On the 3rd day in the Valley Floor I had met up with my friend Cole and we climbed Royal Arches with Cole’s friend Pete and Pete’s Dad. Royal Arches is 15 or so pitches of wandering easy climbing (5.7). We did a variation that took us up a pitch of 5.9 and easy 5.10. Probably the tallest route I had ever been on
The second day we set out to do Nutcracker, a 5-pitch 5.8 on the grandiosely named Manure Pile Buttress. We got to the base of the route and there were multiple parties climbing all over it. They were ‘mobbing’ it as one kid put it. We decided to get on After 6, a more mellow climb of the same length on the same formation.
After 6 was pretty chill to say the least, and despite an extremely relaxed start to the day, we were done with 3 or 4 hours of daylight left. We decided to get back to the bottom and climb Nutcracker too. It turned out to be an excellent route and we did it in the best light of the day with no jabronies mucking up the works.
Sunday night I was dropped off after we had hiked 15 or so miles and had no idea what I was doing. After a bit of an adventurous first night spent on the valley floor I acquired a place to camp in Camp 4. I had joined the line to acquire spots in Camp 4 around 5am that morning and ended up being the 3rd person in line.
Dan Carter was the 4th in line. He was looking for someone to climb with, and we ended up shrending for the next 2 days. Dan is the man.
These pictures are from the first day where we climbed at an area called Church Bowl.
2 days of hiking. We parked at the Porcupine Creek Trailhead on Tioga Pass Road and hiked to the summits of North Dome, Eagle Peak, and El Capitan.
I am exhausted and I need to pack but all I want to do is think about the climb we did today. My friends Cole and Peter put it up a while back. Destined to be a classic.
More info on climb found here.
*** Edit: I took a 40+ foot fall on this route ***
While leading the 4th pitch I climbed past an orange TCU to a good rest and thought about putting another piece in. The climbing was in a finger crack where you could pretty much protect wherever you wanted to.
I could see another good stance after a few more moves and thought I would be able to make it and so I just kept climbing, a mistake I hope never to repeat.
The next moves involved liebacking on an edge that was less positive than it looked from below, a bit of lichen, some bad footwork by me, and a bush.
I remember thinking “I really need to get my feet higher” and I popped off without warning. The TCU was in a flaring crack and came out with what felt like zero resistance. My next piece was a #3 camalot 8-10′ below the TCU which held.
While falling I had time for a bit of swearing and a thought similar to “Why haven’t I stopped yet?” The climbing was vertical enough that the fall was clean, which was extremely nice.
While driving to Mill Creek in the morning I remember talking with Conor about the idea that if you end up with a marginal piece of protection in you definitely need to be mindful that it is marginal. After I put that TCU in, for whatever reason, I didn’t give it another thought.
I could tell after I fell I had done something to my hand, but it didn’t seem that bad at the time and I finished the pitch.
The next day it was swollen and I thought I might have hit it on something and broken it. A week afterwards it was still a bit swollen (not discolored at all) and sore and I decided to get it x-rayed. Fortunately, nothing was broken.
From when I can gather I tweaked to my A1 pulley and maybe A2 as well in my pointer finger.
At the hospital they said I had ‘trigger finger’ caused by repetitive motion, but I know it happened when I fell.
From this article
http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/display/article/113619/1187922
Imaging is used to grade pulley injuries on a scale developed by Schoffl et al.4 Grade 1 injuries are pulley strain with no bowstringing. Grade 2 injuries include complete A4 pulley rupture or partial rupture of A2 or A3, while grade 3 lesions involve complete ruptures of the latter. Multiple ruptures or single ruptures combined with lumbrical or collateral ligament trauma are grade 4 lesions.
Injuries graded 1 through 3 are initially treated conservatively, while grade 4 lesions are treated surgically.
Conservative management consists of rest, ice, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. No evidence-based guidelines exist as to how long climbing should be avoided, but generally the prognosis for these injuries is excellent. In fact, conservative treatment has been shown to result in no long-term strength deficit and a return to normal climbing levels within one year, even in cases of complete single pulley ruptures.
Werd.
By your 4th day of climbing you start to feel a little worked. We decided to brave the crowds and the local bros and hit up the popular Battle of the Bulge wall. I hung all over some 5.10 handcrack, but was happy to get up it at all. It was my first lead where you had to use the crack for everything, no face holds. We ended the day by trashing around on another offwidth, Big Baby.
I managed to make the most of the good weather in Missoula last weekend. On Saturday, Conor and Cole wanted to put up a new pitch on a big route in Mill Creek. We climbed 3 pitches, the 3rd of which consists of a really clean hand crack that I got to lead. It was nice to onsight a 5.10 trad route. Then Conor grabbed his drill, took the sharp end of the rope, and burled out a new line for the new 4th pitch.
The day where we woke up to snow we went on an expedition to look at Critic’s Choice wall. A wall that includes the hardest off-width climb in Indian Creek, Belly Full of Bad Berries. On Wed we decided to climb there. We saw a total of 2 people all day, a big contrast to the action-packed scene at Way Rambo.
For Spring Break myself and a few friends went rock climbing in Indian Creek, Utah, a little over an hour south of Moab. We spent a full week surrounded be beautiful desert with world-class crack climbing thanks to the unique geology of the area.
These are all pictures of Tuesday. Saturday we climbed at Pistol Whipped wall but I didn’t bring my camera. Monday we woke up to 2 inches of snow on the ground outside our tents and had an unexpected early rest day.
The recent purchase of a Toyota Corolla inspired me to get out of town briefly last weekend. Thanks to the always amazing Parkers for taking such good care of me.
