Alvaro sends an offwidth at Tollhouse Rock
that shut Sarah out.
Photo by Sarah Jane Alexander
I was humiliated from the first climb to the last.
I had grand visions of fierce but smooth climbing on a slabfest called Tollhouse Rock. It also has some sweet cracks.
But my bros and I started at an unyielding boulder.
I’m not a huge bouldering fan. I feel insecure without a rope. So when Alvaro pulled over at the boulder, I wasn’t too happy for myself. But I enjoyed watching Alvaro and Cary strategize and execute.
Then they asked me whether I wanted to try.
One of the best things I can say about myself as a climber is that I’ll try a lot of routes that intimidate me and I don’t mind getting shut out. Which is exactly what happened. Within seconds, the boulder made it clear who was boss.
Finally, we moved on to the main rock. Alvaro and Cary are stronger climbers than I, so Alvaro considerately asked me whether I thought I’d be all right on a chimney where he was contemplating setting up a top rope. I stared down into the chimney and thought it was the perfect size, small so I didn’t have to worry about my short legs not being able to stem it.
We rapped down about 20 feet and discovered the chimney wasn’t a chimney. We couldn’t tell from above, but it was smaller – an offwidth crack.
I had no clue how to approach it. I tried liebacking it like my homies, putting my feet on an opposing rock. That didn’t work.
I tried half-squishing myself inside, but I couldn’t find feet.
Then I tried a nearby hand crack. It was curvaceous, and I didn’t know how to navigate the curve.
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