Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Super Pin, R or X?

A famous climb in the Black Hills gets a recent ascent along with a discussion of whether it should be rated “R” (get hurt if you fall or “:X” (die if you fall.) I have climbed it once on a top rope and would never even think of leading it.

I liked this quote:

A fall at the technical crux, assuming an attentive belay, should be safe.  If you can bust off

Vince spread eagle and praying that his balance is good on Super Pin

that move, you shouldn’t have any problem with the remainder of the moves.  Unless of course runouts make you nervous, and Super Pin has one of the most famous in the business. I can only imagine how mortifying it would be to lose your cool at any point during the runout, and how, if you’re reading this, these words will lodge in your psyche, making those moves all the much harder as you overgrip the greasy nubbins and your legs start to vibrate and a few mica crystals crumble while you heart is beating so hard you feel it in your ears and for the life of you, you can’t let go to chalk up,”

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