MATT didn't have work yesterday, so we decided to try to get in a nice full day of climbing. We ended up getting on Something Interesting/The Dangler, Keep on Struttin, and Double Crack, all of which were just absolutely amazing climbs.
Something Interesting and the Dangler is a link-up that Ian and I did last Friday, and I was super excited to have Matt try the Dangler. I feel like it is a pretty good head-game test-piece. You are out over nothing, upside down with one hand and one heel on, try to place gear and clip a rope. It really is a super heady climb, not for the weak hearted. And Something Interesting is a real nice, long warm up with two thoughtful cruxes. Matt really enjoyed leading Something Interesting, and did it with no problems. He also did a great job on the Dangler, which goes at 10a (it's still mind-boggling that it has been called a 5.8). I asked him if he wanted beta, and he said no -- "Only if I scream 'Beta! Beta!'" It didn't come to that, although he did hang several times. I think he was slightly disappointed with his performance on it, but, I mean really, it is a really hard lead, and I certainly am in no position to be leading it right now. I barely seconded it clean (although I did -- woohoo!), and it was my second time climbing it in a week!
After that we headed on down the crag and got on Keep on Struttin' 5.9 The first pitch, which is 150 feet long, goes at 5.8, and so I got to lead it. The start is nice and facey, and the crux is pretty low. After that, it's still facey and a little run out, but good fun climbing nonetheless. It was also filled with lichen, which at first I was put off by, but after thinking about it, it was nice to not have every hold all chalked up. It was almost a little more adventuresome. The next to pitches are each pretty short, but there is some fuuuuuun moves in them. They both have their own roof, and they are both pretty different. The crux on the last pitch felt like I was being birthed, and I got to do a heel-hook mantel, which was pretty sweet. We hung out at the top for a while and talked with a local guy who was belaying his friend -- he gave us some pretty good beta on the Lost City. "Don't expect much under 5.10" was the long and short of the Lost City. Good to keep in mind for next year.
We asked the guy up at the top of Keep on Struttin' for a good 5.8 or 5.9 and he sent us to Double Crack. "It's a 5.8, but it's really pumpy. Don't worry, it sucks up gear too." That sounded good to me, because I was kind of in the mood to get a full workout in. It was also pretty cool to get way down at the other end of the crag. We passed a bunch of 11s and 12s on the way that looked haaaaaard.
So, double crack is a vertical crack that runs 160 feet up, and it's best to do in one pitch. The crux is low to the ground, but, as mountainproject.com says, by the time you get to the end of the climb, every move feels like the crux because you are so pumped. MP also said (which I agree with) that there is no single move easier than 5.7 and no single move harder than 5.8. It's up there with one of my favorite climbs in the gunks (so far). I handled it pretty well, although it was on this climb that I have come the closest to taking my first trad fall. It was at the crux, I was above gear, trying to get in a red cam, and was having trouble holding on. Not to mention I was sweating buckets, I didn't have any right foot at all (I was smearing pretty hard, and it kept slipping -- Matt thought for sure that I was coming down), and I spent a lot of time trying first to get in a yellow cam before realizing the red was a better option. It was an awesome climb in the end. I placed 17 pieces of gear, and we had to rapp of a somewhat sketch chockstone that had only one sling and two rapp rings on it. Out of three stars I would give this climb 3+. Great stuff.
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