The next day my friends and I awoke, eventually, and gathered up. We headed for the Spires and I led the first pitch of Aguja Celo Rey (5.10a) in order to get to the saddle while the other half of our friends climbed up the west side of the spires. I then belayed Eric to the top of the second pitch and bailed because I had to take a friend to the airport, but I had played my part. We had previously purchased several Santa hats and sent them to the top of the larger (downhill) spire and made the party of Bostonians who were there join us in wearing them for a festive Christmas photo. The results speak for themselves.
Merry Xmas Potrero Style!
After that day of fun shenanigans, it came to pass that it was my last day in Mexico, and I still had one piece of unfinished business. There's this climb in the Virgin Canyon which I first attempted on toprope three years previously, and eventually managed to climb (once) without falling, on toprope. This was quite the achievement for me as the climb is a very difficult, pumpy, technical dihedral called Don Quixote, and it's rated 5.11d. Definitely the first, and perhaps still so far only, climb of that grade that I've climbed clean on toprope, and I had battle plans with it.
Toproping the Don over three years ago
A few weeks previously I'd managed to climb it again on toprope, possibly for the 4th or 5th time, and even though I hadn't climbed it since last year I actually climbed it clean. Which unfortunately meant that I was out of excuses for avoiding the scary task of leading it. So on my last day in Potrero, my friends and I set out for the Virgin Canyon so I could try to redpoint my project.
Unfortunately, when we got there, we realized that the rock was still a little wet from the rains that had come before. Shoot. But we looked at the route and it seemed like the wet spots might not actually affect the difficulty of the climb that much. So I led Mugre Mugre (5.10d) as a warmup and it felt pretty good and not too difficult while Felipe led another 5.10d. A little while later, I convinced Felipe to lead Don Quixote for me both to hang the draws and to test how wet the route was. He sent the route and placed some much-needed draws for me, and assured me that the route wasn't really that wet.
Warming up in the Virgin
I was pretty stoked, but pretty nervous, when it was time to climb. I tried to calm my nerves by singing a few notes from The Final Countdown, and it seemed to lighten my mood a bit, but I was still really nervous. I made the first couple of clips without a problem, going slow and remembering to breathe, but soon after the third clip or so, right before it starts getting hard, my left foot popped off of the corner and I found myself falling before I realized what was happening and fell about 15 feet. Super clean except for a slight hit on my right thumb which made it feel slightly numb. Despite the fall, I was actually pretty stoked and felt pretty good and pretty psyched that I'd had the nerve to try the lead in the first place. And somehow the fall made me less nervous as I got some fear out of the way.
Devon decided he wanted to try a few moves on it, so he did, but he wasn't feeling too stoked so he stopped before it starts getting serious, and this gave me some time to regroup and shake out and get ready for my second go.
Making some moves
Now it was go time, again. I made the first few clips, no problem. I made it past the point where my foot had slipped before, and suddenly it was business time. The cruxy part of the route is tricky because all of the bomber holds are on the left face, and it's overhanging, and you have to stem and smear the right foot on essentially a blank face. So your feet feel insecure and your left arm is pumping out, but what's worse is that the bomber jugs kind of disappear and you find yourself sketchily moving your feet up with not very much for hands. I made some sketchy moves and stemmed hard and was convinced my feet were going to pop, especially when I lunged for a key hold on the right face, but somehow everything held and I stayed on. Then the only thing left is to stand up awkwardly and grab the money jug above the roof, which I managed to do to my surprise. Todo bien. From the jug it was a relatively easy clip to guard against the fall, and I knew the hard part was over. Or so I thought.
I was tired and out of breath and although I had a money jug for my hands, I didn't want to stall too long. I knew the next clipping stance would be balancy and awkward, but I moved up anyway thinking I could handle it. But the pump was overwhelming, and I couldn't figure out how to move my feet into a secure spot, and before I knew it I was trying to clip the next bolt but lost my ability to hang on. I fell... and when I did so, my left foot got caught on the rope between my harness and the last draw I'd clipped, and before I knew it I had flipped upside down!
Right before getting flipped
Fortunately, somehow, the fall was super clean, even cleaner than before, and even with my back to the wall I hadn't hit a single thing on the way down. My friends were silent for a moment, trying to assess the damage, but when I screamed "Holy shit!" they knew I was basically alright. Unfortunately I knew that I was out of time and I had to leave the crag in order to pack up my tent and fly back to Seattle, but my friends convinced me to finish the route so I did after a short rest. Then I bid my awesome Potrero crew adieu =)
Love these guys!
In the end, I didn't send my project this day, but I was super proud of myself for having the cajones to finally try the route on lead, and I even managed to pull the crux without falling. And I even took a couple of really good (and safe) whippers in the process. I am confident that next time, Don Quixote, you are mine.
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