Payday at Little Si

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

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

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

The view of Californicator from below.

Back on Top

Yesterday I had a great day out at Ozone. It was hard to find partners to to go with, so it ended up just me, Jimmy and Eric, from the climbing team. It was Eric's first time doing routes outdoors, I kind of felt bad for him knowing that most of the day was going to be me and Jimmy projecting 5.12s. But he had a great time, he got on quite a few routes including his first lead, a 13 clip long 5.8 called No Nuts, and got a taste of some cracks on toprope.

My main objective of the day was to go for the onsight of Grace the 12b there. On my last trip there I had gone around the corner when Jimmy was working the 12d which shares some of the same moves so I wouldn't see any of the beta. I'm glad I did because I managed the onsight! It was a battle, the first part took a lot out of me then I figured out an opposing heelhook sequence to get through the main crux, and from there I was able to keep the pump at bay before I clipped the chains. It was a really good route, maybe the best I've done at Ozone so far.

I also tried the 12d, which isn't too bad, but has a very powerful crux that I couldn't do. And I went for the onsight of Angle of the Dangle, the 12c roof crack. I got up to the the crack and was feeling good, but at that point there is a fixed micro cam that you have to clip that protects the crux. I was very weary about falling on the cam since it looked pretty frayed and unsafe, I ended up just pulling on the gear to get past this part, and I got to the chains. Its a shame there isn't a bolt on the roof instead of the fixed cam, cause I felt I could have committed and really gone for the onsight. Jimmy decided to go for the flash since he saw me manage all the moves. He got up to the roof clipped the fixed cam, but couldn't commit either, he decided to just lower off the cam and clean the draws below. Just as he cleaned the last draw and was about ten feet off the deck the cam snapped! He landed on top of Eric who was belaying him, luckily they were both fine, but I'm glad I didn't commit to the crux and fall on that cam. I inspected the piece that broke and it was actually the wire stem that severed, I guess it was rubbing against the edge of the crack, it didn't look in good shape when I saw it up close on the route. The head of the cam is still stuck up in the crack, which blocks any other gear from going in there, I hope someone just sticks a bolt up in the roof, fixed gear on routes is whack.

Me on Angle of the Dangle

What was left of the cam after Jimmy decked on it

After that our motivation was pretty low, but I led a fun 5.9 trad finger crack, and Jimmy flashed Grace the 12b, and gave the 12d another burn. The 12b flash for Jimmy will help his score on 8a a bit, but my onsight of that route, and with the 12a onsight I got at Little Si on Sunday and the 12a I onsighted at Squamish last week has put me back at the #1 spot in Olympia in the route rankings on 8a.nu. We both still have some room for improvement, so we'll see what happens between now and the end of the year, no doubt it will be close!

Slipping on a Banana Peel

I started writing about my accident on the route Banana Peel (8 pitch 5.7) at Squamish on my last blog, but it took up most of the post, so I thought I write about it separately, so it doesn't overshadow the rest of a great trip. I was climbing the route with Sarah, and we were making good progress, Sarah was doing great considering her lack of experience on multi-pitch routes. We were about half way up the route and I was linking the 5th and 6th pitches together. I figured I could just about manage to link them with with a 60m rope, but I didn't quite make it. At the top of the 6th pitch after some 5.7 climbing I placed a bomber hex under a flake then ran it out up a blank slab. I was almost within reaching distance of the big tree on a ledge to belay from but I ran out of rope so I put a sling around a tree root and decided to belay from there until I could climb up a few feet higher to the more secure tree. Sarah took me off belay and started climbing up. When I had a few feet slack I pulled up on the tree root (which was about the same thickness as a steering wheel, so pretty chunky) that I was slinged into to get up to the tree. One second I was pulling on this seemingly solid root, the next I was flying backwards down the slab, the root had broken off in my hand! I wasn't clipped into anything now, and I wasn't on belay but I was still tied in. I didn't have much time to react, my instinct was just to reach my hands out and try to catch on to something, and luckily the angle of the slab wasn't too steep and I was able to create enough friction to stop myself on the slab, I fell about 20 feet total. If I hadn't been able to stop myself, I would have kept on falling past my last piece of gear, another 10ft below when the rope would go tight on Sarah, for a total fall of something like 60ft. I probably would have been fine, but it would have been very scary. As it happened when I came to a stop my right arm was scraped up and I had a nasty flapper on the tip of my thumb that was bleeding a lot, but other than that I was fine. I regained my composure, assessed my injuries and figured the best plan was to try to get back up to the tree ledge and continue up the route, there were just two 5.4 pitches left. I belayed Sarah up from the big tree, and when she got up to the ledge, she could see all the blood on my hand and my spooked expression. I didn't explain to her exactly what happened then, I figured it would be better to explain when we got off the route. I think she could tell that I just wanted to get up and off the climb at that point. The next two pitches were fine, I was able to climb them without really having to use my thumb. When we got to the top, Nick and Erica were up there, having just finished their adjacent route Diedre, so I filled them and Sarah in on what happened.

My thumb, the next day after I cleaned it up.

I learned a few things from this accident. 1) Don't be so complacent on easy routes, most accidents happen not from the difficulty of the climbing but from other factors. 2) Place lots of runners even on easy terrain. Luckily I was climbing with Sarah and I placed lots of runners to protect the second. When I did the same route the day before with Nick I placed a lot less gear, including the bomber hex I would have fallen on. If I had fallen all the way with the gear I had in the day previous it could have been a 100ft fall. 3) Don't trust tree roots so much, especially after a record breaking dry summer. 4) Don't try to link pitches to save time, when your not sure if your rope will make it.

I also think I made a few good decisions on this accident that are worth mentioning as well. When I fell I instinctively tried to reach out and grab anything to stop the fall, that was a good reaction that saved me taking a much bigger fall. After the fall I was able to maintain my composure and think through what to do next rationally, I think a common reaction after taking that fall would be to panic which wouldn't have helped in this situation. And my decision to continue up the route was the right choice, rappelling off from this high on a route with two other groups below and with another climber inexperienced in rappelling is just asking for another accident to happen.


In retrospect I'm almost glad I had this accident, I have climbed for a long time without any serious mishaps, it reminds me that I'm not invincible. I feel liked I learned a lot more from falling on this route, than I would have had I climbed it without incident. Here is an quote I heard recently that seems appropriate: 'Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment' - Fred Brooks.

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

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.