Farley

Jimmy and I investigated Farley today and met up with some friends from Metrorock. It was pattering steadily as we drove up, but magically, when we got there, things were damp, but it wasn't raining. Now, I'm a *terrible* onsight climber, but I have been working recently to improve my skills by doing a wide variety of climbs at the 5.10 and 5.11 grades. I think it's really improving my confidence and will help me on the more traditional routes I do in the winter. Conversely, leading ice this season gave me a very good lead head, and I find that I am executing sequences without fear and reading challenging moves with far more poise than I would have last year. Certainly, I still feel scared, but I find myself breathing more regularly, visualizing a lot, and falling and trying instead of taking and not trying. I tried to onsight a bunch of 5.10s today, and did really well on all of them. I didn't send any, but I still think it was a great time. I almost made it to the anchor on one, and as I slapped the top-out, I discovered that the holds were literally soaking in water, and little insects were emerging to express their displeasure at being disturbed. So I whipped off. Jimmy worked some 5.12 roof which seemed a little too powerful for my poor shoulder at this point. We also did a 5.10 sport/5.6 trad mixed route and I practiced placing gear, which was a good time.

I just got an email from Eric. He said he planned to use me "as an example." When I asked for clarification, he amended it to "as an excellent example." Of course, the addition of this adjective did absolutely nothing to clarify his sentence. Maybe I should watch my back.