OC Rock Climbing 4-18-09

Lesson: Climbing - Belaying - Rappelling

Distance: NA

Trailhead : Icicle Road, Leavenworth, Wa

Highpoint: NA
Elevation Gain: 60-90 feet

Climb Difficulties: 5.6 thru 5.9

Trail Notes:

Pass: No pass, no fees for climbing. Slept at Eight-Mile Campground along Icicle Road which has a pay for use system.

As always, click on the pictures for larger size.

The set of photos for this hike are located here.

This weekend's outing of the Olympic College Basic Mountaineering Course was for climbing, belaying, and rappelling. I purposely skipped last week as it was the first half of the lesson, culminating in this weekend with rock climbing at Leavenworth, Wa. A super wonderful outing!!

"Belaying is a fundamental technique for climbing safely, a system of using a rope to stop a fall if one should occur. Belaying can safely control the enormous energy that a falling climber generates, but takes practice to do well and requires an understanding of its underlying principles."

Before OC students go climbing and have a chance to challenge gravity, we are taught the basic tenets of belaying. We need to understand the dynamics in play and methods used to climb safely and prevent injury before and when a fall does occur. So we learned and practiced the various knots and basic belaying techniques at a local indoor climbing gym, Vertical World, after our classroom session.

We learned about some climbing gear, including knots, runners, stringers, carabiners, harnesses, belay devices, and the commands used to safely belay climbers. I know it will take a lot of practice to be familiar with all the knots and methods in belaying a climber. Conservative by nature, I want to be comfortable in my knowledge before being responsible for someone's well-being. And this is where the importance of the class assistants come into play.

The class assistants consist of previous students, mountaineering veterans, and subject matter experts in various applicable fields. This provides almost a two to one student to instructor ratio, which is really outstanding. Especially with hands-on activities like belaying and rappelling. Mucho thanks to all the assistants and their patience. (Ward, John K., Jim, Randy, Tiffany, Robbin, John W. and the many others that will come out to help us.) It is a real treasure to be in a class with so much knowledge and experience contained among people willing to share. Truly inspiring.

Class at Vertical World MMM Self-Rappel system MMMMM Putting lessons to life


Our class came and went so fast as there is much to learn and it takes a lot of practice before newly learned methods become second nature. Plus it is a blast climbing all over the place. Perhaps a Freudian pleasure from being to told by parents to"get off that thing right now!" mLOLm But this is where the OC mountaineering class and its lead instructor, Brad Albro, take care of the students again. All the students are provided a three month membership to Vertical World. This enable lots of fun and practical use of all the stuff we learn while in a safe, controlled environment. Thanks Brad and OC !!

Before long the weekend was approaching with its anticipated outing to Leavenworth for some real rock climbing. As a bonus, good weather was forecasted. Some of us decided to head over on Friday to get a little more practice. Plus it just feels great to play hooky from work now and then. m:-) SmSo five of us, two instructors and three students, crossed the Puget Sound and drove down to Leavenworth, Wa.

A crag along the Wenatchee MPeople climbing the crag M Upper Town Wall at Index, Wa


We set our tents for the weekend at Eight Mile Campground. This campground, though open to the public, is not a state campground, so the fees are a little more. We each had to pitch in an astronomical amount of five dollars. m:-) But the campgrounds did have restroom facilities and running water at several locations and it has the added bonus of being located along Icicle Road where there is whole bunch of places to climb rock.

Tents were pitched and then we scoured the books and Icicle Rock to find some rock of our own. Within a few minutes we were gearing up to climb Mountaineer's Buttress. This hunk of granite had several routes to chose from. Our unfamiliarity with the region showed itself when we anchored our rope and let down to begin climbing. Even though it was a 70 meter rope it was still short. Armed with experience we re-anchored at a lower spot and then began in earnest.

Plenty of room at 8 Mile MMMM Atop Mountaineer's Buttress


The reason I show the next photo is to point out the sky. Twenty minutes after taking this picture we were leaving the rock due to bad weather. Clouds came in from the west, turning the sky gray, and sharing some moisture with us. Quick as that, but rapidly changing weather does happen in the mountains.

And before the clock had ticked off another thirty minutes, the skies were blue again and we were setting up at another location. There really is an abundance of climbing opportunities along Icicle Road. Our second choice was a crack and slab route next to the Wenatchee river.

Weather changes MMMMMM Having too much fun


The second picture below shows the Klemheist knot (Green & yellow cord) being used as a self-belay device during a rappel. The cord is wrapped ~three times around the rope to provide friction and the free end of the loop is secured to a carabiner. But look a little closer and you can notice where I did not place the end of the loop in the carabiner properly. The cord is caught in the notch that the gate is supposed to lock into. This improper and unsafe setup could lead to the cord coming away from the carabiner and then completely negating the friction of the Klemheist knot which means no safety stop in case I let go of the rope during a rappel. Jim's experience permitted me to make the mistake own my own, then he patiently explained how this error could affect me and how to inspect the belay device properly before beginning a rappel.

Double anchored for safety MM Knotty problem


As soon as the sun went behind the mountains it was time for our return to camp. Plenty of food was shared by all, then a fire was started by a wandering scout to sooth our satiated stomachs, and finally the marshmallows made their debut. I didn't bring any alternate beverages this trip (Official school outing) so I had to keep myself occupied. I did find out that it is sort of difficult to fling a flaming marshmallow at our campsite neighbors with trees all over the place, but hey, it's still fun to try. m;-)

We woke to Ra shining his brilliant benevolence upon us. Wiping sleep from our eyes, we rolled out of our warm sleeping bags, scratched where it felt good, and broke our fast. Finished with the feeding, we flung our gear in the truck and met the rest of our fellow students for the class outing. We checked out several places to climb but another very, very large group (Mountaineers?) had come in before dawn and bogarted all the easy to reach rock along the road. They staked their verbal claim for the day and were inclined to selfishly climb the public rock. I'm sure they did well earning their climbing badge but they failed at the friendly-sharing badge.

Well this is when the course instructor, Brad, donned his cape and came to the rescue. Brad had lived in the area years before and he was able to guide us to a secluded spot just a short hike from the road. Brad took us to formation named Bebop. We set up three ropes to put our classroom skills of belaying, climbing, and rappelling into practice. The three routes that were established had varying degrees of difficulty. There was a 5.6, a 5.7, and a 5.9. There was plenty of challenge for all of the students and our instructors were friendly and free with their knowledge.

Those who have never climbed cannot empathize what it is like to challenge gravity. There are no engineered handholds or steps for the feet. The cracks, features, protrusions, lips or whatever is in the rock was not designed for human use. The rock will not be what you want it to be, which is why it is important for the climber to change himself. It is the climber that must see the rock, accept what the rock is, and then adapt himself to climb the rock. Fingertips, elbows, knees, toes, and more were used to make my way upward. I was able to climb the 5.6 with little difficulty, but the 5.7 gave me fits.

I was about a third of the way up the 5.7 when I ran into the crux or decisive point, of the route. I was stuck. The parallel cracks were close together that using the chimney technique was physically out of the question. There was no decent handholds within reach nor something to put my foot on. I was really getting frustrated. Especially when I noticed no one else was climbing and all eyes were on me. What to do? How to keep climbing this? The others did it, I need to do it. Try again. Scrape hands. Toes slide. Sweat building up. Should I admit defeat? Maybe climbing is not for me. My mind was a vortex of vexation. Screw it Mike. Stop your whining and climb the damn thing.

So I did. I accepted some pain, uncomfortable positions and stressed some muscles but I made it up. All by myself with no external assistance. YES!!! Man what a feeling of accomplishment. Then I looked up and saw the remaining two-thirds of the route. I smiled. But it was an experienced smile. For I knew that I could do it and I did. Simple as that.

Reflecting back on that route as I type this report, I was so glad that no one shouted suggestions or provided any tips. The problem was mine alone and only I could solve it. There is nothing I have experienced yet quite like climbing. Nothing but rock and your body to keep gravity from pulling you down thirty, sixty, or ninety feet. I was SO focused on that rock. No sports playoffs, no work issues, nothing. Nothing else entered my mind. It was a moment of mental clarity like no other. Can't wait to go climbing again!!!! M:-)

Bruno showboating on an overhang M Gorgeous day M Better check his pants m LOL


Side Discussion:
A question was posed by one of our instructors during a break. Which was more physically demanding, hiking or rock climbing? Having just climbed and rappelled from the 5.7, I threw out that rock climbing was more demanding. Didn't I just exert, strain, and grunt my way to the top where my muscles were flushed from effort? Of course climbing had to be tougher than walking with a backpack I thought.

But she countered with the length of my climb compared to reaching Camp Muir from Paradise on Mount Rainier. Yes, the effort to climb sixty to ninety vertical feet was physically demanding, but over time how did that compare to climbing 4000ft of elevation even at a moderate pace? Well she had me there. Not to mention the return trip from Muir. There will be plenty of lactic acid built up in the body from that much effort and the calorie expenditure will be greater. Yes, the body would feel the hike to Muir more intensely and longer than the 5.7 or 5.9 that was being climbed today.

But what about a multiple pitch route of rock climbing? Where the climbers carry their climbing gear and ropes while ascending several hundred to a thousand feet in a day. How would the body react to that exertion? Well neither she nor I had made a mutli-pitch climb yet, so we agreed to wait and experience that outing before settling on a decisive answer. m:-)

5.9 MM 5.7 MM 5.6 Routes MMAscending the 5.6


Video: