a crowded mountain

Saturday, March 20, 2010

I went with Eddie, Jan, Nicole, Ashley, Tobias and Rebecca to Crowder's Mountain.

And yes, it was pretty crowded as usual. I have only been there maybe 3 times before this? And it is always crowded.

I had a blast yesterday. I felt like I got victory too.

There was a route called The Opinionated 5.9 on The Red Wall that I had to be lowered on (TR) back in 2007 on my 3rd outdoor trip. I had just started climbing really in late July 2007 in the gym. Yesterday was my first time getting back on this route (TR), and I topped it out! :)

There was this really weird 5.8 we climbed that was really rough. It had finger holes/pockets all over the place. Just different, but I liked it. It was a fun climb.

We climbed on another 5.9 (don't know the name). It was our first route of the day, so I went left on that route and did the easier version. HA! I climbed this one twice. I cleaned the anchor when we were all done.

I also tried a 10b. But i couldn't get through this one area so I had to come down. It was my first real climbing trip/outing of the season/year. I'm just out of shape.

Crowder's isn't really that bad. There are some great routes there. I mean, I would never say it is a destination crag, but hey, it is 2 hours away. It is Columbia's version of Raleigh's, Pilot Mountain.... Our other two crags nearby that are only about 2 to 2.5 hrs away are Rumbling Bald and Looking Glass Rock...they are slab though.

I'm not sure how I feel about the approach at Crowder's. The first time, it was awful. The 2nd time, it was awful. The 3rd time...awful. I mean, for my ankles, it was great. It is an uphill gravel road and at the end of the road, there is a staircase. Not too bad, if you are good at cardio and like the quad burn. But I still think I prefer those approaches where you have trees and roots to use for hand holds, etc. But those are the ones that I'm scared to face plant on. It's gonna hurt.

After the approach to the top of Crowder's. You must then go down to the base of the crag. You go through all of this crazy scrambling. From there you can hang top ropes from the top or go down this gully (harder than the 3 bears gully at Pilot) to David's Castle. It had been forever since I had been out there. But once you get out there, it all comes back.

I have been having knee issues lately. I feel pretty good today though. My arms and pecs and back are sore though....it hurts to breathe! lol
But this is really the first trip of the year. Two weekends ago, I was at RB and we did tons of hiking and bushwhacking......but no climbing, really. So I consider yesterday to be my first time getting back out on the rock. I've been bouldering twice this year and ice climbed once. I'm ready to get back in shape. I can tell my endurance sucks too. Before May of last year, I was running a lot and more active and in the best shape ever. I didn't climb as much as I would've liked compared to 2008. And I wasn't doing yoga.

2010 is gonna be better I hope. NO more laziness.