Rain Training?

Our training this weekend consisted finding the best overhangs on which to stay dry in the rain at Horseshoe Canyon. Dave and I led our youth climbing team on a trip to HCR this weekend. We had 8 kids and two parents with us, and plenty of rain. It wasn't raining when we arrived so we set up camp and headed to the North 40 to get the team started on some easy warm-up routes. We got the lead climbers on "Uncle Grandfather" & "Perfect Hair Forever." Both routes in the 5.6 -5.7 range, pretty short and juggy, but real good routes to get some of the new lead climbers a little confidence climbing outdoors.

Dave and I both climbed one of the routes each to clean the anchors; something we won't have to do much during the comp because the leave two oval carabiners at the start of each climb before the comp starts. The first climber to go up hangs the ovals on the anchors, and then all of the other teams get to use those during the competition. They can clip straight through and don't have to worry about using their own quickdraws. It saves a lot of time and effort, plus it makes things safer.

After warming up we moved into the corridor to step it up a notch. I strung a rope up "Kurbcheck" (5.8+) just in time for it to start raining. I cleaned the anchors in the rain, pulled the draws on the way down and then lowered and got soaked. We had to take a break and sit out a couple of showers, but there are good overhangs to keep you dry. The climbs got a little wet, but they dried out fairly quick.

Once we got another little break in the weather we headed to "Summer Rain" (5.7) and "Lion Tammer" (5.9) One of the kids led "Lion Tammer" as I belayed. Once she got up high, she said it was looking pretty dark across the canyon. We could see the clouds moving in quick, so I raced up it to clean as Dave belayed. I was doing my best to climb fast without pulling on my right shoulder, as the rotator cuff is still not feeling too good. I got to the anchors and looked across the wall to see a wall of rain moving our way. The lodge was visible below, but the far side of the canyon was completely obscured, so I cleaned really quick and lowered off in a hurry. We managed to take shelter in the corridor again and the rains poured. Our climbing was done for the day.

On Sunday we woke to clouds but no rain so we decided to head to Magoo Rock on the other side of the canyon. Magoo rock has one 5.9 and several 5.10's so the team was excited to get on a few harder routes. They did great leading them in the shelter of this overhanging boulder while the rain fell behind us. But after a couple of hours the rain wasn't letting up and the tops of the routes were beginning to get wet. Dave cleaned the 5.9+ "Man Servant" in a total down pour and got soaked at the anchors. I managed not to climb at all on Sunday. But I figure just hiking up to the climbs has got to be some kind of a workout, right?