Some snow and some slab (climbing)

Sheesh...I haven't written anything in awhile.  There's just been a lot going on I guess and sometimes it's hard to carve out time to blog.  Weekends have been filled with one skiing trip after another.  Any of you that I'm Facebook friends with have probably seen the pics.

We've been incredibly fortunate the past few weeks to get a lot of good snow in Canaan Valley, WV.  So that means I've spent a good bit of time at Whitegrass XC Ski Center (www.whitegrass.com).  The powder was just amazing and there's nothing quite like taking a lightweight telemark setup into this little backcountry heaven and earning some seriously awesome turns.  Of course I've taken my share of falls too but thankfully the powder has been forgiving and no serious injuries have resulted (*knocks on wood*).  Hopefully the winter will continue to build on the good base that's out there now and we'll have a month or so more of decent skiing.

On the climbing side of things, my friend Alan and I made a visit about a month ago to Stone Mountain State Park in North Carolina.  I'd never been there.  While I was climbing I wondered just what the hell had possessed me to want to go there...what was I thinking!  But now, looking back, I can't wait to go again.  Stone is mostly friction slab climbing on granite.  The steeper the angle, the harder the climb.  There are one or two climbs that you can protect well with trad gear (such as the Great Arch).  Most climbs are sparsely bolted...meaning like 2 bolts over a 100 ft pitch and then anchors.  Yeah.  Exhilarating is a great word for this place.  Luckily, you generally want to climb here in the colder months.  The most popular area is southern facing and gets sun nearly all day.  In addition, the humidity is usually lower in the colder months too, giving you much better traction on the rock.

Stone is a traditional "ground-up" area where new routes have always been and hopefully always will be established by climbing up and placing new bolts while on lead.  Old bolts have been replaced while on rappel, which is acceptable.  But rappelling in to place bolts for a new route (aka 'rap-bolting) is not acceptable at Stone.  Good.  We need places like this.  There are enough places of the other kind...far too many in my opinion.  This is a large part of what makes Stone unique.  It is scary, no doubt.

I looked up at the climb called "Yardarm".  Alan asked if I was ready to lead a "real" Stone route.  "Yup, let's do it."  I replied.  Alan says to me, "Ok, you got something the anchor?  Cuz here's all you'll need for the climb." And he handed me two quickdraws.  Yes, two.  I took some thin trad gear with me in the vain hope that might find some placement somewhere...perhaps it just made me feel better or maybe I thought of it as good luck charm.  Whatever the case, the gear went unused.

Friction slab is all about getting as much of the top half of your foot on the rock as possible, smearing it on there and then standing up that foot to move the other foot up.  Your hands are gripping whatever is available, but mostly they're just really helping you to maintain balance (if you've done some work with big sloper holds it will really help).  Occasionally you'll come across a real crimp, an edge, or something you can actually grip with your hand/fingers...it feels like the largest hold ever.  It's like you just reached a huge ledge.  If you start to fall or think you might fall on slab, you stay facing the rock and just kinda let your weight sink straight down and onto your feet.  This happened to me once.  My feet slipped down about an inch or so and I just stopped where I was, half-terrified, half-relieved.

Climbing up to that first bolt was a mental exercise and then some.  It's about 40 ft up there.  There is no other protection between you and the large ledge you start from.  With every step up I exhaled.  I had been listening to Alan do this and realized that it was an incredibly smart technique.  With every exhalation I was relaxing and ensuring a solid weight transference to foot still on the rock while moving the next foot up with focused precision.

You do not move that fast.  You take small steps.  You keep your weight balanced and lean your butt out.  You are patient, cool, calm, and collected.  When I was within about 10 ft of that first bolt I kept looking over to my right and then back down and straight in front of me...then back to the right again.  There was a large, left-facing corner about 15-20 ft to my right with plenty of gear placements.  I forced myself to stay focused on the task at hand.  I thought I was quite likely going to fall.  The muscles in my calves and shins were burning...they weren't used to these kinds of stances and this kind of work.  Focusing on just the area I could really see around me, I slowly moved one foot at time...small steps, small movements, and with my weight centered over the top of each move.

I reached the first bolt.  Wow.  Now there was another mental battle.  Could I go on?  I had set this bolt as my goal in the short term, knowing I could bail and let Alan finish the route.  But I told myself, "this seems kinda fun.  Why don't I just make a few moves right here above this bolt and see how it goes?"  Then I made a few more moves...and a few more.  Before I knew it, I was 20 ft above the bolt and well on my way to the 2nd bolt and then the anchors.

Alan later told me that he was ready to finish the route for me, but he wasn't going to suggest it, knowing that this might give me an easy way out.  He did exactly what a good climbing partner should do.  Sometimes you just gotta keep quiet and let the leader make their decisions...let them figure it out and work through their own struggles.  By doing that, I grew.  Had I given up I would've sold myself short...not really believing in myself.  Alan could've helped me do that, but instead he kept quiet and let me work through the mental crux of friction slab climbing...putting an amazing amount of trust in your feet and just finding a way to relax your body...and your brain.

All told, we did some excellent lines over those two days there.  Alan even led a very hard route that I'm still not sure how I followed.  It was in the 5.10 range for sure.  Stone was a blast and I look forward to going back sometime soon.  Perhaps next time it'll be me taking a Stone Mtn newbie to watch them practically mess their pants. :-)

Yup. We toasted a great day with the drink of Alpinists...some great Scotch from one of our adventures in the UK.

The lovely South Face of Stone Mountain, NC.  You can see the Great Arch directly above me.

Alan on Fleet Feet.  Take the flake up till ends, then cut left on slab past 2 bolts to the anchor.  Scary fun!

Crushed it!

The middle-of-nowhere breakfast spot we found on the way home.  Good NC eats! :-)