Astroman like whoa.

I've been wanting to get on Astroman ever since I learned that it wasn't a Japanese cartoon character, and was in fact one of the sickest free climbs in Yosemite valley. It's 10 pitches of super sustained climbing up Washington Column, capped off with a sketchy descent down the notoriously steep and loose North Dome Gully. What else could you ask for?

I had no plans to do the route this trip. But one evening, as I was wandering around camp 4 with a few King Cobras in me, I heard my Spanish buddy talking about how his Astroman partner bailed on him. Mostly because he was afraid of the Harding Slot, a notorious squeeze chimney half way up the route.

A quick word about the Harding Slot, from Mountain Project: "Competitor of the Hollow Flake for THE imagination seizing Valley pitch. Many strong climbers have melted down here. There are a couple of reasons for this: first, it requires a style of climbing that is rarely encountered outside of the Valley and avoided in general and second, most average and large size people don't believe they can fit through the slot."

Being something of a glutton for suffering on grovely pitches, and being a chimney connoisseur, and already having done the above mentioned Hollow Flake pitch, (finding it to be one of the most significant emotional voyages of my adult life) I've always wanted to see what this Harding Slot is all about. Now was my chance.

I staggered over to my Spanish friend, and stammered that I'd love to go up Astroman, as long as I got to lead the slot. He was overjoyed, and it was a partnership made in heaven.

Two days later, as I was trying to wedge my body in a downwardly flaring slot of granite so tight you can't ever turn your head inside, with my feet kicking flaccidly into 500 feet of air below me, I once again cursed the power of King Cobras. This wasn't the first tight spot those evil beverages had gotten me into. I wish I could say it would be the last, but I think we all know that's not true. Here's a picture looking up into the slot, but it's hard to appreciate the sinking sense of dread that the feature exudes unless you're hanging right there in its shadow. I suggest you go experience it firsthand.

In any event, once I got into the slot proper, the rest of the route was amazing. One clean crack after another, everything from fists to fingers, plus some face climbing. I've never been worked so hard by a single day of climbing. Stupidly, I didn't tape my hands, and today it looks like I tried to fish out a nickel that I dropped into a tank full of caffeinated piranhas.

So today I'm resting, and trying to get a job. Who knows what else will happen on this trip, but it'll be hard to top the excitement of yesterday.