Get Up, Stand (5.11a) Up!

(Photo: Inspecting the crux corner on The Stand (5.11a). Photo by Gail.)

I have been remiss. I have let a more than a week slide by without reporting to you my big news:

I led a 5.11 in the Gunks.

Let me try that again:

Holy Toledo, I led a 5.11 in the Gunks!

If you know what I've been up to, this news won't come as a huge surprise. This was one of the goals I've been working up to all season.

I chose The Stand (5.11a)-- again, not a shocker. I previewed this climb back in May in preparation for my lead attempt.

I didn't expect it to happen so soon. Right now we are in our annual sleepaway camp season, during which I'm usually not able to take very many climbing days. While the kids are away, my wife and I tend to do things together on the weekends which do not involve climbing. This year, after dropping our son at his camp in New Hampshire, we spent several days hiking in the White Mountains.

But right before we left town with my son, I got a last-minute invitation from Gail to climb in the Gunks on a Thursday. I really couldn't afford to take the vacation day... but when I saw that the weather was going to be just about perfect I couldn't resist the opportunity.

When Gail and I got to the cliff we didn't waste any time. I knew that if I didn't hop on this thing early in the day, I'd likely lose my mojo and decide against trying it. So after we did a quick warm-up climb I got set up for The Stand.

The route has just one crux sequence. It is an unusual move, requiring flexibility, balance and patience. You can see it from the ground. A shallow, left-facing corner hangs on the wall about twenty feet up. The face to the right and above the corner is nearly vertical. It appears to be smooth, like glass. After you climb up to where your hands are atop the corner, you must swing over to the right onto the smooth face and get one of your feet up to where your hands are. (No problem!) Once you've accomplished that, you have to figure out how to shift your weight to your high foot and gently rise up to a standing position on the glassy slab.

I wasn't too worried about protecting the crux. There is good gear there at your hands before you start the sequence. But by the time you make the stand-up move, the gear is at the level of your feet, so it is a bit spooky.

I was a little more concerned about the gear AFTER the crux. I remembered (from my top-rope preview) finding a tiny horizontal seam when I stepped left just after the crux move. I recalled that there was another hard move above this little crack, and I worried that if I couldn't get gear in that seam when I led the pitch, I would start to freak out. Also, I knew there was another hard move at the beginning of the pitch, right off the ground. I had no idea if it was easy to protect this move or not. I would have to climb up there and find out.

When I racked up for The Stand I brought some little C3's with me (in addition to my usual small Aliens) for the tiny seam.

Heading upward, I immediately started playing the old up-and-down game, climbing into, and then out of, the initial bulge just off the ground. As I'd remembered, there is a hard move there (probably 5.10a?), pulling up through the opening bulge, and I didn't want to go splat right off the deck at this first challenge.

After several reconnaissance missions, I was able to slot a good nut over my head in the vertical handhold above the bulge, and with this pro in place I made the move, getting up and over it. From here I found easier climbing and plentiful protection up into the crux corner.

(Photo: Approaching the crux corner on The Stand. Photo by Gail.)

Now it was time for the actual 5.11 climbing. Once I'd attained three good placements (!) at the top of the corner, I got started figuring out the move. Back in May, on top rope, I eventually got over this move but it took me three tries. This time I really wanted to get it without a fall.

I'm pleased to tell you that it all worked out, though not without a tiny bit of drama.

Turns out, you can get fully into the "stand" move on The Stand and still climb back down out of it if you don't think you're going to make it. This makes the climb a pretty good lead, I think. The move is very tricky but if you are patient you can work it out before really committing all the way. I went up and down, getting a little bit higher each time, and then finally it clicked. I could feel it was just right as I shifted my weight over my toe and slowly stood up-- and it was over.

(Photo: After "The Stand" on The Stand. Photo by Gail.)

Except it really wasn't over. After feeling a great rush of joy, which lasted for about five seconds, I started getting really jittery. I still had to make a very thin move to the left and pray that I could find gear there in the little horizontal seam. I had to protect the next sequence, a hard step up the blank face to a wide horizontal. Once I slowly made the thin step over, I actually got a few pieces of pro in the little crack, much to my relief, but then I found it so hard to calm myself down for the move up.

Eventually I did make the move. But then I found the next one to be very hard too! There was another tough move up blank rock between another set of these spaced horizontals. I'm sure these moves weren't as hard as they seemed. Nobody talks about them. But I was feeling a lot of pressure. My 5.11 send was within reach but not in the bag. I did not want to fail. I kept trying different ways to reach the next horizontal and, feeling like I was about to blow it, I would step down and start over again.

Would it ever end?

Finally I remembered to breathe. I shut down the sewing-machine leg, committed to the move and made it up to where I could traverse left to the bolted anchor.

I had done it: I led The Stand without a fall or a hang. It was a clean 5.11 lead. I took more time negotiating the final two moves than I did on the whole rest of the climb, but who cares? It was in the bank; a great success.

(Photo: Gail at the big reach over the initial bulge on The Stand.)

It was worth it. But I was pretty whipped from the mental strain. Later I tried for the redpoint on Simple Suff (5.10a) and I ended up having to hang at the same move where I failed the last time I tried it, almost two years ago. I have to go back and get the send on this one, soon. It is annoying. This climb seems to have my number. I find it very sustained and tiring.

Gail and I also tried some climbs that were new to us.

(Photo: Gail leading Sticky Gate (5.5).)

Our warm-up for the day was the first pitch of Sticky Gate (5.5), at the right end of the Slime Wall. I've enjoyed nearby climbs like Wasp (5.9) and Coprophagia (5.10a), as well as the upper pitch of Sticky Gate off the GT Ledge, which the guidebook calls Sticky G Direct (5.7). But neither Gail nor I found much to like about the first pitch of Sticky Gate. The climbing is unremarkable and there are some scary stacked blocks just to your right as you go through the middle of the pitch. It's also kind of run out down low. I don't think I'll come back to it.

We also did Hooky (5.6), so you don't have to. Ugh, don't bother with this one. There's nothing really interesting about it. It is dirty and wandery, with some crapola rock.

Finally, we did an interesting link-up of Double Crack (5.8) with the second pitch of Uphill All the Way (5.8). This combination of pitches is given no stars in the guidebook but it has a lot of good climbing on it. It is the only practical way to approach the second pitch of Uphill All the Way, since Uphill's first pitch is a 5.12 testpiece which ends at a fixed anchor way off to the left. Getting to the neglected second pitch from Double Crack is much more direct and makes a lot more sense.

When you do this linkup you get to do the hardest and best part of Double Crack: the first thirty feet. Then you traverse left along the obvious horizontal to a large set of flakes. There are some cool moves up these flakes, which lead to a small belay stance at the corner. I decided to continue, doing the whole linkup as one pitch, but this was a mistake. I had horrendous drag at the top. Next time I will split it up and belay at the stance.

After the optional belay the climb follows Uphill All the Way up and left through a bulge in orange rock. This is the 5.8 crux of the second pitch and the moves are very good. The pro is spaced, however, and there are several fragile flakes and plates on the wall here. Be very careful. After the crux bulge the rock improves and an easy roof is followed by a long diagonal traverse back right to the corner again. Finally you do some steep juggy reaches to a ledge with a tree, maybe thirty feet beneath the Double Crack tree.

(Photo: Gail finishing Double Crack/Uphill All the Way (5.8).)

We both enjoyed the link-up despite the questionable rock through the crux. The climbing is very interesting, with some exciting situations. I would do it again. Bring doubles for the rap, or if you use a 70 meter rope (as we did) you will probably just barely touch down. A 60 meter single rope definitely will not make it. Watch the ends if you use a 70, and angle your rap up the hill for the landing.

I'm still kind of in disbelief about The Stand. Having knocked off my first 5.11 lead, I have to decide if I'm ready for a tougher one: Carbs and Caffeine (5.11a). Though Carbs has the same difficulty rating as The Stand, it is a much bigger undertaking. I've never been on it, but I understand it has a hard roof followed by a desperate, hyper-exposed crab-crawl traverse to the finish. There will be no top-rope preview of this one. I've got to just walk up to it and try to do it.

I think I am prepared for it and I there is no question in my mind that I can attack it safely. So when we see some favorable conditions in a month or so it will be high on my list. I'm excited just thinking about it.

Gunks Routes: Teeny Face (5.10a), Simple Stuff (5.10a), Wegetables (5.10a) & Falled on Account of Strain (5.10b)

(Photo: Climbers on Cool Hand Dukes (5.8), as seen from the optional first belay on Obstacle Delusion (5.9).)

Another October weekend. It was a nice one in the Gunks.

I was climbing with Maryana, one-on-one, for the first time in a long while.

There was once a time when I felt like she and I were in the same place, working towards the same goals. But that was a long time ago. Maryana climbs much more often than I do and now she's much better than I am. Most of the 5.10's I'm trying now for the first time are old hat for her. She has done them enough times that she has them wired. She and her boyfriend Beau recently did a day in the Trapps in which they ran up ten 5.10's in a row, sticking to climbs they both felt familiar with and could knock off quickly.

I'd be thrilled if I could make a list of ten 5.10's in the Gunks that I felt so sure about.

Last Saturday she and I had a great day together. We did a bunch of climbs that I have written about before. Some of them were routes I've been meaning to lead and a couple of them were routes from which I've previously backed off.

(Photo: A leader on High Exposure (5.6+), seen from the Obstacle Delusion belay ledge.)

We started off at the Obstacle Delusion/Insuhlation buttress, just to the right of High Exposure, because Maryana wanted to lead a climb there called Teeny Face (5.10a).

I warmed us up by leading both pitches of Obstacle Delusion (5.9) in one pitch. I followed Maryana up this climb once before, in the spring of 2012. I've wanted to come back to lead it. I thought about trying it when I was at this same formation with Parker on Labor Day weekend this year, but on that day I was feeling kind of rusty so I decided to wait until I was in better shape.

(Photo: Maryana following my lead of Obstacle Delusion (5.9).)

I felt good leading it. It is a solid 5.9, with a tough roof problem and then a challenging endurance-fest through several good overhanging moves near the top. I really enjoyed it and was pleased with how I managed the moves and the gear. There is good pro everywhere you need it, so while I'd say this is by no means an easy 5.9, it is a well-protected one. It features steep Gunks-style climbing at its finest.

(Photo: A climber named Sung leading past the roof on Obstacle Delusion (5.9) after Maryana and I moved on to Teeny Face (5.10a).)

After we were both done with Obstacle Delusion we rapped to the optional belay ledge about forty feet off the ground so that Maryana could lead Teeny Face (5.10a) from there.

Teeny Face is written up in Dick Williams' guidebook as a variation to Insuhlation (5.9), but I think you can get at it from either side, by passing the first overhang on either Insuhlation or Obstacle Delusion and then moving up to the orange face that sits between the two climbs. Whichever way you approach it, the climb is quite nice and worthy of consideration on its own apart from the surrounding climbs. It isn't very long but the crux-- which is really two separate crimpy sequences with good gear in between-- is pumpy and challenging despite its brevity.

(Photo: Maryana below the Insuhlation roof, about to head up and left to Teeny Face (5.10a). Unfortunately the tree branches in this photo obscure most of the route.)

Maryana did a great job leading it. She did one thing I'm pretty confident I'll never be able to do. She climbed through the first crux sequence, placed gear, and then down-climbed back through the first crux to get a good rest! Then she climbed back up and fired through the rest of the pitch. She later said she thought this was a dumb idea, but I was pretty impressed that she pulled it off.

I felt strong following Teeny Face, much better than I did following Parker up the same climb on Labor Day weekend. I've now followed this pitch three times. I've climbed it cleanly every time but have never tried to lead it. I think I know it pretty well now and I should go back and lead it just to add it to my list of 5.10 leads. It is well-protected though the pro is spaced. The second set of crux moves comes above gear, but the gear is super good (yellow Camalot) and the fall should be clean, as the face is flat and steep.

Once we were done with Teeny Face we headed down to the far end of the cliff so I could have a go at Simple Stuff (5.10a), a stem-corner climb I tried once before but from which I backed off, never completing-- or even attempting-- any of the hard moves.

(Photo: Maryana following my lead of Simple Stuff (5.10a).)

The first time I tried Simple Stuff, the weather was terrible. It was brutally hot outside and at the first hard section I'd hesitated and lost my nerve.

This time around, in perfect fall temperatures, I hoped things would be different. But I hesitated again at the same spot. I have heard that people have been hurt when their gear has ripped out at this location. Now that I've been there I understand. Although there are vertical cracks for gear, it isn't so easy to get nuts to seat well for this first hard move.

Luckily for me, someone has fixed a nut up above the first tough bit and with a few twists and reaches I was able to clip the fixed piece before making the move. With my own gear plus the fixed nut I felt very safe. I nevertheless had to step up and down several times before I figured out a way to move up, getting rather tired in the process. And then after moving up I still had to confront what Maryana told me was the crux move, past a bulge.

I botched it at the bulge and had to take a hang. I was fatigued and off-balance, and couldn't make good use of a hold on the right wall. After hanging, I set my feet better and found the move to be not that bad. Then I got through the rest of the pitch without a hang or a fall but it wasn't exactly pretty. I'm sure I could have made it easier for myself in a few spots.

(Photo: Maryana working through the third hard bit, above the crux bulge, on Simple Stuff (5.10a).)

I was a little disappointed in my one-hang performance on Simple Stuff but I took some comfort from the fact that this time I eventually got it done and did not back off. I think that the first hard move will remain the crux for me. I'm not quite sure how I eventually got through this move and I may find it just as difficult the next time I try it. I can visualize the rest of the pitch and I think the other difficult sequences, including the part past the bulge, will be easier for me the next time around.

I don't see Simple Stuff as an "easy" 5.10 and I find it rather mystifying that people recommend it as a good early 5.10 lead. The gear is good for most of the way but it is at times tricky to get bomber pro and at other times it is strenuous to place. The climb is sustained, adding to the challenge. I can think of several 5.10's that are easier to lead. Almost every other 5.10 I've tried, actually.

When Maryana followed the pitch it appeared much more straightforward for her than it had been for me. She arranged herself into comfortable stances in places where I got pumped out. I had thought I was getting good with corner climbs, based on my success on climbs like Bird Cage (5.10b) and Slim Pickins (5.9+). But after working on Simple Stuff I can see I still have a ways to go. I think maybe I just need to stem wider. Sometimes I think I'm already stemmed out, but I'm not getting anywhere. Maryana at times commented that she thought I wasn't stemming enough, even though I felt pretty widely spread out. I should just stem more, even if it seems awkward.

After Simple Stuff it was Maryana's turn to lead and she wanted to hop on Falled on Account of Strain (5.10b). But when we got to the base we found a party working on the first pitch. The second was struggling on the 5.6 moves right off the ground so we figured it was going to be a while before we could get on it.

Maryana suggested I could lead Wegetables (5.10a) and then we could come back. It sounded like a great idea to me. I previously tried for the redpoint on this climb in October of 2012 and I should have been successful. I stopped and took a hang one move from the top, mistakenly thinking I had two tiers of overhangs still to go. After resting I easily did the final move and felt like an idiot. I've been kicking myself ever since.

As I walked over to Wegetables one year later, I was pretty confident that I would send it.

(Photo: Maryana in the thick of the multi-tiered overhangs of Wegetables (5.10a).)

It ended up going very well. I protected the bottom moves the same way I did it last time. The pro here is tricky but I believe what I get there would hold. A low blue Alien in a horizontal won't do much to keep you off the ground but it does guard against the zipper effect. Then I get a tiny micro nut at the bottom of the vertical seam that runs up the low face, and a slightly larger (but still small) brass nut a little higher. Maryana has purchased a secret specialty curved nut just for this climb, which she believes provides an even better placement than the small brass nut. But I couldn't make her weirdo nut work when I tried it and I thought the brass nut was fine. I wasn't too concerned about the gear in any case. I knew I had this part of the climb all sorted out. (The thin face moves are thoughtful but not strenuous.) Falling was not on the agenda.

After the thin early going was finished, I just had to motor through the three-tiered roof. And I'm pleased to say it felt relatively easy for me. I stopped to get good gear at every tier and still had plenty of gas left to get over the top. The holds are fantastic, and they are everywhere.

We can put Wegetables at the top of my list of 5.10 climbs I feel super solid on. Now I just need to find nine more for my day of ten 5.10's...

(Photo: Maryana getting into the crux 5.9 face climbing on pitch one of Falled on Account of Strain.)

After we knocked off Wegetables we went back over to Falled on Account of Strain (5.10b) and found it wide open. Maryana wanted to lead both pitches in one. I was happy to follow her because I had been on the route two years ago and I was interested in getting a second look at the thin climbing on pitch one. I remembered thinking pitch one was a bit of a necky lead and I wanted to see if I still felt this way now. I was also very excited to follow pitch two, which goes through a huge, improbable, multi-tiered roof. Two years ago I led up to this roof but then I chickened out and finished on an easier route to the left instead.

Maryana and I tried to scope out the Falled on Account of Strain roof from the ground. She had been on the route before but neither of us were completely certain where the final roof was to be surmounted. In the guidebook Dick Williams mentions a small, hard-to-find corner at the final roof. We thought we could see it from the base of the climb. It turned out to be easier to see from the ground than from right underneath it.

Maryana did well managing pitch one. The crux moves are pretty well protected, but it is run out for the easier climbing that comes before and after. There is one crucial placement at a spot that resembles the low crux on Red Cabbage Right (5.10b). You have to step up to a great horizontal for the hands, where you place a good piece while your feet are smearing on nothing. Place this piece carefully, because the next couple of moves are still hard and there is no other gear.

Maryana made it through this section just fine and soon she sailed past the bolted pitch one anchor and into the crazy multi-tiered roof that makes up the majority of pitch two.

(Photo: Maryana at the final overhang on Falled on Account of Strain (5.10b).)

Despite her prior experience on the route, Maryana got a little confused about exactly where to go up into the roof. There is a trail of chalk to the climber's left and another path further right. It looked to me as though the left-hand path was the way to go but what did I know, standing on the ground? After some scouting around, Maryana eventually picked the left-hand way and it seemed like a good choice. It was only an instant before she moved up and found a piton at the second-to-last tier. She clipped it and backed it up, then prepared to do battle with the final overhang.

As she reached out to the little hard-to-find corner, it seemed she was right on track but struggling. She found another pin above the roof, on the main face, and managed to clip it, but the noises she was making suggested she was barely hanging in there.

I started shouting encouraging words at her.

"Come on Maryana, you've got this!"

Just then two more climbers walked up. I didn't know them. But maybe they knew Maryana? I never found out. They started yelling too.

I don't know whether Maryana even heard us, but suddenly she had a cheering section urging her over this ridiculous roof.

"Come on Maryana, you can do it!"

She threw a heel and rocked over, making it to the belay stance.

She had done it. I was proud of her; it looked hard. She always says roof climbs aren't her style, but this big roof seemed to suit her just fine.

I managed to follow her cleanly, but barely. I felt fine on pitch one and had no worries. I felt pretty good on pitch two as well. The tiers of roofs are of course very steep and the atmosphere is insane but for most of the way they aren't as hard as they appear. It's all jugs until the final overhang.

But this final overhang is the real deal. It is a tough roof problem. I thought I knew exactly where to reach out for the little corner but I missed the spot twice. You have to lean way out just to paw around out there and you get more and more pumped as you search in vain for the magic hold.

On my third try I finally found it.

I was overjoyed but now I was feeling the namesake strain and I still needed to pull the roof. I did not want to fall. I wasn't sure I could get back on if I fell. I didn't want to have to prussik up the rope to get back on the wall.

More importantly, I didn't want to fail. I wanted to send.

There was no time to waste. I heel hooked on nothing and somehow managed to haul myself up.

Wow, what a climb!  Great face climbing on pitch one is followed by a phenomenal roof on pitch two. I want to come back and lead Falled on Account of Strain IMMEDIATELY.

Our day was done. The wind had picked up as Maryana led Falled on Account of Strain and the sky had grown overcast. By the time we got down from the climb it was starting to drizzle. But it was of no importance. We were both pretty happy with our day.

They say 5.10 is the premier grade at the Gunks. As I work my way further into the grade I'm really starting to see why. There are so many high-quality tens and I've just scratched the surface. It seems like every new ten I'm exposed to becomes my new favorite. Recently it was Stannard's Roof, then it was Bird Cage, and now it just might be Falled on Account of Strain.

I can't believe the season is almost over. It feels like it's just getting started.

Gunks Routes: Blistered Toe (Direct 5.9+) & Double Crack (5.8)

(Photo:  Gail getting started on Higher Stannard (5.9-).)

A pattern has started to develop.

I go to the Gunks.

I pick a 5.10 to try.

I struggle.

I back off of that 5.10 and do something else.

At the beginning of July this was what happened when I decided to try Simple Stuff (5.10a) with Gail. It was a super-hot, miserable day. We had planned on just doing a half day and had started early to beat the heat, doing the first pitch of Higher Stannard (5.9-) at 6:30 a.m.

I really enjoyed doing Higher Stannard again. It was one of my favorites last year and it was just as good the second time around. It was a little stiff for a warm-up but I cruised through the thin crux, feeling strong. It seemed like a good omen.

Then we trooped on down the cliff to Simple Stuff.

It is an unusual climb for the Gunks. It is no jug-haul, but rather features a sustained stemming corner. It is one of those climbs people mention as a good early 5.10, I think because there is pro available in the corner almost the whole way to the chains. Others, however, think it is a bad choice for an early 5.10 because it is sustained, and because people have gotten hurt when they have fallen in the initial moves, cracking ankles before getting established in the corner.

(Photo: The overhanging corner ascended by Simple Stuff (5.10a).)

I didn't get very far. Climbing up to the first difficult moves, I was very careful to place pro often. I got through a hard move and found the position very pumpy. I had a solid nut but I wanted to place something higher up before committing to the next bit. Unfortunately I could not get anything I had real confidence in. I tried getting another nut but I couldn't make it stick. Then I tried a small C3, eventually working it into a crack but not feeling really happy about it. By this point I had worn myself out and took a hang. The C3 creaked a bit, which was disconcerting. I did not relish the thought of taking a fall onto it.

It was suddenly so hot outside. I was drenched with sweat. This climb was just beginning and I was already struggling, climbing scared, very tentative. I wasn't at all sure I was ready for this.

I decided this wasn't my time for Simple Stuff. I left the bomber nut as insurance and downclimbed to the ground.

(Photo:  Happy to have finally cleared the bulge on Blistered Toe Direct (5.9+).)

Still hoping to wring some progress from the day, I suggested to Gail that we do the nearby Blistered Toe Direct, a climb which had defeated me last year. I had tried it with Parker, making the first hard move up to the horizontal. But I hadn't found a way to get over the bulge that completes the direct start.

This time I hoped to get it done. And eventually I did. But not without a few false starts.

Depending on your height, the direct start has either one or two hard moves. If you are short like me, it is a challenge just to step up onto the wall and reach a good crimp that will allow you to reach up to the good horizontal. If you are tall, I envy you because you can just reach the crimp or maybe even the horizontal from the ground. Whether you are tall or short, you can protect the first move with a great nut placed over your head from the ground. (Clip it short by just placing a single biner on the nut.) Then you can get a good cam once you reach the horizontal.

The next move is what still gave me trouble. A pebbly ball of rock looks good but is very hard to use effectively. I struggled with it a couple of times before a little advice from Gail on turning my body and getting my feet up got me to the breakthrough.

Finally! I could put this 5.9+ in the bank. Next time I hope it will seem easy.

This direct start is a worthwhile little puzzle, I think, and the payoff is that the rest of the first pitch of Blistered Toe is awesome. It isn't a long pitch but it is steep and fun, with some nice layback moves and reaches up a natural line to a ledge with a bolted anchor off to the left. Considered without the direct start, Blistered Toe is one of the better 5.7 climbs in the Trapps, I'd say. And the direct start makes it even better. It is an under-appreciated small gem.

After we were done with Blistered Toe, Gail suggested Double Crack, a climb I had led once back in 2009. I thought it was great back then and nothing about my experience in 2012 changed my opinion. Back in the day people would do a belay at a small ledge part of the way up the cliff but nowadays most everyone does the climb as one sustained 150 foot pitch. The hardest part comes early, in the first 20 feet, but even though the angle thereafter eases off a touch, it remains steep and consistent the whole way to the finish. Classic Gunks-style climbing, with overhanging reaches between good holds.

I wouldn't recommend Double Crack when it is nearly 100 degrees out, however. It seemed to go on and on. At one point Gail told me that I was glistening in the sun, I was sweating so much. I think I lost several pounds of water weight on this climb.

As we left the cliff I questioned whether we really should have come out at all. Climbing in the miserable heat can get you down. After just half a day I was exhausted and happy to call it quits.