"Road Trip"

Went on a three day climbing trip to South Dakota and Southern Minnesota with my climbing partner Tom. Although it was a Minnesota Rover trip, it was a training trip for Tom and I. We stayed at Pallisade State Park in South Dakota our base camp. On Friday (5-1-09) we climbed for 4 hours on the South Wall, we had difficulty determining which climbs we were on as the guide book wasn't very clear. But we set up several climbs ranging from 5.5 to 5.9 difficulty. We were able to do some chimney, dihedral cracks and wall climbs. The climbs were close to the river and facing north, propagating lichen and moss growth, very dirty climbs. Although the work-out on climbs was great the dirty conditions and wind lead to dry coughs and dust in the eyes, not ideal. However these are real world conditions for mountaineers, so shoot me for whining. The next day we went to Blue Mounds in Minnesota we climbed for 7 hours climbs ranging from 5.7 to 5.9 difficulty. My favorite climb was called "Black & Blue" 5.9 rating, 2 years ago, the last time I was at Blue Mounds, I couldn't even start this climb. This time I climbed it completely 2 times, the second time with no takes. I am very pleased with my climbing improvement. We also spent time doing mach trad leads, placing protection and clipping a lead rope while on top rope. We would then critique our trad lead placements and lines. We both have our sights on Trad Leading this climbing season. I've been working hard on my top rope set-ups, knots and anchors, to keep up with Tom as he is more experienced in these skills. However we have to be equally efficient to meet our future multi-pitch climbing goals in the mountains. After a great day of climbing we headed back to Pallisades Park, really worked out. The next day we got up early for a final short day at Pallisades before hitting the road for home. In the AM we both were feeling yesterday after 2.5 Hours of climbs including mach trad lead practice, we were fried. However we critiqued our leads to the next level evaluating placement distances required to avoid decking out if a fall occurred. Really interesting stuff, learned allot, need to learn and practice more. Overall a great weekend in the sun doing what I like the most climbing with friends !

In Strength