Standing Two Feet Below Your Belayer

Meat By-Product a 5.10a on slippery quiartzite. This had been my project for quite some time. Its a series of slightly over-hung finger locks with its tricky crux at the bottom. Just my style. I sent it a few weeks back and it became one of my favorites. On Saturday we decided to hit up Meat Wall again. I was able to use Meat By-Product as my warm up and encouraged Wil to climb it too. Feeling bold and amped from my project becoming my warm up I decided to try the line right next to it, Piece of Meat 5.11b.

I racked up and Wil clipped in. Lookin up from the groud and reading the light beta from the book I decided to bring nothing bigger than a #1 Camalot. Psyched and ready to go I chalked up and gave it a go. The bottom moves were big but fun, hard to find, but solid if you locked in well. about 25ft up you hit a crack with your left fingers that is one knuckle deep and two fingers tall. Leaning slightly to the left you have a right hand that is too big to get into for a jam, but way too huge for finger anything. This is where the slippery Quartzite come into play. Feeling sketched out only 5 ft above my last piece and my right hand is not feeling solid in any sense of the word I place a #4 TCU and take. For a first burn this went well.

Shaking out and chalking up I rest. I jam my right hand back into the small slippery crack and get my fingers back into the lock. Its a big pull from there to a right hand. Again, another big move to a small awkward horn with the left. Reseting my right hand to slopper with a crimp on the back I am able to bring my right foot up to match my hand. With the heel hook and hands set I pull up. 7 ft above my last piece Quartzite strikes again. My heel slips and my hands go with it.

Mid air I hear it, the high tension ping that only comes when a piece pulls from the wall.... Still mid air I know what it means. My mind flashes to the uneven sloped ground with softball sized rocks skattered about. But when I am able to bring things back into focus I see my feet, on the ground, my knees shaking, and my hands holding tightly to my figure 8. "I decked, I am on the ground, Im hurt." These are the only thoughts I can seem to process. These thoughts are abruptly disrupted by Wil's body smacking into my head. He's hanging 2ft above me and an the reality is that I am standing on the ground staring at my feet wondering why they aren't dangling...and with a queezy laugh told Wil to lower back down so I could thank him.

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