It's What We Do: Mountain and Desert Valleys

Well it's been a pretty busy November. Not too many adventures really happened this last month. No worries though, we're back at it. Last weekend we made it out to LCC with our best buddies Tommy, Bridget, and Matt. My goal for this trip was to climb Copperhead. After a a few failed attempts and some bloody knuckles I quickly changed my mind. Too hard! So we proceeded to meet up with T and B at the Smiley boulder where Bridget and Sheralee nearly sent the Surfboard Arete. So close! After that we went Bronson's Arete, one of the most beautiful problems in the canyon. Tommy sent it in just a few tries. He's been on a little bit of a rampage lately. The night before sending Bronson's arete he climbed High Life (V8), Dead Worms (V9), The Egg (V8/9), and Fat Grips (V9). He also flashed a V7 called Whiskey later in the afternoon. Crazy!!

After throwing in the towel on Bronson's we went back to the Egg just so I could try it. I gave it a good flash attempt but just missed the hold at the lip. On my third try I stuck the first move crux and easily moved through the moves preceding the mantle. Everybody started cheering "Nice Job, Casey" and I thought I was on my to an easy ascent. Wrong! Tommy said the mantle would be easy and I trusted him. I desperately tried to push/pull/roll/lay/scratch/claw my way on top of the boulder. Fail!! I kinda lost it and started kicking stuff a little. Tommy casually walked up to the boulder and said "Just do this" as he effortlessly did the mantle in his approach shoes! This of course didn't help my temper at all. So 10,000 tries later I finally figured out the mantle and was ready to go from the start. I pulled on. I hit the first move. As I stuck the second move my feet and right hand came off and I was forced to hold the swing with just my left hand. I hung on as if my very life depended on it. I did not want to try this problem again. I made my way up to the mantle with confidence. I pulled. I pushed. I rolled. I clawed. I did everything, but mantle the dumb boulder problem. I lowered myself slightly to shake off. I tried the mantle again. I guess by this point my spotter had begun to cry from laughter. I used my hands to mantle. I used my feet to mantle. I used my arms to mantle. I used my legs. My chest, my face, my teeth, my eyelashes. I used every part of my body to get to the top this boulder. 10 minutes later I finally found myself on the top, absolutely exhausted. I tried hard. I know it may sound weird, but the Egg is my favorite LCC climb, so far.

With conditions being perfect, we headed out to Duct Tape. Duct Tape is a problem I had gotten really close on this spring. It is a two move boulder with the crux being a jump to a decent hold off a basically non existent sloper. With it being dry and about 35 degrees, I figured I would be able to climb it in a couple tries. Wrong! On my 10th attempt I slammed my knuckles against the rough granite as I tried to jump to the good hold. I really lost it this time. Crash pads flew through air as I released my frustrations. It had been an emotional day. With blood running down my fingers I continued to try in anger. More failure! Eventually I did calm down, stuck the move, and sent the problem. It was an easy mantle this time.

The Surfboard arete