The Glass Menagerie, North Face, Looking Glass, North Carolina - May 23, 2021

Did some of the classics out there in winter leading up to spring. One of the times closer to spring we scrambled around the base to the nose area. Almost at the nose we ran into a group headed our way that looked surprised to see us. One of them says “yea we were following so and so over here because he said it’s a copperhead den and maybe we would see some”.  So yea, sounds like snakes are out there pretty hard. 

Good luck next time, I also plan on trying to cut my teeth on this monster some time.

A few pointers:

1. Wear your climbing shoes when leading.
2. Aid climbing is still climbing. The lower the grade, the more "climbing" and the less "aiding" it should be. You may end up with one foot in a ladder, the other on a jib, one hand on a crimp, and reaching up to plug a piece of gear.
3. Don't hook any tiny ledges on Glass Menagerie. You risk fucking up critical holds for one of the classic free climbing test pieces in the southeast. Anything you hook on should be at least as thick as your pinky. I only hooked twice on the entire climb, and both holds were considerably thicker than that.
4. Don't take a ton of gear, especially if you're trailing a haul line. Double rack is probably fine. In the unlikely event you need more gear mid-pitch, you can tag it up on the haul line. My first attempt at aid climbing was also p1 of the Glass. With a triple rack and all the extra jingle-janglies, I felt like I was being attacked by a boa constrictor the whole way up. When I got to the anchors there were about 8 pieces in the rock, and the entire contents of an REI still hanging off me.
5. It'll probably be more productive to learn the basic aid stuff at a single-pitch crag. Practice using aiders, top-stepping, climbing out of aiders. Practice jugging and learn the proper, efficient lengths that work for your setup. Then move on to practicing pendulums on lead, and doing lower-outs to follow those pendulums when jugging. Practice hauling, transferring the bag to the anchor, then releasing the bag from the anchor and lowering it. Once you have all the basic stuff dialed in, you'll have a much greater chance of success on the Glass Menagerie.

Oh yeah, and don't be down on yourself for getting shut down. You're learning stuff, and that's what you went there to do. Aid climbing systems are new to you, and you're going to be inefficient using them. Just like a brand new climber over-gripping holds, using crappy footwork, and burning out their upper arms on a 5.7, you're going to waste a ton of energy starting out. It's just part of the game. You'll get better.

Glass Menagerie BETA ALERT:

The first pitch is maybe 5.8 up to the snake horizontal, then solid 5.10 up to the bolts. The 5.11 crux is going up around the roof. It's actually a really great pitch of free climbing, with great gear exactly where it needs to be. If 5.11 is in your range, it might be informative to try freeing it. I had free climbed it (though not clean) prior to aiding it. Based on my experience freeing the pitch, I was very surprised by how challenging the aid climbing felt. I probably spent more energy aiding it than I had hang-dogging it years before. Who knew cheating could be so much work?

Chuck Parks wrote:

A few pointers:

1. Wear your climbing shoes when leading.
2. Aid climbing is still climbing. The lower the grade, the more "climbing" and the less "aiding" it should be. You may end up with one foot in a ladder, the other on a jib, one hand on a crimp, and reaching up to plug a piece of gear.
3. Don't hook any tiny ledges on Glass Menagerie. You risk fucking up critical holds for one of the classic free climbing test pieces in the southeast. Anything you hook on should be at least as thick as your pinky. I only hooked twice on the entire climb, and both holds were considerably thicker than that.
4. Don't take a ton of gear, especially if you're trailing a haul line. Double rack is probably fine. In the unlikely event you need more gear mid-pitch, you can tag it up on the haul line. My first attempt at aid climbing was also p1 of the Glass. With a triple rack and all the extra jingle-janglies, I felt like I was being attacked by a boa constrictor the whole way up. When I got to the anchors there were about 8 pieces in the rock, and the entire contents of an REI still hanging off me.
5. It'll probably be more productive to learn the basic aid stuff at a single-pitch crag. Practice using aiders, top-stepping, climbing out of aiders. Practice jugging and learn the proper, efficient lengths that work for your setup. Then move on to practicing pendulums on lead, and doing lower-outs to follow those pendulums when jugging. Practice hauling, transferring the bag to the anchor, then releasing the bag from the anchor and lowering it. Once you have all the basic stuff dialed in, you'll have a much greater chance of success on the Glass Menagerie.

Chuck, Thanks tons for the feedback.  As I mentioned in the report I've realized that I should have just freed it up to the first bolt now.  :/  I just assumed everyone used approach shoes for aiding since precision wasn't as big of a need.  But thanks for that tip.  I too had the entire contents of REI hanging off of me!  LMAO.  My Jugging is fine, top stepping is fine, climbing out of aiders I do need to work on.  Again thanks for your feedback here.