Friday glee is trying to rest my way through it

[rydra_wong]

The Friday post of glee is where you get to tell us about your climbing-related happiness this week.

It can be a new achievement or adventure, or just that you climbed and had fun; it can be that your favourite climbing wall is expanding or that you bought new rock shoes or that you found a cool ice-climbing vid on YouTube. No glee is too small -- or too big. Members are encouraged to cheer each other on and share the squee.

N.B. Please feel free to post your glee on any day of the week; the Friday glee is just to get the ball rolling.

To enhance this week's glee: Mayan Smith-Gobat free-climbs the Salathe Wall on El Cap. Including one of the most spectacular no-hands rests I've ever seen.

Comments

[emperor]

I sat down with the extras this evening. The other bits aren't that exciting, but the Indian Face film is; you really get the impression it's pretty much at Dave's psychological limit! There's a particular point where he's putting some gear in, and you can tell from his breathing how stressed he is...

[rydra_wong]

Yes, and when he describes it as "twenty minutes on the verge of panicking" (IIRC).

It's terrifying because MacLeod's always seemed exceptionally mentally disciplined (soloing 8c as training for Echo Wall, etc.), and has written so sensibly about risk management and the mental aspects of doing very bold trad climbs -- so if it's getting to him like that ... fuuuuuuck.

Here's a bit from an article Johnny Dawes wrote a few weeks after the first ascent:

Imagine the wall. It is a random-woven wire mesh, tilted so that it steepens towards its top. At the base two thick cables disappear in the turf. The lights in the town flicker as you touch the rock. Each move forms an electric circuit between your hands. As you move, you worry about the outcome of that move, the tension a dull hum. Then I make a false move and the rock barks out a spark. I try another hold - but which one to use? Use the wrong one and retreat may be impossible. The gear is poor and a bad mistake could mean a death-jolt full across the heart. So you move, taking note of your position and the holds, but as you move higher the voltage grows and amongst the myriad connections there lie false trails that can kill.

I went up with sticky rubber soles which do not conduct electricity and two friends who knew the score.