Split Rock
Climb Review
I’ve climbed here many times before and I would highly recommend this place.
Split Rock Slot (5.4; Split Rock)—I soloed this route to set up anchors. It felt way easier than I remembered.
Split Rock Chimney (5.4; Split Rock)—I hadn’t done this in a while, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could solo easy stuff. When I first did this one solo, I was so scared. This time, not so much; just a healthy amount of scared.
Bunny Slope (5.2; Split Rock)—A VB sounds more impressive if you say you solo-ed a route. Actually all four of these routes are VBs.
Black Streak (5.6; Split Rock)—This was the hardest solo of the day and it felt easy. I did take forever in going up through as I explored the rock with my hands and feet to find the juggiest holds possible.
What I Learned
During the meet, Jake had a bad fall due to Andrew’s (who was belaying) inexperience and improper belay technique. Jake was okay, but had a few more things gone wrong, he could have decked and gotten serious injuries. After making sure Jake was okay, we all talked over what happened with Jake and Andrew. Afterwards, we ended up coaching Andrew through a few belays and correcting any issues we saw. This almost-accident reminded me of the importance of safety and due to this, I’m going to help strengthen our safety standards at Coalition Crag. We’ll help our members be safer, as well as reiterating best safety practices to our event leaders and gym captains.
Friends
I ended up reinforcing young friendships with Tommy, Matt, and Jake, while starting new friendships with Alex, Andrew, Christina, Jessica, Jo, Sean, and Christina. As usual with Coalition Crag meets, everyone was chill with a great attitude.
What Happened?
See more of Cassie’s awesome art on her website!
On the Coalition Crag Discord, I heard about an event at Ring Mountain that Christina was organizing. It seemed like people were interested in TRing Split Rock, but no one seemed comfortable setting anchors. Since Cassie and I were planning to be up in Sausalito for the day, I volunteered to help set up anchors and hang out a bit with everyone.
Cassie and I arrived at 10:25 a.m. and joined Jake, Christina, Jessica, and Sean, who had arrived a few minutes before we did. No one else was climbing, so I climbed up Split Rock Slot and set up two lines for us to climb. We were then joined by the rest of the folks, and I got to watch people climb, catch up with Tommy/Matt, and make forgettable jokes.
Cassie was still nursing her knee injury, so she didn’t climb. Instead, she painted this gorgeous image of Split Rock.
I climbed a few more routes, and by 12:30 p.m., I was ready for lunch. I left my anchors and rope with Tommy and headed off to our favorite fast food restaurant, Amy’s Drive Thru.