Sandstone or Sandbagstone?

Yesterday Laura and I had a nice day out just the two of us up to Port Angeles. We borrowed Jimmy's Olympic Mountains climbing guide and checked out the sport crag Elwa Wall. It was a two and a half drive to get there, but the drive up the Olympic Peninsula was beautiful and listening to NPR made the ride go by really fast. The approach to the crag is awesome, you get out of your car walk across a dam (which is slated to be dismantled soon) and your there. It is a beautiful crag, a very scenic setting with cool rock formations. The rock is sandstone which we don't get to climb on much around here. However the rock is not of the highest quality it is very sandy, which makes the routes feel quite a bit harder than they should. For example what should be a good flat jug feels like a nasty sloper covered in ball-bearings when its sandy. We warmed up on a 5.9 that I had to shout down to Laura to watch me on it a couple of times (not a good sign), she led it as well but decided she'd be happier on toprope for the rest of the day. There were some great climbs though, I did one called The Breeze which the guide lists as 5.10, it felt about solid 10c to me, great steep climbing on a meandering wall that gives a good pump. I also did a fun 5.11 (felt about 11c) called 'It Goes' that had a bit of everything, thin face climbing, jugs, and gave a good healthy pump. The most memorable route of the day was Empty Space which the climb lists as 5.10b?, and says "The most outrageous climb at the Elwa! Undercling the roof's edge until your feet are above your head-then what? Local beta may help on this one." I got on it and managed to get to the chains with a combination of body bars, head jams, horizontal mantelling and a very painful wide stem. The only thing I've done that comes close to it would be the 5.12 horizontal roof climbs at Ozone, but this one felt harder! This climb is the definition of a sandbag! Below are a few photos of me cleaning the draws on it on toprope.

I lead 8 climbs in total, which is pretty good for a few hours. It was nice just going out the two of us, since we climb very efficiently together and its less stress. We had dinner in at a place in Port Angeles called The Cornerhouse which I would recommend before we drove back down the road to Olympia as the sun set over the mountains. It was a good day out.

Project Frustration

Q. Why haven't I written a new blog in a while now?

A. Becasue I havn't climbed anything new, I keep falling off the same climb over and over and over and over.

If you got shut down by a love interest time after time would you still go back for more? Probably not, neither would I, at least I hope I wouldn't. Then why do I keep getting back on my project at Little Si over and over again even though it keeps shutting me down?

Ever since I sent Californicator about 5 weeks ago (although it feels like 5 months) I have been trying (either literaly or in my mind) its extension Californication. On paper it doesn't sound too hard, 12d climbing that I have dialed to a great shake out at the chains then you head into the extension of Technorigine which is 12c climbing that I've got pretty wired, in fact I've warmed up on Techno couple of times this week. Add to that the fact that that when I sent Californicator I continued and got through the Techno crux and fell off just before the chains of Californication, I should get it done pretty quickly right? Wrong! I've repeated Californicator more times than I'd like to count, well I might not like to count it but I do - 5 times. And I've fallen off trying Californication over a dozen times. I was hoping to write a blog post today celebrating my successful ascent, but now I just have to wallow in my self-pity. Yesterday I got on it for the 3rd day in a week, I got to the Californication chains rested up then went for the crux move, which shouldn't be that hard, missed the hold but managed to catch my fall on the jug, I went for the hold again hit it and came off! I had a mini-tantrum hanging from the rope to let off some frustration (sorry guys). It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't do the exact same thing on Sunday and then again on Wednsday of last week. What makes it worse is that I feel like I have a lot of pressure to climb it soon, school starts up in a week and I don't think I'm going to be able to make it out there as much. When I send it (not if but when) it'll be one of the most gratifying climbs I've done, its easily now the most effort I've put into a project.

I just got a text from Micah asking if I wanted to get back out there tomorrow, I want to but I don't know if I can take the rejection again, I feel like the victim of an abusive relationship. What do I do?

Me on the cruxy cross through move to the typewriter hold at the seventh clip of Californicator, a move I am now far too familiar with.

Chasing the Shade at Tieton

Well if the theme of last weekends trip to Tieton was dodging the rain, then this weekend it was seeking the shade. Micah and I decided to head back out there just the two of us since there was still so many crags there we wanted to check out. Laura couldn't make it this time because she had already committed to play a gig with her band this weekend. We left Oly around 4pm on Friday, and had just enough daylight when we arrived to get in a couple of pitches at Lava Point. Micah managed to onsight an 11d there, which is a big deal for him, it was good to see Micah keep his cool on the onsight. We set up camp at a sweet free spot we scoped out last week and got a raging fire started when our friends Greg and Sarah arrived.

Saturday morning we decided to take Greg and Sarah up to Lava Point, we figured it was a good intro to Tieton. They got in a couple of pitches each despite suffering from giardia. Unfortunately we couldn't stay there long since it the cliff was basking in the sun, the guidebook lied and said its shady til noon. Micah and I did get in another 11d though, a hard bouldery start to a cruiser finish, we both sent it second go. After a midday siesta we headed up to a new crag South Fork. The approach was a lot more involved than we expected, it took about 45 minutes from our campsite most of that on dirt roads. It didn't leave too much time for climbing which was too bad cause this cliff is amazing. Its 100+ft tall and gently overhanging, very reminiscent of Word Wall I at Little Si, but maybe even more inspiring. Micah and I warmed up then got on a sweet 14 clip 11b which Micah onsighted. There were a few projects with hanging draws to the right that looked in the 5.12 range but we just didn't have enough time to check them out if we wanted to get back to the car before dark. Definitely a wall to come back to.

Sunday morning we said bye to Greg and Sarah, and headed down the road to check out another new crag, Rainbow Rocks. The guidebook describes the approach as 20 minutes hike up a game trail, which is seriously misleading. I would describe it as a 45 minute slog up loose rubble, it was brutal. When we finally got to the cliff I wasn't even psyched to climb. The climbs were decent I guess, I would probably go back if it were roadside. We got a few pitches in before the sun hit and we hiked/slid/fell back down the slope. In the afternoon we headed up to Honeycomb Buttress to get on the 5.13 project there that was in the shade. I got on it and was immediately impressed, the first move is a huge reach (or dyno) from jug to jug, then its 3 clips of powerful yet intricate 5.12 climbing with strenuous clips, at the forth bolt there are a series of bad slopers on an overhang with no feet. I hung a lot here and couldn't pull off the moves, after that there are a few more hard big moves then another 5 clips or so of sustained 5.11+ climbing which feels pretty hard when you're pumped. We worked it for a couple of hours and I managed all the moves on it except for the heinous sloper sequence at the 4th bolt, definitely an inspiring line and one to come back to when I'm stronger. Micah wanted to get in another climb so headed up a nasty 11b slab which he pitched off of below the chains, I went up to finish it and just barely held on, it wasn't pretty. That evening we decided would be our last here so we collected a ton of firewood and got a raging fire going, I had an 18 pack of Keystone Ice we had to get through, we made a valiant effort but it was probably a good thing for our climbing that we couldn't finish them all.

Monday morning we woke up surprisingly sober, the cooler temps and refreshing breeze helped. We packed up and headed out to The Cave climbing area. The Cave is a sweet crag that has three distinct walls, all of which are good, and hard no matter what the ratings say. Micah struggled up a 5.8 and fell off an 11a, while I had a battle with a 10b, I got up it but I swear it must be a typo in the guidbook it felt 11b at least. The Oak Wall was in the shade so Micah picked out a hard looking 12a to go for the onsight of. The bouldery crux was low on this climb and you could stick clip the first bolt. Micah screamed his way up it, I was sure he was coming off on every move, but he held it together for the onsight! Probably his hardest onsight to date, to say he was pleased would be an understatement! We finished up the day with a couple more 11's, there are still plenty more to get on here, some of which look absolutely amazing. All in all it was a productive trip I got in 20 new routes which takes my tally for the year up to 188 and counting. Below are some photos from the trip that I'm too lazy to caption, so you can make up your own captions.

Dodging the rain at Tieton

I couldn't believe it had been 3 years since I was last at Tieton with Laura and Doug. For one because it doesn't seem like I've been living in the States for that long, and for two becasue the climbing there is so good, I shouldn't have waited so long to get back there. Micah, Laura and I headed out there on Thursday night for a 4 day weekend. On Friday we sampled the great rock at Lava Point, its a type of textured basalt with lots of small grippy edges, and small gas pockets. We warmed up on a 10a, then Micah put the draws up on an 11a, which Laura promptly flashed, it was some tricky climbing up to a really reachy move, to some more tricky climbing. We got 4 routes in before it started drizzling, the dampness only lasted a few minutes, but we took the opportunity to head back to the campsite to have some lunch.

Micah warming up at Lava Point

In the afternoon, we went to Honeycomb Butress, see Micah's blog for some great photos of this crag. The crag has horizontal pillars piled on top on each other that keep going up for over a hundred feet. We warmed up on an 11a slab, then I climbed a 2 pitch 11c 11a linking it into one monster pitch that was pretty full on. Next up was the 12a slab there, which I managed to onsight without too much difficulty. Micah also got it on the flash. The crag is also home to one of the most inspirational lines I've ever seen, an overhanging blocky arete with a lot of bad holds and the occasional jug. its listed as a 5.13 project in the guide, but it has hanging draws on it now and it looks very doable, I didn't get on it this trip, but it feels like I have given the amount of time I've spent thinking about it. We finished off the day at the Beehive across the road where Laura onsighted a 10d! At this point we were feeling we accomlished quite a lot for the day so headed back to the campsite for a raging campfire.

On Saturday our friends from Olympia, Erica Melody Sarah and Caitlin joined us, but they brought the rain along with them. It was really wet, we had no chance of climbing so we headed to Yakima for some wine tasting instead, so the day wasn't a complete write-off. The next day was more of the same weather-wise, I felt pretty bad inviting the girls out here just to have it rain all weekend. Laura and the girls went out for a walk in the rain while Micah and I moped around the campsite. In the afternoon the clouds parted very briefly and we got a call from Laura saying she spotted dry rock further down the valley. So we picked her up and ran up the hill to a crag called The Oasis, the other girls were skeptical anything was going to be dry so it was just the three of us. I literally ran up the first route a fun10c, grey clouds were looming above us so we didn't know how long we'd have. We did get a little rain, but we found a climb that stays completely dry in the rain called King Tut's Tomb, it was an 11a and one of the best climbs I've done at the grade, or maybe we were just so happy to be climbing that day. Laura managed the flash of that route and onsighted a long 10c afterwards, spirits were so much higher than just a couple hours earlier. We were headed back down the hill as dusk approached, when we realised that we can't pass up a dry moment like this so we ran up one last long 5.9. It almost turned into an epic involving stuck rope, loose rock and downclibing in the dark, but we all managed to get up and down it safely and headed back to the campsite. When we got to the campsite the girls had packed up and decided to cut their losses and head back to Olympia. We decided to wait it out and hope for more dry weather on Monday.

Micah on King Tut's Tomb at The Oasis.

The Fan Route on Jack-O-Lantern Wall that we squeezed before it got dark

It was a good decision, Monday morning we woke up to sunny blue skies. We headed back out to Lava Point and got in a bunch more routes. Laura managed to lead her second ever 11b, on her second go, a crimpy technical masterpiece called Long Strange Clip, this was now officially her most successful trip ever. I think the key for her was taking a fall at Nevermind a couple of weeks ago that has done wonders for her lead head. Six amazing routes at Lava Point later we decided to hang up the ropes and finish off the day bouldering at the Caldera.

Me onsighting a juggy 11d at Lava Point

The photos of the bouldering in the guide looked really good and we were not dissapointed. The Caldera is one of most scenic areas I've bouldered at and its only a 5 minute walk-in. The rock quality is variable from great, to a bit snappy, and there is not a huge amount of harder boulders, but we had fun climbing on the established problems, I think I did 2 V0's, a V1, a V2, 2 V3's, a V4 and a V5. It was great way to finish off the trip. Reading through the guide book back at home I realised how much more there is to check out, so expect to hear more trip reports from Tieton this fall.

Laura bouldering on the Nakedness Boulder at The Caldera

Micah on a fun V1 arete

Group Shot

Here's a cool photo I stole off of Erica's Facebook page of our group that got out climbing on Sunday.

We went to Exit 38, it was a pretty chill day, I think most of us were still recovering from Sarah's birthday party the night before. Nevertheless we got a lot done. I got in some good 5.10's and 11's that I hadn't done before at Nevermind. Laura did a new 10b, c, and d in a day. Melody led her first 5.9, and Bill showed us how it was done with some relaxed flashes and onsights of everything he tried up to 12a. Its been really fun to go out climbing with more people and a more varied group this summer. I hope we have more days like Sunday. Here is another photo I took on Sunday of Laura at Nevermind.