Climbing at the Red
Holy Grail, 5.11a
I just got back from a week-long climbing trip at the Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky. It was my first time climbing outside, and my first time seriously lead climbing. It was really great. Climbing outdoors feels like a different beast altogether from climbing in the gym. Crimps are smaller, there are more footholds available, and routes are much longer. It also feels scarier.
Some of my favorite routes from the trip:
Oompa, 5.10b. Chocolate Factory, PMRP. The boulder problem at the start is fun to figure out. I saw at least 3 different ways of doing it. The middle portion features some fun side-pulling action, after which it becomes 2-finger pockets and crimps. Due to it being slightly overhung, this is an excellent route to practice falling on. Pure Imagination, a famous 5.14c on a large and beautiful wall, is visible off to the right and worth taking in.
Whip-Stocking, 5.11a. Drive-By, PMRP. A straightforward jug-fest, with some opportunities for satisfying footwork. I flashed it on toprope, which makes me think this would be an excellent first 11a to send on lead. There are two big rests towards the end of the route.
Return of the Manimal, 5.10d. Bruise Brothers, Muir Valley. My favorite 5.10d of the trip. The movement is interesting and challenging. Vertical climbing gives way to a slab problem near the top, which is a nice way to end the route.
Breakfast Burrito, 5.10c/d. Drive-By, PMRP. Interesting plate climbing up to a large hueco where you can sit down and rest. Then you exit the hueco and climb up an arete to the finish. Exiting the hueco is a good exercise in fear management!
I fell quite a few times on the trip. I started off by trying to lead a 5.11a, and was quickly humbled. Falling on the first day helped with managing the fear of falling early on, and I think led to a much more enjoyable trip. Trying that hard also helped me figure out faster what I was comfortable onsighting (turned out to be a full grade lower! 5.10a).
The fear never fully went away, though. Exiting the hueco on Breakfast Burrito, in particular, scared me more than anything I've experienced in recent memory. The kind of scared where the smell of your sweat changes. The bolt after exiting the hueco feels rather exposed, and it requires you to fully commit to exiting and hanging on an overhang in order to clip it. I fell twice trying to get that clip, and experienced long but incredibly soft falls. I'm really glad and somewhat amazed that I pushed myself to attempt that clip a third time. The feeling I got after clipping it is indescribable. I'm hoping that with sufficient outdoor experience, the fear of falling will become completely secondary and I can fully focus on the climbing.