One of my co-workers, Aaron, has been bugging me all summer to bring him and his new bride out for some climbing. I thought I took some major initiative and organized a Beginner Outing for people I work with. Well turns out Aaron couldn’t make it on that day. So I decided to bring him and Erica out for a personal beginner day.
I took them over to Ragged since I know it better than other spots. We carpooled up there and hiked in. Aaron and Erica borrowed gear from Paul while I brought all my stuff. After climbing the route Wet Wall (5.6) in the rain and then putting Chrystal on it, I knew that it would challenge them but not overwhelm them. Turns out I was right.
Aaron had been outside once or twice before and Erica never. They were both a little nervous about the height +70ft. Wet Wall, while only a 5.6 has a tricky start. There is a bump that comes out of the main face which the climber has to first go under then on top of. The bottom is usually the toughest, aside from the last 10ft.
First I climbed just to give them an idea of how the route looked and to mark some of the holds. After that Erica climbed. She did really well considering it was her first time. She also had two guys helping her spot holds which is nice. It was funny because she kept saying that she was done and I’d say, “Just make it to that ledge and I’ll let you down.” After she’d get to the ledge she’d want to keep going.
Aaron also did well though I think he muscled through a lot of it where Erica used technique more. He did well though and got to the top no problem.
I did three pitches up Wet Wall, first was the standard route then two variations. First variation (5.7ish) started the same and then straight up following a crack to the tree on the right. Second variation (5.9) was starting on the blank face to the left and going straight up not going into the corner until reaching the second ledge.
Check out the pictures