Youngblood, Madness, and Highlander

A nice view of Squamish from a view point reutrning from Cheakamus Canyon.

It has been a little over a year since I have been able to get back to the place where it all started. Squamish was the home of my first outdoor bouldering experience and my first trip to the bouldering hot spot was a very humbling one indeed. I had always considered myself a bouldering connoisseur since I had learned to climb in a bouldering gym and I thought I would take Squamish by storm. Quite the contrary. I can remember last summer(my first trip) staring up at Sloppy Poppy thinking to myself, I’m gonna flash this no problem. I pulled on and made it to the slopers at the lip before falling to the hard ground, luckily not breaking my ankle on the gnarled root behind me. At that point, I knew Squamish was going to be a challenge. Over the course of the following summer I returned to Squamish several times and grew more and more accustomed to maneuvering up, across, and eventually over the top of many of the awesome granite boulders that litter the forest floor. This past weekend I finally made it back to Squamish with two of my good friends Jimmy, and Nic. Both strong climbers in their own right and even stronger boulderers.

Nic staring up at Dream Catcher. Maybe one day...

I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock around 4:45 in the morning and painfully rolled out of bed and into the shower and eventually into my packed car. I swooped up Nic and Jimmy and we hit the road with much psych. We made the border in good time and we were at the new and improved lower parking lot of the Stawamish Chief by 10:35. I was stunned to see all the new parking and it took me a while to get used to the new look. I was also amazed at the fact that we had a parking spot since we had arrived on a Saturday morning in the middle of the Mountain Festival. We took little time to gather ourselves and our pads and we headed straight into the forest and landed at the feet of the Titanic boulder. This was Jimmy’s first time at Squamish so we decided to start at the beginning and slowly make our way through the thick of things. The forest was eerily quiet and there was no one to be found or heard, at least for the first ten minutes. Then we started to hear the agonizing grunts and growls of someone who was trying to get to the top of their project. We had made a deal with each other that we wouldn’t get star struck if we ran across any ‘big’ names in climbing due to the Mountain Festival and it’s pull on pro climbers but no more than 5 minutes into our warm up a woman came around the corner who we recognized as Audrey Sniezek and we couldn’t help but talk her ear off and shower her with our awkward praise and enthusiasm for her stunning sends. She is kind of a local hero to us because she is one of the strongest female climbers in Washington and has sent one of the most impressive 5.13b’s at our local craig. Anyway, we warmed up on Titanic and the Titanic Dyno, and Jimmy really got our blood flowing by flashing both of those problems as well as a cool V.4 call Mantis. We finished up there and Audrey had suggested that we try a cool V.8 called Mantra. It was right up the hill from us so we figured why not. Mantra is a sweet fat prow that boasts some excellent sloper slapping with a big dyno to the semi lip before an engaging press to the real lip. Nic and I tried it a few times and came close on the dyno before realizing we needed to save our skin dollars for some other large grained granite purchase. I knew of a cool V.7 that would be perfect for our first hard problem of the day so we headed down the hill to the overhung mini roof of Anubis. This was a cool problem that jump starts you right into a severely overhung crimp and then slap to a grainy lip, get the heel on the starting hold and up to the jug. A powerful problem that requires some severe squeezing with the legs as well. Jimmy got it right away, I think it took him around 5 goes or something but it was cool and he walked away with his first Squamish V.7! Really good start to the day. Nic made short work soon after Jimmy with a huge slap to the lip disregarding the intermediate crimper and topped it out as well. I had some trouble holding onto the flat ‘shelf’ at the lip and just couldn’t piece it together. I was anxious to move on anyways and we went right down the hill once again to a problem called Airtight Garage. I had worked this with my friend Dom last summer and got my ass kicked but it was a new day and I felt like it would go. Nic had already sent this on a previous trip and it had turned out to be his first V.7 ever. Not really the proudest line but a hard little technical piece of work. Jimmy once again made short work of the problem with some different foot beta and a knack for slopers. I managed to send as well with the foot beta Dom had showed me and I was very pleased because it went quickly and this would be my first Squamish V.7.
So far we had all sent some hard problems and Jimmy was on fire and feeling the Squamish vibe.
Now for some name dropping: we saw Liv Pinter and Cedar Wright strolling through the forest and we all got a little giddy. Everyone except for Jimmy who had no clue who Cedar was.
We walked past the Thighmaster area and around the Black Dyke boulder; we stopped at the Super Fly boulder and showed Jimmy the Egg and Baba Hari Das before continuing on through to Easy in and Easy Chair and eventually broke free of the forest just before the Kakedemon boulder. We were on a mission to find Gibbs Cave. A problem that Nic had some bitter sweet memories on. Last summer he came disgustingly close to sending it for his first V.8 but fell inches short of the victory jug and was ready for revenge. We found the problem and got straight to work. Jimmy and Nic both put the moves together quickly but I lagged behind struggling with the first move for a while. After we were all on the same page and Nic and Jimmy had made some serious progress Nic had a go that looked as if he was going to send. He hit the good sloper before the victory jug but slapped just inches before the jug and fell, I felt as if I had been transported back to last summer when he had almost sent it. Nic had to walk away for a moment of reflection and Jimmy and I just stared in amazement. As Nic returned I could tell that he was in another world, his eyes were locked on the problem and he pulled on and absolutely murdered it!! With a growl that suggested he was saying ‘FUCK YOU!’ to the problem he latched the elusive victory jug and did the 5.5 scramble to the top. He laid down on the top of the boulder and let his hand dangle over the lip which made it seem as if he was dead. I don’t think Jimmy and I could/wanted to top that and after a few more goes we moved on to another problem that I personally wanted to do called Tatonka.

A food bandit at the Animal Magnetism boulder.

There was already a group of people working the problem and we sat back and drank Gatorade and ate jerky as we watched for precious pieces of beta. Tatonka is such a cool piece of rock, could almost pass for art. The features and holds that make up the problem are really well sculpted and make for unique and powerful movement. Jimmy and Nic jumped right into the rotation and tested the waters of the first move. I finally made my way into the mini cave and decided to give it everything. I pulled on and made the cruxy first move, I was a little stunned but I kept working up the big fin and almost latched the incut flake before peeling off. I was really surprised at how fast the first move went. After that we all made good progress and before you knew it Jimmy pulled the crux and beached whaled the mantle for his first Squamish V.8! After seeing that I was inspired and sent it directly after him for my first Squamish V.8! We both came down and cheered Nic on as he sent it as well, big time Oly represent for that one!! We were all riding the climbing high after that one and we decided to head to a more ‘chill’ spot, so we made our way to the Animal Magnetism boulder. However when we arrived we found out why it is called the animal magnetism boulder because apparently many ‘animals’ had been magnetized towards its problems. We made our way past the teeming masses and found ourselves face to face with an absolute gem of the area, Worm World Cave. This had been my personal goal for, well, the entire summer, and although I had never tried it before I had seen plenty of footage and the problem pretty much speaks for itself. I’ll just say this, it’s SICK!! There is a stand start that clocks in around V.9 although the guide book says it’s a softy for the grade, and a low start that is given V.10. Just as a side note, for anyone who has never been to the almighty Squa. this is a boulder problem that should not be missed. We gawked for a little bit and then got to work. The first move was a real doozey and will throw any comitt-ophobe. Even when you do commit to the teeth of this crimpy rail you have to bear down pretty hard to stay on. We all tapped the rail several times before I finally decided to just hold on. When I did the next move was okay and then after grabbing a good pinch you throw way out left for a unique swooping fin-like feature. It is a big move and I wussed out a couple of times before finally getting the animal growl started. My best go involved a lot of loud growls and an almost send, I fell getting my foot up high just before the press to the jug. This, for me, was a victory in itself and I knew that I could send this problem. I gave it a few more goes before giving up and deciding to come back to it tomorrow.
We had a really good first day, Jimmy sent two V.7’s and a V.8, Nic put away two V.8’s and a V.7, and I managed to keep up with a V.7 and a V.8, not bad for a days worth of work.

A wee little grasshopper.

On our second day we decided to head up to Cheackamus canyon. Neither Jimmy nor Nic had ever been, so I thought it would be a good idea to start the second day off at a cool wall called the Forgotten Wall. It was very similar to the kind of crags we have back at our local spots so we felt right at home. With zero approach time and a good idea of what I wanted to start off on I found myself warming up on a very short 5.12a. I wanted to try to onsight it but I fell at the crux. Nic stepped up and flashed it calmly and I was sure I could get it second go. However I fell once again at the crux failing to heed Nic’s beta of getting my foot high. I was pretty disappointed in my performance because I felt that the route wasn’t even really that hard. We moved on to a cool route called Creepy Crawlers recommended to us by one of the locals. Jimmy stepped to the plate and hung the draws for us on a nice onsight attempt. Nic went soon after and I followed; I must say it was quite a good route and we were all pleased and ready to go back to the boulders, but I decided to give the .12a one more go. Jimmy said he would hang the draws for me and ended up flashing it easily. Okay, I knew I couldn’t be the only one to not send this damn little thing and I made it through the crux rather shakily and almost came off on the finishing jugs! My performance was sub par but I was just glad to have sent the route. After a stop in town and brief lunch we were back at the boulders. We couldn’t leave without climbing at the Animal Magnetism boulder and after yesterday we were determined to get on something there. We arrived and although there appeared to be a lot of people they all left. SDS Holm Boy and Goldne Boy were wide open. Jimmy got to work on SDS Holm Boy and after a mini session ended up sending it, NICE! We then moved over and started to work Golden Boy. Nic was determined to send and said that the moves had felt a little better then the last time he was on it. I had little success but I wasn’t really eager to waste skin on it in the first place. I do look forward to working it next time. Jimmy made good progress as well but just couldn’t get that darn heel to stay. Nic was a beast and made it to the slopey top out rail but didn’t have the right beta and fell. We were all crushed at how close he came but not for long. He worked the top out and came back with a vengeance sending it directly after. It was a pretty stout send for the last day there with little skin left. Good job Nic!

Nic sending Golden Boy(V.7)

We packed up and headed over to my project Worm World Cave. I was a little nervous because of my skin but I knew I could do it, I just had to bear down. After testing the waters, slapping the rail a few times I decided to just do it! I hit the rail perfectly, pulled up to the good pinch and vice gripped it. Got my feet in a good position and lunged out to the swoop feature and finally stuck it without coming off. I readjusted my hand, got my foot on the crimp rail and pressed up to the jug rail. I was literally in a dream like state at this moment because I really didn’t expect to send it today period.

Me on Worm World Cave(V.9)

I stood on top of the boulder and gave a victory shout and then came back down and celebrated with my friends. After that we all headed over to the black dyke boulder so Jimmy could get on some of the classics. He flashed Sloppy Poppy, got Viper in 2 goes, flashed Tim’s Sloper Problem and Thighmaster. Nic and I just hung back and took it all in, Nic did manage to send T-bag Undies in his flip flops which was cool. I just flailed on everything I got on and we eventually got the hell out of there. It was a great trip and we will return very soon, hopefully in the company of our long lost friends Dom and Laura. Thanks Jimmy and Nic for the awesome time.

Jimmy sending Viper(V.5)

Techno Music

A picture of me redpointing Aborigine more than a year ago.

Well, it finally happened…I sent Technorigine!! I guess the first time I set foot and hand on it was over a year ago and it was more like I clipped the first bolt and fell. Hardly an attempt. However I have been feverishly working the 30 meter beast for the last month or so and after 11 goes it finally went. I made it to Little si with my usual climbing compadres Jimmy and Nic and we decided to do Techno as a warm up. Nic, who has really been on fire lately hung the draws for me but just couldn’t find the mojo to clip the chains. It was okay though, he has sent the rig and since repeated it with style and without using the toilet bowl rest. Jimmy fired up Abo but fell on the first move of the extension. Last time I was here with him he really made good progress and got through both cruxes before falling. He’ll definitely send it soon. I was up last and just felt completely dialed. I took a good shaje in the toilet bowl and then fired up the last bit of Abo into the extension. Every move felt a little bit easier and it really made a difference at the end. I made the committing high step and clipped the chains with a victory shout that rocked World Wall. This route had really been a goal for me and I was so ecstatic to have sent it at the very beginning of our session. World Wall was pretty packed already and our friends Rob and Leslie were already there and congratulated me as we made our way to the Rainy Day corner. They were working a super cool route called End of the World which I haven’t done in a long time but remember that it was a really exposed and fun route.

Leslie sends End of the World(5.12a)

Leslie ended up sending it and it was a cool feat to see. As more people showed up we mainly worked on Viagro and Nic repeated Deluge, and worked on Californicator and almost sent Viagrophobia. He has really been pushing himself lately to climb not only hard but with as much effort as he can muster. Jimmy had a slightly off day but had a good warm down burn on Rainy Day and we are all looking forward to our upcoming weekend romp in Squamish. Mountain Fest here we come!!!!

Jimmy on a clean up burn of Aborigine(5.11b)

A Room With A View

Some dew covered fungus.

I woke up around 5:00 in the morning. It was a Saturday but there weren't any good cartoons on. I drove out to my brother’s house in Everett leaving Olympia at 6:30 and making it there by 8:00 on the dot. I was meeting my brother and my dad to go hiking on Mt. Pilchuk, a place I had never heard of but, we were going to do a trail that my brother had hiked before. The weather was crazy good and I was so psyched to get outside and get up the side of a mountain. The trail head wasn’t very far away, around 40 minutes but the very last part of the road, 3 miles or so, was unpaved and had a few potholes. My grip on the steering wheel tightened as I had flashbacks of Gold bar. Once I unfolded from the fetal position I realized this road couldn’t hold a candle to the grotesque features of the approach road to Gold bar. We made it safe and sound to the trail head, strapped on the back packs and started hiking. The Mt. Pilchuk trail is a 3 mile hike to the summit and is hailed as the easiest, and closest, peak in the Cascade range. We started off hiking through an old growth forest and in many areas there was still dense snow pack that we had to hike over. As we got a little higher the snow disappeared and we hit the switch backs and passed several enormous tree’s covered in moss and large toad stools. A little over a mile in we hit a cool talus field and our first look out.

The first clearing we came to. You would be able to see Mt. Rainier in the distance if it wasn't washed out by how bright the sun is.

We could see Rainier in the far distance and the sun felt good. I couldn’t help but to flip into climber mode and I started looking out for any good sized boulders. Everything by the trail was mostly smaller sized boulders but I could tell farther up the hillside there were probably a few nice chunks of rock. Anyway, we continued on and eventually broke free of the forest and onto the open side of the mountain which was covered in thick snow pack.

My brother and dad.

Fortunately some brave soul was kind enough to stomp out a clear trail and we followed in his/her footsteps. We definitely were not the only ones on the trail that day. I have to admit it is quite a popular trail and we passed several groups as well as got passed by several groups on their way to the top. The hiking started to get intense as we cautiously walked along thinner stretches of the snow pack that were also a little icy from being in the shade but the tough part was going up hill. It was like doing a snowy stair master from hell for a good hour. It was so luminously sunny and beautiful all around us that I must have stopped a dozen times to snap pictures, and catch my breath.

Trudging up the hill.

I was also scoping out the rocks that began to jut out of the mountainside that looked really cool, forming slabs, arêtes, chimneys, and cracks of all kinds. The snow was everywhere and I felt like a hardcore hiker in my tennis shoes slogging along with a goofy grin on my face. As we climbed each hillside we got closer and closer to a huge jumble of rocks that stuck out of the mountain like a big thumb. As we finally broke free of the snow we were faced with a huge mess of boulders to meander and scramble our way between and over.

The rock is a type of shale that resembled a pale white granite. It’s texture was extremely similar to the granite in Swiftwater, very fine grained with almost a sandstone feel to it. The boulders also looked as if someone had loaded a paintball gun with white, black, green, and yellow paint balls and went nuts!

They were extremely cool looking and there were so many different kinds of boulders. Some had a bunch of features, while others were as smooth as the blue sky above. Arêtes, swoops, depressions, lips, laser cut corners, blobs, faces, and prows were chaotically strewn amongst the hustle and bustle of boulders that we sorted our way through until we finally reached the top.

Now that's arete!!!

The TOP!

Our prize was a little house; well it was more like a room, with windows all around it and a wrap around deck. It was neatly placed on the very top of this rocky peak and gave an excellent panoramic view of, well, everything. Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, Puget Sound, and the entire Cascade range were all within a head turn of each other. We sat in the little room and had lunch accompanied by several other hikers.

The TOP, again.

The room with a view.

We also learned a little history about the place. The room we were in used to be a fire look out that was built in 1918 and was actually staffed until 1960. In 1957 a ski resort was opened but closed in 1980 because of poor snowfall, kind of hard to believe since this was the middle of June and there was still an abundance of the white stuff everywhere.

Remnants from the ski resort days.

My brother and dad at the old fire watch.

The cascades.

After sharing a few good laughs and snapping off several pictures we headed back down. As we hit the steep snowy parts we simply leaned back on our feet and skied down the slopes. We undid a good hours worth of work in a matter of minutes, and had a lot of fun doing it in the process.

Snow.

Comin' down the mountain.

Now, I seem to remember passing one of the coolest boulders I had seen so far and it happened to be right off the trail. There was no way I was passing this thing by without climbing it, and I had fortunately packed my climbing shoes and a bag of chalk.

I think I was in a state of shock.

The boulder stood about 15 feet tall in the middle of a circle of packed snow. The landing was perfectly dry but was a jumble of railroad ties, rusted bolts and spikes, and gnarled tree branches. The rail road ties actually served as a nice flat jumping off point and I stood beneath the vertical face and plotted a course to the top. There were just enough holds for a good problem so I put my shoes on chalked up and got to work. A few flat crimps, a lunge to a crimpy rail, slapping up a slopey lip to the boulders apex and a pointy jug and then the top out. It had a clear path and great movement, and I definitely was holding on a little tighter than usual because I did not want to fall. It was a pure moment in climbing for me and I sat on top of the boulder and celebrated my good fortune. What a lucky find and I couldn’t have anticipated it any better.

I came down and did the problem one more time as some hikers looked on. One old guy yelled up, “You hiked all the way up here to do some bouldering?”. I smiled and said, “It’s a really good problem.”

We packed up once again and headed on our way. The walk down felt incredibly long and I began to feel the days toils wear on my knees and energy level. We were all beat by the time we reached the car but the highlight of the day was that we didn’t get a ticket for not having a parks pass.

Heading home.

On a side note: (Jimmy, Whitey, and Nic, you will appreciate this story.) As we were driving down the dirt road my dad rolled his window down and I heard a noise that sounded as if a rock had gotten stuck in the tread of my tire. I paid it no mind and kept driving as my dad put his head out the window periodically and stared down at my front right tire. I started growing suspicious and as we talked about what the noise could be my tire pressure warning light went on and I was immediately transported back to the hellish experience of leaving Gold bar. Shit! I thought, I’ve got a flat. I stopped the car and we all got out to inspect the tires. Sure enough my front right tire was low and my dad got on his hands and knees and said, “Yep, you’ve got a nail in your tire.” This perfect day had come to a crashing halt, as the stress set in. We drove down the last bit of the dirt road and pulled over before getting on the real road. I figured it would be okay and we drove to a gas station and filled it with air until the warning light went off. It was a slow leak, so we hauled ass back to Everett and to the nearest Les Schwaub. Their hassle free tire patching policy worked to a tee and we were in and out in 20 minutes with no charge. We then made our way to the closest Mexican food place and stuffed ourselves before heading back to my bro’s place to play some Ninja Gaiden II. As I hacked the limbs from an unsuspecting Wearwolf my eye lids grew heavy and I bid farewell to my brother, his wife, and his little dog Apollo. I made it to my mom’s house in Seattle around 9:00, and an hour later was sound asleep.


Breakfast in Bainbridge

Good morning Seattle.

The next morning I woke up at 6:00 and felt like sleeping for another 8 hours but had to get up so we could make it to the ferry by 7:30. We were heading to Bainbridge Island to check out a place called Island Wood. This early in the morning on a Sunday yielded very few people on the ferry and I walked from port to stern snapping pictures.

Check out the rock wall on this beast!

The ferry.

Goodbye Seattle.

We arrived at Bainbridge shortly and our stomachs pointed us in the direction of the nearest breakfast place that looked and smelled good. We ended up at a place called the Steamliner Diner, which was pretty packed, always the sign of a good local eatery. We got in quick, to our stomachs delight, and well, I’ll let you make the call by the looks of the pictures.

The hard working people of the Steamliner Diner.

This is the Sockeye special, damn, it was better than good.

After reaching a euphoric state of culinary delight, we rolled out of the diner and into the car. We drove out to a place called Bloudell Reserve which is so dedicated to preserving the area it is located on that they only admit a certain amount of people by reservation. We, unfortunately, did not have one and were turned away by an elderly lady whose glasses sat on the tip of her nose, clutching a clip board, with pursed lips. We were bummed but had many places to choose from so we drove out to a place called Bainbridge Bay point(?). A small, but beautiful stretch of beach made up the entirety of the park and we had a refreshing time walking up and down the beach soaking up the sun and watching the sail boats roll by.

The beach.

My mom.

After that we sought out a place called Gazzam lake. The trail head was easy to find but there were two different trails. A sign and an arrow pointed down one of the trails so naturally we followed than one. After hiking for half a mile we came to a tiny pond. We both looked at each other and said, “Is that it?” We were both a little under whelmed as we headed back to the car. As we arrived at the trail head a group of people showed up from the other trail. We asked them if that was the trail to Gazzam lake and they said yes. OOOPS! We decided to give up and headed over to Island Wood because our tour started soon anyway.
‘Island Wood, A School In The Woods’, the sign read. We drove up the forested driveway, parked and made our way to the welcome center. For those of you who don’t know, which included me up until yesterday, Island Wood is a school that is dedicated to teaching children, more specifically 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, about the natural environment of the Pacific Northwest IN the natural environment of the Pacific Northwest. It is an incredibly up to date facility, from the welcome center, Great Hall, dormitories, school rooms, labs, and gardens to other gems located on the 1,100 acres such as the suspension bridge, tree house, and Living Machine. It also has a bog, marsh, pond, and ravine all used to educate the kids about the aquaculture, ecology, and biology of the Northwest. As we got there I almost fell asleep on a bench I was so tired but we started the tour and embarked on a 3 hour trek around the campus. Our tour guide was an awesome lady named Lyla who led us through class rooms, dorms, labs, and a guest house before leading us down the many trails that snaked and streamlined their way through the forested campus. We walked across the suspension bridge, hung out at the bird blind, played in the tree house, and ended it all at their organic garden. It was a really cool tour and my mom really enjoyed it. She is a Montessori teacher who is always psyched about other approaches to education, especially environmentally friendly ones. Our tour guide Lyla is a tough old bird and I can only hope to be as active as she is at that age. As we got back to the welcome center she checked her pedometer and said, “Good, just about 4.5 miles.” My mom and I were beat, and the first thing we thought about was ICE CREAM. We asked around and ended up at one of the most over the top, uber riche, high tek ice cream parlors I have ever stepped foot in. ‘Mora’ was made up of white walls, and hazy pictures of the different kinds of ice cream they offered that looked as if the pictures were taken in a dream. The staff was made up of High school seniors and we were hustled down the line, paying first and then receiving our ice cream. We sat inside the deserted seating area, everyone else was outside, and wolfed down our waffle bowls filled with cool, creamy, glucose and M&M’s, YUM! We made it in time for the 5:30 ferry and were home in an hour. I sleepily drove myself back to Olympia and when I got there subsequently laid in bed trying to recover from the weekend. And what a weekend it was…

side note: I had more photos but they wouldn't load. Maybe later.

Nicholas Madness Part II

Normally this blog is about me. I might write about my friends from time to time and their accomplishments along the way but it's my blog and it is mostly about me. However, a couple of days ago my friend Nic had the kind of climbing day that doesn't come around too often. It was so epic that I had to dedicate this blog to his efforts. We have been going out to World Wall One quite a bit lately, trying to redeem ourselves on the rope after so many months spent bouldering. One of the two things Nic has been working on was a route called Technorigine wich became, as of last week, his second 5.12c. Next on the list was a route called Psychosomatic. Nic had been working it off and on for a while now but came incredibly close last week when he sent Techno and I knew it was only a matter of time before it was in the bag. This past Monday Nic, Whitey, and myself made a trip out to World Wall One where Nic not only dispatched Technorigine as a warm up, but as his second climb of the day sent his first 5.12d Psychosomatic! It was quite a brilliant effort, especially since he had just repeated Techno. We were all a bit stunned after the send because it had gone so effortlessly, I believe this was only his tenth or so go on the rig. I had worked this route last summer for a good month which is equal to about 28 attempts before I finally managed the strength and courage to send it, so you can imagine how impressed I was by Nic's nonchalant attitude. Congratulations Nic! Well, he wasn't done after that. We stepped over to Hang It Out to Dry, the area 5.12b classic, which, granted, Nic had sent before but it had been over a year since. He got on it and crushed that as well. It is not an easy route to repeat after so much time, the bottom is pretty straight forward while the very last moves are bouldery and heady. So far Nic had managed .12b, .12c, and .12d! Well, he wasn't done, as a warm down we all got on Rainy Day Woman and as an added bonus went all the way to the top on Deluge. Nic had an impressive day sending every letter grade in the .12's! It was a stout little circuit that he had just completed and I don't think I have seen anyone in our crew climb that hard that much in one day. Nic has now cleaned up all of his summer projects and is currently lookinf for new ones. I'm still working Techno, I think I'm on my 38th attempt? I've lost count, anyway we are headed back tomorrow so hopefully I will have some good news.

Little si Catch Up!

About a week ago me and my friends Jimmy and Whitey made it out to our favorite, and closest sport crag Little si. Whitey had just recently returned from his climbing trip to Kalymnos, Greece, and was super psyched to get out on some real rock again. While in Greece he climbed harder than he has ever climbed, onsighting and flashing several .12b's and sending his first .12c. This would be his first time out since his return and we were all anxious to get him back on routes that had shut him down before he left. Whitey made quick work of redpointing Rainy Day Women, getting the send his first try and then made an impressive flash of False Idol(5.11d). I was definitely impressed with the lead head and the endurance he had gained. Jimmy on the other hand almost ended up sending Technorigine(5.12c) on his third go! He made a major leap in progress since the last time and I'm sure the next time he is here he'll send the rig. I did a lot of climbing as well, I wamred up on Rainy Day, did three burns on Techno and then warmed down on Rainy Day, needless to say the next day my shoulders were burning. All in all it was a great day of sends and almost sends and just pure climbing enjoyment the whole way round!

7/4/08
Happy fourth everyone! Yesterday I made it to Little si once again with my friend Nic. Despite the warnings of golf ball sized hail, thunder storms, and basically all the signs of the apocalypse Little si turned out to be in perfect climbing condition. The rock was cool, the temps were the same and we were both shocked to find ourselves at the base of our new/long term? project Technorigine(5.12c). Nic stepped up to the plate, and we decided to just go for it on the warm up. He climbed coolly through Abo, and then busted through the next two cruxes linking farther than he had ever linked it. I tried to tell him to just stay cool for the end but I didn't want to spook him so I just let him do his thing. He made it all the way to the bulge and with one final grunt pulled up into the juggy undercling and clipped the chains!! Such a well earned and sick send, congratulations Nic, this is his second .12c and there will be more to come for sure.
I had a lazy climbing day, I sort of felt like I was still back home in my robe and slippers watching 'the view'(if you know what I mean). After Nic sent I tried to send as well but fell at the first crux, fell at the second, and fell at every other clip, but did manage to clip the chains. On my second go I linked through the first crux but pumped out hardcore and decided to call it a day. On another important note Nic also came agonizingly close to sending Psychosomatic(5.12d) right after he had 'warmed up' on Techno. Another sickly display of climbing confidence by Nic. He made it through the crux only to fall slapping at the victory jug...aaaarrrggghhhh! It was way impressive no matter how you cut it and we ended the day on a good note; if you don't include the fact that we then drove to Exit 38 to climb at Nevermind only to get shutdown on Culture Shock and laugh out loud at the geometrically shaped holds we once coddled affectionately while clinging to them in begginner desperation. I'm psyched for the upcoming three days of rest and as usual the climbing trip we have planned on Monday. I'm gonna go blow shit up now in order to celebrate our independence or something like that.

Lil' Squamish

The 'better' part of the approach.

It is about time I finally update my blog. So much has been going on this past week that by the time I sit down to write I can’t think of anything to say. So I’ll start on Monday. Jimmy, Whitey, Nic and I all made the trek out to Gold bar! It was mine and Whitey’s first time to the main Gold bar areas, The Forest, Clear Cut, and Sanctuary, and it was Jimmy and Nic’s second time. I had heard that the bouldering was amazing and judging from the guidebooks description and relative abundance of boulder problems rated V.4-V.10 I thought for sure it would be a good place to get a lot of problems under the belt. Unfortunately the main area to Gold bar’s bouldering was guarded by a horrendous 3 mile trek up a nasty, gnarled, and horribly rocky ‘road’. I use the term road lightly because it was more like a washed out river bed. The beginning mile of the trek feels as if it was blasted in certain places by sticks of dynamite, huge pot holes from the size of a small pond to the size of a bathtub marred the road in several places. The next 2 miles was nothing but periodic moments of, ‘holy shit, I have to drive over that!?’ moments, but we made it happen and by the time we pulled into the parking lot at the top I felt as if I had just climbed a pitch of 5.12, WITH MY CAR!

The view from the War Zone!

Regardless, we were here, safe and sound, and my nice new car was none the worse for wear. I was incredibly psyched anyways and nothing was going to stop me from climbing here. We made excellent time and we arrived at the first spot at around 10:00 in the morning. We first scoped out the War Zone and figured it would be too hot so we headed up into the forest and to a huge boulder that held a sweet V.3 called Fern Crack. First off, the minute I stepped into The Forest area I was immediately transported back to Squamish. I couldn’t believe how much the setting resembled the moss covered boulders of Squamish. It was an awesome setting and the boulders were incredible. Fern Crack was great, probably one of the best V.3’s I have ever been on. As we warmed up on this little gem, which was actually quite tall, we scoped the low start and the even lower start and figured we would give them a go. We managed to send the V.6 low start but the V.7 lower start was a little too scrunchy and powerful for a warm up. After we got the blood flowing we all headed over to a legendary problem, at least in our circle, called The Doja.

Nic sending The Doja(V.7), he didn't even have to take off his hat!

We had all seen the video on line and really wanted to give it a try. Doja starts out by walking up a slanting boulder to get to the starting hold, which is a nice incut little finger jug. By inverting your body you make a hard first move by crossing to a flat crimp with your right. Throw a heel on by the starting hold, and bust out left with your left to a pinch on the arête, than bump or swing to the jug and top out, super beefy V.7 that only saw one ascent this day. Jimmy made good progress and managed to hit the pinch on the arête, I could barley slap to the pinch, and Whitey had a good time working the first move. Nic saved the day by crushing the problem twice in a row. The first time he let out a carnal yell and sent the beast, but felt like he could master the moves by doing it a second time, which he did. It was very impressive and we were all psyched for the rest of the day.


All of us watch as Nic tries on the crimpy moves of Fun Puppet(V.9)

After that we headed over to a massive and immaculate boulder that held two problems that we could find in the guide book, Fun Puppet and Dookie’s Pinchfest. I really wanted to work Fun Puppet so we threw the pads down and started feeling out the holds, which were few and far between. It was composed of a good left hand slot, and a bad bad bad right hand crimp. The feet were like slippery nipples that had been sattered randomly across the bottom of the face, somehow you pull on and stab out right to a little flat three finger crimp, from there you get your feet up high and make a huge throw to a flat bucket up above. Freakin’ crazy if you ask me. I managed to hit the three finger crimp but there was no way I had the foot work or crimp strength to yard up to the bucket that felt like it was four miles away, let alone four feet. Whitey had the same progress and Jimmy and Nic had a hard time with the first move. We gave up shortly after realizing this was above our heads and headed around the corner to work Dookie’s Pinchfest. Wow! Another stellar line but way hard for the grade. We only had success doing the first slap move, going out to the pinch was out of the question. Oh well, we packed up and started our search for a boulder problem called Lighten Up, the guidebook describes it as ‘fat boy climbing, big moves on big holds’. This sounded good on a particularly humid day in the forest and there were also plenty of other moderates in the same immediate area of the problem so we were psyched once again.

Me cruxing on Silver Slippers(V.3/5)

Me finally topping out Silver Slippers.

We had to do some trail finding since everything in the Forest looked like a ‘faint trail’ but we found it shortly and ran around gawking at such problems like Silver Slippers, The Tata Box, and of course the monstrous dyno of Lighten Up. The first problem we wanted to try here was a cool ‘V.3’ called Silver Slippers. I can’t describe the beauty and simplicity of this problem, starting on two side by side crimps, and leading to bigger and bigger flat ledges until the top. The slightly overhanging nature of the problem rips you off of the big foot ledge and forces you to campus the last couple of moves. Well, I don’t really know if it was the humidity but this problem seemed way harder than V.3, we were all cruxing hard on the initial moves and it took more than a few goes before we a finally sent it. DAMN, Gold bar V.3 was more like V.5 anywhere else.

Whitey sets up for the loooong dyno of Lighten Up(V.9)

Subsequently we did the V.4 right next to it with ease, feeling a little confused about the grades so far we walked a short distance up the hill to Lighten Up and started working on it.
This problem was crazy good, five stars no doubt! It climbs a fat boy prow on good side pulls and big fat pinches. The only problem is the start, you have to throw a heel up over your head and pull up off a big flat jug that’s literally only a foot off the deck. A little awkward but still way proud. All of the big sidepulls and pinches lead you to a blank patch of rock and then a little flat crimp on the lip. It’s dyno time boys and girls! The dyno in itself is like a V.6/7 boulder problem, STOUT! We gave up on working the beginning and instead worked the dyno. The landing took some negotiating with pads and spotters but we got it dialed, especially after some Bellingham residents showed up, Brian and Art with extra pads. The headiness of the landing and the monstrous strength and commitment required for the dyno side lined me at the time and I just stood back and watched as Nic, Jimmy, Whitey, Art, and Brian threw themselves at the top.

Art before the terrible flapper incident.

Nic tops out the Lighten Up Dyno(V.6/7)

Nic was coming incredibly close, Brian made it look like he could do it static, and Art pretty much latched the top but got a nasty flapper. After a few more ‘oh my god’ moments Nic latched the hold and topped it out, Yeah boyyyy! He was super proud of his progress and we were all glad he could represent for Oly, Wa. After everybody gave up on Lighten Up I did a quick flash of Crimpterbator, which was incredibly soft for the grade, and we headed to the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary, as described by the book, had tons of boulders right off the path, really nice landings, and a large concentration of moderates. The book was not lying. We walked up the path only to find more and more dope looking boulders all over the place. It was a nice change of pace from the hectic trail finding of the forest and the heat of the War Zone. We walked all the way back to a boulder called the Samurai boulder before we decided to make camp and try a problem or two. We scoped out Hagakure, and The Samurai and started to work on both. We were joined shortly by Brian and Art who set out to work on the same problems. Hagakure is a cool little prow that involves some powerful moves on good crimps and one nice little pinch. The middle and ending moves are not that bad but pulling off the ground required yanking on a knife blade crimp and my fingers, as well as everybody else’s fingers were not having it. The Samurai on the other hand kicked our asses, at first. Stout moves right off the deck led to an easy finish. Wrapping on a big nose like feature and firing to a sloper and slopey crimp finally gave way to the juggy lip. I watched as we all flailed on the first couple of moves, and then tried something different. It turned out my beta worked and one by one we all eventually sent. It was a four star problem for sure, but felt sand bagged. After our Samurai boulder session Brian and Art split, and we checked out Road to Zion, an impressive traverse with an extremely intimidating landing. We ended up working Metroid Prime, a technical V.7 that required some extreme finesse and a big move at the end. No one sent, but we all did a cool slab problem around the corner from it.

Whitey on the 8-bit Slab(V.2)

Nic highsteppin' on Midnight Lichen(V.4)

On our way back down the trail we stopped at two cool boulders that had some classy little problems on them. One of the best V.4’s I have laid eyes, hands, ears, mouths, and noses on, Midnight Lichen. I managed the flash but I wish I had worked it instead, the moves and holds were sick. Here is a video fo Whitey sending Midnight Lichen:

We also did a variation on the adjacent boulder called So it Seams, this was a little easier and yielded to the flash as well with a nice little heel hook, it was sick too.

We finally broke free of the wooded areas and gave the War Zone a shot. We all tried a problem called Danny Devito, more of a one move momentum problem than anything elese, but fun and challenging. It actually turned out to be Whitey’s first V.7, and after he sent he came right back down and sent it again. Nice job Whitey. I wanted to send as well but couldn’t hold on to the slopey lip, oh well. Last but not least we finished up on a problem called Water. A nice little bloc with a terrible landing but a nice view and the faint sound of a stream. The holds were a little more slopey and the moves harder than we wanted at this point in time and we all just gave up and chilled in the shadow of the boulder to cap the day.

On the way back down the terrible road I got a flat, and with another mile of the road left we cautiously drove down on a spare praying to whatever god we could think of to get us back to a real road safely. We did, and then had to stop again to rotate the spare to the back, thanks to some good manual reading by Whitey. To top off the day the exit to I-5 south was closed and the detour took us another 6 miles north before we ran into horrendous traffic at the detour exit. We finally made it back to Olympia by one in the morning with less than kind words for our experience with Gold bar. My opinion of Gold bar is somewhat jaded because of the terrible approach, and the fact that we had the worst time getting home. Overall, I was extremely impressed and can only imagine what it was like being the boulderers who discovered the treasure trove of boulders that lie in the forest below Zeke’s Wall. The rock quality, the setting, and the concentration of problems make this destination world class, and could easily stand up to any bouldering area in the world. For now, I will refer to Gold bar as ‘little Squamish’ and I can’t wait to return. I just have to find a place that rents monster trucks for a good price.