My First 5.12

Shagg Crag, Maine

Boy is Shagg steep! Dave and I had driven up the night before the Fourth of July in the pouring rain, my tent was nearly buried in sludge (next time I'll make sure not to camp in a riverbed), and now we were eyeing Shagg in all its dripping splendor. Luckily we had run into Matt and Deb, who kept us from getting lost on the way in, but prospects were not looking good at the moment. We managed to warm up on the lone 5.9, and that and the 5.11 next to it kept us more or less occupied for the day, everything else being too wet and mungy to risk an attempt.

Dave and I spent a fairly boring rest day Friday sitting around in Bethel waiting for the 6:45 movie, Independence Day, which was at least worth the wait. We returned to camp to find a perturbed pair of climbers, namely Scott and Alli, who had been driving around for two hours on the one-mile stretch of road by the approach trail, wondering where the hell we were. A few beers cracked open and food put away in bellies and spirits were high again.

The next day we got down to business. Alli and I sampled from among a number of Shagg offerings, sending none yet building a firm base of exhaustion to last through the weekend. Dave announced his goal was to redpoint everything that Scott flashed-not an easy task. Scott got the on-sight of the 5.11 (after hanging out at the first crux for about 45 minutes), and It Ain't Pretty Being Easy, and flashed Ginseng (5.12c) to the tune of Dave's Running Beta.

Sunday. Time to send. I wanted to work my chosen project, It Ain't Pretty Being Easy, and nothing else. Everyone else had the same mindset for their projects. We all warmed up, then made our first attempts of the day. I was feeling better on my route, and found a huge rest after the first pumpy sequence. The crux dyno still eluded linkage. I could always do it after a hang, but the pump factor was just too much by the time I got there. I needed to work out a more efficient sequence. Alli was working on this route also, and found a good way to make the pre-crux clip from a lower stance. I tried her beta on my next effort, but it pumped out my left arm way too much. I at least got fingertips on the slopey target hold this time.

My progress was measured by only an inch or two with each attempt, masking the subtle adaptations and refinements in strategy I made as I gradually worked out the precise sequence and optimum rest stops for maximum efficiency. Of course, fatigue was building with each attempt as well, and it was a battle to keep my efficiency gains one step ahead of my fatigue losses. I paid particular attention to working out the moves following the crux, because I certainly didn't want to blow it after nailing the dyno. I doubted I would reach that point twice in one day.

Fifth attempt, and fourth try of the day. I wouldn't have too much left after this one. I quickly cruised up the first section to the big rest, caught my breath, and got rid of the initial pump while visualizing the moves to come. Traverse left on the sloper, grab the flake, get the feet high, twist the lock, reach for the big sloper, match, lever up to make the clip, reach right for the sloper, pop to the inside knob, step up to the edge, turn the knee in, cross through to the slopey edge, reach high for the big sloper, feet up, s-i-n-k low on the sloper, shake, stand up, grab the crimp, set the feet, launch for the sloper, catch it with your fingertips, match, feet on, three more positioning moves and it's all downhill from there! Yee-haw, my first twelve!