Gettin' Pitches!

Just warming up...


Pulling in front of my mom’s house in Seattle is always followed by a welcome sigh of relief. Not only out of finally reaching my destination, but also to know my sanctuary is still here. Her backyard is an ordered chaos of vegetation. From vegetables, herbs, flowers, ferns, and fruit trees, to the soft moss that borders the slated walkway the solace offered here is unbeatable and I always look forward to visiting her.


My idea of a fireworks display.








growth.

After a good day of jogging with my dog and catching up with my mom I made the short drive(30 mins. to Little si and Mt. Washington=people who live in Seattle are fucking spoiled!!!) to the Mt. Washington pull out and met my friends Greg and Nick. We laughed and joked around the whole way up the trail stopping very briefly so that I could handle a route I should have sent years ago, Giant. Located at one of the coolest crags in this area, Giant traverses the lip of an Actual Cave on a bomber incut jug rail all the way to a small throw for a good flat jug. The stop was brief but well worth it.


One of the greatest.

After that we were on our way, Greg and Nick both setting a good pace with their spider-like legs and long gaits. The first stop was Chainsaw Wall.


Greg and Nick at the Chainsaw Wall.

A small crag well exposed to a great view and home to some of the best routes I’ve ever touched. My Evil Plan, and Stihl Fingers are probably the gems of the area. I had sent everything except Stihl Fingers and I came to collect. The sun fell farther and farther behind the wall and the shadow line soon encompassed our little party entirely. The rock was warm, and my first go back on Stihl Fingers was a disaster. It felt impossible, and the feet were like tiny dime edges that laughed at me every time I popped off of one. Needless to say it wasn’t the most confidence building re-visiting. Nick gave it a try as well, cruxing a bit in the middle but firing the rest. Greg attempted to onsight the .10c there but backed off after a few clips and hung out taking pictures and video of Nick and I growling at the tiny crimps in this wonderfully black streaked seam.


Nick on My Evil Plan(5.11c).


Me cruxing on Stihl Fingers(5.12a).


Nick displays his steel fingers on Stihl Fingers.


Yet another picture of Stihl Fingers.


My second go back on Stihl Fingers I almost fell off the third clip but fired the rest perfectly and skipped clipping the last draw in favor of making the last big move out to a jug. I was pretty psyched to have this in the bag, and want to reiterate that it is probably one of the best single pitch sport climbs I have ever done in my life. I know, it sounds like an over-exaggeration, and maybe the climb is still reverberating around in my mind enough to cause me to say something like that, but only time will tell. Nick got back on and after taking a fall and dirting him to try it again he sent with a great uprising of effort at the very end. He also cleaned up My Evil Plan second go, and Greg got back on the horse and was able to clip the chains of the .10c. We packed up and headed up to Bob’s area just above our heads. Dom was raving about Alpinia and I had checked out this small crag before and remember it looking great so that was our next destination.
Up some steep trails and winding through a small patch of trees we were spit out at the base of Alpinia, a small slabby looking wall with great features, rock, and a quality view and hang out spot.
After an embarrassing call to Dom, because I had forgotten to bring the guide book, he set us on track with the route beta and I managed an onsight of Green Buddha, a stellar .11b there that involves some nice stemming in a smooth corner.


Me on Green Buddha(5.11b).


Nick's got the long stem down! Green Buddha.

Nick stepped up to the onsight plate as well and went for Inverted Rain Ascending but this technical and beta-intensive masterpiece was not to be undone so easily. After ticking some crucial holds for me I went for the flash. I struggled through the crux, almost barn-doored off the arête, hung out on a bad rest for waaaaaaay too long, and finally grabbed some jugs at the top, threw a leg up and gave a gasp of exasperation and triumph. I had an awful pump I my forearms but was glad to be sitting on top. Afterwards, Nick speed flashed Green Buddha, and Greg took a bad fall sandwiching his leg between to sharp rocks. Yeouwch! Being the straight up soldier that he is, Greg laughed off the pain and we walked down the trail a bit to another short sport climb called Salterello Presto, a really cool bouldery .11a.


Greg on the crux move of Salterello Presto(5.11a).


Nick hung the draws, and Greg tried to get past the first hard couple of moves but will have to wait for next time. I really enjoyed this climb because of the really neat crimps on it, and the bouldery sequence and of course the rock quality. We headed a little further down the trail to the last bit of the crag where some sweet looking routes lay in wait for us. We only had time for one, so I ended the day on a long slabby 5.6 with a great view at my back.
All the crags along the Mt. Washington trail are awesome but Bob’s area and the crags in close proximity are really starting to grow on me. The views, the rock quality, the quality of the routes, and even the hike are all giving me that ‘hot and bothered’ feeling when I start to think about them and I look forward to returning soon.

The end.

Holes in the Ozone

The 'Crew'.

I don’t have a whole lot to say, and even less time to say it in, so here goes.
The weekend started off great, with a day trip to Little si, and an extra helping of Exit 38 in the same day. I have fallen in love with the bouldery moves of Judgement Day Direct(I’ve decided to call it by it’s real name since I met the creator at Little si), and I had a good re-visiting with the Shocklet link up at Nevermind, which also has very bouldery moves at the crux. Both routes involve making hard moves above the clips which is exhilarating and inspiring at the same time. Greg made leaps and bounds in his climbing confidence and started leading his first routes at 38. Feeling good he also went for the lead of Steep Street but got a little pumped out at the crux. However he managed it clean on TR his second go and I think this will be his first hard lead next time out.
That night was a blur of good and bad karaoke, but always infused with laughter and smiling faces(and some crazy dance moves!)
Sunday was a trip to a new spot, Ozone. This little crag is found skirting the banks of the Columbia River and while the drive felt like it took days, upon arrival the crag was buzzing with people, and even better new routes to feast upon. And feast we did. Jimmy and Dom crushed almost all of the .12a’s(crushed=onisghted or flashed calmly and coolly), while Laura and new friend(to me anyway) Chaz made short work of the long and involved 5.8’s/9’s/and10’s. While I wasn’t thrilled by the rock quality in some spots- the only basalt I’ve really enjoyed climbing on is the stuff at Smith-a lot of the routes were bullet hard basalt and were top notch involving many roofs, crack systems, flat edges and ledges, crimps, slopers, sidepulls, and the whole lot. It was an absolute thrill getting on new routes and I have forgotten what it feels like to visit a new crag and not be totally overwhelmed by volume or felt totally out of place. Ozone is a great crag to hang out, with the exception of the extreme downhill angle found at parts of the trail, and no matter what your skill level, offers several mixed trad/sport routes, strictly sport routes, trad routes, and some kick ass roofs. I can’t wait to go back and get my hands dirty all over again.


Dom tackles a 5.11a with a sweet roof.


The far right side of the Ozone layer.


Laura's silhouette dancing up a 5.9.


Dom flashes The Crumbling(5.12a).


Jimmy at full extension on Stack Face(?)(5.12c).


Jimmy.

This Never Gets Old

Nick does the splits on Abo.

Sometimes I feel like I could climb at the same crag on the same routes for the rest of my life and it would never get old; it would never cease to become challenging; and best of all the illumination behind the intricacy and beauty of moving up and over rock would never dim.
Yesterday was a great example of this. My very good friend Nick had finally returned from completing his first year pursuing his BSN at Howard University in our nations capitol. Thrilled that he was finally back I called him up and the usual trip to Little si was underway. Another good friend of mine Greg decided to join us as well, seeing as how he had not climbed on ropes in quite some time(15 plus years?) he was a little anxious as to what laid ahead but excited as well and I knew we were in for a treat. We hit the Little si trail around noon:thirty and greeted by the usual gobs of hikers('look, people who walk for fun!') we finally made it to World Wall where a few groups were already making use of the heavily featured soaring gray/white/black walls. A few celebs. were there. Bryan Burdo was making the rounds, always good to chat it up with him, and a few young up and comers, Bret Johnston and Alex Fritz were destroying some quality routes.
As a side note it was finally good to meet Bret, he is an awesome dude who crushes and it was fun to talk to him about the 'draw incident' and root each other on, me on my repeats and him on his mini proj. Black Ice, which he subsequently sent that day. Also, Alex flashed Techno, sheesh!! Seeing these young guys crush routes that I can only dream about sending in the distant future kinda makes me feel like Boone Speed in King Lines, "Well, I had a good run, now it's time to go get a job".
Nick and I both did a warm up lap on Rainy Day, then set up some good 5.9 top ropes for Greg to get back into the groove of things on. He flashed both Reptiles on Tr and the 5.9 just right of Son of Jesus, I forget the name. Plus we went over some belaying techniques and anchoring in and threading the rope through the chains kinda stuff. Greg was really enthusiastic about learning how to belay and getting out more to the crag and up on the sharp end of things. NICE!



Greg just hangin' out.

Nick gave a quick burn on Techno letting it all hang out after a few whippers. I managed to get past the first crux but totally fucked up my feet at the barn door part and just gave up. It was still good to get back on that thing after so long, this is the kind of route I need to start doing regularly. Next we got on Psycho, I fell in the usual place but finished it up with a hang and checked out Flatliner which is amazing!! The rock quality past the first chains on this wall is spectacular and I'm really psyched on this particular line. I got the run down from Bret about the crux, turns out it's at the end and its supposedly a heinous V.7, yikes!!
Nick gave it a shot as well falling just before the third clip. We moved over one more and Nick decided to go for Bust the Rhythm. Now, it has been a long time since he has climbed here, let alone even climbed on a rope, so I had to give it to him for the effort, always something I get psyched on. But, he will definitely send this rig soon, a few more trips. Greg decided he wanted to step up his game and get on something harder than 5.9 so we walked up the pee corner to the left side of WW1. I took a quick peek in someones guide book so we could find out where the .10c up there was, I remember this line being quality. I placed the draws and while doing so fell in LOVE. This is hands down my new all time favorite route anywhere!!!! A short steep section at the beginning involving two crimps and a lock off to a flat jug rail leads you into a highly textured and featured black slab, and then to more jugs at the top for the finish, I had a blast doing this route again and now I think I'm going to do it every time I come to Little si. Greg almost managed the flash on TR but he didn't give up and got to the chains, YES!! His effort was very inspiring and we were all psyched.


Greg reaches through the crux on BLM-5(5.10c)


More Greg action.


Greg nears the chains.


Nick gave it a burn as well and then we headed back down to do another lap on Psycho. I got it again with one hang, but with much better form this time and I feel like I can link through the crux now with confidence. I gave the extension another go over and it looks good but I didn't manage to get much farther than the go before and took a fun whipper, it's a sick line and I love the fact that you are doing boulder problems 100 feet up. Nick gave a go as well and then we wrapped it up on Bust tha' Move. This time I managed the crux with a bit more style than last time. We were all grinning, groaning, and due to an unnatural amount of Fiber One bars, farting. It was about 9:30 when we headed back down the trail to the parking lot.



Me on Psychosomatic(5.12d)



Finally hitting that jug rail, feels soooo nice.



Nick at the chains of Psychowussy.


Nick in the middle of Psychosomatic.


It's these kinds of trips that make me really psyched for future out of my league projects, long days at Little si, and just hanging out with good people. The energy all day was positive and playful and I can't stop thinking about getting back to Little si. I'll be in Seattle this Wednesday through Sunday so if anyone reading this is in Seattle and wants to get out five days in a row to Little si drop me a line. I've got one more day of class(psyched), and then it will be a week until I hit the road for my Colorado trip. I have no idea what awaits me out there but I'm open and absolutely looking forward to getting back to my old stomping grounds, where it all started, and hopefully getting some bouldering done.


Please do not feed these to Nicholas Mathis, PLEASE!!!