A big day today. James swam unassisted for the first time and I climbed my first 5.13. Five year olds are not strong at self-analysis so I can't cast much light on the aquatic feat. But unsurprisingly I have quite a lot to say about the climb. Maybe I should kick off with the headline items and stats:
I am indebted to my frequent partner Kay for suggesting the route as a project and then continuing to support my attempts after she discovered it was too reach-dependent for her. It was the focus of eight days at the cliff, starting in early April. It seemed to be too physically-crushing to cover the whole length of the route more than twice in one day, so initial progress in working the moves was slow. I tried my first redpoint attempt on day five, but it took six further attempts to send. On day six I slipped on a low move but managed to hang on to fail higher. When I got down I realised I had pulled something in my upper left arm, perhaps the deltoid? All the subsequent attempts have involved naproxen taken the night before to numb the pain. Time will tell how foolish that was!
Anyone who has got involved in a multi-day siege at their limit will know that stress can become hard to manage. For whatever reason my brain often exaggerates the significance of success until it becomes visualised as an inflection point in life as a whole; correspondingly continued failure casts a big existential shadow. Currently that mindset does have some foundation: I did quit work and relocate halfway around the world to become better at climbing, so doing something at this level was really needed as justification. Thankfully I now have that!
I don't think I am in a hurry to try anything harder soon. Just Can't Do It is two grades beyond my previous best lead so there's plenty of backfilling in the 5.12 range to be done; easier trad classics to be enjoyed too.
Here are some rather crap photos. It is a tough route to capture without abseiling in from above (there were no volunteers ...) as there are trees blocking the view on most aspects. These photos are front on to the wall and so show none of the steepness.
The last part of the route is a fun slab with some delicate moves. Fortunately it is possible to find hands-off rests throughout that section.
- the route is Just Can't Do It at the Forgotten Wall at Chek
- it was graded 5.13a/b in the previous "Squamish Select" guide but now gets 5.13a
- this is equivalent to french 7c+
- there are seventeen entries for the route on 8a.nu, of which none suggest the route is "soft for the grade" and one suggests french 8a
- length is about 25m with nine bolts
- the route overhangs about 10° for the first 18m
- the style is crimpy endurance
I am indebted to my frequent partner Kay for suggesting the route as a project and then continuing to support my attempts after she discovered it was too reach-dependent for her. It was the focus of eight days at the cliff, starting in early April. It seemed to be too physically-crushing to cover the whole length of the route more than twice in one day, so initial progress in working the moves was slow. I tried my first redpoint attempt on day five, but it took six further attempts to send. On day six I slipped on a low move but managed to hang on to fail higher. When I got down I realised I had pulled something in my upper left arm, perhaps the deltoid? All the subsequent attempts have involved naproxen taken the night before to numb the pain. Time will tell how foolish that was!
Anyone who has got involved in a multi-day siege at their limit will know that stress can become hard to manage. For whatever reason my brain often exaggerates the significance of success until it becomes visualised as an inflection point in life as a whole; correspondingly continued failure casts a big existential shadow. Currently that mindset does have some foundation: I did quit work and relocate halfway around the world to become better at climbing, so doing something at this level was really needed as justification. Thankfully I now have that!
I don't think I am in a hurry to try anything harder soon. Just Can't Do It is two grades beyond my previous best lead so there's plenty of backfilling in the 5.12 range to be done; easier trad classics to be enjoyed too.
Here are some rather crap photos. It is a tough route to capture without abseiling in from above (there were no volunteers ...) as there are trees blocking the view on most aspects. These photos are front on to the wall and so show none of the steepness.
Getting set for the technical crux, a boulder problem that is probably in the V4-V6 range. The next three hand holds are a three finger single-pad crimp, a three finger half-pad crimp and another three finger single-pad crimp best taken with back3, from which bolt 3 is clipped.
I specifically trained front3 and back3 half-crimps on my fingerboard to do these moves. Not sure if it was really necessary but I think it probably sped up the process of getting the route done.
The next three moves centre upon the sidepull I have with my left hand: first gaining it with a long reach, then deadpointing twice in succession to single-pad side edges. The foot sequence is really critical here.
The move shown is where a foot popped and I strained my upper left arm.
Above this is the most aesthetic move on the route, a step through to the outside edge of the left foot whilst laybacking the upper side edge and reaching for a slopey dish. The dish can then only be held by a subtle additional shift of the body rightwards. Over time I got progressively more confident on this move and I think made some major unintended gains in core strength.
The "rest" at bolt 5, on two slanting flat holds. Up to this point I couldn't find anywhere that I could take a hand off to shake for more than a second or so. I never fully decided whether this was really a rest or not; in fact on my first redpoint attempt I fell off whilst trying to hold it! On my successful attempt I only stopped here for about five breaths.
The moves through bolt 6 where I fell multiple times. The climbing here is not hard but fatigue was extreme for me.
The last part of the route is a fun slab with some delicate moves. Fortunately it is possible to find hands-off rests throughout that section.
