New Zealand

I've been back from my trip to New Zealand and Fiji for a couple of days now, I'm excited to get back to teaching, but I'm very sad to be finished with such an amazing trip. The three weeks were action packed, its so hard to summarize everything in a couple of paragraphs, but I'll try. Here's what I got up to in New Zealand.

The trip started out great, Anthony took me to some of his favorite spots around where he lives. I loved surfing on the Tasman Sea at Raglan, it was really hard because of the choppy seas, and I almost got dragged out by the rip tide at one point, but it was a lot of fun. The mountain biking in the redwoods at Rotorua, was also spectacular, nice long runs in a sub-tropical rain forest. A few days in our house got broken in to while we were out for lunch, they took my new iPhone amongst other things, it was a bummer but we tried to forget about it by heading up to Auckland. I went out two nights in Auckland which was really fun, on the second night Melody hitchhiked out to meet up with me. It was great to reconnect with her over a few pints and swap stories from the last few months. The next morning Ant and I caught an early flight down to the South Island.

We spent five days in Queenstown, a popular backpackers/skiers town. We would ski during the day at the different resorts in the area during the days, and partied at night. We had some bad luck down there, I lost my new jacket with my digital camera in the pocket so don't have many photos. One night Ant partied a little too hard and ended up in the hospital. And the day before we were set to drive up to Christchurch we lost our rental car keys on the slopes somewhere. It meant we couldn't climb at Castle Hill, and we were looking at a big bill for a replacement key and new flights, but luckily someone found them just in time so we were able to do the 6 hour drive at dawn to catch our flights back.

Back up on the North Island I rented a car and drove out see Melody again. she was wwoofing at a very hippie farm on the Coromandel Peninsula. It was cool seeing what see does there, I really admire her courage to go off on her adventure. We had a great time together. We checked out the area around her farm, surfed on some much more friendly waves on the East Coast, and hiked up to the Pinnacles hut in Coromandel Forest Park. I made it back down the next day to catch my flight to Fiji. I've got to say I was very impressed with New Zealand. I just wish I had more photos, here are some from my iPhone before it got stolen and a couple from a disposable camera I bought later.

Getting ready to go surfing at Raglan

Ant taking a break from mountain biking.

Relaxing in a natural hot spring after mountain biking.

Mel and I wet but happy after surfing.

Melody and another friend Ffion at The Pinnacles.

Mileage

Last weekend I went climbing at Tieton and Vantage, putting a lot of miles on my car driving solo. I've added 15k to my car since getting it in August. The climbing trips have been worth it, but at current gas prices I'll need to carpool more. On Friday I drove down to Tieton and met up with a couple of Olympia old-timers Doug and Duke. It was a lot of fun climbing with them, and we got a lot of routes done for climbing in a threesome. They showed me Moon Rocks and The Chunkyard, both nice little crags which are definitely worth a return trip. I cruised a fun 10a trad route at The Cave, and sent another 10a crack at Moon Rocks with a lot more effort. I’m loving trad climbing right now, but its nice to mix it up with sport routes as well, which seem so much easier in comparison. Having said that I did fall off of an 11b at The Cave called Casting Stones. I don't normally fall off routes this grade but this one was pretty tricky, I had to do a full-reach deadpoint to a mono at the crux. Felt at least 11d to me, but it was nice being challenged and good for me to clean it up on my second go. Friday night a group of Olympia folks were headed over to Vantage, and the weather was looking a lot more promising there. So I said bye to the guys and drove the hour and a half up the road to meet everyone.

A few moments before falling off of Casting Stones, 11b

A 60m isn't quite enought to toprope Moonstruck (10a trad) so I had to belay from this tree. The jacket is Duke's.

At Vantage on Saturday we climbed at Fat Man Wall and M&M wall which were not nearly as crowded as some other areas. It was me, Sierra, Melody, Laura, Gretchen, then Shannon and a couple of her friends joined us out there, then Micah and Steph met up with us later that night. Despite waking up with a bit of a cold, I got a lot of routes in. Some of my favorites were The Pod, Cold Cut Combo, and Ridin' Sidesaddle. Although a lot of the routes at M&M seemed pretty tough for the grade. I finished up the day with a smooth send of Snake Crack a fun short 10c layback crack. 

Sierra, Me and Gretchen having a good time at M&M wall.

Sunday we weren’t sure what the weather was going to do so we headed over to Zig-Zag Wall in case we had to make a hasty retreat, but the weather turned out to be perfect all day. Zig Zag doesn’t have the most solid rock at Vantage, but despite this there are a few worthwhile routes. I got 10 routes in that day including all the bolted routes at the crag that were in my guide, and one that wasn’t. Nothing hard, but it was nice to get a lot of mileage in. Special mention should go to Micah who managed to get up quite a few routes, despite having to climb in a hefty boot because of his injury. It was a fun first big group trip of the year, I’m looking forward to more to come. This weekend I had to stay home and get school work, but I’m hoping if I pull 12 hour days this week I should be able to get out next weekend. Its only 7 weeks til I graduate, then I’ll have a lot more time to climb. I’m feeling pretty strong right now, which can only mean good things for the rest of the season.

The obligatory group shot

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.

adVantage Laura

We got out over the weekend again, this time to Vantage to do some sport climbing. It was Laura’s birthday on Saturday so after climbing all day we celebrated with some beers and cupcakes that Sierra made. Melody, Micah Laura and I climbed on Saturday and we were met out there on Saturday night by Sierra and Ian, and Justin and Sara, and we all climbed together on Sunday. The weather was pretty good for the most part. Saturday was a little overcast, which was nice for us because it kept the temps down, otherwise it would have been very hot, it rained for about 10 minutes in the evening. But we were done climbing by that point anyway. Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, and it got hot towards the afternoon, everyone was applying the sun screen pretty liberally. We climbed on the lower tier of Sunshine wall, which has a ton of excellent short sport routes. I have a slight ache in my left shoulder and wrist, I think its from pushing myself too hard bouldering indoors, so I tried to avoid climbs that would hurt it, but I still managed to get about 20 new routes done total, including a handful of 5.11’s. Laura was climbing awesome, she onsighted a bunch of 10's and flashed another 11a with ease. She is in the form of her life, and the way she was climbing at the gym last night as well makes me think we’ll see some harder 11’s from her this year. Everyone else had a blast, for most of them it was their first time at Vantage, and they certainly got a good first impression. I really want to go back soon and get on more routes I was scoping out, but its only going to get hotter there, so it might have to wait until the fall. Here are some photos that give a better picture of the weekend. They are all mine apart from the last one, which I stole from Sierra.
Horses in the valley below made us feel like we'd stepped back in time to the wild west

Micah checks out more routes at Millenium Wall with The Hen House in the background

Laura and Melody walk out on Saturday afternoon with rain clouds threatening in the background

Sunday morning breakfast at the campsite getting ready for a busy day of climbing

Sara looking relaxed on a 5.9 toprope
Ian belaying Justin on the start of a fun 10a

The whole crew flexing our muscles on the way out at the end of a great weekend!

48 routes later

What a good Spring Break, 8 days out east climbing and camping with friends was just what I needed after a busy quarter at school. We climbed a lot of routes (I managed 48 new routes clean on lead, hence the title) and had a lot of laughing and joking around the campfire. In the end we visited four different crags; Deep Creek near Spokane, Post Falls just over the border in Idaho, and Banks Lake near the Coulee Dam and Goose Lake near Moses Lake in Central Washington. We sport climbed at all of the crags but they each had a very different feel to them.

Micah on a warm-up at Deep Creek, check out the sandy landing!

Laura, Micah and I drove out Spokane and headed straight to the camping in Riverside State Park near Deep Creek, it was only a 4 and half hour drive (hmm weekend tripable?). I had heard a lot of good things about Deep Creek, but even so I was blown away by the atmosphere and climbing there, especially at the Main Wall. Gently overhung routes up to 80 feet tall, but they feel even longer because they are so sustained with very little rests. The holds are generally pretty good, but there are so many of them its often hard to know what sequence to use which makes onsighting difficult. We spent two full days climbing there which was enough to give us a good taste of the area, but there's still so much more I want to get on there. Micah onsighted some 11s, Laura couldn't have been closer to redpointing a hard 11a, but just couldn't clip the chains, and I managed to onsight or flash everything I tried including a 12a which was a real fight. I would love to come back to this crag sometime, I really like this style of climbing.

Micah about a third of the way up The Lizard, an amazing 11a.
Micah showing Laura the beta on a short 11a on the Mushroom Boulder (how come all my photos are of Micah?)

On Sunday we packed up camp and headed west to Banks Lake, it was a beautiful drive through a part of the state I had never seen before. Coincidentally we drove through the town of Rearden, WA which is the setting for a book I just read for my class over the weekend The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I'd definitely recommend it. Anyway, we arrived at the campsite at the same time as Melody, Erica, Sarah and Megan our friends from Olympia and got out climbing straight away. We started out at Highway rock, which had something for everyone, the 5.8's were really good, Micah swears the 11c he did there was the best route of his life (it was pretty good), and I did a 12a second go. But I almost got blown off the top when a freak storm hit and chased us away to a bar, it didn't last long though we were having a campfire a few hours later, and that was the only rain we were to see the whole trip.

The crew on a few routes at Highway Rock, Banks Lake about an hour before a storm hit.

The next couple of days we climbed at Golf Course Rock and Northrup Canyon. The routes were really good, but the setting was incredible, and amazingly we had the whole place to ourselves, we didn't see any other climbers the whole time at Banks Lake. For the most part we stuck to easier climbs, which were a lot of fun, if not a little grainy. But Micah and I both managed a fun 12c as well, Baptism by Whipper. It climbs a well bolted overhung wall with good in-cut holds and a few big reaches. It was a really fun route, but to be honest its probably the easiest 12c I've ever done, but there has to be one right?

Megan on a fun 5.7 arete at Golf Course Rock

Micah headed up the long and exposed route Dr. Ceuse

Erica about halfway up an awesome looking 10b, that I didn't get around to trying in Northrup Canyon, Banks Lake

Once we got sick of Banks Lake we headed back east to climb at Post Falls, which is just over the border from Spokane in Idaho. I didn't really have much expectations, but this crag really impressed me, I just wish it were closer to Olympia. The rock is a much more fine grained granite that sometime seems a lot like the rock at North Bend. The routes are never too long about 40-60 feet, but always really good quality. Its the type of crag where you don't want to stop, you just want to climb route after route, and thats exactly what we did. I got in 13 routes that day, which is a personal best for me I'm pretty sure. Everyone loved this crag, especially Laura who managed 8 leads, all flash or onsight up to 10d. We would have loved to climb at this crag again, but the forecast didn't look good, so we headed back west again, this time to check out a new crag, Goose Lake.

Micah on a fun 10b at Post Falls with a steep crux

Laura flashing a really good 10c at Post falls
Me warming up on a steep 10b (that felt more like 11a) at Post Falls

Goose lake is a new bolted moderate sport crag similar in style to the Feathers at Vantage. Most of the climbing is up basalt pillars, but unfortunately since the crag is so new and doesn't get much traffic there is still quite a lot of loose rock, which made it hard to enjoy the routes. Nevertheless we did manage to get up quite a few routes here. We were thinking about camping at nearby Vantage and getting one more day of climbing in, but by this point we were all pretty worn out, so decided to head home, but not before stopping for dinner at the North Bend Bar and Grill for one last celebration dinner. All in all it was a really good way to spend my spring break, I can't wait for my next big climbing trip, and I wouldn't be surprised if I made it out to some of these crags again this year.

Micah doing his best not to shower rocks down on Erica at Goose Lake
Micah on a 10d at Goose Lake, probably the best route we did there

Group Shot. Starting with Micah looking disgruntled on the left and going clockwise, Micah, Me Laura, Sarah, Melody, Megan and Erica.

Group Shot

Here's a cool photo I stole off of Erica's Facebook page of our group that got out climbing on Sunday.

We went to Exit 38, it was a pretty chill day, I think most of us were still recovering from Sarah's birthday party the night before. Nevertheless we got a lot done. I got in some good 5.10's and 11's that I hadn't done before at Nevermind. Laura did a new 10b, c, and d in a day. Melody led her first 5.9, and Bill showed us how it was done with some relaxed flashes and onsights of everything he tried up to 12a. Its been really fun to go out climbing with more people and a more varied group this summer. I hope we have more days like Sunday. Here is another photo I took on Sunday of Laura at Nevermind.

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

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.