Newhalem for a day

Last weekend I had an awesome long day trip up to Newhalem with Kevin, Austin, Jordin and Jimmy. Newhalem is a fun granite sport crag in the North Cascades National Park. The routes are typically pretty long and often very crimpy and intense on rough rock. My tips got shredded pretty quick from trying harder routes, but my that was my goal. I ended up not sending the harder routes I tried, but I got a couple of fun 5.11's. Kevin put down a sweet 12b that we were all trying, and Jimmy made short work of a powerful 13b, very impressive! It was quite a drive for a day trip, but I'd happily do it again with this crew. 

Kevin on 12c for a day

Great rock

Kevin on a crimpy start

Summer Climbs

I feel that my summer has been surprisingly busy for a teacher. In between working science camps, studying for the GRE's, and putting together new curriculum for the fall I've been able to get out climbing a bit. Recently I climbed a "V7" on the She Bear, that Austin and I felt was more like a V5. Took some students out to the far side for a taste of outdoor climbing. Last week I climbed after work with Sierra, Justin and Sara and did a handful of surprisingly good routes on deception wall. And this last weekend I had an amazing weekend in Tieton with Kevin, Austin and his friend Rob.

Butterfly's everywhere

I have been thinking of Astral Wall since climbing there last summer. It's like nothing I've ever climbed on before, and despite talking the wall up the whole drive there, the guys were not disappointed when we arrived. I guess word is getting out on this crag, because we found ourselves amongst a dozen climbers sharing astral wall. Or maybe it was the fact that while it was 90 degrees down below in the valley, it was cool shaded and breezy up on the wall.

Austin on Whitewashed, the hardest established route on the wall.

I did the longest route on the wall, Astral Cloud all the way to the top. What an incredible route! It is the longest single pitch sport route I have ever done. It climbs for over 50 meters (170ft) up a vertical to slightly over hanging wall with jug after jug. Its so hard to grade a route like this since there are so many amazing rests, but it falls somewhere in the 5.11- range.

Austin about halfway up the wall.

We camped at a sweet spot up there and got on a few more routes on Sunday morning, before heading to Honeycomb Buttress to get on the hard line there. I had last been on it almost 4 years ago, but it had stuck in my head and I was even able to remember a lot of the moves. I'd heard it had been done by a local and given 13c, I was skeptical of the grade, but after getting back on it I realized the moves by the fourth bolt are actually very hard. It was really fun taking turns with Austin and Kevin and sharing beta. Kevin made good progress on some of the really hard moves that I just can't do, but even if I can't send it, it's the type of route that you just want to get on and work. I'm sure I haven't seen the last of that route.

Inland Northwest Spring Break

Last week I had a really nice climbing getaway to a part of the state I hadn't explored before. Austin and I drove out to Deep Creek in Spokane, then checked out the limestone crags of Marcus and Metaline Falls a couple of hours north near the Canadian border. I ended up completing just a handful of routes, but I pretty much wore out my skin and can still feel the tenseness in my forearms of 4 days straight climbing. First at Deep Creek I was keen to try something a little harder than what I got on when I was last there a few years ago. Together we worked a really powerful 12b called Dump Truck, but we couldn't pull the bouldery start and the endurancy headwall together. It was a similar story the following day at Marcus where we got shut down on a 5.12, then at Metaline Falls I set my sights a little lower and sent and 11d second go. I can definitely feel my lack of route stamina from not climbing much over the winter, but I feel like I had just as much fun working and sending 11's that were close to my limit as I would have 12's.

Being out in the rolling forested hills of NE Washington was easily the best part. Sunbathing in the heat of the day, the views of the lakes and hills from the crags were amazing, and spending some great nights in solitude camped out under stars is something I really miss. Since it was just the two of us, we didn't get many photos, but here are a few taken from our phones.

Eagles circling me as I work my way up a classic 11b at Marcus

Gives you an idea of the steepness

I am a proponent of writing the route name on the rock. So much easier for visitors to deserted crags.

Austin and Little Si are in no rush.

Not a bad view from the crag.

We only climbed the tip of the iceberg of available rock.

Sunset means its time to get the fire going.

So many routes, so little skin.

Fourth day on, ready to go home.

6 days in Vegas

I found myself back in Las Vegas last week in a very different mindset from when I was there a couple of months ago. I had got time off work and booked this trip a few weeks ago, but as the date approached I was regretting my decision to book it for that long. In the end though I had an amazing time! I flew down with Austin, and met up with Kevin who was staying there with his Aunt. We had the perfect balance of a taste of Vegas living in the hostel on the strip, and delicious homecooked meals every day after climbing courtesy of Kevin's awesome Aunt. We climbed 3 days on, had one wild night out on the strip, took one rest day, then climbed another two days, it worked pretty well.

I could go into details about what routes we got on each day, but its so hard to capture the feeling, so I'll let the photos do the talking. In summary, I climbed a LOT, mostly steep juggy sport routes which I love. I sent a handful of easy 12's quickly, and worked a few 12c's and d's but with no send. Austin climbed out of his skin, he managed a 12a flash, and gave double digit attempts on a hard 12a and 12b, but didn't manage to get the send. Kevin was climbing strong, and managed to climb his first ever 12a, then his second, then his third! If both these guys build up their endurance they could be sport climbing machines! I'm already looking forward to get back out on a rope with these guys, it was so much fun!

Flashing the Red Rock classic 12a, Fear and Loathing.

Improvising a stick-clip.

Drinking a beer trading beta on a hard project.

Working an amazing 12c roof climb.

Another 12 that got away.

A familiar feeling for Austin, hanging on his project.

A really fun 12b that eluded Austin.

Cool Shadow.

Trying a steep 12b on the last day.

Day Tripping

I've been climbing a lot in the last week. I haven't gone on any big trips, rather I've been getting out on day trips with different partners who could make it out. I finally checked out a much talked about new crag South of Olympia. I was very impressed, it is a unique crag in that it is unlike any other rock type in the area. The closest thing I can equate it to is Elwah Wall up by Port Angeles. It is a 100ft tall sandstone crag with crazy water sculpted features like huge huecos, pockets and tufa's on a continuously overhanging wall. I went up there with two young psyched guys Nathan and Tom, who I look forward to climbing with again. The photos make it look pretty incredible and it is, but it also suffers from some very sandy holds, questionable bolting, and soft rock in places. Hopefully it will clean up nicely. I'm not sure about access, that's why I haven't included its name or location. The crag is still a work in progress, there is still a good amount of bolting and cleaning to do here. I heard Nathan bolted a sweet looking line the following day.

The Crag is the light colored rock behind me, the approach isn't too bad.

Phew! Its steep and long!

Lots of jugs and rests.

One of the better routes on the wall. A long pumpy 11c.

Fun tufa climbing, the one on the right is a 10c and the one on the left is 11a, but they felt about the same to me.

On Monday I hooked up with Chas and we climbed at a well known crag North of Seattle. This is another crag that has access issues, so I wont publish its name. I was very impressed with the crag, it had similar climbing to Little Si, but the rock had more texture, and was more consistent. I managed to onsight a classic 12a, but got worked on some harder 12's. I really wish this crag was closer to Olympia. Its probably still worth the 3 hour drive a few times more this summer.

Chas working the 12a.

The rock is as good as it looks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stayed over at Chas' new place in Issaquah which is really nice. What is even nicer was the 20 minute drive from his place to the parking at Exit 38. If I had that commute I would be there every day. We climbed on the Far Side. Did some classics I'd done before, climbed some new routes not in the guide, I think only one was new to me, its so hard to keep track of climbs that I got on years ago.

The next day Austin and Chris were going back up there, so I joined them. We did some new routes, but spent most of the day flailing on an offwidth roof 12a. I had been on it years ago, and had vague recollections of thinking I should never get on it again. Chris seemed to like it though.

Austin climbing, Chris belaying. Can you name the climb?

Austin hanging on a cool (but hard) roof 12a at the Far Side of exit 38.

The following day was Chris' birthday so we got an early start and ticked off a bunch of routes in the Deception Wall area. I redpointed Stick Boy, which is probably the worst 12a I've ever done. Then we checked out the new(ish) Shakespeare Wall further up the hill which was pretty fun. We celebrated his birthday and his 100th route of the year with a few cold beers in the sun. It was a great day out.

I'm finally taking a much needed rest day after six days on. But I'm headed out this evening for a weekend trip to Banks Lake, I'm hoping I don't get burned too badly (by the routes and the sun). I'll leave you with a video of Chris throwing an Ondra-style hissy fit after falling off the 12a roof. (Warning: foul language).

Sends at Smith

I just got back last night from climbing for a few days down at Smith Rock in Oregon. I wasn't psyched on Smith. Squamish was my first choice, then Mazama, but because of weather we headed south. Smith turned out to be really fun and not as hot as I had feared.

Photo Op!

Austin and Little Si

I went down with Austin, who is in fine form right now. I belayed him on his first 12a at Little Si last Thursday. Since it was just the two of us and we both wanted to get on some harder lines I could finally check out Easy's Playhouse a mini-crag at the top of Red Wall with 5 routes 11d-12d. It was a bit of a brutal (by my standards) hike up there, but it was well worth it. We warmed up on a few easy 10's on Red Wall on the way up. I graciously gave Austin the onsight attempt of Boys in the Hood the excellent 11d. He didn't onsight it, it turned into a mini-project for him. He finally got the send on his 6th try that day, after agonizingly falling twice at the last throw. Austin got a video of me flashing it (at the bottom).

Austin scoping out Big Boss Man

Not a bad place to hang out

While Austin was working the 11d, I was checking out the classic 12c there Big Boss Man. I could see all the moves from the ground and thought it looked like a good contender for an onsight attempt. It is steep bouldery and short, my style. In the old guidebook it was given 12a but you had to aid up to the first bolt and start from there. The new guide has it as 12c off the ground. The first moves were powerful but on good holds. Clipping the second bolt was very strenuous on the onsight, but the first bolt was a major spinner and I really didn't want to fall on it. The crux move for me was one of those where I was sure I was coming off, but I fully committed and managed to stick the hold. From there I got a bomber but painful knee-bar for a quick shake. The last few moves were powerful but I managed to keep it together for the onsight!

It was such a good feeling to climb something hard again. My climbing confidence wasn't great and morale was low, so this was exactly what I needed. That night we met up with Tyler and Emma at Skull Hollows and celebrated with a fire.

Tuesday started out with Tyler and Emma on some easy routes, before moving on to try some 11's. Austin finished off Heresy, an old project of his. Then we headed to Phoenix Buttress which was in the shade. I finished off the crag with License to Bolt (11c) a really good route with a really hard move if you're under 5'10", Austin got the send of that one too. I also did a really fun pockety route called When Llama's Bolt (11a). And I did a "10d" thats not worth talking about.

I was pretty spent by the time Wednesday rolled around, so I asked Austin what he wanted to get on. He was psyched for Big Boss Man after feeling out the moves on Monday while cleaning the draws on toprope. So we made the big hike up again. Without a warm up he put the draws up and fell off the last hard move in classic Austin style. He rested up then sent on his second go of the day! It was really inspiring to see him climb this thing, he looked really strong! It capped off a great trip for him, he climbed 4 of his 5 hardest routes on this trip, with the other route being the 12a he did last week! He is on fire right now. Needless to say we drove home with big smiles on our faces. This trip got me re-psyched for trying hard this summer. I'm looking forward to getting on some more hard routes this weekend!

Austin took video on his cell phone of the two routes we did at Easy's Playhouse, they turned out pretty good, the routes are as fun as they look.




Climbing in January

When friends wanted to climb last week, I was eager but skeptical since it is still January. Tyler Austin and I biked out to Fossil Rock, for only my second visit there. We were surprised to find other climbers there, but there were plenty of dry routes to get on, and it was surprisingly nice in the sun. I was feeling a little out of shape, I fell on an 11c to left of Battle of the Bulge, which I know I would have done with ease if I was climbing regularly. But still managed to get up some other fun routes. We had one golf ball sized pebble pop off and nearly get me, but despite that constant threat, I still enjoyed the climbing. I'm keen to get back there, there's a good handful of routes that I've yet to get on, and now I know that its fine to climb there in the winter.

Austin sending Battle of the Bulge

The view from the crag

Me enjoying the vertical crimpy test pieces

Last Summer Weekend

It certainly doesn't feel like summer is on its way out right now. But last weekend was my last before I started teaching full-time this week. I'm enjoying teaching a lot, and hopefully it wont stop me from getting out climbing a lot. If you want to follow what I'm doing in class check out my teaching blog. It was a great weekend in Mazama with Steve and Austin. We climbed at Gate Creek, chilled by the river and did the classic 11-pitch 5.9 up Goat Wall called Prime Rib. Here are some photos.

Austin gives Steve a good belay on the bouldery start to a new route at Gate Creek, (11dish?)

Typical Steve pose 3 pitches up Prime Rib

Austin gets good practice managing ropes, while Steve follows up pitch 5?

The Awesome long 6th? pitch 5.8

Austin seconding, Steve thirding

Me leading up Pitch 11, the hardest at 5.9 (but still pretty easy)

We did it in almost exactly 10 hours car to car. And when we got back a friendly local rewarded us with a cold can of Rainier, it never tasted so good. Perhaps I should have worn more sunscreen, oops!

Mazama

I have known about the climbing at Mazama, and have wanted to make a visit for a while now. A couple of years ago I met Bryan Burdo (the developer) at Little Si and he was practically raving about Mazama. The main obstacle to me making a visit was the 5 hour drive from Olympia, the same distance as Squamish and Smith. Laura, Austin, Chas, Cori and I were all able to do a three day weekend, so we headed out Friday night. The drive wasn't too bad and there was plenty of free camping that was easy to find.

Warning, the water is MUCH colder than it looks!

Austin being brave, not only because the water was cold, but because it was only 3ft deep here.

The first morning we climbed at the Rhinozone at Mazama Rocks, the main area. The walk to that crag makes the Quarry approach look tough, it was sweet. The climbing in these areas is moderate and blocky, similar in some ways to Exit 38, but the rock was a little different, more like basalt. To be honest, none of the routes we did here were spectacular, but it was fun getting some mileage in. Early in the afternoon the crags get in the sun, so we retreated to the local general store/cafe, which has a great shaded courtyard where they serve beer and ice cream. The river across the road is really nice as well, the river was a little too cold to hang out in for long, but it did do a good job of cooling our beer. At 5pm the crags come back into the shade so we were able to get a few more pitches in.

Not a bad way to wait out the mid-day sun

The next day we checked out Prospector Crags which is described in the guide as perhaps the best moderate sport crag in the state. We only managed to get on a few climbs since once again the sun warmed it up pretty early, but didn't think any of the climbs were worth getting too excited about. Another dip in the river and evening session at Fun Rocks followed, so far I hadn't gotten on any hard routes, or any routes that were worth writing home about, but that was to change the next day.

At 5pm at Fun Rock, right when it gets in the shade.



Austin and Chas on some samey 5.10 slabs

Monday morning we headed up to Gate Creek Crag, which has one of the longest approaches at around half an hour, but its a pleasant walk. When we arrived I wish I had brought more layers, as it stays quite a bit cooler since it gets a lot of shade and has a creek close by. We climbed at Fire Wall which is a very impressive limestone wall that raises up 200ft with some pretty steep angles in places, it reminded me of a mix between Astral Wall at Tieton and the Big Show at Checkamus, but better and on limestone. There are not a ton of routes up there, but whats there is very high quality and there is potential for a lot more. There wasn't many easy climbs but the 11s and 12s were excellent. Austin sent his first ever 11b, a sweet route called Urban Refugee (first half). I went up Firestarter a 12c the guidebook describes as "hard for the grade", I got up to the last move and was staring down a big tickmark, but I pumped out, after feeling the hold I really wish I had committed and thrown for it, because it is huge! I sent it next go, I think its one of the best I've done at the grade anywhere. The extension "The Eighth Rule" is an incredible looking 13a that I definitely need to go back for. Who wants to come next time? 

Limestone 11b at its best!