Fiji

Fiji felt like a totally different world. I just spent one night on the main island then caught an hour long boat ride out to Mana Island, and small remote island where I spent the rest of my time. I made the right choice heading to Mana, I met some very cool people. All the other backpackers had been travelling for months if not years so they were shocked that I was only travelling for three weeks. I don't know why I didn't go for longer. I made the most of my time though.

A typical day for me went something like this: Wake up at first light and go for a walk/run on the beach for an hour or so with whatever stray dogs wanted to join me. Back to the resort for breakfast. Get my scuba gear set up and on the boat. Go on my first dive at 8:30. Get back change tanks and head out on my second dive at 10:30. Back for lunch. Then in the afternoons walk out to a remote beach with friends. Watch the sun set around 6pm. Back to the hostel for dinner then drinking games with the other backpackers til late. It was a good life.

The scuba diving there was amazing, amongst the best I've done anywhere. The soft coral was incredible, and the sites were teeming with fish, I also saw eels, manta rays and lots of sharks. Each site was different, it never got boring. I did 10 dives total in 6 days bringing my total to around 80 I think. I can't emphasise how much I loved it. I decided I want to pursue my divemaster certification so I can do this and get paid for it during the summers, that way I can stay out places like this for longer. I'm already thinking about where I want to go during my two weeks over Christmas break and next summer. I'm so glad I went on this trip, it was exactly what I needed. Now I better get in to the gym to get back in shape.

This is what a typical afternoon was like, the beaches were amazing and we had them all to ourselves.

Ratu Kini's the resort/hostel where I stayed

Getting ready to enter into another world.

The sunrise on my last morning in Fiji. I made it all the way around the island along the beach in about 2 hours.

It's the water

My last sunset, back on the main island.

New Zealand

I've been back from my trip to New Zealand and Fiji for a couple of days now, I'm excited to get back to teaching, but I'm very sad to be finished with such an amazing trip. The three weeks were action packed, its so hard to summarize everything in a couple of paragraphs, but I'll try. Here's what I got up to in New Zealand.

The trip started out great, Anthony took me to some of his favorite spots around where he lives. I loved surfing on the Tasman Sea at Raglan, it was really hard because of the choppy seas, and I almost got dragged out by the rip tide at one point, but it was a lot of fun. The mountain biking in the redwoods at Rotorua, was also spectacular, nice long runs in a sub-tropical rain forest. A few days in our house got broken in to while we were out for lunch, they took my new iPhone amongst other things, it was a bummer but we tried to forget about it by heading up to Auckland. I went out two nights in Auckland which was really fun, on the second night Melody hitchhiked out to meet up with me. It was great to reconnect with her over a few pints and swap stories from the last few months. The next morning Ant and I caught an early flight down to the South Island.

We spent five days in Queenstown, a popular backpackers/skiers town. We would ski during the day at the different resorts in the area during the days, and partied at night. We had some bad luck down there, I lost my new jacket with my digital camera in the pocket so don't have many photos. One night Ant partied a little too hard and ended up in the hospital. And the day before we were set to drive up to Christchurch we lost our rental car keys on the slopes somewhere. It meant we couldn't climb at Castle Hill, and we were looking at a big bill for a replacement key and new flights, but luckily someone found them just in time so we were able to do the 6 hour drive at dawn to catch our flights back.

Back up on the North Island I rented a car and drove out see Melody again. she was wwoofing at a very hippie farm on the Coromandel Peninsula. It was cool seeing what see does there, I really admire her courage to go off on her adventure. We had a great time together. We checked out the area around her farm, surfed on some much more friendly waves on the East Coast, and hiked up to the Pinnacles hut in Coromandel Forest Park. I made it back down the next day to catch my flight to Fiji. I've got to say I was very impressed with New Zealand. I just wish I had more photos, here are some from my iPhone before it got stolen and a couple from a disposable camera I bought later.

Getting ready to go surfing at Raglan

Ant taking a break from mountain biking.

Relaxing in a natural hot spring after mountain biking.

Mel and I wet but happy after surfing.

Melody and another friend Ffion at The Pinnacles.

Stoked for my Big Trip

I leave on my New Zealand/Fiji trip in a couple of hours, and I so excited!

In the last few weeks I haven't done too much climbing. I've been getting in to other things, preparing for this trip and making the most of the nice weather. I went scuba diving with Tony in the Sound, mountain biking with Chas and Tyler, fishing with a bunch of guys for Chas' bachelor party. Anthony a good friend from Scotland visited recently which was a lot of fun. I've even started running regularly, I feel in great shape, and its helped me shed 9 pounds in the last two months. Here are some photo's of what I've been up to recently.

I got out climbing at Nevermind with Chas and Tyler, I repeated a bunch of stuff.

Tyler and Chas cruised the classic Steep Street, and the both came close on Culture Shock.

Getting ready to go spearfishing!

No cabezon or crab, but it was still a fun dive.

It took some goading to do this jump, but it was worth it.

Salmon fishing off the coast on a charter boat.

Fishing for rockfish at the Westport jetty.

In New Zealand I'm visting Anthony who lives there now. We're adventuring around the North Island, skiing, surfing and mountain biking before flying down to the South Island for more skiing and partying. I'm hoping to boulder at the awesome Castle Hill, its somewhere I've wanted to climb at for a while, and the friction should be awesome right now. I'm also looking forward to seeing my friend Melody who is on the North Island. After a couple of weeks there, I'm flying up to Fiji for a week. I think I'm the most excited for this part of the trip. I booked a week at this dive resort including 10 dives. The area is world famous for diving, there's tons of different dive sites, from wrecks to shark dives, and soft coral, all with 100ft+ visibility this time of year! I'm really excited just to be around the traveller/backpacker scene, its been too long since I've done a trip like this. Hopefully I'll be able to update my blog mid-trip through my iPhone, I'll definitely be taking lots of photos. Well I better get on my way to the airport.

Deep Water Soloing at Banks Lake

I had a great time climbing with a bunch of friends at Banks Lake over the weekend, we headed out there to check out the deep water soloing. I had been out there a couple of years ago, and was impressed with the climbing but hadn't checked out the climbing out of the lake. Tony and I made the fun drive out there and met the rest of the group at a cabin we were renting for the weekend. It was a pretty big group there were 14 of us in total, we had enough canoes, kayaks and inflatables for all of us plus 3 dogs. We used the Washington Weekend Rock to find a couple of cliffs that looked good. The first place we climbed was on The Bunker a small rocky island near Roadside rock. We warmed up on a fun 15ft cliff that most people were able to top out. It was probably a V1 or so. Next I scoped out a sweet line close by on the Roadside Rock side of the Lake that started up a hand crack and topped out at around 30ft to a popular jumping spot. It was really fun, a little scary, but a fall anywhere on the route would be totally safe. Its hard to say how hard it was, everyone else got spat off by the tricky crack down low, probably 5.10-ish. Next we paddled out to the Tent and Awning Rock to do the 2 bolted routes there, you could climb them with a rope straight out of a canoe, or deep water solo them safely. I opted to rope up for the 10b, it was a pretty cool experience to be belayed out of a canoe. A bunch of people got up this one either on a rope or solo, it was really fun.  After that we canoed back to shore and headed back to the cabin for the usual climbing trip antics. On Sunday we were feeling like getting on some longer terrestrial routes, so I took the group up to the beautiful Northrup Canyon. Everyone seemed to have a good time, especially Rachel who couldn’t stop raving about Dr. Ceuse, one of the most picturesque 5.10’s I’ve done. This was the perfect trip for the summer. I’m definitely interested in heading back to check out more potential for deep water soloing there, it is a big lake and there is lots of rock! Here are some of my friends photos that I stole that will give you a better idea of the climbing.

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Jumping off the little cliff on The Bunker that we bouldered up.

Justin bouldering around

Starting up a sweet line. It may be an FA, we broke off a good amount of rock down low. Its really good though.

Good holds mid way lead to a balancey top out.

I was really hoping I wouldn't fall here. The scariest part was probably jumping off from the top.

Sara soloing ground-up (or should that be water-up) on After the Gold Rush a fun bolted 10b.

Rachel at her high point.

I opted to have Tony belay me up it, it felt much safer.

The cabin we stayed at, it was pretty nice.

Me climbing a longer route at Northrup Canyon. Next time I'm bringing a spare chalk bag.

Rachel reaching the top of Dr. Ceuse an amazing 10b.

The whole group at Northrup Canyon.

Day Tripping

I've been climbing a lot in the last week. I haven't gone on any big trips, rather I've been getting out on day trips with different partners who could make it out. I finally checked out a much talked about new crag South of Olympia. I was very impressed, it is a unique crag in that it is unlike any other rock type in the area. The closest thing I can equate it to is Elwah Wall up by Port Angeles. It is a 100ft tall sandstone crag with crazy water sculpted features like huge huecos, pockets and tufa's on a continuously overhanging wall. I went up there with two young psyched guys Nathan and Tom, who I look forward to climbing with again. The photos make it look pretty incredible and it is, but it also suffers from some very sandy holds, questionable bolting, and soft rock in places. Hopefully it will clean up nicely. I'm not sure about access, that's why I haven't included its name or location. The crag is still a work in progress, there is still a good amount of bolting and cleaning to do here. I heard Nathan bolted a sweet looking line the following day.

The Crag is the light colored rock behind me, the approach isn't too bad.

Phew! Its steep and long!

Lots of jugs and rests.

One of the better routes on the wall. A long pumpy 11c.

Fun tufa climbing, the one on the right is a 10c and the one on the left is 11a, but they felt about the same to me.

On Monday I hooked up with Chas and we climbed at a well known crag North of Seattle. This is another crag that has access issues, so I wont publish its name. I was very impressed with the crag, it had similar climbing to Little Si, but the rock had more texture, and was more consistent. I managed to onsight a classic 12a, but got worked on some harder 12's. I really wish this crag was closer to Olympia. Its probably still worth the 3 hour drive a few times more this summer.

Chas working the 12a.

The rock is as good as it looks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stayed over at Chas' new place in Issaquah which is really nice. What is even nicer was the 20 minute drive from his place to the parking at Exit 38. If I had that commute I would be there every day. We climbed on the Far Side. Did some classics I'd done before, climbed some new routes not in the guide, I think only one was new to me, its so hard to keep track of climbs that I got on years ago.

The next day Austin and Chris were going back up there, so I joined them. We did some new routes, but spent most of the day flailing on an offwidth roof 12a. I had been on it years ago, and had vague recollections of thinking I should never get on it again. Chris seemed to like it though.

Austin climbing, Chris belaying. Can you name the climb?

Austin hanging on a cool (but hard) roof 12a at the Far Side of exit 38.

The following day was Chris' birthday so we got an early start and ticked off a bunch of routes in the Deception Wall area. I redpointed Stick Boy, which is probably the worst 12a I've ever done. Then we checked out the new(ish) Shakespeare Wall further up the hill which was pretty fun. We celebrated his birthday and his 100th route of the year with a few cold beers in the sun. It was a great day out.

I'm finally taking a much needed rest day after six days on. But I'm headed out this evening for a weekend trip to Banks Lake, I'm hoping I don't get burned too badly (by the routes and the sun). I'll leave you with a video of Chris throwing an Ondra-style hissy fit after falling off the 12a roof. (Warning: foul language).

Another Tieton Adventure

I spent the weekend back at Tieton with some good friends. It seems the more time I spend there the more I fall in love with that place. On Saturday I climbed some of the longer routes at Astral Wall, they are simply amazing, it feels like you are climbing forever. Starting out a route with 20 draws on your harness is a bizarre feeling, good thing the cruxes aren't low! I sent the classic of the crag - Whitewashed second go. It felt a good deal harder than the 11's, and on the onsight attempt I missed the good holds at the crux. Once I figured out the right beta it felt much easier. I gave Nick the beta and he managed the flash. We had the crag to ourselves, which was a good thing because there ended up being a dozen or so of us up there from Olympia. Everyone was blown away by the crag.

After a good bonfire that night we parted ways the next morning. Nick, Jeremy, Chris and I headed to The Chunkyard. I was a little weary of introducing them to this crag since it isn't the most aesthetic. But once they were on the routes, they were raving about it! Jeremy managed to take a 20 footer fall and flipped on the warm up, so he ended up just toproping the rest of the day. But Chris and I worked our way down the crag, and ticked all 11 routes in a day, we had so much fun. We laughed and joked the whole drive back to Olympia, it was one of the best trip I've had in a while. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Here's some photos I stole off of my friends' facebook pages.

Nick onsighting the awesome Mars Bar (11c)

On the way to The Chunkyard

Me climbing another great route at The Chunkyard

Jeremy, Nick, Me and Chris at the end of an awesome weekend!

Sends at Smith

I just got back last night from climbing for a few days down at Smith Rock in Oregon. I wasn't psyched on Smith. Squamish was my first choice, then Mazama, but because of weather we headed south. Smith turned out to be really fun and not as hot as I had feared.

Photo Op!

Austin and Little Si

I went down with Austin, who is in fine form right now. I belayed him on his first 12a at Little Si last Thursday. Since it was just the two of us and we both wanted to get on some harder lines I could finally check out Easy's Playhouse a mini-crag at the top of Red Wall with 5 routes 11d-12d. It was a bit of a brutal (by my standards) hike up there, but it was well worth it. We warmed up on a few easy 10's on Red Wall on the way up. I graciously gave Austin the onsight attempt of Boys in the Hood the excellent 11d. He didn't onsight it, it turned into a mini-project for him. He finally got the send on his 6th try that day, after agonizingly falling twice at the last throw. Austin got a video of me flashing it (at the bottom).

Austin scoping out Big Boss Man

Not a bad place to hang out

While Austin was working the 11d, I was checking out the classic 12c there Big Boss Man. I could see all the moves from the ground and thought it looked like a good contender for an onsight attempt. It is steep bouldery and short, my style. In the old guidebook it was given 12a but you had to aid up to the first bolt and start from there. The new guide has it as 12c off the ground. The first moves were powerful but on good holds. Clipping the second bolt was very strenuous on the onsight, but the first bolt was a major spinner and I really didn't want to fall on it. The crux move for me was one of those where I was sure I was coming off, but I fully committed and managed to stick the hold. From there I got a bomber but painful knee-bar for a quick shake. The last few moves were powerful but I managed to keep it together for the onsight!

It was such a good feeling to climb something hard again. My climbing confidence wasn't great and morale was low, so this was exactly what I needed. That night we met up with Tyler and Emma at Skull Hollows and celebrated with a fire.

Tuesday started out with Tyler and Emma on some easy routes, before moving on to try some 11's. Austin finished off Heresy, an old project of his. Then we headed to Phoenix Buttress which was in the shade. I finished off the crag with License to Bolt (11c) a really good route with a really hard move if you're under 5'10", Austin got the send of that one too. I also did a really fun pockety route called When Llama's Bolt (11a). And I did a "10d" thats not worth talking about.

I was pretty spent by the time Wednesday rolled around, so I asked Austin what he wanted to get on. He was psyched for Big Boss Man after feeling out the moves on Monday while cleaning the draws on toprope. So we made the big hike up again. Without a warm up he put the draws up and fell off the last hard move in classic Austin style. He rested up then sent on his second go of the day! It was really inspiring to see him climb this thing, he looked really strong! It capped off a great trip for him, he climbed 4 of his 5 hardest routes on this trip, with the other route being the 12a he did last week! He is on fire right now. Needless to say we drove home with big smiles on our faces. This trip got me re-psyched for trying hard this summer. I'm looking forward to getting on some more hard routes this weekend!

Austin took video on his cell phone of the two routes we did at Easy's Playhouse, they turned out pretty good, the routes are as fun as they look.