Looking Glass Sundial Crack October 2020

 

Drove to Looking Glass with Derek and Malcolm on Oct 30 (Halloween). Cloudy morning turned into a sunny afternoon. We climbed Sundial Crack (5.8-) on the Nose. Malcolm did an absolutely spectacular job following us on this climb. Derek led pitches 1 and 3, I led pitches 2 and 4. We were initially stuck behind a slow party, but I led so slowly on the 2nd pitch that it didn't matter in the end. I was having some trouble getting into the right headspace for NC friction climbing, and I also was carrying a backpack which didn't help with my balance.

On the descent Derek missed the third set of rappel anchors and just barely made it to a different set on Sundial by taking advantage of rope stretch. I rappelled down to the proper set of anchors (after he called me on the telephone to explain the situation!!!) and Malcolm followed me. Malcolm also did a terrific job on the rappels! So impressed with his progress and mental strength.

Malcolm at the start of the crack itself on Sundial Crack

Derek and Malcolm hang out at the belay. They have the same hairstyle!

Malcolm getting ready for the second rappel

October Sunset Rock with Noel

Broken Arrow (5.10a) - Noel's lead, tricky move is getting around the mini roof halfway up, requires careful balance. We went to the right up top, but it looks as if going to the left might be better.

Rusty's Crack (5.10a/b) -  My lead. Chimney at the start is athletic. Crux is definitely the move out of the chimney, up onto the face and into the crack. I ended up taking here a few times and finally aiding my way out of it. A toprope attempt or two before trying on lead again could be helpful. Back clean the chimney. Don't take too much gear (don't need doubles really, because climbing above the fist crack is very easy). Two or maybe even three #4 cams for the wide fist crack would be very helpful. The #5 is too large to be useful. Noel did the move by first grabbing face holds out left, then grabbing the right side of the crack and working his way into a left-facing lieback. I'm not sure this is the easiest way.

Another Fallen Angel (5.10) - We both backed off this well below the roof after placing only three pieces of gear. We felt it was too risky to go higher with so little protection between the face and the roof. Even the start felt pretty hard.

Sinsophrenia (5.10b) - Noel's lead. Sharp conglomerate on this one. Noel had to hang a few times at the crux halfway and two-thirds of the way up. This is a pretty straightforward crack climb the whole way. I had to hang twice on the rope even on toprope. 

September Tetons with Nick and Derek

Derek somewhere up Irene's Arete

Sept 11, climbed Irene's Arete (5.8) with Derek. Slightly lost on the approach, but was good preparation for Exum Ridge approach which we did the following day. The Irene's approach took us 6.5 mi, the descent 5.8 mi.

Kenton getting his caffeine fix somewhere on Exum Ridge

Sept 12, climbed Full Exum [Lower Exum Ridge (5.7) and Exum Ridge (5.5)] with Derek and Nick. We did a fast approach and didn't get lost. 7.0 mi on the approach, 7.9 mi on the descent. It was a 17-hour day from 5:20 AM to 10:20 PM. I was just happy we finished. There as some route-finding difficulty on Lower Exum and some communication trouble while we were simul-climbing upper Exum. It was definitely icy in places on the descent, and I was happy to have brought my microspikes along.

September 2020 Sunset Rock with Zach

Kenton on Broken Arrow

Ghost Dancers (5.8) - Zach's lead

Thin Pockets (5.8+ PG13) - Zach's lead

Broken Arrow (5.10a) - my lead, I loved working the crack at the start.

A Sense of Adventure (5.9+) - toprope. Gave me a good crux about 2/3 of the way up where I had to high step with my right foot and move to thin crimp with my right hand.

Sunset Boulevard (5.10b/c) - Zach's lead. This climb had decent protection, but I would have been afraid of falling above the first roof and at the second crux when traversing right.

Jams and Shams (5.10) - my lead. Very nice crack with perfect jams at the start, then much easier climbing above.

Near the top of Jams and Shams

Summer Sunset Rock with Andrea

 Left the house at 4:40 AM on Thursday, August 6, 2020 to arrive at the Cravens House parking lot at 6:30 AM. I could get used to doing this. The sun wasn't even up yet by the time I had arrived.

I climbed until about 1 PM with Andrea Hassler (SCC Director). We climbed

Bill's Route - a nice warmup with a tricky traverse under the roof halfway up.

R.J. Gold (5.9) - lots of fun. A balancy high-step up on the top face section near a lone bolt.

Jefferson Airplane (5.10a) - had to downclimb two moves to re-think my strategy in the tricky arching crack above the roof. I decided I needed to reach first with the left hand instead of with the right for the lower hold here so I could more easily lay back.

Scream Wall (5.10) [or was it Scream Wall Direct (5.10b PG13)?] - had a bouldery, thin start, but the holds were there. Tricky gear placements in the finger crack above that. Fun!

Alpha Omega (5.10b) - felt very hard to me. Andrea led this one. All kinds of crack: off-width, fist, hand, finger. Truly felt desperate for me at the top in a thin finger crack with smearing feet.

June 2020 Sunset Park with Abby

Beautiful day in the low 80's for a trip to Sunset. Went with Abby, our first time climbing outside together, and only her second time trad climbing.

We decided to go all the way to the south end to avoid crowds. We didn't see any other climbers down there the entire day.

Warmup: Afternoon Delight (5.7+). Definitely more challenging than I would have expected for 5.7.

Walk in the Park (5.8): Off-width section at the top had me thinking and striving to use good technique. I could have used more large gear (only brought one #4 C4).

Decoy Buckets (5.8): This felt really easy. Guidebook had called it 5.9, but I would agree with Mountain Project's grade (5.8). Felt a bit lackluster. I never once felt challenged in any way on this climb.

Second Sun (5.9+): This didn't feel like a "plus" to me, but I went left at the first crux and may have been cheating. The rest of the climb was tons of fun and felt like 5.9.

Wind Walker (5.9): A great climb. Loved the roof, enjoyed the slightly run-out slab near the top. Fun bouldery start.

May 2020 Foster Falls with Will

May 12, 2020. First climbing trip during the pandemic.

Bear Mountain Picnic (5.8+) - warmup
Miss Prissy (5.9)
Miss Scarlett (5.9+)
Diamond Cutter (5.10c)
Mammy (5.9)
Fish-Eyed Fool (5.10b)
Moonscape (5.10b) - Couldn't do the move at the very top. Had to yank on a draw to get to the chains.

February 2020 Tennessee Wall

Kenton and Zach after a great day at T-Wall

Saturday February 29, 2020
T-Wall parking lot 9:30 AM
Climbing with Zach Lesch-Huie, Southeast Regional Director for the Access Fund.

Nappy (5.7) warmup, Zach's lead.
False Alarm (5.9), my lead. First half was much better than the second.
Day's Work (5.10b). Zach led. This was a very difficult chimney start for me even on toprope.
Sanscrit (5.8), my lead. Fun crack climb, full value especially for the grade.
Passages (5.8), Zach's lead. We flew up it as the day was drawing to a close.