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YOUR noob experience?

Original Post
Eric Coffman · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 735

With all the bashing on noobs that I've done I thought I would let you know about when I first started climbing. I had just purchased my gear, had been reading JL's Anchors + Freedom of the hills talked a friend who i played disc golf with into getting into climbing. we were looking for beginner routes in Jtree and were told to check out "wilson's regular route" we started about 10-11am had a full rack of doubles + anchor +shoes for the descent (left headlamp at base). Climbed the route with no problem hung out at the belays and took it all in, at the top we decided we wanted to rap off instead of walk off. Slung the rope around a tree at the top and rapped to the first ledge tried to pull the rope but it was stuck so we both tried pulling but it was still stuck. Free solo climbed back up to the top (about 5.0 climbing). Freed the rope and rappelled again to the ledge. Noticed the sun was about to set so I yelled up to my partner who was still on top to let me test pulling the rope so I pulled on it and it wasnt budging now the sun was all the way down and beginning to get dark. I looked up at the rock and noticed that my depth perception was changing with the darkness and opted not to free solo up to the top. My partner didnt know the walkoff or where we were. I yelled for help. Three 15 year old kids came to help us. They all had headlamps, jumars, autoblocks, texas prusiks on them. Turned out thier dad's were mountain guides and they knew thier shit. A kid named Tiogy descended our line with a jacket for me then my friend and his friends followed. All three of them using the Jumar's brought our rope down built an anchor fast and we all rapped off leaving our anchor and rope there (it was getting very cold and windy and we were getting dehydrated and hungry). My buddy and I were back at the route at about 6am climbed it retrieved our stuff and walked off. Tiogy told me that easy routes to climb may not be easy to rap off of because of the rope drag. I've never forgotten him and his friends (paid for their dinner that night too). Made a promise to myself to know and practice my shit so that never happens to me again. Yes we all start out as noobs. What are your noob adventure stories?

Ray Pinpillage · · West Egg · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 180

Your high school english teachers failed you, punch yourself in the face.

Eric Coffman · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 735

cant punch myself anymore too bloody, bruised and sore from all the internet bashing i've taken

Woodchuck ATC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 3,280

My day as a noob'. Wore heavy duty mountaineering boots cuz that was all we had then. Begged a toprope climb on some overhanging rock that turned out to be a bucket fest 5.7 at the top. Blew out my forearms for a few hours I was so pumped. Goldline rope made it even more sketchy.

Shire-mon · · Moab, UT / Boone, NC · Joined May 2008 · Points: 50

I followed an experienced climber up a 5.7 multipitch back in the day in N.C. He led off the second pitch, went around an arete on a windy day, I couldn't hear anything. When the rope came taught, I tried to communicate, couldn't, so I began to take down the anchor. Little did I know at the time that the anchor was fixed, very fixed. After a half hour of cursing and nervous gear fiddling I saw my partner peek over the top of the cliff, ~100' up, asking what the hell I was doing. He had tied me off and left the belay to figure out what was keeping me. After he explained to me that the anchor was fixed, and what fixed meant, he put me back on belay and I finished the climb.

Oh yeah, and the first climb I ever lead was some sport climb. I back stepped, then fell, then somehow found myself completely upside down and hanging by my ankle. I still to this day dont rightly know what happened and why my partner couldnt lower me, i was fully stuck. After 2 or 3 minutes of slight panic I finally was able to swing back to the rock (under a roof), and pull on a previously clipped draw to let my ankle free. Still got the ankle scar to remember the day by. Ha.

I look forward to hearing more stories...

-Brett

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

Hey turd everyone's a noob and none of us can spell and all of us are liabilities in some way or another.

I am a noob but I have a partner who is super careful. He will lecture me on running it out on 5.7 territory. If I am still alive in 5 years it will probably be because he kept me from doing stupid stuff. So far only thing I have done is just last weekend at Tahquitz I led the final pitch of whodunit on my partners rack. I ran out of gear pretty quick, do I ran it out about fifty feet to a little roof and put in a nut extended it with a draw (all I had left) and hoped it would stay. Midway through pulling the roof my hand and foot started to slip and the nut popped out. I started whimpering. Thought for sure I was going for a100+ footer. Luckily adrenaline held me on the rock and I got over. But I was almost at tears before I could get myself over.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

Turd your perception level is really amazing. Nothing gets by you does it?

Btw your name is awesome because I can call you a turd without violating rule #1.

PS what's the short bus like?

Mike Wysuph · · Broomfield, CO · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 5

johnL: "Respect each other, enjoy what you have in common, and appreciate the way that only those who climb can see the world. If you see me out climbing, you're probably getting hugged."

Flame on grateful members of the MP Nation...

Finn The Human · · The Land of Ooo · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 106

The first trad anchor I ever built wasn't really an anchor, per se. I was belaying my partner from the top, and if he'd fallen we would have survived, but it would have been exciting for sure.

ryan albery · · Cochise and Custer · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 290

Like baggy/sloppy pants, a crooked hat and them stretch your ears hooped earrings; using the word epic ten times a day and the word blog, calling someone a 'noob' makes me shake my head. Yet it's dark out, and here I am. Errr to say it, I was such a noob.

This would have been 1990, and my 'noob' experience was reading somewhere how to rig a prusik. A friend and I went in on some Home Depot rope, that thick $.30/ft blue stuff they used to have, and a pack of 200+ lb rated white nylon cord. We scrambled up and around and tied the rope around a boulder atop a sizable cliff with a whatever knot in the Goldfields, in AZ, single line style. Back to the base, we girth hitched the nylon cord around our wrists, with a prusik on the rope. No harnesses, just that 200 lb stuff around a wrist, prusiked to that single line. Slide it up as you go. I was 15 at the time, and definitely remember thinking 'this is dangerous' as my friend and I both climbed at the same time what was probably 100' of 5.8.

After about a year sneaking out and going 'climbing', my dad realized what we were doing and took me to REI. I remember the salesman dude not being able to explain to me at the time why you shouldn't just climb with webbing instead of a rope, cause it was so much cheaper... but my dad ended up buying me a real rope, shoes, a chalk bag, a figure 8, chest harness, and that book 'How to Rock Climb' by John Long. I'd seen some bolts here and there in Queen Creek by that time, and after couple years of climbing and reading I realized that climbs were rated by difficulty. Probably qualifies me as a 'noob' to have thought myself an 'expert' climbing 5.10 with just a chest harness. Near my 17th birthday when my brother asked what I wanted and I said, 'lead climbing gear', he bought me 4 tiny brass stoppers of the exact same size, and my mom scored me an actual waist harness... that was later recalled cause of the belay loop was suspect.

I've since like my dreams back them climbed many of the walls in Yosemite, and have traveled the world seeking out good climbing fun... but I'll never trust a belay loop, still use an 8 to belay/rappel, and haven't climbed with chalk since my first visit to to Paradise Forks in 1993.

Being a 'noob' is at least as much fun as thinking you know what you're doing.

wivanoff · · Northeast, USA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 674

Around 1971 or 1972 we found out about rockclimbing from "The Last Whole Earth Catalog". We ordered some gear from the companies listed there. Armed with an MSR Redstripe rope, some Bonatti carabiners, a bunch of Chouniard pitons, Geologist hammers and workboots we decided to go climbing at the Sleeping Giant State Park.

I picked of a copy of "Fundamentals of Rockclimbing" by the M.I.T. Outing Club. The book looked like it was Xeroxed and stapled together. Had hand drawn stick figures for illustrations. It talked about belaying, knots, piton placement, and climbing moves. Never mentioned toproping AFAIR. We poured over that book until we "knew" all about climbing. I still have that book somewhere.

We headed up to Sleeping Giant and picked what looked to be a reasonable line. There were no gyms back then and none of us had ever toproped anything. We didn't know any other climbers. We thought you were just supposed to lead.

So, I tied in with a bowline on a coil and headed up our line banging in knifeblades for pro as I climbed. Fortunately, that route was only about 5.4 and I didn't fall because not one of those knifeblades would have held me.

We repeated this for a couple of times out climbing until one day we met some real rockclimbers from the Yale Mountaineering Club and they helped set us straight. It's a wonder we didn't kill ourselves...

Jeremy Hand · · Northern VA · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 100

Took the gf to climb a 80ft 5.7. She was learning how to belay with a gri gri and was a pretty novice climber at the time. About 3/4 the way up I asked her if she wanted to practice catching me so she could get comfortable at it... she hesitated and, lacking confidence, accepted. I decided that we'd just wait for another time and route when she was a bit more sure of her self. I finish the route and she starts to lower me only to proclaim that the gri gri isn't locking... I told her to belay as if it was a ATC and she lowered me.

After inspecting the device I realized the rope was threaded the wrong way... it is a damn good thing we did not practice catching!!!!

The noobest part about this story is the fact that I checked the gri gri to make sure everything was in order.

Needless to say, we laid off that fire the rest of the day.

Ming · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 1,955

So this is 5 years ago on my first road trip. On my 4th or 5th time multipitch - first time at Red Rocks. Before that all the multipitch were done on routes the leader has done before. First time on "Cat in the Hat".

Took us about 4 hours up....and 7 hours down. Need to reclimb 2 pitch because of forgetting to take out the knot at the end of the rappel and then getting one of the ropes stuck in the dark. Also didn't rappel from the last rappel station and rappeled from one station up instead and had my partner stuck 60 or so feet up from the ground. She had to build an anchor in mid cliff to go indirect so I can rap down to the rappel anchors and re-thread the rope there. Then one of the ropes got stuck while I was pull it up. I have never before or since been SO glad to be down on the ground. We actually talked about just spending the night out there without any bivvying gear or food.

Then we missed the split in the trail to go up to the parking lot and walked another 1+ miles. Finally figured out we were not on trail and I got up on the paved road and jogged back to get the car from the Pine Creek parking lot.

The only good part about all this is that we didn't get a parking ticket even though we got to our car at 10 pm. And the fact you can get all you can eat sushi at 10:30 PM in Vegas. Only in Vegas...

Ben Gordon · · La Canada, CA · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 0

I consistently get my n00b on when rigging raps. If the rope can be tangled, caught on something or otherwise boned I have done it.

I am somewhat notorious for throwing the rope before checking that it is unclipped from my harness (I tie a bight to a draw and clip it to my harness to prevent it from ever falling all the way).

MTN MIA · · Vail · Joined May 2006 · Points: 405

Noob?????? I have never been one!!!!!

Kirsten KDog · · Edgewater, CO · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 80
Ben Gordon wrote:I consistently get my n00b on when rigging raps.
Haha, that cracked me up! I 'get my nOOb on' all the time too. Anyone who says they don't, even those who are crazy-experienced, are full of it! The only way you learn is to make mistakes....
Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0
Princess Mia wrote:Noob?????? I have never been one!!!!!
We know, that is why you are the princess of OW!
Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

Here is my nOOb days tale. Back in the 90s when cell phones were an expensive luxury and people used machines that send paper over the phone lines called faxes, I was living in Austin, TX and just out of college. I had gotten into caving and had some experience with rappelling and rope ascending and such.

Some friends of mine that all worked at a bike shop got together and bought a rope and some quick draws and were going out to do some climbing. I had never seen anyone do this. All I knew of climbing was mountaineering like you would see on National Geographic. That anyone climbed rocks was off my radar. In fact, one day I had free soloed up some crumbly cliff in tennis shoes alone and managed to live. I didn't think other people did that. I just thought I was uniquely stupid.

Lo and behold, we go to this little cliff in the Barton Creek Greenbelt right in town and there are these steep limestone cliffs with bolt things in them. Dudes put this up for climbing! So one of our friends with no experience leading gets on the sharp end and really does a prettty impressive job of leading a 5.10 and setting up a toprope. We all give it a run and decide that this climbing thing is cool. We think about leading some of the other routes, but really none of us are up for that.

So, we get the brilliant idea to go around the side of the cliff and hike down to the cliff edge to set up topropes. While bushwhacking we are ignorant of the fact that all of the cliffs in the area have loose scree piles covered by vegetation at the top. This is just how they are eroding over time. The scree is more or less stable, but not with two morons bushwhacking through it.

So we start some rockfall and yell out "rock!" each time. It gets ridiculous what we are dropping, but we are committed. We abandon the idea at some point and just come down. Once at the base again, this experienced climber is super pissed at us for dropping the rocks. Noobhate is seething in his eyes. We know we were stupid, so we let him lecture us and agree what we did will not be repeated. But he isn't done. He continues to make his lecture and we begin to roll our eyes at each other. We collect our things and leave, embarrassed.

Brian Snider · · NorCal · Joined Mar 2010 · Points: 732

Once used six lockers and two slings to set up a top rope on two bolts.
Also forgot the sliding x. Death triangle I think?

Had some stuck rappel lines and nearly rapped past the snag. Scared the crap out of me trying to get the snag out with one hand and hold the brake with the other. This was before I new you could back up a rappel.

Bought a Petzl Shunt.

Also used to love rappelling.

Dropped a guide book off a cliff.

Dropped a figure 8 off a cliff back when used to rapped with an 8 and belay with an atc. The guy below said he was mostly scared not knowing what the hell that ringing tumbling noise was.

Failed the lead test in the gym three times. Then the last time I was so stoked I was going to make it that I skipped the last clip before the mandatory fall. Almost took out my belayer and the instructor holding down the belayer, as I whipped past. Factor 1.5 fall.

Thought my lead card was all I needed to lead outside.

Not knowing that 400' is waaay scarier than 100'
Still scared of heights and living the noob dream.

Oh and yea, knowing everything about climbing.

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520
Brian Snider wrote:Bought a Petzl Shunt.
Ha ha ha! You have to own one of those to understand the humor here. I bought one as well with a bunch of cams a guy had for sale. I tried it out once and then threw it in the gear bin. It sat for years until I too sold it. Maybe I sold it to you??!
fat cow · · St. Paul, MN · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 10
Brian Snider wrote:Almost took out my belayer and the instructor holding down the belayer, as I whipped past. Factor 1.5 fall.
math is hard.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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