Vagabond Climber: Yep, Still Raining

Well, I've been at Seneca Rocks for a week now, and have spent the majority of that time sitting in the rain. Despite that, though, I'm enjoying myself. I've managed to get a little climbing in, score some free beer and food, win some stuff in a raffle, and hang out with some great people. A little more climbing would be nice, but, all in good time, right?

So, Saturday morning, it rained again, but, in the afternoon, it cleared up and I went out with Ak (the owner of the Gendarme), Alan, Massey, and Elena. We went to the South Pillar again, which was a little disappointing since I was there the day before, but beggars can't be choosers. :-) Anyway, I redpointed Block Party, top-roped Disco Death March again, and got it clean this time, and onsighted Climbin' Punishment, which is a really cool, long climb with sustained moderate climbing to a crux move pulling around a roof. I was climbing on Massey's rack, which was a lot lighter than I'm used to, and was really running out of gear at the top. I ran completely out of draws and had to get a bit creative. I used a nut to extend a piece, and was scavenging every spare biner on my harness. I placed every cam I had on me. It was great! :-)

Ak belays Alan on Ambush (5.11a).

Block Party (5.8) goes up the corner system in the center. The business is the steep stuff at the beginning. Ambush is the line to the left.

Climbin' Punishment follows the dihedral, then steps left into the higher dihedral, continuing through small roofs and a larger roof out of sight (crux). It is sometimes done in multiple pitches, but I did it in one long pitch (probably 50-55m).

Saturday night, there was a Cinco De Mayo party at the Gendarme (3 days early, but who's counting). There was beer from a couple of area breweries, all kinds of great food, and a raffle. I decided to splurge and by $10 worth of raffle tickets. I ended up winning twice! Winners got to draw for a random prize. My first prize was an ATC-guide...nice, except I already have one. They generously allowed me to swap it for something else from the shop so I picked up a black tri-cam (one of the new ones...the size smaller than pink). My second prize was a Gendarme shot glass. All in all, a fun evening.....

Sunday, it rained. And rained. And rained. I read and napped and read.... Sunday evening, I hang out with Alex, Dan, and Dan, three Canadians in town from Kingston, Ontario. We had a few beers, they fed me, and we played Scrabble and nerded out. It was good, clean fun.

Monday and Tuesday, there was more rain. Alex and the Dans left town on Monday. I bummed around, read, slept, messed about on the internet....

But, Wednesday, there was sun! Around noon, Massey (who works at the Gendarme) and I headed out to the East Face to get some climbing in. We intended to climb a route called Soler, but there were people on the first pitch of Conn's East, which we were going to do to get to Soler, so I ended up leading the first pitch of Conn's East Direct, from which Massey led Alcoa Persents. Conn's East Direct has a low crux that it took me a couple tries to work out. I got it, though, and from there, it was cake.

When we got down from Alcoa, Conn's East was open, so I led that, taking the 5.7 variation (the main route goes at 5.6, but there is a great 5.7 corner you can take instead), then led Soler, which finishes at the top of the South Peak of Seneca Rocks. Both were fantastic climbs. Soler has some really committing moves and great exposure, and it's fantastic when you pop up over the summit and look out across the other side. The ridge is probably only 6 or 8 feet across here, so it's pretty crazy!

Just as I was topping out, it started to sprinkle, and it rained on us all the way back to the shop, and most of the rest of the evening. At least we caught enough of a window to climb!