Dry Spell

The blog has gone a bit quiet recently. I'd like to say its because I've been too busy climbing to update, but the truth is that I've had a bit of a dry spell of late. I know its not really an excuse, but I have been absolutely loving teaching, and giving it my all pulling long hours has left me exhausted on the weekends. Its been just too hard to consider a weekend trip to Smith or Vantage. People have told me that its been one of the driest Falls in recent memory, but I just haven't had the time/energy to enjoy it. Hopefully I will be able to find a better balance this upcoming winter/spring.

I have managed one day out recently though. It was a crisp, clear Saturday in December, and Jeremy, Derik, David and myself headed up to test the friction at Gold Bar. I've always been skeptical of those who swear by bouldering in near-freezing conditions, but I've got to say, after this trip I might be a convert. I had been thinking about a certain couple of V6's on the Five Star Boulder ever since I was last there back in 07 (wow i feel like an old man saying things like that). My goal was to climb at least one of them. It was too cold to consider warming up, plus the boulder doesn't really have any warm ups, so I got straight on Green Padded Ass. The starting sloper rails felt like jugs with the cold crystals gripping into my dry skin. As I climbed higher the slopers got worse, my feet cut off, but there was no way my hands were losing contact with the rock, then I was topping it out on icy jugs. My first climb of the day, and I'd already met my goal. I almost sent Five Star Arete as well, but the finish jug was a little too damp to allow me to hold the swing. We then moved on to the river boulders at Index, my first time there and I was impressed. I got on the excellent Leggo my Eggo, and some river polished boulders that were HARD! It was fun taking turn and sessioning with the guys. I'm looking forward to getting back to these areas, especially since I now know that Green Padded Ass actually starts with a V0 sit-start, so I can't quite add it to my scorecard just yet. I'll just have to make sure I get back out there in equally cold conditions, otherwise I might have to try a bit harder.

Jeremy floating up the Five Star Arete, the rock is as good as it looks!

The hold just above his right hand was just damp enough to shut us down.

 

The picturesque, but deceptively hard River boulders. It is waay colder than Derik's and David's attire suggests.

The ever faithful Sasha! The river wasn't too cold for her.

South Sound Pull Down 2011

Another year has gone by and its comp season again. The big (and only) climbing competition of the year in Olympia is the South Sound Pull Down, its usually a big deal in the local community and this year was no exception. With Jimmy at college up in Seattle the setting duties fell to Derik, Jeremy, Drew, Lisa, Laura, Chas, Chris and a few others, sorry if I didn't mention you by name. They did a fantastic job and everyone had a great day.

I don't really consider myself much of a boulderer nowadays, I haven't made a single Leavenworth bouldering trip this year. But I feel I can still hold it down on the boulders when I want to. Going into the comp I had flashed a few V6's in the gym, but hadn't really tried anything harder. I entered the Male Advanced category and thought I'd have a good chance at the title.

A harder problem I completed, a 800 point burly roof problem to a nasty crimpy finish that weighs in at around V6.

On comp day a number of out-of-towners showed up, which was great to see. In my category there were a couple of strong guys from Tacoma competing against me. I kept my eye on them, and we were pretty much neck and neck until I managed to unlock a tricky high scoring slab problem, which put me over the top. Just like last year though a competitor from the Intermediate category somehow beat my score (by only 10 points!), but I wasn't too concerned as they still called me out first when it came to the prizes and I picked up by far the most valuable prize, a gift certificate to a course offered by the American Alpine Institute worth $790! I plan on using it on a Single Pitch Instructor course which I'm really looking forward to. Thanks again to Sierra and everyone at the gym for organizing such a great comp and getting such awesome prizes!

Stoked about my prize, and the medals were a nice touch!

Fall Weekends

Its been a little while since my last post, and looking back at my previous one, it feels like a lot has changed. The rain has come and we are deep into fall here. I've been climbing more indoors, but have still managed a couple of weekend trips. A few weekends ago Tony and I drove out to Vantage and met up with some other folks there for a fun weekend. I was pretty tired from work, so didn't really feel like pushing myself, but I never really do at Vantage. It was nice just to be outside having fun with friends.

Tony showing us how to "plank" on top of The Cob at Corn Wall

Last week I made it out to Tieton and met up with a good group from Olympia. It was many peoples first time climbing at Tieton so we started out at The Cave area which had something for everyone. We managed to avoid the dozen or so rattlesnakes we encountered and I did a few new (to me) routes there, which were really fun. After an excellent campfire Saturday night, Chas and I got our trad gear out at The Bend. According to the notes in my guidebook, it had been exactly 5 years and a week since I last climbed at this crag. I don't know why I hadn't been back since, because the routes are great. I felt pretty challenged warming up on a 5.8 hand crack, but decided I'd be more comfortable on a 10c finger crack. There was one point up high in the climb where I was in a sketchy spot above a half-set small nut and a tcu with only two lobes in. I swore at myself for putting myself in that situation but I managed to get through it and can now look back on it and laugh. Chas opted wisely to just top-rope that one. After that experience it may be a while til I get my trad gear out again, but most likely I'll forget about it until the next time I do a route like that. Here's a few photos of the Tieton trip from Tyler.

The routes on the middle wall at The Cave are phenomenal, I just wish there were more of them.

Mark's Wall at The Cave has some pretty awesome routes too!

I don't think I've got many more climbing trips in me this year. Maybe a Smith trip in November. I'm loving teaching but it leaves me pretty tired on the weekends, and its nice to able to have a relaxing weekend in town, like I did this weekend.

Escaping the Heat

It definitely wasn't the last weekend of summer last weekend. Saturday and Sunday were hot in Olympia, it was one of those weekends where I really felt glad to be living where I am, especial when I talk to my folks about the weather back back home. On Saturday Steve and I got out climbing at Amazonia at Exit 38. It is one of the coolest (literally) places to climb in the area. It was completely shaded and in great condition. I finished the last routes I had left to do at that crag. Some of which were great (the 10d on the far left) and some not so great (the 10d on the far right). We also climbed Giant one of my all time favorites routes at the Actual Cave.

On Sunday I headed out to Lake Cushman with a few others from Olympia. In all my time in Olympia I had never made the 1 hour drive out to Lake Cushman, and now I really regret it. I can't think of a better place to go to escape the heat in Olympia. There is even some climbing there, its not great, but the swimming and sunbathing defiantly makes it worth the trip. Unfortunately the weather this weekend doesn't look as promising, but if its dry I plan on getting out somewhere.


Justin at Lake Cushman



Not the best climbing, but worth bringing a rope for.

Last Summer Weekend

It certainly doesn't feel like summer is on its way out right now. But last weekend was my last before I started teaching full-time this week. I'm enjoying teaching a lot, and hopefully it wont stop me from getting out climbing a lot. If you want to follow what I'm doing in class check out my teaching blog. It was a great weekend in Mazama with Steve and Austin. We climbed at Gate Creek, chilled by the river and did the classic 11-pitch 5.9 up Goat Wall called Prime Rib. Here are some photos.

Austin gives Steve a good belay on the bouldery start to a new route at Gate Creek, (11dish?)

Typical Steve pose 3 pitches up Prime Rib

Austin gets good practice managing ropes, while Steve follows up pitch 5?

The Awesome long 6th? pitch 5.8

Austin seconding, Steve thirding

Me leading up Pitch 11, the hardest at 5.9 (but still pretty easy)

We did it in almost exactly 10 hours car to car. And when we got back a friendly local rewarded us with a cold can of Rainier, it never tasted so good. Perhaps I should have worn more sunscreen, oops!

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!