Monday, July 11, 2011

Greece-Rhodes Climbing Ladiko (Day 126)

We started the day to with the plan to go to the Acropolis of Lindos.  Lindos is a small town on the southeast coast of Rhodes.

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The acropolis from below in town.

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The streets of Lindos.  We were taking our sweet time getting up and stopped for lunch on the way to the acropolis because we had heard how steep and long the stairs were.

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Well it was hot on the stairs but they were not that long.

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We made it to the gates around 2:35 pm, the problem the gates closed at 2:30 pm and we had missed them.  Opps…

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Well we took a walk around the acropolis and enjoyed the views from outside it’s gates.  We were not sure what to do with the rest of the day so Anja and I quickly ended at “we could go climbing more.”  Rick had his fill of running around and went back to the hotel to relax and we drove back to Ladiko with my parents and Linda.

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They kindly dropped us at Ladiko again and went off to explore Rhodes more.

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Since we hadn’t been there we headed up to the Right Wall of Ladiko.  The locals we had met the day before had highly recommended Rododafni 5.10a so we started on that.  It was nice with lots of bolts and good movement.

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We then got on Kedros 5.10c as I thought I remembered the locals recommending it as good but a little runout on big holds.  Ok well it did get runout a bit but I don’t know where these big holds were and Anja lowered off.

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I pulled the rope and led up thinking I would not be ready for any runout if I had not been on lead for 50 ft.  Well at about 30 ft I pulled a hold off and had to toss it so it would miss Anja.  I made Anja high point and things did not feel good.  It was a moment in a remote location in a foreign country; screw it I’m bailing and doing the sling trick.  The Sling Trick is a interesting climbing escape technic that more traditional climbers seem to know than sport climbers.  It goes like this.  I recommend if you think you would ever do this to practice near the ground.  First you most not be more than 1/3 of your rope length up from the ground or where you could safely down climb from.  Second your top bolt better be good, if not forget it.  Third, you must have 24” runner, the skinner the better. 

1. Clip into the highest bolt

2. Call off belay

3. Feed the sling through the bolt

4. Pull up the other end of the rope and tie it onto the side of the sling with sewing.

5. Untie your figure 8 from your harness.

6. Feed the end of the rope through both loops of the sling.

7. The rope should now hang from on the sling feed through the bolt.

8. One end of the rope should be touching the ground coming up through the sling going to the ground and then coming back up and tied to the sewn side of the runner.

9.  Rappel on the strands which are through the sling.  Since you have three strands hanging there be sure you got the correct ones.

10. Rappel to the ground.

11. SLOWLY, Pull the rope from the middle section of the rope so the end from the ground comes up and pulls through the sling. 

12. The rope weight should pull your sling out of the bolt and to the ground.

13. Inspect your sling to be sure there is no damage.

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Meanwhile, my folks and Linda are off exploring the island and have found a neat little church.

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While exploring my dad was shooting some photos and this male peacock came out and flashed his feather.  My dad thought it might be flashing just for him. 

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But I guess not.

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We rounded out our climbing day on Perdika 5.10b which was a nicer climb than Kedros but not great.  Linda was shocked and amazed when she came walking up and saw Anja 70 feet up this climb.  She was just amazed.

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We wrapped up the climb and hurried out to the parking area.  These guys had come out to hangout in the parking area too.

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