Sandbagged!

Sandbagged at JT

Story by Charles Foster

It was a grey December day, the kind of weather where it might snow if the clouds thicken up enough. Overflowing with the enthusiasm of climbers new to the sport, Edessa and I had ignored the forecast and driven out to JT for a day trip.

I had only been leading for a month, so anything 5.6 or less with a bunch of stars drew my attention. With this being only our second or third trip to Josh, I'd not yet learned that this combination set me up for a thorough sandbagging. I was about to get educated.

Its only 5.1!

We started the day with SW Corner on Headstone Rock. You scramble up a rockpile to the base of an amazing pillar. The route starts with an exposed traverse to an amazing arete: exposure in almost every direction. I don't think I've ever been so gripped, before or since. I finished the route, but it left me drained. Edessa balked at the traverse. "Enough of this 5.6", I said, "lets find something really easy. Hey, lets go check out The Eye, its got a bunch of stars, and its only 5.1!" My education wasn't complete yet.

Standing at the base of The Eye, Edessa started needling me. "Look at that overhang - are you sure there isn't a typo in the guide? Maybe its 5.10."

All the moves went, and maybe it really is 5.1 - but maybe not. I remember being enormously relieved when I finally topped out. And Edessa, who at the time easily followed 5.7s, stalled for awhile at the overhang, cursing me for wanting to do the route. Edessa despises cold and wind, but when she finished The Eye, she was happy to sit in the little cave that gives the route its name, with the cold December wind whipping around her.

We only did one other climb that day before heading home, and it took a few more trips to Josh before I stopped feeling queasy as I drove through the entrance. But it still took me a few years to finally equate the number of ***'s of a JT route with its pucker factor. And I still don't take 'easy' Josh routes for granted.