Seneca Rocks: Oct 16th 2006

The weekend crowd has dispersed back home, but an unusual group of new arrivals has appeared. Seneca Rocks served as a training ground for the 10th Mountain Division during WWII, so it seems appropriate that the Navy Seals have showed up for their own rock training this week. They're here after a week of urban climbing and will be trained by their own civilian consultants and the Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides.

With Justin assigned to assist the Seals all week, I meet my new guide JJ and we head off for the rocks. With the warmer weather and just the two of us, we manage to get a full day of climbing in, starting on the Lower Skyline Direct route. The LSD route as it's known, was the path the of the first ascent of the south summit back in 1939. The climbing feels easy, but a few moves are rather exposed. I think of doing this with a hemp rope and a total of 4 carabiners as I steep off a large block onto smaller holds while reaching over a sheer drop. Later, it'll take me at least 6 carabiners just to rappel off this cliff.

After the two pitches of LSD, we hit the broadway ledge and walk to our next objective. Dirty Old Man consisted of two more pitches, but after the first, we rappelled back down to broadway. For this rappel, JJ had me descend using a carabiner break, a way of using carabiners to provide the needed friction for a controlled descent if your normal rappel device is dropped.

With the rope still running through the anchors above I climbed a route immediately right of Dirty Old Man called Frosted Flake. Frosted Flake was a large flake of rock running up the cliff. To ascend, you simply grabbed the flake, leaned back and walked your feet and hands up. However, Frosted Flake would be the hardest climb I would attempt yet this trip.

Somehow my skinny arms muscled through the climb without falling, and I belayed JJ on up to our ledge. We finished the second pitch of Dirty Old Man and then rappelled back down on the other (west) side of the rocks.

Our final route of the day would be Monkey See Monkey Do. It's two pitches were each long and consisted of our hardest climbing yet. Near the top of the second pitch, close to the route's crux (most difficult section) I stuck both my hands in a crack on my right, fully extending my left arm across my body. Needing to move my right foot higher, I hopped up and felt a sudden sharp pull in my left shoulder. Unable to hold my position, I yelled up to JJ, "Falling!".

Hanging on the rope I massaged my shoulder and found I had trouble raising my left arm much above shoulder height. After a few minutes I left compelled to try the moves again, but this time I found a marginal hold for my left arm on its own side of my body and slowly pushed upward with my legs instead of hopping. I completed that move, but ended up falling again due to the weak shoulder just below the belay anchor. After a short rest I finally completed the route.

"That route had better be at least 5.9" I told JJ, referring to the grading system for rock climbing. JJ would disappoint me by telling me the grade was maybe 5.8, but tried to reassure me that Seneca routes were generally considered to be sandbagged.

I later checked the most recent guidebook and confirmed that the route Monkey See Monkey Do was now considered to be rated 5.9.

I considered plans to ice my shoulder that night as I looked around and noticed that we were on the Old Man's Traverse. A familiar walk and a series of remembered rappels brought us back to the ground. Maybe I got to comfortable with the situation, because I managed to drop one of JJ's carabiners as I dismantled the temporary anchor. It nearly hit JJ as it bounced off a few rocks before completing the 150 foot free fall.

Once down we scrambled back to our starting point of the day and my sorely needed tennis shoes. My feet had grown at least a half size of the last year or two and these older rock shoes that I'd already purchased way too small were killing my toes. At night I could feel their bruised skin hitting the soft nylon sleeping bag.

The Gendarme climbing shop was open when we arrived back in town, so I tried on larger climbing shoes and purchased a replacement carabiner for JJ.