Blog

Learning to Fly

• March 2009
• Simple Living Climb Training

For the last month or two, I’ve been pretty motivated for training. In fact, I was liking it so much, I wasn’t really thinking about much else. I tend to get kind of focused on whatever I’m doing, and sometimes need to be yanked out of my groove 🙂


Then my friend Bronco (Adam) rolled into town and reminded me it was time to stop training and start climbing! He had to drag me off my wall, off the Tombstone, and down to the Creek. Which was actually kind of easy for him, since I’m highly infatuated with his little dog Sam (Samantha). Plus Bronco is crafty. First he climbed on my wall with me. Then he and Sam went to the top of the Tombstone with me. Then next thing I knew, I was in the F150 with Sam in my lap and headed down to the Creek. You see how he rolls.

March is perhaps the primo climbing month in the desert. It’s still not too hot, the days are longer, and the energy cranks up a notch at Indian Creek with lots of climbers and friends coming through.

I’ve always been meaning to check out the route “Learning to Fly,” which is one of the crack testpieces. I mean, first of all, what a great name! I always find ratings to be basically pointless, with any kind of climbing, but especially with cracks. So far the only rating system that makes sense to me is this: easy, pretty hard, and hard. I saw the plaque at the base, and discovered the first ascensionist was totally on my wavelength!

I spent a day on it alone, wiping off the old tick marks and finding my own, trying to figure out a sequence. I went back another day with my friends Mario and Diego, and managed to climb it clean twice with my mini-traxion set up while they climbed some of the other awesome cracks at the cliff.

I figured I could go one more time and train it again, and then probably be ready to send it. But my friend Pete Mortimer seems to have an uncanny ability to show up right when sending is about to happen. He was passing through town the next day on his way to Arizona with his friend Jim, and offered to give me a belay. I always like to be totally ready to send before I actually make someone belay me on a project, but figured, hey, why not? Pete always has really good energy, and you never know. I surprised myself by falling off the very last move. I gave another good try, and fell two moves lower, but it made me really really psyched! Because when you fall off the last move, then you know: next time for sure!

This Learning to Fly climb is a funny route. It’s not very long, but it’s steep and pretty burly. I asked my friend Peewee for some beta before I went to see it, and he said, “the more you can lock-off on one arm (no feet) the easier the route will be… Slow campus boarding would be a good training….” True. The moves are powerful, and they keep going. This crack felt more to me like Rifle power-endurance fitness.

The thing I most noticed was that when I hit the big horizontal at almost the end of the route, I suddenly and with no warning felt like I wanted to throw up! Which is inconvenient, since there are more hard moves to be done before you reach the ledge and the anchors. And it was funny, because it happened each time I got there. So after the second time, I just factored it in to one of the challenges of this particular route.

Peewee also reminded me to wear tight shoes, which was a good tip, since I almost always wear Moccasyms on cracks. But when it’s a thin finger crack, Velcros are definitely the ticket.

I rested for two whole days, no jumping even!! I didn’t want to do something silly like sprain my ankle…. Then I went back with my friend Adeline. I climbed up to the big horizontal, and naturally felt the urge to throw up. Adeline is one of those wonderfully encouraging belayers who calls out supportive things at all the right moments. Happily, I did not throw up, and made it to the top!

I spent about fifteen minutes cleaning all my ticks with water and a rag, like I always do after a crack project, and spent a while admiring the beautiful clean crack, which Adeline found very amusing.

I love leaving a route nicer than I found it, and cleaning things gets me pretty excited. It’s okay if my friends laugh at me 🙂