Mini Epic in Daegu. . .

[skinsk]

So when Mike said he would be in Daegu this weekend, I thought, "Great. . . no planning, no looking for new places, no massive approaches and trad gear and tents, something different and uncomplicated. . . go to Daegu and sport climb. . . go lite . . .rope and draws." Met Mike and Mat at Power Climbing and saw old (but young:) friends. . . got in a Thursday burn. . . great gym--a bit packed but good energy! Crash at Mat's and head to Yeon-kyeong dong on Friday. Everything went smoothly. Nice weather, good climbing (see Mat at YY post). Quite a few climbing parties (lot of older folks learning the ropes), all very friendly! We ended up meeting some of them for drinks and pig-intestines (see photo in photoplog). I politely declined, citing vegetarianism.

Friday night Rick and Josh show up, followed by Melanie, Keith, Corey and Alex. Early-ish night, and a late-ish start Saturday with quite a brunch feast! 11!! Waeguks at Yeon-kyeong Dong! (see photoplog) Mat got to break in his new gear-- in the rain. Weather turned soggy but that didn't stop us, especially Alex. We called it an early day when the routes turned into waterfalls and went back to Mat's (see photoplog). Split between the Sauna and Downtown then cozied up in Mat's Love Motel for the night (see photoplog).

Sunday-- is Sunny (at least for brief periods in the AM) and we head out to Yuhaksan and that's where the story really begins. First it should be noted that while the directions in this site are good, all of the key signs face the other direction, so you need to have someone looking back! Or, turn around when the road abruptly ends (well, preferably before). Where the posting says the road is steep, well, the Galloper made it up; Pedro did not (but that is best told by the Ilsan/Seoul folks). . . no one was taken out (in this part of the story) . . . and Pedro waited in the lower parking lot. . . meanwhile, the Jeolla/Kyeongsan/Galloper group reached the top and was scoping the crag when we arrived at one of the more distant crags where a Korean team was practicing drytooling. A rock was dislodged and well, Mat was pretty much in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was dawdling and arrived just in time to see the bump and gash and pool of blood before the Korean team bandaged the former. Fortunately, Mat was lucid if, well, he did want to stay and climb!! but those of us not hit/sliced in the head by rock thought better and an hour and 4? stiches later, Mat was ready to join us for Yeon-kyeong. Rick did an awesome lead of the 5.10 (first climb as you walk up the trail)-- really fluid (see YY post). Mat also climbed exceedingly well, and kept warm and fashionable in a hat:) Rain. . . raining rocks. . . nothing can stop this man and now he has a rope and draws. . . all in all, great attitudes made up for the cold and gray weather and AM setbacks and what could have been a disaster was a good climbing day!

Another night at the all-you-can-eat buffet and we headed back. First to drop Mike off in Daejeon (Did he make it back in time? He'll have to fill us in.), then off to. . . just outside of Daejeon, where all the lights in the Galloper went off and the thermometer neared the orange. Rick pulled over and sure enough we overheated. The fan belt had popped. . .and as we discovered earlier in the trip, we were short of phones, battery power and numbers (of people who might help). . .except through a fortunate series of events, we had Jake's number. Spot on Jake saves the day, Rick reading him the insurance info, Kyung-ah on the other phone with the insurance people in Jeonju. . . and around 12:30 (after one nice woman stopped and was a little surprised to see us), the tow truck appeared! 4 of us fit into the cab, and we dropped the car off at the service center, through our packs on the bed of the truck, and took a lift to the nearby Palace of Dreams motel. Best $40 room I've seen in Korea! Jacuzzi, 2 beds, lounge chair. . . well, a suspect bathrobe. . . in the morning (after breaking into the tequila that night) we walked back to the center, the belt was replaced, my AM class was cancelled, Josh? Rick? How went it all? Thanks to both of you guys and if I was ever trapped in an elevator, taken hostage, caught in a flood, etc. . . well, I would want it to be with you guys!! Yes, I wish to share my disasters with y'all! (As long as Jake is has his cell phone on! daedanhi gamsahamnida Jake and Kyung-ah!!) (various scenes from this in photoplog)

OK, this is skeletal report of the weekend, and it need to be completed, holes filled, etc by everyone. I'll post some photos. . .

chicks dig scars

I am a chick . . .

with too many scars. . .

I am buying a climbing helmet.

[Ricky]

Speaking of helmets...I use mine only for belay. Call me crazy, but I feel far more at risk of head injury on belay that I do on lead. It's not only rocks you have to fear either. How many times have you folks seen quickdraws or other gear dropped? I actually wear my helmet (well, maybe because it's new, novel and keeps my head toasty) when I'm just chillin' below. Okay don't call me crazy...call me paranoid.

And and by the way, for all you non-veggies.... pig intestines are deeeeelish!

[Shagymb]

To make a long story short...

After leaving the soon to be marooned Rick mobile. I got on a train that was supposed to get into Pyeongteak at 1146 leaving me 14 minutes to get on post. The train was five minutes late and so I also ended up in a motel about a mile from my own room in the town outside of base so that I would not miss curfew...

All in all though a great weekend with great people.

Mike

PS when I did get on post on Monday I could not find my keys so I had to break into my room and then still did not have a spare for my car so I had to wait for the orginal to get my uniforms for work so I was late for work good thing no one notices that kind of stuff in the army:)

[ricardo]

After climbing in the rain Saturday I figured Sunday had to be an improvement. Not that Saturday was a bust by any means...got a few challenging climbs in and met some new and old friends. We were just a little late in arriving thereby missing a good portion of the rainless skies.
Sunday started off beautiful and warm...aaahhhh...things are already looking up. A nice drive through the country side on the way to Yohoksan...a few missed turns, driving off the end of the road, gunning up a steep 1-lane road in 1st...your typical uneventful Korean drive. At the temple, we head out on the trail searching for bolts...
<the two completely unrelated epics that occured in the following hour would best be told by the participants...>
so, fast forward several hours and we're back at Yeonkyeong (or whatever the consensus on that name is). It was pretty crowded being a Sunday but the short overhanging rock at the beginning was wide open. Considering that was our last flailing attempt in the rain the previous day we set up shop right there. I led my 1st 10b of the season...hey, depending on the inflation of Kokiri Bawi ratings that may be my 1st 10b ever!! We enjoyed different variations until dusk when we realized how far away home was. Yikes!!
After a quick buffet, we were white knuckle-ing it to Daejeon in hopes of beating curfew. We dropped Shaggy off almost in the nick of time (sorry about that). Back to the highway and off to Jeonju and Kunsan where we should have no problem getting back in time. We hadn't even left the Daejeon area when my dash lit up like a x-mas tree! "no problem...I know how to fix this..." A couple fist poundings above the speedometer unfortunately did not do the trick (this actually did work once when my dash lights would not turn on). My heart sank as I watched the temperature gauge rise quickly towards the red. We pulled over and saw smoke/steam pouring from the hood when we stopped...great...a shredded fan belt
The phone comedy of errors went something like this...I had a few numbers to call but my phone was completely dead. Sonia had numbers but her phone was missing. Josh's phone was in prime condition but is entirely in Korean so has no stored numbers. Sonia's family sent her address book to me after she left it in the states and I just happened to bring it with me this trip. In this book there was only one phone number that could help us out...the golden phone number that just might save our @$$es...Shanja's! True to form, Jake pulled out the impeccable Korean skills and buddha patience, and negotiated a tow truck with my insurance company (ok, that was mostly Kyung ah). (thanks again you two, if there's anything I can do for you...).
During this time a good samaritan stopped to see if they could help. When I stepped out of the truck, I completely shocked the young girl. Wide eyed, hand over gasping mouth...I tried to mime that we had called a friend and were OK but I think my miming skills make situations worse (just imagine me trying to mime 'have you heard of the Bull climbing wall?' OMG, that brought on some seriously confused faces. but i digress...). I thanked her for stopping and she went on her way.
Two and a half hours later (at 12:30am) the tow truck arrives...Yay!!! We drop the truck off and then the driver drops us off at a fine love motel. Inside were two beds, no blacklight murals and a lot of space...very nice! We immediately pour 3 margaritas and begin to put the night behind us.
That is pretty much the end of my lovely experience. Truck was ready the next morning and I missed out on work. We were really contemplating a side trip to Shilli since we had already missed work, but decided to call the weekend good and head home.

[Pedro de Pacas]

<the two completely unrelated epics that occurred in the following hour would best be told by the participants...>


I thought I had the free solo on this way steep problem up to the temple. It started like any hard solo. The voices resonating inside me. 'Send!' Then the voice of reason. Finally, 'Send!' won and I committed. The move off the deck was pumpy and I lost my momentum. I downshifted to first and powered into the crux. I was past the point of no return. I was gettin' pumped but the first good rest drew near. I powered on. The engine died, propane simply refused to burn. I free fell backward, brakes floored, Ebrake on, in gear. Still I accelerated toward the hairpin, guardrail and impending abyss. The voices screamed and prepared to bail, doors opened. The ground came up fast, but the impact narrowly avoided disaster on the guardrail. I live to tell the story and send again.