Index with Carlos

Published on 2004-6-3 by Michael Stanton

Index Climbing, June 3, 2004

Carlos had never been climbing outside, so I took him to Index to climb Great Northern Slab. He did very well on the climbing. On the last pitch, I chose to follow a line of 3 bolts on the left of the slab rather than my usual "pilgrim's progress" up a shallow crack on the right to the trees. The bolts were fun, probably about 5.7 or so in difficulty. For Carlos, untutored in slab climbing, this was the hardest part. He worked mightily to master the moves, eventually arriving at the little forest that marks the top of the climb. We met cc.com friends "Greg W" and "Snugtop" here, teaming up for a double rope rappel down Velvasheen to the iron bolts. Alas! the ropes were stuck fast somehow. We executed some shinanigans to eventually free them and continue our descent. Another great evening at Index!