Charley Mace put it perfectly, “you don’t have to go far from home to have an adventure.” On Monday, he took me out to the Mission Wall in Clear Creek Canyon to climb Gneiss Roof (AKA: Nice Ride), where we lucked out with no crowds and had a blast.
To access the climb we crossed a Tyrolean Traverse dangling from a tightrope of sorts above the river below. The mixed trad and sport route (bolts and gear) was hard — 4 pitches up, each progressively more challenging — and I was definitely feeling it by the last big roof, the crux of the climb (5.10 something). Pumped from the hand over hand of the Tyrolean and the overhanging pitches, I hung on (figuratively) scratching my head thinking, how do I do this move? Whereas Charley did it on lead.
Every time we climb together, I’m reminded how awesome it is to be out there having so much fun with him.
Images courtesy of Charley.
