Ted and I head out to hang Brownie on another hard route. The slick-walled dihedral just looks impossible from the bottom. Once I’m on it though, I seem to enter another realm of possibilites, and it feels good to squeeze the last drops of strength from my body. To my surprise I make it most of the way up with just a couple of hangs. I’m too sapped to do the last pumpy move, but I feel like I’ve really tasted the climb. Ted gets on and makes it look good after a couple of hangups at the bottom. When he comes back down (with the gear and new hole in his climbing pants, supposedly from following my walk-off route), we’re both high and spent. Some guys come up after us bragging that they’re going to lead it, but I don’t care. They can have the glory, I couldn’t feel better right now.
3 responses to “Dihedral Rock, Joshua Tree”
you noticed that too.. that they were bragging.
1 – first off, the dudes were approaching and BITCHED loudly that “Oh… someones on it!” fukk them.
2 – the 2nd mouth in the group didn’t know one end of a rope from the other.
those guys didn’t do SHIT on it, i guarantee. they were T-dogging it when we left.. whatever.
yeah, great hole in my pants. gotta darn them.
route is called “Coarse and Buggy”.. 11a.
it’s definitely 11b with the bottom moves.
My book says 11b.