Pinnacles:  Verdict direct, Lava Falls   11/24/89, 11/26/89

We (Alice, Sean, Nancy, Renata, and I) hit the Pinnacles on Friday and
Sunday.  On Friday I led the direct start to The Verdict ("Double Jeopardy")
5.11a from the ground up.  I hung from a hook in a solid pocket to place the
first bolt in the good lower rock band.  It was tough on my ribs and abs plus
my left foot went to sleep, but at least it was easier than drilling 3/8" in
granite!  After recovering, I got a hook in the left flake above, then 2 small
stoppers, and from there I cleaned out the right flake and sunk a couple of
Rocks in it.  From these I could reach the second hole which I'd drilled last
Sunday, so I bounced around a bit to simulate the drilling experience, then
sunk the bolt.  Then I cleaned all the biners and redpointed it (it still took
a few tries to clip the bolt on the upper crux due to the hearty pump).  Nancy
followed the direct start with rests on the rope, and Alice did it with the
right hand start (plus rests).  Sean also did the upper crux move with the
right hand start, but couldn't hang on to finish.  We met 3 people from Poland
who've moved to San Bruno; we'd seen them in the Valley on Astro Span and
at the Pinnacles last Sunday.  This bolting on lead game wasted most of the
day (recommended for parties of 2 only...), so in the fading light we raced
over to do The Wet Kiss (5.8 in the Gagner notes).  Well it was really 5.9
and Sean fired into the lead, but brought only quickdraws and unfortunately
crack pro is needed between the first 2 bolts to alleviate the runout.  As he
was downclimbing to get the gear, he ran out of strength (it's overhanging
there) and he plummetted, thereby causing Alice to rise a few feet into the
air!  I led it to conserve on time, and Alice and Nancy followed in darker
conditions.  Another hike out in the dark followed.

On Sunday it was wet so we went to the west side, hoping for drier conditions.
We climbed at the Balconies, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out which
route was which.  So eventually I started up the one with the oldest bolts,
hoping it would be at most 5.10a.  After I got up a ways, Alice found the
identifying belay bolt, so we were on Lava Falls 5.9.  It was a fun pitch, 155'
(a bit longer than the other routes we've been doing), much stemming in the
groove and good rock except for one non-crucial hold.  Sean had trouble on the
initial long steep section, so he bowed out and Alice followed.  The "high
point" of the day ensued when she let out a scream on the upper crux.  She
didn't fall, but something in a pocket had clung to her finger.  Earlier that
day we saw a healthy tarantula on the rock, but this turned out to be just
some seeds in water in the pocket.  Nancy also TRed the pitch, and we raced
down to bag a last route (5.7) on a nice large boulder.  Nancy led, and
Sean followed (at first having trouble with numb hands on the rapidly cooling
rock).  There are many hard routes on this cliff to return to, as well as
several possibilites for multipitch new routes.