Over the past five days I have come to realize after discussions with friends that I have met here in the valley that I may not have been completely prepared as a climber for an ascent on El Cap. Since coming to this conclusion I have had some awesome friends step up and try to teach me and train me for a possible ascent on Washington Column (aka “The Column”). I had never done any rappelling before arriving here and that is something that is critical to know for El Cap. Also I need to know how to use certain devices better so as not to do the wrong thing and cause a problem while climbing. I am getting there though and will soon be ready if everything goes according to plan. There is always the possibility of doing something on El Cap in my future if I can prove myself worthy of such a feat.
I am still very excited to have the opportunity to climb the Prow on the Column because it is a little over 1100 ft which is far higher than I have ever climbed before and will still be a big wall for sure. The thinking behind switching to The Prow is that it is a much easier approach and will take less man power to pull it off as well as it is a much more vertical ascent which will allow me less time dragging myself against the rock and more time to practice my techniques.
The Prow on Washington Column
Yesterday I was able to do 300 ft of pull ups in 2 hours over at Leconte Boulder with the help of my friend Kiyoko and the day before her boyfriend Nate also helped out. He is an extremely smart climber and has been working on coming up with systems to make my climbing easier and more do able. He has figured out a way to put a 2 to 1 ascension system in the rope I will be climbing so that will cut my weight in half on each pull up. We are going to work on other systems next week and the days leading up to the climb.
2 to 1 pulley system
I am also extremely excited that my family is coming tomorrow. Sandy and the boys will be arriving in Fresno at 5pm and I will be there to meet them. We will be spending the week together in the valley and I will also be training from time to time to get ready for my ascent of The Prow. I can’t wait to show them around this beautiful place and I have also been saving some of the places to go for when they are here to experience it with them for the first time.
I will probably update after my climb which should start sometime around the 30th of September.
Links of Interest:
garyglidden
Glad things are going well preperation is so necessary.glad to hear your latested.have a great time with sandy and the boys.will be at fryeburg fair.
Sean
Thanks so much for sharing this info. 300 ft in 2 h is quite good. So glad you are meeting people and doing projects. Wishing you the vey best with the Column. Enjoy time with family!