Wasootch Slabs sport climbing Mountaineering on 3-May-2023

After a long hiatus of sport climbing trips in our club's trip reports I was somewhat curious to see the level of uptake this event would get. To my surprise I had 3 takers and we were joined mid-day by an additional participant! We started with a warm-up on A19 to refresh our feel for rocks. Coordinator volunteered to set up a top rope on this 5.5 rated scramble and everyone enjoyed a relaxed climb in the shade.

We continued with practicing setting and cleaning anchors and my minimal teaching skills were complemented by Jeannine's much deeper experience. After the refresher we climbed in increasingly hotter temperatures on A17, a great 5.7 corner climb and A21 a 3-pitch 5.6 route that our 70m rope was just long enough for to make into a single climb. Thanks to a 3rd rope Sebastiaan and Jeannine also enjoyed a climb on the Orange Arete, B18, 5.8.

A quick poll over lunch indicated that there's much more demand for these events and possibly expansion into multi-pitch climbing. I encourage other coordinators to also call these! Thank you to Chip,Barbara,Deborah and Jeannine for joining me ,Sebastiaan on this gorgeous day. If you contemplated joining (rumours, rumours...) but didn't reach out to me for some reason, please do so on the next occasion!

Some photo's to entice all to join on the next outing:

Tying in for the warm-up

5.5 completed!

Getting comfortable on rock

Sebastiaan posing on the way to the anchor

Anchor setup and cleaning discussion

Tackling A15, a fun 5.7 route in a corner

Scaling the Orange Arete (again), B18, 5.8