swaying of the Airstream.

Oh yeah, and the foot and backside still hurt….so glad I spared myself anything new!

This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Arizona, Climbing AZ, Notes from Gadget.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.