Procrastinating at Leavenworth

I probably should have stayed home and done school work this weekend, but its hard to say no to a ride out to Leavenworth. We headed out Friday night and barely managed to get a spot at the free camping spot, it was packed. On Saturday we met up with Jeremy and Derik, and later Lisa as well which made for a good group sending psyche. Laura sent another V4, The Real Thing a long term project of her's that she made look pretty easy this time, and also a great tall V3 Arrested Development. The highlight of my trip was sending The Cattleguard Arete only my third V8 at Leavenworth to date. To be honest it didn't feel that hard, but then again it repelled the efforts of Jeremy, Derik and Lisa and they're no slouches. I think it just fit my style/size well. Saturday night we met up with Whitey at the campsite, and we played a game of whiffle (sp?) ball with some other climbers, we totally kicked ass. On Sunday my skin and energy was low, but I did manage to squeeze out a redpoint of The Physical a tough V4 that I had tried previously, it was nice to put that one to rest. Right now its time to hit the books, I don't think I'll be getting out again for a couple of weeks until school gets out for summer. Derik sticks the crux match but can't finish off the Cattleguard Arete V8

Whitey on Fedge a cool V2 highball slab

Micah reaches precariously near the top of Bad Moon Rising perhaps the best slab problem I've climbed

Dyno Comp and the last trip of the year

I had a pretty good weekend, on Saturday the Warehouse Rock Gym had a party to celebrate their 4th birthday, there was a cool slide show by Jim Yoder, Jimmy showed his climbing movie on the big screen and there was a dyno comp. Jimmy set all the dyno's. At first glance I thought he had set them way too hard and no one would send them, but it turned out that they were doable and a lot of fun. Me, Jimmy, and Whitey all completed 6 out of the7 (dyno #7 was huge!) Jimmy and Whitey did them with less falls than me. Here are a couple of videos I took of the dynos, the first is a short one of me almost latching the jug on a running start, and the second is of whitey doing dyno #4.

On Saturday we decided to take advantage of the break in the weather and head out for one last climbing trip before the snow, a day trip bouldering out at Leavenworth. Micah drove and we had a full car, Me, Laura, Jimmy and Jeremy. With gas so cheap right now and the car so full gas money was a fraction of what it cost us a couple months ago. We met up with some guys from Evergreen as the so there were 9 of us in total. When we arrived at Forestland it was cool, probably in the high 40s, and very misty, we thought it might burn off later in the day but it was just like for pretty much the whole day. We warmed up with a few of the classics at Forestland, Breadline (V0), The Real Thing (V4), Feel the Pinch (V4) and I did One Summer from the crouch start for the first time which goes at V6. The friction was so good it was hard to fall off. Well it wasn't that good I guess, cause I did manage to fall off The Shield (V7) and some other stuff a bunch of times . Jimmy made impressive sends of The Bedroom Bully (V8) and Busted which is a hard V8 now that the big flake has broken off. I'm keen to get back on those two problems again in the spring, cause I'm fairly close. We headed up to Upper Forestland and took our turns of some of the classics like Fedge, Lovage, The Physical, Sunny and Cheap and Funny and Cheap (all V2-4). It was fun to be climbing in a big group and giving encouragement to everyone trying the problems, it certainly turned what could have been a misty gloomy day into a fun time. Below is a video of me repeating Lovage (V3).

We finished off the day in the Scrambled Eggs area where I wanted to get back on the V8 I had come so close to completing last trip. But my skin was too thin by this point and the crimps hurt too much to really try hard, so I was content to leave this one until spring as well. I did do a couple of V3's there which were a lot fun. It was great to be out climbing at Leavenworth in November, I didn't really expect to get out so it felt like a bonus. Now I have to brace myself for a long winter of climbing indoors, and hope that I remain uninjured and strong for spring.

Jesse on Twisted Stone (V3)

Laura showing the boys how its done

Farewell to Kalymnos

Our time in Kalymnos is finally over, it has been an awesome 6 weeks, but its time to move on.

Me on a token onsight attempt of the Kalymnos classic Aegalis 7c, I got to the 9th bolt of 14, its hard!

The time has flown by, we were originally thinking of only staying 4 weeks in kalymnos, but i'm glad we extended it by a couple of weeks, there is so much there to do, and i feel I still have so much more i want to do there, i just have to get stronger. But I got my main objectives done, I sent my 5.13 project! The route is called Neska Polita, its a 10-bolt 7c+ in the Spartacus area, it took me 9 attempts in total, over 3 days. On my last day working it, i didn't think it would go. The beta I was using at the crux was really complicated, it involved 5 intermediate moves a foot swap and a toe hook, to get to the crux crimp. On what i thought was my last attempt, i almost snatched the crimp, but agonisingly came off, it was way hard. I didn't think i could try it again, so in an act of desperation i tried some other beta that i had seen a guy that onsighted it use. It was basicly just one big sideways lunge to the crimp, instead of my 5 intermediate moves. I changed my feet and i somehow latched the crimp. This might just work, i thought, so i got lowered back down and de-pumped for a good hour or so while Whitey tried one of his projects. When I got back on it I let out a power scream at the crux move and got it! It was the first time i had made it past the crux from the ground, I still had 6 bolts of 7b/+ climbing to go though, i puffed and panted my way through, and used the good rest above for about 10 minutes, and got to the chains. It was a milestone for me my first 7c+ (5.13a), and I felt like i really deserved it. I knew if i didn't finish this project before i left Kalymnos, it would haunt me, so i'm so glad I have closure.

Me onsighting Daphne a cool 7b at Odessy

I'm glad we spent 6 weeks here, staying here a long time has given us the opportunity to meet other climbers. We climbed a lot with Dimitris a greek climber form Athens. He showed us a secret bouldering spot by the beach, its not amazing but its worth a quick session or two. We tried his project a 15 move roof traverse, and after working it for about an hour me and Dimitris both sent it, it goes at about V5, and he is calling it Jump-A. We've also met some other locals, we took Yiannis a local DJ out climbing, he took to it very well, and i belayed him up his first lead on his third day climbing! he is adding to the number of local Kalymnians that are taking up climbing. We've also met some cool americans and other climbers from all over.

Whitey starting up Alexis Zorbas another 7b he redpointed in the sun

Its also interesting seeing how Massouri (the town here) has changed from when we first arrived in April to now. When we first arrived it was practically a ghost town, with most of the bars and restaurants closed still from the winter, the only tourists in town were climbers, and we could have the whole beach to ourselves. Now if you walk down the street, it is busting with English and German holidaymakers out here to soak in the sun. The beach ispacked with literally hundreds of sunbathers on the weekends. Its great that theres more bars and retaurants to chose from, but it defiately lost its climbers-town feel to it.

Our favourite rest day activity, Laura snorkelling in the Aegean Sea

Whitey has left for the states again now. He will go back with lots of memories, he has climbed really well over the last few weeks. He completed almost all of his projects including a 7b+ and 5 7b's I think, which is awesome, he is keen to continue his hard climbing back in the US. Laura has also exceeded her expectations, she flashed yet another 6c the other day taking her tally to 5 6c's which is awesome. Before this trip she had only done 1 and even that one was thought to be a bit soft. She has gained a lot in confidence, and has learnt to really go for it on her flash attempts.

Right now i'm on the neighbouring island of Kos waiting for our ferry to Turkey. The next stop on our european trip is Antalya, Turkey. More sport climbing in the sun, we can't wait!

Me latching the dyno (only to fall off a few seconds later) on an amazing 7c in the Illiada cave.

The view from our balcony of the sun setting over Telendos.

Kaymnos Life

My apologies to those who have been waiting on a new blog entry for a while, the computers here are really fustrating. I've got a cool Deep Water Solo video, but I guess you guys will have to wait til you see me next to see them. Anyway things are going great in Kalymnos. Andy had to go back to Seattle, he tried to extend his trip by another week, but it was too expensive to change tickets. So now its just the 3 of us, Whitey moved into our place, so now its even cheaper staying here for us. Only 6 euros a night, its probably the cheapest rate on the island.

Andy on a cool 6a+ slab

The big news here climbing-wise is that I onsighted a 7c! That is by far my hardest onsight to date. The route was Tzatziki Vikiki a classic steep route in the Spartacus cave. Its a 3 bolt bouldery extension to a 6b, it involves intense upside down climbing coming out of a cave on small fingery pockets with very bad feet. I just tried really really hard and somehow found a way through to the chains. I was so pleased, it was a wake up call for me to get on even harder routes. In other news Laura flashed a 6c here last week, she calls it her 'first real 5.11' it was a proud lead. And today she got another 6c a Kalymnos classic 'Les Amazones' no pushover for the grade. Today Whitey also fought hard and onsighted Jellyfish Pie 7a+/7b, which was really cool to watch.

Laura looking nervous as we prepare to Scooter off

Since last time I wrote we've been exploring new climbing areas. Last week we rented scooters for the day, which was a lot of fun if not a bit scary. We headed up to an area called The Ghost Kitchen on the North side of the island, which is a really cool area. It has a ton of 'tufa mushrooms' which are basicly horizontal stalagtites that are flat so you can sit (or do what ever you want) on them and get a really good rest, it was really fun. Another day we took a boat over to the neighbouring island of Telendos to check out some of the new developments there. We read a new issue of Climb Magazine (UK) in a climbers bar here which was raving about the new climbing area of Irox on Telendos. But it really wasn't all that great, the rock quality is much better on Kalymnos. It was cool to check out Telendos though, its a really nice island, much more chill than Kaly, we'll probably head back there on a rest day, but we'll avoid the nude beach this time though!

Laura climbing well on a steep route at Dolphin Bay

Whitey and I also went exploring around the side of Dolphin Bay, a low-grade crag walking distance from our studio, and found a cool Deep Water Solo area. The cliff is kinda small and up higher the rock gets a bit chossy, but down low its good quality above a great deep landing. So we messed around there and did some cool stuff. We both managed a hard V3/4 Deep Water Boulder problem there, we were a bit dissapointed not to fall in, so we just jumped in, the waters a lot warmer than we expected.

The Oly crew with our Kalymnos T's

As well as this we've also been snorkeling around the coves, which is actually a lot of fun, theres lots to see down there. Its crazy to think we've been here almost a month now, its been great fun but it doesn't feel like we've got all the time in the world anymore, so we're getting a bit more serious about sending projects. I feel like I've got so much I stilll want to do here before we go. So watch this space for news of hard sends, my draws are hanging on a 5.13 (7c+) and tomorrow might be the day!

Taking a break from our Grande Grotta climbs to watch a Spanish climber work on his project, the extension to Aegialis, a 50m 8b! He's still working on it.

Laura belaying Whitey on a 7b at Spartacus

Dom shaking out on his 5.13 project (down to 1 hang now)

Kalymnos First Impressions

We arrived in Kalymnos almost 2 weeks ago with fireworks going off. We flew into Kos its neighbouring Greek isle then took a short ferry from there, we thought maybe the fireworks were for us, but apparantely there was some local celebration that day. It was around midnight but our hostel owner was there to pick us up and take us to our studio in Massouri a short drive away. We were exausted. We decided we needed another rest day before we got on any routes so took the day to go shopping and do laundy. We did quite a big shop since we had to take the bus to the big supermarket. We bulked up on all the good cheap stuff like potatoes, rice, pasta, onions carrots etc. The shop owner was so impressed with our shopping (or maybe he felt sorry for us) that he threw in a free bottle of wine, quite nice wine I think. The place we're staying at is great, it has a little kitchen area for cooking, and a private balcony with a great view. And there is a pool to go swimming or hang out by. All for only 8 euros a night each, it'd be even cheaer if there was 3 of us sharing. And its in a great location surrounded by bars and restaurants only 15 minutes walk from the nearest climbing.

Laura heading out on the first route at Kalymnos, an easy slab

The climbing here is amazing, there is over a thousand sport routes on the island with probably three quarters of them within an hours walk of our studio. Each crag has quite a different style and feel to it. Theres lots of sharp slabby routes at the Peots sector and other areas, small fingery pockets at syblegades rocks, juggy pockets at odyssey, long vertical tufas at Panorama, and crazy steep stalagtites at the Grande Grotta. All of which are amazing to climb, the rock quality is really good and polish isn't really an issue to my surprise. The weathers been great as well, we've had one rainy day, but even then we got out climbing right afterwards. Most days we climb from 9am til 2 or 3 in the afternoon, while the crags are in the shade, but it can get quite chilly with a breeze. Then we spend the afternoons soaking up the rays and recovering by the pool or on the beach. Its a great schedule!

Laura relaxing by the pool at our studio with the Grande Grotta in the background

A couple of my pre-concieved ideas about what Kalymnos climbing would be like have been proven wrong. The grades here are not all soft, a lot of the grades are actually quite hard, especially at the lower level. Some of the 6a's (5.10a's) you really have to work for. At the base of each route is the their name and grade painted on the rock, and I've noticed a lot of the grades in the new guide have come down from what they were originally, so there aren't many soft touches any more. And the routes are bolted well, but not necessarily over-bolted, there have probably been more worrying run-outs that there have been well bolted routes, but it really depends where you go. I did a 7a in the Grande Grotta that was 40 meters long but only had 11 bolts. To be fair I was more concerned about the integrity of the stalagtites, it used to be 6c+ until a huge stalagtite fell off! I was hugging on so tight, it would have been hard for me to come off.

Me finding a rest on Themelina 7b+

I've mostly been onsighting stuff at the moment, up to 7b (i've done 2 onsight now). The hardest thing I've done is Themelina a cool 7b+ I got second go. I'm looking for harder projects, but the routes really lend themselves to onsighting since they're easy to read and usually have good rests on them. A lot of the harder stuff is super long stamina monsters. I want to find something not too long that I can work. Laura is climbing well now that she has a feel for the rock, she does well on the steeper pockety stuff, which is not what she was expecting. She's flashed 3 6b+'s so far and is looking for something her style a bit harder to project. A few days ago our friend Whitey from Olympia and his friend Andy arrived here. Its been great climbing with them and showing them all the good areas. They've fallen in love with the place, and are climbing well, they both redpointed their first 7a+ here and are keen to work harder. Hopefully next time I blog I'll have some hard redpoints to report as well.

Andy redpointing Aphrodite 7a+ (5.12a) in the Grande Grotta

Oh and check out some of my friends who have jumped on the blogging bandwagon.
Outdoor UK - George from Stirling's blog about Fontainebleau with us.
No Skin Left - Micah crushing in Leavenworth and around the PNW
Northwest Rockclimber - Nick from Olympia also climbing in the PNW

Gold Bar Bouldering

On Sunday, I checked out the bouldering at Gold Bar about an hour northeast of Seattle. I went up with the Olympia crew, Me, Laura, Micah, Nick, Jimmy, and Whitey. It was my first visit to Gold Bar, and I'll definitely be back for more.

Whitey on a slopey V6 highball

First we went to the Five Star Boulder which is described in the guidebook as 'one of the best boulders in America, hands down' and having climbed on it I can say its probably the best boulder I've ever been on. Its got high clean independent lines on pristine granite on all sides. The only negatives are the landings on some of the highballs, even with 3 mats and good spotters it was quite scary.

Micah on the steep Five Star Arete V6

I sent a great V6 lowball called Sobriosity, along with Jimmy, Nick and Micah. And Jimmy who was on fire, sent the V7 Red Rover straight afterward. We also took some big falls off of the highballs. Fall of the day went to Jimmy who came off the top jug of the Five Star Arete (V6), missed the mats completely and landed right on Nick. Good spotting Nick! I'm glad it wasn't me, at least we got it on camera though.

Nick on Sobriosity V6

We also checked out the Camp Serene boulder a little bit down the road. This boulder is even taller but with better landings. We tried the two best lines on the boulder a V4 and a V6. But the topouts were wet and dirty so nobody tried to top out on this boulder which was a wise decision in my opinion considering the lack of a descent off the boulder.

Jimmy high on a V6 at the Camp Serene boulder

I was very impressed with the quality of bouldering at gold bar, we only checked out two boulders so there is plenty more to return for. Its cool to have quality bouldering close enough for a day trip, we don't have to drive all the way up to Squamish now. As Micah put it Gold Bar is a goldmine!