NC3 UW

I'm back from awesome weekend up in Seattle. I went up to compete in the University of Washington climbing competition ‘The Rain City Send’. It was the 3rd round of the NC3 competition series (my 2nd). I was feeling more confident this time, my finger has gotten a better recently, I only have to lightly tape it now. And just a couple of days beforehand I flashed a V6 and got another one really quick at the WRG, it was the first time in a while that I’ve bouldered that hard indoors, so I was feeling confident. I started out the comp strongly flashing a 910 and an 860 point problem. I then spent the next hour working some other hard problems, but to no avail. It got down to 40 minutes left, and I still only had 2 of my top 5 problems done, so I lowered the bar a bit and flashed some easier problems that probably weigh in at V4ish. I ended up with a decent top 5, but I always feel I could have done a little better. When all the scores were tallied I ended up in 8th place in Men’s Advanced. I was surprised not to finish higher, but there was a lot of strong competition. Jimmy ended up taking 2nd overall, Morgan just missed out on open finals in 4th, Kevin took 5th (I think), Sergio a new strong climber who is at Evergreen for a semester from Spain came in right behind him in 6th (I think), and Andrew put in a good performace in Men's Advanced as well. It was a really good comp, well organized with excellent setting. And best of all they had tons of prizes. I walked away with a baseball cap, a jansport backpack and pair of evolve flip flops as well as the comp t-shirt. And today amongst other purchases at REI, I scored a pair of almost new Anasazi Slippers for under $20! I’m looking forward to the next few NC3 comps, I’m hoping to compete in the one in a couple of week down at OSU.

My photos turned out pretty bad, but here’s one of Jimmy, and a video of him on the last problem in open finals, nobody got it.

Jimmy flashing the first problem in Open Finals

Ten Years In It: Coming to America 2006 - present

This is the final installment of my recollections of the last 10 years of climbing.

I didn’t know what to expect when I came to the US, but getting out climbing a lot helped with the transition. Laura’s mom got me the Falcon guide to Climbing in Washington. It’s a really bad guide, but it was really useful for us at the time, we used it to find our way out to Exit 38. The first ever route I did in the US was a route there called Glom Job. It’s a route that climbs a crack formed between the concrete foundations of a bridge and a rock, so your essentially climbing on concrete for half the route. It was very bizarre, it probably wasn't the best route to start out on in the US, it made me wonder what climbing was going to be like here. Down in Olympia we didn’t have a car, but I found out about the quarry in Tenino on the internet, and contacted some people and was offered a ride by Doug, a good friend from Olympia. The quarry was another kind of bizarre venue, in someone’s front yard, with benches to belay from, there was certainly nothing like this in Scotland. But the community at the quarry was very welcoming, I met Off, Jimmy, Duke and Ed, the same regulars who climb there today. The first route I did there was Hercules a sandbag at 10b, it didn’t help that nobody gave me any beta, they just watched and sized up the new guy. I made it up it but it wasn't pretty. Every Wednesday Doug would give Laura and I a ride down to the quarry, and that summer we went on longer trips to Vantage, Tieton and Squamish with him. Without Doug we really wouldn’t have gotten out much at all that summer, we really owe a lot to him. I thought the climbing around here was awesome, and there was so much of it. In Scotland because of the strict bolting ethic there was not much sport climbing. Here though it was fair game, it seemed at the time that there were more sport routes than I could ever hope to do.

Getting to know the routes and the locals at The Quarry June 06

Braving the heat at Vantage August 06

Onsighting Flying Circus a 10a route at Squamish July 06

Towards the end of the summer I found a job, which limited my climbing, but we got a car which made us more flexible. We would get out on the weekends and I was getting the hang of sport climbing around here. One weekend I decided to get on a 12a at Exit 38 called Culture Shock, I was pumped out of my mind, but I somehow managed to onsight it! This was a major breakthrough for me and made me wonder what I could do if I found a project to work. Laura was working at the climbing gym at Evergreen where she met another keen climber Micah. We arranged to get out climbing at Little Si the next weekend. Micah looked like a really strong climber, but he spent most of the day hanging on a 10b, while I onsighted another 12a Rainy Day Women. Nevertheless we were to become great climbing partners and pushed each other to climb harder over the next few years. Once winter rolled around I started climbing indoors more at the Warehouse Rock Gym, where I would climb more with Jimmy. Back then he was just a weak kid, I remember thinking I could do any boulder problem he could set, I wish I could still say the same. I also met another good friend there Nick, despite him calling me the wrong name of the first few weeks of our friendship we got on great together. Together the four of us Micah, Jimmy, Nick and I would push each other to climb hard and we all improved our climbing levels immensely over the next few years.

Enjoying the Sun on Ride Em' Cowboy 5.8 at Vantage June 07

On a sweet 10d at Cheakamus BC, June 07

Right after flashing my first ever 12b at Smith March 07

Flashing Rawhide 11d at Smith May 07

Laura and I had plans to move to Portland together when she graduated, but by that point we had made good friends in Olympia, and I was enjoying my job, so we decided to stay. I’m glad we did. That summer George and another friend from Scotland Rob, came over to visit and spent 6 weeks climbing in the NW, mostly up at Squamish. We had a really good time together and shared a lot of good memories. That summer I spent a lot of time climbing particularly at Little Si and pushed my level from 12a to 12d in the space of about 6 months with Micah. My ascent of Psychosomatic (12d) was another big milestone. That was about the same time I started documenting my climbing on this blog. Since I've already covered the rest of my climbing on this blog, I wont go into too much detail. But highlights have been my extended climbing trip to Europe, discovering bouldering at Leavenworth, and getting out to new venues further afield such as Bishop and Tensleep. I've made a bunch of good friends in Olympia through climbing, too many to mention here, but I appreciate how each of them have had an impact on my climbing and have helped mold me into the climber I am today. I’m really glad I have this blog to look back on some of my old trips and good memories.

Flashing Rio's Crack V6, at Bishop December 07

Trying to find out where I am in Fontainebleau, April 08

Negotiating the Steepness of Kalymnos May 08



Bouldering in Ailefroide, France June 08

 As for the future, I discussed my plans for 2011 here. And looking towards the next 10 years, I see a lot more climbing. I’ve been getting in a lot of volume in recent years and hope to continue to do so. I think I’m going to get more into trad routes, multi-pitch routes and perhaps even alpine climbing. I would really like to get a drill and start bolting my own routes in the future. A couple of years ago I got recognized by the website 8a.nu for having one of the most registered ascents on my scorecard. At the time I had a little over 500 routes and boulders combined. I now have over 1000 routes. Over the last 3 years I’ve been averaging more than 200 new routes a year. I plan on climbing as long as I can which will hopefully mean another 30+ years. A lifetime goal I’ve set for myself is to climb 10,000 routes, only counting clean ascents, no repeats. This may sound like a lot, but I’ve done the math and I think it may be possible. If I achieve this it will be a huge accomplishment, it may mean climbing more routes than anyone else in the world, or at least having documented it, which would be pretty cool. If in another 10 years I still have this blog and can write about another great 10 years of climbing I'll be happy.

10 Years In It - The College Years 2002-2006

This is the second installment of my climbing story, celebrating my last 10 years of climbing.

When I started university at Stirling I immediately got involved in the Mountaineering Club, and met lots of other enthusiastic climbers and found new places to climb. Best of all was finding out there was a cool bouldering spot only a 20 minute walk from campus. That began my 4 year love affair with Wolfcrag, a small but fun quarry with some bouldering and traversing. It has probably had the biggest impact on my climbing than any other venue, I attribute my crimping skills to the chipped holds there. I also made a trip out to the boulders at Dumbarton Rock with Anthony who had started uni at nearby Glasgow. I remember it was a freezing December day and when we got off the train we immediately bought santa hats from a nearby shop for one pound to stay warm. When we got to the boulders the only other climber was the guidebook author Dave MacLeod, he had a good laugh at us in our santa hats. We were really impressed by the boulders there, they were way bigger than they looked in the topo, we were too scared to top anything out, but we had fun messing around on moves low to the ground, we vowed to return in better weather. Soon after I made the tough decision to shell out on a bouldering mat, back then bouldering pads were pretty new and there wasn’t that much choice, but I bought the biggest one I could find which set me back £130. I still have it today, but it looks puny compared to new mats nowadays.



On Gorrila V4 at Dumbarton March 03

 


On White Streak V3 at Dumbarton March 03

Once I had my boulder mat, I used it a lot. I went to Wolfcrag several times a week, and ventured back to Dumbarton in the spring. We slowly worked through the grades at Dumbarton, I did a problem called White Streak for my first 6a (V3) then a few months later managed Gorrila 6b (V4), which was my first ‘hard’ boulder problem, I had been working it for a while, I still think its still one of my favorite boulder problems. At Wolfcrag, I was climbing lots of problems up about V3, but there was no guide so it was all just word of mouth. In the spring of 2003 I sampled some of the best quarry climbing the central belt had to offer going to places like Auchinstarry, Limekilns, Rosyth, and Cambusbarron where I would lead up to VS (5.8 trad). I was still scared to push myself harder on trad, and rightly so given my gear placements. Over the summer I was back up in Aberdeen working and climbing. I got out a good amount with Anthony and Craig, I led my first HVS (5.9 trad) at the Pass of Ballater a great corner route called Little Cenotaph. Then achieved a milestone for me when I climbed my first E1 (5.10a trad), Black Custard. I remember thinking my gear was good for a change, but when I got the crux of the route I hesitated, I could hear Anthony taunting me from below, thinking I was going to bail, but I committed. I think it was the first time I was willing to take a fall on lead, but luckily I didn’t. I it must have been pretty hard since Craig had to hang on the rope seconding it. That was a big step forward for me in terms of my trad climbing, but I wouldn’t push myself harder on trad for another couple of years. Later that summer Anthony and I decided to take a road trip around the West of Scotland to check out some of the new bouldering areas that were just being developed at the time. It was a great trip, we would sleep under boulders and climb in the sunshine all day long, we checked out the boulders at Glen Croe, The Brack, and Glen Nevis. We made a return trip to The Brack, where we camped out for a few days putting up some first ascents, we had the place to ourselves, with a whole hillside of untouched boulders. We climbed up to 6b (V4) and established a bunch of problems up to 6a+ (V3). There hasn’t been much more development there since, I need to go back there some time now that I’m stronger and can try some of the steeper lines we saw. Back at Uni I climbed more trad, and finished up some more routes up to E1. That winter I heard about some new bouldering at Portlethen not far from where I lived. I checked it out, and although it was pretty cold I knew I could spend a lot of time trying some harder problems here.

On my FA 'No Bellylop Required' V0 at The Brack, September 03

Working Vietnam, an awsome but hard V4 at The Brack

Early in 04 I heard about Bennybeg a new sport climbing venue only about half an hour from Stirling. At the time it was controversial to bolt a crag like that since it was all easy routes, and there was very little precedence for easy sport climbing in Scotland. I loved it even though it’s a crappy little crag, I managed to flash all the hardest routes there, which were only up to 6a (5.10a), but at the time it was a big deal for me, this was more than 3 years after I first started climbing. It made me want to search out the few moderate sport climbs available in Scotland so a few months later I checkout Ley Quarry, where I managed to onsight some (but not all) routes up to 6b (10c). I also spent a lot of time working a harder route, which I returned to a few weeks later and finished off. It was __ a 6c (11a), for me this was huge accomplishment, 6c was a big number for me at the time, this was around the time I set up my 8a.nu scorecard.

Discovering the bouldering at Portlethen December 04

At the end of the school year, I was climbing indoors at Glasgow and I was trying a crimpy problem when I heard a loud pop in my finger and immediately had a burst of pain in my finger, I had popped a tendon. I tried denying what had happened at first, but I was seriously debilitated. In one way though it was a good time to get injured, because I was about to leave with my sister to visit my grandma in California for six weeks where I knew I wouldn’t be able to climb much. I think I went a whole two weeks, the longest period in the last 10 years, without climbing at all. Eventually I ventured in to a local gym, with a severely taped up finger, and played around on a little bouldering area near where my grandma lived. When I returned to Scotland my finger had more or less healed, so I got to work on the boulders at Portlethen. I worked my way up through the easier problems, eventually sending The Prow, a powerful short font 6c (V5) my first of the grade. Anthony and I were climbing at a similar level, so there was a lot of competition to see who could do it first.

Having fun at the Bowderstone in the Lake District November 04

Doing laps on Malky the Alky a fun E1 at Cambusbarron, November 04



Making the most of some winter sun while belaying on some easy trad at Rosyth January 05



Messing around on some beach boulders in the South of Spain while on a Science Field Trip February 05

Back at Uni, I started climbing with some guys who pushed my to try harder, namely George and Paddy. They were hot on my heels working the same hard boulder problems at Wolfcrag and Dumbarton. In early 2005 we decided to try some harder routes on trad. At limekilns I went for the onsight of an E3 called Grasp the Nettle, in reality the route was no harder than 6a (10a) but run-out and on bad gear, physically this route was well within my limits, but I had to push my limits mentally. I managed the onsight, which made me wonder what else I could do on trad if I tried harder. George climbed it straight after me, it was only his second ever lead climb! George and I got out to the local crags and worked some harder trad routes, we would practice them on toprope figure out all the gear, then lead it placing all gear on lead. Some memorable routes we did were Gobi Roof E2/3, (10c trad), Looney Tunes E4 (6c trad/solo), Chisel E4 (6c+ trad), often these routes were quite dicey, but we had practiced them so much our margin of failure was small. These routes culminated in my boldest route to date Nijinski an E5 (6c+ solo) at Auchinstarry, this route was different from the others in that I opted to solo it, the gear was worthless, and it was outside of my comfort zone. I managed it, but it was very scary, a fall from the crux, would have meant broken legs or worse. I got away with it, but I’m glad I didn’t continue to do hard routes like these. Ironically these trad routes and solos were physically harder than anything I had done on bolts at the time. Over that summer I climbed more at Portlethen and did Lurcher a 6c+ (11c) sport route there, which was my hardest sport route to date. Then in September 05 I got out to Ley Quarry with Kris a new member of the Mountaineering club, he was a strong sport climber and showed me a hard route there called Nirvana it was really hard for me, but I managed it by the skin of my teeth. It was my new hardest route.

Yet to place any gear, onsighting an E3 at Limeilns, April 05

On Hard Cheddar an awesome V2 at Dumbarton on my 21st Birthday 05

In 2005 had another big change I started dating an American girl called Laura who was studying at Stirling for 9 months. I got her into climbing and she got good pretty fast, achieving what took me a few years in less than one. That last year at college I visited more areas around the UK, including Reiff, Northumberland, the Lake District, and The Peak District. Mostly just bouldering, and doing some easy trad, towards the end of the year I did another E5 (7a trad) Purr-Blind Doomster which was a great climb, bold but safe. I also ticked a couple more 7a+ sport routes at North Berwick. A dozen or so of us from the mountaineering club took a trip to El Chorro, Spain to sport climb, it was an awesome trip, it was almost overwhelming being surrounded by so much climbing. I only managed routes up to 6c (11a), the heat and unfamiliar rock type made it hard, but I had a blast. I graduated in June of 06 with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science, but didn’t go to my graduation because I had already left to start a new chapter in my life in the United States.



Climbing in El Choro, Spain April 06

 

Enjoying the awesome trad at Reiff April 06

On a 7a+ at North Berwick, April 06