In over my head again...surprise surprise!!!
Trip Start
Apr 14, 2004
1
16
25
Trip End
Jul 27, 2004
La paz,
Bolivia
Thursday, July 8, 2004
the next morning i woke up early to try and find a place that would rent me climbing shoes on a sunday, which is not easy as most places were closed...and besides that point, proper gear is hard to come by in this country, so options are rather limited...i finally found an agency who told me he might have something, so we jumped into a cab to his other office, where he produced a pair of size 9 shoes, which for me is about 3 or 4 sizes too small...but no worries, he has some bigger ones, but they arent really climbing shoes, they r soccer shoes that he has cut off all the grips to make them a half-assed substitute for climbing shoes...apparently they are what they used in the days before they could get proper gear in this country..they fit, and seemed to be a not that bad option, so i took them and was on my way to meet barry for an afternoon of rock climbing...
we boarded a local mini bus, that was already about 30 passengers over loaded, which meant that we were standing in the front, with me in the open doorway for the 30 minute ride outside of the city...(question--how many latin americans can you fit on a bus??? just one more!!!)...not knowing exactly where we were going, we ended up at the valle de luna(moon valley) where we took a few quick pics and then hired a cab to try to find the actual climbing spot...the cabbie took us to the only one he knew, which was just a small rock wall in a school yard along the mountains...here we pissed around for awhile until an american missionary who had been living in bolivia for 14 years came along, and offered to show us the real climbs in the mountains...sweet, a local who knew where to go, this should be fun...so we hop in his landcruiser to drive up the mountain path a ways, and get to the site...it was pretty challenging for me, but i managed to make the ascent and felt quite exhilarated and proud of myself hanging off the edge of the rock face...i have never climbed real rocks in this manner, only the gyms with the set courses and well defined holds for you...out here in the real world, u hafta find your own cracks and bumps to hold on to , and usually they r unimaginably small...i say that as an unexperienced climber, but they found it fairly simple, and made it look pretty easy...
so now on to another more difficult route shall we...yah why not...they decided on a doublepitch, which meant that they both lead climbed it, dragging a rope behind them, as my safety to come up with...it started off easy enuff, well actually difficult, but i was able to do it, with a little help here and there from them above pulling on the rope as i tried to manage the overhanging roof...so, i make it to the first point, where we are all standing on a little ledge preparing for the next pitch...now i hate to blame the shoes, but boy did i need better shoes for this adventure, as the footholds were merely more than braile marks on the rock...they were able to get grip on them, but i was struggling to get my feet under me...i got half way up the final pitch, and just couldnt get any traction anywhere, and sort of hung there thinking ¨what the hell have i got myself into here...i am in no way, experienced enuff or prepared for this climb¨...like the title of this logue state--im in over my head, once again...
after a short rest to relieve my vibrating arms, and seemingly epileptic legs(not a good state for them to be in when you are a few hundred feet high, clinging to a sheer rock face), i made a couple of final efforts to get my sorry ass up the final pitch...needing more than just a little help, the other two climbers pulled me up with the rope at the same time (hang-dogging i think they called it), and i made it to the top...there were a few moments when i thought there was no possible way i was gonna make it to the top, and i was gonna hafta be lowered down in disgrace...i guess technically it was a failed attempt because i needed their help, but for my story, im gonna call it a successful climb...
luckily, deacon the missionary, lived in the city, and gave us a ride back to the center so we didnt hafta endure another bus ride back...after taking a much needed nap while i waited for the girls to come back from their mountain bike tour down the death road, i was informed by them that they were going to mongoes again that evening...not being up to it, i went to meet my climbing buddy for a quik dinner before returning to bed...however, as i was getting set to climb into bed, i remembered that today was one of the ingrids birthdays, so i got motivated to the point that i even showered and shaved, and met up with the crew at the bar...thankfully, my will power was in full force, and i managed to make it thru the evening on only one glass of wine, because the next morning we had an early wake up to begin our tour to the salt flats...and that will be the subject of the next update, so see ya!!!
