rock climbing in the middle of a thunderstorm today was one of the most exhilarating and downright frightening things that i have ever done.
the guide i was with felt that i was ready to give trad leading a shot, so i started to get all of my stuff together for it and just as i was tying in a downpour rolled in and soaked us for 5 minutes(it had also rained hard earlier in the day but the rock dried surprisingly fast). knowing that the weather might turn sour within the next hour i decided to go for it once the rain let up.
so with some rumbles off in the distance i began leading the 5.5, every so often turning around to see what was happening with the clouds moving toward us.
about 2/3 of the way up i noticed that the sky had darkened rather quickly, followed by a couple flashes, so i picked up the pace a bit. upon reaching the top(my very first trad lead was in the bag), silas(the guide) asked if i wanted to belay him up from the top so we could discuss transitions and my gear placement. my response was "hell no," except phrased more politely.
at this point i was getting rather anxious since this storm looked to be a good deal stronger and larger than the one that had passed earlier. since there was a bunch of gear on the route, silas had to quickly scale it and then rap off before we could go.
right about when he reached the top was when things started to get crazy. a bolt of lightning hit less than a half mile away when he reached the top and signaled that he needed to get the hell out of there. right after he reached the bottom the heavens opened up and all of our gear became soaked as we packed it up. we booked it to this spot by the cliff that was protected by an overhang to try and wait it out. after about 5 minutes we realized how dark it had gotten and that the storm was just increasing in intensity so we figured it was time to head down to the car.
that was when the **** hit the fan. lightning began striking at what seemed like 15 second intervals as we made our way down the steep, rocky, and root-filled trail. once we hit the road it was just a total monsoon and as i rifled through my pack trying to find my car keys i noticed that it was hailing now and that the tingling in my legs wasn't just adrenalin, but also a ground current from a very close lightning strike.
we finally made it into the car completely soaked(today i realized that my rain shell is essentially useless) and had a good laugh about the craziness that we had just gone through. definitely a story that i can look back upon fondly, but also one that i hope i never have to go through ever again. this was the first time that i have ever been legitimately worried about getting struck by lightning.
(spaced out to make it easier to read)
the guide i was with felt that i was ready to give trad leading a shot, so i started to get all of my stuff together for it and just as i was tying in a downpour rolled in and soaked us for 5 minutes(it had also rained hard earlier in the day but the rock dried surprisingly fast). knowing that the weather might turn sour within the next hour i decided to go for it once the rain let up.
so with some rumbles off in the distance i began leading the 5.5, every so often turning around to see what was happening with the clouds moving toward us.
about 2/3 of the way up i noticed that the sky had darkened rather quickly, followed by a couple flashes, so i picked up the pace a bit. upon reaching the top(my very first trad lead was in the bag), silas(the guide) asked if i wanted to belay him up from the top so we could discuss transitions and my gear placement. my response was "hell no," except phrased more politely.
at this point i was getting rather anxious since this storm looked to be a good deal stronger and larger than the one that had passed earlier. since there was a bunch of gear on the route, silas had to quickly scale it and then rap off before we could go.
right about when he reached the top was when things started to get crazy. a bolt of lightning hit less than a half mile away when he reached the top and signaled that he needed to get the hell out of there. right after he reached the bottom the heavens opened up and all of our gear became soaked as we packed it up. we booked it to this spot by the cliff that was protected by an overhang to try and wait it out. after about 5 minutes we realized how dark it had gotten and that the storm was just increasing in intensity so we figured it was time to head down to the car.
that was when the **** hit the fan. lightning began striking at what seemed like 15 second intervals as we made our way down the steep, rocky, and root-filled trail. once we hit the road it was just a total monsoon and as i rifled through my pack trying to find my car keys i noticed that it was hailing now and that the tingling in my legs wasn't just adrenalin, but also a ground current from a very close lightning strike.
we finally made it into the car completely soaked(today i realized that my rain shell is essentially useless) and had a good laugh about the craziness that we had just gone through. definitely a story that i can look back upon fondly, but also one that i hope i never have to go through ever again. this was the first time that i have ever been legitimately worried about getting struck by lightning.
(spaced out to make it easier to read)
Last edited:
