We decided that we should try to do it in a day, since Kate hates hauling more than I do and I’m always up for a challenge. Plus, it’s a pretty pure style to just walk to the base of a formation and go up and over with just the shirt on your back. We gave ourselves a little bit of leeway since we decided to sleep at the base of the route and fix the first two pitches. It was also a good idea to practice our systems, since I was new to short-fixing and still hadn’t done very much aid climbing since my attempt on Lurking Fear five years ago. After fixing the pitches, I started to have doubts about a one-day ascent. I felt clumsy and slow while leading. Even jumaring felt tiring. I was worried I was going to let Kate down and ruin our chances of success. I tried to get those thoughts out of my head and think more positively. We woke up at 4 a.m. and started ascending our fixed line. Kate had the first lead block and I did my first lower out without epic-ing. I was trying to go as fast as I could so that, in Kate’s words, “The leader could have more fun.” I still felt a bit clumsy and slow but my confidence was rising little by little and I was starting to believe that we could do this. After three pitches, I took over. I remembered leading these pitches five years ago and memories of being even more of a gumby came back to me. I thought to myself, I have come a long way since those days. In the heat of the day, Kate took over and cruised through the A2 cruxes and we passed a few parties. More than halfway, we still had several hours of daylight. After pitch 12, I took over and tried to navigate us through the wandering crack systems with a mix of free and aid. I took a fall onto my aider after attempting an incredibly difficult move out of my aiders but regained my composure and eventually found an easier path. Things were going well until I was slowed down by some tiring aid and free climbing on pitch 13. I felt like I was wasting precious daylight. When I got to the belay, I remember feeling incredibly defeated. I yelled down to Kate to ask her if she wanted to lead the next pitch. To my surprise, she encouraged me to keep going. Kate reminded me that this was my trip up the Captain and that it didn’t matter if we finished in the dark. These are the moments where a climbing partnership is of utmost value and it’s this combination of support and motivation that inspires and pushes me to continue climbing. The next pitch went better and then Kate took over for the final three pitches to the summit. When we got to the summit, I was so elated
and exhausted. Dirty, tired, sore, and proud—I never thought I would be capable of doing something like that. But if you approach a huge route with just a windshirt, three liters of water, 1,500 calories, and a rack then you are going to do it. Feeling committed made all the difference. It’s easy to bail but it’s not as easy to keep going. Having overcome my lurking fear, I can’t wait for the next adventure. Summary Yosemite Valley, CA Lurking Fear, VI 5.7 C2
Washington Column
Lucas Schaffer (‘15) I had not processed the absurdity of what we were doing while driving. I just knew that I was going climbing and that thought kept me speeding down the highway with a smile on my face. However, there was no matching Jack’s gaping grin and popping eyes that reeked of excitement—which, if you did not know Jack, could have easily been mistaken for plain insanity. After six hours, about 400 miles, and with the Blood Meridian coming softly through the speakers, my smile disappeared and my thoughts shifted from climbing to how much this sucked. I tried to fall asleep in a car packed with two other guys and all of our gear, bound for Yosemite. 800 miles slipped by, I cracked my barely-able-toopen eyes and caught a sign that said “Yosemite National Park.” For the first time in my life, I was in California. My mind was too exhausted, and I was still unable to grasp that Niels Davis (’15), Jack Rodat (’15) and myself had actually driven from Colorado Springs to the Valley for a three-and-a-half-day block-break. The sun was just starting to rise as we winded down the road into the Valley, and then it happened: I was somewhere unlike anywhere else I had ever been. Massive, white, granite walls towered so high above me that I could not see where they ended. My mind buzzed as we pulled into Camp Four to meet our friend JD Merritt (’15). We were left gaping at the sheer scale of the natural features around us. Soon, we got down to business. Objective #1 was a wall—or else, that drive would have just been really stupid. We loaded our haul bag and set our sights on the classic ten-pitch South Face of the Washington Column.
[Facing Page] Rachel Greenberg (‘02) on Lurking Fear. Kate Rutherford (‘03) CCAJ
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