Tuning Up at Rumbling Bald (Hardwear Sessions)

Jessa on Boldfingers

Jessa on Boldfingers.

By Jessa Goebel

Finally winter is here. Temperatures are in the 20s and 30s during the day and it's wet, snowy, and windy. It's either time to get motivated and train in the gym and migrate to warmer more ideal conditions, or sit on the couch and practice sport drinking. Since the Triple Crown has been over, all I have wanted to do is get back into route shape. So, that is all that I have been doing; training in the gym and roping up outside.

Rumbling Bald, NC is the winter spot for many Boonies. The Bald just so happens to have some of the very best single pitch mixed and trad climbs around, with the occasional classic sport route to fill in the gaps. Oh, and there is the boulder field below the cliff, packed with dozens of five star problems.

Recently a few routes there have caught my attention. The route Boldfingers is one route that has been in the back of my mind since the first time on it a year ago. Boldfingers is notorious for being hard right off the ground and having a committing crux with hard technical moves far out from gear. Even though the fall is nothing but air, if one were to come off the rock, the result would be a huge fall. Needless to say, many climbers have a hard time committing and have to back off the route.

When my friend, called to go down to Rumbling Bald that Saturday, I was more than willing to go. I would have Boldfingers to look forward to, and the days until the weekend would give me time to let my previous failure on the route fester in my head. When we pulled into the parking lot I got out of the car on a mission to send the route. This time I wasn't going to wuss out!

As I racked the gear I would need on my harness I started to get nervous. I tied into the rope, laced up my shoes, checked my harness, and started the route. The strenuous boulder problem start didn't help my nerves at all and I was already starting to fumble around with the gear. Not a good way to start the route, so I rested and got my head together. I quickly floated through the route up to the big rest before the crux. I then placed the last two pieces of gear side by side that were all I would have until I was through the crux several body lengths away. There I got a quick shake and chalked up my hands and got serious. Midway into the crux my right hand was starting to open up on me and I was beginning to fall apart. All I could do was go back to the rest and try to recover my tired arms and regroup. Finally, I was starting to get frustrated; there was no way that I was going to come off the route again just because I was scared. Using my frustration to my advantage, I tried again and didn't look back. I grabbed the small edges clamped down on them, put my right foot up on the smear, stood up and started rock climb. Before I knew it I was on the jug hold resting my arms, placing the final piece of gear and took the victory lap up the slab to the anchors.