Cap'n Ron and I held our semi-regular "Theory of Gravity Tests" in the California desert recently. We think we have solid evidence of gravity's existence, but since it is merely a theory and cannot be directly observed, we are also open to the possibility that I fell 25 feet to the earth because of Intelligent Design.
We had 5 days planned in Joshua Tree, with as much climbing as we could stand and some decent beer consumption on the schedule.
Being a complete asshole, I fell on the first climb off the deck. On lead. And it was a grounder. Left foot? Totally hosed. Twisted knee, strained calf muscle, and FUBAR heel. (Your hero later learns that ligaments are torn and muscles bruised. Three weeks after the fact, he walks fairly normally in the right shoes).
The rock is called TrashCan Rock, and despite its name, it has some nice 60-80 foot crack and face climbs on its western face.
We choose a series of moderate cracks for our first couple of climbs, and figure to set a top rope on some of the harder face routes here. There is literally no one else here (rare at any time in J Tree) so we feel pretty smug about our choice to stay here and get some easy leads under out belts before hitting the bigger routes.
So we gear up and get ready to climb a nice corner crack that looks promising. It angles left and rises up to a nice looking face above it. I grab the rack, tie in, and start up the climb.
The first three moves are great. Positive holds and nice solid rock. As I start up, I remember how rough and sharp the rock in J Tree can be. The crystals embedded in the rock provide nice grip, but they cut the crap out of your hands (and any other part of you that comes in contact with it. Last time I was here I took a fall on an angled slab and sliced my hip open nicely).
I make enough moves to get up to the spot I had eyed for my first piece of protection and take a chock from my rack and wedge it into the crack. The piece just doesn’t quite fit and doesn’t feel right, and there is about 10 feet of hard climbing above it before the next solid stance, so I choose another piece and set it.
After some unnerving fumbling, I place a new nut. It locks in just like it is supposed to, and I make two rather awkward moves up to another stance in the crack.
Looking at the crack above me, I know exactly the piece I need to place. I get a solid stance and reach down to grab the piece I need.
And my feet come off.
Ground Fall! Great Job!
Change of plans.
5 days in Joshua Tree with as much beer as I could drink to wash down my pain killers.
Still, being smashed on prescription meds in the desert beats working, which is what I was supposed to be doing at the time. (This is what Distance Learning is for!).
All said, we did manage to get some climbing in. I couldn't walk much, but with the rock shoes on I could climb, so we went for some mid-grade "sport" routes*. Cap'n Ron had a nice lead on a sketchy two-bolt face climb to get over the "I just watched someone deck" jitters. I led the same route later on, and I eventually managed a short traditional lead on our last day. Not all was lost.
To summarize: Trip planned 6 months ago. Training in the gym for 5 months. 24 hours to get to the rock. First climb: ground fall.
*In J Tree, a sport route is anything with a bolt on it. Most 60 foot routes have at least one. Can you say, scary?
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