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

Propaganda

I had an amazing day of climbing today at Little Si. It was one of those days where everything just clicks, and you are so grateful that you are a climber. I knew it was going to be a good day when I made it up the hike in without getting totally out of breath and with minimal sweating. Nick was back in town, it was great to catch up with him, and feed off of his motivation. Nick was psyched to get on Propaganda, he had all the beta mapped out on a piece of paper (which he left in the car!), so after a quick warm up on Aborigine we hopped on it. On my first go I got schooled, I couldn't fathom the crux, and was pulling up on draws the whole way skipping over hard sections. Nick helped me figure out a few moves, so that on my second go I managed to come up with a way that got me through the crux. It involved a heinous fully extended double gaston move where you then had to hike your feet up and stab for another gaston. I can't believe it worked, but it did. I still struggled a lot on the rest of it, I think I probably 6 hanged it that go. After Nick had his go on it, and did considerably better than me, and I rested some more, and tried again. Somehow my crux beta worked, and I was up at the no hands rest. I was stoked to make this much progress, and I figured I better try really hard on this attempt since I might not make it up there again.

This time I climbed it much more efficiently and even figured out some better beta on the fly. Next thing I knew I was at the chains. WOW! Did that really just happen? I went from flailing all over it, to the send so quickly. Unfortunately Nick didn't get the send even though he probably deserved it more than I did, but I can tell he took a lot of pleasure from my send though. As for the grade, I don't know, but when I was working it, it felt so much harder than Gerbil Killer the 13a next to it. As an added bonus, I ran into the extremely talented and very friendly climber Jonathan Siegrest again and got to see him get the second ascent of Wide World of Fitness 14b/c!

I'm headed back to Little Si Thursday, and I've got a good vibe about it already!

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

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.

The Slow Loris Strikes Again

The awesome threesome did it again for a Saturday Little Si/Exit 38 combo. It was a beautiful day and not surprisingly the parking lots were overflowing, at Little Si so we were forced to park illegally (and get a ticket). It was the busiest I had ever seen it, but I guess they were all hikers because miraculously when we got to World Wall I we had the place to ourselves. Laura riding her new wave of confidence got a clean toprope of Psycho-Wussy then got on the sharp end and fired it off with no problem. This is a pretty big deal considering she's been trying it since 2007, its only her third ever 11b, and probably her hardest route to date, but the ease with which she climbed it makes me think its just a stepping stone to harder things at World Wall I. She made good progress on Rainy Day Women as well, one-hanging it on toprope, so you never know. I suddenly feel like a slacker. At Exit 38 we checked out the Neverland area, which I hadn't been to before, it was worthwhile and we did a handful of 5.10's. I think doing both little Si and 38 in a day is a good way to keep it interesting and get a lot of stuff done. Here's some portraits I snapped of the awesome threesome.

Laura the Slow Loris
Micah the Orangutan

Dom the Koala

Weekend Warriors

I didn't think I'd be getting out climbing this much while at school, but its amazing how much work I can get done during the week if it means getting out climbing on the weekends. Micah and Laura picked me up straight after my last class at noon on Friday and we headed out to get our climb on. We headed up Little Si despite a downpour and got on the two climbs that were dry. I got on Chronic, I'm pretty sure I did more pulling on draws than pulling on holds, but it was good to check out the upper part. There's no doubt that this is a great climb, but it seems way above my level for now, theres still sections I don't know how to do. It could be a good summer project though. Despite the rain it was still pretty fun hanging out at World Wall I and having the place to ourselves.

I think this was the only draw I clipped without grabbing it on Chronic (13b)

From there we headed to Laura's Dad's cabin, on Lake Cle Ellum for a night of wine steak and ping-pong, it was awesome. In the morning we headed to Leavenworth, we had a good time bouldering there the previous week so decided to go back for more. I did a lot of easy things, mostly repeats, but did a few new things like The Rib, a great V4 at the Carnival Boulders and projected some harder things, Scrambled Eggs (V8) and Joe's Crimper (V7), a little more core and they should go. Laura was the star of the weekend though, with impressive sends of The Pocket (V4) and a couple of V3's for a very productive day. I said a few weeks ago that I didn't think I'd get out on more overnight trips until the summer, but it looks like I was wrong. This weekend I think Vantage is on the cards.

Me on The Rib, contender for best V4 at Leavenworth

I forgot my camera again, so all photos are courtesy of Micah. Check out his blog for more excellent photos.

Climbing outside again!

I got outside climbing yesterday for the first time since November. The weather in Olympia has been beautiful for the past few days and Little Si was no different. It was sunny and the temps got up to the mid 50s, we were climbing in t-shirts, Micah even went shirtless. It felt really good being back on rock and getting some long routes done. We managed to warm up on Rainy Day Women, I was pleased that I didn't get too pumped, but my movement and footwork was very rusty. It was pretty busy at the crag, so we decided to hop on Graven Image, instead of queuing for one of the more popular climbs. There's a reason Graven Image doesn't get climbed much, cause its a big choss pile and not very fun to climb, but it is 12c and I hadn't done it before so we got on it and tried to climb it without knocking too many holds off. Micah had done this climb last year, so he worked on linking the start of Jealous God (12a) into Graven Image. After a couple of go's figuring out the crux he managed to send it, followed by me sending Graven Image. It was a good confidence booster knowing we could still send 12c pretty quick. I just wished we had called it a day then. We finished up with some of the worst displays of climbing we had ever done on Psycho-Wussy and Aborigine, I don't know why we struggled so much on them, but it felt like we were climbing them for the first time, except I think the first time I did them I found it easier. Hopefully the weather will stay good, and we will make it outside more and get more comfortable on the rock, but regardless of our performance it was still a great day out climbing.

Project Frustration

Q. Why haven't I written a new blog in a while now?

A. Becasue I havn't climbed anything new, I keep falling off the same climb over and over and over and over.

If you got shut down by a love interest time after time would you still go back for more? Probably not, neither would I, at least I hope I wouldn't. Then why do I keep getting back on my project at Little Si over and over again even though it keeps shutting me down?

Ever since I sent Californicator about 5 weeks ago (although it feels like 5 months) I have been trying (either literaly or in my mind) its extension Californication. On paper it doesn't sound too hard, 12d climbing that I have dialed to a great shake out at the chains then you head into the extension of Technorigine which is 12c climbing that I've got pretty wired, in fact I've warmed up on Techno couple of times this week. Add to that the fact that that when I sent Californicator I continued and got through the Techno crux and fell off just before the chains of Californication, I should get it done pretty quickly right? Wrong! I've repeated Californicator more times than I'd like to count, well I might not like to count it but I do - 5 times. And I've fallen off trying Californication over a dozen times. I was hoping to write a blog post today celebrating my successful ascent, but now I just have to wallow in my self-pity. Yesterday I got on it for the 3rd day in a week, I got to the Californication chains rested up then went for the crux move, which shouldn't be that hard, missed the hold but managed to catch my fall on the jug, I went for the hold again hit it and came off! I had a mini-tantrum hanging from the rope to let off some frustration (sorry guys). It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't do the exact same thing on Sunday and then again on Wednsday of last week. What makes it worse is that I feel like I have a lot of pressure to climb it soon, school starts up in a week and I don't think I'm going to be able to make it out there as much. When I send it (not if but when) it'll be one of the most gratifying climbs I've done, its easily now the most effort I've put into a project.

I just got a text from Micah asking if I wanted to get back out there tomorrow, I want to but I don't know if I can take the rejection again, I feel like the victim of an abusive relationship. What do I do?

Me on the cruxy cross through move to the typewriter hold at the seventh clip of Californicator, a move I am now far too familiar with.

Payday at Little Si

Yesterday felt like a payday at Little Si. All my work on I have put in on Californicator this summer (and last) finally paid off with the send. In the end it didn't feel that hard, its funny how something can change from feeling absolutely desperate to not that bad at all.

Laura and I decided to head out to Little Si just the two of us, since we were up in Seattle for the weekend anyway. We warmed up in the woods area, where we ran into Andrew, his girlfriend, Eric and Jimmy, and Micah and his brother and cousin. It felt like half of Olympia was out at the crag. Laura's main objective of the day was to get on Violent Phlegms, an 11b that she had toproped a week ago, and felt pretty good on, potentially her first ever 11b lead? I put the rope up and she toproped it again, rehearsing the moves and the clips, she said it felt a lot harder than she had remembered, but it is 11b so it should feel pretty hard. When she was happy with her beta she pulled the rope and tied into the sharp end. She got off to a shaky start at the first crux, where she almost came off on a greasy hold, but she held on and kept climbing. This climb is fairly sustained, there are about 4 crux sections you have to battle through and its not over til you latch the jug at the end. It looked like she was off again after she almost barndoored at the last clip, but she got it clean. Way to go! It was her hardest ever lead, and it was a long time coming having already done 11 11a's in the last couple of years, a well deserved send.

After Laura's big send it was my turn to get on my project so we headed up to WWI and I hopped straight on Californicator. On my first go the moves flowed really well and I floated up it without overgripping or feeling too pumped, I got to the typewriter hold feeling good, crimped hard on the smiley face hold, crossed through to the sidepull, but my feet weren't set up right and I barndoored off. I really thought that was the go. I clipped the chains in one hang came down and rested for another attempt. On my next go I wasn't quite feeling as smooth, and had to try a bit harder to stay on, I got to the typewriter hold, made sure my feet were right, crossed into the sidepull, got my feet up, made a couple of crimpy moves and latched the jug rest. I knew I had it in the bag, just another 3 clips of 11b-ish climbing, I wanted to make sure though so shook out on the jug for a good 5-10 minutes, its such a good jug its hard not to hang out on it and recover. By the time I left the jug I was feeling totally recovered and the top part felt easier than it had ever felt before. I got to the chains, and it was kind of an anti-climax, I didn't even feel that pumped, so I shouted down to Laura "I'm going for the extension". The extension Californication (13a) is the top part of Technorigine, a climb I had done a couple years ago, but hadn't really got on it since, its basically another 4 clips of pumpy 12c climbing. I shook out on the jug at the Californicator chains for a couple of minutes then busted up into the 12c climbing. I was able to remember the moves pretty well and it wasn't as bad as I had expected, I made the first and second clips then kept on fighting through the steep terrain to the third, and fourth clip, I was getting pretty pumped by this point, but I could see the chains just ahead. I just had a few crimpy moves to get through, but I couldn't remember the sequence at all and the holds felt pretty bad, I tried to pull through, but I got spat off. Oh well, I can't really complain, I wasn't even planning on going for the extension so its really just a bonus to get that far. Now I have to decide whether its worth the effort to put in more work to finish off Californication or move on to Chronic, or give Little Si a break and check out other crags. My routes score on my scorecard is looking pretty good now, so I feel like I have more options for what I want to do next, its a good place to be.

The view of Californicator from below.

Out with the guys

Yesterday I had an awesome day with the guys: Nick and Micah. All we needed was Jimmy to complete the awesome foursome, but he was representing Olympia at the sport climbing nationals in Salt Lake City. For a Tuesday World Wall I was surprisingly busy, there were about a dozen other people hanging around (literally). I warmed up with a fun route I hadn't done before, Sinistral Purpose (11a trad). It starts up a bolted 10d, then you go left for a couple of bolts where you get to a crack and its plug and chug for about 40ft. The route climbs like a sport route with trad gear, so I had no problems on it, it was really cruiser, similar climbing to Reptiles, but steeper. It was a great route to do, and I was pleased about how easy it felt, but my buzz was killed on the way down when I found that one of my cams was way overcammed and stuck deep in the crack, I tried for a while, but there was no getting it back. Nick flashed the route as well and tried to get my cam out, but it wasn't happening. It takes my cam count from a measly 5 to an even worse 4, that cam and I had shared some good times together, but I guess its time we move on. Its up for grabs if anyone thinks a lot of their gear salvaging skills.

The main objective of the day was to get on Californicator, but it was busy so Micah suggested we try Slug Lover a 12c I had tried briefly a couple of weeks ago. I put up the draws and hung at the crux again, it was a really hard one to read, but after trying a few different things I unlocked a sequence that involved turning your body into the corner and reaching high for a good slot. The rest of the route was fine, really fun 5.10+ climbing on quality rock. I got lowered back to the crux, and got it first go again on toprope, which was good for my confidence. I gave Micah and Nick the beta and they went for the flash, but the crux is very body position specific so they had to figure out the move for themselves. I should have sent it on my next go, but my left hand dry-fired off the pinch at the crux. Micah stepped up and SENT on his 2nd go though! It was impressive to watch, and it was good to see Micah finish off a project so quickly. It is by far the fastest he has sent a 12c. Nick and I decided to save it for another day, since Californicator was open now.

Micah just before the crux of Slug Lover

Back on Californicator, Nick went first, but it just wasn't clicking for him, he fell low and hung a lot before getting lowered down. I went next and in my newly resoled Anasazi's it felt a lot more secure, I climbed past my highpoint, skipped the 7th bolt for rope drag, then came off on the typewriter hold. I hung for a little bit then got back on and got to the chains with just the one hang. I was really pleased to make so much progress, I now know its very doable. Micah got back on it and got the beta down and with a few hangs made it to the chains for the first time. Then it was back to Nick to redeem himself, he looked a lot more solid on it this time, he cruised the opening sequence and kept on going higher and higher, we were all cheering him on from the ground, he kept on going and made it all the way to the chains! Nice Nick! This is by far the hardest thing I've ever seen Nick climb, this thing is HARD 12d. It was way impressive, and I think me and Micah feel a lot more pressure to get it as well now. We both gave it another go and refined our beta.

I finished the day with a warm down of Megatherion to the top chains, which is awesome. Then all of a sudden it was 9.30pm already. We walked back in the dark, and stopped off in North Bend to celebrate with some dipped cones. It was a great day out, big sends for Micah and Nick, I don't think I could have been happier if I had sent them myself... well maybe ;)

Double Whammy

Friday was a beautiful day outside, it was one of those days that makes you glad to be a climber. There were five of us heading out, (the third trip in a row where I went out with 5 people in a car) Me, Laura, Melody, Micah and Greg. The plan was to do both Little Si and Exit 38 in a day. We had a late start cause it was really hot out (90 degrees) and we wanted to wait til the crags were in the shade. It worked and we were the first to arrive at World Wall I just as it was going in the shade. Micah gave PC7 a good burn, falling just two moves from the victory jug, which is really good considering the temps. Laura stepped up and repeated both 5.9's there, Reptiles and Devil's Advocate, she cruised them. It was an important mental barrier for her to overcome since it had been so long since she had led them last. And I did the 2nd pitch of Dreaming of a Life of Ease which is a really fun route, I can't believe I hadn't done this one before. I also got a good burn on my project Californicator, and got to a new highpoint just before the 6th clip. I figured out better beta at the 4th clip, and only came off cause of a foot pop, I didn't even feel all that pumped. We wrapped it up there and headed down the road to Exit 38, where we spend the second half of the day. Sorry for the lack of photos, I forgot my camera, check out Micah's blog for photos.

At 38 we went straight to Nevermind, it had been a couple of years since I was last there which is too bad cause its a fun little crag, and there's a few routes that I've yet to do there. First off I put the draws up on Steep Street (11a) which is a great route to repeat, straight out of the gym. Laura tied into the sharp end and dispatched it first try of the day for her 2nd 11a of the summer! She had tried it a few times on lead and toprope a couple of years ago, but didn't have what it took then, so it was good for her to take care of old business. Greg then got the redpoint straight afterwards, it was an impressive lead considering it was pretty much his 4th ever lead outside. He needs to get on the lead more often now that we know what he's capable of. We did a few other routes down at the other end of the crag, Micah finished up a mini-proj of his, Shocklet which starts up Culture Shock 12a, and finished with the crux of Goblet 12b, he thinks it weighs in at about 12b. It looks like fun, I'll have to try it sometime, on Friday I tried Goblet. It was harder than I gave it credit for, I gave it 2 burns and I have the beta down now, so hopefully it'll go next time. As it started to get dark at Nevermind we headed down to Substation to finish up on some fun shorter routes. I don't know if I was just really tired by this point but I struggled a LOT on a 10d there called Subversive. I remember I had tried this climb on my very first time outside in Washington when I first arrived here 3 years ago and got shut down. Now I'm not surprised, cause it is HARD, I just barely got it by the skin of my teeth. Greg and Laura both led a cool short 5.9 and Melody decided to do her first lead on a route called Homo Erectus (5.6). Now anyone who has done this will know that this is not the best route for trying your first lead on, since it has insecure climbing on slopey holds and is quite run out in places. But she got in the zone and sent it no problem, props Melody! We were all pretty beat by this point so we headed back to Olympia, but not before stopping off for some dipped cones in North Bend. It was a really good day out, I think combining Little Si and 38 in a day is definitely the way to go.

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.

28 days dry

Nick warming up on Iguanarama 10a at Amazonia (Exit 38)

I think I heard on the radio that today was the 28th day straight without rain in Olympia. With this kind of weather its hard to not get out climbing, plus Nick is back in town and more psyched than ever to get out climbing. So on Friday the three of us Nick, Laura and I made our way out to Exit 38, we were planning on climbing up at Bob's Area but we got sidetracked at Amazonia and The Actual Cave, so decided to save Bob's Area for another day. Amazonia looked as chossy as I remembered but the routes climb well. We warmed up on Iguanarama a really good 10a, and an 11a then headed up to The Actual Cave. I had never climbed there before, I had always just walked past it on my way to Bob's Area, but now having climbed there I can report back that The Actual Cave is actually AWESOME! The crag classic Giant is one of the best sport routes I've ever done. If you can climb 5.11 and can do 10 pulls-ups you have to get on Giant. It goes at 11c but it essentially climbs one big jug the whole way to the chains. It starts on the right hand side of the cave, you climb up easily to the roof of the cave then you start traversing along a jug rail on the lip of the cave through 5 clips of horizontal jug shuffling, its so much fun. I made it to the chains no problem, so decided to go for the extension Mr. Big 12a, its only one more bolt then the chains, but since there were hanging draws on all the bolts I didn't bring up any more draws and I needed something to clip the chains of Mr Big. So Nick and Laura threw some up to me while I was hanging on to a jug, after a few missed throws I eventually caught a couple and made it to the chains, Mr. Big was really good, not too hard just a little pumpy, but that may be due to the hanging off the jug trying to catch draws. Nick sent Mr. Big right after me as well, he was pleased because he had tried this route a couple of years ago and couldn't do it then.
A couple of photos of Me and Nick on the awesome roof climb Cyanide (12b), so much fun!

After that I decided to give Cyanide a shot since it had hanging draws on it as well. Cyanide is an unlikely looking climb. It climbs straight through the roof with 5 clips of 180 degree climbing, and it gets the fairly amenable grade of 12b, you don't get many climbs like this. On the onsight I found that the holds in the roof were better than I had imagined, I made a few hard moves to get to the third clip, where there was a good looking V-notch, I tried jamming my hand in pinkie first, but it didn't quite sit right, I pulled on it and was off, damn! I reached back up to same hold this time with my hand the other way so I was holding it as a ring lock and it was a jug! I pulled back on and managed the rest of the moves through the roof no problem, Oh man, I was so close to the onsight. I managed to fire it off second go using the right beta, its such a good climb, but it was hard to enjoy it knowing that I should have onsighted it. Nick also managed to send it second go, which he was really proud of since he struggled a lot more with the sequence than I did, probably due to his height. With those two big sends done we were feeling pretty pumped so finished off the day with an easy route at Club Paradiso (not recommended) before heading back down to the car.

Scott on a really nice thin 5.9 slab and crack at the Repo I (Little Si)

The next day I headed out climbing with Scott and Nick. It was good to climb with Scott again, I hadn't seen him since the Smith trip back in March. We headed back to North Bend, with the plan to do both the exits in a day. First stop was the Repo crags at 32 where Nick wanted to lead Mambo Jambo (the route I sketched out on last week) in the same style as I did, skipping the top bolts. I climbed up on top of the crag across it to get some cool photos and a video (which nick will hopefully put online soon) while Nick cruised it. He made it look like a 10b climb which it is instead of how I climbed it, making it look like a 12b.

Nick negotiating the jamming crux of Mambo Jambo (10b trad).

Nick on the top crux of Mambo Jambo, skipping the bolts in favor of gear placements.

Me on the steep wall of PC7 my broken project on WWI at Little Si

We then headed up the hill to WWI where I wanted to get back on PC7 the climb I had come really close on a few days earlier. I had been thinking about it a lot in those few days. I got through the first crux feeling super strong, it didn't feel hard at all, I got to the hard part above the third clip on the headwall, crimp, undercling, crimp with the right then reached up to the crimp that Micah had broken off, wait where is it? There was barely anything there, it was way worse than I thought it was going to be, it was barely possible to hang off it let alone pull way past it, NOOO! I hung there and tried to figure out some other sequence, but switching hands and moving right from the crimp below wasn't an option. I tried the broken crimp again, thinking there must be some other way to hold it, but there wasn't. I was pretty gutted, I was so close to getting this route done, but now its way out of my range. Its probably a 5.13 now, so I'll just have to move onto other projects and come back to this when I'm stronger. I can't really blame Micah, maybe he saved me from pulling off the crimp myself. I was kinda bummed out, and I apologise Nick and Scott if I ruined the vibe of the day. Nick managed to lighten the mood, with his impressive send of Bust the Rhythm 12c. This is a climb that Micah and I had done a couple of years ago, Nick had tried this quite a bit in the past but couldn't link the hard crux, on Saturday though he got it first go, and made it look easy. With Nick's project sent we headed back down the hill and to the Far Side at Exit 38, where Scott really wanted to try Endless Bliss, a monster 18-clip 10a slab. Scott and Nick had looked for this climb before but with no success, but I knew where it was so I took them there, where we all led it. Scott cruised it on lead, he has no problem on slabs like these. I also scoped out potential for a couple new routes on a hard technical section of rock to the right of Endless Bliss. They would be really hard and technical, but I think they would go, I would totally bolt them if I had a drill. We ended the day with the 5.9? to the left of endless Bliss, where Scott took a fall and hurt his shin, which was a bit of a bummer on an otherwise great day. I'm looking forward to climbing more with Scott and Nick this summer.

Nick finishing a great day off with a great climb, Endless Bliss 120ft of amazing slab climbing.

A new project

I had promised myself a rest day yesterday after too many days in a row climbing. But then Micah offered a ride up to Little Si that was too good to refuse, so off we went. It took us three hours to get there because of a terrible accident on I-5 that we were stuck behind for a while, so once we got there we were in a rush to get things done. Once again we warmed up at Blackstone, then Laura and I moved onto the Woods while Micah and Greg headed up to World Wall I. I wanted to get on a route called Bioclamactic Quandry, its a mixed sport/trad route that gets 4 stars in the guide. I wanted to do it all trad, running out the bolts, I got past the first three bolts placing one wire, then there was a bomber finger crack for the middle section that took great gear. Then the crack ended and there was another 4 bolts of airy thin slab climbing with no other gear before the chains, I figured it just wasn't worth it to skip the bolts, it would be really scary, but it was still a great route I'd recommend it. Its listed in the best routes at exit 32 list at the end of the guide, which of the 28 routes listed below 13a I've done 24, which ain't bad. I did a couple more short routes on the far right hand side of the Woods, before we headed up to WWI.

I got on Son of Jesus, but was unsure what to get on after that, I'm not really motivated to repeat routes I've already done. I figured I'd check out a route called Judgement Day Direct or PC7 as the locals call it because its supposedly glued (although I didn't see any). I had tried the start briefly the other day, but wasn't really feeling motivated then. This time it felt a lot more doable, I got past the first crux then dogged my way up, checking out the holds. They were surprisingly good, small but very positive and crimpy. It goes up the steepest part of WWI probably 20 degrees overhanging, so you need good holds. I managed to figure out a good sequence and I clipped the chains, this might go I though to myself, it was a lot more doable than I was expecting for a 12d (7c).

I got lowered down and pulled the rope, I was going to give it a redpoint attempt, I said I'd be happy to get it down to one-hang, but secretly I though there was a chance I'd send it right then. I made it past the first crux, a big throw to a jug, then through the crimpy section and the big move going out right, I had to skip a bolt cause I couldn't take a hand off to clip, but the next one was close anyways. I got to a decent shakeout, only two more hard moves to go before the victory jug, I lunged up to the sidepull, got my fingers on it, but couldn't hold on, I was off. Man so close! I got back on and fired off the move next try and clipped the chains, at least I got it down to one hang, but I felt robbed, I could have finished it off there and then.

I got lowered off since it was getting dark and Micah wanted to give it a quick shot. He dogged his way up through the first bolts figuring out the sequence. He then tried the big move going out right off the small crimp, and disaster struck, he pulled off the crucial crimp! He took a bit of a whipper in the process, but was ok, but to be honest I was more concerned about the hold and whether the route will still be possible. He says there is now a smaller sharper crimp, so hopefully that will still be enough. I'm really excited to have this project now, and can't stop thinking about it I think I was starting to feel a bit jaded about World Wall I, but now I'm psyched to get back there and finish off a new project!

This afternoon I'm heading down to the quarry it'll be my 8th day climbing out of 9, 6 of those outside, tomorrow is definitely a rest day!

The other side of Little Si

Yesterday Laura and I headed out to Little Si with Jimmy and Lisa. But unlike the other fifty or so times I've been there over the last few years, this time I took my trad rack. Yes there is trad at Little Si, don't tell anyone though cause its pretty sweet. Instead of being crowded on the Ledge at World Wall I, we had pretty much the whole of Repo I to ourselves down below, it was awesome. We started out warming up at Blackstone, where Laura and Lisa onsighted a 10b and 10c respectively. Before Jimmy and Lisa headed up the path to hang on their projects at WWI, and Laura and I took in some easy trad at Repo I. I did a 5.5, 5.6, 5.6, and 5.9, which were all excellent except for the 5.5, don't do it, its a chosspile. Laura cleaned all the routes, getting a feel for trad placement again. Laura has led a handful of trad routes in her past, but like me its been a while. In Scotland she led a VDiff and a Severe (5.6 and 5.7) at Reiff, although it was more a case of placing gear down low then run it out to the top. And in Squamish a couple of years ago, she led a couple of 5.5 and 5.6's, although she had an epic on the last route she led and has been scared to return to trad ever since. She felt up to trying a route today, so she led First Things First, a really fun 5.6 with great gear placements, all her gear was bomber, and I think this gave her a lot of confidence for getting back on more trad routes.

The easy routes were just a warm up for my main objective of the day, to onsight Mambo Jambo a classic 10b trad route. The route starts out easily in a finger crack going up a short dihedral to a ledge, you place your first pieces here and go up the slightly overhanging crack that starts out with ring locks then gets wider to hand and fist jamming. I was feeling good on lead up to this point, I placed my biggest cam above my head and it looked good, but there was another 20 ft or so of wide crack that I knew I couldn't really protect, but I figured I'd just go for it. I climbed up past my cam, to really insecure hand jams, in fact I was pretty much just holding onto slick slopers in the crack. I was really sketching out, both legs were shaking uncontrollably, then I realized I had a big hex I could throw into the crack, I jiggled it around in there but it didn't really settle, I was getting pumped fast, and I knew if I didn't keep moving up I'd be coming off, so I clipped the rattling hex, jammed my feet in and sketched my way up, to what looked like a ledge, it was just more slopers, so i kept on going until eventually a jug! Phew, that was scary, I threw a sling over the jug spike, and looked down, that would've been a big fall, there was no way the hex was holding, but the cam below would have prevented a ground fall. I climbed up on to a ledge above the spike, the route wasn't over yet, I still had another 20ft of tricky slab climbing before the chains. The slab was protected by two bolts, but I knew I couldn't clip the bolts after getting this far on trad gear. I managed to fiddle in a sideways nut in a small undercling flake, it didn't look amazing but when I gave it a tug it held. Ok just trust it I thought to myself and you'll be on top before you know it, a few precarious high steps and rockovers later and I was on top. Yes! It was a sketchy lead, but I had done it, this is what onsighting trad is all about.

Although it only gets the lowly grade of 10b, (6a+) I felt this is one of my hardest trad onsights to date. I have onsighted routes that get harder grades, but this was definitely not my style, because of the wide cracks, and the mental aspect running it out during the crux and at the top on the slab. If this were in the UK, I would think it would probably get E3 5c, since it is both physically quite hard, and you could take a big fall especially on the top section if the nut on the slab didn't hold. I came down feeling great, but both physically and mentally drained, Laura was sure glad to have me back on the ground, I know she wasn't looking forward to having to catch my fall.

We headed up to WW1 to join the masses of sport climbers and see how Jimmy and Lisa got on, sounds like they had a pretty good day, Jimmy managed a repeat of Psychosomatic 12d, and Lisa made progress on some 12s. I gave Girls in the Gym a quick repeat, and watched Jimmy onsight End of the World 12a, then we headed back to the car, and I slept the whole ride back to Olympia, looking forward to being back safe and sound and ready to climb an other day.

Lisa going for the flash of End of the World

North Bend Weekend

We spent this past weekend up in Seattle it was a lot of fun and we made the most of our proximity to North Bend by getting out to Exit 38 on Friday and Exit 32 (Little Si) on Monday. On Friday we went back to Interstate Park on the Far Side since there was still a lot there we wanted to do. Micah met us out there and we got quite a few routes done, despite spending half the day getting lost trying to find Winter Block. We did check out some of the smaller crags like Off-Ramp and Squishy Bell, which were surprisingly fun. In total I think I led 9 new routes from 5.8 to 10c so it was a pretty good day.

Micah trying hard on the 5.8 at Squishy Bell

On Monday Laura and I met Micah again this time at Little Si. There were hoards of people on the trail to Little Si since it was Memorial Day, but luckily for us the crag wasn't too busy. I was surprised to see a Ryan a friend from Portland out there, he kept telling us how lucky we are to have such a great crag close by, so I think he liked it. I got in quite a few routes including some I haven't done in a while like Voodoo Guru (not as good as I remembered) and Megatherion and End of the World (better than I remembered). I got on Slug Lover a 12c I'd never tried before. There was a bail biner at the 4th (?) clip so I figured even if I couldn't complete it I wouldn't have to leave a biner. I got past the bail biner with ease since the start is surprisingly easy, only to get shut down on a very bouldery section a couple of bolts up. It didn't look too hard after that though, so I'll probably get back on it sometime soon and hopefully work out some kind of sequence for the crux. We left around 6ish, after getting in 7 long pitches of 11b and up, I was feeling pretty worked, but it can only improve my route fitness for later in the summer when I start work on some of my 5.12 and 13 projects here.

Little Si-ne Die Weekend

I know, lame blog title, I was trying to come up with a witty way of combining Little Si and Sine Die (last day of legislative session).
Anyway, I just had a pretty awesome weekend. The weekend started with my last day of work at the House of Representatives on Friday. I was sad to be leaving cause I had such a fun time working there, and learned a lot. Working on an appropriations committee really gave me an insight into how the budget process works. I would have blogged more about my work, but my position was non-partisan and I was privy to confidential information, so I thought I'd better not. One thing that impressed me a lot with was just how hard working the legislators and staff are, I would often arrive into work at 8am to find fiscal staff asleep in their offices after working all-nighters. I think they get a bad reputation in the media, but in reality they are some of the hardest working people I've come across. Saying my goodbyes on Friday was sad, but I also felt excited to be moving on. On Friday, I also submitted my Masters in Teaching application to Evergreen. I am hopeful that I will be accepted starting this fall, and I'm really excited to go back to school and look forward to being a teacher. Thank you very much to those of you who have helped me with the application and support.

Friday night we went out and celebrated Arts Walk in downtown Olympia. It was a really good vibe and the weather was beautiful. We saw lots of different performances and exhibitions. Even the lobby of our apartment complex was an art gallery for the night, which was really cool. Nights like these I really love living in downtown Olympia. The highlight of the night was definitely dancing at The Loft with friends to Laura's old time music band 'The Grizzle Grazzle Tune Snugglers', they were awesome.

On Saturday I got an early start and went climbing with Micah and Mika at Little Si. The crag was really dry and cool (maybe a little too cool). Micah made amends for his actions earlier this week and returned some draws. Read here to get the full story. I felt good to be doing longer routes, I managed to repeat a lot of classics from 11b-12a without too much effort which is promissing for the summer ahead, my endurance can only improve from here. Micah and I got on Dairy Freeze, an overlooked 12b on the left hand side. I had tried it a couple of years ago, but didn't remember much other than it felt really hard at the time and that I had really weird beta. It took me a couple of goes to remember my beta for the crux, which is hard, so now I think I can get it if I go back again. Micah finished it off which was a good morale boost for him. We returned to Oly in high spirits and met up with friends at a Mead tasting party.

Sunday I woke up with a nasty Mead hangover. Nevertheless it was a beautiful day outside, BBQ weather. I went over to Jeremy's BBQ first and had some awesome ribs, then Ian's BBQ and filled up on steak, mmm. Then as the evening approached I walked up to the Capitol Campus in search of some Sine Die parties. The mood at the Capitol wasn't good though, they had managed to negotiate a compromise on the Budget which many thought would need a special session, but some other important bills like the renewable energy bill and budget bond bill were stalling cause they didn't have the votes. Governor Gregoire is holding a press conference today to announce if there will be a special session, it looks likely since these are important bills. Its really too bad after seeing all the hard work the fiscal staff put in to be able to finish in time, they deserve a break more than anyone. I'm glad to be done now though, I have a lot more free time now and the weather looks good, which can only mean one thing, lots of climbing, so watch this space!

Rainy October Weekend

Fall has definitely arrived here in the Pacific Northwest, the rain poured and the prospect for climbing outside didn't look good. Perfect timing then for the first annual South Sound Pull Down, the eagerly awaited climbing competition here in Olympia.

The warehouse crew Steven, Daniel, Nick, Jimmy etc. did a great job of stripping all the bouldering walls and setting 55 problems the day before. They were hoping for 30-40 entrants, but with the bad weather a total of 65 turned up, which was a great turnout. Despite Nick and Jimmy setting problems there was still a strong field in the male advanced category. The favourite going into the competition had to be Micah, who is on fire both in routes and bouldering at the moment, and has a good taste for plastic from working at the evergreen wall. Then there was George and Whitey having climbed indoors all summer and looking very strong. Then there was me, who apart from the past 2 weeks hadn't climbed indoors all summer. Plus any unknowns who might come to the comp. Unfortunately Laura had to work that day, so couldn't compete, but would have certainly finished highly in the womans category.

A busy day at the Warehouse

At 2pm the climbing started, everyone got off to a good start with some big cheers for George and Whitey for sending some hard stuff early on. Micah was a little worried after struggling on some problems he should have done with ease. After flashing a couple moderate problems. I decided to try some harder problems, and flashed a 590. I was really pleased with the flash and thought that might just put me ahead of the rest of the crowd. But soon after George and Micah also flashed it easily and whitey got it second go. Uh oh, I thought these guys are strong! Next up was a crimpy 600 which Micah cooly flashed, he was back on his game. I managed to flash it straight after him using his beta. I was in a good position at this point.

Each competitors top 5 highest scoring climbs would count towards their overall score, with a 5 point deduction for each fall. At this point I had 5 climbs rated 530 and up, with just one fall. As far as I could tell I was just ahead of the pack having done all the same problems but with less falls. There was only half an hour left. There was one hard crimpy problem worth 610 points that I tried at the start which I thought might just go. I knew it was my style, technical balancy and crimpy. I got on it. I got past the first crimpy moves, got my feet up, stemmed and matched on the last slopey crimps. I could see the finishing jug, I lunged and latched it, YES! Everyone cheered, there were more people watching than I thought. I knew that would probably be the winning send. In the last few minutes a lot of people tried the problem but no one else succeded, even in the comp after hours no one could get it. With that climb done I handed in my scorecard. Once the scored were tallied the results came out as the following:

1st Dom 2905

2nd Micah 2840

3rd David 2810

4th George 2800

5th Whitey 2755

Dom latches the finishing jug that wins the comp

Its was a great comp and credit should go to the staff at the warehouse for putting it on, I'm looking forward to the next one already.

To top off a great weekend I went out to Little Si with Nick the next day and sent Technorigine a 12c (7b+). I had been climbing well at Little Si recently, I got a 12b (7b) second go last week and flashed another 12b the time before, so I thought I should try something a bit harder. Technorigine is one of the classics of the crag, it's a 30m route that goes right up the middle of World Wall One, overhanging just enough so that it stayed dry even though it was pouring rain. It starts up Aborigine a great 11b (6c+), just after the chains it busts straight into a tricky V4 crux, and from there its another 3 clips of airy steep climbing on big holds over an awesome exposed bulge. I had played on the route a few times before, but never really tried it seriously. On Sunday, I surprised myself by cruising the crux first go then I hung and figured out the sequence above. I dispatched it send go of the day. I got through the crux smoothly again, then got in the zone and cruised the top part, it was so much fun. I clipped the chains leaned back and got soaked from the rain getting lowered down, it was great. Nick did well considering it was his first time on the route, he managed to link past the crux, now he just has to finish off the top section. Its probably my new favorite route at Little Si. Having done this route so quickly its given me renewed confidence for what else I can do there. The Little Si season is not quite over yet!

Psychosomatic

I sent my first 7c this weekend! A route called Psychosomatic at Little Si.

Photo: Dom on the lower section of Psychosomatic 12d/7c. ©Micah Humphrey

On Saturday, Micah, Laura and I headed out there and Micah and I got on the route, by now I had tried it so many times that I had all the moves wired. I was climbing well I got up to the crux without too much of a pump, but just couldn't stick the crux. I could do it every time with just one hang, I couldn't be closer, I gave it 3 good attempts on Saturday, Micah and I were both so close but still had to wait to link it all. I decided to move on and try some other routes. We all did a cool 10c/6b on the far left side of the wall. Then we went down to the woods to try a route there.

Photo: Laura sending a 10c/6b on the left hand side of World Wall I. ©Micah Humphrey

I tried to onsight a 12b/7b route called Digitalis, a little girl and her dad even came over to watch the rock climbers. I gave them a good show, I took a whipper at the crux. I managed to clip the chains with a couple of hangs, then sent it second go, Micah also got it second go. It's a sweet climb, 12 bolts of vertical climbing with a committing crimpy crux. It was a good morale booster to send something hard so quickly, I could definitely feel all my goes on psychosomatic had helped my stamina.

Photo: Dom on Digitalis 12b/7b, at The Woods, Little Si. ©Micah Humphrey

The next day our plans to check out a different area to climb fell through when we woke up to find heavy rain. We knew there was only one option – back to the overhung wall of World Wall I and Psychosomatic. The temps were good, and I was feeling good. I got up to the crux really smoothly, barely feeling a pump, went for the move, hit the slopey crimp crux but the same old story, I got spat off again. I felt calm going for it but I think I was too calm, I needed to really commit.

On my next go, I felt good, I got up to the chains of Psycho-Wussy the 11b/6c+ route it starts up, took a good shake out psyched myself up then went for it. I cruised through the next few clips and got set up for the crux throw. I stared down the hold and went for it. A second later and my fingers were still on it, I stuck the move!

I could hear Micah and Laura cheering from below, but I was way too scared to make any noise, don't mess up now I kept thinking to myself. I got my feet up, bumped my left hand up to the next sidepull, then one last move to the jug. YESS! I screamed when I latched the jug, I knew I was good from here, I skipped the last bolt there was no way I was going to fall now, I traversed over to the chains clipped them, and slumped into my harness. The excitement the relief and the accomplishment, this is why I climb!

I sent it on my 12th redpoint attempt, its the longest I've ever spent on a single route, but the payoff was well worth it. I couldn't have done it without Micah working it with me! It won't be long before he sends it too, at least I hope so, he's on redpoint number 18!

Photo: Laura working Psycho-Wussy 11b/6c+ on toprope. ©Micah Humphrey