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Rock Climbing at
Frenchman Coulee
April 22, 2004
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Our good friend Jeff Witt was back in town for a visit so Kim, Jeff, and I drove over
to Frenchman Coulee to do some cragging. We warmed up with some old favorites at The Feathers:
Shake It, Don't Break It (5.5) and The Uprising (5.8) then we walked around to the backside
and Jeff introduced us some fun sport climbs Dance of the Shaman (5.10b), Don Coyote (5.8),
Medicine Man (5.10a), which Jeff, Kim and I lead respectively.
We then headed over to the Sunshine Wall and climbed Ride 'Em Cowboy (5.9), Twin Cracks (5.8),
and Easy Off (5.10c). I forgot to sit in the "saddle" when I lead up Ride 'Em, but Kim did on her
ascent. She found that any rest gained by sitting in the saddle was wasted trying to get footing
back on the arete. We wanted to top rope a 5.10c route called Easy Off but to do that I had to lead
the adjacent route, Twin Cracks (aka Party in Your Pants). I had lead it several times before so to
spice things up I took Jeff's dare/suggestion to lead it using nothing but hexes. Mission accomplished!
I only wished that Michael was there to appreciate the fine nuances of solid hex placements.
With the top rope in place, Kim tied in first and made quick and easy work of this popular 5.10c route.
Inspired by Kim's spiderwoman capabilities, I gave it a go. The hand holds were positive for most of the
time, but there were several tricky places where the route's name could easily have applied. After watching
both Kim and I climb the route, Jeff decided to try to lead it. As he started up he mentioned how glad he was
that my rope hadn't taken any leader falls...yet. And it still hasn't. Congrats Jeff!
With all three of us completing this route in style, we ended on that high note
and packed up and drove home.
