Invincible for a day
Climbing, be it rock, ice or mountains, can produce a wide range of emotions. As I will be departing for the summer shortly, Chantal and I decided for one last climbing outing in BC. This morning, we woke up in Squamish with the intent of climbing there all day and then making our way to Penticton in the evening for two full days at Skaha. Our initial pan was to climb Mount Hood in Oregon. The forecast called for snow-showers, which, at 10,000 ft actually means “crazy snow blizzard.” Since our idea of fun does not include being pounded by 100km/h winds while trying to descend through a blizzard on a glacier we decided to climb simple rock instead … or so I thought.
At Penny Lane Wall, high above the thrid bolt of Popeye and the Raven, I had a moment. Standing on a crystal, not knowing whether to shift weight left or right nor where my next foot or hand ought to go, I tensed. After what seemed to be an interminable amount of time, I started my ritual rhythmic breathing and then it suddenly appeared. I saw, felt, smelled every hold on the rock and the path became clear. Up I went and with an elated yelp I reached the anchor. Done! I was so high that I thought I was invincible. After a brief discussion and a bite to eat, we decided to move off to Octopus Wall. There I climbed a route I’ve been wanting to try for a year and it went so slick. This was my day!
Finally, on our way back down to the parking lot, I decided to climb a route which caught my eye the first time I was at Squamish. Mosquito. Quickly looking at the route, I settled on my rack and started the climb. It went easily at first, a few touchy feet, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Ten meters up, set the cam in the bulge, grab the lie-back, jam the hand, stick the feet, pulled, and I came off. The fall was nothing spectacular, but harsh – sideways with a hand that was momentarily caught in the rock - I deposited a fair amount of skin in the crack. But worse, when a got back up to my last placement, it struck me, I had lost against my own mind. I couldn’t bring myself to go at it again. Sure, I could say that the feet were polished, that it’s harder than it looks, that the hands are weird, that it’s not a comfortable move. But the reality is that it’s all in my head. I broke my trance and lost. I could not try. I was no longer invincible.
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