Laurel knobbieness

originally this was a reply to some Booty related thread, then it got out of hand and I just decided it might be interesting for all to read.

Story time gather round.

Laurel knob, NC winter 2015
Johnny and I freeze our asses off all night camping in the nearest legit parking lot, not car camping like the sane people, tent camping. Not much sleep that night. Despite sleeping at the trail head we are still the last of 3 groups to get moving. 3 miles of some fucked up hiking lead us to the base of Laurel knob. It's cold and the slab and groove climbing are some fierce friction all while dodging 1inch diameter shower of ice pellets with one stop along the way to dodge a larger ice block. We top out on Seconds 5.9+! fuck yea we both got it free and clean.

Our first send on LK! Now begins the rap. For those of you who have not rapped on slab, its not easy. You throw the rope and it lands in a pile at your feet and rolls a little so it tangles. I think it is 4 raps to get to the bottom? The sun toys with the horizon and the other two parties have already begun the hike back to the parking lot. Why the fuck am I an idiot who didn't bring much food for a day like today? My body is reaching its limits and we still have to hike out, no matter, we are on the ground, just gotta pull this rope... WTF it's stuck, I swear to god I got the knot out...right? it's dark now and we both hang on the rope trying to get it down, we crush a small rhodo in process. It's my rope and I make the call to leave it and begin the rough hike out. I'm really struggling with the hike, my poor planning on the food bit is definitely catching up with me. Leaving the rope was probably a good choice.

The next day I wake up and kick myself, why did I leave the rope?... someone will surely grab it and it is rightfully theirs because well its booty if it's left behind. It's a crappy week weather wise and I am stuck at work till 5pm. Finally have Friday off for the holidays. I butter up the girlfriend pretty please come give me a catch real super quick while I ascend this rope? I'm gonna place a lil lead gear too cuz I don't know what the rope is hung up on. I have noticed many climbers have these awesome climbing girlfriends they take all over the place and send hard things with. This is not my girlfriend. My girlfriend was raised in London and when we met she had major trouble simply hiking, so climbing is terrifying and so above her head, we recently had tears on a 5.4 climb, just putting this into perspective.

We get to the base of the climb, "this will be quick honey I promise" famous last words right? The rock is dry and the sky is omniscient. "Make it quick" I think, mama's got family dinner ready when we get home. The rope is at the top of the second pitch so we are looking at a pretty solid 210ft of climbing/ascending.

Half way up and the rain starts... Girlfriend says I should back off in a wavering voice. The friction starts to deteriorate and the groove's flow increases its basically a small stream gushing down the rock, I have roughly a 1000Ft of rock above me draining down. Now I'm soaked and cold but I'm ascending and it really isn't too bad. I get to the spot where the rope is stuck... I did untie the knot! Some how the melted end was snagged deep in the groove, not entirely sure how because there was so much running water. But I got it out! yay! FUCK!! I'm legit on lead now. (at this point I wasn't thinking clearly, I could have easily made this 100% safe with my rope that is already through the rings) I got 25ft to the rings and 2 worth while cam placements, tricky and wet. The girlfriend starts yelling frantically and I'm stressing big time. In reality its not a huge deal, looking at a 15-20ft leader fall. But its raining and she is yelling and I'm so close but this crappy #3 placement isn't really making me feel better. I can't move the rope is pulling me down. "SLACK!!!!!!!" I scream down. "I'm out of rope" she calls back.... fuck sooo close. Ok, untie from the tree and walk up the slab some! Some minutes pass as I soak in the crisp November rain. I get my extra few feet and finally get that sigh of relief that only comes with clipping rings.
Success! I got my rope back and all are safe.

And that, kids is how I almost lost my rope to the booty hounds.

Now the more terrifying ordeal, dealing with the ensuing fight with the girlfriend, every fucking time...

Just sharing a tale! happy climbing to all.

did you really ascend a stuck rope without backup and knowing what it was stuck through or how? and did you link pitches? how did you get short roped?

5.8...fight grade creep!

J/K I found it a pretty challenging 5.8, and I'm glad you got away safe and sound with all you gear.

goingUp wrote:did you really ascend a stuck rope without backup and knowing what it was stuck through or how? and did you link pitches? how did you get short roped?

I did ascend a stuck rope but also placed gear as I went and clipped it to my second rope so I was on lead. Yes this was a link up of the first two pitches of Seconds, which apparently is slightly longer than a 60m rope(with two climbers tied in)

Csproul, you are correct this is 5.8+ my memory sucks all the more reason to write trip reports.