Pinnacles 5/25/97   with Dennis Strom

Dennis and used the Memorial Day holiday (Monday) to get a decent
workout at the Pinnacles.  Too wet for Yosemite, so Dennis continued
ticking new 5.11 redpoints in Bear Gulch.

- Subterranean Tango (upper part) 5.10a  (C led)
  A decent warmup.
- Feed The Beast 5.11c  (D led)
  Dennis did a great job leading this one.  Lots of huffing and puffing
  but no moaning or plunging!  Quite a testpiece.  I was glad to be
  able to follow it clean without being as desperate as the last time
  I toproped it.
- Subterranean Tango (lower part) 5.11a   (D led)
  A new tick for Dennis, with only about 1 1/2 hard moves.  I was
  bewildered on it for awhile, but eventually found a way to crank it.
- Black Dagger 5.11c/d  (D led w/ hang)
  Dennis' first time on this classic.  He nearly pulled off the redpoint
  but couldn't crank through the higher crux.  After a hang he did it
  off to the right of the crack -- steep but decent holds.
- Pearl Sheath 5.10b  (C led w/ hang, D led clean)
  This one is contrived, as Evan had warned me.  I spent a lot of time
  out right on 5.7 ground, reaching way left to clip the bolts.
  Got scared near the last bolt, where I actually had to climb on the
  steep ground..., so I had a hang.
- Cantaloupe Death 5.10c  (C led)
  I wasn't scared this time, which felt nice.
- Bad Bolts Var. 5.10d  (D led)
  The bolts have been replaced, and this route is getting a fair
  amount of traffic.  It's pretty fun.
- Several Small Species  (toprope attempts w/ hangs)
  It had been so long since I had done this one that I forgot where
  it went through the bulge, and I was giving Dennis bad beta.  He
  did a reasonable job anyway.  My attempt was much lamer, as I was
  calling for tension instead of trying moves when real pumped.