Tradgirl - GunksFest 2001, Steven's Story

Steven's Story
by Steven Cherry, 12/27/2001

Anne using the tree on City Lights (5.7)

The high point of Gunksfest 2001 for me was finally meeting (and climbing a bit with) Anne. We'd exchanged mail about a thousand times, and tried to hook up regularly since October. A very close second was meeting people whose posts I'd read for months and years, especially Jose, Paulina, Chris, and Pat.

This year was huge! Starting out three fests ago with about five people, last year we had about 10, this year was 15. At that rate of growth, the 2010 fest will need every wall in the Trapps and we can book the Bakery and Bacchus for the beginning and end of the festivities.

The only dissonant note was Colin's mom running down the carriage road in search of information about the rangers. Easy Keyhole! 5.2! It was my first lead ever, though not a great choice of one, since it's a bulge-and-ledge-filled chimney with more stuff to hit than placements can protect you from.

When we got to Colin, though, it was clear he was more shook up and bruised than damaged. I could tell from his breathing that he was in full adrenaline mode, and that he'd be hurting a lot worse in a few hours. By then, though, doctors, xrays, and painkillers would be working their magic. (I have way more experience with the whole process than one wants to have.) I told Colin this was the part of my climbing career he wasn't supposed to emulate. Though he's suddenly tall, and much more mature than even a year ago, I knew he was still the same shy and self-conscious teenager I'd led up his first Gunks route a couple of years ago. What he needed even more than the rangers was for us to leave him alone.

Mike bouldering on Pas de Deux Direct (5.10)
The rest of Gunksfest was a blast. Almost everyone was at the Bakery well before 9:00, Anne had no trouble picking up Chris and Pat, Alex showed up, as he always does, and Mark was there before me, even with twice the drive, ready for any and all weather. Marc returned for the fair weather of New York (at least compared with Quebec) this time with with his famous brother Fred, whose internet account he's been using (and confusing people with) for all these years.

At the cliff was John Peterson, who never wastes time or energy in town, especially with three kids in tow. Also Mike Rawdon -- whose promises to show up Dawn and I had learned to disregard -- not only was there with his mulled wine, but climbed, and not only climbed but flashed the hardest toprope problem that got set up, Maria Redirect. Julie and Scott-the-climbing-boy-toy made up for a late arrival by setting up Drunkards, going beyond the pitch 1 anchor to include the roof that's wonderful enough to have been in the weekly Climbing mag calendar last year.

I can't account for who led and followed what, but at various junctures the following routes got climbed: Jackie 5.5, Baby 5.6, Son of Easy O 5.8, Pas de Deux 5.8, City Lights 5.7, Frogs Head 5.6- (led at least three times), Sundown 5.8, Maria 5.6+, Maria Direct 5.9, Maria Redirect 5.11, Drunkards Delight 5.8, Sixish 5.4, and I guess High E and something else, by Alex and John at the end of day.

Aya racking up to lead Sixish (5.4)
(Dawn and I have no idea which section of the cliff to invade next year that can match this wall for easy access, sunlight, range of routes, and ease of setting up harder stuff on toprope. Last year we did the Uberfall, and the year before the High E/Bonnies/Groovy area. The Nears gets cold by 1:00 or so, and the easy routes have awkward-for-toproping traverses. The Mac Wall doesn't have enough easier routes, nor does the Seasons. Maybe we can take over from Madame G and the Guides Wall down to the Mantle Block and V-3.)

If it's warm enough, we can do the Nears, but will we ever get better weather than this? 30s but bright, dry, and the rock was almost warm. Even late in the day with the sun getting lower and the wind kicking up at the base, it was still comfortable 60 feet off the deck.

People started collecting in Bacchus around 4:00, and by 5:00 we were adding more tables to the long string we'd had. We all still owe Tom dinner from last year, and now we need to toast Colin's recovery.

Gunksfest by longstanding tradition has to be the day after Xmas, but other eastern fests were mooted - September in the Dacks, and Halloween at Rumney, just to prove there really is sport climbing on this coast.

Awards

Hardest and most leading - Alex

Arriving latest back at Bacchus for the second year in a row - Alex

Chris refusing to use the tree on City Lights (5.7)
Traveling the furthest - Chris and Pat

Driving the furthest - Marc and Fred

Driving the least - Mike

Most tenuous arrival - Paulina, arranging herself a ride in the last days before the fest, with someone of the opposite gender than we were led to expect

Low-key but critical hosting - Todd; honorable mention - John

Most sobering note of the day - even more than Colin's little wake-up-call was the tulips at the base of Frogs Head.

Best end-of-the-day-toprope-flash - Mark cruising Maria Direct

Most surprisingly good route that no one ever does - Sundown

Hardest move - the pod crux on City Lights (Anne showed why it isn't cheating to use the tree - it makes it harder!)

Best cruise of the pod on City Lights - Pat

Best first-climb-at-the-Gunks - Mark leading Chris and Pat up Jackie

Best quote - Anne, upon figuring out that Pas de Deux really is 5.8 if you stay on route: "They should call this Pas de Duh!"

Just some of the folks at GunksFest 2001

Last modified 2004-November-21