First, Goldenboy. I love it, but I hate it. It might be one of my favorite routes at the Red, but I still have yet to conquer it. I started it last spring, figured out the beta pretty quickly and one-hung it after a couple of tries. I worked on it for a couple of weekends in the spring, a few weekends in the fall, and a couple of weekends during the beginning of this spring and I have fallen at the sloper almost every time. On my first weekend back on it this spring I actually highpointed going to the horn, but every attempt afterwards had me falling at the sloper again. Nadya insisted that I give the route a break and that my inability to do the route is probably all in my head. I hate to admit it, but she's probably right. I guess it will have to wait til the fall.
So while Nadya was working on Tissue Tiger, I decided to get back on The Legend. I tried it a couple times last fall so I knew the beta and lucky for me, I had the assistance of my long lost Caucasian twin, Josh Trick, to refine my beta. And what do you know, I sent it on my first weekend on it. Sweet. So I guess Nadya was right about my mental block on Goldenboy. In the time I have worked on that route, I did both Dirty Smelly Hippie and Elephant Man in the fall and now The Legend early this spring.
The Madness was another route that I tried a few times early last fall until the permadraw drama took place. After that incident Nadya and I decided to stay away for a bit, but this spring we decided to go back. Nadya really wanted to do Ale-8-One and I really wanted to finish up The Madness.
We drove in late Friday night and decided to sleep at the Military parking lot. We figured we could wake up and cook breakfast at the parking lot, head to the wall before the major crowds arrive, then move on to the Motherlode. We did just that as Nadya quickly threw down Tissue Tiger (see previous posts).
We arrived at the Motherlode to much better conditions than the previous weekend. The weekend before was pretty humid and I couldn't get anything back at the either of the two rests on the route. I was losing more than I was gaining back. Hopefully the nicer conditions would lead to better results. I figured the routes at Military served as a decent warmup and decided to hop on The Madness right away.
I clip the first, tie in, throw my shoes on, chalk up, take a few deep breaths, and begin climbing. The bottom moves did not feel manky so that was a good start and I soon find myself at the sit down ledge before the wall begins to cut back. I'm feeling great. After a few minutes of rest I begin climbing again. I make it to the first little crux section, get a high right foot, cross my right to the small crescent shaped crimp, lock it off, and grab the left. Alright. Now I just have to keep moving. I know the beta and effortlessly make my way up to the first semi-slopey rest. I'm still feeling great. I get some energy back and charge up to the next rest before the redpoint crux. This is awesome. I've never felt this good at this point on the route and positive vibes start flowing. After several minutes I think I'm ready. I move left. I hit the left hand edge, throw a left heel, crimp with my right, and huck with my left. Now I'm working over the bulge and start paddling up the crimps, which surprisingly felt like jugs. Should I clip the last two bolts or should I skip them? I don't want to blow things now. Screw it. I'll skip them! And before I know it, I find myself clipping the anchors. What an awesome ride.
Nadya sent Ale-8-One right after (see previous post).
So what's next? I guess I could do 40 Ounces of Justice. Maybe next weekend. I think I'll relax for now.
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| The Madness Cave at the Motherlode |
