July 7, 2008 - Slippery when Wet - Seneca Rocks, WV July 4th weekend 2008

If there is anything I can say about myself right now in my life...is that I'm building character. At least, that is what is my new friend and partner, Jeremy, told me this past weekend when I climbed with him at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. I'm just trying to evolve and become a person I want to be and one that I love.

Seneca Rocks:

This July 4th weekend was one of the best ones ever! I did some of the hardest climbing/cleaning I have ever done in my life. Some of the scariest too...

On the way home from this trip, I was desperately looking for a radio station to come in on my broken cd /stereo player. We were in BFE. As I was scanning stations, the first song to come in was a song by Leanne Womack, called I Hope You Dance. It blew me away to hear that song as I was leaving the most amazing crag I had been to yet in my life!!!

I climbed the hardest multi-pitch routes 5.7 ever in my life up at Seneca Rocks, WV this weekend (it is really sandbagged there) where when I got to the top of the 2nd pitch of this one route called The Green Wall (on the second day), I literally started crying. After all the events out on the rock that weekend, which I'll explain in this blog, I was really scared when I made it up that 110 feet of that pumpy, vertical 2nd pitch. I had a lot of emotions going on inside of me. I was embarrassed to have cried in front of Jeremy. I kind of lost it up there. As we were chilling there, he patted me on the back and said, "Sue this is what it's all about, and you want to know something else? You're building character right now." I'll never forget it.

I'll never forget this past weekend! I was so scared and felt so accomplished all at once. I couldn't believe I made it up that route. I said, "I can't believe I did it. I can't believe I made it." as tears started welling up. Jeremy said, "Guess what? You did it Sue. You made it. You didn't give up." (even though I yelled "take!" and then "sorry" like every few feet towards the end of that pitch...haha) However, I chose to "dance instead of sitting it out". I thought the song I heard on the way home kinda fit this weekend perfectly.

Anyways, so yeah, I climbed at Seneca Rocks in West Virginia on July 4th and 5th. It's all trad and multi-pitch. It's sandbagged too. It's all very vertical and pumpy. It's the hardest and scariest climbing I have ever done in my life!!! lol

We all stayed at Seneca Shadows Campground.

Our site:

I was the first one there, so I picked a very cool spot for my tent with the best view. It was awesome!!!

The view from our campsite was just amazing:

I met my partner (my leader) on MySpace actually. He had been there before and loves to climb. He's really an awesome climber too. I told him in an email conversation one evening that I wanted to climb with my group at Seneca, but that I couldn't find a leader...so I didn't think I was going to get to go. He offered. :)
So i drove 7 hours to go climb with him!!! And to meet a new friend.
It wouldn't be the first time I went the distance to meet a new friend and hang out.

Jeremy was great! We had so much fun. We hit it off. He cracks me up.
And I am one huge DORK! haha He didn't seem to mind. He got along really well with everyone in our group too.

It was just Jeremy and I climbing together as partners, and the rest of the group had their own leaders and followers etc. It's just that the group camped together. It's fun that way, because you get to meet other people. You get to meet other climbers and new partners that way too.

The first day, we woke up to a drizzle. But it cleared up. I had heard the weather was really strange up there at Seneca Rocks. I wasn't prepared for what I would experience that weekend though. :p

The approach was one of the hardest ones I've ever been on. Seriously. Downclimbing that approach was also tough in the rain! I actually fell a few feet off of a scramble on the first day. Scary. I didn't get hurt, but when I lost my foothold and started to slide down the wet rock, all these thoughts flashed through my mind. It happened so fast. Sometimes I am more scared on the scrambles and the approaches. One wrong step and bam! Your ankle...scary!

The first day, we climbed a route called Prune. It was a 5.7. I told Jeremy it was the hardest 5.7 I had ever climbed. It is 4 pitches, but we did it as two.
I also learned some more things about trad this weekend. Route finding! I didn't realize how hard it is to find the routes and not get off route. It's scary. I mean, even if you read your guide book! Which we took with us.

I thought the first pitch of Prune was a true 5.7. I was very comfy on it. :)
Then I moved up and through the 2nd pitch. The last part of the 2nd pitch is the crux. It was tough for me. Finger crack lie back. My right foot slipped twice, but I finally made it! Trust me, you don't want to hang out there for too long. We chilled out for a few at the top of the 2nd pitch.

On the second pitch of Prune waving to Kevin:

The 3rd pitch was challenging, but I can't really remember it though. Weird. It was pretty vertical but there were holds and such, horizontal cracks, maybe...just it took a lot of endurance..nothing was very slopey here. It was a true 5.7 probably. I'm just not use to long vertical pitches. NC climbing is a lot different than Seneca Rocks.

My buddy, Kevin:

The 4th pitch was a scramble up over this gulley thing. It was just scrambling but it was tough b/c you are so high up. We get to the top of this one part of the summit, but not The Summit. We were lost. We did not see the fixed anchors, and no rap station nearby. It starts to rain. The sky looked so scary:

We needed to hurry up and get off, so I had to down climb. I've never done this outdoors. (I hate it in the gym) It was really scary.
I down climb and then Jeremy lowered me into that gulley/cave thing. It started raining harder. I asked him if we should stay put for awhile. We were out of the weather. I felt safe in there. And besides I had to piss! As did he. He took one corner and I took the other! lol

We stayed in there for maybe 5 to 10 minutes and the rain stopped. But it still did not look good. We set up a rap station. There was a tree, and we used a sling backed with another sling/webbing and 2 biners. We were having trouble finding the one that was at the top of Prune, so we had to rap from the 3rd pitch. As we were setting up, it was drizzling a bit. Jeremy went first, and I went 2nd. Rock is slippery when wet! As is Lichen!!! It was a scary rap down to Old Man's Ledge.

When we got down to that ledge, we couldn't get the rope down. So Jeremy climbed back up to see what the problem was. As he was about to climb back up and get the rope unstuck, he said "Awesome! Hell yeah, I get to climb this route again...in the rain!" He is amazing, b/c he always stays positive. It wasn't a pain for him to go fix the rope. He saw it as another opportunity to climb. You know? And he was probably being sarcastic too, but he LOVES climbing...

"Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty, rather than the difficulty in every opportunity." - Reed Markham, American Writer, Salt Lake Community College

As he was climbing up, the sky went totally white. You couldn't see out anywhere. It was the freakiest thing ever...like something out of a Stephen King novel or something. I'm just glad that no scary creature came and took me off the ledge and ate me!!! (Did you see Stephen King's, In the Midst?) Anyways, it was both awesome and frightening. You couldn't see down at all. All I could hear were voices of other climbers yelling out things like, "Wow!" WTF?" "Hey guys, do you see this?" "Holy crap!" "Ive never seen anything like this before dude", etc.

Anyways, what a day!

Once we retrieved the rope, we went over to another ledge where the Seneca Climbing School had set up a huge rap station to avoid traffic jams that weekend. Actually, my friends were there from my group waiting to rappell. They had hired a guide for their leader. He was a guide with that climbing school. We all used that rope to rap down.

We hiked out in the rain.

The misty fog was finally starting to dissipate!

I survived my first day of climbing at Seneca Rocks!

That evening, we hung out at The Front Porch. It is the Seneca Rocks pizza place.

We drank free beer at the gear shop there and hung out with other climbers, etc. for most of the evening. Fun times! :)
I bought a t-shirt, souveneir and some stickers.

I love that "town" of Seneca Rocks. Everyone was so nice and open minded. So laid back and non-judgmental. All the climbers at the crag were so nice. I LOVE it! I really have never felt like I have ever fit in any kind of scene in my whole life. And even though, I'm not even climbing hard at all yet, I feel like I have finally found a niche of people I feel connected to. :)

I LOVE climbing!

Saturday morning was awesome! The sun was shining! Jeremy and I got a late start.

We got on The Green Wall. A 5.7. Let me tell you, it was tough! This did not in any way feel at all like a 5.7. Jeez! So, I guess now I should be able to follow on a 5.9 in NC. ;-)

The first pitch was ok. Not too bad.
I got stressed though when I anchored in at the belay station. It started drizzling. I got scared. I just didn't want the weather we had the day before to come back again. It really scared me. I fought back tears. I just looked away from Jeremy. I was quiet for awhile...
I think he knew I was scared.

I was fine when I started up the 2nd pitch. The moves were hard as hell. It was completely vertical. I started out good though, but I had 110 feet to go though. It was a pumpy, vertical dyhedral.

There was a moment when I almost lost it. It started to drizzle again. Every time it drizzled, I would panic. Jeez! "Could it please just stay clear to climb for one day? Please????" Aggravating! But I just kept thinking, "this is all a part of climbing, Sue. You gotta deal. No whining! It's all mother nature around us."

Then I got to this bulge section. I was like "shit". Jeremy yells out, "the holds are there Sue. Use your eyes. I promise they are there." I look around. And I look down and around as well. I was so amazed as what I was climbing on! How high up I was. And then I had to clean a stopper. Damn it! You've gotta be kidding me! I barely have anything to hold onto and now I have to get out my nut tool? Sometimes these things come out easy and other times they are a huge pain! At least it was not a tri-cam!

Then as I move up, there seemed to be no holds. WTF? I kept looking around like Jeremy said. I found one. Yes! Then I was stuck again. Jeez! Ugh! Then all I could think about was, "What would Richard tell me if he were right here giving me beta?" He's climbed with me a lot lately. He knows my level and how I climb and what I'm capable of. I also thought "what would Billy do?" (my friend from Fox guides) I kept looking and all of a sudden it came to me. All the answers were there to help me. Then after that section, I was pumped. I kept yelling "Take!" like after every few feet. I was getting closer to Jeremy. I could see him and hear him again. It felt so good to be able to hear him and see him up there! Whew. I finally made it.

I cried when I reached that belay station. haha

The pic below is the route Tomato.
We met this couple at the very start of the day. This chic, Samantha, who was with this guy, she did Climb for Life. I saw the sticker on her helmet, and I knew what it was. She is a survivor of ovarian cancer. She also volunteers with breast cancer fund raising. She was awesome to meet and talk to. I told her about my marathon in October to raise funds for breast cancer. She was a very inspiring person to meet. :)

I love givers. True philanthropists. They do things for others not to make money or to obtain some kind of recognition for it. Their whole sole being is about making and seeing others happy. That is why they do things they do. It is the outcome of knowing that what they have done for someone that helps that person live a fuller life...that is the reason they do what they do.

One of my friends told me that once. He wouldn't let me pay him for taking me out on the rock (he is a full time guide and rock instructor). It was during his off season. He said he liked seeing others live fuller lives because of what he had taught them. He wanted to be able to make a difference. He said money comes into your hands as easy as it goes out. Money isn't everything. Money is not wisdom, knowledge/truth is wisdom. He liked learning and helping others learn.

Anyways, we finally got to the Summit! Yay! I have never summitted something of this nature before.

Jeremy:

Some other climbers were already on the summit:

They didn't even use climbing shoes!!! They climbed up in boots! They are alpinists, and they were training for another trip that was coming up soon for them.

I got to sign the summit log book. It was stored inside of this old military box.

There were all kinds of items in that box! Funny!!!

There was barely any room for us all to be up there!

I was a little sketched out up there! You're not anchored in. It is a 10 foot wide summit, no where to anchor into! Freaky!!!

To the west on the summit:

To the east on the summit:

Jeremy and I:

This made everything so worth it! Reaching the summit! Wow!

I've summitted before, but not a place like this!

(I look so much like my dad)

There's just something about multi-pitch. It's so challenging and you feel so much more accomplished after reaching the summit. This is why I love multi-pitch. I get off on it. There is nothing quite like it. And I also love hearing the sounds of jingle bells all day! (trad gear jingling off of harnesses)

I need to learn how to organize my harness on the way up to meet my partner, so I don't have a huge bird's nest on me! LOL

I survived day two of Seneca Rocks:

"Things may look dismal at the moment, but everything happens for a reason. Fear is just a distraction of your mind, but destiny lives inside a heart of hope, and dreams come true before your eyes."

"Rule your mind, or it will rule you."

"All we are is the result of what we have thought."