Now you're a man! A manly man, man! | The Wilderness Exchange Unlimited Blog

Mar

Now you’re a MAN, Matt Lloyd

Lloyd and his trusty Gri gri about to learn a lesson in mixed climbing.

photo by Chris Thompson

Matt Lloyd and I had never really hung out before. I had seen him at our buddy’s birthday party and run into him at the Wilderness Exchange a million times, but that was about it. Matt is a reformed sissy sport climber and boulderer. Becoming a trad climber was a natural step forward, but I never expected him to get into ice climbing. Many times he suggested we get out to do some “rad” alpine climbing, but he also bagged on the technical difficulty a little bit. As it was, I was not totally thrilled to go out with someone who might spend half the day talking about how easy my niche of climbing is.

JJ, the ropegun, sets up most of the park weasel’s topropes.

photo by Chris Thompson

This winter, a finger injury kept Matt from climbing at his normal level, so he was desperately seeking another type of fix that would keep him as engaged as rock climbing. Since ice tools are much easier to grasp than dime edges, he figured it was time to jump into ice climbing. I was nice enough to invite him to go to Vail with me and my usual ropegun, JJ. Matt rented some clunky plastic boots, and I brought the rest of his requisite metal and soft goods. We stuffed his lanky frame into the back seat of JJ’s Tacoma and we motored down I-70.

The park weasel offers beta to the lanky newbie

The lanky one feels quite comfortable clipping bolts

Here is where Lloyd finds himself out of his element

JJ set up a mixed route pretty quickly. When Matt’s turn came, he chose to lead the route, to my surprise. With a little beta and encouragement, Matt figured it out, even in his clunky boots. Next, we moved on to the Rigid Designator, which was in funky conditions, with hard to place screws. Of course JJ led it in quick fashion, leaving the screws in for Matt’s pinkpoint attempt. I made Matt use my ice tool tethers to keep him from dropping one of the leashless Cobras. As he was matching on one tool near the top of the route, his feet ripped and one tool followed. I yanked in slack, but to my surprise, the rope never came tight. Matt’s fall was held entirely by a couple of inches of buried pick, which was attached to the ice tool tether, which was attached to his harness. He laughed it off and finished up without further incident, while JJ and I just sat bewildered by his dumb luck and ability to laugh it off.

He can hold on forever, but he kind of swings like a Yorkshire Terrier, if you know what I mean. photo by Chris Thompson

A few days later, Matt and I were headed back up to Vail. His agenda included Amphibian, a solid M8 drytool route that JJ had been working. First, we warmed up on some straightforward ice at the Spiral Staircase area. After a few laps there, we set up a top rope on Secret Probation. Matt thoroughly enjoyed the movement on Secret Probation, raving about how much fun he was having, while I ate my lasagna and drank my Cherry Coke. It was time to get on Amphibian. The first moves are loose hooks that lead to the meaty crack system, which precedes the crux traverse. Not being totally fresh, Matt hung at a few draws and fell off at the traverse, but he eventually made the anchors in a fine effort. Back on the ground, Matt could do nothing but rave about what a genuinely fun time he was having, feeling refreshed about his whole climbing scene.

We motored on back to Denver, listening to Matt’s eclectic music collection, and inhaling some fast food burgers. In the end, it was better than I expected. Matt’s a funny guy without an excessive ego. And it’s always good to have another ropegun on my team to lead the mixed stuff. I suspect we will have more adventures to report very soon….

photo by Chris Thompson

A few notes about Matt:

Matt is an officially reformed sissy. While he does spend a lot of time in the gym, most of that time is spent setting routes for ROCK’n JAM’n. Otherwise, he can’t be contained indoors for any significant period of time. He throws himself at hard routes from Zion to Yosemite, and dreams of climbing Patagonia’s Fitz Roy. Notably, Matt has established more urbaneering routes in Colorado than perhaps anyone else. Once a meager Wilderness Exchange ambassador, Matt is now sponsored by the kind folks at Mad Rock, trying his best not to let his fame go to his head.