Back to P.M. for some more grit. I went up there by myself and wound up spending the day with an old acquaintance, the man behind the development of Pine Mountain as a boulderers' retreat, Juan Carlo. JC is a wild man, a dynamo, hyper-thyroid. And he still has incredible hand strength. Juan Carlo has always been a boulderer at heart, and about 17 or so years ago he and a small cadre started cleaning and climbing PM. I had a loose association with JC, Tony, and a few of the PM boys way back in the day. Worked with Darren Ogden for a number of years. As I've gravitated back to rock climbing I've enjoyed running into a number of the "old guys", men I've climbed with, had fun with, guys that all share a mutual respect.JC and I played around at the pic-nic area for several hours. I enjoyed catching up with him, and though I no longer envy his ridiculous strength, I did enjoy watching him slide up something that I have to huff, puff, and grovel to get through.
OK, now that Ive had a closer look at the pictures I recognize the routes.
ReplyDeleteThe crack in pictures one and two is called Sunkissed and goes V0.
Pictire number three is some unlisted JC especial, prolly a 3 or a 4. The arete to teh right by the stump is called Virgin Emergin, V1.
Picture four is called Uncle Reach and goes at V3.
Juan Carlo Mendoza and his contributions on Pine Mountain will not soon be forgot.