Long day on the sheephead

1500+ feet of climbing. 10 hours car-to-car. 2 delicious beers enjoyed. That pretty much sums up the day.

Cam and I decided to have a long day on the rock on Monday. We made two trips up and down the Sheepshead here in Cochise stronghold. It was a long, but very good day. This was the first beer that we have had since the first few days of the trip. Needless to say, the beer tasted glorious after climbing all day.

The climbing here in Cochise is not what I would have expected at all. Many of the routes on the bigger domes are bolted. This is mainly because there really aren’t that many continuous crack systems in the rock. This lack of cracks leads to a style of climbing that I have come to enjoy…slab climbing.

Over just the last 4 days, I have learned so much about slab climbing. For those who may not know, slab climbing is climbing on rock that is less than vertical. Because of the shallow angle of the rock, then holds tend to be pretty tiny in order to keep the climb somewhat difficult. Where as with vertical rock faces, the holds are at least large enough to get your fingers around, and at least a quarter inch of so of rubber from your shoes. With slab climbing this is not so much the case.

There was sections of the climbs today where I standing on an edge about the width of a dime, while pulling with my fingertips on a hold even smaller. The key to slab climbing is balance, making sure to never put too much weight onto a certain foot or handhold. This has been a very good learning experience, and has added a much needed technique to my climbing repertoire.