TopRope.com: Hallucinations

By Paul Johnson
Monday, December 24, 2001

Ok, so I haven't been working this route for 10 months straight, maybe the last 3 or 4, but the thing is, I never did this climb on toprope, and until yesterday, i never got past the second move.

Suz and I got our usual late sunday start and headed to the park with the pugs and we didn't know where we wanted to climb. since I had recently made history on little friskies and top choice, i was looking for new projects. I suggested scrambled egg sandwich and then go to false determination. we hiked up the ramp to the boulder and I was sporting my new Lowa approach shoes I scored at the gripper and set up shop.

It was a blue bird day and I knew from climbing this route before that I would only have one or two attempts on it, then you could stick a fork in me because i would be done.

I placed the perfect .75, chalked up and started banging away. from the solid left hand and left foot in the crack, I lunged to the next acceptable hand jam with my right. I stabilized and then re-set it, and threw a number one camalot in. this is the farthest i had ever made it on my previous attempts. I scuffed the underbelly of the beast with my right foot searching for purchase, and I pulled up and re-set my left in the crack once again. I bobbed up with my right, made a quick semi jam to pimp off of, and pushed again for the much fatter portion of the crack where my hand sunk. I matched right below with my left, brought my foot up and placed it right on my No. 1 camalot. In a 45 degree lock off with my arms I crunched up and placed my left a couple inches higher than my previous attempt.

At this point, I was hitting a much better portion of the crack, but my left foot was down to the left and my right was too low to commit to the face and place any gear.

I reached up and sunk a wrist deep right, matched underneath with the left and then started trying to rock on to my left foot to bring my right foot up and find a decent crystal on the face that had just begun to appear. my knee and shin took a beating as I brought my right foot up and nailed a crystal.

My right arm was bomber but pumping, I quickly grabbed an orange alien off my left side and noticed that this crack was way too fat for it, but down by my feet there was a constriction where I placed. Shaking now, and breathing hard, I grabbed the rope below my crotch, but the biner was upside down. now really shaking, I gingerly flipped the hand- me-down Chinourd oval biner over, clipped at my feet and resumed the final 10 feet of desperate climbing.

When I got to the top, I could taste blood in my saliva from my lungs I suppose. Dad not had this sensation since i was in 7th grade and got my ass whipped in the 440 by Chris Messina during field day. I was huffing and puffing and finally threw a number two camalot in and clipped my daisy chain to it. "Off belay, Suz," I wheezed out. "Good job!" she yelled and I said, "Uh huh. I won't be getting on False D today, by the way." Which was OK by Suz.