Rock on Roger

Lake George is an interesting place. Due to population distributions, most New Yorkers approach the Adirondacks from the South. Lake George is therefore an unofficial southern entry point of the dacks. For younger staff members, a trip to Lake George is just something you do, at least once. There is no end of cheap shops, arcades and other ways to pass an evening. It is exciting your first time, but after your fifth or sixth time, it gets pretty routine. I have probably been to Lake George a dozen times or so. Generally, each trip was like the one before it with a few notable exceptions for other stories (borrowing a motorcycle, the pitcher place and adventures in boat rental). There is another side to Lake George though. Roger’s rock. This is a different Roger than the one who got upset about unnecessary canoe carries and peanut shelling. Roger’s rock is a very pretty multi-pitch slab climb. Multi-pitch meaning that you cannot simply lower a rope from the top and climb up. A slab climb is generally inclined at less than vertical so it is easier to climb than vertical or overhanging. The easiest way to reach Roger’s Rock is by boat from a state campground. Most people at camp are not in the socio-economic bracket where boat ownership is feasible. Camp does have a large number of aluminum Grumman canoes though. While Read was generally good at loaning the canoes, you still had to get the canoe from camp to the launch point. Most of us did not own cars and we were typically limited to transporting one canoe. Generally, those canoes can carry two people and a week’s worth of gear relatively safely. We generally had more people interested in climbing than canoe capacity though. Consequently most trips involved 4-5 people plus the necessary gear in the canoe. The distance between the waterline and the top of the canoe (gunwhales) is referred to as freeboard. On these trips, there was almost no freeboard. The canoes were certainly overloaded. It is no exaggeration to say that the canoe trip was far more risky than the climbing. Lake George is a relatively large lake and can generate good sized waves. Additionally, those who could afford to rent or own powerboats delighted in operating at top speed with little regard for wake. To be fair, if had a boat that could produce a large wake, I would undoubtedly do so. Once you reach the climb, which rises directly from the lake it is relatively easy. Most people would use a rope, generally you did not slip, but if you did, it could be quite bad. Since the climb is not vertical, you would likely slide along the rock to the bottom with lots of scrapes. Though I never climbed without a rope, I knew of those who did. These were generally the car surfers. Also, since the climb was right on the lake, you would get a number of spectators in boats. It would be particularly embarrassing to fall with an audience! These trips were always a success if K.W. was involved. K.W. had the most climbing experience of anyone at camp, having done some real climbing in Yosemite and the Gunks. He is also incredibly smart, always winning chess or card games. He is tall and lean and deceptively strong. Working with K.W. was not an effort in keeping up, it was generally a battle to limit how far behind you fell. Sort of like a track race where you are not fighting to win, but rather fighting to not get lapped! Perhaps most importantly, for these types of trips, he made sure that a piece of critical gear was not left behind. If you did leave something behind, it was not until you were at the climb, a good ways from the car that you would realize it. K.W. always made sure we were safe too. He would not tell you to tie into a certain piece of gear, rather he would simply grab you by your harness and clip you in, kind of like a parent strapping their child into a car seat! One trip to Roger’s Rock stands out. It was a beautiful day, probably 80 degrees or so. I believe there were 5 of us and one canoe. We made the trip to the climb and suited up. The youngest member of our group, I will call him Tex, was very inexperienced and visibly nervous. Since we were all assholes at this point in our lives we made sure to add to his level of fear by making sure he always thought he was in far more danger than he was. My good friend M.L. was with us, and unfortunately was suffering from Lyme’s disease. The medicine that he took specifically warned him to stay out of the sun. Naturally, we took him to a lake, on a cloudless day, with no shade. Though the climb was relatively uneventful, two interesting things happened. First, Tex lost the guidebook. This was not a real big deal, we all knew the climb. It was however $25 and that was a considerable sum to any of us then. The book belonged to a fellow called Indigo. Interestingly, Tex had no explanation as to how he had dropped the guidebook while at the base of the climb. The base is very safe, you can sit on a rock ledge and even if you did fall, you would simply fall into the water. In fact, we would frequently conclude a hot climb with a jump into the lake. Nevertheless, Tex argued that he was scared and dropped the book. No-one figured out how the two events were connected. So Indigo was already down a climbing book at this point. The climbing book was not the only thing Indigo would lose though. Midway through the climb, M.L., suffering from Lyme’s disease, was getting too much exposure to the sun. Indigo was wearing a long sleeved shirt and loaned it to M.L. and Indigo was now shirtless. The thing with a climbing harness is that it is like wearing a very tight belt, particularly when you are rappelling. It is the opposite of flattering, it tends to emphasize any belly that you may have. Indigo, unfortunately while in good shape did have a belly and was rappelling from the top of the climb. Unbeknownst to him, there was another climber at the base of the climb. As Indigo was coming down, this climber pointed up and asked “who is that load coming down”. Though this was the extent of the conversation and Indigo would likely never encounter this climber again, this stranger had a profound impact on Indigo’s life for the next several years. Since we were who we were, we all decided that from now on the one we would call Indigo would be referred to exclusive as “the load.” Much to his chagrin, it took off like wildfire, with everyone in camp now referring to him as either “load”, “the load” or sometimes even “T” “H” “E” “Load”. He was an incredibly good sport about it and seemed to embrace it. Even when referred to as “the load” by people who were truly loads themselves. As is so often the case in life, this happened to the load when he was trying to do the right thing. He was not climbing shirtless to show off, rather, he had loaned his shirt because M.L. was not to be in the sun. Regardless, it was a new era, the era of the load.