Exit 38 June17

I headed out to meet up with some friends at Exit 38 after work. I arrived at the Far Side Parking lot at 6pm and was at Interstate Park at 6:22pm. Not bad.

Upon arrival, Seton, Duane and Paul were getting on harness & shoes... preparing to climb. Before long, Steven, Josh, Marcin and a few others joined us. Duane led the .9 next to Ellies Sweet Kiss and I led the .8 to the right of it. It was a fun lead, with an interesting chimney move near the top... you pull up into it and kind of sit in there with your right hip and stem across with you left foot, then up and over a block. It's easily protected with a bolt right at the sketchy part, so it comes off pretty easy.

Next I TR'd the .9 that Duane had led. Last time I climbed that route I had some trouble with the start and getting up a blank-ish slab. Watching Duane gave me the beta to make it through the start easily and I breezed through it. Now it was time to step up. Everyone was looking at Ellies Sweet Kiss (10a), sizing it up so to speak; I decided to rack up the draws and give it a go, so up I went. The beginning starts off pretty easy and then gets overhanging by half way up the route. The thing is, there is plenty of bolts and many good rest areas as well as great hands. I just stayed calm and kept climb and before long I was at the final move to get over a roof, which was also protected with a bolt right at the crux. I clipped it and pulled the move... a clean assent. I was stoked!

After that, I ran laps on the .8's and .9 that were set up until 9:30pm, when it started getting dark. I ended up with 7 routes done, not bad for a few hours after work. I can't wait to hit it up again next Wednesday... hopefully I'll get a chance to lead Endless Bliss (10a), my next project for Exit 38. We hiked down by headlamp and I was at the parking lot by 10pm and pulled in the driveway at 11pm on the nose. What a great way to spend an afternoon.