Squamish Bust

I was hoping to write a blog about how I climbed amazing long routes up The Cheif in Squamish, but my trip didn't quite work out that way. On my first day there, I met up with Micah, Jimmy, David and his brother who were all psyched on bouldering, so off we went into the forest. I've got a lot of respect for boulderers, some say they are the most ADD of climbers, but I think it requires a huge amount of patience and drive to try the same move over and over. I know my attention span is not up for it which is why I prefer routes, and rarely try the same route more than once or twice. I didn't get to boulder much, I flashed a V4, got worked on a V8, then literally on the next problem I tried tragedy struck.



David working his nemisis, Mantra (V8)

 Well maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. We were trying Superdyke (hardest V3 ever), I was on the crux rockover, only about 6ft above the pads when my foot popped and the next thing I knew I was rolling on the ground in agony. Luckily newly-certified wilderness first responder Micah was there to administer some much needed Rainiers, which really helped with the pain, as did the 20+ Ibuprofen's I took that evening (I was in a lot of pain). Thanks to David for giving me a piggyback out of the forest, and to Jimmy for exacting revenge on the problem for me.

The trip wasn't a complete bust though. When I was hanging around the campground I saw Kristen Kreuk an actress from the TV show Smallville heading up the tourist trail to the top of the Cheif. I had the hugest crush on when I was a teenager, in fact I think a poster of her might still be on my bedroom wall in Scotland. I'm certain it was her, she was looking good! I was too paralyzed to talk to her, I think I may have creeped her out with my staring though. For the rest of the trip I just chilled by Murrin Lake with my ankle in the water, read some books and daydreamed about meeting Kristen again.

The swelling has gone down a lot in my ankle now and I can walk again. I got it x-rayed today and they confirmed that it is just a bad sprain. I'm supposed to keep it in a boot for a couple of weeks, but hopefully the swelling will go down enough to fit it into a climbing shoe soon. Just no more bouldering for me, at least not anytime soon.

Mazama

I have known about the climbing at Mazama, and have wanted to make a visit for a while now. A couple of years ago I met Bryan Burdo (the developer) at Little Si and he was practically raving about Mazama. The main obstacle to me making a visit was the 5 hour drive from Olympia, the same distance as Squamish and Smith. Laura, Austin, Chas, Cori and I were all able to do a three day weekend, so we headed out Friday night. The drive wasn't too bad and there was plenty of free camping that was easy to find.

Warning, the water is MUCH colder than it looks!

Austin being brave, not only because the water was cold, but because it was only 3ft deep here.

The first morning we climbed at the Rhinozone at Mazama Rocks, the main area. The walk to that crag makes the Quarry approach look tough, it was sweet. The climbing in these areas is moderate and blocky, similar in some ways to Exit 38, but the rock was a little different, more like basalt. To be honest, none of the routes we did here were spectacular, but it was fun getting some mileage in. Early in the afternoon the crags get in the sun, so we retreated to the local general store/cafe, which has a great shaded courtyard where they serve beer and ice cream. The river across the road is really nice as well, the river was a little too cold to hang out in for long, but it did do a good job of cooling our beer. At 5pm the crags come back into the shade so we were able to get a few more pitches in.

Not a bad way to wait out the mid-day sun

The next day we checked out Prospector Crags which is described in the guide as perhaps the best moderate sport crag in the state. We only managed to get on a few climbs since once again the sun warmed it up pretty early, but didn't think any of the climbs were worth getting too excited about. Another dip in the river and evening session at Fun Rocks followed, so far I hadn't gotten on any hard routes, or any routes that were worth writing home about, but that was to change the next day.

At 5pm at Fun Rock, right when it gets in the shade.



Austin and Chas on some samey 5.10 slabs

Monday morning we headed up to Gate Creek Crag, which has one of the longest approaches at around half an hour, but its a pleasant walk. When we arrived I wish I had brought more layers, as it stays quite a bit cooler since it gets a lot of shade and has a creek close by. We climbed at Fire Wall which is a very impressive limestone wall that raises up 200ft with some pretty steep angles in places, it reminded me of a mix between Astral Wall at Tieton and the Big Show at Checkamus, but better and on limestone. There are not a ton of routes up there, but whats there is very high quality and there is potential for a lot more. There wasn't many easy climbs but the 11s and 12s were excellent. Austin sent his first ever 11b, a sweet route called Urban Refugee (first half). I went up Firestarter a 12c the guidebook describes as "hard for the grade", I got up to the last move and was staring down a big tickmark, but I pumped out, after feeling the hold I really wish I had committed and thrown for it, because it is huge! I sent it next go, I think its one of the best I've done at the grade anywhere. The extension "The Eighth Rule" is an incredible looking 13a that I definitely need to go back for. Who wants to come next time? 

Limestone 11b at its best!

Infinite Bliss

Yesterday Esteban, Micah, James and I climbed Infinite Bliss up Mt. Garfield, the longest sport climb in North America, it weighs in at 23 long pitches of 10c or less (mostly sub 5.9), 2,600 ft of climbing. I'm still tired and sore from climbing the route, too tired to really write the full blog post it deserves. It was a great experience but one that I am unlikely to do again. I loved the long granite sport pitches, but the 300 ft solo across a sea of choss was one of the scariest things I've had to do, and the fun climbing does not outweigh that fear I had doing it. All in all the 4 of us took 8 hours to climb it from base to summit. 17 hours from car to car, we started out pretty fast and simul-climbed up the first 10 pitches in good time. I was skipping a lot of the unnecessary bolts to save time and to be able to simul climb several pitches at a time. I found the bolting peculiar. Anything that was slightly hard was really well (over?) bolted to the point where I could have z-clipped on several occasions, but the easy pitches had very few if any bolts, I would have done it differently. What took the most time was rappelling back down, even though it was a Wednesday it was crowded with 10 people on the route, at one point we had 7 people at one anchor station. We had a couple of snafu's with caught ropes which slowed us down, but we made it back down eventually, even if we did have to bust out the headlamps. We were the first up and down, I don't envy the other climbers who were only half way down well after dark. Overall it was a good experience, but I look forward to some single pitch action this week. I whipped out my camera a few times during the climb, here are a few shots. Once again check Micah's blog for a much more in depth report.

James and Micah starting out pitch 1



We unroped and soloed this part since there were no bolts



Esteban keeps his cool while soloing

James seconds up the really fun crux 10c pitch

The view from the top of pitch 18. There are 7 climbers visible in this photo, can you spot them all?

James celebrates reaching the summit

Now time for 20 or so rappels to get back down

Micah and Esteban trying to dodge falling rock on the rap back down

Rappelling side by side was a big time saver

Sending Season

Its that time of year, when fitness finally catches up with expectations and projects start to fall. On Saturday a big Oly crew headed up to Little Si where conditions were prime. Lisa finally managed to take down her long-term project Psychosomatic, likewise Nick with Propaganda. I don't have a big project at Little Si, but I wanted to get back on Dairy Freeze a 12b I tried and failed on back in 07 and 09. I put the draws up and felt the moves, it didn't feel nearly as hard as I had remembered, and I managed to finish it off next go. I started off a sending train with Jimmy and Nick getting it straight afterwards. Its not often that we come away from Little Si with any new sends let alone a handful. That night we all went out in Seattle to give Micah a good send off.

After a well needed rest day, Jimmy Lisa, Kevin, Micah and I checked out Rosario a crag up on Whidbey Island. I was skeptical since I had never heard of it before, but it was well worth the drive. It is a small 40ft overhanging cliff with about half a dozen good independent lines (and a bunch of random bolts smattered in between). What makes this crag unique is its beautiful surroundings. I can't think of a more picturesque setting for a crag. The climbing is very fun as well, bouldery powerful routes, very gym like. After warming up on a couple of moderates I managed a 2nd go send of the crag classic Sissy-Boy. It felt basic for 12d, but I'll take it. Jimmy managed to flash it, and Micah, Kevin and Lisa all made really good progress on it. Jimmy also managed another 12d, which I got agonizingly close on, but no send. I look forward to coming back to this crag though. For more (and better) photos check out Micah's blog.

Lisa working Sissy-Boy

Kevin and Micah belaying

The view from the crag

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day

Shangri-La

I check out a new area at Exit 38 called Shangri-La with James yesterday. There's some information here and here about this new crag. I had heard tales of this rock being amongst the best quality at 38 and comparable to Index, with long routes and even some trad. So we went with high expectations, and we were not disappointed. The routes are long and very involving, and you need your full bag of tricks for them.

James at Shangri-La. Its hard to get a good photo of the crag.

We warmed up on a 10cish climb called Crouching Tiger, it was a really fun technical route on grippy slopers. Next up was History Book a 10a corner crack. I had to do a bit of gardening on my way up (its much cleaner now), but it was still pretty enjoyable, despite my at times questionable gear placements. My favorite route on this wall was Hidden Dragon, a long and devious 11c or so. I had to use every inch of my 5'8" +1 reach on a couple of spots. It was so much fun to be climbing pure onsight, with not a dab of chalk on the route, figuring out moves and improvising beta on the fly. The most challenging route I did was Hypertension, which starts up a V4ish boulder problem start that involves a painful pinky jam, that I finally figured out after using an excessive amount of tape. Its not over there though, it makes you think all the way to the chains, where I opted to reach out left manteling bad slopers to lunge for a thank god jug, I normally climb quietly and efficiently but this route required a couple of power screams, I'm glad I didn't blow it at the end. This route gets 5.11+, but it'd be one of my hardest ever 5.11's. I think 12a may be more appropriate.

James follows up Small Arms Fire

We checked out the rest of the routes there, some of which look very good, some of which need a lot more cleaning, there is potential for even more routes there. We finished up on a fun 10b Small Arms Fire, which is a rap in-climb out, route, a great way to finish off the day.

My 100th 5.12 and Monkey Space

The weather in Washington has been pretty bad this summer so far and I was getting tired of climbing at Little Si. So Chas, Jimmy, Lisa and I headed down to Smith Rock on Wednesday night seeking some better weather. I've never climbed at Smith in the summer before, but this week was unseasonably cool, and in the shade the temps were perfect. I checked out some areas I hadn't been to before; the lower gorge, upper shipwreck, mesa verde, and the monkey face, and was not disappointed by any of them. At the lower gorge I managed to climb the amazing stemming route Pure Palm on my second attempt (note to self don't climb at the gorge in the blazing AM sun). At upper shipwreck I surprised myself with an onsight of Undertow a very fun gym-like 12b. According to my scorecard that route marks my 100th ever 5.12 or harder. Starting with my first one back in September 2005, I've climbed 52 12a's, 22 12b's, 17 12c's, 6 12d's, and 3 13a's. Pretty cool huh?

Lisa manages to climb Pure Palm without all the whining

Jimmy shows us how not to climb Smith 5.11s

Lisa making 5.13 look cool but hard

The highlight of the trip was definitely climbing Monkey Face though. I had often admired the 350ft free standing pillar before but had never gone up it. Chas who had been up via the Pioneer Route, encouraged me to go for the all-free Monkey Space route which is named for the super exposed 11a pitch which traverses out into a scary position high on the face. The first couple of 5.8 trad pitches were a lot of fun, we each took a lead. When it came time for me to go for the airy third pitch I was prepared for the worst. The holds which started out great soon turned pretty bad, but I took solace in the not-too-badly spaced bolts. The crux involves pulling over a bulge on sloping holds with awkward feet, I looked down to try to get my feet placed well, but seeing all the air below me made me a little queasy so I focused on my hand holds and managed to pull through. I guess the pitch is technically mixed, but I didn't read the description very closely so was forced to run out the 20ft flake to the mouth of the cave, since I didn't bring gear for this pitch. It was awesome! Once we were in the cave Chas tried to send me up what he was "sure" was our next pitch. I started up it, but the lack of chalk and crappy bolts led me to think this wasn't it. After checking the guidebook later, we found out the route was a sketchy 5.13 project, I'm glad I didn't get much further up it. Instead I took a look up the other side of the cave where I found a well chalked line of holds that looked a lot more like the 11b that we were supposed to go up. Although the hard climbing on this pitch only lasts for 3 bolts, it packs it in there, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think I was going to fall. But I pulled it out, latched the victory jug and romped up the final 5.4 section to the top of the Monkey Face. Success! It was a great trip with Chas, Jimmy and Lisa, and it has me excited for upcoming Fall trips back down there now that I know what some of the other areas at Smith have to offer.

We should have read the description a little closer before heading up

The view looking up from the base of Monkey Face

Chas getting sunburned while waiting for me to follow him up pitch 2

Starting up the airy 11a pitch. Its hard to tell, but I'm actually very scared.

After the crux, holding on to a huge jug.

Chas following the 3rd pitch. This photo doesn't do the exposure justice.

Chas and I on the summit of the Monkey Face.

Propaganda

I had an amazing day of climbing today at Little Si. It was one of those days where everything just clicks, and you are so grateful that you are a climber. I knew it was going to be a good day when I made it up the hike in without getting totally out of breath and with minimal sweating. Nick was back in town, it was great to catch up with him, and feed off of his motivation. Nick was psyched to get on Propaganda, he had all the beta mapped out on a piece of paper (which he left in the car!), so after a quick warm up on Aborigine we hopped on it. On my first go I got schooled, I couldn't fathom the crux, and was pulling up on draws the whole way skipping over hard sections. Nick helped me figure out a few moves, so that on my second go I managed to come up with a way that got me through the crux. It involved a heinous fully extended double gaston move where you then had to hike your feet up and stab for another gaston. I can't believe it worked, but it did. I still struggled a lot on the rest of it, I think I probably 6 hanged it that go. After Nick had his go on it, and did considerably better than me, and I rested some more, and tried again. Somehow my crux beta worked, and I was up at the no hands rest. I was stoked to make this much progress, and I figured I better try really hard on this attempt since I might not make it up there again.

This time I climbed it much more efficiently and even figured out some better beta on the fly. Next thing I knew I was at the chains. WOW! Did that really just happen? I went from flailing all over it, to the send so quickly. Unfortunately Nick didn't get the send even though he probably deserved it more than I did, but I can tell he took a lot of pleasure from my send though. As for the grade, I don't know, but when I was working it, it felt so much harder than Gerbil Killer the 13a next to it. As an added bonus, I ran into the extremely talented and very friendly climber Jonathan Siegrest again and got to see him get the second ascent of Wide World of Fitness 14b/c!

I'm headed back to Little Si Thursday, and I've got a good vibe about it already!