Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

An Affair With Ten Sleep Canyon

Climbing. The Wild West.
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Dear Ten Sleep Canyon,
Thanks for the amazing time.  Were it not for geography I would definitely make cheating on the New River Gorge a regular occurrence with you.  But the long-distance thing is gonna be hard, so we’re gonna have to settle for a rendezvous every year or two.   
Love you long time,
Cragmama 

Me on the lower section of Mr. Poopy Pants (5.11b)

  

Steve crankin’ in the upper “butt crack” section of Mr. Poopy Pants.

 Over the top?  Not really.  This place was that good – a summer sport climbing paradise I tell ya.  First of all, the canyon was ridiculously impressive, making Spearfish look like nothing more than a small trench in the foothills.  The approaches were long but rewarded us with spectacular vistas and a kid-friendly base (and,on a side note, most of the trails had a gradual enough incline that Cragbaby could successfully get his hike on).  And the climbing?  Absolutely amazing – enough rope-stretching, pocketed limestone routes on vertical to slightly overhanging terrain to last a lifetime.  Ok so if that’s not enough to make you put down your laptop and go buy a plane ticket, then read on…Here’s how our all-too-short 3 days in Ten Sleep went…

Cragbaby the Happy Hiker…

  

So much beauty to explore!

The Flasher!

 Day 1:  Valhalla

We found the rock as a whole to be a lot easier to read than Spearfish.  All the little pockets took some getting used to, but the movement was really fun, and the scenery was great.  
Acid Mother Temple (5.10a) with Face Melter Roof Extension (5.11b/c):  80 feet of fun, face climbing + a steep bulge and more bolts that went on for another 60 feet = quite a pump, and quite an introduction to Ten Sleep Canyon.  Tricky crux up high that probably wouldn’t have been as hard had it occurred 100 feet lower.  Had to hang at the crux bolt on the extension.
Mr. Poopy Pants (5.11b):  Not sure I’ve been on anything better at the grade, certainly not anything more unique.   Vertical stemming led up to a bat guano-laden ledge, and a large bulge that was rather reminiscent of a giant butt – enter the butt crack up the middle, make a burly clip, and stem the cheeks to victory!  
Some Boys Never Learn (5.11c):  A cool layback start led to intermediate anchors (which keeps the route at 5.10c).  But the full value finish pulled at a very steep bulge for another few bolts.  I’d like to blame my hangdog ascent on the spinning hanger and an angry colony of swallows just before the anchors, but my pump clock probably had more to do with it.

Center El Shinto (5.12b)

Day 2:  French Cattle Ranch
Touted as the premier climbing area in the canyon, it was an epic day for our crew that I could relive over and over again.  We got out early, and stayed late (although “late” with a hungry toddler is a little different than “late” for most…)  The Crag-Daddy got his first 5.12 send, and I got my first .12 onsight, as well as ticked off the last few sends I needed for ‘Round the Horn 10-12a!
Big Yellow Butterfly (5.11a):  Another one that had intermediate anchors providing a 5.10 bailout from the business high above.  Fantastic warm-up with a slightly awkward beginning, but big moves wading through a sea of jugs in the upper section.  
Wu Tang’s Secret Shinto Ride (5.12a):  Woo-hoo!  If I could have written a play by play for a perfect route for me to onsight, this would have been it!  Thin, crimpy V4 section for the first 3 bolts, followed by terrain that eased up a couple of letter grades through each subsequent bolt, culminating with a 5.10- finish.  It was nice to be able to scout out the crux from the ground and get the hard stuff out of the way early.  
Center El Shinto (5.12b):  As I said before, I usually don’t like to try stuff I don’t think I can onsight when I’m on longer trips, but this tall, imposing blue streak was beckoning…it also didn’t hurt that it already had draws up on it…Steve was still working on Wu-Tang’s but it was my turn to climb, so I figured I might as well try it.  Sustained, technical 5.11 climbing with a devious crux up high involving a scary clip, and a pumpy finish.  An undeniable classic.  I didn’t send it, but I surprised myself at how well I did, staying clean until I dropped off trying to finagle the right position to clip the crux bolt.  I had no trouble with any of the moves, so I think a redpoint would have come within a few more tries had I been willing to try again, but the rest of our crew was ready to move on to the Back Forty, and I had my ‘Round the Horn ticks to finish up.  

Cool crux moves on Momma’s Mental Medication (5.12a)

Slightly Toasted Cracker (5.11d):  No super hard moves at all, just a relentless array of kinda hard moves all strung together in a row for about 80 feet.  I had the onsight in the bag with one more move left to a nice shake-out jug 15 feet below the anchors, but my left hand was on a razor blade crimp and when I went to re-grip I peeled off.  Pulled the rope and sent next go.
Hell Yes, I Want Cheesy Poofs (5.11c):   To be honest the only reason I got on this one is because we were sitting right below it and I lacked a send at this grade for my ‘Round the Horn project.  It was given a lot of stars in the guidebook, but my efforts from earlier in the day were catching up with me and I didn’t think I could summon the strength needed to send it.  As I started up it I felt that “stale” pump in my forearms – you know, the kind that has been slowly accumulating over several days that makes every hold feel half the size that it really is…The middle section felt pretty desperate but I managed to make it to a good stance to recover (somewhat) before tackling the crux up high.  A cruel bulge with thin hands and smeary feet – but somehow I managed to keep it together and stay clean to the top.

Steve stemming it out on Beer Bong (5.10b)

Day 3:  Mondo Beyondo
In hindsight, this probably should have been a rest day, as we were completely zonked from our exploits from the day before.  But we were running out of climb time, so the rock was calling…
Beer Bong (5.10b):  Wow, what a way to end our time in Ten Sleep.  This was a wild route for sure!  Opening section was nothing special 5.10 face climbing, but the last 20 feet were a chimney that had such a weird sequence of moves that by the time I clipped the chains, my back was to the rock and I was facing out towards the canyon.   
Momma’s Mental Medication (5.12a):  Easy climbing to a few powerful, bouldery moves over a roof.  I blundered my way through this one and it wasn’t pretty.  Sometimes you just gotta know when to call it quits…  

Good times and great sends were definitely had by all, especially on day 2.  I was proud of the whole crew for pushing through to new individual breakthroughs! After the slow start in Spearfish, I was psyched to tick all of my ‘Round the Horn 10a – 12a sends on only our 2nd day in Ten Sleep (4th day overall).  As a bonus, I realized that I actually had an onsight tick for every grade except 5.11d.  (I thought about trying for an .11d onsight at Mondo Beyondo on our last day in Ten Sleep, but I could tell right away that my body was going to rebel if I asked it to try hard.)  We ended up getting an early start on the drive back to South Dakota, and even managed to squeeze in a visit to Mt. Rushmore before sunset.  Stay tuned for the skinny on the summits and spires in the Needles!  Oh yeah, and for the Ten Sleep Picture Gallery, click here.

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A Devilish Rest Day: Devil’s Bathtub and Devil’s Tower

Climbing. The Wild West.
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After 2 days of  crankin’ in Spearfish Canyon, our crew was ready for something a little more low-key.  The only must-do on our agenda was to make our way 3 hours west to Ten Sleep, Wyoming, but nobody said a rest day had to be boring…We had found out from some locals about a surreal swimming hole along Sunshine Creek in Spearfish Canyon, which seemed like a great way to pass by the morning.  It was about a 2 mile hike round trip, along a well-worn trail that was mostly flat and often meandered back and forth across the creek.  But while this hike was just a casual, enjoyable stroll for the grown-ups, it was anything but relaxing for Cragbaby.  His short little legs hiked for much of the way there, and for ALL of the way back, despite acquiring his first bee sting just as we were gearing up to hike out. (He handled it as any man should – 15 seconds of crying and then back to the business of hiking.)  Needless to say, it took about 30 seconds for C to fall asleep in the car after lunch as we made our way to our afternoon pit stop, Devil’s Tower. 

The Crag-Daddy sees an opening and goes for the pass on the left…

  

Family Adventure Racing?

Originally I had really hoped we’d be able to climb on the Tower.  Not only does this giant stand tall and proud as the most dramatic feature for miles and miles, an ascent of the Tower is a prized possession, almost a rite of passage for today’s climbers.  But unfortunately, we can’t do it all.  No matter how we crunched the numbers, the logistics just didn’t work out.  Obviously the biggest logistical dilemma was what to do with Cragbaby…but if that was the only issue we probably could have done some juggling with our friends to make it work.  The other issue was that we had an hour and a half drive to get there, which made the early start we needed to beat the heat impossible.  Not to mention it was supposed to be a rest day. Had we pushed ourselves to summit, I’m sure we would not have had nearly as much success the next few days in Ten Sleep, so it was definitely the right decision to stay on the ground.  

Rest days are fun guys!

Cragbaby on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.  As we walked the 1.3 mile paved path around the base of the Tower, he seemed very confused.  He kept looking and pointing up at columns and cracks, and saying, “Mommy climb that.”  It was as if he couldn’t figure out why we were just walking around.  But our day wasn’t without some climbing excitement.  About3/4’s of the way around, along the Durrance section, we heard a climbing party shouting to each other.  The leader was on a big ledge with a tree, and had somehow dropped his rope (?!?) and was exhibiting an array of dehydration symptoms from atop his perch.  We called up to them, confirmed the details of their situation, and picked up our pace as we headed to the ranger’s station to report the incident.  However, before the rangers could even make it to the base, help was on the way from another group of climbers as well, which as a side note, to me speaks a lot of the selfless generosity that the climbing community so often displays.  

Two cool dudes.

But perhaps the cutest part of our day was on the drive out of the park, when we stopped at the roadside “prairie dog towns.”  There were literally hundreds of these inquisitive little guys scurrying around from one hole to the next.  C had never seen anything like that before, and was quite taken with the prairie dogs.  His enthusiasm scored him his own stuffed prairie dog, as well as his very own disposable  camera (who knew they even made those anymore?) from the trading post just outside the park.  This was unknowingly a brilliant move on our part, as prairie dog made for a surprisingly good road trip companion for C.  His entire 3 hour drive into Ten Sleep was spent taking pictures of us, and pointing out interesting sights for his prairie dog to see – bulldozers, school buses, trees…

I promised Cragbaby that we’d come back someday when we could summit as a family of three…

Meanwhile the grown-ups of both cars were kept awake during the monotonous terrain by scouring for gas stations in the 50+ mile stretch into Buffalo, WY (for the record, there is none…)  The last 5 “exits” we passed before reaching town were actually onto dirt roads that seemingly led into oblivion, and we evidently rolled into Buffalo on nothing but fumes, as we filled up 20.75 out of the 21 gallon tank.  A quarter of a gallon left on an 18 mpg tank – you do the math, there wasn’t much to spare…But after a quick dinner and grocery stop, the last hour of driving into Ten Sleep was uneventful, save the spectacular views as we climbed up to 9000 feet into the canyon and worked our way back down on the other side.  

C and Prairie say bye bye to Devil’s Tower

It was a good thing we’d stopped for groceries in Buffalo, as there was NOT A GROCERY STORE in Ten Sleep.  The entire population of Ten Sleep (all 260 of them) has to drive 30 minutes west to the town of Worland for apparently anything other than gas, beer, and shaved ice.  Our lodging however, the little guest house at the Ten Sleep Motel, was fantastic.  The double wide trailer may not have looked like much on the outside, but on the inside it was a 3 bedroom cabin with a nice kitchen and large living area.  I know I for one had a hard time falling asleep Monday night, as my mind was racing with excitement from the sneak preview we’d gotten of the canyon on the way in…Ten Sleep Canyon report tomorrow!

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Wild West Whirlwind Round 1 – SPEARFISH CANYON

Climbing. The Wild West.
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Yippee-Kiy-Yay(5.10b) – a 5-star warm-up!

As most of you already know, our family just got back from a whirlwind climbing trip to South Dakota and Wyoming.  To say that the trip was a success would be an understatement – we had a fabulous time, and as I look outside at my droopy, hot backyard as I type this, my only regret is that we’d had more time to spend out there!  This trip was a far cry from our usual weekend excursions, and in a lot of ways, it was somewhat of a “luxury trip” (for us anyway…though it probably doesn’t fit most people’s definition of “luxurious.”)  For starters, we opted to fly rather than drive – hubby didn’t have that much vacation time to spare, so if we wanted to maximize our time, we needed to go by air.  (Plus, full disclaimer, we also happened to have frequent flyer tickets for all 3 of us, so that made it a no-brainer…)  Secondly, we didn’t camp!  Since we’d saved so much money on plane tickets, we decided to splurge and pay for lodging that came with a bed.  Traveling with all of our climbing gear is obnoxious enough, so it was nice to be able to leave the tent and sleeping bags at home this time.  

The term “whirlwind” however, is not an exaggeration – in 8 days we managed to climb in 3 different major climbing areas, visit 4 different National Park sites, and leave completely unscathed save a bee sting and a couple of annoying patches of poison ivy.  I couldn’t possibly cover it all in one blog post, so I’ve decided to break the trip down into several smaller trips over the course of the next week or so.  And for my fellow Southeastern compadres, this will give you multiple chances to live vicariously through some folks that were lucky enough to escape the heat and humidity for a while…

My little flower child…

  

Our first stop was in Spearfish, South Dakota.  We rolled in around midnight (2 am our time…) to the Spearfish Creek Inn and were surprisingly up and at ’em fairly early the next morning  (sometimes jet lag works in good ways!)  We picked The Mohican as a starting point, figuring we could handle a couple of hours of sun before it went into the shade for the rest of the day.  We quickly found out that we were wrong – although it was pleasant under the shade of the ponderosa pines, the rock was baking and pretty much unbearable in the sun.  Thankfully by the time everyone got done with their warm-ups though, the sun had finished torturing us and moved on, leaving us in shade the rest of the day.  

Steve warming up on some sweet Spearfish limestone!

Spearfish Canyon is definitely the place to go to avoid the crowds – we were there on a Saturday and a Sunday in the best areas the canyon had to offer, and ran into only one other party the entire time.  The rock at Spearfish is limestone – mostly tan, with large chunks of black streaks.  We found the tan rock to be pretty polished in some places, and the black rock to be much sharper, and significantly harder to read.  We’d been warned that the grading was pretty stiff, and definitely found that to be true – many routes felt at least 2 letter grades harder than what they were rated.  Nothing felt like a gimme, even the warm-ups.  I felt like I had to battle for every send, and I never even tried anything past my usual onsight level.  If our crew was had been into putting up big numbers, we would have been quite disappointed and left with shrunken egos, but the setting was spectacular and the movement and position on the climbs was outrageous – hardly worth complaining about!  

 Day 1 Routes:
The Mohican Wall – steep hike, but not too long, with a base that was doable for a toddler, but not ideal.  The chunky, blocky rock at the base kept Cragbaby well-entertained and a safe distance from the steep scree slopes just off the trail.  
Yippee-Kiy-Yay (5.10b): Gently overhanging and sustained 5.10 moves all the way up.  Throw in the fact that being my first climb there it took me a while to read the rock, and needless to say I was more than a little pumped at the top.  Not really what I w as expecting for a warm-up…Welcome to Spearfish!!!
Lady in Red (5.10d):  The only route I did at Spearfish that felt true to grade.  Thin crux up high that was hard to read and almost spit me off at the last second.  
Juggernuts (5.11b/c):  This was a battle.  And I lost.  I fought hard up through the roof, trying desperately to shake out and milk every rest that I could while I tried to unlock the puzzle of what I thought was the crux sequence – finally figured out the moves and pulled the roof clean…and then I promptly realized that what I had thought was the crux was not even half as hard as the next section.  Motivation fizzled and I slumped onto the rope to figure out the real crux, hang-dogging the rest of my way up.  

Possibly my favorite climbing shot of the entire trip…this is me on the upper section of Ka-Pow (5.10c) at Blue Sky on Day 2.

Tonight’s dinner was noteworthy because it was the first of many evenings spent eating buffalo burgers while donning a cowgirl hat.  Our evening was spent scouring the guidebook in search of rock that might be a little less pumpy for Day 2…

Climbing with the whole family!

Day 2 Routes:
After realizing the day before that 5000 feet was still too low to be in the sun, we opted to start our day on one side of the canyon, and move to the other in the afternoon, in effect hiding from the sun all day.  Our plan worked out rather nicely, especially since our car ride coincided well not only with Cragbaby’s afternoon nap, but also with an isolated thunder shower on the way to our afternoon destination.  Our morning was spent at Blue Sky, and the afternoon at Sunshine Buttress.  The hike to Blue Sky was pretty short, but the base was not kid-friendly at all.  In fact it was downright dangerous for any mobile child.  The narrow base trail hugged the cliffline, and then immediately dropped off to a steep, rock-strewn slope, several hundred feet down to the highway.  We actually put Cragbaby in his harness and made sure that he stayed tied in to one of us at all times.  He wasn’t thrilled about the idea at first, but at some point I think he thought we were letting him lead climb, because he wanted to wear all the quickdraws on his harness while he clambered around at the base.  Sunshine Buttress, on the other hand, was the perfect kid crag.  A 5 minute approach, and a large flat base with plenty of room to play!
Tasting Time (5.10a):  Loooong route that was pretty techy for the grade.  
Ka-Pow (5.10c):  Definitely the burliest 5.10 I’ve ever been on.  I sent it, but it took everything I had – hard roof pull down low, with a couple of long and technical moves on crimps up high.  The view at the top made it well worth all the effort to get there.
Goat’s Milk (5.11a):  Outstanding route.  Crux sequence was long with really intricate and sequenced beta – but I’m gonna go ahead and call BS on 5.11a – it felt every bit of solid .11d to me. I knew this would be the last route of the day, as well as the last route in the canyon, and it was definitely worth doing again,so I rehearsed the moves a bit more as I was being lowered, and then pulled the rope and tried again.  My next attempted I botched my foot beta and therefore came up short to the clipping hold.  I lowered off again and the third go was the charm. Really?  Three go’s for .11a?  Nothing like the sweet taste of humble pie to end the weekend.  🙂 

The budding photographer was snapping shots all week…

‘Round the Horn 5.10a – 5.12a:  I don’t like to project very much in new areas – I’d rather spend more of my time sampling lots of routes I think I can onsight (Non-climber’s Note – an onsight is sending a route on lead on your first try, meaning no hangs on the rope or falls), rather than getting sucked into working on one route for most of the trip.  So I thought a good trip goal for me would be ‘Round the Horn 5.10a – 5.12a.  In other words, a send of 5.10a up through 5.12a, and every letter grade in between.  Most of those grades are onsightable for me, so I figured that was a goal that would test my multi-day endurance, as well as give me a chance to push my onsight level up.  This would also still allow me to get in lots of climbs since, most of the routes would go on the first try.  I knew the 5.10’s would come naturally in warm-ups, but I had hoped to tick at least one of the harder 5.11’s in Spearfish, rather than waiting several days into the trip to tackle all the hard stuff.  But after seeing how stiff the grading was in Spearfish, I had my doubts as to whether I’d be able to meet my goal.  By the end of Day 2, my send list had all four 5.10’s (a-d), and one 5.11a, leaving 5.11b-d for Ten Sleep.   Thankfully there was a well-timed rest day in between…(stay tuned for more, and in the mean time check out my Spearfish Photo Gallery!

 

 

 

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A Pilot Mountain Legend: Lloyd Ramsey…

Climbing. Reflections.
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This is the second time in under a month that I have had to post about the loss of a North Carolina climber.  It’s definitely not getting easier, and I certainly don’t want to make this a habit.  This one really hits me hard because Lloyd Ramsey is someone whom I knew very well.  In fact, I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I’ve climbed at Pilot Mountain and haven’t ran into him.  Lloyd was a staple figure at the park, and anyone who has climbed in the area with any amount of regularity would recognize him.   Not a lot is known about what happened on Monday evening – in fact, it’s been hypothesized that he may have even fallen while hiking out at the end of the day rather than while climbing.  But when he failed to check back in with the rangers per his usual m.o., they went out looking for him, and he was pronounced dead on the scene, at the base of the Three Bears Gully.   Lloyd and I had actually been talking and emailing back and forth in recent months quite a bit, as he was anxious to contribute to the guidebook work in any way that he could.  I had even written up a character piece on him that I was hoping to include, but he had always brushed it off that there were people that were “far more interesting to read about than him.”  That being said, I think now more than ever Lloyd deserves a page or two to shine in the upcoming guidebook.  I spent all day yesterday revising and extending the piece that I had already prepared.  The following is a rough draft of the latest version, and it seemed appropriate to share an excerpt on the blog… 

Lloyd Ramsey 1942-2012

“When I first informed Lloyd Ramsey that I wanted to do a profile on him for this guidebook, he was flabbergasted that anyone would want to read about him in a book, and hardly felt as though he deserved such an “elevated status” (his words).  Though some perhaps found his quirks and oddities less endearing than others, Lloyd was a good-hearted man that was a permanent fixture at Pilot for many years.  Those facts alone were enough to warrant his mention in this book, but now that he’s gone, I think including him is essential to preserve and honor his memory. 

Were the park staff ever to give out a perfect attendance award, it’s safe to assume that Lloyd would be the leading candidate.  Living only a few miles outside of the park, Lloyd spent the majority, if not all, of his free time on the mountain.  Though never employed by the state park system, Pilot Mountain was Lloyd’s home away from home, and his love for both climbing and this particular crag was evident to all who had the fortune of meeting him.  On weekdays he would show up promptly at 10 am to claim “his” parking place.  He would then spend his day in solitude, rope-soloing the popular moderate lines that get overloaded with traffic on the weekends.  On Saturdays and Sundays, Lloyd arrived much earlier, and was typically the first to hike in to the crag.  Weekends seemed to be more about socializing than actual climbing for Lloyd, as he would make his rounds from group to group, watching others climb and memorizing their exact beta.  He would file this information somewhere in his head, and then be ready to recall it again at a moment’s notice.  Most Pilot regulars were on a first name basis with him, and newbie climbers were usually very appreciative of his extensive and anecdotal knowledge of the cliff. 

 Lloyd also had the uncanny ability to know exactly when something exciting was going on, and he always wanted to be a part of it.  Although you never knew where and when he’d show up, it was a foregone conclusion that he was lurking somewhere on the mountain, just waiting to pop up, often at the most random of times.  One of my fondest memories of Lloyd was the very first time I got on Blind Prophet in the Amphitheater.  I was at the upper crux and kept taking repeated whippers.  All of a sudden I heard a voice coming from up top, on the other side of the Amphitheater.  It was Lloyd, “encouraging” me by shouting, “That’s why they call it 5.12!”  He then proceeded to give me an unrequested run-down of the crux beta of every person he’d ever seen on the route.  He asked me how tall I was, did a few calculations in his head, then with a worried look on his face shouts back, “Uh-oh, you’re in trouble!”  I admit that at the time his “advice” was not that well-received, but what Lloyd may have lacked in tactfulness, he more than made up for in sincerity.  No one cheered harder for me than Lloyd when I came back two weeks later and sent the route.

Lloyd doing what he loved…

Lloyd passed away at the base of the Three Bears Gully sometime on July 30, 2012.  Many of the details surrounding his death remain uncertain, but those who knew him can hopefully find solace in knowing that Lloyd’s final moments were spent doing what he loved best in the place he loved most.  I think it’s safe to say that Pilot Mountain will never be the same without Lloyd Ramsey.  No matter how much time goes by, I know I for one will probably always half-expect to see him popping out from behind a rock with his camera, or hear his unmistakable guffaw from farther down the trail.  But although in my heart I know that won’t happen again, I like to think that he now has a special bird’s eye view of everything happening on the mountain.  Rest in peace Lloyd Ramsey.”

I am also considering adding in some quotes from other climbers that interacted with Lloyd on a frequent basis.  If anyone has anything to add – whether it be a one-liner or a longer story, please submit it on here in the comments section, or email it to me privately.  For any interested, here is a link to an article in a Mt. Airy online newspaper.  Also, I will post a comment as soon as I find out about funeral arrangements, so keep checking back if you are interested in that information.

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Trango in da House – and on the Trad Wall!

Climbing.
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I’ve probably said it before, but one of the best parts about climbing is the people who do it – they tend to be pretty fun to hang out with.  Thankfully our local climbing gym, Inner Peaks (IP for the cool folk…), figured this out a while ago, as evidenced in the member parties they have several times per year.  Even though our family has only been in Charlotte for a little over a year, we’ve had a chance to check out the party scene at IP more than a few times, and we’ve never come away disappointed.  This one was no exception – and this time around me and Cragbaby got to try out our new roles as Trango booth babes.  🙂  

I’d been wanting to do a booth at one of these shindigs for a while, and considering that IP just put the finishing touches on their new “Trad Wall” last week, this weekend made for the perfect opportunity.  What’s a Trad Wall, you might ask?  Well, it’s a nifty little unit filled with rocks that are carefully arranged in such a way to make cracks and openings of varying sizes. In other words, picture a stone wall without any of the grout.  It’s a great tool for practicing gear placements, and will be the centerpiece of numerous introductory trad climbing classes at the gym this fall.  

Cragbaby sampling the food while we wait for the party to get started!

But for Trango’s purposes, it was a perfect backdrop for the booth, since passersby could actually do something more with the gear besides just talking and pulling on cam triggers over and over.  And judging by all the gear talk going on at the booth, I think the evening was a success!  I’d say that the majority of my booth visitors were newer climbers, many just starting to accumulate a rack – making it a great time to introduce some Trango products that they might not be familiar with.  I also got a handful of experienced traddies as well as some gym rats – all of whom had fun fiddling with Trango gear on the Trad Wall!  Although I’m sure I had at least one conversation involving every piece of gear that I had brought, there were a few talking points that stole the show over and over and had me feeling like a broken record by the end of the night…

SPLITTER CAMS – The stability of a 4-cam unit with the ability to squeeze into tighter spaces like a 3-cam unit?  Even experienced traddies were impressed with the innovation here.  Intrigued?  Review coming soon!

EXTENDABLE SLINGS – Even newbie gym rats could see the advantage of not having to drag up a bunch of extra slings with you.

ALPINE EQUALIZER – 99% of the folks passing through my booth had never even heard of this piece of equipment before, so it got a lot of action dangling from the chains on the Trad Wall.  The consensus can be summed up from what one particular climber said to me after testing it out – “Gimmicky?  Yes…but I sure wish I’d thought of it…”

SMOOTH QUICKDRAWS – Newbs were impressed with their sex appeal, experienced sport monkeys favborably compared them to the Petzl Spirits – an all around score for Trango!  (It’s also no secret how much I love clipping into these babies – here’s my review…)

HOW DO I GET SPONSORED AND GET FREE GEAR?  Ironically enough, it seemed that 1 out of every 4 people that approached my booth had this burning question on their mind.  I shared a few ideas, but considering that all of them were males under the age of 18, I’m not sure how much they can really glean from my strategy…
1.  Get Knocked Up, Keep Climbing.
2.  Give Birth, Keep Climbing.  
3.  Raise Toddler, Keep Climbing.  
4.  Blog about all of the above.  

Not sure I’d want to fall on ANY of his placements, but he’s got the right idea at least 🙂

All in all, I’d say I represented for Team Trango pretty well in my booth…but unfortunately I can’t say the same about my performance in the Cornhole tournament.  Despite the addition of cornhole boards to several recent family events, my meager skills were no match for the tail-gating frat boys we got pitted against in the second round.  Oh well.  I better stick to climbing, but I suppose there’s still a shot for Cragbaby to become the resident cornhole expert yet – his exuberant shouts of “CORN!!!!” could be heard reverberating across the gym.  Thankfully the other teams were all good sports didn’t mind our team having an “assistant” on the playing field, despite his tendencies towards the occasional snatch and grab.  

This is probably all you’ll here from me over the next 2 weeks – in a couple of days our family is taking a long-awaited trip to one of the few areas of the country that still has good sending temps – Tensleep Canyon, WY!  We’ll also be hitting Spearfish Canyon, Devil’s Tower, and the Black Hills while we’re out there.  While I won’t be blogging at all while I’m gone, I will be keeping my Twitter and Facebook pages updated, so feel free to check those out.  Oh yeah, and be ready for an onslaught of pictures and trip reports when I get back in August!  

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“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN