Signs from Above

This year for my birthday we decided to take a weekend class on gear placement and crack climbing techniques. It was really a great time. I will need a lot of practice before I can lead a trad climb, but at least I have a place to start.

Now I need to figure out what gear I want to buy...yeah...that's going to take some time since a Cam will cost anywhere from $45 to $100. Ouch, my pocketbook is already empty.

Back to the weekend -- Our first day was warm and nice, we sat and talked mostly. The best part was learning the anchors and practicing placing gear while on the ground, which covered the whole day. We did a mock climb where we were on top rope and got to faux lead the climb and place our gear. Then one of our instructors would tell us how unsafe the placement was -- they were very kind, but it let me know that I need much more practice. It was a lot of fun.

Day two was all climbing. The point wasn't to send the climb as much as practice the movements, and figure out other techniques. I really struggled with that until the end of the day, but I'm starting to figure it out. At one point of the day, I was walking over to belay for a climber that was going to clean the anchor. As we were walking, a huge boulder crashed right next to us. If I had been moving a little faster it could possibly have crushed my head.

The sign from above reads -- "Watch for falling rocks."