I spent two days climbing on Southern Illinois Bluffs with Franck (Jeff joined us Sunday afternoon) this last weekend. I got in a total of seven leads. All were fun, some where ugly and the best ones...were hard, both physically and mentally. Of the seven, four still stand out in my mind. First was "Mike's Climb". It was a short 5.8+ route (got a bit reachy) but required a bit of skill to put in good pro. (note: I didn't just climb it cause it was called Mike's climb...ok...maybe a small part of the reason... :)Second and undoubtedly my favorite climb of the trip and most likely my favorite lead to date . The Soill classic, Ant Killer (5.9), one thing about this climb, it's steady, every move is physically and mentally demanding. To add to that there are very few places for your right foot on the way up, so you are forced to resort to the friction that your shoe provides. I top-roped this climb back in March (and boy was that something back then), it wasn't until now, after my lead, placing all the gear, that I realized how far I have come in this crazy ass sport. With the weather in the high 90's, about 2/3 the way up, I stopped for some water. Even with that, I felt that I had reached a mile stone after my safe rappel back to the ground. I learned two things on this climb....first, stemming is your friend, second...remember your belay device. (do'h)
The third climb was "High Flying Bird" a 5.8 I would add a + to the end if it was up to me due to the committing nature of a few key moves. The climb can be broken down in the three parts and in the guide book it says it's "two pitches". I did both pitches in one go because it just seemed silly to stop at the anchor chains because I had enough rope left, there was little rope drag, and I had enough pro/gear to finish it.
The first section was a 20-25 foot slab climb with two bolts, you could use trad gear on this if you want, but can get a bit dicey. The second part (which Franck commented to me later, "you left a lot of blood up there" and I did) is two roofs. To get over each roof, you need to place a piece, and commit to the move, meaning no stopping till you were up over each of the roofs, or it was at least a 10 foot whipper. Each roof I double my protection, committed and pulled off each of the roofs both were followed by a loud grunt of "HYAAAAA". The Last section of the climb or the "seldom climbed second pitch" according to the guide book, what modorate, however, slick and dirty as hell. Lichen grew everywhere. I found myself having to clean the rock to get good holds or gear placement. "Adventure climbing" is how I have started to refer to this type of climbing". Looks fun, just do it, regardless of if it's actually good, clean, or popular.
The fourth climb "Cave City" was interesting and had the elements of an offwidth, a chimney, and a crack.
Protection was there, but took some finagling. I did find the guide book a bit amusing "Be comfy leading 5.6 a whipper here would get ugly fast". There is a series of cracks near the top that are big enough to walk in and explore. I didn't do it on lead. (Next time and I'll bring my head lamp) Franck however did when he was following up the climb. I don't think he ever mentioned to me what was in there.....
So it was a good weekend (as far as climbing) I did learn one important lesson...watch out for people above you... We were packing up to head out and I heard ROCK ROCK ROCK the three of us (Jeff and joined us in the afternoon) scattered, I apparently didn't move the right way fast enough and THUMP! I got nailed in the middle of my back by a rock from about 60 feet up. It's looking like it's just gonna be a bruise. The rock had come from some folks setting up a TR above cave city. At least they were kind enough to yell ROCK.
Just a note: The next time I am down there i'd like to climb the wide crack to the left in the second picture. We didn't have enough of the right gear to do it, Lotta big stuff and it'll get ugly. Back story (cause it's amusing...) The crack was first lead in '81 using a tape measure, saw and 2x4's. The leader would climb up some, measure, then the belayer would cut the 2x4 to the correct width needed for that section of the crack and toss the piece up to the leader. I think I'll be waiting till I have all the "modern" gear in hand to try this one.
The first section was a 20-25 foot slab climb with two bolts, you could use trad gear on this if you want, but can get a bit dicey. The second part (which Franck commented to me later, "you left a lot of blood up there" and I did) is two roofs. To get over each roof, you need to place a piece, and commit to the move, meaning no stopping till you were up over each of the roofs, or it was at least a 10 foot whipper. Each roof I double my protection, committed and pulled off each of the roofs both were followed by a loud grunt of "HYAAAAA". The Last section of the climb or the "seldom climbed second pitch" according to the guide book, what modorate, however, slick and dirty as hell. Lichen grew everywhere. I found myself having to clean the rock to get good holds or gear placement. "Adventure climbing" is how I have started to refer to this type of climbing". Looks fun, just do it, regardless of if it's actually good, clean, or popular.
The fourth climb "Cave City" was interesting and had the elements of an offwidth, a chimney, and a crack.Protection was there, but took some finagling. I did find the guide book a bit amusing "Be comfy leading 5.6 a whipper here would get ugly fast". There is a series of cracks near the top that are big enough to walk in and explore. I didn't do it on lead. (Next time and I'll bring my head lamp) Franck however did when he was following up the climb. I don't think he ever mentioned to me what was in there.....
So it was a good weekend (as far as climbing) I did learn one important lesson...watch out for people above you... We were packing up to head out and I heard ROCK ROCK ROCK the three of us (Jeff and joined us in the afternoon) scattered, I apparently didn't move the right way fast enough and THUMP! I got nailed in the middle of my back by a rock from about 60 feet up. It's looking like it's just gonna be a bruise. The rock had come from some folks setting up a TR above cave city. At least they were kind enough to yell ROCK.
Just a note: The next time I am down there i'd like to climb the wide crack to the left in the second picture. We didn't have enough of the right gear to do it, Lotta big stuff and it'll get ugly. Back story (cause it's amusing...) The crack was first lead in '81 using a tape measure, saw and 2x4's. The leader would climb up some, measure, then the belayer would cut the 2x4 to the correct width needed for that section of the crack and toss the piece up to the leader. I think I'll be waiting till I have all the "modern" gear in hand to try this one.
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