Last weekend, my first trip back to Santa Maria since the hospital, we went to Mr. Lee’s before Owl Tor. This time, we went straight to the Tor. Excellent idea. The Tor is way more rad in my opinion and its routes are not forgiving to tired climbers. The Power of Eating (5.11d), once my warm up, was my project the previous weekend. This time, I redpointed it three times. Each successive go felt easier, oddly.
Mary leading Power of Eating (5.11d) – She seems oblivious to her ridiculous innate talent. This is her first lead, encouraged because I “accidentally” pulled the rope before she could toprope it. She loved leading. You’re welcome.
Andy on Chips Ahoy (5.12d) – I’m envious of anyone on Chips and I can’t wait to get back on it. This route is the reason I continue climbing. Hopefully, I’ll give it a go next weekend.
Me belaying Phil on Anchor Punch (5.12a)
Brian redpointing Auto Magic (5.12a) – He’s been quietly building an impressive Santa Maria ticklist.
Paul dominated the biggest stone ever moved at Owl Tor. Some years back, Phil and I quit stone-moving cold turkey. We had to. It’s so addictive, we would build stone stuff until we were too tired to climb. Paul, in a fit of obsession, let this monster know exactly who is the Lord of the Forest.
The only thing that could have possible made this a better day would have been if Paul redpointed Highway to Hell, or I was there. However, I did have a blast at some “lesser” crag high above SB. In fact, I repointed one of, if not the most fun, route of my life, and I almost stepped on a 3 foot snake…. Oh and I had hottie that cranks (not even close to as hard as Mary does though) with me too. The Green Dome is awesome. I knew it would be.
Dude – I redpointed everything.