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About Tradgirl | ||
by Dawn Alguard, 12/12/99
After my last trip report, Steven Cherry emailed me to say it was a shame that someone who lives less than two hours away from the Gunks went all the way to Joshua Tree for her first trad lead (actually, I think the word he used was "criminal"). In fact, I hadn't been to the Gunks at all. He offered to rectify the situation and since we already know that I don't say no to climbing, we pretty quickly had a date set up for Sunday.
I'm not sure I can put together a decent trip report for my Sunday with Steven. He's a nice guy and I had a good time but one of the requisite ingredients is missing - no one predicted that I'd end up dead by the end of the day. This is not meant to imply any lack on Steven's part; I'm sure he's just as fearsome as the next rec.climber. But since I didn't need anyone to drop me off at the airport or pick me up from the airport or allow me to take vacation days without 2 months' prior notice, I just didn't tell anyone I was going. Of course if my life were a movie the one time that no one knew where I was or how to arrest the person I was with would naturally be the one time I had picked an ice-ax wielding maniac to climb with. Nevertheless, the score currently stands at: Murdered 0, Not Murdered 3.
So on to the climbing. I wasn't expecting to get to lead. I thought Steven was planning to work on my seconding skills for a while before letting me near the sharp end. So I was surprised when at the foot of our first route he asked me if I'd like to lead the second pitch. There followed a slight pause which Karl Baba and GeoffCJ would have recognized. You might think that I'm reflecting on the route, the protection opportunities, and my skill level as it relates to the above. Actually, it's more like the hesitation of a child being offered a cookie jar. I'm always afraid that if I reach out for it, it will be yanked away. I said OK - slowly, hesitatingly, one eye on the cookie jar, one eye on the hand that might pull it away. It wasn't a trick.
Steven didn't get to lead another thing all day. He's amazingly patient and dedicated to the role of teacher. I got a complete blow-by-blow critique after each lead, everything from placements to rope management. It was very helpful. I have a lot to remember for the next time and a much clearer idea of where my weaknesses as a leader are.
My best achievement of the day was leading Laurel, a 5.7+. I was pleased that in one day at the Gunks I managed to get so close to my best lead at J-Tree and also pleased that I actually placed a tricam on Laurel (Steven tells me I won't be a real Gunks climber until I learn to love tricams).
It might not be a bad idea for someone to work on my seconding skills though. I managed to weasel out of almost all the cleaning at J-Tree as we had two other relative beginners with us who still thought it was a privilege to clean gear. I think I cleaned one pitch the whole trip. And now on Sunday with Steven I cleaned one pitch and then promptly switched into Trad Girl mode, sucking up all the leads. But Steven promises to lead some hard stuff the next time we get together, so unless I can convince him that I can lead the hard stuff, I guess I'll be getting more work in this area soon. One thing's for sure: once I get my feet under me and my own rack I'm going to have to find a partner who either a) has no interest in leading or b) is willing to wrestle me for the lead.