Family Travel Other
Climbing
Section II - Rock Climbing
"At the end of the hiking section, we will set up a base camp for rock climbing practice. Progressing at your own speed, you will learn movement on rock, protection placement, signals and belaying, top roping, rapelling, knots and rope systems. "
The descent from Diablo brought the expedition to Diablo Canyon. With some help from Paco, everyone made it past the last obstacle... the swing...without falling into the pool below. From there, it was only another 30 minutes to the camp and then another 20 to the re-ration point.
We whipped through the re-ration and bid a reluctant farewell to Rob and Kristin who were heading back to Ensenada with Paco and Alisha. At the same time, we met Allison, Fabio, and Kevin our new instructors. They gave us the beta on base-camping, the local tarantulas, and what to expect during the climbing section.
We had a few hours free that afternoon, and several of us took turns helping Tripp create a new look. More than 10 razor blades were donated to the cause and, after hours of painstaking work by various FSB3 barbers, Tripp's head was as smooth as the granite surrounding us.
During the climbing section, we spent the days soaking up information on belaying, placing protection, building anchors, multi-pitching, and lead climbing. The evenings were spent catching up on curriculum and student classes. To help us prepare, Dee gave us a memorable class on how to give presentations. It came complete with visual aids such as burning orcas and seahorses and a visit from the predecessor of Drom Man (as played by Fabio). We learned more about Leave No Trace Principles, watersheds, nutrition, and a few approaches to applying LNT when camping with friends. Along the way, we also learned more about each other. For example, Ben told us all about his summer at fat camp when he was 10, Kelly told us about her pet goat who liked to play on the trampoline, and Shannon told us about where she went when she was supposed to be at a high school model UN conference.
For more on climbing, choose a segment below.