While the original plan for our week-long vacation in Atlanta was nothing but climbing, someone brought up caving the very first evening and a unanimous decision was made by all that a caving adventure simply must be added to the itinerary.

We arrived in Atlanta late Friday night, and almost immediately my cousin Chris brought up caving and I agreed that we absolutely must go. We spent Saturday hanging around the house, jammin’ out and climbing on the woody he built in his rec room.

After having breakfast Sunday morning we got on the road and headed for the cave, which was about a 2.5 hour drive from the house. We made a stop at Walmart to pick up a few essentials that Jonathan and I were lacking since we hadn’t planned for caving (long-sleeve shirt, appropriate footwear, and a headlamp), and arrived at the cave right around Noon.

After suiting up with long sleeve shirts, long pants, boots, elbow and knee pads, helmets, lights and camelbacks, we made the hike to the cave entrance.

PettyJohns Cave is located in the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area (the same Pigeon Mountain that PMI is based out of), and is comprised of 6.5 miles of charted underground trails, is 240 feet deep, and stays at a constant 58 degrees. We had planned on being in the cave for up to 6 hours, and making stops at the Waterfall and the Double Echo Domes, two places Chris and Holly had been before (albeit a few years ago). If you have any experience reading cave maps, you can probably get an idea of the route we took:

There are a few notable checkpoints as you go through the cave, the most popular being the “Z-Turn” and the “Pancake Squeeze”. The Z-Turn is serious of 90 degree turns in a very tight tunnel. The final turn in the Z-Turn was so tight that I nearly had to back out and take off my pack, but I managed to squeeze through with one final push.

The Pancake Squeeze is exactly what you would expect – a passage that is wide but has very little vertical space (as little as 12 inches in some places). There were times when you couldn’t turn your head from one side to the other without your helmet getting stuck between the two slabs of rock.

It took us very little time at all to reach the Waterfall, a decent-sized room with a 20 foot cascade of water flowing from the rocks above. There was a rope set up in this room as well, and for those with ascension gear they could continue along the route and head “up-stream” if you will. We didn’t bring ascension gear with us, so we took a short break to have lunch.

After lunch we backtracked and made our way to a primary “fork in the road” that had the split which would take us to the Double Echo Domes, two small, very tall rooms that produced a really clear and loud echo. Traveling to the Double Echo Domes was one of the muddiest parts of the cave, as we were crawling through inches of water and mud at times (although I was told we lucked out, as there had been times with Chris and Holly had trekked through there in as much as 6-10 inches of water!).

After visiting the Double Echo Domes, and having no idea what time it was (nobody had a watch readily accessible and nobody really wanted to worry about the time), we were starting to get a little tired and a little cold and made our way to the exit. On the way we ran into a few other groups who were just starting their adventures, some of which were horribly unprepared, or already lost (scary, I know). We ended up spending just under 4 hours in the cave, two hours less than expected. But I must admit, while I had a great time, part of me was ready for a little sunlight.

Covered in mud, tired and sore, we headed off to a nearby watering hole called “Blue Hole”, named for the appearance of the natural spring water coming right out of the mountain. This large puddle happened to be just large enough and deep enough to jump into, which we did in an attempt to get rid of any remaining mud before starting home. The water temperature was in the ballpark of about 35 degrees, cold enough to take your breath away as soon as you hit the surface. But it was all part of tradition, so we jumped in, scrubbed off the remaining mud incredibly quickly (you don’t dilly-dally in water that cold), and settled in for the ride home.

We have already decided that next time we are in Georgia we want to go back to PettyJohns Cave and try to reach a place called the “Discovery Room”. Chris has done it once, and says it’s about an 8-hour roundtrip and requires harnesses and gear for ascending and rappelling. I want to be one of the few people who signs the registry in that far corner of the cave.

To see more pictures from the trip, check out the PettyJohns Cave Photo Gallery over at Mindless Conception Photography.

It has been confirmed by all parties involved, Aug. 28th – Sep. 5th will mark the big climbing trip of the year, “Atlanta 2009: The Beta”.

A2:TB will consist of multiple excursions to climbing areas across the southeast U.S., but the highlight of the trip is going to be Looking Glass Rock in North Carolina. We will be climbing the Nose Area, which is a 500 ft., four-pitch climb ranging from 5.7 to 5.9. My cousin Chris will be leading the expedition as he has made the ascent twice to date.

I believe we will also be making a trip to a crag in Alabama called Sand Rock, which is supposed to be a great place for lead, trad and bouldering for all skill levels.

I will post up more information as I get it. Look for a HUGE photo album when I return from the trip as well. I plan on having my camera on me at all times.

I’ve reached an interesting point in my climbing and I haven’t quite figured out how I feel about it or what it means.

I’ve been an athlete most of my life, and I’ve always been very driven when it comes to sports, both recreational and competitive. I’ve always wanted to be the best, and I usually push myself to the very edge in order to be (or appear to be) at the top of my game.

But let’s be honest, that was a lot easier when I was 16 years old. Now that I’m 25, I find that I’m not quite as determined to be the best, and I certainly don’t feel like pushing myself to the edge in order to keep up with some of the other guys/gals at the gym (people who clearly devote a lot more time to climbing than I do).

Now, this doesn’t mean I’m growing tired of climbing – that couldn’t be further from the truth! I’m just really satisfied and content with what level I am climbing at. I am able to onsight most of the 5.11s that go up in the gym, and I feel very comfortable and relaxed when climbing 5.10s and 5.11s – it’s where I feel “in my element”. I have climbed a couple of 5.12s at the gym, and while I can usually get through them (eventually), I find they require enough extra physical exertion to take them out of enjoyable realm and make them kind of annoying (albeit satisfying when you do reach the top).

As I said, I don’t really know what all of that means for my climbing. In the last 8 months I have come a long way in climbing. I’ve worked my way up to climbing 5.12s, I’m bouldering v5s (although I don’t boulder very much after my tendon injury), I’ve learned great climbing technique from instructors and other climbers at the gym, and I’ve learned to lead climb. I’m looking forward to getting even better – I’d like to take a few more of the classes at Sportrock, I want to learn trad (which I will be doing in a couple of weeks, more to come on that later!), and I want to increase my climbing endurance.

But I don’t have any desire to be pushing myself to the edge, because I’ve realized that climbing is purely recreational for me and I don’t want to risk ruining that by pushing myself to a point that offers little reward.

Just a quick update, as I’m really tired after tonight’s session.

I had decided in advance that tonight I was going to push myself pretty hard. I would warm up on a 5.9, and then climb nothing less than a 5.10. Ended up climbing several 5.10s and 5.11s extremely successfully, and not feeling too worn out.

My brother has found a 5.11 that he is quickly turning into his strongest route. After climbing it once (and making it look easy), he decided he wanted to see how quickly he could climb the route. I took the “under 2 minutes” guess. He knew the technique and moves for the route, and flew up the wall. One minute, ten seconds later he was at the top. Not bad for a 5.11 on a 40 ft. wall!

I wanted to finish up my evening on a 5.12 I had climbed a few times prior. I knew the route pretty well, and knew the most difficult move was three from the top – a really nasty pinch that most people struggled to hold onto (especially after all the small crimps that lead to that move). I was able to take a good rest on a couple holds down, and mentally prepare myself for that small pinch. Surprisingly, I made the move with little difficulty (was even able to bump with the other hand while holding that pinch), and sent the 5.12 flawlessly for the first time. I did give out a little yell at the top, between the adrenaline rush and the onset of fatigue, but I was so stoked to finally send that 5.12 (which I hadn’t seen anybody else do that evening).

There are a few other 5.12s I would like to hit in the gym, but perhaps it’s time I start playing around on some of the 5.13s??

I spent the weekend in Richmond, VA with family for July 4th festivities, and had the opportunity to check out Peak Experiences in Midlothian, VA (crappy picture stolen from their website).

My youngest brother had climbed at Peak once or twice before, so he made arrangements with the gym in advance for my brother Jonathan and I to take our belay and lead certification tests (yes, they require you make an appointment to take their tests). It took about 45 minutes to go through all the motions with them, but neither of us minded. They did at least seem to be a little more attentive to proper technique and safety procedures than Sportrock (who passes just about everyone that takes the test, even if they don’t know what they are doing – but that is another story for another time!).

My brother Christian (the youngest) had given us a heads-up on a few things that were a little different than the way things were done at Sportrock, but I went into the experience with a positive attitude and excitement towards climbing at another gym.

That excitement dropped pretty quickly. There were three major things that really bugged me about Peak Experiences:

1. Peak Experiences has somewhere between 50-60 top ropes set up for routes (I don’t remember the exact number). Every single one is a static rope. I haven’t climbed in that many places but never before had I climbed at a gym that exclusively used static ropes, and I didn’t like it one bit. On top of that, the ropes were pretty outdated and were in need of replacing, largely as a result of annoyance #2. The ropes did not slide smoothly through equipment, and you were left with a strange black residue on your hands after belaying. Some of the ropes were difficult to even get through an ATC due to how swelled and dirty they were.
2. The floor at Peak Experiences is comprised of thousands of little river rocks. I had never climbed at an indoor gym with a floor like this before, and wasn’t quite sure of the benefits. Naturally, I asked the kid who was giving us our belay tests “why the stone?” The response I got had something to do with better weight distribution when you take falls on it (he also made sure to toss in that the floor was better than that at Sportrock, like he had something to prove). He proceeded to tell me about someone who hit the deck from near 50 feet and nothing more than some scratches and soreness. While I can’t verify the results of taking a 50 foot fall onto that stone, jumping off the wall from 2 feet hurt like hell. It also made it very difficult to maintain your footing when belaying someone who took a fall (but I understand that is something you deal with outdoors, so I’m not subtracting points for that). Lastly, the nature of the floor made it impossible to clean, so everything got dirty when it touched the floor – ropes, shoes, feet, rope bags, etc. I was virtually covered in a disgusting dirty white substance after the first 30 minutes.
3. Apparently with the latest management change, Peak Experiences decided to stop using tape to mark routes and start using colored holds (not illustrated in picture above, mind you). “Great idea” I thought to myself before arriving. “Stupid idea” I thought to myself after climbing three routes. The problem with using colored holds and not tape is that you get very little variety in any one route because all of the holds that are, for example, bright orange, are exactly the same. You don’t have a small, crimpy move to a big jug for resting. Instead you are left with small, crimpy move to identical small, crimpy move followed by another small, crimpy move. And this continues all the way to the top. Combine this with poor route planning and not marking very well for feet, I found myself having to power my way through 5.8s because there were no feet to use and the hand holds were in absurd places in relation to each other.

We lasted about 2 hours before calling it quits, primarily because we had grown tired of the gym. We got tired of climbing routes where the first 10 feet offered everything the next 30 feet would, we didn’t enjoy lead climbing on “declined” routes (what exactly is the term for something opposite of an overhang or roof?) because one slip would have meant sliding balls-first down the wall, over the edge and into another arête, and we really didn’t like top-roping on static ropes.

I had been informed that things used to be much better at Peak Experiences, before the new management took over. My guess? The gym must have come on hard times and was looking for ways to cut back on costs (at least I hope that is the reason, and they aren’t just being cheap!). The end result? A sub-par gym in my opinion that offered more frustrations than enjoyment. Would I go back again? If I was visiting family down in the Richmond area and they wanted to climb indoors, sure. Would I recommend anyone go out of their way to try out Peak Experiences? Not really. From what I was told, there was some pretty cool outdoor climbing at some old railroad supports near the river that would probably be worth checking out first.

Three months from now will mark the beginning of a 7-10 day climbing trip based out of Atlanta, Georgia. While I believe we’ll be traveling up to 6 hours for good climbing, Atlanta will be the home base where we’ll be staying in between trips (I think a couple of days trips are being planned, as well as one 2-3 day trip with camping).

Phase One of getting ready for “The Beta” is almost complete. I’ll finish lead climbing class tomorrow evening and be certified to lead climb and belay at the gym, which means I can start practicing without the supervision of an instructor and start working my way to lead climbing 5.10s consistently. Jonathan starts lead class on Monday and will be finished in three weeks.

Phase Two of “The Beta” involves equipment. My brother and I are both going to pick up a set of six quickdraws, which will give us twelve to use while in Atlanta (so we aren’t bumming gear off my cousin and his wife). I’ve been checking out the major websites (REI, EMS, HTO), and there are a number of options available in the quickdraw department. Having ZERO experience in purchasing quickdraws, I’d love to hear what you have and have not been happy with, in terms of cost, performance, reliability and durability. Wire gate or not? Tell me what you do and do not like.

The other integral part of the plan would be to purchase my own rope. This is yet another field I have little to no knowledge in. Is there a standard length rope that covers you for most casual outdoor climbing? Are some brands better than others? More reliable? More impervious to dirt and moisture, and ultimately longer lasting? Again, I would love to hear your thoughts on equipment you have used, and any recommendations you might have.

The other major piece of equipment I may pick up in the next few months would be another pair of shoes. You may remember, I picked up a set of the La Sportiva Nago’s back around Christmas, and I have absolutely fallen in love with them. However, I already feel like I want something a little more aggressive, something I can really get down and dirty with the toe. Being so happy with my current pair of La Sportiva’s, I have had my eye on the La Sportiva Solution, a velcro shoe in the upper tier of what La Sportiva has to offer. The downside, as I am discovering, is that not many stores in the area carry this shoe, and I refuse to purchase a shoe without trying it on first. I’m sure somebody has it, but it’s just a matter of tracking it down…

… albeit, a bit intimidating, haha.

Today was the second of three sessions for Lead Climbing I class at Sportrock. Everyone in the class knew we would be experiencing falls today, which I must admit I was both excited and nervous about. I knew it couldn’t be that hard, but having never actually taken a “free-fall” or belayed someone falling on lead, I didn’t know exactly what to expect.

We split up into groups of three, and since there were two no-shows today, the group I was part of consisted of Rick, Frank (the instructor), and myself. Frank was obviously on the top-rope safety line. Rick climbed first, which put me on belay. After doing a quick warmup on a 5.8, we moved on to falling. We were told to fall three times, the first with the clip at approximately waist height. Now, Rick has about 30-40 lbs. on me, so I knew I would be going up the wall when he fell. Sure enough, he came almost down to the first clip (he fell from the third clip), and I was about 6 feet up the wall.

The second fall would be about a foot higher, but Rick went a bit further and had the clip at about his knees. Fortunately, he moved up to clip four before taking this fall, because I was up into the first clip about 9 feet off the floor. Surprising, even though I knew it was coming. The third fall was even more fun. Pulled me right up into the first clip, and I could have reached up and grabbed his leg, haha. There were smiles all around. Even Jeremy, one of the gym staff who is probably one of the best climbers at the gym (he sets a lot of the routes), smiled and said, “nice work dude.”

Then it was my turn. Falling with the clip was at my waste was no big deal – very similar to falling on top-rope. Falling with the clip at my knees was a little more hair raising, but still felt controlled and comfortable (of course, Rick is planted on the floor and not having any problems). Then I climbed up even further and had the clip at my feet, as if I would be getting ready to clip into the next quickdraw. I looked down and thought, “this is going to be one heck of a fall… here we go!”

And I let go.

Free-falling 10 feet is an interesting experience.

Then you smash feet-first into the wall.

I probably only fell a total of 15 feet when all was said and done (a lot less than Rick fell since I don’t have the mass to pull him off the floor), but for my third fall lead climbing, it was pretty exciting. I had to stop for a minute or so and shake out the adrenaline, as my arms and legs had a little bit of shake to them.

We finished up the next 45 minutes lead climbing some 5.8’s in the cave, which I’d been wanting to do for a LONG time. Next Monday I should have my lead climbing certification, so I can lead climb without the supervision of an instructor, and start getting more practice under my belt before Atlanta in September!