DEEP WATER SOLOING

On day 4 we went deep water soloing - what an incredible experience. This is free sport climbing above deep water. To get onto the rock, either you dive in and swim onto the rock, or you climb off a long tail boat and up onto cliffs - or onto a stalactite that is hanging down from above... the boat drifts away and you are on your own. When you fall (that's not IF), you end up in the water. The goal is typically to make it to a certain point on the rock and then jump off. Josh set the pace by going huge on the first cliff. He climbed WAY higher than anyone else did. He pulled a crux move about 50 feet over the water and swung onto a stalactite, and then dropped off. Amazing. Once again - Josh is the man! The whole boat cheered and we were off to the next set of cliffs... This set the tone for the day, and Ryan and I each had our moments of glory. I went quite large on the next cliff and ended up pulling a sequence of very difficult moves that were WAY high off the deck. When you are over 50 feet up, it actually looks more like 75 because, when you look down, you can see right through the water because it is so clear. Managing your state, staying focused, and remaining solid with your technique all the way through hitting the water is critical to staying safe.