Met my buddy Deno at the Gunks this weekend. We only met for the day and both of us were feeling pretty knackered. He'd been whooping it up on a party boat the day before, and I'm still in the grips of grading exams and finishing up the school year. Still, it was a sunny day and plenty of routes to get on there.
Drunkard's Delight. I can't figure out if it's really 5.7 or 8-, but it's pretty fun regardless. I lead the first pitch, although linking it into one long pitch would not be bad at all. I was psyched to see Deno pull thru the roof with ease though, and it's never a bad thing hanging out, literally, at the gunks. Deno then lead Bloody Mary, cruising it in much better style than a few weeks ago. I then lead V-3 in the smoothest style I had yet. Sure I sent last season and toproped earlier this spring, but it's just a fun and interesting line.
And from here we walked over to NeverNeverLand. I hadn't planned on hitting this, but when I showed it to Deno he had the grin that says, "this looks tasty." I'd always thought that if there was a route to break into 10's on at the Gunks, this was the one. It just suits my style as it's thin, balancy, and technical with not alot of thuggery or big muscle jug hauling. There as a group of 3 on Absurdland (the route I figured we'd do) that really leant some positive energy my way. The number 3 stopper protected the opening move, and stepping to the pin and on to the bolt was balancy, but no show stopping moves involved. Then cam the crux. Scum the right foot on a small divot and high step onto another small hold as you crimp dime edges. I made the mistake of looking at the bolt below me, thinking I could be looking at my first fall of the season, and a good one at that as the sewing machine kicked in for the first time in a while. Deno and the 3-some continued to send the positive vibes though, and I began to think that this would actually go! Another pin, a cam, and a few moves higher, I needed to decide whether to move right for the original 5.9 finish or keep on the 5.10 to the left. I placed the Gold #2 in the horizontal and began moving left to the encouragement of my new posse. At this point Deno and I are speaking nihongo to each other and posse chick #1 is asking if we're discussing whether or not posse girl #2 (aka NOLS chick) is cute or not. Incidentally, NOLS chick was having none of that. Back to the route...Seeing the last pin above and knowing that the top was close, coupled with wanting the onsight so bad, helped me to keep it together at the top. It wasn't until I was at the bottom again, dripping with sweat and looking up with a grin that I realized how I was looking at VERY nice swing with the Camelot 3 ft. to the right and 3-4 ft below my feet. It was only then that that pleasant calm and centered feeling that really settled in. I drove home shirtless to keep the carseat from getting too nappy.
The onsight made the day!!
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