Leavenworth Routes

You read right, we went to Leavenworth and climbed routes instead of bouldering for the first time. The brand new Leavenworth route guide just came out which is really good, so the awesome threesome (Me, Laura, and Micah) headed out there and packed the ropes and rack this time. I forgot my camera so I just stole this one off of Micah’s blog.

We did stop off for a quick session at the Fridge Boulder as well, perhaps the best single boulder in Leavenworth? I took care of some unfinished business with quick ascents of the Fridge Center and Right (both V4), problems that had eluded me in the past. The Leavenworth routes took a little getting used to, even leading 5.9 sport routes required a lot more focus than I’d normally expect. I did a few trad routes but nothing harder than 5.8+ (probably around HVS in old money). There were some really nice lines, but a lot of them seemed very samey, slabbly cracks with friction for feet. Not that they weren’t enjoyable, but I think they might get old after a while. Placing gear was great fun I had a few nervy moments, but thinking about it now a day later I really enjoyed the added pressure and heightened awareness of those routes. Locking off on one hand while you try to fiddle in gear with the other, or running it out after a placing a bomber piece to the next good stance. I’m looking forward to getting back there and exploring more crags, but I’m not sure where to go since it seems there are so many options. Does anyone have any recommendations? I’m looking for vertical non-friction climbs with good gear, thin cracks (up to one inch) on good quality rock and footbolds are preferable. Is that too much to ask?

Weekend in San Francisco

Laura and I had a great relaxing weekend down in San Francisco visiting her sister Erin, and Ben. We packed a lot in to a little amount of time. The highlights for me were visiting the California Academy of Sciences, which was really interesting, I could have spent a lot more time there. Playing squash was a lot of fun, Laura and I are complete beginners but it was still fun playing against each other, if there were courts in Olympia I would definitely consider taking it up. We played board games accompanied by some delicious home made food, including spring rolls, and home made guiness-chocolate ice cream. Here is a photo of the four of us at the California Academy of Sciences.

Thanks Erin and Ben for showing us around, its always a lot of fun whenever we visit. For now its back to the books, I've got to get a lot of work done before another climbing trip this weekend.

Another Day Another Dozen

I thought I wasn't going to get out climbing this weekend, then Josh and Chris came to the rescue and offered Laura and I a ride with them out to Vantage. The forecast was for mid-50s and cloudy, but like I say the sun always shines on Vantage, it ended up being really hot. Chris and Josh headed straight for Sunshine Wall to get their trad on. But Laura and I took the long way around to climb first at Riverview Park. I'd climbed here back in 2006 with Doug, but never made it back, maybe because I remembered something about a sketchy approach, but the way we went was fine. At Riverview Park and the areas nearby Millennium Wall, Corn Wall etc. there are probably a hundred sport routes, mostly 5.10 and 5.11, and from what we sampled yesterday, very high quality. I ended up leading 12 new (for me) routes 5.8-11b, Laura led 11 including a 10c onsight and a 10d and 11a flash! We had a blast, among my favorite routes of the day were Heel Higher Crescent (10a), Human Corn (10a) and Crescendo... (10d). Once our forearms couldn't take any more we packed up and headed up to Sunshine Wall where Chris was finishing up his last route, a 5.8 trad route, his hardest to date. It was great exploring a different part of Vantage, and riding out there with Chris and Josh, I definitely want to come back this year. I didn't take many photos of Laura and I climbing since it was mostly just the two of us, but here are a few quick snapshots.

Taking a break in the middle of the day at the base of Millennium Wall

Laura resurrects her really small old five ten climbing shoes, look at the pain on her face

Chris finishes up the day with an ascent of Party in Your Pants (5.8 trad)