Some Golden Showers (5.11a) With 10,000 Restless Virgins (5.10d)

(Photo: Nancy following 10,000 Restless Virgins (5.10d).)

We are well into high season in the Gunks. I need to get my ass in gear.

I haven't set my sights on any big climbing objectives for quite a while.

During my weekend with Adrian in early October, I saw that it was time to ramp things up a bit. We did many 5.10's in a row and to me they all felt good, solid... even casual. After I cruised up J'Accuse, Nevermore, and Welcome to the Gunks (all of them 5.10b), I realized that I was ready to pick some harder objectives.

So when I met up with a new partner, Nancy, last Sunday, I wanted to pick a 5.11 to attempt. I didn't have a particular target in mind but Nancy was thinking of maybe trying the Winter (5.10d), so I suggested I might try one of the nearby elevens at the Slime Wall or maybe even No Man's Land (5.11b), or the top pitch of Enduro Man (5.11c), at some point.

When we arrived it was quite chilly, and we were content to warm up on some easier classics and work our way down to the Seasons area.

(Photo: Nancy leading Son of Easy O (5.8).)

After we had a couple of climbs behind us I decided to go for the redpoint on Cheap Thrills (5.10c). I'd had to take a hang on this climb on my first attempt, mostly because I'd been so nervous clipping the crux pin that I couldn't calm down and get over the roof. When I'd gone back up on the second try it wasn't so bad.

When I tried it again with Nancy, I decided to do the climb as it is described in the guidebook, as a wholly independent pitch, and not to do it by starting on Alley Oop, as I think most people do and as it is described in the Trapps App. 

I began from the ground and found out that I'd skipped some great climbing on my first visit to Cheap Thrills! There are interesting, fun face moves in maybe the 5.9 range as you work up some shallow left-facing corners before the orange face leading to the roofs. There is gear, too, although it is somewhat spaced out and finicky. I recall one micronut placement at one of the corners and a pink Tricam in a shallow, pebbly horizontal that might also take a cam if you work to find the right spot for it.

Once I reached the orange face I felt totally in control, this time, as I moved up to the pin and clipped it. So far, so good. Reaching up to the good holds over the roof, I calmly backed up the piton with a cam and then just had to execute my beta to get over the roof. It went fine, and seemed like it was over in no time.

Cheap Thrills, done in its entirety, is now one of my favorite tens. It is a thoughtful, challenging pitch. I can see going back to it again and again.

Nancy and I walked on down to the Seasons area, but it was a zoo, as I suppose we should have expected on this peak-season Sunday. We kept on walking to Sleepy Hollow, where I hoped to try 10,000 Restless Virgins (5.10d). This is a very popular and highly regarded ten that I somehow have never gotten around to, until now. 

Things were much more peaceful down at the far end of the cliff, though there were some people here and there. I recognized a climber named Alex, who I've seen at the cliffs a few times. I don't really know him at all but he is the sort of climber I aspire to be in the near future. He tackles the 5.12's in the Gunks and works them, getting the moves dialed and leading them when he can, in headpoint style. He has a video of himself on a Lost City climb called Brave New World (5.12a?), in which he is so smooth, he makes the climb look like a 5.6. I tried Brave New World on TR with Andy in July and while we were able to do almost all of the moves, we were both stumped by the boulder problem off of the ground. If I ever figure out this move, I may try to work the route with an eye towards leading it.

(Photo: Andy on Brave New World (5.12).)

The other week, with Adrian, I tried another "introductory" twelve in the Nears called Eraserhead. This one can be easily set up on TR if you lead Roseland (5.9) or Shitface (5.10c) to the bolted anchor. On Eraserhead there was, again, just one move we struggled with, although this time the crux came pretty high on the pitch, just past a piton. If I could get this one move nailed down I could consider leading this one too.

(Photo: That's me at the crux of Eraserhead (5.12a) on TR.)

Alex was down in Sleepy Hollow with a friend working on two twelves, Future Shock Direct (5.12d) and Bone Hard (5.12b). Both routes looked clean, steep, and difficult. I chatted with Alex about Brave New World and Eraserhead. He had some beta for me on the Eraserhead crux that I'm excited to go back and try.

But I digress. There was no one on 10,000 Restless Virgins; it was wide open. Looking at it, I was psyched to do it. It is a beautiful, natural line up a left-facing flake system, capped by a large ceiling. 

It went very well. The opening flakes are juggy (probably 5.8?) and there is gear available at will. The wall is slightly overhanging, so it gets a bit pumpy as you head towards the roof.

When I got to the roof, I thought the main challenge was finding good rock in which to place pro. There are some loose flakes just below the ceiling, so be careful. I got what I thought was a bomber yellow Alien in a downward facing slot next to the big undercling block.

Once I was satisfied with the gear, it was perfectly obvious what to do. I got my feet up and made the reach to the horizontal above the roof. It was easy to get a good piece in this horizontal, and then one more big reach up to a jug essentially finished the crux.

(Photo: Nancy at the roof on 10,000 Restless Virgins (5.10d).)

I think this route is easy for 5.10d-- certainly it was easier for me than Cheap Thrills. Anyway I was really happy to get the on-sight and to feel so good doing it. It was nothing but fun.

With the day slipping away, I figured I needed to try something harder or it wouldn't happen. We walked over to the Slime Wall and I took a hard look at two short climbs that sit right next to each other, April Showers and Golden Showers (both 5.11a). Both climbs seemed to feature some desperate moves on blank, nearly vertical faces. As I examined the routes it seemed to me that I had a better shot at getting off the ground on the one on the right-- Golden Showers. So I decided to try it.

Nancy tried, gently, to talk me out of it. She'd had a strong partner who took repeated falls on micro nuts at the crux of Golden Showers, and who then gave up.

It sounded a bit hairy, but I was undeterred, for some dumb reason. How hard could it be? After all, I'd just waltzed up a climb that was supposedly only a single letter grade easier. The climbs had completely different styles, but still... the guidebook said it was PG and I was sure to figure out something, I reasoned. So I racked up and threw myself at Golden Showers.

The very first move was hard, and height-related. There is a wide horizontal at about chest level and then a blank gap to an obvious little left-facing corner above. Stepping onto the wall, I managed to stand up, just so, to reach the key hold. But I was already shaking, and I floundered with my feet. I nearly popped off but eventually I found a toehold of some kind and stepped up to a horizontal seam where, trembling, I got some gear.

Then it took another tough move to get up to the next horizontal, where I placed two tiny pieces. And another thin step up and left to a semi-rest, where again I could get some placements. I stuffed the thin crack with everything I could here-- two small nuts and a C3-- since I believed I was now facing the crux climbing. I thought the placements were good, but everything was quite small. As I looked up, I could see the next stretch was very blank, with one possible slot for a micronut a few moves above me.

Every sequence on the route so far had been challenging and I was feeling pretty rattled. I found it difficult to commit to stepping above the gear even though, on an intellectual level, I was pretty happy with what I had. The gear seemed so dinky, the possible footholds were so desperate, and I had to step up and balance myself with my fingertips against the edges of a tiny vertical seam. It was frightening, even though I knew that I was not in any real danger at all. 

I tried to move up, but with the gear at my knees I couldn't commit to going further. The move seemed too unlikely. I dropped down on my gear, which held just fine. I repeated this same dance several times, trying to build up some courage. But I never got any further. I didn't want to take a real whipper. I decided to give up. 

I could see that from my stance on Golden Showers I could easily traverse a bit left and take April Showers to the chains. And although April Showers is also 5.11a, the only 5.11 move is right off the ground. Thus when I moved left to join the route I had to do just one 5.10 move up a crack before I found easy climbing to the finish. 

There is some very good climbing on my accidental 5.10++ link up. Call it Golden April? It avoids the hardest bits of both climbs. And the gear is reasonable. Try not to blow it right off the deck!

Having now done half of each of the "Shower" climbs I want to go back and do both of them again. If I can unlock the move off the ground on April Showers then that route should be a snap. And maybe if I can get to my previous high point a bit more calmly on Golden Showers I can get through the next couple of moves and complete that one too. Even though it is "only" 5.11a I will be proud when I can lead Golden Showers. It is a head trip for sure. I found it humbling.

When I got back to the ground, after all that, Nancy suggested that No Man's Land would probably be easier for me than Golden Showers. And I think that's true. Though I've not done the climb, I expect the roofs on No Man's Land would be hard, but not mysterious. Golden Showers is more of a steep slab, a mental strength exercise. It is outside my comfort zone and has more to teach me, I think.

(Photo: Nancy on Art's Route (5.9).)

I hope to get back to the Gunks at least a few more times before our season is over. The big news for me is that Adrian and I are going to spend four days in Red Rocks next month. It's been five years since I was there and I am a completely different climber now. We have some big stuff planned and I can't wait to see what we can get done.