Oct 19, 2008

Climbing report: Granite Mountain, Prescott AZ



My friend Greg
and I headed up to Granite Mountain (Prescott, AZ) yesterday.

If you haven't climbed in nearly a year, this is not necessarily the
best idea as this place is known for some pretty hard climbing.
Not letting that stand in the way of a bit of adventure,(what
was I thinking?) I agreed when he asked about rockclimbing on Saturday.

The route objective was Witblitz. Greg hadn't climbed it yet and wanted to get
on a new route up there.

Hike in was the usual 'sweat fest' and we parked our packs in
the usual place and suited up for the climb.
The first thing I noticed was that my shoes felt about 3 sizes too
small! Ouch... cramming your feet back into climbing shoes
after taking a year off is no fun! Second, I had forgotten a
bandana or sweat band. The climbing helmet channels the sweat
right down into your eyes.. Uuuugh! It's gonna be a great day! ;-)

Climbing ensued once we thrashed our way over to the base of
the route. The first pitches were really nice actually!


The middle two pitches were all business, and thankfully, I
got to enjoy them from the end of a 'top rope' since I was
seconding the climb.



No Granite Mtn. route is complete without some hardcore
5.8 old school wide crack climbing, and this one had a nice
helping after the crux? pitch.




Keeping the 'trad' theme going we opted for the walk off
In climbing shoes, this was appropriate, no sense in ending
the pain too early! :-)

Thrash back to the main trail.. avoid cacti, ow! is that my
left foot cramping up!? hello ground! (as my feet fly out
from under me) sheesh, are we back to the car yet?

I've got to get out more often, this isnt a once per year
sport! :-)

(Full Flickr Photoset Here)

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