Squamish Heat

On Monday morning, Laura and I set off up the road for the first Squamish trip of the summer, Nick and Andrew, a new friend from the gym joined us. We made good time arriving up at Squamish in the early afternoon, and were surprised to find plenty of empty campsites, we later found out this was due to the new camping fee policy there, the site which cost us $9 a night last summer now costs $20 a night for the 4 of us, no wonder there are less dirtbag climbers spending their whole summer there now. We headed straight out to the boulders where we got on some easy classics, it was Andrews first time in Squamish and first time bouldering outside so we showed him some good ones to get started on, he managed to redpoint a V2, which is no easy feat in Squamish. I got on Airtight Garage a V7 that I have been trying for the last 3 summers, I really hate this problem but for some reason I feel the need to keep throwing myself at it because I always feel soo close on it. This time I got even closer than ever, pulling up on the good crimp going for the top, but true to form it kept spitting me off. After about an hour trying this problem I decided to cut my losses and move on. I think its time to forget about this problem, I always loose so much skin trying it, and its just not a fun boulder problem so I’ve decided never to try it again, if anyone ever sees me trying it they have my permission to pull me off it. We wrapped up our little bouldering session soon afterwards and decided to head out to the Smoke Bluffs for some trad action. This was much more fun and relaxed, I led five fun trad routes from 5.7 to 10b, my favorite by far was a route called Neat and Cool, a 10a trad route that starts out steep with some awesome face holds and great gear, and doesn’t really have any hard moves, but will get you pumped if you’re the type of climber that gets pumped, but as I explained to Andrew, I’m not that type of climber. It is probably one of my all time favorite routes. If you can lead 10a trad then you have got to get on this route. We wrapped up the climbing soon after that, as it was starting to get dark so we returned to the campsite, with a good feeling of accomplishment for the first day.

Andrew trying to stick the crux throw of Option B (V2)

Nick cruising a 5.8 at the Smoke Bluffs

Andrew approaching the crux of Pixie Corner his first 5.8 trad lead

The next day we woke up, had some breakfast then headed up the road to Cheakamus Canyon, to do some sport climbing. When we got out of the car we were blown away by the heat, the radio said it was going to reach 30 degrees Celsius, I forgot what that translated to exactly (just checked its 86 degrees F) but I knew it was pretty warm. We struggled in the heat but we managed to get up a few routes by sticking to the shade. The Well of Souls was cooler so we did a few routes there, Nick and I tried a really cool looking 12c called Timber Queen, it climbed really well til one stopper move near the top but we weren’t able to link this move. I really wanted to go for the onsight of a couple of 12a’s there. Of the 6 12a’s I’ve tried this year I’ve onsighted or flashed them all so thought I had a pretty good chance, but a combination of hot temperatures and cryptic sequences shut me down, so I had to settle for second go send of the two that I tried. I gave Nick running beta on one of them and he managed the flash, the 12a’s there are no walk in the park. Andrew and Laura managed a couple of impressive sends as well despite the heat, Andrew managed to flash a tough 10d at the Well of Souls and Laura managed an onsight of a 10d at foundation wall, nice job! On our way back from Cheakamus we stopped off at Wigan Pier a British style fish and chips restaurant, it was soo good, its run by a British expat so it tastes just like fish and chips from back home, I got cod and chips, a steak and kidney pie and an irn-bru, it was well worth it. After dinner we weren't feeling to motivated to climb but we had an hour or so of daylight so bouldered a bit in the forest before calling it a day.

Me on the amazing route Neat & Cool, 5.10 trad at the Smoke Bluffs

Me climbing in the sun

On Wednesday Andrew and Nick had planned to get up at 6am to beat the crowds to Diedre a super popular 5.8 multipitch up the Apron. Laura and I had already done that climb so planned on going up Banana Peel an 8-pitch 5.7 next to it which isn't quite as popular so we figured we'd get up at a much more reasonable 7.30. We got up had a bite to eat and headed up towards the climb. On our approach we saw them only a pitch up the wrong climb! We shouted up at them that they were on the wrong climb. They rapped down and waited in line for Diedre, but by this point there were a few parties ahead of them so they had to wait for quite a while. Our climb was a lot of fun, it only had a couple of sections of 5.7 climbing, the rest was running it out on easy slabs. Laura and I climbed really efficiently together, and Laura even led the last pitch to the top. We got back to the campsite around 11 had lunch, packed up the campsite, listened to the radio took a nap and waited for Nick and Andrew to get back. We waited and waited and eventually at 2.30 they made it back to the campsite, they were ok, it just took them a long time being stuck behind a few groups. By the time they had lunch and packed it was getting close to our leaving time, and it was way too hot to get on anything, so we drove down to Murin Park to go for a swim in the lake. It was a great way to finish off the trip. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to do that I just didn't have time for, but I will be back soon!

Laura takes a seat to place gear on the last pitch of Banana Peel on the Apron

Me and Nick cool off in Murrin Lake before we head home

5.13 Eh?

On Saturday I climbed Crawling From the Wreckage my second ever 5.13 rated route, my first in North America. It all began last Friday, I caught a ride up to Exit 38 with Micah, Nick, Erica and Greg. We hiked up to Bob's Area where we warmed up on a couple of 10's at Lost Resort. Micah really wanted to check out the 13a there that we had seen a couple of years ago. It was a lot different than I had remembered, a lot steeper and harder looking. Its 20 degrees overhanging the whole way, very featured but it looks like all the holds are sloping the wrong way. Once we were warmed up I volunteered to go first and put up the draws. The start is really nice, the first three clips are technical 5.10+ climbing to a good rest below the third clip. Then from there you bust straight into the crux, which is a V4 deadpoint move to a small three finger crimp, except that on my first go I had no idea how to do the move, it wasn't until later that I figured out a sequence that worked there. From there you make a series of big moves off of small but positive holds, its really fun climbing. Then you get to a point where you have to use two bad opposing pinches to slap up to a big sloper, that is probably the redpoint crux, then from the sloper you have to make a hard clip and then its a series of crimpy moves up to a victory jug, which is still really hard when your pumped. I managed to put up all the draws and get to the chains on my first go which was a good mental barrier to overcome so quickly. Micah took his turn and we exchanged beta, refining our sequence. Nick then showed up from warming up with Erica down below, and he hopped on. He loved it as well, making good progress using our beta. We were all feeling pretty worked by then so figured we better move on and try some easier stuff. I decided to toprope it one last time, to take out the bottom draws and replace some so that we had leaver draws for the next time we got on it. I surprised myself by getting it clean on toprope, which was definitely a confidence booster. We moved on up the hill to some other crags, but Micah and I vowed to come back to work on this route more. Up at Slumbersome Ridge we did a handful of other routes which were good fun, we had the whole crag to ourselves. Erica had the idea to bring a stove and food up to make a curry which at first I thought was pretty crazy, but it was really nice eating some good food and some wine before the walk down.

Micah on the technical start of Crawling from the Wreckage

Mmm dinner!

The next day Micah and I were really tired, but we knew we had to go back up there and strike while the iron was hot. Laura came along too and the three of us made the long hike up again. The day got off to a good start with Laura redpointing her project at Amazonia on the way up, an 11a that she looked really smooth on. When we eventually made it up to the climb I was absolutely exhausted, I wasn't even sure if I would get on the climb. But after a bit of a rest and some food, we warmed up on some other climbs then went for it. I had been going over the beta in my head the whole walk up so I knew I had the sequence dialed. I got up to the rest at the 3rd clip took a shake, looked up at the moves ahead and went for it. The next few moves went by so quickly and before I knew it I was on the sloper making the crux clip, just a few more moves to go, I wasn't even feeling that pumped. I got up to the victory jug, but I didn't celebrate yet, I wanted to make sure I clipped the chains first, and I did! Project sent! It was more of a relief to have it sent first go of the day, as I knew I probably couldn't match that attempt again on that day, its short but really intense. Micah was shocked that I did it so quickly, and part of me felt that I had let him down in a way by not working on it longer with him, but I was really glad to have it done. Micah gave it a few goes with long rests in between, but he was having trouble keeping the pump at bay going into the crux. We tried a couple other climbs at Peannacle during his rests, and Laura managed an onsight of a 10d there! This was her hardest onsight in over a year, so understandably she was really pleased. Micah didn't manage the send on that day, but he has the sequence down, so it is only a matter of time now.

You'll get it soon Micah!

The end of an era

Today July 16th 2009 marks the end of an era for climbing in Olympia as we know it. Today is the day I loose my status as the #1 route climber in Olympia. Micah, Nick and Jimmy have been biting at my heels since I moved out here and took the Olympia climbing scene by storm in 2006, and I've managed to keep them at bay over the last few years. But as of midnight tonight Jimmy will officially be the #1 route climber in Olympia according to his score on 8a.nu. On this day last year I did one of my proudest onsights Bibendum a 7b+ (12c) at Ceuse France. Now it will expire from my scorecard to be replaced by a 7a onsight, dropping my score down to 8,767 points. Jimmy has had a great year so far with 2 7c redpoints 3 7b+ redpoints and 5 7a+ onsights giving him a very strong score of 8,825. He deserves it, he has been on fire this year and has proven himself as a strong route climber as well as a boulderer. That's not to say I'm not going to give up without a fight though. The year is not over til the fireworks go off on Dec 31st, so I have time to come back and retake my title, and I'm going to try my hardest to do so.

Whats even more impressive is that in 4 days time on 7/20/09 Worm World Cave a V9 Micah did in Squamish last year will drop off his scorecard and Jimmy will take the #1 boulderer in Olympia title away from Micah. This will be the first time in about 2 and half years (when I first lost the bouldering title to Jimmy) that the same person will hold both the #1 route climber and #1 boulderer in Olympia title at the same time. Only time will tell if he will still hold both titles at the end of the year. I for one am going to do all I can to take back my #1 in routes title.

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.

A weekend of onsights

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

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

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

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

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

Downpour

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

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

Micah giving PC7 (12d) a shot.

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


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


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