Joshua Tree ’22

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Smack in the middle of a frustrating ice season, I decided to get a sunny rock trip with an old partner of mine in California. Michael and I had been to Joshua tree before but for only a few days. That was my only time there and I found it to be strenuous/stiff Ratings, windy/ cold, and old school style climbing. Again on this trip we went after four star climbs exclusively. This works out OK anyways cause there’s not a lot of similar climbs next to each other anyways. What that does mean is a lot of hiking in between crags, and sometimes even driving to different ones. So if you are driven then, you do three to five amazing pitches a day. Over five days that’s exactly what we did. Most of the best climbs are in the shade, so if its cold, well..

1-20-24-2022 Joshua Tree 16p to 10c, w/Mike L.

1-20 Cake Walk, Anacram 10c

1-21 Poodles r People too 10b ao, Prepackaged 10a, Taxman

1-22 Silent Scream 10a, Apparition Crack10a, 5.9

1-23 Bird Fire 10a, Popes 10b, Touch and Go 10a, Diamond Dogs `10a, Exorsist 10a

1-24 Wanger attempt, Room to Shroom 5.9

Touch and Go
Bird of Fire
Photo, Mike
Wangerbanger
Room to Shroom 5.9
Room to Shroom 5.9
Bird of Fire
Diamond Dogs 10a from mike

Yosemite Valley ‘21.2

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Skull Queen rap, photo by McKinzie

Trip: 10/9-17/21 Yosemite Valley 41p to 11c, C2+, 5 multi-pitch routes

10-9 Sherries/Super Slacker Hwy 8p 10c w/Jenn, PJ. Fun to repeat this!

10-10 Braille Book 5p 5.8+ w/Jenn. slippery, adventurous climb

10-11 NA wall p1 C2 w/PJ,Jenn. Great aid practice 

10-12 Positively/Absolutely Free 6p 5.9 w/Sam, Jenn. fun trad romp

10-13 Bishops Terrace 5.8 w/Jenn. Nice os-lead Jenn!

10-14-16 Skull Queen attempt 8p 5.9-C2+ w/Jenn Sweet big wall experience! We got up all but the last 3 pitches.

10-17 The Rostrum 8p-5.11c w/Mik. My finish to the Trilogy(Astroman, Voyager, Rostrum), and the only one I got clean, leading odd# pitches. One of the planets best climb. From MP: “The Rostrum is a truly rad climb. Every pitch is high quality and would be sought after individual classics were they at any crag, but stacked on top of each other they create a superb and memorable challenge. The climbing is secure, well protected, and physical.”

This dream-of-a-lifetime trip was only possible with the support and community that I, in turn invest in. That’s right, it takes willingness to accept the help of others as well as to offer it to others. This should naturally occur in relationships, but please put in the work to develop the people you choose to climb with. The “karma” will come back manyfold, in many forms. You will have deep friendships with experiences that otherwise could be hollow victories. Oh, and do it out of love. 

Revenge is best served cold!? 

We (my wife Jenn, and I)had planned this trip for 2020, but C19 and a severed finger demanded that Jenn and I try and get camping in the valley this fall instead. The temps were frigid, but the stoke was high for classic routes in the sun, and getting some big-wall time in for Jenns’ first ever go. We were ecstatic to have 7 nights in the Pines campground with Priti and Jeff, and 2 perfect nights on Dinner ledge. First up we got after classic multi pitch routes, ticking Superslacker again, and the slippery Braille Book. Sam came through as our rope gun 3rd for a wonderful trad route: Absolutely Free, and Positively 4th st. We stayed fit but didn’t tax ourselves to much either.

It then became warm enough try our big wall attempt. After buying the latest book, we settled on Skull Queen, hoping to get along with the 10 other people vying for the South Face route nearby. It worked out fine with our team speed to get within 3 pitches from the top and rap back to another calm, moonlit night on Dinner ledge. Jenn led the Kor Roof, and got some great follow experience along the many aid climbing pitches. We met some great new friends along the way and many thanks for their great pictures too!

Using the rap and walk out as a rest day, It was finally time for the attempt to onsite the incredible North Face of the Rostrum. The final chapter in the trilogy for me, it was the only one I got “clean”. I led the odd number pitches, thanks to winning a ro-chambeau against my fellow barn animal: Mik. Our first real climb together went great, and the climb was everything we dreamed it could be. It had many beautiful hand cracks, tricky boulder sequences, and in your face steep sections requiring some major core power to turn. I had been wanting, and planning it for decades as there are no other climbs like these world class routes. It helped that we had the route to ourselves. Jenn brought us hamburgers and booze to us at the top out! It was just a short walk in the dark to the car from there. A storm chased us out, and we set off to spend the final evening with my daughter at her new place she bought!

Thanks again to the efforts and patience of my friends and family! Lets continue to care for each other. Jenn, Willow, Andrea, Priti, Jeffery, Sam, Mik, Sharon, and McKinzie.

Yosemite ’21, 5 Big climbs

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Barely home two days from my Utah Idaho trip I jumped in my car yet again. This time to go to Yosemite with my friend Doug. I picked the toughest possible itineraries that I felt we could possibly pull off. It ended up being just above my overall capacity, but thanks to diligent training, my performance was adequate for most of the task.

It was nice to first stop in on Mike and Britne, They’ve had a rough go recently and it was nice to spend some time with them. Thanks you two.

Soon enough though we were off to the high country to Crying Time. This was a very nervy route with lots of insecure moves above the bolts.It was quite a mental reintroduction to this area again. We tried to sleep high but the altitude punched me in the nose with a bad case of AMS. I recovered well enough from that and we backed down to a cragging day.
Facing cold weather in the forecast we just squeezed in the amazing Matthews crest traverse in cold windy conditions. It lived up to the hype, but the down climbing was scary. We preferred going in the John Muir trail approach and out the cathedral. Everybody seems to be doing the three climb link up, so we felt a bit lightweight. Big day just with the crest alone.
What followed was a spell of cool weather that lead us nicely into Yosemite Valley. An amazing day at Sentinel Creek, then a day with the super fun Slacker Hwy climb, led to an ambitious day on the Voyager route.

This is where I really got to test myself, as it had been my goal to lead an 11+ for the first time this rock season. The real story with the Voyager is that first long 511a pitch however, it is sustained, long, and techie. Of course the Incinerator crack was an arm load of work, but fair game. Impossibly complex however, was the Boulder problem 11 C after that. I popped off of it and really struggled to figure it out. Overall I felt this route was technically harder than the Astroman, but not as big of a day overall. I can’t wait to try the last in the trilogy, the Rostrum.
As the trip wore on, the weather warmed up again. We decided to finish on the sunspot dihedral of the Incredible Hulk. As it loomed above me at the start of the wall, however I started to get second thoughts and almost went off to an easier climb. I forced myself ahead on the climb and it proved to be more difficult than I was prepared for. It too had an endurance 511 a pitch, and it too exhausted me before I could get to the top of it. I took a large fall on it near the top with a stopper in my mouth, it was funny that I didn’t spit it out when I yelled “falling”!, I just bit onto it and yelled. As tired as I was I couldn’t give the crux 11b a fair shake so with a few points of aid I was once again In steep endurance physical corners. It was great to be able to rappel the route next to us: the solar flare, as I was very tired after this long, amazing trip. Toughest. Trip. Ever! It was well worth the effort however as comes with it the reward. Thanks Doug, Mike, Britne, Mik, Sam(Congrats on Salathe!), Jennifer, and congrats to my daughter , she just bought her first house!!!

6/5-13/2021 Yosemite  36p to 11c w/Doug

6-5 Crying Time Again, Lembert Dome 6p 10 spooky

6-6 Olmstead pt 4p to 10a/d

6-7 Matthes Crest Traverse IV-5.7 ~10p south to north

6-8 Mañana, Sentinel Creek 3p to 10d

6-9 Super Slacker Highway  10c, 6p

6-10 Voyager, Fifi Butt. IV-5.11c ao 1 fall

6-13 Sunspot Dihedral, Incredible Hulk IV- 5.11-ao 1 fall, 3 pts of aid

Beyond Redlining, MorningStar Peak

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Doug and I made the most of one of the last nice weather weekends of 2020. A nice highlight to an abysmal year, we really enjoyed Beyond Redlining, an 11 pitch, 510+ climb. Coincidently, another set of friends decided they wanted in on the action too. There was even a third-party that showed up to climb the route. Also there with two other parties on the route the right of us (Mile High Club, and descent route), it made it a busy weekend, especially with one of the parties on MHC getting injured.

If you took away three of the early pitches this would be a four-star classic route. The many cruxes along the route were very thought-provoking and put you off balance each time. The route is also completely bolted along with being quite long. I ended up getting the odd number pictures, that meant I had more and slightly harder cruxes, and somehow Doug ended up with the money pitch: P6. The last crux was very memorable with super dicey face climbing that barely seemed possible. Also after rappelling MHC, I can’t wait to climb that route. It will be a while before I get the chance though. Less than a week later after the climb I severely broke a finger at work and will be out for sometime. Now, please go away quietly 2020.

All the more precious is each weekend.

  • Photo courtesy of Mountain project/Rad Roberts
  • James on p2
  • Doug on p6
  • Rockin’
  • p9
  • p10
  • James on p11
  • summit!

5 weeks off, in summer!

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Jenn on Burgundy

It’s very rare for me to take off any time from work during the busy summer season. That’s why I chose to “retire“ during this time. I wanted to see what I could get done if the weather cooperates. I usually consider it too hot to climb during this time of year, but the clever climber can chase shade, altitude, and the weather forecast.
Well, it was quite a run. I ended up climbing almost every day (29) of the 39 days I was off. Traveling once only to Montana during that spell. There is so much good local (to Seattle area) climbing that it is hard to justify jumping in the car for hours and risking exposure to corona you-know-what. Now that we know what the new normal is like, it seems climbing is one of the safer pursuits available, if you can limit close exposure to others.

Some of the more interesting multi-pitch routes are linked to the mt. Project page. Back to work, and lucky I still can do that while collecting a Union Pension!

7-30 WW Social Distancing d7 2p  and retired! 

8-2 Lost Horse Canyon, Mteers rt 3p 10b+1 10c tr

8-3 Gallatin, Black Line 10b+10c tr

8/4-6 Montana Cent rt., Einie Butt. IV+-5-11b-a1 

8,7-8 Refrigerator Canyon 8p to 11b/c

8-9 Kaleechess 4p to 11a Crowded!

8-11 index, LLump 5p to 10a/c 

8-13 LLump 5p to 11a Beetle Bailey p2 onsite!! Big deal for me.

8-15 Cle Elum Lake crag 8p to 10c/11a Interesting crag without any online beta.

8-16 The Ascentionist  6p 10b/c. My mixed homies route!

8-17 ww 4p to m6 

8-19 index 6p to 10c 

8-21 ww 2p to d6

8-22 WW 4p to D7 Highstepping! 

8-23 3 0’clock Rock, Total Soul III-5.10b 7p Fantastic slab route, crowded surprisingly. People still do slab!??

8-24 36v to Anywhere 5.11a 3p w/j +3p another Doug Index Masterpiece

8-27 WW3p to m6 PTE!

8-30 Methow inspiration Route 5.9 5p 

8-31 Fun Rock 4p to 11a

9-1,2 N. Face Burgundy Spire 5.8 7p plan A was Clean Break attempt #2. Jenn and got revenge though on Burgundy, as we both had prior off route experiences.

9-3 Index Inner Walls 6p to 10b9-4 ww 4p 

9-5 ww 5p to m5+ Aspirant

9-6 index 6p to 10+ 

9-7 Osprey Rock, Prey attempt 3p 10c . Serious, and fun route. Taking a bold line and on very unique rock, it is sustained and thrilling for the grade. It reminds me of my adventure route days in Oregon. Do people still do adventure routes!??

Montana ’20; Montana Centennial Route IV+-5.11b 12p

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A great adventure, with amazing friends, to unfamiliar places, my first trip of retirement was spectacular!

I had just sent my mixed project, retired from my 30+year career, then split to Montana to try a big route (Montana Centennial Route) that my friend Jess Roskelley had recommended to me. A difficult, higher altitude route, we would need to acclimate to the rarer air and rugged nature of the Montana Rockies climbing. What unfolded was one of my favorite trips for the year, and ended up with dozens of micro-stories.

MCR day 1: 9 mile approach to camp at Elbow Lake

MCR day 2:First mistake: Off route p1, and later p10. Next up, we continued up with the threat of thunderstorms, and had a 2+ hour rain squall hit 1 pitch below the summit. To top that off, we didn’t take the time to find the raps, and took the wrong way down. For me, the place had e-p-i-c written all over it.

It also had some real fun, tough climbing on it! The Hooven Leo variation was the start we elected to try. I kept trying to cut right at the beginning chimney, but should have stayed patient, and went higher up to the obvious right hand exit. the rest of that variation was great, and when we joined the regular route, the extreme fun continued. The crux was wild!! A 10+ overhang stared off wet, then went wild into the 11b crazy crux. I got it clean(no falls), but was surprised to do so. Then there are some run-out prows, and another wild 10+ hand crack, before it backs off for the last 2 (still wild!) pitches. I also got off route at p10 and did a couple of aid moves instead of going right.
MCR day 3: 9 mile deproach.

A full value route, sustained difficulty, MCR is a highly recommended adventure for the expert trad alpine climber. Steph’s report pretty much lays it all out. The pitch numbers are confusing with the 2 starts. Thanks to Sterling Ropes again, for making such great products that help us up these crazy climbs!! Thanks as well to Lane, Jenn, Ben, Bekah, Rustin, Kristen, and all of the nice locals I met.

8-2 Lost Horse Canyon, Mountaineers rt 3p 10b+1 10c tr

8-3 Gallatin Canyon, Black Line 10b+10c tr stout, old school

8-5 Montana Centennial Route, Einie Butt. IV+-5-11b-a1 w/Lane

8,7-8 Refrigerator Canyon, Warm up Wall 8p to 11b/c Sweeeet limestone climbing with good friends.

 

City of Rocks’20

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Bored out of my skull, I snuck off to Idaho and met Lane at city of rocks towards the end of the lockdown. We took every precaution we could, and felt safe that we were outside the whole time. It was a strange time to be out climbing with so much turmoil. We ended up having a great trip despite inclement weather and even a close brush with a near tornado! The place was not deserted, and the crowd tended to be younger, but isn’t climbing getting younger?

“The City” was not closed, except for the park campgrounds. Naturally the BLM land was overrun a bit and they had to provide a portapoty to accommodate. The locals were not stoked.

Thanks so much to Sterling Ropes for access to the finest ropes in climbing!

4-29 Private Id, rollercoaster, Collossus, att.@ loc ness 6p to 10c wLane

4-30 Lego, Acid Rain 4 laps to 10a

5-1 Box Top, Heartbreaker, Double Cracks 5p to 10d

5-2 Good Stuff, Eviction 4l to 10c

5-3 Conceptual Reality, Just say no 3p to 5.9 22p total

Amazing, of-the-beaten-path routes that were rarely “crowded”.

 

Tucson 2020

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I must admit, with all the news swirling about the virus and economy, it was nice to escape the end of a tough winter and enjoy near perfect conditions in the exciting granite mountains of SW Arizona!

However, the climbing there is very old school, by which I mean spicy, thin feet, tad run-out, earn your pro, etc. Fortunately I have tons of experience with such treachery, yet it is still very engaging for me though. Much is at stake with the lower angle potential falls, great care is taken. I was intimidated immediately with our ambitious introductory route, but hey, first climb of the “rock season”, why not go for Absinthe of Mallet!?? Well, it is quite an onsite, let me say. I had to grab on a bolt to relieve the strain on a “5.9+” pitch. I thought Index was sandbags, but this is next level, and lower angle to boot. You never know what culture you will step into! Most of the climbing was quite reasonable, but intimidating still at times. Very nice to camp out there too.

Day 2:  We backed off of the intensity and did a very fun 5.9 6p called Mystery of the Desert. 

Day 3, Pick up Jenn at the airport and fit in an afternoon blast up The Wasteland, an amazing 5.8 on the East side. All I can say is wow, and don’t try it with a party of 3 unless they are bad-asses like my partners are! Rope drag with 2 ropes is not fun. Traverses are exposed, and committing, yet this route is a gem for the grade.

Day 4: rain led us to the Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum! ( and a much needed rest day for me…)

Day 5 Mt Lemmon, Chimney Rock had the perfect testy trad routes and great access , and got Jenn back to her afternoon flight, no problem.

Day 6 Lane and I sample the insane sport routes of the Backhand crags. What an incredible week ! Now back to the strange life of social distancing? I will bolt to Utah soon, nothing better to do right now..

Good luck everyone and thanks for being a medium of communication, even if it is one way.

 

 

California ‘19.2: Arrowhead Arete and Astroman!

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Though a personal, lifelong dream, “Astroman” would have not gotten done without the efforts and care from many, many others in direct support! Jenn’s help alone was beyond remarkable, more on her later. Good friend Jeremy from Momentum Sodo was the obvious choice to badger into the idea of being my partner on the big climb. Dave has been providing the best rope combinations from Sterling. Heck, the 2 guys at the crag gave us such good route beta. Mike and Brit again provided a place to stay, shower, and I brought them much less trauma with this visit. Bree and Vivian watched our dog.  Only through all of these  players could WE have achieved success on one of the most notorious climbs in Yosemite!

The preparation was months in the planning for us. Training and planning along side my life partner was a welcome constant. With minor protest, she let me bring in a partner for my dream climb right in the middle of our first vacation to California! I made sure that we were positioned to have fun the rest of the trip.

We started off with my 2nd time up Reeds Pinnacle, and Lunatic.( my first time up the routes were in 1982!)

We got right after it grinding out the astounding Arrowhead Arete the next day. What a big day dealing with the dastardly approach, wild, old-school climbing, crazy summit, and insane descent to boot (done partly in the dark!!) The mt project comments aren’t too far off. Justifiably less popular, it is still one amazing adventure climb.

Jeremy then flew in for 48 hours, with the idea of getting after Astroman with me. The weather looked and was perfect. Midweek meant only one other party that we ultimately let pass us. The time finally came, and this was the time!

Weeks prior, we negotiated a strategy that involved me getting(1 fall) the Enduro-corner p3; in exchange for me ALSO HAVING to lead the notorious Harding Slot. Further karma exchange would demand that Jeremy lead the nails-hard “Changing Corner” pitch, which led to me closing with the last difficulty pitch, the scary 10d R (capital R), in the dark.

The climb went well, save losing time in letting a party pass us. That, and the Harding Slot took hour after hour of unprecedented effort to get through. I felt it was just awful. Somehow I thought my decades of experience would get me up any such obstacles. This one was different, and so I paid a dear price mentally and of course physically. I got the pitch done”clean” but left a bunch of elbow and knee skin, and felt like I was gasping for life along the way. Jenn had dinner and wine when we got down at 10pm!

Jeremy’s great quote after was: ” We have to get up the rest of this route now, because I never want to do that(HS) ever again!” My quote later was: “at least the rest of this is regular climbing!”

Now thinking back after a few days of rest, the initial ptsd is gone, a few other highlights come to mind: The route is so very aesthetic, yet has some loose rock, and a very specific bird guano section. It seems sustained, and at times tricky, but it helped to remember that people free-solo it regularly now, so most moves are doable enough. The “easier pitches” will eat gear, so beware, and bring plenty. Hauling a small pack is great for the whole route, and gives you a rappel option too. Haul your helmets through the HS, tape up knees, elbows loosely, use a long knot, as I just barely fit through it. Try not to panic, just get up a half inch at at time.

Team also sent routes on 5+ Dime cliff, Lovers Leap, and Mt. Hoffman! Click images to enlarge, thanks, Wayne and the Astro-team!

The history of the Astroman climb is also fantastic! I won’t go into it here but much is written into the ongoing story. I must admit that this one feels pretty good. Thanks friends, family and everyone that puts up with my brand of shenanigans!

 

 

Smith Rock ’19

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View from top of Cowdog

Like they say: the only constant is change.

My mind again changed when I went to Smith and remembered how much I enjoy the place.

A huge change that I am on the verge of is retiring from my job/career as a union carpenter foreman. I’m sure I will still work in a limited capacity though. More on that later, but let’s get to the important stuff.

Smith rock has dramatically changed as well. I didn’t think it could fit more people, yet at least there are ever more new routes out there for them to compete for. To say it was crowded was putting it lightly. Pressing to get in line for the “cool kids” newer routes, we did manage to squeeze in 17 pitch effort in a cool/cold three day weekend, 4 multi pitch routes too!

10/12-14 Smith Rock 17p to 10c, 4 mp w/Tom

10-12 Voyage of the Cowdog 3p 5.8+, Fish and Chips 10c, Power direct 10a, Pack Animal direct 10b 2p

10-13 Attempt@ Dirty Pinkos 1p 5.8, Chouinards Crack 5.9, Lets Face It 10c, Lost in Space 10c 4p

10-14 Dirty Pinkos 9+, 4p The place emptied out on Monday!

 

A few thoughts on retirement: I am so grateful and lucky to have been able to work in a signatory union field. The pension, pay, and benefits are something every worker should be able to enjoy. I hope we can rebuild our union membership back to where people can have a living wage! Of course, I hope to climb more during my retirement and enjoy life without the toil of waking up so damn early, and working outside like I have my whole life.

This post is dedicated to Cascade climbers.com. Even though the sites content is flagging, the friendships and memories I have made from it have not.