Sport 6/16/07

Stealing pics again: we totally didn't climb this

I have a confession to make, I’ve been climbing and not posting. We drive to the rock, walk to the top, build an anchor and then basically yuk it up, on and off the wall. While I’m hooked on climbing, I just haven’t been inspired to write a trip report that sounds like: “and he moved his right arm then his left foot and … he did it again and again…” You get my point but on Saturday Igor, Doogie, Ali and I went to Rumney and I am now inspired to write a TR about climbing.

Friday afternoon, a few minutes before 5 we all get a text message from Igor asking if we wanted to go to Rumney the next day. (Originally Igor was going to Maine and being that he is the only one among us with quick draws or webbing that meant none of us were going anywhere.) We all said yes, Doogie and Ali went out and bought harnesses and we all met at 6am and headed back to, where else… NH!

12 hours of this and see how your neck feels

We hit the parking lot at 8ish and reached the Parking Lot Wall a few minutes later. Igor is the only experienced climber among us and was forced to lead the first few climbs because none of us had climbed sport (heads up - scroll down on these links until you see the term)before. So Igor set us up on a 5.7 warm up and then we moved on down the same wall to another 5.7 and a 5.9. The sun and people were coming out in force and we ready to take a hike (about 30 minutes) to the Hinterlands, where we could find a little more space.

not one of us but we did climb this

Before we left we had to clean our routes and take down our ropes. This was my first experience cleaning or doing anything technical related to climbing! After that experience I reiterated to Igor that I would be stoked if he would teach me how to lead and of course let me borrow his gear, it’s hard to lead without gear (note to self – get rich – buy gear/buy gear - go further into debt!).

Igor on the first climb

We ate lunch then started hiking up to the Hinterlands. Approaching the shark fin shaped rock we were are all excited to be getting on such a tall climb with what looked like the possibility of awesome views and a relatively small group of climbers around us. Igor referenced his guide book, (note to self – kill Igor take all of his stuff – I mean buy guide books) set his pack down, pointed to a climb called ‘cold feet’ and told me that I should be able to lead it! I wasn’t really expecting him to actually let me lead but I was stoked to have the opportunity! It was a 5.7 and relatively simple but my nerves were going crazy all the way until I clipped into the anchor! My first lead and nobody died! At the top I was so worried about securing the rope that I never took my eyes off the rock and missed the great views.

I shrunk

After that Igor redpointed a 5.10a called ‘chicken parts’, which was awesome to watch. This gave Doogie and I a shot at a climb well over our heads but because it started to rain on us we didn’t really get to give it our all and totally believe that we could get over the crux if we had a little more time!

So the rain came down while we cleaned up our gear and got ready to head back to Boston but as we finally got everything in order the rain stopped. The climb we were looking at, ‘Dolt’, opened up and we unpacked our gear and watched Igor nail another one. Dolt is 30 meters and a ton of fun. It has a crux about 10 feet up and another one 20 feet from the top (which I decided to avoid by climbing to the right – ok I cheated but one crux is enough and I needed to clean the route so Igor didn’t have to climb it again) . After the second crux there is 20 feet left but it’s tiring and tough which made reaching the top even more enjoyable. The view was awesome but being 30 meters up it was hard to talk to the people at the base and when I said “someone left webbing up here!” no one heard me and I just left it up there. It turned out that Igor had forgotten it while he was building the anchor and I should have brought it down with me (sorry bud).

Igor - with Doogie spotting

I was able to lead another climb near dolt and after that we headed back down to the area near the car via Waimea (a beautiful, wave looking slab of rock – and as we decided, something that we wouldn’t be able to climb for years – 5.11 and up) the 5.8 crag (mostly 5.9 or harder climbs oddly enough) where we met up with (randomly) some other MITOCers (they are the legit climbers not BC skiers who are looking for things to do – Igor excluded). They talked us into one more climb (a cool down right Igor? – no a 5.9 is not a cool down!) and a swim! The swim, at 8pm, was a perfect ending to an awesome day and as of now the plan is to head back to Rumney in 2 weeks!

this is 'jolt' - just around the fin from dolt

Diversifying my portfolio 6/3/07

Surfing (but not anyone I know)

Skiing is over. Ok, I said it, I'm not happy about it but it's true. Now, thanks to MITOC I will try to expand my "outdoor portfolio" (Toma 2007). As previously mentioned I have begun rock climbing and as of Sunday I am hooked on 'paddling'.

Ernesto is an experienced paddler and was willing to take Ali and I out for our first time ever and Doogie out for his first time in 2 years along with 3 other newbies (Paddington, Slavica and Jaso) and 4 experienced kayakers (Goga, Juan, Tudjman and Niko). We headed back up to NH, which Doogie and I had missed dearly, and 'put in' at the top of the upper Winnipesauke River.

I had been excited for and fearing this day since mid-winter when Doogie, Toma and Ernesto had hinted that they might take me to the 'white water'! I knew it would be fun, it's melted snow it had to be fun but I also worried that it would be incredibly cold. I knew that the
first thing the experienced paddlers would make me do was 'wet exit' (turn upside down and swim out of my boat) and I would be freezing for the rest of the day. Luckily the water was warm and I was not too cold to get back in my boat and learn the ropes.
Ernesto was in a canoe (but not that one)

We split into 2 groups Ali and me with Doogie, Juan and Goga as our instructors and the rest in the second group. Our instructors were incredibly nice to have spent their day on the lazy river with us teaching us the basics while they could have been a few miles south,
paddling a harder section of the river (thank you very much above listed 'instructors').

The first thing we learned was to keep the bottom of our boats to the current and as easy as that may seem I continually forgot and found myself on the shore draining my boat of water, (yes, that means flipping over unintentionally) thanks to my slow learning. The first run down, I managed to flip twice and the second flip was right before the biggest rapid section we went through. This meant my whole group had to rush through and pick up the pieces, instead of messing around on the fun section.

Luckily, there was a second run but before that we were able to work on our 'rolls'. This entails intentionally flipping over and flailing around like an idiot until you run out of breath and then wet exit because it is incredibly hard to figure out how to do this properly. Somehow I figured it out and was able to successfully roll about half the times that I tried, not including the last attempt which meant that I never 'dry exited'.

Back to the fun stuff, on the second run we all went as one big group and there was no structured lessons but more just helpful hints as we quickly made our way down to the rapids were the newbies were able to watch the experienced group 'surf' an eddy/wave (that might be the wrong spelling and term, oops). All day Niko, Juan, Goga, Tudjman and Ernesto were messing around with their boats like a skier does when they're bored (nose presses, olies, spinning 3's, I'll figure out what paddlers call these things later) but watching them surf was something else.

They passed the rapid, got into an eddy and then paddled back into the wave, where they could stop paddling and just balance on the rotating water (if you want to really understand what the water was doing so they could do this look somewhere else because I don't know).

While we were watching the show, Ernesto decided to play a little prank on me. He unscrewed my drain plug, which explains why my feet were getting wet, even though kayaks have skirts that seal off the water from getting in! (well done sir)
first rapid section (completed by unknown paddler)

After the surfing was over we headed back to the section where we were practicing rolls earlier and worked on rolling, an essential aspect of paddling, some more before we headed home.

Thanks again to all the instructors and feel free to take me again as soon as possible!