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

Squamish Bust

I was hoping to write a blog about how I climbed amazing long routes up The Cheif in Squamish, but my trip didn't quite work out that way. On my first day there, I met up with Micah, Jimmy, David and his brother who were all psyched on bouldering, so off we went into the forest. I've got a lot of respect for boulderers, some say they are the most ADD of climbers, but I think it requires a huge amount of patience and drive to try the same move over and over. I know my attention span is not up for it which is why I prefer routes, and rarely try the same route more than once or twice. I didn't get to boulder much, I flashed a V4, got worked on a V8, then literally on the next problem I tried tragedy struck.



David working his nemisis, Mantra (V8)

 Well maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. We were trying Superdyke (hardest V3 ever), I was on the crux rockover, only about 6ft above the pads when my foot popped and the next thing I knew I was rolling on the ground in agony. Luckily newly-certified wilderness first responder Micah was there to administer some much needed Rainiers, which really helped with the pain, as did the 20+ Ibuprofen's I took that evening (I was in a lot of pain). Thanks to David for giving me a piggyback out of the forest, and to Jimmy for exacting revenge on the problem for me.

The trip wasn't a complete bust though. When I was hanging around the campground I saw Kristen Kreuk an actress from the TV show Smallville heading up the tourist trail to the top of the Cheif. I had the hugest crush on when I was a teenager, in fact I think a poster of her might still be on my bedroom wall in Scotland. I'm certain it was her, she was looking good! I was too paralyzed to talk to her, I think I may have creeped her out with my staring though. For the rest of the trip I just chilled by Murrin Lake with my ankle in the water, read some books and daydreamed about meeting Kristen again.

The swelling has gone down a lot in my ankle now and I can walk again. I got it x-rayed today and they confirmed that it is just a bad sprain. I'm supposed to keep it in a boot for a couple of weeks, but hopefully the swelling will go down enough to fit it into a climbing shoe soon. Just no more bouldering for me, at least not anytime soon.

Sending Season

Its that time of year, when fitness finally catches up with expectations and projects start to fall. On Saturday a big Oly crew headed up to Little Si where conditions were prime. Lisa finally managed to take down her long-term project Psychosomatic, likewise Nick with Propaganda. I don't have a big project at Little Si, but I wanted to get back on Dairy Freeze a 12b I tried and failed on back in 07 and 09. I put the draws up and felt the moves, it didn't feel nearly as hard as I had remembered, and I managed to finish it off next go. I started off a sending train with Jimmy and Nick getting it straight afterwards. Its not often that we come away from Little Si with any new sends let alone a handful. That night we all went out in Seattle to give Micah a good send off.

After a well needed rest day, Jimmy Lisa, Kevin, Micah and I checked out Rosario a crag up on Whidbey Island. I was skeptical since I had never heard of it before, but it was well worth the drive. It is a small 40ft overhanging cliff with about half a dozen good independent lines (and a bunch of random bolts smattered in between). What makes this crag unique is its beautiful surroundings. I can't think of a more picturesque setting for a crag. The climbing is very fun as well, bouldery powerful routes, very gym like. After warming up on a couple of moderates I managed a 2nd go send of the crag classic Sissy-Boy. It felt basic for 12d, but I'll take it. Jimmy managed to flash it, and Micah, Kevin and Lisa all made really good progress on it. Jimmy also managed another 12d, which I got agonizingly close on, but no send. I look forward to coming back to this crag though. For more (and better) photos check out Micah's blog.

Lisa working Sissy-Boy

Kevin and Micah belaying

The view from the crag

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day

My 100th 5.12 and Monkey Space

The weather in Washington has been pretty bad this summer so far and I was getting tired of climbing at Little Si. So Chas, Jimmy, Lisa and I headed down to Smith Rock on Wednesday night seeking some better weather. I've never climbed at Smith in the summer before, but this week was unseasonably cool, and in the shade the temps were perfect. I checked out some areas I hadn't been to before; the lower gorge, upper shipwreck, mesa verde, and the monkey face, and was not disappointed by any of them. At the lower gorge I managed to climb the amazing stemming route Pure Palm on my second attempt (note to self don't climb at the gorge in the blazing AM sun). At upper shipwreck I surprised myself with an onsight of Undertow a very fun gym-like 12b. According to my scorecard that route marks my 100th ever 5.12 or harder. Starting with my first one back in September 2005, I've climbed 52 12a's, 22 12b's, 17 12c's, 6 12d's, and 3 13a's. Pretty cool huh?

Lisa manages to climb Pure Palm without all the whining

Jimmy shows us how not to climb Smith 5.11s

Lisa making 5.13 look cool but hard

The highlight of the trip was definitely climbing Monkey Face though. I had often admired the 350ft free standing pillar before but had never gone up it. Chas who had been up via the Pioneer Route, encouraged me to go for the all-free Monkey Space route which is named for the super exposed 11a pitch which traverses out into a scary position high on the face. The first couple of 5.8 trad pitches were a lot of fun, we each took a lead. When it came time for me to go for the airy third pitch I was prepared for the worst. The holds which started out great soon turned pretty bad, but I took solace in the not-too-badly spaced bolts. The crux involves pulling over a bulge on sloping holds with awkward feet, I looked down to try to get my feet placed well, but seeing all the air below me made me a little queasy so I focused on my hand holds and managed to pull through. I guess the pitch is technically mixed, but I didn't read the description very closely so was forced to run out the 20ft flake to the mouth of the cave, since I didn't bring gear for this pitch. It was awesome! Once we were in the cave Chas tried to send me up what he was "sure" was our next pitch. I started up it, but the lack of chalk and crappy bolts led me to think this wasn't it. After checking the guidebook later, we found out the route was a sketchy 5.13 project, I'm glad I didn't get much further up it. Instead I took a look up the other side of the cave where I found a well chalked line of holds that looked a lot more like the 11b that we were supposed to go up. Although the hard climbing on this pitch only lasts for 3 bolts, it packs it in there, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think I was going to fall. But I pulled it out, latched the victory jug and romped up the final 5.4 section to the top of the Monkey Face. Success! It was a great trip with Chas, Jimmy and Lisa, and it has me excited for upcoming Fall trips back down there now that I know what some of the other areas at Smith have to offer.

We should have read the description a little closer before heading up

The view looking up from the base of Monkey Face

Chas getting sunburned while waiting for me to follow him up pitch 2

Starting up the airy 11a pitch. Its hard to tell, but I'm actually very scared.

After the crux, holding on to a huge jug.

Chas following the 3rd pitch. This photo doesn't do the exposure justice.

Chas and I on the summit of the Monkey Face.

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

NC3 WWU

Yesterday I competed in the first Northwest College Climbing Competition (NC3) of the year up at Western Washington University up in Bellingham. I’m not climbing really strong right now because of my lingering finger injury, but a group of guys from Olympia were headed up so I tagged along. Chas, Morgan, Micah and I represented Evergreen. Jimmy and Kevin climbed for SPSCC, and Andrew came up with us climbing for UW. The gym up at Western is not the biggest, so it was pretty crowded with a couple hundred students from the major colleges around Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The comp reminded me a lot of the university climbing competitions I went to in the UK, there was the same excitement, team outfits and fancy dress. But in the UK there was a lot more money in it, back then our university sports association would pay for our flight and accommodation and we weren’t even that good. I think if the NC3 comps stay this well attended, they should move them to bigger gyms.

Micah deafens onlookers with his power scream



Chas almost sticks the second dyno

Morgan respresenting Evergreen in Men's Open Finals

I climbed alright, I had good strategy and got in 5 kinda hard problems. I liked the fact that they had a 30 point bonus for flashing problems, I think 4 of my top 5 were flashes. But a major criticism a lot of people had with the comp was that they didn’t allow any smearing at all! This made the problems really awkward and contrived, and the rule was really hard to enforce. I ended up taking 7th in advanced, if I were in better shape, I think I could have challenged to get top three, the standard wasn’t all that high. Chas and Andrew climbed well in advanced category as well. Micah climbed strongly but struggled to finish off the hard problems and ended up ripping up his scorecard and just climbed for fun. Jimmy, Morgan and Kevin climbed awesome in open. Jimmy and Morgan got 2 of the 3 spots in the open finals, a guy from the UW took the third spot. While they were in isolation there was a dyno comp, I entered and made it past the first round, but the next dyno’s were huge, it was really fun to watch though. Then open finals came, they were closely matched until the steep and slopey final problem, which I knew would suit Jimmy’s style. And sure enough he flashed it to win! Here’s a really badly shot video I got of it.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday, and I think I’m going to compete in some other ones throughout the NW in the next couple of months. I missed the pre-registration for the one in Spokane next weekend, but I heard from a guy from Central that Vantage is dry, so I think I know where I’m going to be next weekend if the weather holds.


Team Oly (minus Chas) at Boomers in Bellingham afterwards

What I've been up to

Summer is officially over, whether it ever arrived is still up for debate. I haven't been climbing as much recently. After my Ten Sleep trip, my parents visited from Scotland for a couple of weeks. This was their first time visiting me since I moved to Washington in 2006. We had a great time, they liked Olympia, and I showed them around the NW a bit including some places I had never visited before like Mount St Helens and the Oregon coast, both of which are beautiful. When they left, my student teaching placement started up, and I've been busy with that since. I'm at a High School in Tacoma, which has been difficult at times, but I'm really enjoying the experience. I did manage to get out a couple of weekends ago to Leavenworth bouldering which was a lot of fun. My bouldering strength is not what it should be, but I just renewed my membership to the Warehouse, so that should improve soon. I'm probably not going to get out as much this fall since I'll be pretty busy, but I'm getting out climbing at Vantage tomorrow, and I wouldn't miss The South Sound Pull Down for anything. Below are a couple of photos from Leavenworth, a shot I forgot to include from Ten Sleep, and a funny video from Ten Sleep.

Jimmy takes it to a whole new level on The Practitioner



Laura works a sweet V4 The Lobster



Totally Flashed this photo. Ten Sleep, we'll be back!



Hitting my Stride

I sent my summer project yesterday, Gerbil Killer 13a. Its my 3rd year running climbing a 5.13, and I feel like I really deserve this one. Over the past few weeks I've been getting in good shape by climbing regularly at Little Si, and it paid off yesterday when I practically floated up Gerbil Killer. Well not exactly... on my first redpoint attempt yesterday (of about 5 or 6 total) I felt really good. I climbed the intro moves smart and conserved energy, I managed to shake out well on the rests, so that when I got to the crux I felt as fresh as if I had just stepped off the ground. Unfortunately I guess a had first go nerves, and while I was focusing on getting my right hand just right, my left hand popped off and I was sent flying. I was frustrated, but I could take comfort knowing how good I felt on it. I rested for a good hour before getting on it again. This time I felt pumped going into the crux, but it was a controllable pump. I love that feeling when you know you can do it, but you know you have to fight for it and everything has to go just right. It did, I got got my feet up on the little spikes, reached out for the crux crimp, latched it, set myself up for the big thow, and hit the victory jug perfectly.

Shoes that climb 5.13

Working the projects on WWI

It was a busy day at the crag, and lots of projects went down yesterday. Most impressive for me was seeing Jimmy climb Flatliner, 13c. Everyone at the crag was surprised when he clipped the chains, including him I think. Laura also managed an impressive redpoint of the really thin and technical 11b on the far left end of WWI, her third 11b of the year. It was a good mini-project for her, she went from not being able to do the moves, to going bolt to bolt, then one hanging it, and sending it in the space of a couple of hours. We are both climbing very well right now, which is perfect timing because on Wednesday we are heading out to Ten Sleep, Wyoming with our friend Chas for a week and a half of limestone sport climbing. I can't wait!

Summer Days

I've been enjoying the summer here in Olympia recently, and with my new car, its been a lot easier getting out on day trips. We've been down to the quarry every Wednesday, and I have revisited some lines I haven't done in a while now that the far left routes are drying out. Jimmy is bolting his first route, which will most likely be a stout 12d, I'm not even close to doing the moves on that one. But there are a couple of other lines at more amenable grades that I've been working on, and would love to bolt one before the season is over.

Jimmy placing his first bolt on his project at the quarry

My new car!

We can rely on Little Si to stay cool in the shade, so we've been getting up there a lot recently. On Monday I headed up with Jimmy, Nick, Micah and Antonio. Antonio is a visiting climber from Mexico who I met at the gym, I've taken him out to the local crags and he's done well, on Monday he onsighted Aborigine at Little Si. I had a pretty good day up there too. I warmed up on Technorigine, which didn't feel that hard, then did Viagrophobia (12d) a mini-project first go of the day, and finished up the session with a 12a and a 12b, to climb 5.12a-12d in a day, I feat I hadn't done before. I'm feeling in pretty good route shape right now, but Jimmy is really tearing it up. A couple weeks ago he hadn't climbed 5.13, now he's done three of them including a 13b. He's overtaken me as the #1 route climber in Olympia, according to 8a.nu rankings, and he deserves it. I could see him bagging some more 5.13's before the route season gives way to bouldering again. Nick has maintained his good route form and sent a 12c on Monday, he has one more week in Olympia before he heads back out east, so hopefully we'll climb a few more times with him, and he'll send his project. The weather for the next couple of weeks looks like it will be more of the same, so I hope to keep getting up to Little Si and work on some new projects, and maybe get out on a longer trip next week.

Jimmy working Chronic (13b) at Little Si before the send

The familiar walk back from Little Si at dusk

4th of July Weekend

Welcome to my new look blog, I thought I'd brighten it up a bit. The banner photo is courtesy of Micah of a 12c that I flashed this weekend, thats right flash! I had a great 4th of July weekend, at one of my favorite places in the state, Tieton. On Saturday after a late-ish start and getting a bit lost, Micah, Laura, Jimmy and I eventually made it out to the sector called The Oasis. There was a 12a I wanted to get on there, after a quick warmup (Laura onsighted a 10d) I got on it, it was a battle fighting the pump and the greasy crimps in the full sun. But in the end I fell off at the last hard move on the onsight attempt. Micah fell on the same move, then with our beta, Jimmy stepped up and flashed it. We also checked out Dream Wall for the first time, I was a bit dissapointed, it wasn't quite up to Lava Point quality, but still had fun routes nonetheless. That night we stayed up late and had a blazing fire, check out the pile of wood we gathered.

The following morning we headed straight to The Cave area, where we climbed in the shade at Oak Wall. I did a few routes I hadn't done before. After onsighting a 12a Jimmy abbed down a 12c there ticked some holds put the draws on flashed it like it was no big deal! It was very impressive, I was psyched to get on it too and with his streaming beta, I managed the flash as well. It was a really fun route, 5 clips up an overhanging wall/arete, on small and sloping holds, I'd highly recommend it. We finished off the day with some really good routes further left. I'm impressed with how well Jimmy is route climbing right now, I need to step it up, otherwise he will take my #1 spot in Olympia. I put our 8a.nu rankings back up on my blog to try to generate some more competition. I'll update it frequently, I can see it changing a lot, especially with Nick coming to town soon and Andrew hot on the heels of Laura for the #5 spot. Below are a couple of shots of Micah working the 12c.

Back on the rock

Its been a while since I last wrote a blog simply because I haven't been out much lately. In fact I think I had four weeks without any climbing outside, which is unheard of for me this time of year. There's a few reasons, the main one being the weather has been pretty atrocious here for the start of summer, we don't have a car so have to rely on others for rides, I was really busy with school at the start of June and since then the world cup has taken priority over some climbing days. Enough excuses, I hope to be getting out a lot more this summer.

I went climbing at the quarry for only the second time this year on wednesday, it wasn't completely dry, but it was getting there. It was good to get the feel for the routes there again, Laura redpointed The Manly Wham for the first time, I wonder what else she can send down there this summer. Then on friday I climbed up at Little Si with Jimmy, Lisa, Laura ,Andrew and Micah. It was a good day out, mostly dry. I realized I need to improve a lot on my stamina, I couldn't even repeat Technorigine, but I did manage to figure out how to do the crux on Chronic, I'm still a long way off that though. Andrew has been climbing really well recently and sent Aborigine on his second go, Laura should have sent too, but she took on the last moves, the redpoint crux.

Then on Sunday I got out to Exit 38 with Laura, Sierra, Melody, Justin, Sara, Sarah and Erica. It was a really good day out. We hung out at Interstate Park which everyone seemed to like, I finished up a few routes I hadn't done there before, including a couple of new ones that aren't in the guide. I did a really steep burly climb that was a lot of fun, I reckon it was 11+ish, but its hard to say. Laura did well, cleaning up a 10c that she had tried previously, and climbing her first onsight of an 11a! Justin and Sierra also got flashes of the 11a, so it was a good day all around. We finished off the day stopping off at the Harmon Brewery in Tacoma for some delicious microbrews and all you can eat fish and chips mmm.

I plan on getting a car soon which will make trips a lot easier and now that it seems like the summer has finally arrived it should mean a lot more climbing, especially as the world cup winds down. So, hopefully it wont be as long a wait til my next blog entry.

Back on Top

Yesterday I had a great day out at Ozone. It was hard to find partners to to go with, so it ended up just me, Jimmy and Eric, from the climbing team. It was Eric's first time doing routes outdoors, I kind of felt bad for him knowing that most of the day was going to be me and Jimmy projecting 5.12s. But he had a great time, he got on quite a few routes including his first lead, a 13 clip long 5.8 called No Nuts, and got a taste of some cracks on toprope.

My main objective of the day was to go for the onsight of Grace the 12b there. On my last trip there I had gone around the corner when Jimmy was working the 12d which shares some of the same moves so I wouldn't see any of the beta. I'm glad I did because I managed the onsight! It was a battle, the first part took a lot out of me then I figured out an opposing heelhook sequence to get through the main crux, and from there I was able to keep the pump at bay before I clipped the chains. It was a really good route, maybe the best I've done at Ozone so far.

I also tried the 12d, which isn't too bad, but has a very powerful crux that I couldn't do. And I went for the onsight of Angle of the Dangle, the 12c roof crack. I got up to the the crack and was feeling good, but at that point there is a fixed micro cam that you have to clip that protects the crux. I was very weary about falling on the cam since it looked pretty frayed and unsafe, I ended up just pulling on the gear to get past this part, and I got to the chains. Its a shame there isn't a bolt on the roof instead of the fixed cam, cause I felt I could have committed and really gone for the onsight. Jimmy decided to go for the flash since he saw me manage all the moves. He got up to the roof clipped the fixed cam, but couldn't commit either, he decided to just lower off the cam and clean the draws below. Just as he cleaned the last draw and was about ten feet off the deck the cam snapped! He landed on top of Eric who was belaying him, luckily they were both fine, but I'm glad I didn't commit to the crux and fall on that cam. I inspected the piece that broke and it was actually the wire stem that severed, I guess it was rubbing against the edge of the crack, it didn't look in good shape when I saw it up close on the route. The head of the cam is still stuck up in the crack, which blocks any other gear from going in there, I hope someone just sticks a bolt up in the roof, fixed gear on routes is whack.

Me on Angle of the Dangle

What was left of the cam after Jimmy decked on it

After that our motivation was pretty low, but I led a fun 5.9 trad finger crack, and Jimmy flashed Grace the 12b, and gave the 12d another burn. The 12b flash for Jimmy will help his score on 8a a bit, but my onsight of that route, and with the 12a onsight I got at Little Si on Sunday and the 12a I onsighted at Squamish last week has put me back at the #1 spot in Olympia in the route rankings on 8a.nu. We both still have some room for improvement, so we'll see what happens between now and the end of the year, no doubt it will be close!

1 pair of shorts, 2 t-shirts and 5 days in Squamish

Space was tight as Nick, Jimmy and I packed into Erica's car on Friday heading up to Squamish BC, so I kept my gear to a minimum. Somehow we managed to fit everything in the car, piled on top of peoples laps and under their feet. I got the best seat in the car as the driver so I didn't have to worry about being crushed under all our gear. We got pulled over at the border and questioned, but luckily they didn't search the car, that would have been a huge hassle to have to repack. Eventually we made it up to Squamish around midnight where we met Laura, Melody and Sarah who left a little before us. Saturday started out pretty mellow with a tour of the boulders in the forest, I was happy to show people around some of the classics and repeat some easier stuff. Then in the afternoon we cooled off in Murren Lake and did a few routes as well, the highlight was an intense technical 11c granite sport climb called James and the Giant Reach. Nick onsighted it and I was happy to use his beta on the flash, it was hard.

Sunday morning we headed out to the Smoke Bluffs, to do some easy trad, I led Burgers and Fries a classic 5.7 that shouldn't be underestimated given its run out slab finish. Then in the afternoon, we went back to Murren Park and did some trad routes up on the Sugarloaf, which is a nice but busy little crag. I managed to onsight a 10c trad route, but my gear placements were not the best, so I was a little disappointed. At that point it was getting late, and Laura and Melody had to drive back down to Olympia, I was glad that I still had a lot more time up here, I felt like I was just getting warmed up.

Monday morning Nick and I got up early to climb a route called the Ultimate Everything Link Up. Its the longest route on the Chief since it starts right at the bottom of the Apron and tops out at the Second Peak. We started out on a 3 pitch 5.9 route at the base of the Apron called The Bottom Line, then linked up into the 8 pitch Banana Peel which I had done before. We were making pretty good time despite Nick going off route a couple of times and were up on Broadway Ledge about 2 and a half hours in. We had strung a couple of pitches together and simul-climbed a little bit to cut down on time. From here we did Broomstick Crack a really cool 2 pitch 5.7 route to get to the base of the upper headwall. The pitches were not too difficult, they were nearly all trad, with a few bolts to protect the blank parts.

Nick and I on Broadway Ledge 11 pitches down 12 to go

Me starting up Broomstick Crack about half way up

The upper headwall was a lot of fun the climbing got a little steeper, but still relatively easy. We made it up to the very last pitch clean with no real problems and were feeling good. The book describes the last pitch as the crux pitch, going free at 11c, or it can be aided at 5.9 A0. It was Nick's turn to lead so he gave it a shot, he ditched the gear and just took a few draws since the guide showed it had a few bolts, but in retrospect he should have brought some cams to protect the runouts between the bolts, nevertheless he made it up to the crux, where the wall got steep and the holds got small, he worked his way up on tiny crimps, then his feet popped, he tried to hold on tight but he came off and fell on the bolt. He was obviously a little disappointed, but 11c is hard to onsight especially after 7 hours straight of climbing. He came down, we pulled the rope, and I tied into the sharp end. The plan was that I would try to free it, but if I couldn't I would just pull on the bolts and aid past the hard part. I made my way up the wall, placing gear between the bolts, I got up to where Nick was and felt the crimps Nick was grappling with, they weren't good, but about a foot to the right there was a decent crimpy layback, I pulled on that, got my feet up high on the crimps, rocked over on my foot, and reached up high left hoping there would be something there. There were a few slopey holds above that were just good enough then a good jug rail which I followed up to the summit and chain anchors. Nick followed up, able to toprope it clean using my beta, he said it was still pretty hard though. We highfived and untied, it felt good to bask in the sun at the summit, and the tourists who had hiked up there seemed very impressed when they saw us come up 'the hard way'. Our total time up the route was 7 hours 16 minutes, but I'm sure I could cut at least an hour off that if I were to do it again now that I know where I'm going.

Nick at a belay anchor only a couple of pitches from the top

The view at the summit of the Chief, from Second Peak looking towards the busy First Peak

We were feeling pretty worn out after that, but we got back to the campsite about 3.30 in the afternoon so had plenty of time to get out climbing again. We decided to check out The Sanctuary a small area described in the guide book as having Cheakamus-like sport climbing close to the Smoke Bluffs. When we got there I was pleasantly impressed, it was very similar rock to the exit 32/38 rock of North Bend, with about 15 routes between 10b and 12d. I did a couple of the 10b's to warm up again, then fired into the onsight of Morpheus a 12a. It was tough, and I had to work hard, but I managed to onsight it, my first 12a onsight in Squamish after trying 4 routes here of that grade. It was a great route, a little steep, fingery, technical and thin. I was pretty worn out after that route so we went back to the campsite for dinner then The Howe Sound Brew Pub for a pint, where we met Tony. I had arranged with Tony to meet up with him up here on Monday, so was glad to see him when he sauntered in to the Pub. I climbed a lot with Tony back in 2007, but since then we haven't gotten back climbing together again, so it was good to catch up with him in the pub where we all made plans to head up the Apron the next day.

Tony leading the last pitch of Banana Peel

Tuesday morning we got an earlyish start and Nick and Erica headed up Diedre, while me and Sarah paired up and Jimmy and Tony paired up to go up the 8 pitch 5.7 Banana Peel. Sarah had very little experience climbing multipitch so I was a little concerned for her, but I needn't have been, she did great. In fact it was me that I should have watched out for. I've written about the accident I had on this route as a different blog post, cause I have a lot to say about it and I didn't want it to detract from this post. Tony and Jimmy did great on this route, they shared leads on it and made it up the route soon after us. It was a big route for both of them, since neither of them had a ton of multipitch trad experience. After our experience on the Apron I think we all wanted to get on something a little less intimidating, so we headed up the road to do some single pitch sport climbing up at Cheakamus Canyon. I couldn't really pull hard with my injured thumb, but I still managed a hard 11a, and some easier stuff, and was a good cheerleader when Nick and Jimmy got on some hard stuff. Nick tried The Fleeing Heifer the classic 12c at Chek, he got to the chains with a lot of hangs, but managed to figure out the sequence. Jimmy was watching Nick on it and fancied a flash attempt since he was feeling pretty good. He hopped on and with me and Nick shouting beta to him he made it past the crux and continued up for the flash! It was a pleasure to watch Jimmy on this, he climbed it really well and it was great to see him climbing at his potential. It was by far his hardest flash to date, before this his hardest was just 12a. Once we were all done there we headed back to the campsite to finish off the last of our boxed wine.

Jimmy flashing The Fleeing Heifer 12c!

Wednesday was our last day in Squamish, and Tony and I wanted to make the most of it by doing some classic trad climbing at the Smoke Bluffs. We started out on Cat Crack a great 5.7 that Tony got an unfortunate bruise under his eye after pulling on a big nut to test it and it flying out and hitting him in the face. I managed to onsight a tough 10b crack climb called S-M's Delight, it was challenging for me cause it was a long sustained route that had all kinds of crack climbing from thin fingers to wide hand crack, it was a good confidence booster. We did a couple other nice routes after that, but it was soon time to go back to the camp to meet up with the rest of the guys to pack up. I felt that Tony and I could have just kept on climbing at the Smoke Bluffs all day. We managed to pack everything back into the two cars and headed on back down the road. Part of me wanted to get back home to shower, tend to my wounds, and recover from some food poisoning that was creeping up on me fast from eating some raw sausages. But there was another part of me that wanted to tell the rest of the crew to go on without me, I could fend for myself up here. I'm glad I home now and recovered, but I can't wait to get back up on the granite at Squamish.

Tony on the left leading Classic Crack 5.8 on our last day in Squamish

A weekend of onsights

After a tough week back in class I really wanted to get outside climbing so Laura and I decided to go out just the two of us to Bob's Area at Exit 38. This time the hour walk in didn't seem so brutal, maybe we're getting fitter or maybe we were just better prepared for it this time. Once we got up we started out on the Peannacle, a short outcropping with lots of easier fun climbs. We did a few, my favorites being Peanut Brittle (5.8) and Gallivant (10a). Then we headed up the hill a bit to Alpina, I had never climbed on this crag either, its a really good little crag with 4 routes on it, a 10b,11a,11b, and 11d. Laura onsighted the 10b (nice job!) which I think makes that her 5th 10b onsight in a little over a month, not bad. I onsighted the rest of the routes at Alpina, they were all great, deceptively technical and harder than they look from the ground. I finished off the day with another 11a at Slumbersome Ridge, I think I led 10 new routes in total, and there's plenty more at Bob's Area to go back to. It was really great to get out just the two of us, sometimes 2 people is just perfect for getting a lot of routes done and enjoying the peacefulness at the crag.
The view from Bob's Area

Saturday we took a rest day, and I finished off some homework, we planned an early start the next day to go climbing. But that didn't stop us from going out Saturday night (see photo below).
Laura showing off her karaoke skills

Sunday, we didn't get out quite as early as planned, but the days are long so there was no rush. Micah drove me Laura, Jimmy and Chaz, south down 1-5 to check out a new crag, Ozone. Ozone is in the Columbia River Gorge near Portland on the Washington side, it has just been developed in the last few years, and is a really fun crag. Its a very different style to what we're used to climbing, the rock is basalt similar to the rock at Vantage, but with more friction, and its less columnar. It was our first time there for all of us, so we started out on some easy stuff, the climbing is very ledgy with short cruxes. A lot of the routes are mixed trad and sport, which I was surprised I enjoyed, it did limit the routes available to other people in our group who didn't feel confident placing gear.
Laura warming up at Ozone

After a few warm ups, I got on a 12a The Humbling, it started out quite easy then has an obvious crux boulder problem at the top which puts you in a really cool horizontal position going over a roof. I was psyched to onsight it, it didn't even feel that hard. I also flashed a couple other 12a's as well, it would have been nice to onsight them, and I think I would have managed them no problem, but I was happy to share the onsights with Micah and Jimmy. My 12a onsight was my 3rd onsight of that grade this month all 3 at different crags with different rock types, it feels good to be confident onsighting at this grade, I don't think this is my limit either, I look forward to trying harder onsights. There was some cool looking steeper climbs to the right as well that I'd like to go back to. I don't think I'll have too much of a problem convincing people to go back there though, I think everyone gave the place the thumbs up.

Jimmy on the horizontal crux of The Hurting (12a)

Downpour

I guessed I jinxed myself with my last post, because on Friday the skies opened and I experienced some of the worst rain I've been in. The forecast wasn't looking great for Friday, and then when it started raining, our big group heading out to Little Si whittled down to just the hardcore (or crazy), Me, Nick, Jimmy, and Micah. We knew that even in a downpour the steep routes at Little Si would still stay dry.

I wanted to get on hard stuff straight away so as my warm up I dogged my way up the 5.13 bolted crack route. It starts out really easy, and really only has a couple of bolts of hard climbing, but it was a lot more cracky that I thought, I guess I thought there would be some face holds. But if your confident on finger cracks then I would think this climb would feel pretty easy. I decided it wasn't really worth the effort, so I downclimbed and swung over on to its neighbour PC7, to see if the crimp was still as bad as I remembered, it was. I played around on it for a while, trying different sequences and eventually figured out something that might just work. It involved using the crimp below the broken crimp for the left hand, getting the right foot up really high and rocking over into a bad sidepull, then bumping to a better sidepull. It was harder than the original sequence but it was doable. I lowered off, rested for a bit then got back on for the redpoint, I made it through the first crux, a V4 dynamic move off opposing sidepulls, then made it through the second crux using the new sequence, probably worth V4 as well, I took a good shakeout before the last crux a V3 big reach off an undercling to the victory jug, I eyed down the jug reached up and fumbled it. I don't know what happened exactly, I had my hand on the jug but I just didn't grab it, instead I took a 20ft whipper. I had conflicting emotions, I was glad to have linked it through the middle crux using the new sequence, but gutted having fallenon the last hard move and not knowing if I could get there again. Jimmy who had been working it as well got on for his go, he was looking really good on it, got through the hard part, then did exactly the same thing as me, falling off the last move! I guess I didn't give that move enough credit for how hard it would be on the redpoint. I rested for a while then got back on it. This attempt was more of a fight, the moves didn't flow quite as well, and I was close to coming off a couple of times, but I made it to the last move again, and this time I stuck it! Yes! The very last moves to the chains were soaking wet from the rain, but they were on jugs, so I stuck with it and clipped them for my first hard redpoint of the summer! Inspired, Jimmy got back on it and fired it off right after me, good effort Jimmy!

Micah giving PC7 (12d) a shot.

Meanwhile Micah and Nick had warmed up on Rainy Day Woman, gotten a burn each on Californicator, and watched us send PC7. They decided to get on PC7 as well since we made it look so easy, the top was really wet by this point though so they just hung around on it figuring out the sequence, but it seems like they are both ready to give it some good redpoint attempts next time they're there. Jimmy and I got on Propaganda next, Jimmy has been working it so knew the beta really well which was good for me cause I had never really tried it, and its really beta intensive. It only gets 12c, but it felt quite a bit harder than that to me, I think it'll be a really good project to work on cause the moves are so good, but it might take a bit of work. We each gave it one good go each, then the rain really started coming down heavily, I started back up on it on toprope, but the rain was seeping down on it faster than I was climbing up it, so I hastily retreated, where we met Nick and Micah under Chronic, the only climb there that was completely dry.


I hopped on it and got to the forth bolt before hanging, which doesn't sound like much but it starts out pretty hard. I eventually dogged my way Californicator the 12d that branches out left after the first 7 bolts of Chronic. I think this is going to be the next big project of summer, Nick, Micah, Jimmy and I are all really psyched for it so hopefully it will go sooner rather than later. It is really hard for the grade, but I'm sure it will feel a lot more doable once we have the sequence more refined. Once we send Californicator the logical next steps are Californication (hard 13a) and Chronic 13b, so there is plenty to keep us busy on this summer.


We left the shelter of World Wall I at dusk and made our way down the path in a torrential downpour, we arrived at the parking lot completely drenched only to find the gates locked. Noo! After a short-lived panic we realized one of the gates was just closed and not locked, Phew! We made it safely out of there, and stopped off at McDonalds for some well deserved ice-cream cones, before heading back to Olympia. I was absolutely exausted when I got back, but it had been worth it, it was a great day out with the guys.