Wen Zawn attempts a hardcover thesaurus with Caff.
A few days ago I was reading a forum thread about UKC started by Chris Craggs. The title of the thread was, danger awareness, this is a link
Chris explains in his opening post,
“We were climbing on the Horseshoe today and Colin pointed out the group to our left. The leader had gone up about six clips, experienced a few falls, and then descended, stripping off any remaining quickdraw on the way down. Another guy Use the rope to pull up to the high bolt, press hard, and then quickly fall down.
I yelled in my best voice on campus that he should be lowered down and have at least one more bolt clamped under him “just in case”. He apologized, thanked me, and did just that. Later one of our team chatted with them, it was their first day climbing outdoors.
I was a bit shocked at their apparent lack of understanding that they could be in danger, bolts don’t usually fail, ropes don’t usually come loose – but it can happen. “
*
Reading this article reminded me (loosely) of a few years ago when Jack Geldard, James McHaffey, Adam Wainwright and I decided to go rock climbing at Win Zahn in Gorgas .
The sky was overcast. That monochromatic sky gives people something to look at, but it’s not a good thing. The four of us rappelled into the swamp. The sea was endless and the boulders were high and slippery. The rain started almost as soon as we started boulder hopping and looking around. The water must have been at high tide as it swirled around the boulders, but was shallower than I’d seen before. The roar of the sea echoes in the closed, dark space. Steep, gleaming walls loom.
Adam and I hoped to climb a route called Rubble first climbed by Paul Pritchard and Leigh McGinley in 1991, an E7 6a route that is the best route in the zawn and probably the softest. Jack and Caff were going to try a Johnny Dawes and Bob Drury E7 6b called the Hardback Thesaurus. Johnny attempted the first ascent of Thesaurus several times over several days and set the standard for the route. In case you haven’t googled it (other search engines available), there is a movie where Johnny tries to climb and repeatedly falls from the climb, which is rated E8, apparently dangerous. Of course, Kraft shows up with a rack of gear (which he doesn’t need) and a few skyhooks (which he does)!
The rain was coming down hard and the four of us hid behind Zain. Mr Softy and The Mad Brown were both routes, Adam and George Smith made their first ascent together. The orange, yellow and gray walls swirling above are flowing water. The light was full of foreboding, and the rocks were dark and getting darker. Oh, well, I thought, not much to do today. At some point, the rain stopped, and Kraft slowly walked across the boulders and stood under the hardcover book.
“Can we try it, Jack?” Kraft suggested.
Jack looked a little confused, but he wasn’t the one to jump onto this wet, unprotected wall, so he said,
“Um, yeah, okay, James.”
[I’ve always known Caff as Caff, but Jack had always called Caff by his proper name, James. To this day, I’ve never really wondered why this is, and I’ve never asked Caff which he prefers?]Adam and I boulder-hopped to the start of the rather crazy-looking, overhanging concrete embankment, which was a patch of rubble. I put my hand on the rock and it was soaked.
“I’m not trying this today, Adam.”
I turned to look deep into Zane, where Kraft (protected by a very concerned Jack) had been pulled up against the wall. I’m pretty sure this attempt would have ended quickly once Kraft determined it didn’t qualify, but cautiously, Kraft made progress. I should have known Kraft would keep going, as in other situations I’ve protected, his tenacity in the face of adverse conditions is remarkable. In some ways, it may have been that dogged perseverance to keep trying when so many things stood in the way of things happening that set Kraft down so many difficult paths.
There’s some weird gear, but as he gets higher up, it’s definitely, a little weirder, and it really doesn’t look that good. Occasionally, Kraft would ask Jack to keep an eye out, although to be honest, I’m sure Jack didn’t have enough distance to run (from one side of Zayn to the other) to prevent a fall.
Kraft makes some pretty tricky, wet, and unprotected moves on the right side and lands a skyhook. If the hook rips, he will definitely hit the ground because the last gear is quite far away from the ground. He wobbled, chalked repeatedly, (remember, the rock was wet!) and his target was a small overhang where he said he could see where the nut might be. He got to the nut, then he yelled that it wasn’t good and placed another skyhook easily over a small edge. After a while, he began a series of seemingly difficult movements that weakened a small overhang. Kraft yelled that he could definitely see a good grip with some gear on it, but in a split second a piece of the slice he was cutting ripped off and he went flying. I have never screamed while watching someone fall before or since. I was sure I was witnessing my friend’s death, but he stopped, a hook on each rope already secured.
“Let me go, Jack.”
He went to the floor and untied the rope. I have to admit I felt a little shaky, Jack looked disgusting, but Kraft looked fine.
“What are we going to do now?” Jack asked, looking up at a damp wall with some gear and two ropes hanging from two distant skyhooks.
Kraft looked up, then turned to Jack and said, “You should try it on the top rope, Jack, those hooks are bombers.”
*
I must admit, Chris’ story and his shock at the climber removing all the guy ropes from under the rope he was lowering and then the next person pulling up the rope from this guy rope and bolt reminded me of The Wyn Zane episode. I wonder if Chris would have had a word with Kraft in his best voice on campus that day?
