I brought my climbing shoes and chalk bag to work this morning and when I got out I met my friend Kreuter at Rat Rock in Central Park. It's been a while since we've bouldered on natural rock. Climbing outside in Central park was a welcomed change of scenery; it's such a beautiful park. To be able to wrestle boulders in the middle of NYC kind of makes my head explode. (I love this city!)We practiced traversing Rat Rock in the traditional manner from left to right and I'm proud to say that, for the first time, I completed the traverse AND topped out! The crux of this traverse has been an impassable challenge since this spring and now I've got it under my belt. Even though the score is Rock: 100; Mike: 1, it still feels great! There are however, many more difficult routes on Rat Rock and I'll bet the route I've been climbing is only a V1 or V1+ at most.
After Rat Rock we walked around the skating rink and checked out Cat Rock which neither of us had seen before. A lot of guides indicate that it offers easier routes than Rat Rock but we still had a hell of a time. I managed to top out an easier route although I was not at all comfortable doing so. I was too high and we don't have a crash pad. I would have been seriously hurt if I'd lost my grip. Side note: A problem with Cat Rock is that there are plenty of boulders around it which make it an excellent "dumping ground" for the homeless. Apparently we were not the only ones offering our bodies to the rock. Below are some iPhone snaps from this evening's fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment