Finally… After coming up to Squamish every summer for over a decade, I finally got the chance to do the Grand Wall. It was supposed to be a rest day, a badly needed one, but Rob texted the previous afternoon to un-bail and I wasn’t going to let the chance pass. Hoping not to have a traffic jam like I did with Tatjana a couple weeks before, Rob and I hiked to the start to find a single party of three in front of us. We broke up the pitches in a way that would put me on the crux crack pitch, which meant that he started on the slab.
Luckily for us, the party in front stopped at the intermediate belay before the pillar, so when I lead the traverse pitch I was able to climb through them for a clean pass (which they agreed to, thanks!) After that, we had the entire wall to ourselves, and it was a great place to be on a beautiful day. Rob dispatched the Split Pillar, and I followed, then re-racked for the Sword.
Even before I started the pitch, I was exhausted. Not from what we had done that morning, but from what I had done in the several days previous. I was tired when I woke up, tired during the hike, tired on the first four pitches, and I was really tired when I started into the wide beginning moves.
Luckily, this pitch is basically a bunch of boulder problems separated by good rests. I got through the first 5.11a crux sequence and gained some back at a good stance. Then I did the crack switch and got some back at another stance. I just had about 12 feet of steep fingers to go, and as I stood at the excellent stance below the moves it was clear that I wasn’t pumped, I was exhausted. I wasn’t going to feel any less tired no matter how long I milked the rest, so I decided to just get it over with. I worked through the fingers, placed maybe too much gear, and found myself with my right hand in a solid lock and my left hand on the chains, but I was too tired to let go with either. So, I came as close to sending the pitch as one could get, which basically means I started aiding one move too early. What a bummer.
But, I was so stoked to be there that I barely cared. Rob followed it clean and then cast off on Perry’s Layback above, basically doing the same as me and taking a couple moves before certain success. By the time I followed I was so tired I didn’t even try to send. I just pulled on draws and stepped on bolts and got through it.
Two pitches later, we were tiptoeing our way across the Bellygood Ledge, which definitely lived up to the name, and then hiking down so Rob could go bouldering for the afternoon and I could catch up on some much-needed sleep. The next day Jen and I were riding Lord Of The Squirrels. I’m bummed that I didn’t get the route clean, but I know a rested me would do it with little issue. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to come back soon and finish it up.
