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Last October, at the tail end of my fall season in Yosemite, you could reliably find me chatting up every dirtbag at the campfire, recruiting belayers for a route I’d already sent.
“It’s literally a ten-second approach,” I’d say. “Like, it’s two feet from the Ahwahnee parking lot. And it’s this super cool half-cave. You’ll love it.”
When that didn’t work: “Pete Whittaker said it’s a classic.”
The route in question was Space Invaders (5.12), a 40-foot-long wide crack that opens between a wall and its diagonal roof, like the wing of a granite starship.
Pete was right; it is a classic. More importantly, it proved a solid training ground. That season, I had basically rearranged my whole life around my upcoming attempt of Belly Full of Bad Berries in Utah, and laps on Space Invaders was a surprisingly effective way to prepare.
Just don’t yell, “Take!” and try to grab your last piece, like I did.
When I took this fall, I unintentionally held on to my No. 5 cam, twisting it out of position. By the time I weighted the rope and loaded the cam with force, its lobes likely had minimal surface contact with the rock. In a flash, it popped out, and I dropped another 10 feet.
Luckily, my previous No. 5 saved me from a deck on hard granite.
The lesson? If your cams are in a good spot, and you’re about to fall, don’t try to adjust their position.
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.