Central Pillar of Frenzy 5.9

Mason and I rocked CPF on Saturday. When we showed up the route was 3 parties deep. Waited at the base for about 45 min before firing off. What can you do? It was Saturday and the climb gets 5 stars. At least all the parties in front and behind were cool people and having a fun day.

This would our first 5.9 multi-pitch. Mason had nocked out a couple 5.9 pitches in the previous weeks. I had been leading 5.7 but did one 5.9 climb before school put the brakes on my climbing season.


I lead P1 and found it to be fairly straight forward. Lot's of fingers, hands, and fists with tons of good pro. The crux was right before the belay. I fumbled around for awhile before figuring out that I needed to turn around and face away from the wall. In all, I fired the pitch pretty quick.
Mason took P2. He was feeling a little worked after P1 and got a little pissed at my enthusiasm. I was all jacked up ready for him to roll. He smoked the pitch though. I was thinking this pitch felt more sustained than P1.
I was up again on P3. The roof is 5.7 but I made it feel like 5.10. Nothing a one armed pull up couldn't fix. At the beginning of the climb Mason said the topo suggested doubles for #3 and #3.5. I was like f*#k that, I'm not carrying all that gear. After pulling the roof I discovered why those pieces were needed. I ended up running out 40 to 50 ft of 5.8 OW. Actually not so bad due to the low angle and my hands and forearms fit fairly well at that size. In hindsight, I should have clipped some of the fixed gear in the OW section.
P4 was probably the most fun of all the pitches. Mason cruised it quickly.
P5 was supposed to be my pitch. I climbed a little over half way into the sustained 5.9 fingers before cramping up and having to come back to the belay. I had a calf lock up due to dehydration, but I'm just making excuses. Mason finished up with style and saved the climb from an epic bail.
It was a long day! About 7 hours due to multiple parties, my P5 epic, and a rope that looked like a telephone cord during the rappels. We made it back to the Face Lift Taco Fest with all our fingers and toes. We were greeted by many happy Face Lifters and kickin fish tacos.