Oly Comp

This weekend the Warehouse Rock Gym in Olympia hosted the eagerly anticipated South Sound Pull Down. This was the third year they have hosted this comp and each year it seems to get bigger and better. There was 70 competitors and more spectators making for a packed atmosphere, the energy was really high and it seemed like everyone had a great time. I had high expectations going into the comp, 2 years ago I held off some strong competition from other Olympia climbers to win, last year I was pipped by 3 strong Seattelites who came down and took the prizes and this year was a similar story. I finished 6th in the Men's Open category, behind a some strong climbers from Seattle and Portland. I kept up my record of fishing first in Olympia, but only by the narrowest of margins, Micah and I both climbed the same problems, but he took two falls and I only took one. Full results are up on Jimmy's blog. Laura climbed out of her skin to win the Women's Advanced category. As she said later that night after a couple of pints "it was my best day climbing ever", it was certainly her best comp performance ever. To put it in perspective she beat the next placed female competitor by 900 points would have finished 5th if she had entered male advanced! She was well rewarded winning a voucher for a free pair of 5.10 shoes, worth up to $140! I picked up a $20 gift certificate for a BBQ place down the street. Thanks again to Jimmy for organising the event, and the rest of the Warehouse staff for all their hard work, I'm looking forward to next years one already!

Here is a video of Micah sending a 1200 point problem, his hardest of the comp.

October Tan

The Dutchess, George Ben and Dave's van/home for the next 6 months.
Me repeating the really fun route Heresey

Me leading a 5.8 in the Red Wall area wearing Laura's shoes that didn't fit my feet, its a long story.

This will have to be a short blog since I've got lots of homework I should be doing. I wasn't sure if I was going to get out climbing this weekend, then I got a call from my good friend George from the UK. He had just arrived in the San Francisco for the start of a 6 month climbing road trip with two mates a few days earlier. For reasons that I wont go into they had to drive up to Oregon in their newly aquired van so decided to stop off at Smith Rock.

Laura, Sarah and I drove down for the weekend to meet them. It was Sarah's first visit to Smith and I think she was impressed. Hanging out with George and his mates Ben and Dave was a lot of fun, being around a good British accent and British humor makes me miss home. They were looking a bit haggard from driving around and sleeping in sub-freezing temps in their van for a week, but their psyche was high for climbing. They had been there for a few days already but with only the old guide for reference they had gotten on some pretty old-school chossfests like a multi-pitch on Picnic Lunch Wall. They were glad to have some local knowledge and I pointed them at some more popular classics like Toxic, Five Easy Pieces, Crack Babies and Heresey. We got on some new things as well, Laura had her Smith lead head on and did well flashing a 10b and onsighting a 10a (these are Smith grades remember). After getting on a lot of easy stuff I decided to ger back on Latest Rage a classic 12b arete that I had tried a couple of years earlier, I didn't remember much about it except that it felt really hard. I was feeling good when I got on it and the tiny crimps and pockets felt surprisingly good, before I knew it I had made the crux move to the jug rail high above the last bolt, from here most people place a good cam in a pocket, but I hadn't brought one because I didn't really expect to get that high on it, I ran it out and managed to keep my calm facing a 40ft whipper if I had blown it. It was a really good feeling to have finished off this classic line so easily and it has me psyched for harder stuff at Smith. I finished off a great weekend with an ascent of Vomit Launch one of the best 5.11's I've climbed anywhere and a cool repeat of Crack Babies a steep 12b. It was really fun hanging out with George again and meeting Ben and Dave, I'm really jelous of their trip, but at least I'll be able to keep up with them on Georges Blog he'll have some hilarious stories for sure. I can't wait to meet up with them again next month in Bishop!