Cambodian Escape

Crowders Mountain State Park, North Carolina

Last weekend I had the privilege of climbing at Crowders Mountain State Park, North Carolina with two good friends from Columbia, South Carolina. Ricky  Romanek is a student home from college for the summer and is transferring to a school in Utah in the fall. Matthew Stephens is on the climbing team at Stronghold Gym and occasionally comes climbing outdoors.  These two lads witnessed me at my finest... actually, they saw nothing of the sort.

Matthew Stephens crushing!

Matthew Stephens still crushing!

I planned to run up Cambodian Holiday (5.9), a traditional line on Two Pitch Wall that doesn't see a lot of action. I removed some prickly holly tree branches that had overtaken some of the start to this route on Two Pitch Wall. The first pitch yielded satisfactory gear placement options and led me to a great platform belay ledge right under a small roof.


Once Matthew and Ricky were on the belay ledge, I set forth on what beckoned me. A great crack system under the small roof was calling but as soon as I grabbed what seemed like a great hold, it deteriorated in my hand. I grabbed another hold and it did the same thing.  This particular cliff gets a lot of wind rushing through it's gullies and it is no surprise that this rock crumbles this way.

I had asked Matthew and Ricky to study the Topo with me so that I could ask their opinion once we got on the ledge. After deciding not to climb the crack system due to rock quality, Ricky suggested I climb what the book described as Cambodian Holiday. I was too excited to climb what was calling to me that I had failed to realize I wasn't even on route.

First time I met Ricky at Crowders

The face cliff right of the dirty crack system under the roof was also in need of some climbing traffic. Some questionable rock was between me and the first placement. After the mental debate on whether I should lead this or not I told myself what I have always preached. Take a deep breath. What is the risk? Can I climb this? Does it look like you can protect it well in case of a fall? And my newest self-talk motivator thanks to the movie zombie land, "It's time to nut-up or shut-up!"

Nut-up I did, until it was time to traverse left onto the face above the small roof I had just vetoed.  I decided I had wasted enough time. I didn't have a good feeling about it this day so I vetoed the upper section of Cambodian Holiday (for now) and followed the crack system cliff right and climbed onto familiar territory. I was now on the second pitch of Two Pitch (5.4). I belayed Matthew and Ricky as they cleaned the gear on the wall below me. I asked them what they thought.

Matthew and Ricky agree that it is fairly easy climbing with great exposure but the rock quality made it intense. They didn't give me a hard time for not leading Cambodian Holiday but they still thought I was crazy for leading the escape variation.  Looking back, what I climbed was mentally challenging more than physically.  I don't know why but the feeling of the unknown when you're on a route for the first time is always what I go back for. I love the challenge of having to cope with fears and the honesty you have to have with yourself in order to climb safely.

1.Cambodian Holiday(5.9) 2.Cambodian Escape(5.6) 3. Two Pitch (5.4) 4.Eat A Pitch(5.6) 5.Two Peach(5.6) 6. Eat A Peach(5.7) 7.Predestination(5.8) 8.Destination Variation(5.8+)