A Project That Should Float

  

Today I have been obsessing about rowboats.  I am not much of an ocean person, or I suppose even a water person in general, so it may fairly be considered an odd thing to be pondering.  Without climbing partners, though, my mind is prone to wandering.

Probably about a year ago my friend Ian was telling me that he was considering building a wood strip water craft.  I assumed that he meant a canoe, but in fact he said he would rather build a row boat.  To back up a bit, I met Ian at work, where his renovation grew into a big beautiful custom build.  He and Catherine, his partner, are clients like I never expect to have again.  On the build Ian was around most of the time, and I enjoyed working with him a great deal.  Anyhow, after our conversation once in a while the idea of building a row boat has crept into my head.

To build the row boat Ian had planned to purchase a kit, which includes all the instructions and materials necessary to complete the job.  Not a bad idea, but to me it is a bit more like putting together a jig saw puzzle rather than actually learning to build a boat.  On the other hand, I have little inclination to mill the bead and cove into thousands of board feet of strips, either.  Purchasing the strips seems to me to be the way ahead, and taking the time to learn the process of constructing the moulds and creating the constituent pieces seems more deeply satisfying.

I have been thinking about all the furniture that I would build when I am back, so it is odd to make the leap toward building a boat.  I think what attracts me to both the row boat and furniture building is the fact that I am doing it just for the sake of it, and when it is done there is something beautiful to enjoy.  For the boat, though, I also get to enjoy the company of friends.  I found that my friend and business partner Okko is interested as well, which would make for a party of three.  Obviously, as much as this is about building a boat, it is about having an excuse to spend time with people I like.  Also, Daniele has been keen on building some chairs, which would easily be done along side and be a great way for us to spend time together as well.

For all of this I think that it will not be something that I leap right after when I get home.  Unfortunately work will have to take the lead, and the materials for the boat won't come cheap.  Also, there is the logistics of where the boat will be built, and the fact that I haven't even floated the idea with Ian, chosen a boat, etc.  I will actually probably end up building some furniture first just because of the financial factor and that there is free material sitting in Okko's garage.  All that said I hope to get it going in a few months.  I think it will be fun.  After all, I met all three people through building in one way or another, so why not keep building together?

Playing With Blocks

I think that I have just about always traded leads.  If I have ever lead in blocks it has because one or the other partner has been much stronger and that it has been sensible in order to climb fast or get past a crux section.  The odd thing is that swinging leads is actually quite a bit less sensible than leading in blocks, especially in the mountains.  This is, of course, not new territory.  Strong climbers have been using this method overwhelmingly to eat up terrain on big routes, and have been telling the rest of us that it is the right thing to do.  It is interesting, then, that not many people put this advise into practice.

Lots of Terrain Complete, Lots Yet to Come

On the Ginat Graham and I traded leads for basically the entire route that we were not simul-climbing.  Dane's most recent blog about gear slings and not dropping gear made me thing about this.  When I look at it critically, just in the time that it took to trade gear on a pitch by pitch basis we would have been climbing a lot faster to have lead in blocks.  

Firstly, when leading in the alpine it is rare on most routes to place the majority or even half of your gear on any given pitch.  This means that at the end of a pitch the person who lead it remains the person with the most gear, and as such less gear need be given back in order to send them out on the next pitch.  Less chance of dropping gear, less time spent trading gear back and forth.

Next, by the time the second reaches the leader, including the time that it takes the leader to build an anchor, the leader is usually recovered.  I know for myself, by the time the second gets to me I have recovered.  By the time the second has switched to lead and climbed the next pitch I have been cold for quite a while.  Trading 60 meter pitches when it is cold seems more sensible than trading every 120 meters between the leading and following.

Getting Cold

Finally, and possibly most importantly, leading in blocks is good for the mental game. The leader can get in the correct head space and stay there for their block, and then relax mentally and follow during the block of seconding.  When you swing leads even as a second you are thinking about what the next pitch will bring on your lead, and are thus expending mental energy for the whole climb.

I think I may know why the swinging leads approach is predominant.  It is because it is simple.  The route needs no analysis, no planning.  New pitch means new leader.  On the other hand, if on the Ginat we had just lead in blocks it is possible that one person would have lead all the easy 60 degree stuff while the other would have lead all the cruxy stuff. Thus, if you are planning to lead in blocks and have it equitable then it is necessary to plan your approach for the route ahead of time, or plan to adapt if you you don't know what the route will hold.  Either way I think it would provide a more expedient, less taxing method for many routes.

Take Two

The second effort on the Ginat proved much more successful. We actually got it done!  It felt longer than I expected, but the technical difficulties were quite manageable and I could be more fit at the moment.   We had planned the climb knowing that the weather forecast was for mildly unstable weather, which recently in Cham has meant local cloud and no precipitation.  It would manifest a bit differently on the climb, however.

Looking down the mixed traverse

We had climbed probably 2600ft when I looked over at the Aiguille Verte and saw a thunder tower cloud building rapidly.  It was looking as if the we were about to enjoy the 'slight chance of afternoon thunder showers' predicted on Chamonix-Metéo.  Not having the luxury of just dropping off and going home easily, we decided to climb through it and get off the back side raps.  For the rest of the day we took a pretty decent beating from snow and spindrift, making our climbing painfully slow.  The thunder and lightening did nothing to relax my spirits either.  The climbing on the final headwall was interesting however, the mixed traverse being the most interesting to me.

Graham enjoying the snow and spindrift

When we finally topped out the 'crux pitch' it was late, and having heard that the rappels can be a pain to find (which they are not), I suggested that we bivy in a somewhat sheltered rocky outcropping.  The night was the most miserable bivy I have had thus far.  No sleeping bag, tied in, down-sloping ledge, cold - I checked the watch every 10 minutes from 10pm to 5am.  Every time I would nod off my brain would recognize my situation and I would awake with a start.

Our home for the night

Final snow slope

The following morning we topped out in nice sunshine and began the raps.  On the first rap the rope got stuck and Graham has to climb back up and free it - a real pain.  The rest went fine, though being low angled the ropes were constantly tangling.  The bergshrund at the bottom of the route was quite formidable, as was the post-holing down to the Vallée Blanche.  On the initial snow slopes the snow was so isothermal that it was impossible to say whether whether we were post holing or sinking into slots on any given step.  I guess that's what the rope is for...

Graham on the first rap

Fortunately despite our post holing we caught the last telepherique to the train and were down in valley bottom in good time.  Hitching back up to the car at the Grands Montets I got beta on the best little rock climbing spots in Cham, how great is this place?

North Face Grandes Jorasses

On the descent and afterwards I have been reflecting upon the experience.  The odd thing to admit is that  the trip was only partly fun as normal people understand it.  I started off tired as we were on trail by 2am, and after waking up some had fun until the weather came in, which dampered my enthusiasm a bit.  Add to that a cold bivy, and a sun-baked slog out the next day... why do I like this stuff?  The other strange part is that on the descent we got a great view of the north face of the Grandes Jorasses and I realized I was hungry for it, even then.  The Ginat was the route I had really wanted to get done on this trip, you'd think I would rest on my laurels a bit.  Instead I was looking for somewhere to get myself another exhausting difficult day out.  Apparently the glass can never be entirely full.