Pitch Black

I thought it would be some time from now before I could write this entry. To my surprise and excitement I recently sent the project mentioned in the previous post. I named it Pitch Black because this section of the cave never sees sunlight and it became really hard to see the holds.

The line revolves around holding some of the toughest body tension in the cave. Here's a photo of a body position early in the climb.

Note the ridiculous drop knee and clear lack of breathing. Photo: Craig Berman

After unwinding out of these self inflicted hand cuffs you have to flip your hand, then pull off a bicycle-heel-toe-against-your-foot-cam and proceed to flip around on a mono pocket with some helpers and a sharp two finger hole in the cave. This is not meant as a spray down, but I had to write it out to believe it.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back up and get some video soon. The send was so unexpected that I wasn't ready. On September 1st I'm planning on buying a gym membership to train for the fall, but if anyone is interested in trying this, or other lines in the cave please feel free to get in touch. I would be happy to give you the tour.

-BLOCHEAD