A Day of High Exposure
First pitch
I tied in and we called signals. I turned to the rock, and took my first hesitant step upward. There were huge spikes of rock thrusting from the side, and despite the water, I felt the beginning fear begin to ease. I paused to place some pro. Every step cautious, with the water. Then into the "grotto", where the crack gets really deep and you have to be partially wedged to place pro. There was a brief moment that seemed like forever, when nothing was going in. Then a piece took, and I made the climactic move to mantle up onto the slabs above.
| The author gets some pro before disappearing onto the wet slabs above. |  |
Tentatively I moved over water, stepping on the few dry patches as I headed up the slabs to the left. There were thin sheets of water everywhere.
Until I reached the next obstacle - a two foot wide roof at waist-level. It took a high step with full commitment. Things were pretty dry up above, and even the pro placements seemed to have disappeared. But the ground was easy, so I ran it out up to the next tiny ledge before the rightward traverse about fifteen feet.
Once there, what bothered me was the thought of setting up the belay station. The sole placement able to take a cam was the large crack where the Psychedelic wall joined the Modern Times wall at a right angle. I put in the "Volkswagen" cam (you could hang a Volkswagen from it; that was the joke) the Camelot #3. This was the first time I was really glad to have it.
The crack was slightly flaring, and one cam wasn't enough, anyway. I wanted a backup. Neither Mike nor I were lightweights, and it was possible this cam would have to take a leader fall onto the belayer. And besides, anything can fail. I put the #2 in, even though I was afraid I might need it on the wall above. It was the only other thing that fit that huge crack.
I rigged the station so that I faced inward with the rope running up to the cams. That way, a fall would pull me in and up. Two slings ran separately from my harness to the cams. A third sling ran from the cams and hung by my side, where I could pass it to Mike when he arrived. I paused for a moment to make sure I set up everything I'd need.
Mike started. It was tiring for me to stand on the little ledge, trying to keep the rope stuffed into the crack, or spilled on the ledge, stopping it from drooling down the cliff. At last, he made it, pulling up, grinning, past my feet to my side.
I passed him the sling, so he could clip in right away.