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San Luis Obispo

Bishop's Peak - Cracked Wall (04/30/2005)

The day was defined by highs and lows. The high: Justin and I broke into trad! The lows: We got worked on top ropes. Trad highlights: Justin and I purchased a set of ABC Huevos Stopper Nuts (13 total) and split it odds and evens until we buy another set in the future. I also decided to purchase 2 Black Diamond Camalots (sizes .75 and 1). Having literally no experience in trad climbing, we decided not to do anything stupid, so we just practiced placing pro while on TR on Gone in 60 Seconds. After having climbed 60 Seconds more times than any other outdoors route, it felt so different having to think about good pro placements in the cracks, as well as trying to place the gear in solid enough placements to hypothetically catch a fall (as well as trying not to drop anything using only one hand!). Justin also decided to lead Dirty Rats Crack on trad, a climb that we were both confident in free soloing. Here's a pic of the route after he finished the lead. I tried pointing out the trad placements: TR Lows: The Cracked Wall Test, Part 2. This time, the test didn't go so well. After stepping our level up last week and kicking ass on some 5.10's, we decided to step it up another level once again and give Western Airlines an attempt (5.11b), as well as Llama (5.10b?). A long time nemesis of mine, Western Airlines tore me up once again at the crux. At this part, one must use a mono pocket (single finger pocket) and a thin edge in order to crank out onto the tiger stripes rock formation on the face. It took me many attempts, but I was eventually able to finish it, ala hang dog style. After struggling on Western, we decided to go to Llama to make ourselves feel better, but ironically this tore us up even worse. Supposedly a 5.10b bottom (as rated in both the guide book and the updated topo), we both got our asses worked after many tries, and had a couple problems on the rest of the climb.

Climbs done:

Western Airlines (5.11b ***) TR - Oh so many problems, I need to practice that crux like a dozen more times!
Llama (5.11a *) TR - The guide says the bottom is 10b, we don't think so! So reachy and technical, no fun! But it's good for me.