Adam and Mike on The Vampire, 5.11a
I got a call the week before Halloween weekend from my buddy Dan asking me if I wanted to climb out at Tahquitz on Halloween. I had never been on a multipitch climb so I was very excited. Dan told me we would be climbing “Super Pooper,” a three pitch 5.10a.
The start to the climb involved a 5.4(ish) solo that was above a few hundred feet of slab. We were with Mike and Adam (pictured above) who soon broke off to climb the Vampire. Dan had never climbed Super Pooper and was excited to get to lead the whole climb. I was excited to just follow it.
Solo to the start
Dan. It is Halloween remember?
The climb starts about 300 or so feet from the base of the mountain. The first pitch of the climb is considered the crux and as I remember didn’t seem to bad (note: later in the climb I get scared and forget most of the climb).
Viking Dan on the first pitch
I remember getting to the top of the first pitch and feeling good. The thought “the hardest part is over” crossed my mind and I figured it would be all fun from here out.
Fear can do funny things to your ability to climb and your perception of how hard something is.
Belay ledge for P3. I think.
The picture above shows Dan and I on the last belay ledge. I remember asking Dan, “So you don’t get nervous at all standing here?”
“No, not at all,” Dan replied. “You get used to it”
I wasn’t really that nervous yet. Honestly. I told myself that if Dan wasn’t nervous why should I be?
So Dan started off on the last pitch, leaving me to belay him in the shade (late October is cold up there). I was actually leaning against the rock, clove hitched into the anchor, looking at the same exact view as pictured above.
I am able to tell how hard a pitch is going to be at the rate that Dan climbs. If he is climbing fast I know that the pitch will be easy. For example, I remember Dan climbing a little bit slower on the first pitch, which was the crux pitch.
I started to get nervous because Dan was climbing very slowly. I stated thinking, “is this pitch really hard? What if I can’t get up it? What do we do? We can’t go down” This is when I started getting a little nervous (and that is why there are no more pictures until the summit…).
Then Dan stopped climbing. After a few minutes I yelled up to Dan something along the lines on “Dan, you doing good?”
“Ummmm, I’m OK….just a little scared.”
Dan scared? Holy crap. I thought the first pitch was the crux? “Why are you scared I thought?” Maybe we were off route. Maybe I was going to have to climb some exposed 5.12 and get stuck. I instantly started thinking of stories our buddy Pete told me about Dan. Stuff along the lines of, “Dude, be careful climbing with Dan. He has a tendency to get people in over their heads” and “Dan gets into some crazy situations.”
Suddenly, Dan started climbing fast. I figured he was topping out. Perfect. He found the line and was at the top. Then, to my surprise, about 15 feet of rope feel to my feet.
I quickly took out all the slack. “What the #@*&” I thought.
About five or ten minutes went by of Dan not climbing. For the past 30 or 40 minutes I had been leaning against the rock looking at the valley below. I turned around, so that I was uncomfortably standing on my toes and looking at the rock in front of me. This was the first time that I have truly felt scared climbing.
Dan started climbing again- and fast. Finally he had found the right way.
“Fssst” – this time 20 feet of slack came down to my feet. I rapidly took out the slack. I was certain we were going to get stuck. (Remember this was my first time on a multipitch climb)
It felt like a lifetime, but Dan finally got to the top and pulled the rest of the rope through. I was ready to climb. If I am climbing I would be focused on climbing and not on worrying. The last pitch was hard for me, mostly because fear is insanely debilitating. Your technique goes out the window the second you get scared climbing.
I think I was just happy to be done
Thanks to Dan for leading me up my first multipitch climb!
-John
Redneck Rock Climbers 
