Yesterday (Sep. 27th) was an incredibly beautiful day at Rocky. I took the day off school, dropped off Sierra and Autumn at pre-school, and headed up to Rocky to try my big summer project, Super Kind, on the Kind Boulder at Emerald Lake. I asked several people to go with me, but nobody could, so I packed the video camera, the pad, and set off by myself.
The weather was georgeous-no wind and about 70 degress in the sun. However, the east face of the Kind boulder was in the shade and at least 10 degrees cooler than the sun, and the rock was COLD! I was worried that this might interfere with my goal, as I have had lots of trouble in the past sending long problems with cold hands. Nevertheless, I tried to stay positive as I warmed up.
After positioning the camera the best I could, I decided to go for it. The beginning felt smooth, but I didn't stop to shake out at the "rest" because my hands were getting cold. I cruised through the middle section and hit the crux. Amazingly, it felt better than ever before, and I dropped down to the lower section with a lot of control. I was a bit pumped but I was able to shake out a little bit and go for the last hard moves. They felt difficult, but not at my limit, and I couldn't believe it when I got to the hand-jam rest before the last few moves! I was excited and nervous at the same time, and I kept telling myself, "Don't screw up now!". When I made it to the top, I felt like I was dreaming and I wasn't sure if I had actually just climbed the thing!
Luckily, the camera had recorded the send, and I was so relieved and happy to have finally sent a problem that I had worked really hard on. It took me ~8 days over almost 2 months. I have never projected something so long, and it was awesome to send it this season. I was really worried that I would have to wait until next summer to send it and would have to re-work it all over again. Now we can go to different areas and try new things-yeah!
I want to say a big THANK YOU to Dave, Sierra and Autumn for being so supportive of me and helping me reach my goal for the summer.
Now to get ready for the Hang tomorrow... Ashley
1 comment:
proud send, ashley. you motivate me to push harder. and thanks for the thoughtful blog.
i also saw the video of you sending the shambala traverse. very nice. well, i live in the rfl area. and i've been developing some sectors west of the ceremonies area. 200+ problems so far( and growing), fa's galore. i'd be more than willing to give your family a tour or let you borrow my personal guide. i offer because i climb alone and i'm dying to get a hard climber up here to send some of this stuff. and i tend to find more problems than i send. plus i like how you cruise under the radar crushing the hardness.
if you're interested i'm jacob- jfojile@msn.com
keep pushing yourself- jo
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