Members

Yesterday Jess and I became members of the Sunnyvale Planet Granite and kicked it off in style with a good night of climbing.

We first both climbed 5.9, 5.10a, 5.10b, and 5.10c all onsight. Then we followed with a 5.10d which Jess did in two parts. After that we did a great 5.11a (Jess's first) which had slab and overhang with a cool transition in the middle (going from overhang to slab). We followed it by a sustained (60 feet) 5.11a (slight) overhang. Jess peeled off and couldn't get back on. I did it onsight but was often close to falling. It was a great route with the crux two thirds of the way up. After that Jess did a 5.10d long overhang which she worked a lot until finally reaching the top. I finished with a great 5.11c over a doorway where you have to do a very dynamic move in the middle going from a big piece (open hands) to a medium pinch just within reach, at which point one of you feet cuts and then you need to go for another medium pinch before getting a foothold back.

I didn't suck too much!

After a long period outside the gym, I went to Planet Granite in Sunnyvale with Jess who was just back from climbing in Thailand. We started with 5.7, then 8, 9, 10a, 10c, and 10d. This was followed by V3 and V4 for me, and a V2 for Jess.

The problems below 10 were boring: straight up, no inspiration. But the 10s were fun. The gym set routes by color of holds which I find stupid as it severely limits the possibilities.

The place was very crowded, with a mix of gender, age, and race which is nice and quite a few clearly serious outdoors climber.

The 10a and 10c were quite long. The 10c and 10d were very crimpy which felt hard after a long break. They were both slabs (at least in part).

This gym is only 20 min away from me (by car) so it might become the regular go to place. On Saturday we might try a bigger one in San Francisco and on Sunday we will probably head outdoors.