For the intro, listen in here →
One term to know for this post, that I haven’t covered yet, is auto belay. An auto belay (automatic belay device) is exactly that, a mechanized system that takes up slack as you climb, so a lone climber doesn’t require a belayer on the ground. When the climber reaches the top, or if they fall, the device automatically catches the climber and slowly lowers them to the ground. Sounds great right… well yes, if you’re by yourself. But quite honestly I haven’t trusted those systems for a long time even though there is literally nothing to be afraid of, and in some cases they can actually be safer than having a belayer. I think it just depends on whether you trust a machine or a person more. I have a hard time trusting machines.
WEDNESDAY
First day back and it was slow going. Quite honestly, I had had a busy day that required a lot of energy that I still wasn’t used to exerting, so the stoke level that I had in my head could not be matched by my body. Luckily, I was climbing in a group of 3 which typically means more rests between climbs. Instead of climbing being swapped off between you and one other person you had an extra climber to consider, so extra time. Sometimes, the third would simply go climb on the auto-belay while waiting to belay. It’s a fairly good system. I was climbing with my partner, Grant, and our friend Geoff. These two are extremely talented climbers and I love going with them and observing their techniques. In turn, it makes me a better climber.
It was busy that night and at one point, towards the end, the guys were working on a bit of a project on one of the routes and so much was taken anyways so I decided to try a route that was free… which was one on an auto belay system on one of the shorter walls. My justification, this would be good practice of letting go of the wall for lead climbing as you drop a bit before the auto belay catches you. I went up a 5.10b and felt pretty good. Once at the top though, I felt a brief moment of panic to let go of the wall. But as soon as I felt it I knew I had to let go, so I went against my instinct and let go. It was totally fine. I was softly lowered to the ground and was elated! I felt like I was on my way to conquering a deep mistrust of the machinery.
Overall, the night went well. I practiced clipping on the test wall and although I felt weaker than I had a week and a half ago, I felt it was a good start to getting back my strength. To end the night, we went across the street to Tacofino for a late dinner. I only mention this because this has become a bit of a treat but also a biweekly/monthly ritual after climbing. Those tacos were glorious.
FRIDAY
Friday came and Anju and I could finally climb together again! It had been 2 weeks since we climbed together which is just crazy. She brought a climbing friend with her so it was a group of 3 again which was rad. I had met Zoey before and it was fun to climb with her. Instead of feeling weak, as I had not two days earlier, I felt strong. I felt like I glided up quite a few of my climbs. The biggest difference from Wednesday’s climbing, my relationship to the auto belays. Instead of taking the extra rest in between climbs, I found myself gravitating to the auto belays. I climbed one that was just out of my skill level but fun none-the-less and decided to make this a bit of a project over the next while. But also completed an auto belay on the large wall which I found absolutely thrilling, especially when letting go at the top. This was a big change to the attitude I had on Wednesday! After climbing for a couple hours which included practicing on the lead test route, we called it a night.
Next week, Anju and I are hoping to go for our practice test. I feel that the biggest hurdle to overcome for the lead climbing test is self-doubt. We wanted to get the test done soon after the course but now it looks like it will be closer to 3 weeks after we took it! Not great. At least we have the practice test first, hopefully that will help.
“Doubt is the enemy of success”
Jim Bridwell
