Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Charlie Barrett, Luminance 4th

Charlie Barrett climbed Luminance (v10?) for it's fourth ascent on Tuesday. He top-roped it and said it felt good in the cold windy conditions, so quickly did it solo, with a spotter tied in on the ledge as for the first two ascents. This line is a beauty for sure, on immaculate rock, and certainly deserves the attention after all these years! Soon we'll all be doing it.

Well, maybe not ... Charlie said the swing after the short left-to-right traverse was the hardest part of the problem, with potential to spin off, and fly down the rocky ravine. He was able to keep his feet on and lock off solidly at the big scary move to the jug, but felt he could blow that move and probably get away with a long drop into the crevasse, which he filled with a few pads. Of course he's not going to blow it, so he can say that, can't he?

Charlie wrapped up the day with an ascent of Michael Caine Sit (v12), which is now officially "hard" as determined by none other than the man himself, Fred Nicole, who also climbed it recently (it had a couple minor breaks earlier this year). A good day for climbing after all.

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