Hanging on Belay – Combo Routes with David Dysart

Hanging on Belay – Combo Routes By David Dysart It seems like The Climbing Wall group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/CSUSBClimbingWall/?fref=ts) has kind of died, so I’m starting a column in the hopes that you guys do the same! Or at least frequent it more and interact! For my first article, I figured I’d take some time and talk about combo routes, combining 2 routes into an original climbing experience. Combo routes have had something of a storied past here at the CSUSB rock wall. They’re kind of like your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Only there when you need them, photograph record is spottier than Sasquatch, and that weird guy with the mustache hates them. But that said, they tend to become prevalent when routes become stale (we even had a sheet for discovered routes and their ratings at one time) or now when a vacuum of difficulty has become apparent. I can remember my first ever combo route. Now, I’m sure it was done there before me, but I had never seen it before (I mean, surely I wasn’t breaking ground 2 years ago with the concept). I can even feel that angst I had. I was forced to wait for a belay, but it was so genius that I needed to climb it, but so simple, I knew any second that somebody was surely going to do it! And I don’t remember if it was after I had come down or during the climb, but my friend asked me, “Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” With the stupidest grin on my face, I said, “Yep, left side on white. Right side on brown.” To set the stage, on rope 4, the right side comes out at 90 degrees, so I was climbing left side white in front of me and right side brown off to the right wall. It made it a simple, yet fun climb, and opened up a world of routes to me that I could actually do! Now for the more CSUSB aspect. Enjoy! At the moment, there’s a bit of a disparity between the easy routes and the upper intermediates, and my two favorite combo routes at the moment fill this void beautifully! Rope: 3 Routes: Left Blue, Right White Name: Blue-Eyed Murder in a Crimp-sized White Grip Blurb: You say, I cannot get there from here, baby Rating: 5.9- It’s a beautiful route. Blue is the beginner route and right is a sparsely populated white route with fun holds. About 10 feet up, there’s a fun lie-back when you have to bring your right foot across, a really nice move for the novice climber to figure out. Then, as you’re moving into the side of the overhang, if you’re tall, you’re gold (I’m one such fortunate climber), but shorter climbers need to get a bit more creative and use that overhang. Another good problem solving bit of the route. So if you’re looking for a new route to hold you over ‘til new routes come up, definitely give this one a go. Rope: 5 Routes: Left Blue, Right Orange Name: The Nutcracker Balet Blurb: 5th Position Rating: 5.9- This route will find you straddling the outward jutting corner, so mind falling or thrusting while you climb (mostly for the guys out there) This route definitely gets reachy at points, but it is most certainly doable, so go do it! These are all I shall share at the moment, so please leave what you’ve been doing in the comments! We’d all love to hear them and try them out ourselves. Well, that’s all for now, but I appreciate you taking the time out and Hanging on Belay with me for while. Until next time, climb on!