Part I: The Beginning
A year ago, I went on a research trip with a professor, Dr. Rebecca Lyons, up to the Mammoth area to do water sampling for the presence of an endocrine disruptor. Dr. Lyons (Becky) and her husband, David, are avid rock climbers and on our third day up in Mammoth they had planned to go rock climbing. We had just gone on a 10 mile hike at 7000+ ft of elevation the day before, and to say the least, I was not stoked to go rock climbing. I was in the grumpiest mood (as I usually am in the mornings), being dragged along on this outdoor outing when I was just tired and wanted to sleep. I was not having it... whenever I'm with that couple you can bet we are getting started early, so we were up at 6 am, packing up, and driving to Iris Slab. The approach was uphill but relatively short. David set up the first top rope and Steven, another research assistant, got on the rope. Then Matt decided to give it a go, and made it to the top. By this time, I had woken up a little more, and I realized my sour mood would get me nowhere. Better take advantage of the opportunity while I have it. So I got on a rope, and did my first climb ever.
If you had seen my attitude that morning, you never would have expected me to get to where I am now. I did two more climbs that day, and I loved it. It was one of the coolest things I had ever done. I loved the way it made me feel strong. I have this interesting "keeping up with the boys" complex where I feel a need and drive to be strong and independent and never let the fact that I'm a girl hold me back from doing things. I loved how naturally good I was at climbing, having never climbed rock before I was able to do 3 relatively challenging climbs without too much trouble. So I joined the newly founded climbing club at school, got a membership at a climbing gym in Riverside, and kept going climbing on outdoor rock with Becky.
 |
| Joshua Tree National Park |
 |
| Iris Slab, Mammoth Lakes |
 |
| Legoland in Big Bear |
Part 2: Alex Honnold
Alex Honnold is a legend. He is the best free solo climber in the world. He's been featured on the cover of National Geographic, on 60 minutes, and is probably most famous for his free solo of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park --- he climbed the entire thing in 3 hours without a rope. Check out this
video, you'll be amazed. He's 26 and gets sponsored to adventure, and that's what he does with his life. A couple weeks ago, there was an event in Costa Mesa featuring Alex Honnold to raise money for the Honnold Foundation, which seeks to improve the quality of life for people around the world using renewable energy. So I got to meet this famous man! He asked me what I wanted him to write on the photo that I paid to take with him... I told him that I'm planning to do my first multi-pitch soon, and I need inspiration. He gave me a look, which I can best describe as either "I can't believe you haven't done a multi-pitch yet" or "Wow, that's awesome that's you're doing one!" or perhaps some cross between the two. Anyway, he ended up writing "Climb high! Go big!"
This photo obviously isn't the only reason I decided to do a multi pitch route, but honestly during his talk when he talked about his climbing and his adventures and expeditions and first ascents he's done, I did get really inspired. He gets to do the
coolest things and gets paid for it! Looking at all the video footage and pictures of his expeditions to Chad, Indonesia, all around the US, really made me feel even more attached to the sport. I know I'm good at climbing and I don't even train or practice all that often. Imagine what I could do if I did! Not saying I'm ever going to free solo Half Dome (I will probably never free solo anything in my life), but maybe climb Half Dome? With protection and a rope? How cool would that be? (Mom, stay calm, these are just thoughts and dreams, not tangible goals yet...)
Part 3: Tahquitz Peak
Tahquitz Peak is famous for its climbing history. Some of the pioneers of rock climbing who established the sport in southern California began climbing at this rock. The first ascent of the climb that I did was done in 1936. It continues to be a spot sought out by climbers all over the States, and it happens to be practically in my backyard!
A couple weeks ago, Becky asked me if I wanted to do a multi-pitch climb. A multi pitch route is when there are multiple belay spots as you make your way up. So one person belays from the bottom as the first climber leads their way up the route, and then when they get to the first pitch, they set up an anchor, and belay the second person from above as they climb up to join them. This process is done again depending on how many pitches there are. So for really tall rocks like Tahquitz, it can vary from 3 to 8 pitches. Some places, like Red Rocks right outside of Vegas, there are climbs that are 13 pitches tall! I was wary because although I've been climbing, I don't climb as regularly as I wish I did, and I was worried about the physical part of it. Becky said she didn't doubt I could physically do the climb, it's the mental part that gets to you as you're 300 feet above the ground. Trusting your gear is the hardest part, and once you're up there you're committed and you have to make it to the top. I decided to say yes, I'm ready, though I wasn't really sure if I was but I figured I had 2 weeks to mentally prepare myself for what was sure to be an exhilarating experience.
I met Becky and David in Yucaipa last Sunday morning at 7:30am. I had worked a full day the day before and had gotten to bed really late, so I was pretty tired. We carpooled to Idyllwild, which is about an hour away. I had never actually seen Tahquitz, only heard about it, and as we winded our way on the road, I got glimpses of the rock. This isn't my photo, but this is approximately what I saw as we approached it except zoomed out a bit:
I could feel the adrenaline already starting to pump through my body a little bit, and I tried to calm myself down because I needed to save that for the actual climb! We parked at a trail head and instead of fear like I was expecting, I was feeling excitement. I was looking up at this giant rock, which is much more massive and amazing to look at in person, any photo I take cannot do it justice.
 |
| From the trail head |
It was quite chilly when we got there, so I was glad there was a bit of an approach to warm up my muscles, to which Becky responded, "Yeah it's actually quite a steep approach.." Five minutes in and I couldn't even talk anymore I was breathing so hard! The hike up to the base was a workout in itself, I thought my legs were going to give out and we hadn't even started climbing yet. Thankfully I've been running so I was able to keep up with Becky who goes running regularly at elevation. We finally made it after about a half hour of uphill hiking.
 |
| At the base of the climb |
 |
| Looking the opposite direction towards Suicide Rock |
|
|
David had waited at the car for Nelson, who was going to be his climbing partner for the day as they did a more difficult climb pretty much next to the one Becky and I were doing. We geared up, packed the bullet pack which held our food and water and shoes for doing the walk off once we got to the top and which I was going to carry, and I got Becky's chalk bag which had considerably less chalk than I was expecting. She is a great climber and hardly ever uses chalk, but I totally use it as a crutch, also I get nervous when I climb and my hands get sweaty. I was getting nervous to do this climb after my legs were already tired from the approach and I had practically no chalk for a 500 ft climb I was about to attempt.
 |
| All geared up, about to start! |
Becky began leading the first pitch, which was a rather strenuous chimney. It had rained the day before so a lot of the rock was wet, which are not prime climbing conditions. She got to the first pitch and set up her anchor and put me on belay. There I was, about to start the climb. I gathered my bearings, yelled "Climbing!" and began to climb. The chimney was really hard... I had to do some really uncomfortable foot jams and leveraging to get past the hardest parts. I had to inch my way up with my feet to get to the next secure hand holds... which is always nerve racking because I could slip at any moment.
 |
| Me on the first pitch |
|
|
|
Finally I made it up to the first pitch, and I was super proud of myself. I'm usually a very slow and meticulous climber, true to my nature, so it was surprising that I powered through it so quickly with minimal hesitation. I've definitely become a more confident climber and take more risks, but I do like to know exactly what my next move is before I do it.
I anchored myself in, put Becky on belay. She traversed over to Nelson who was belaying David about 15 ft to our left and filled my chalk bag with some of Nelson's chalk, for which I was sincerely thankful. Gotta have my chalk! Then she lead up the second pitch. The second pitch was awesome! Exactly my kind of climb. Lots of good hand holds, pretty easy, I flew up it pretty fast.
 |
| second pitch, random climber doing another route in the background |
 |
| Becky on the second belay ledge |
The third pitch was really long... like 150 ft, but it was awesome. I followed a crack system all the way up and did a lot of hand jams (when you literally just jam your hand into a crack and use it as leverage to bring your feet higher). Hand jams are awesome, foot jams not so much.
 |
| Making my way up the 3rd pitch |
 |
| nice little ledge where I stopped to pee |
It was a pretty easy way up until I got to the last 15 ft of the pitch which required some more complicated moves including coming out on the side and being exposed. Most of the climb so far had been pretty protected aka I was never out on open face and I wasn't able to see how high up I really was (see two photos above... nice and sheltered). I also had my first slip of the whole climb on those last 15 feet. I was edging my left foot up and I thought in my head "This left foot does not have enough weight on it, there's no way its gonna hold" and *slip* there I went. Shook my confidence a little bit, especially since I had to come around onto open face, but there were 2 moves left to make it to the third pitch so I just got it done. Becky and I had a nice little snack break on this ledge, 300 feet above the ground, taking in the view and feeling the sun and the wind, it was incredible.
 |
| Lunch ledge |
The fourth and final pitch... dun dun dun. Also the longest pitch. Probably the scariest part of the whole climb for me. Becky began leading, and pretty soon I could hardly hear her. The wind was really strong so it was hard to hear her when she needed slack or when she was down-climbing. David was climbing about 30 feet to the left of me, and we had to talk through two people to communicate. The only communication was the the tug of the rope signaling that she was indeed climbing. Pretty soon David was out of earshot too, so I was left to wait with nothing but the wind. I began to get a little anxious and I felt really alone, just standing on that ledge. Finally I heard a distant call which sounded vaguely like "off belay!" Luckily I know the sequence of calls we need to make to set me up to start climbing because I honestly wasn't 100% on what I was hearing. But I was so anxious to start climbing again. I took her off belay and yelled that she was off belay. Then I thought I heard "on belay!" which was my signal to take down the anchor. I then yelled as loud as I could, "Climbing!" I climbed a few feet up and then shook my rope a bit in an effort to communicate that I was indeed climbing in case she didn't hear me. After a few seconds, the rope tightened up, so I knew I was safe to climb on. The next 50 ft or so were pretty simple, I slipped once more but recovered and kept moving. I finally made it to the last part of the climb... the run out. I rarely (actually I have never) climbed slab, which just means a slab of rock with limited features with which to use to climb. You really need to trust your feet and use the smallest and slightest of dishes to plant your feet in, because there really isn't anything for your hands to grab onto. Fortunately I was close enough to talk to Becky and David and Nelson, who were all waiting at the top. It took me probably close to 10 minutes to finally just start. It was a complete mental game... I was 30 ft from the top, I had already done about 400, but the final part was exposed and a type of climb I had never done. I got so nervous and even started tearing up at one point, but I literally had no other choice, I had to climb it.
 |
| Here I come! |
 |
| So concentrated |
 |
| Yay I did it! |
 |
| Becky and I at the top! Woo successful ascent! |
In case you couldn't tell from the pictures, I somehow summoned up the courage to just go for the last part, and topped out with flying colors. I was so proud of myself. My throat was painfully dry from the adrenaline rush. I felt a sense of euphoria. I had not just completed my first multi pitch, I
sailed up my first multi-pitch. As we did the walk off, I could feel just how much I had phyiscally exerted myself in my legs, they were like jello. I was stumbling and losing my sense of balance. Not surprisingly, the most injuries that climbers face are after hard climbs when they are walking and they aren't as alert and they trip or sprain an ankle. We walked around to the base, ate our well earned lunches, and made our way back down to the cars, where David had brought some celebratory beer (a blueberry wheat ale) that we cracked open and toasted our accomplishment.
What a day, huh?
