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

Fontainebleau

I'm writing this sitting in the sun next to the pool at our place in Kalymnos (I'm writing this on paper first then going to an internet cafe). This place is really a climbers paradise, I haven't failed on a route yet and I onsighted 7b today! But I'll wrote more about Kalymnos later.

After a few days sightseeing in Paris, Laura and I met up with George and Tom, old friends from Stirling and caught the train down to Fontainebleau, the bouldering mecca of the world! It was the first time climbing in Font for all of us so I was a bit worried about how easy it would be to do without a car, but I needn't have have been worried.

George sending an excellent Font 6b in Roche aux Sabot

We picked up some essentials (baguettes, cheese, wine) from a supermarket in town then caught a taxi to the La Muisardierre campsite in the Trois Prinons area. It was warm and sunny so we quickly put up our tents, grabbed our mats and headed to what looked like the closest area in the guide, George aux Chats. After a quick 10 minute walk we stumbled upon some boulders. As it turned out after looking at a friends guide we actually found the Chatauveaux area, an even closer area thats not in my guide. This is a fairly esoteric venue by Font standards, but when we found it, it was like striking gold. Perfectly featured sandstone boulders in a peaceful setting all to ourselves. It turned out that every other place we went after that was even better! I soon learned how tough the Font ratings were after nearly busting a gut sending a stout roof at Chataveaux, only to find it in the guide the next day as Incognito a Font 6b! I thought it felt at least V6 (Font 7a)!

Me demonstrating how not to top out on a Font 6a in the Cul du Chien area

The next few days we spent on mostly easier stuff. We decided to try some circuts. Font circuts for those that don't know is basicly a trail of coloured numbers and arrows that are painted on to the boulders that take you over usually 30 - 50 boulder problems of a similar grade in the area. The ones we tried (yellow, blue, and red) are mostly easier stuff. Font 1c-5c (V0-v2), but they sure felt hard to us. I don't think we ever finished a whole circut. I could talk for days about grading in Fontainebleau but if i had to sum it up i would say, even if the footholds weren't all polished it would still be mostly sandbags (hard). Unless its a roof in which case its still hard but you don't need your feet as much so you can usually get by.

That brings me nicely to one of my favourite problems I did in the forest. Le Toit de Cul du Chien. On the third day we walked to the Cul du Chien area. One of the most iconic boulder problems in Fontainebleau is the big roof at Cul du Chien. It goes at Font 7a, I had seen lots of videos and photos of it before so I knew the beta, climb up to the roof get the first pocket get a high heel hook behind the flake, reach back to the second pocket cut loose and campus to the jug, easy enough right? Well I could get up to the pocket in the roof, but I couldn't get my heel to stick. Eventually in frustration I tried it without the heel just smearing on the back wall and viola I got the second pocket and did the problem! After that I didn't really feel the need to send other hard problems, actually I did try other hard stuff but didn't complete any.

Eric and Erica the Candians on Yogi a steep Font 7b

As for the social scene the campsite was good if a bit expensive (8 euros a night per person). There were only about a dozen or so climbers staying there at any time so there wasn't a big climbing scene like campgrounds at Squamish and Smith. But the climbers especially those without cars tended to congregate in the evenings. On the rainy evenings (there were only a couple of them) we gathered in the shelter and played scrabble (we brought it), or laura played the banjo. And on the nice evenings we sat out by the tents chatting and sipping our cheap (but good) french wine. Most of the climbers there were Brits, but there were others like Brendan, an Aussie travelling through Europe, who cracked us up with his stories, the one about homeless dan was priceless. And we happened to bump into an old friend of mine from the USMC, Sam, so it was nice to catch up.

Me on Le Flippeur a Font 6b in 91.1

Overall it was a great 8 days or so in Font, theres not much I would change if I could. It was a bummer not having warm food, but the baguettes and cheese from Milly (only 20 mins away if you know the shortcut) were pretty damn good. And the climbing was even better than I imagined, Font is more than just slopers and polish. I can't believe I lived so (relatively) close in Scotland for so long without visiting Fontainebleau and it took me to move across the world to visit for the first time. Well it certainly wont be my last visit.

Preparation for the Big Trip

With our jobs quit and our lease almost up, Laura and I decided to do one more trip before we headed off on the big one to Europe. Our ever faithful climbing partner Micah was eager to climb too, so we headed back to our favourite haunt - Leavenworth.

The Sit Start to Spongebob Squarepad -V5

When we arrived at Leavenworth we were please to find it in perfect conditions, warm and sunny but with some snow still on the ground. We headed up to Mad Meadows to try some problems we hadn't done up there before. The boulders up there are top quality. Laura impressed us with a couple of proud V3s that were no pushover, particularly the great arete of Spongebob Squarepad, which is quite committing. Micah and I worked out the sit-start of this problem which we were surprised wasn't in the guide, since its a top quality problem and only went at about V5. Its got to be one of the best V5's in Leavenworth (see photo). Micah then made an impressive flash of The Hole V6. I couldn't quite make the span using Micahs beta, so I figured out my own technical sequence using an intermediate crimp, and sent it soon afterwards.

Pretty Boy -V7

It was a similar case when we tried Pretty Boy, an excellent V7 further up the valley. Micah quickly dispatched it using his basketball skills to jump to the crimp. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't stick the crimp (as I demonstrate in the photo above), so I figured out a sneaky highfoot and technical layback to reach through to the crimp statically. We then walked up the hill to do Pretty Girl V3 and Pretty Woman V5, two top class problems on perfect rock. To top off an already great day, Micah managed a quick send of Scrambled Eggs V8. He was climbing strong, he stuck the hard crimpy moves, and held it together on the heady topout. I tried this problem quite a lot but couldn't keep the body tension.

Me on Pretty Woman - V5

With the campsites closed cause they were buried in snow, we were glad to be spending the night at my friend Miles' house in nearby Ellensburg, where he cooked us up some nice enchiladas, thanks Miles. But I obviously hadn't leaned my lesson in Squamish last summer that the words 'box' and 'wine' don't go well together, and I was paying for it the next morning. We spent most of the day at the Forestlands where we had plenty to work on. Laura came agonisingly close on The Real Thing probably the best V4 in the northwest (yes that's right), but it'll still be there when we come back. And I finally stuck the big move on The Shield V7, only to fall off the slopey topout. But it was such a great trip it didn't really matter.

Micah repeating The Shield -V7

Once again Leavenworth didn't disappoint. Thanks again Micah for hauling our asses out there. In a few days Laura and I will arrive in Scotland for the start of our 18 week European adventure! First stop Scotland, then Fontainebleau, then Kalymnos, then ... well you'll have to keep reading to find out!

Youtube Videos

I haven't made it out climbing in a while now, February weather in the North-West sucks. Luckily for me, Jimmy and Micah have put together some videos from trips last year to keep me psyched. The first one is by Jimmy, the rest are by Micah.

This is of Me, Nick, Micah, Whitey and Jimmy trying a V6 at Goldbar (near Seattle) last August.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl8rlucwbx8

Micah doing some of the classics up at Squamish in September, i'm a very excited spotter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xGVcxZA2yg

-From our trip down to Bishop in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV-cVYJn6I4

-A day trip exploring the Little Si boulders and Rattlesnake Lake near North Bend in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmaBiIsveXE

I'm quite impressed with all the videos, they're not professional quality, but they're very good for first time effort. Hopefully this year we'll get some better footage and make some sick videos!

Scotland

I returned to Scotland for a 2 week visit after a year and a half away living in the US. It was great to see the family especially my brother who had come over from Florida, his first time back since he left 14 years ago! My copy of the new bouldering book 'Stone Play' was waiting for me when I got home. Its a great book, but the fact that there is a pic of me (page 119) may bias my judgement. While I was home the weather barely let up from rain, sleet, and snow but it did let up a couple times to let me go out. I got out to Portlethen on a sunny Sunday morning. Portlethen was an old haunt of mine when I started climbing in Aberdeen, and I had a some of unfinished business I had to see to here. I went out with my friend Anthony who I started climbing with back in 2001. He couldn't climb cause of tendon injuries, but was keen to see if I'd really improved as much as I said I had. We got down to the boulders to find the sport wall soaking wet, which was a bit annoying as i was keen to get back on 7a+ I was close on before i left. But the Broccoli Garden boulder was in the sun, so we did some stuff on that. After a quick warm-up I managed Slap and Tickle a classic 6b+ (V4) after figuring out a good sequence. I had played around on this problem before, but never really attempted it properly. Its given 4 stars (out of 4) which I think says more about the quality of problems at Portlethen than the quality of this problem. I really wanted to try The Pit, the classic of the crag which I had worked on a couple of years ago but i never really got close on. My first go I pulled on and got to the underclings then my foot popped. My second go on I pulled through to the crimp and latched the lip, I had sent it! I was very pleased to have sent it so easily, it was a long term project of mine a couple of years ago for me so it was nice to have done it so easily. I tried The Buzz (7a+) next to it briefly and made some good progress, but i didn't have much time to work on it, and had to get back home.

Sending The Pit (Font 7a) at Portlethen

A couple of days later I headed down to Stirling to hang out with some friends from uni. I was really keen to climb at Dumbarton and get back on some of my old projects there. Despite the gale force winds and heavy rain I headed down with George and Dave, hoping that the weather might let up. We'd barely gotten out of Stirling when Dave's courtesy car broke down, not a good sign. We eventually made it down there about 4 hours after we first set off. When we got to Dumby it didn't look good, it was freezing cold with sideways rain. Despite the terrible conditions I managed to find a dry problem on the side of the Eagle boulder, Zig Zag. I made a feeble attempt at the sit start which goes at British 6b (about V5), but settled for just doing the stand at V1. I nearly got blown off the top of the boulder, getting off the boulder in those conditions was a bit of a nightmare. So we decided to just go to the sanctuary of the Glasgow wall where we met up with Paddy. I was a little dissapointed not to climb more at Dumbarton, but you can't say I didn't try.

A wet Dumbarton

I'm back in the US now and I'm looking forward to hopefully another great year of climbing. I improved my climbing level in 2007 more than any other year. And i'm going into 2008 injury free and in good form. My blog readers can look forward to reports from more exotic locations this year and maybe just maybe i'll climb my first 8a!