My 200 Foot Day

My 200 Foot Day

by Chris Chaney

Publication Date: June 2000

Summer is upon us and the days are longer. Somehow I still don't have enough time to climb. Between a full time job, a part time job, wedding plans, school plans, bouldering and keeping my car running, I just don't seem to have much time for long trad routes anymore.

I've been bouldering all winter, but a couple of weeks ago, I went out with some friends to do some roped climbing and realized I'd lost my lead head. I was scared to be on the sharp end. This really bothered me. Last year in June I realized I'd lost my lead head. At least I caught it early this year.

So, for the last two weeks I've been running around leading routes as much as I could. I've been getting it back. It feels good to be placing gear and running it out again. For a few days, I'd been craving some exposure and excitement - "Roadside Attraction" came to mind. I'd only led Roadside once before and had only climbed it one other time. What better route to solidify my place in the realm of confident leaders?

I had to work until 1:00 p.m. and my chosen climbing partner (we'll call him Tim) had to be back in town at 4:00 p.m. Now I've never been an efficient climber; I'm slow and unorganized at times. I can be very organized when I'm working, but when I'm recreating, I'm just plain lazy. I told Timmy that we'd have to climb fast. I think he took me too literally. I noticed him setting his stopwatch as I began climbing Five Finger Discount, a stellar 5.8, to warm up. We started up Five Finger around 2:00 p.m. I was leading as if it was my career. I flew up the crack to the ledge and then belayed Tim up. We both were on the ledge in less than half an hour. Sixty feet down, one-hundred-and-forty to go. We rappelled to the ground with our rappel devices smoking.

I scooped the rope up and trotted around to the base of Roadside Attraction. Roadside is a classic crack climb. It's moderate in grade at 5.7 and just swallows gear. You can do it in one long pitch to anchors at 140 feet (20 feet from the top of the cliff) or break it down into a multi-pitch route. We opted to do a two pitcher ending at the anchors. We were going to be cutting it close on time.

I stacked the rope, reorganized my gear and blasted up the first pitch. My hands are almost big enough for the jams but I wasn't complaining. The climbing is great and the gear is too. Once on the ledge, I realized I'd used all the gear I needed to build an anchor. I fiddled around and got a meager anchor and put Tim on belay. Four minutes later he was on the ledge panting, telling me to get going on the second pitch.

The next fifteen feet were a little steeper, but I just sprinted up to the little tree, caught my breath for a second, and launched up the next section. The last half of the second pitch is the best part of the route. I kicked into a layback and hiked up to the spacious perch below the final offwidth pod crux section. I allowed myself a couple of minutes to enjoy the view and then swung back into action.

The most notable characteristic of this particular route is the wide section guarding the exit onto the last ledge. You start from a good rest. You can plug in some good gear and then you lieback the edge of an overhanging body-sized cavity in the rock for a body length until you can slip inside. The moves are exhilarating, the exposure is exquisite, and it's only 5.7!

Only a couple moves now. I placed a good cam from my stance in the coffin-sized pod and swung out into the afternoon sunlight again. It had been cool in the depths of the crack. I pulled a couple of moves onto the last ledge and the 18th green.

Tim was tugging on the rope goading me as I set up the belay. He sprinted up the second and last pitch in nine minutes. We'd climbed 200 feet. It was 3:30.

I've never climbed that smoothly and solidly and covered that much ground so fast. It felt really good to spend a couple of hours on a warm, spring day on the rock. I wish every day of climbing could be that productive and fun. I get frustrated when I'm not able to get much mileage in on a climbing day. This day was different. Today was the kind of day you dream of having. I felt really good to be alive.