Journeys: Probably the Last Day of Climbing this Season!

Well, this about wraps up the climbing season. Low 50's in the shade are just too chilly for us city folk. It has been a great late summer and fall season and I know that we are all looking forward to next Spring. What a great way to finish the year up on a vacated Juliet's Balcony, an area classic.

Danimal belays Chuck.
Photograph by OV.

Chuck and Danimal enjoy the view.
Photograph by OV.

Journeys: Sugarloaf Part Deux

This one is more for the archives than anything else. My blogging has fallen off in the last two months and I am trying to do some recollecting. Although this post is listed before "The Last Day of Climbing" post, I believe it actually happened after that post, but do not remember.

I do remember that Kristin and I made a trip up to Sugarloaf thinking we would be bathed in warm sun all day, but soon found out that we would be huddled close to the crag staying out of the biting wind.

I just remembered how the end of the day went. We had climbed numerous routes despite the cold and the crowd of PATC climbers that had rolled in throughout the morning. After we had had enough of the chilly weather and were on our way out something remarkable happened.

There was a loud crash a few routes uphill from where we had packed up. The noise was followed by a continuous spray of expletives and moans from a climber who had been dropped by his belayer.

It looked liked the climber, who may have been leading, came off the rock a few feet off the ground expecting the belayer to put the brakes on, but it never happened. Instead the belayer, not moving once, looked down at the climber and simply said, "I pulled down man, it didn't work."

Luckily for all of us there were no broken bones and the climber was able to transport himself under his own power.

Wishing for a bit of warm sun on a chilly Seven Wishes.
Photograph by KRMG.