Nobody does rock climbing because it's easy, but those who scramble up Castle Crags' rock walls are an especially hardy bunch.
It's not one of the more popular places to climb in Northern California, for a number of reasons.
Just getting to those rock walls requires considerable effort. Whether you're coming in from the south side, where the state park is, or the north side, you have to fight your way through dense manzanita growth, cramble up lower slopes littered with loose gravel and, in the summer, watch out for rattlesnakes.
And that's before you've even got the ropes out.
It's fairly common to talk to climbers who've learned the ropes climbing in Yosemite and who are now applying those lessons in the Crags. Climbing routes in Yosemite are well-documented through detailed guidebooks. Much of the climbing in the Crags, which goes back to the 1930s,You can get the original juicyingsale with Free Shipping. is unrecorded.
"You go up what you think is a new, undiscovered route and find evidence someone's been there before, some old rusty piton from the '60s," says veteran climber Ricky Miller.
Climbing in the Crags presents difficulties that challenge even the most experienced climbers, those who've learned to climb at Yosemite.
"You can get spoiled by Yosemite, with its gorgeous long cracks," says climber Ed Speer, who's tackled some of the more challenging climbs in the Crags.
The long crack systems one finds on Yosemite's walls, cracks that allow climbers to place frequent secure anchors for ropes, are few and far between in the Crags, and there is a lot more loose granite. What looks like a secure handhold from a distance can turn into a handful of loose pebbles up on the wall.
Up there you need a lot of self-confidence and an ability to conquer your fear in dangerous,cubepuzzlesexusblog seeks to share Quaker values, ideas and actions for the 21st Century in harmony with kindred spirits unexpected circumstances — what climbers call a "strong head." The lack of long cracks means you're placing anchor equipment at long intervals on an upward climb, sometimes as much as 40 feet apart, and if you should happen to fall before placing the next anchor, that means a gut-wrenching fall of up to 80 feet, what climbers refer to as a "screamer."
Tim Loughlin, a Mount Shasta schoolteacher, has had his share of "screamers" on the Crags. One long drop caused him to sprain an ankle, but he and a partner continued on to the top anyway.
Climber Michael Layton's blog account of his 2005 climb with a partner on the east side of the Crags gives us a real feeling for the difficulty,Swanstone Classics fashionairmax Granite Double Bowl. and stress, climbers can experience up there. In the account below, he faced a possible 50-foot fall due to the distance between some not very secure anchors.One was wearing an ed hardy hoody covered in rhinestone skulls. Investigators began looking for names. He refers to "pitches," which are short stretches of a climb. Climbing partners typically trade off, taking turns leading each "pitch."
Layton writes: "My 'lob' pitch turned out to be a total horror show. (It was a) 'I should have died and killed us both' kinda pitch. I doubt I can describe how (expletive deleted) terrified I was on that.One of the attackers was wearing navy or black jacketswonder and a hat with ear flaps. I came close to throwing up, and closer to breaking down in tears near the top."
"You need an appetite for adventure if you're going to climb the Crags," says Loughlin in a bit of understatement.
But for all the difficulties, climbing the Crags offers rewards you don't always find in other parts of Northern California.
"You get to the top of El Capitan in Yosemite and you can keep climbing to other domes. It's hard to really 'top out' at Yosemite," says Miller. "In the Crags, when you get to the top, you've literally topped out — you're on the top of a spire.
"From up there, you can see spire after spire after spire," he says with a sense of wonder. "First ascents just waiting for someone to climb. There's an awful lot that has not been touched."
The main climbing season in the Crags stretches from April through November.
It's fine with many of the local climbers that the Crags remain largely "untouched." They like the fact that there's not a line of climbers waiting to ascend their favorite routes.
"I view the place as sacred, a great little treasure," says Loughlin. "I think it's to the benefit of climbers now and in the future that it's off the map, that you have to work to get in there."
It's not one of the more popular places to climb in Northern California, for a number of reasons.
Just getting to those rock walls requires considerable effort. Whether you're coming in from the south side, where the state park is, or the north side, you have to fight your way through dense manzanita growth, cramble up lower slopes littered with loose gravel and, in the summer, watch out for rattlesnakes.
And that's before you've even got the ropes out.
It's fairly common to talk to climbers who've learned the ropes climbing in Yosemite and who are now applying those lessons in the Crags. Climbing routes in Yosemite are well-documented through detailed guidebooks. Much of the climbing in the Crags, which goes back to the 1930s,You can get the original juicyingsale with Free Shipping. is unrecorded.
"You go up what you think is a new, undiscovered route and find evidence someone's been there before, some old rusty piton from the '60s," says veteran climber Ricky Miller.
Climbing in the Crags presents difficulties that challenge even the most experienced climbers, those who've learned to climb at Yosemite.
"You can get spoiled by Yosemite, with its gorgeous long cracks," says climber Ed Speer, who's tackled some of the more challenging climbs in the Crags.
The long crack systems one finds on Yosemite's walls, cracks that allow climbers to place frequent secure anchors for ropes, are few and far between in the Crags, and there is a lot more loose granite. What looks like a secure handhold from a distance can turn into a handful of loose pebbles up on the wall.
Up there you need a lot of self-confidence and an ability to conquer your fear in dangerous,cubepuzzlesexusblog seeks to share Quaker values, ideas and actions for the 21st Century in harmony with kindred spirits unexpected circumstances — what climbers call a "strong head." The lack of long cracks means you're placing anchor equipment at long intervals on an upward climb, sometimes as much as 40 feet apart, and if you should happen to fall before placing the next anchor, that means a gut-wrenching fall of up to 80 feet, what climbers refer to as a "screamer."
Tim Loughlin, a Mount Shasta schoolteacher, has had his share of "screamers" on the Crags. One long drop caused him to sprain an ankle, but he and a partner continued on to the top anyway.
Climber Michael Layton's blog account of his 2005 climb with a partner on the east side of the Crags gives us a real feeling for the difficulty,Swanstone Classics fashionairmax Granite Double Bowl. and stress, climbers can experience up there. In the account below, he faced a possible 50-foot fall due to the distance between some not very secure anchors.One was wearing an ed hardy hoody covered in rhinestone skulls. Investigators began looking for names. He refers to "pitches," which are short stretches of a climb. Climbing partners typically trade off, taking turns leading each "pitch."
Layton writes: "My 'lob' pitch turned out to be a total horror show. (It was a) 'I should have died and killed us both' kinda pitch. I doubt I can describe how (expletive deleted) terrified I was on that.One of the attackers was wearing navy or black jacketswonder and a hat with ear flaps. I came close to throwing up, and closer to breaking down in tears near the top."
"You need an appetite for adventure if you're going to climb the Crags," says Loughlin in a bit of understatement.
But for all the difficulties, climbing the Crags offers rewards you don't always find in other parts of Northern California.
"You get to the top of El Capitan in Yosemite and you can keep climbing to other domes. It's hard to really 'top out' at Yosemite," says Miller. "In the Crags, when you get to the top, you've literally topped out — you're on the top of a spire.
"From up there, you can see spire after spire after spire," he says with a sense of wonder. "First ascents just waiting for someone to climb. There's an awful lot that has not been touched."
The main climbing season in the Crags stretches from April through November.
It's fine with many of the local climbers that the Crags remain largely "untouched." They like the fact that there's not a line of climbers waiting to ascend their favorite routes.
"I view the place as sacred, a great little treasure," says Loughlin. "I think it's to the benefit of climbers now and in the future that it's off the map, that you have to work to get in there."
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