but after last Monday I would seriously reconsider the validity of that statement. When Brian and I got married I requested a modest 1/5 carrat-- and I've got to say I never expected Brian to request a diamond from me. . . especially not 1,400 ft of solid, verticle rock. But he did. And I agreed. The Diamond is the east face of Long's Peak and the coolest and hardest climbing in the entire Rocky Mountain region. I'm so happy that it's something I can say "I did." instead of "I'm doing." Whew. It was tough despite the 5.10a (but mostly 5.9 or 5.8) rating, but don't let that fool you. After hiking 6 miles up hill to a bivy spot, sleeping restlessly all night, waking up a 4am, scrambling across tallus, crossing a slippery glacier (thank heavens for the fixed rope), climbing 800ft of 5.4 at 4.30am and then you arrive at the base of the darn thing that sits above 13,000ft! Brian and I were the first party on it out of about 8 parties going for it. We barely made it before them (by about 10 seconds) and arrived to the top by 1pm. We brought our 70meter rope and finished the climb in five pitches. The climbing was seriously stout, not to mention the lack of oxygen. When we topped out, we headed over the top of the mountain and back down to our stuff, packed up and hiked out by 6pm. What a long day!!
Luckily we had been given gift certificates by someone we helped off this very mountain on a Rescue (he had a broken ankle and ribs), so we gorged guilt free on piles of meat the local BBQ place in Estes Park.
There's so much more to say! We've had a busy two weeks. Brian's family visited, then mine came (and we did an awesome backpack), I went on a three day bushwack adventure for work and moved us to a new apartment, went on another SAR and climbed and played with Brian. More posts to come!
10 comments:
Wow! That sounds especially hard with the altitude--amazing!
That's sick Angela! Good job!
I love these photos! I'm so impressed that you guys did the Diamond! What amazing drop offs. I coudn't have looked down to take the picture!
woohoo! You guys are my heroes. Only in my dreams can I imagine climbing such sweet routes! We can't wait to see you two.
I still can't believe you guys did that. That's one serious DIAMOND in the ROUGH, if you know what I'm sayin'! I miss you!
sick sick sick sick sick.
That's stinking INTENSE!! I can't believe you climbed that - especially after all the prep work required just to reach the starting point. Seriously impressive! And I'm beginning to think that you can't do a rock climb without posting one of the "look down and scare Emily to death" photos on each post. Wow!
Angela, you are the gutsiest girl I know. Brian is really lucky to have found someone who can keep up with his adventurous spirit.
I love these pics! You guys are SOOOO HC. I love it. PS: it feels like forever since I've talked to you.
That is spectacular scenery. What an incredible feat! I'm thinking I'd settle for some other gemstone...diamonds are overrated right? HA! HA! HA! Actually they are priceless, which is how I'm sure you'll remember you and Brian's experience in Rocky Mountain!
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