missing damian

damian left today. so did paul and josie-anne... jay is here now, so i'm still covered as far as having people i know and trust to climb with. the temperatures have dropped though, so i got a bonus rest day today due to the cold.
the way i see it, i didn't drive for 20 hours to climb when i can't feel my hands. even if the friction is amazing, i don't care.

i didn't really need to climb anyway, because of a really cool thing that happened yesterday... last week i picked a line out that i really liked. it looked challenging enough, but i could see the moves and believed i was capable of them. i took damian by to see it, this line i liked... but wouldn't look it up in the guidebook in case that would deter my attempt. i walked paul and josie-anne by it to have a look... this line i thought i could do but wasn't sure what it was... yesterday with jay here, we tried it out, and i got it! as i thought, the start was something i was capable of and really enjoyed. the top out was quite a trip, where i ate my words of telling jay that i "liked to mantle for the slopey top outs, instead of whale bellying it". i had full contact jessica-on-rock as i had a rebirth of fear to the top of the route. i was already a way up so in my mind, jumping down was not an option! i screamed and shreiked, and when i finally pulled myself up to the top of the boulder, i rolled over and burst out laughing. i laughed and laughed, stood up and laughed, and then laughed my way down the downclimb on the back of the boulder and laughed a bit more with my friends and very attentive spotters back on the ground.

so now i can look at the guidebook! i got my bearings and figured out what boulder we were on, but couldn't believe the grades. we broke for lunch and i looked at the guidebook again... yes, that route is in the spot that i climbed, and part of the description seems to suit it... but the grade wasn't quite right. i ran over to the campground neighbours, and asked them about the description of the route, not quite understanding the climbing terminology. they weren't sure what a "blunt prow formed by double runnels" was either, so i carried on with my day. it was a really fun problem, no matter what the grade was. it was so exhillarating to push through to the finish, as freaked as i was by the topout.

i continued on to mulletino, my standing project, and cruised through the beginning, and up to two moves from the finish, where i am currently stuck. again and again i tried it, really dialing up the start, but unable to finish. i had to give in.

on the way back, i conveniently swung by that day's earlier whale-belly-rebirth problem. there were people working it, so i asked them where the line was, and the grade.

they confirmed that the true line was what i completed, and that the grade was a (holy shit) V6! my first v6... ... i don't normally mention grades on here, but since this is a new grade level completed for me, and it was in such a great way, i have to admit i'm so excited and proud. if i had known the grade, i wouldn't have even tried it.

i've always wanted to pick a line out on the rock and complete it, with out knowing the grade. i'm going to be a little less guidebook dependent from now on.

how much of the grade is in our head?