Climb Arizona

Another trip to the Promised Land.  It’s getting to be a regular stop for most of the folks I’ve been climbing with.  This weekend’s trip included Andy, Geordie, & Matt.

Climbs were split between the Valerie’s Book wall and the Solomon Wall.  Good climbs on both walls.

Here’s a set of Andy’s Photos.

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While climbing we ran into another set of climbers up from Phoenix.  They spent time bouncing between climbs, and ended up doing a 5.12 that one considered a classic.  I was lucky enough to photo “Sam’s” climb.  Amazing work on a difficult climb.

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Over the weekend we headed out to do some more climbing at the Promised Land, in the Chino Valley area. The canyon is great, provided you have a higher clearance vehicle to get to it in the first place.

From our climbs I’ve assembled the start of a photo gallery of shots from the Promised Land. Going forward I’ll be loading more photos to the gallery. To get directly to the gallery, click here.

Fortunately, the gallery is small enough to where I’m happy to put it up as a page post today.

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More information on the Promised Land will be coming here shortly.

©Rich Charpentier

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 morning I headed out to meet Andy & Brooke. We were finally going to try a climb or two out at the Promised Land. And we did just that.

I was in Chino a little before 10:00. They’d just returned from taking the dogs to the park. Currently they’re watching 3 pups for Andy’s mom. So the dog total at their house today was 5! Lots of wagging and greeting when I arrived.

After the dogs were squared away we headed out. The drive in takes forever because of the crazy roads, but it was worth it!!! First we hit a 5.7 for a lead. I went up first, and played around a bit as I went up. Looking for places to practice placing gear again. The route was bolted, but it was nice enough that you could really rest, hang out, and look at cracks to see about gear placement.

In addition to a fun climb, we could also photo from different angles on this one. There was a way up the side of the climb that was safe enough to climb without protection or a belay. So Brooke went up and shot, and I went up and shot. Very nice indeed!

Since we’re new to the Promised Land we also broke out the helmets today for leading. Hey, better to be safe. Plus if gear drops, or rocks drop (which did happen as I came down from shooting) you’ve got a little more protection. Once everything was set up and known to be good, no more helmets. As you can see with the photos of Brooke, no helmet hair for her.

While we were climbing another group moved in (3 other people). They set up on a 5.9 near us (the photo above is of the group near us). Right behind them came another group of 3, and they chose to work on what looked to be 5.12 upside down deal.

One of the problems in the Promised Land is the lack of documentation. The wall we were on, and the one to our left is documented. That comprises about 15 climbs out of 46 we recently documented. Hard to know exactly what you’re working on.

After we finished out 7 we checked across the canyon to a crack problem. Andy and I weren’t thrilled about leading this one yet, so we moved further into the canyon. And we found what we were looking for. One of the last walls we found the other week has some interesting stuff. We picked a climb, and Andy led it. We’re figuring it’s a 5.8 or 5.9. There are a few areas where it’s clearly a 9.

Andy did a great job on lead, and made it about 80% of the way up the climb. I then followed the same climb, and had two points where I popped off. The rock is super smooth!!!

Oh, I’m the one in the orange harness.

Brooke followed up as well, and set her own route for part of the climb. She cut right where we cut left, and went left where we went right. Overall we all had a really good day.

In the end we all finally realized what time it was. Set out at 10 a.m, and after 3 we were all very hungry. You know, everyone needs their soy & rice! Ah, joking of course.

I think Promised Land will now become a weekend regular for us. There’s a ton to experiment with, a different style of rock, interesting canyon (complete with dive bombing owls)….the works.

That’s all for tonight. I’m exhausted.

Fall has come to Northern Arizona!  And the weather is perfect for climbing all day now.  So, why aren’t you here yet?

Since the start of September temperatures have been dropping.  Mid-70’s to low 80’s for the highs.  Lows in the 40’s every evening.  Great camping weather, great hiking weather, and great climbing weather.

Given Climb AZ hosted at Hikenbike.net is still relatively new, we’ve only got a few areas listed.  But they’re fantastic areas.  Prescott & Chino offer a large variety of climbs.  Check the pages on this site for more details on each area.

We’ll look forward to seeing you on the rocks!

Ah, yet another climbing post. Shouldn’t this go on the new Climb AZ site? Sure, it will, but it’s also part of the Airstream Chronicles (especially this one). So it goes here too. Hey, content can cross more than one site folks!

Brooke & Andy popped over this afternoon for a little climbing. No beatings on Thor’s Wall today. This time we picked a different challenge back on Time Zone. Yes, I know, Time Zone has easier climbs, so what gives? Simple, we were practicing leading sport routes today.

Before I get into all that, we’ll rewind. I’ve had several notes from folks curious about climbing, what you bring, etc. So, this morning while cleaning my gear and checking it I took a super sloppy photo to show you what goes into the bag. Here’s the photo…..

So, what are you seeing here? Well, the braided items are slings that are used as anchors. 4 of them, 30 feet in length, but doubled up, so only 15 feet each in reality. All of the clips with straps and clips at the other ends are called “quick draws”. You use them to clip into bolts for protection when lead climbing. In total, 16 quick draws with two clips (beaners) each. Pretty darned heavy. Then there’s my climbing shoes, harness, chalk bag. The two sacks behind that stuff has 60 feet of static rope (for creating anchors as well), many locking beaners, extra belay devices, etc. In total, about 40lbs of gear in my pack. Oh, so what’s the pack look like?

My pack is a nice little Osprey day pack. Not huge, but not tiny. It’s a comfy pack, and best of all there’s an air cooled mesh screen on the backside that you can slip your water pack into. Very nice! But lately the pack seems very heavy.

So, there’s the answer folks. Gear and pack.

Now, on to today.

As I said earlier, Andy & Brooke popped over and we headed out to Time Zone again. That wall has several sport climbs, and we were going to re-do them, only this time leading them. Normally we top rope there, and leading changes the dynamic a lot. Top roping means you create an anchor on top of the climb, run your rope through the anchor, and climb. It means that if you fall, you only fall a short distance.

Leading you climb up to a bolt (place in the rock), put a clip in, and then put the rope through. If you fall before the bolt, you fall! Once you’re clipped to the first bolt you climb to the next, and clip in again. If the bolts are 10 feet apart, and you fall right before your next, you will fall 20 feet, plus some slack. Long ride down.

So, the dynamic of the climbing on a favorite wall changed for me today.

As we got ready to climb Andy decided to break open a snack.  You can see clearly above Andy used his “extra special” mind powers to open the wrapper and start in on his treat.  If you didn’t know, Andy’s a “special” guy.  Now you know a little more! 

Andy did the first lead on the same 5.5 he led the other week.  No surprises, no twists, no turns.  Then I headed up and cleared off the gear so he could do another.  He led a second route, this time a 5.6, and no surprises there either.   I went up after, and cleared the quick draws off once more.  Then it was my turn to lead the 5.5.

While I got ready, Brooke shot the photo above.  Andy loving on his “guns” as it were.  Hmm, I’m glad I don’t see everything all the time…..

I headed up with no troubles (although I was wondering it Andy was posing some more).  But I’ll tell you, I was nervous.  I haven’t led in forever.  And doing this style of climb is working without a net.  Top roping you know, falling isn’t a big deal.  So I kept telling myself to be sure I’m happy with every spot I placed a foot, thrilled with every handhold.  A little extra adrenaline to say the least.

After my first bolt and quickdraw I continued up.  2 more bolts, then the pair at the top of the climb.  Everything went fine, but it’s been a long time since I’d done this, and much had changed.  While confidence is being restored, this type of thing really calls it into question.  And it did that for me a lot today.

Moments like the shot above are the ones where you’re trying to work quick.  The last point of protection is a ways below you.  You’ve gotten a quickdraw into a bolt, the rope isn’t in there yet.  You’re not safe yet.  Unnerving.  Yup, that’s about it.

After I popped down from my first lead in forever Andy did another.  Then I did another.  Then Andy did one more.  Back and forth.  For both of us, today held the most climbs in one day.  We did many back and forth.  Finally Andy led the 5.8 (near Nick of Time).  He did well with it, so hoorah Andy!  I then went up afterward, clearing off gear so that we could wrap up and head in.

At the top I had an interesting experience.  I’d already hit the top several times, and removed the last quickdraws from bolts at the top of the climbs.  You get to the top where a pair of bolts lie.  You clip a small sling to your belt, then to the bolts.  You then take the quickdraws out, take yourself off the rope (hanging by your sling now), and feed the rope through the bolts in order to rappel down to the ground.  No problems, right?  Wrong.

On the last climb I cleaned up.  I got to the top, beaners on both sides of my harness, and I hooked in with my sling to the bolts at the top of the climb.  I untied the rope and felt uncomfortable, and ill at ease.  But I’d done the same thing 15 minutes earlier.  Hmmph!

If you drop the rope before you feed it through the bolts you’re screwed.  No rope, no way down.  I put the rope in my teeth while I rearranged.  Then I started feeding it through.  My sling was secure, but I just wasn’t happy.  The rope wasn’t going through the bolts fast enough, and for the first time in a long time I wanted DOWN!  I talked to myself about it while I was working and reminded myself this was an easy thing quite a while ago.  And I’d just done it.  No biggie.  But still, the adrenaline hit there, and it hit hard.

I finally got everything fed through.  Next big challenge, set up my own belay, make sure it’s good (while remaining calm), unclip my sling and head down.  It all got finished just right, but man, for 2 minutes I was well over the edge of my comfort zone.  Haven’t been there in a long time, nice to say.  All the same, I did it.  I’ve led again, I’ve unhooked on a wall again, I rapped off a climb again.  Progress, albeit uncomfortable progress.

So there it is for today.  I’ve been happy to regain so much that was toasted the past few years.  And some of it comes at the cost of extreme discomfort (believe me, there’s been a ton of that).  Today held another one of those moments.  And doing this stuff, it’s serious.  If you mess up it’s a long way down.

Well, I’m spent.  Glad to get out with my friends again.  Glad they pushed me to do more again.  Necessary, even if it didn’t all feel proper. 

That’s right. What would Labor Day weekend be without some recreational labor? It seems this is the weekend everybody gets their big recreation in before Fall and Winter settle in. Somehow I think it will be a little different here in Arizona, as the weather is a little more constant.  That just means a longer outdoor season for me! 

Andy’s brother Todd came up for the weekend, and came out with us for another morning of climbing.  We headed into the Dells a little after 8, and it was already hot.  Really hot!  Brooke broke out her umbrella fast!

After we got unpacked Andy led the 5.5 sport route at the end of the wall.  Why go up top to hang a top rope when you can just head up and use the paired bolts?  No reason other than wanting to stand around in the sun up top for a while!

We did several climbs on Time Zone once again as a warm up.  Todd hadn’t been out climbing since his last trip up here in May.

After we finished up at Time Zone it was time to move on to Thor’s once again.  It’s an interesting challenge.  Andy, Brooke, & Todd did very well on it today.  We won’t comment on my performance. 

After some time at Thor’s we finally wrapped up.  I’m a little sore to say the least (an incident with my harness).  But it was another good day in the Dells.  We’ll probably go out again tomorrow afternoon too…..

Andy & Brooke popped out this evening for another fun climb. This was a later expedition, as Andy needed to get one of those $300 haircuts today. If you hadn’t noticed in recent posts, his hair had gone wild (I worried he was on his way to hippie fast).

We decided to go back to Thor’s wall, and give the hard stuff another whirl. It was worth it, but a much shorter climbing experience.

Brooke really laid into the climb again today. And she got further than last time out. Actually, we all did, so that’s a positive.

I was the next up after Brooke, but didn’t get super far. My arms were still sore from trying out a new way to strengthen them (hmmm). So, my first shot was short, but the second worked out much better. Next time I’ll get a little further once more.

Andy basically completed the climb today. It might have to do with his more aerodynamic hair, or just that he really pushed through the climb. Probably a little of both. Way to go Andy!

Of course, in the end Andy found himself climbing through a large segment of bird poo. Yup, you heard me right. Something I’d like to avoid climbing in personally.

After we wrapped up we walked back up onto one of the ridges in the Dells, and we were treated to quite the view. A storm had been brewing all afternoon, and the skies were very dark. Except in one spot, and it made for a great photo!

What a fantastic site!

There’s the climbing wrap for the day.  As always, click my flickr badge in the right column if you want to see more shots from today!

This morning the wakeup time was earlier than 6. Get the day started early.

Andy, Brooke, Hallie, Beth, and Scott were slated to be here around 7:30. Almost everyone arrived just a bit after that time. Early day of climbing. Beth & Hallie needed to be back to their school in the afternoon.

After today’s climbing I think Brooked joked that the blog entry should be all about Hallie. Pretty accurate as far as the climbs go. Andy and Brooke are still new to the sport, Beth just started, and I’m restarting after a few years. But Hallie was all over the climbs today! Way to go!

We started the morning out on Perfect Idiot once more.  Just a climb that really sticks with you.  Andy, Beth, Hallie, and I all climbed it.  And I finally climbed it clean.  I figured out the secret watching Andy today.  1 simple move, keeping your left hand to the left before crossing over.  Finally got that stupid climb’s number!

Beth got up Perfect Idiot today as well.  I think she’s been out 3 times now….hmmmm.  She’ll be moving right along for sure.

We then moved over to Thor’s Wall.  Harder climbs in there.  We climbed between Thermocouple and Monarch.  They were rated 5.11 for Thermocouple, and 5.10 for Monarch (we stayed more toward Monarch).  And got a first crack at it, and found the entrance to be a pain (so did I for that matter).

Hallie took a shot at it next, and with a few harder points, finished out the climb.  Actually, she’s the only one who made it all the way up.  Pretty cool too!

Brooke also headed up the route.  I’m going to say she made it 50% of the way.  Through the entrance, past a really strange spot, and about to the middle of the climb.  And I really messed up on the photos of her and every one was in the “blurry zone.”  Sorry Brooke, I owe you some good photos.

I took my shot as well.  Through the entrance, although I picked a different way to enter.  About 25% of the way, then that was that.  I really need some more upper body strength, so I’ll see what I can do about that.

Beth reached about the same point I did as well today on Thor’s Wall.  Andy took another ride, and went past the halfway point.  He also illustrated why being a little taller is a cool thing for this particular climb (that extra reach in one spot).

Overall, another nice day out in the Dells with a great group of people!

Oh, and by the way…….many of these photos today were shot by Brooke.  When I’m belaying Brooke is the designated shooter!  Thanks Brooke! 

Yesterday I made plans with Andy and Brooke to take a climb in the Dells today. Hooray!

As an added bonus, we now have some new climbing friends to head out with. Today we met up with Hallie & Beth. They live less than an hour from Prescott. Hallie has been climbing for a while, and Beth is learning and clearly enjoying it as well.

For our first climb of the afternoon we hit the Perfect Idiot once again. We haven’t done that one in two months, and it showed with me. My first go round with it went very poorly, and the second was still rough as well. That darned entrance is a bear. Let’s think……other excuses…..the rock seemed pretty greasy……the rocks were super hot and radiating heat big time…..the moon is messing with my sign…..

Brooke was the smart one in the crowd today. No messing with the Perfect Idiot. The rest of the group all took shots at it. Only Andy cruised right up it with little trouble. Go Andy! Oh yeah, Brooke’s going to need to deal with his ego tonight!

After playing around on the Perfect Idiot we headed over to Time Zone again. We’ve been there a good bit, but Perfect Idiot mellowed us a bit for the day. While Andy setup near our favorite 5.8 / 5.9, Hallie led the 5.6 that Bob had gotten me started on several months back.

Brooke had no trouble with “Nick of Time”, and Hallie had a good climb up “Can’t Wait Gotta Go.” Afterward Beth took a climb up and cleared off Hallie’s gear. The photo above shows Beth on the left and Brooke to the right, both finishing up their climbs. Dueling climbers.

We all rotated through several routes, and it made for a good afternoon. It was especially nice when the sun eased up and the rocks stopped reflecting so much heat!  Andy had an extra bonus today.  He led “Can’t Wait Gotta Go,” and did it in style!

The shot above is Beth working out the 5.8/9.  For somebody starting out she did a great job, stuck with it, and finished out the climb as well.  I think today was her second time out.  Pretty good, eh?

Summing up, it was a pretty good afternoon.  New friends, added abuse on Perfect Idiot (I didn’t smack my knee), and then running between two climbs on a familiar wall.  I think we’ll be doing this again Friday too.

Almost time to get some rest.  Night all.