Sunday’s challenging lead was the first pitch of Birdie Party (P1: 5.8+). Dana belayed me encouragingly while I tried to find a brass nut I could believe in. Eventually I got one that was perfectly good–as long as it never felt so much as an ounce of outward force. Suddenly I was longing for Snooky’s Return. At least there I’d have another piece between me and the ground. Here my life depended on a) a brass nut, b) my ability to pull the crux move without falling, or c) Todd’s spot. It was “c” that ultimately gave me the courage to try the move.

The funny thing was that, having done that move, I discovered that I was only then at the crux. Us shorter folk have an extra thin move to get to the crux. The lucky thing was that, having done that move, the crux wasn’t really that intimidating. At least I had hands for it. Lecture all you like about trusting your feet, on lead I’ll take a nice set of hands any day.

Todd led Welcome to the Gunks (5.10). It was a good lead, that I couldn’t follow! After falling a few times before I even got to the first of the four roofs, I decided that today wasn’t the day to work a route. I felt too bad about Todd being stuck so far off the ground without even a hat (I saw actual snowflakes on Sunday – boo!) and Dana stamping around on the ground waiting for his turn to get moving. So I decided to come down and save it for another day. I was awfully proud of Todd though who led the intimidating route with confidence and style.

With me getting my first 5.9, Steven ticking off a few 5.10 triumphs, and Todd breaking into 5.11s, it’s been a great October for the whole team. Of course, it has occurred to me that if Todd and Steven keep moving up a grade every time I do, I’ll never catch up to them. That’s OK though. As this weekend proved, it’s not how hard someone climbs but how much fun you have climbing with them.