School of Rock
Climb Review
I climbed here two years ago with Louie, and my review is the same.
Kindergarten Slab (5.5; School of Rock, Main - Left) - Because Cassie is recovering from a leg injury, I decided to take the easiest way up. This meant a more meandering route, but she didn’t get injured, we had a great time, and we only ended up helping people up on the rock, so it was a win-all-around. So right before the finish, there’s this small wall/roof that one could optionally go over (or go around). I was considering going around as I had done the over before (though I had no memory of the holds), but a free soloist I was chatting to while belaying Cassie told me that I should do the roof as the way around was boring and the over way was more fun. So I did the over, and it required at least a 5.7 or 5.8 move. I made it up and over, though it took me a few minutes to find the holds. Cassie had a rough go of it, and she ended up doing it, though it required a beach-whale/worm move to make it over.
What I Learned
Cassie really enjoys easy multi-pitches, just like me.
We forgot to bring the radio, but since we were near civilization, we just called each other on our cellphones. It worked well.
When I did this route two years ago, I did it in two pitches. This time I broke it up into 4 really short pitches so that I could keep visual contact with Cassie as much as I could. There are so many bomber cracks on this route that finding those extra anchor stations was not an issue at all.
What Happened?
We woke to a slow morning, and while our original plans had us climbing before 10 a.m., we arrived at the rock around noon after we had a mediocre brunch at the nearby town of Truckee.
We geared up at the parking lot with me carrying all the lead gear while Cassie would carry a backpack with water and our sandals. We hiked up to the start of the climb while passing by many different types of hikers, went over the plan for the climb, and I started up.
The rock felt great, and I made quick progress up to the great big slab area of the climb. I created an anchor station here and belayed Cassie up. While belaying, I helped out a fellow climber who was unsure of where Mary’s Crack was. They ended up just setting up an anchor at the low part of the slab to help a new climber friend get comfortable with climbing.
Cassie and I then headed to the left-topmost part of the crack as I thought it had the easiest exit (I later learned that there was an even easier route to the left). I set an anchor right below the crux as I wanted to make sure Cassie felt comfortable on the climb. When I was belaying, I had another interaction with a different climbing team who also wanted to know all the ways up to the top after the first pitch. I told them of Mary’s Crack, the steep 5.8+ exit, and the 5.5 exit that I was going up. They soon started climbing towards us as I don’t think they wanted the more difficult exits.
I then climbed to the mini wall/roof and set an anchor there. Then after that, I went to the top and set the final anchor, from where I watched Cassie struggle, but eventually make it up to the top.
We then celebrated with some pictures at the top of the rock and on the swing, which was on our way down. This climb reminded us of how fun easy multi pitches are, and we’re planning on hitting more easy climbs as we get back to climbing more often!
