10,000 Restless Virgins / Carbs and Caffeine

On one of the really hot days last week, Matt and I rode our bikes from the parking lot at the cliff way down to the other end to the Sleep Hollow area. There is a climb there that we saw last fall that just looked so good. It's called 10,000 Restless Virgins and it's a 10d. It's is more or less 5.9 corner climbing for 50 feet, and then you pull an enormous roof followed immediately by another small overhang. Matt gave it the first go, and with one hang (at the roof) he sent. He came down and then top roped it and cleaned the gear out so I could lead it. I sent it first go -- turns out that having beta (both gear and otherwise) is extremely helpful. Super fun climb.

After that we went to the Yellow Wall. There has been a climb there that I have been eying for quite some time. Carbs and Caffeine 11a. The first crux is protected by two bolts, even if they are a little manky. The climb itself is steep. Really steep. And the holds are small. So you're climbing up this jug haul at the start, and you start to move up and left, and then the first crux is there. Big moves on small holds and steep rock. But its protected by bolts, so it's not really that scary. (There were actually three bolts, one was rusted and chopped off. The one that replaced that one was pretty shiny, but it was spinning quite a bit. And the third one looked to be about as old as the first one, only it hadn't been chopped. Consequently, I backed up the first bolt with a micro nut.) Once through the first crux there are some balancey moves there are pretty run out. Then you get into some steep stuff again. In the book, this part says 5.10c if you are short, 5.11a if you are tall. You more or less have to get up under a roof, and then traverse out underneath it. But the cliff drops off after like 2 feet, so you are sort of crab-walking out under this roof with tiny hands and smearing feet. The climb went really well. I fell once on the first bolt -- beta; and I fell several times at the second crux -- pump. And actually, there is an optional belay right before the second crux. After trying the moves and falling off a couple of times, I gave the lead to Matt and he finished it.

Super fun day. And now I have a project.