My First 5.12

My first 5.12 was nothing special. It begins on crappy fractured rock before pulling through an overhang on pockets. Just as the pump sets in you’re thrown into a disgusting flared jam to gain a technical slab. The route wanders more than a teen does on Instagram and it hadn’t been touched in so long that a neighboring vegetation had begun an invasion. 

The first time I tried it I was naïve. It couldn’t be that hard… right? Lesson learned: eat your humble pie with a learning attitude. Thanks to a serious dose of shut down I learned to feel comfortable with falling, as I did it a LOT. I fell within the first bolt, filleting my finger due to a foot pop that put all my body weight onto two fingers in a sharp notch. At least if someone went for an onsight they could look for blood to find holds…

I returned with less pride and branch clippers, trying the route on toprope. I found the hidden pockets and committed to the jam. It remained hard, and the first time I did the moves my belayer hauled me up more than I did. 

Then came a breakthrough. With each day of work far apart, I spent the time between memorizing it. Thanks to an unexpected canceled family trip I got a morning at the crag. It was all for me (as my family doesn’t climb), so I gave another lead attempt. Though it was unsuccessful, I cemented the sequences and toproped it afterwards!

The next time I tried I had the confidence of having TR’ed it… along with the pressure of having TR’ed it. Elvis leg and nerves prevailed and I fell on my first try, so I rested as I belayed my friend on laps of his own. I then tied in for the next attempt. 

I cruised past the finger fileter, and punched through the pockets. Lactic acid caught up through the nasty jams, and as I desperately slapped around the corner I thought that I would come off… but I blindly nabbed the pocket. I rested and anxiously pulled the final techy slab moves.

My first 5.12 was still nothing special. The line remained odd, the flared crack and opening moves still undesirable, with no fireworks for a send either. The lessons it taught on the other hand…