Ten Fingers, 6 Strings: Pop Quiz for Readers

July 19, 2007

Pop Quiz for Readers

Guess what I am going to do this weekend?

A) Enter (and win) a bass fishing competition
B) Try out for the vacated Van Halen lead singer and/or bassist job
C) Destroy the moon
D) Extort $10 from Rick by posting college pics of him beating midgets with a wiffle-ball bat on my Flickr site
E) Steel $10.25 from Jonathan's coffee can
F) Use $20.25 net income to buy beer
F) Go climbing in the Sierras

Wait for it...

Answer: I'm going to attempt to climb Mt. Humphreys (13,896 ft) this weekend. Obviously, the altitude is well under where I was two months ago at this time, but this is way more technical and far more frightening. This is the route to the summit:

I'm actually on tap to lead this route in the "trough" before the summit. The Class 4 part means "no fall zone." If you fall, you make a big owie. But, this is a well climbed route with huge jugs and big footholds to hold onto, plus I got on the wall in the climbing gym a few days ago, for the first time since I left for Everest, and flashed a couple of 5.10A's.

For those of you who don't know the climbing jargon, "flashed" means to complete a climbing route without falling or resting on the rope, but also having some knowledge of the route (aka, watching someone else climb it, or reading how someone else climbed it). 5.10A is the rating, which is much greater than 4. It goes like this: 4, 5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3....5.10A - 5.10D, 5.11A - 5.11D...5.15.

Note--Only one person has ever done a 5.15*: Doug Heinz (not only am I a Liars Club Anonymous Member, I'm also the President; yeah, that's the ticket).

Anyway, we'll be bringing a rope to rappel down to make things easier and more fun, although carrying it in won't be.

We're going to take some video of us climbing this crux, so stay tuned for a little interlude in Everest/Tibet posting to enjoy a report from the glorious Sierras.

-----

*Chris Sharma is the only climber to climb 5.15. Since this is a imperfect metric, there is hotly contest debate as to whether other climbers have climbed "5.15." I mean, how can anyone judge it if they can't do it?

Posted by 10 fingers 6 strings at July 19, 2007 03:43 PM

Comments

Damn. I was hoping for C). I hate that thing.

But do enjoy climbing over that big pile of rock that doesn't stand between you and food, shelter, or women.

Posted by: Ian Wood at July 19, 2007 06:15 PM

You can't seem to stop going up in the world - good luck with your climb.

Uncle Gary

Posted by: Uncle Gary at July 20, 2007 07:50 AM

Ian, you know I wouldn't attempt to destroy the moon without you.

Posted by: TF6S at July 20, 2007 09:11 AM

Going up is the easy part. It's the coming down that worries me.

Posted by: TF6S at July 20, 2007 09:12 AM

Beating up the midgets with wiffle ball bats...I almost forgot that we used to do that to you.

Hope the climb went well. I tried the bass fishing thing this past weekend and well, it was a draw between me and my friend. We both caught zip.

Posted by: Rick at July 24, 2007 05:37 PM

Greetings from DRY Tunisia. I mean DRY in the sense of a DRY campus. It is beautiful here though, on the mediterranean and all. Can't complain. Waiting for a new post here man. You never know, this blog might be my only reason to live dude. It's not, but just sayin'.

Posted by: rick at August 6, 2007 12:10 AM

Dude, there's a new post as of Friday ;-)

Posted by: TF6S at August 6, 2007 09:10 AM

You know I thought there was and when I clicked refresh on my browser it kept bringing me back to the version that had this as the last entry. Well, not I am on a different internet connection and I can read your new stuff. Thanks TF6S, you saved my life.

Posted by: rick at August 6, 2007 11:13 AM