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Lief Ericsson: chronicle of a climb foretold 1-Nov-2010 At 10:47:38 AM f_ladou

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Note to self: tomorrow, we are jumping on Lief Ericsson again and I predict the following:

1. I'll tackle the first pitch. It'll be damn hard and I'll take between 2 and 3 breaks to reach the belay. I'll probably lean again on the small tree to get up the wall and will pretend it's allowed but feel like a cheat.

2. Alex will almost tick the second pitch. He'll negotiate the rooflet with brio and reach the blank stretch a few meters below the belay ledge before sitting in the rope shaking his hand while repeating, "woo, this is hard!"

3. Dominik will jump on the third pitch to confront the "weird feature" again. This time, he'll do it right, find the finger crack, and waltz up the rest of the pitch. Tick.

4. I'll force Alex to jump on the fourth pitch. He'll refuse. I'll do it. I'll take a long break in the bridging corner, pass the collapsed flake and tick the crux just below the last belay.

Let's see if this happens.

-----------------------------------

Well we did it.

This time Dominik chose the climb. You see, he had to "fight his demons" as he put it. The demons in question were in the form of a "weird feature" found on pitch three of Lief Ericsson (100m, 23, 23, 23,23) at Narrow Neck, a climb we did almost exactly a year ago (see previous trip report). Of course, we are not privy to what goes on in Dominik's head but clearly his previous battle with the Feature left some emotional scar. It is, one must say quite a sight. Have a look at it:

This is it. Standing about 4 meters above the belay ledge, the Feature awaits, intimidating and difficult to read. Hanging from the flake at its base, the Feature sneakily hides the only good crimp on its face and leaves you grappling with a sharp arête that offers less and less as you move your feet up. And once there, if you don't notice the slight flaring in the crack near the top, then you are left with a scary committing throw to the top where God knows what awaits you. That's how Dominik did it the last time with (apparently) crippling consequences on his psyche. So he had to revisit that moment. But that's pitch three. Let see how the whole thing panned out.

Pitch One

As predicted, I was the one to tackle pitch one. As predicted it was also damn hard even under excellent conditions -- overcast and cool (who grades this at 23 anyway? And did we dream or someone added a u-bolt right at the start? Mike?). This pitch is relentless, a series of technical moves on small crimps. Granted, I didn't use the tree to get on the wall so, no, I don't feel like a cheat but I did need at least four or five breaks to reach the belay. In other words, I pretty much sat on every second u-bolt. That being said, I was very happy with the climb. It is excellent climbing on solid rock. The highlight being about half-way up: a large horizontal break that requires a technical mantling with one foot at shoulder height. Cool move.

Pitch two

Alex jumped on this one. I firmly believed that he could tick it, alas, the future had already been written. Pitch two (22/23) is definitely a notch easier than pitch one (23). It start straight up and then veers right under a small corner/roof. Alex showed some brio indeed in negotiating that part and reached the crux: a slightly slabby blank section. You can see Alex just reaching the crux on the following picture:

Right there, both Dominik and I tried to dissuade him when he asked to be taken in. "No! Come on Alex, do it, do it!". But Nostradamus had spoken and Alex pronounced the dreaded incantation "woo, this is hard!" while shaking his hands. Oh well. After the appropriate pause, finger juice replenished, he waltzed up the last three or four meters to the belay ledge. Alex was clearly happy with his performance and why not. For Alex, ticking doesn't really matter. The real challenge is the commitment. One of the many reasons that climbing with Alex is such a joy.

Pitch three

The money pitch. I only remembered that pitch as the pitch of the Feature. The rest, I simply erased from my memory. I was amazed during the climb to (re)discover how varied and strenuous the whole thing is. The Feature is only the opening act and is followed by a deceptive horizontal traverse; a hard and technical overhanging section; a demanding roof traverse and a hard pull-over. Have a look at the following funky picture of Dominik standing below the roof.

Here my prediction was completely off. Dominik did lead the pitch and that's about it. He reached the Feature quickly and faced his demons. I thought that this time, he would take the way we discussed before i.e. reach inside the feature for the slight flaring. Somehow, his demons forced him to relive the past. Only this time, Dominik did it all in control staying on the left of the Feature (on its face, so to say), using his feet well, he managed to crimp his way through and reach the top. From the belay ledge, it all looked smooth and squeaky clean. The demons vanished.

Pitch four

I tried to force Alex to lead this last pitch. He refused so I did it. I took a long break in the bridging corner after the taxing beginning, passed the collapsed flake (see previous trip report) and reached the crux. Somehow, on the way, the urge to tick that sucker vanished as I was clearly tired by the previous three pitches. I knew where the crux was and took a long break just below it. My hands were sore, my forearms pumped. I could see the end of the climb just a few meters above me. I knew the rest was hard but in my head it was only a formality.

I looked around me. The overcast sky had opened up in the last hour and the Megalong valley was bathed in late afternoon sunlight. The air was still. Dominik had defeated his demons. What else could we ask for?

Back at the car, I showed the guys my prediction for the day and we all had a good laugh.

I think the guys were happy too.

Cheers, François