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.

Looking at Jerry Garcia through a Prism

Nic wins the No Skin Left award of the month. Nice job!

Aaaaahhhhhhhh...graduation. Well, it's finally over. Four short years of my life spent at the Evergeen State College and for what? Two degrees and a hell of a lot of stories to tell. Oh yeah, and I managed to pick up this pesky climbing habbit, sheesh. But let me back up here a bit. My friend Nic and I decided to get a little pre graduation climbing trip in to Little si but as we arrived to the crag we discovered the late spring showers we had been experiencing had left our precious crag seeping uncontrolably. This was probably the worst I had seen it all year, even Rainy Day was seeping and wet in places at the top. But fuck it, we drove all the way out here, hiked all the way back here and we weren't leaving without getting a few pitches of climbing done. I bravely tried to make a warm up ascent of Abo but got to the toilet bowl and was denied access to the upper crux by a downpour of H20. After that we both did some laps on Rainy Day taking some awesome falls at the very top due to a super wet crimp. All in all we worked out the remaining kinks in our sequence and headed home. Because of our frustration with the wet weather we decided to do a farewell two day trip to our favorite bouldering spot Leavenworth.

Nic on Fridge Left(V.8)

I picked up Nic on Monday and we made good time arriving at the Fridge boulder around 10:30 in the morning. We warmed up on some of the best V.4's around and then Nic, who was seeking revenge on the Fridge Left, gave it a few goes. The heat started to get to us and after being unsuccessful on a few attempts we called it quits and headed to a sweet problem called the Millenium Traverse. I had tried this before sending it from the black depression on my second go but I had not linked it from the start yet. The millenium boulder is an awesome white/grey/black granite boulder that has some nice little lines up and across it. We threw our pads down and got to work. Polishing off the first move every time with a crafty heel hook Nic almost sent but got shut down at the last move. The problem is pretty sustained right off the bat. A huge slap to a sloping/crimpy lip jump starts you into a series of matches along a depression and into a good crimp rail. From there you grab a sharp, but huge side pull, paste your foot onto a small rampy foot hold and rock over to a jug four feet away. Classic! I know. I made great progress as well getting to the side pull via several hard campus moves but got shut down literally inches away from grabbing the victory jug. Aaarrgh! We had two days we told ourselves so we packed up and headed across the street to the Lonely Fish.

The Lonely Fish(V.9)

Such a sweet boulder, huge and overhanging makes it a little intimidating at first until you try the initial moves and then it still feels hard. We focused on the boulders name sake problem The Lonely Fish, wich starts on a crimpy rail nine feet or so on the boulders overhanging side. Pulling on and sticking your foot in a shallow hueco you lunge out right to a good side pull, then you have to swing your feet over to good footholds, bring your left hand closer to a sloper on the lip and then rock over to more slopers in a dihedral, this is the crux. We both managed to stare down the slopers in the dihedral but neither of us committed and we both left feeling a little bit in awe of the problem. I can't wait to get back on it.

Meditation

So far, we were goose egg for sends but we had tried some hard problems and made good progress in a short amount of time so there was nothing to be upset about. Plus we still had the rest fo the day and tomorrow. Seeking out some shade we headed straight to the Sword boulders. Next on the menu was a classic problem that I had not yet had the chance to really sink my teeth into, The Prism. I knew it would suit Nic and his amazing wing span as well so I was eager to get him on it. We arrived and went straight into working the problem. At first I was trying the 'normal' beta wich was a bit reachy and scary for me, seeing as how there is a fin shaped rock right at your back as you make some tenuous moves on slopers. After that I went into my own sequence trying a one handed dyno to the good part of the lip. I latched it several times but my momentum ripped me off sending me sprialing towards the mats. After taking a bad fall I decided to give up that crazy dyno beta and stick to the normal way. Nic was making great progress as well and almost hit the victory jug several times. It was only a matter of time and animal grunts before he found himself pulling over the top of his second ever V.9. Good job Nic, that was impressive.

Nic shows off his impressie wing span on the Prism(V.9)

Nic tops out the Prism in style!

I was inspired by Nic's send and tried the problem a few more times but wussed out, so we moved on. Next was Egg Rock. We could either throw ourselves at an area classic Musashi, or try a cool looking problem that was, until recently, a project. We picked the former project, Jerry Garcia, wich was finally dispatched by the Leavenworth master Kelly Sheridan 7 or 8 months ago. In the guidebook, which Kelly also wrote, he says about Jerry Garcia: "Technical and hard, but probably 'only' around V.10." I was psyched and I started to plan a sequence up the tall granite face that had 'I heart Jerry Garcia' painted across it in yellow, red, blue, and green letters. The two starting holds were glowing white with chalk but after that not much else could be seen on any other hold, especially near the top of this monster wich stands at about 18 feet at the lip. I had seen the youtube video of Kelly sending the beast and I thought it looked like such a stellar line at the time. Coming face to face with it now I had no incling of really trying to send it, I just wanted to play around and see how far I could get. The starting holds are two tiny little crimpers that you have to pull hard on in order to get to a good foot hold, then a catch yourself move to a slopey bad gaston. Bring the foot up high and use a small intermediate crimper to pull and lunge your way to a slanted crimp rail, which feels like a jug in comparison to the starting holds. Position your feet and catch yourself again, avoiding a barn door, on a high slopey crimp, then jump to the flat lip and press over. Fucking sweet!! As I worked it I felt like it would go quickly if I could just get to the slanting crimp rail, wich I finally did. After that it was just a few more goes before I leaped to the lip and mantled over. I was speechless at the top but really psyched to have this in the bag. Here are a few photos.

The send! Me on Jerry Garcia(V.10)

Me attempting to repeat Jerry Garcia.

I haven't gotten in touch with Kelly about the grade yet but hopefully the V.10 grade is valid because this would be my first one. Either way it was such a pleasure to climb this problem, it was super classic. We headed on back down the canyon stopping at the Straightaways to play around on IS, WAS, and Answer Man, plus we stared in awe at the unclimbed(?) Ladder Project. We finally gave up around 9:00 p.m. before heading into town for a meal. We were both exhausted but excited for the next day.

The view from the Sleeping Lady

We woke up early and got out to the boulders around 10:00. I had come down with some sort of crazy chest cold, plus my allergies were kicking my ass, not to mention Nic's tips looked like swiss cheese, no joke! We were both kind of falling apart but we said fuck it and headed over to Mad Meadows. Today would be a good day to clean up on some moderates. We warmed up no a bunch of V.2's,3's,4's, and 5's before heading back to Pimpsqueek.

Nic warms up on Square Pusher(V.3)

There was a V.7 that I had really wanted to do ever since I first came to Leavenworth and got close on it, so I thought today would be the day. Well, maybe not, I got soooo close yet again latching the victory side pull for crying out loud but just not able to find the inner strength to pull over and top out. Oh well, next time. We had fun cruising the moderates and checking out The Peephole, The Ram, Hanta Man, and Superman.

We were trying to avoid the sun while this guy was trying to avoid the shade

We left mad meadows and went and took some photos on the two problems we sent yesterday, I came close to repeating Jerry while Nic actually did repeat the Prism, even with his hands in the state they were in. It was probably the coolest repeat I've ever seen. After that we decided to hone what energy we had left into one last hard problem, The Millenium Traverse.

The Millenium Traverse(V.8)

So close yet so far...

We had the beta, and we felt ready to give it everything. Nic, with bandaged mummy hands and all almost sent it first try slapping the finishing jug. I got the same result next as I campused my way to the end only to fall off inches from victory. FUCK! We felt defeated but gave it a few more tries. I walked around back to take a break and ended up sending a cool V.4 called 2001. Here is a video.

This turned out to be the last problem of the trip, and we licked our wounds over a double cheeseburger from the Heidleburger. This is probably going to be the last time Nic and I come out here, Nic is leaving for two years to attend nursing school at Howard University in Washington D.C. this August. I had an awesome time as usual and maybe when Nic returns from the east coast we will be ready to take on the uber hard problems. Our next climbing endeavor will either be focused towards cleaning up some things at Little si, or getting out to Goldbar or Squamish.

The update from our friends Dom and Laura on their Euro climbing adventure goes like this: Dom finished up in Kalymnos with a flash of a .12c, an onsight of a .12d, and he finally sent his project Neska Polita wich is his first .13a! Laura cleaned house with several .11a flashes, prior to this trip she had only sent one .11a, way to step up Laura! The climbing couple now find themselves in Antalya, Turkey where, just the other day Dom onsighted yet another hard .12, Paradise Lost .12c! They are stepping up their games in every way as they continue their rampage across Europe. Can't wait to see what they get done next.

LLORT magic '92-'08

keep moist

Training Day

World Wall One, the best sport crag this side of the Mississippi? Well, maybe the best sport crag within driving distance of Olympia. Nic, Technorigine(5.12c)


The weatherman is such a liar. I guess that’s why I get my weather from a woman. In any event they were both wrong this time but regardless of the weather forecast we were not to be deterred. Leavenworth had been tickling our fancies for far to long and it was time to reclaim our rightful place at Little si. We got a late start to the day but in the end it was quite helpful. Arriving at the crag around noon, we found the wall bathing in sunlight but only for the next hour, and for the rest of the day we were cloaked in a comfortable shade. You couldn’t tell by the swarms of cars that had congregated in and around the Little si trail parking lot but we were actually only one of 3 other groups at World Wall One so we had our pick of routes. The day started well, warming up on Aborigine, trying to get the feel for being on a rope again and dusting off the sequence to a pretty classic .11b. It felt good to rope gun the first route of the day and the beginning crux felt like a V.0 as I dispatched it with style, remembering where everything was and went. I did almost take a fall halfway through by committing to a hold that I thought was good only to find my hand ripping off of a bad sloper. I clutched the flakey jug I had been holding onto in desperation only to finish the route way more pumped than I should have been, and with the addition of a nice little flapper on my hand between the pointer and thumb. Not bad for a warm up eh? Next Jimmy had a go and looked solid the whole way up clipping the chains in warm up style victory. Nic had been eager to get back on Technorigine and there was no time like the present so on his warm up go he made it all the way through the first crux only to fall at the second, a grueling swing to a big one handed jug.

Nic lunges his way through the first crux of Technorigine(5.12c)

We were all psyched as we moved over to work Psychosomatic(5.12d) a former project of mine. Jimmy rope gunned this one and made good progress getting to the last bolt before coming down. I tried to flex my knowledge on the route but only had enough gusto to make it to the second to last clip before lactating out. Nic made an impressive go by linking it all the way to the crux but completely forgot the sequence and came off. I gave him some beta that had worked for me and after a couple of hangs he had sent it and was attached to the victory rail only to take a nice little whipper before getting to the chains. He is so close to sending that rig, and I hope we can get out there soon so he can get it.
After that we moved our camp over to the main corner where Rainy Day Woman is and Nic, fresh off of Psychosomatic, volunteered to rope gun it. I wasn’t going to stand in his way but I think he was trying to waste himself at this point because he wasn’t so successful, falling a few times before clipping the chains. Jimmy had the same result and they both looked at me to redeem our crews name, so I stepped to the plate. The last time I had been on this route it was on top rope and I had an extremely poor performance. This time I sailed it, it was nice to send such a classic with ease and I even improved my beta and confidence. I’m excited to get on the extension Hydrophobia. After I came down Nic flew up it on top rope just to make sure it hadn’t got the best of him. Nice recovery Nic.
I was feeling jazzed at this point and after a little lunch I managed to get to the chains on Technorigine with an all time low of hangs, 6. The important part was that I was able to fire both cruxes with only one hang each, and I really feel close but yet so far to sending. Jimmy repeated Aborigine but didn’t feel the endurance or the need to continue on the extension, either way this was really good training for the upcoming sport climbing comp for him. Next Nic was ready to send, and he climbed well, making it through the first crux of Techno yet again but just couldn’t muster the strength to pull the second crux, A Meurte Nic!! We shouted.

Jimmy grabs the lip of the Psychowussy boulder problem(5.11b/V.1+)

Jimmy at the first clip of Psychosomatic(5.12d)

Last but not least we all took a lap on Psychosomatic trying to push as far as we could for a nice warm down burn. The training day had ended and we were all pumped and psyched to get back on a rope. The weather and the crowds had been perfect all day and as we left, the rain finally came. Classic Little si sesh. Have fun in Hawaii Nic, and I hope I can do Oly’ justice in the upcoming second annual South Sound Pull Down!

Breaking out of the forest, a nice little surprise.

Well Laid Plans

April showers bring May flowers, of death!

I promised I would get out somewhere other than Leavenworth last week and I actually did! Nic and I made it out to our old stomping grounds Little si. It was soaking wet, even the problems that stay dry during a torrential down pour, and we were heart broken but Nic managed a very impressive warm up lead of Rainy Day Women and I floundered behind on top rope failing miserably at every crux. Oh well, we finished that trip off with a session at Stone Gardens where I got handled by a 12 year old who sent a V.6 that took every ounce of strength I had left in my body to send. It was a throw away day for me, but hey at least I didn’t cop out and go to Leavenworth.

Nic warms up on Cubicle Gangster(V.0) at the Sowrd.

This week I did cop out and go to Leavenworth but only because Nic wanted to go and that guy cracks me up. Plus, perfect weather, granite boulders, and Bavarian architecture never get old! We had a well laid plan that included Nic sending his first V.8 so we headed straight to The Sword boulders so Nic could get back on a proud boulder problem called Ressurrection. I wrote about it in my last blog, but for a quick run down it’s an old school compression problem that climbs a fat bulge to a slab and then up a shady dihedral topping out somewhere in the 25 foot region of space. A scary and tough problem, this rig is the best in Leavenworth and Nic dispatched it calmly, coolly, and collectively.

Nic gets spread out on slopers on Ressurrection(V.8)

Nic enjoys the slab before the top out. Nice one Nic!

Celebrating in the descent tree.

As Nic pulled over the lip we both gave a victory cry that alerted some nearby male stellar jays that subsequently flew over to where we were and tried mating with us. We weren't interested in there displays of spring fever though, and paid them no mind. Nic was stoked on his first ever V.8, and being that he got it on such a stellar and full value boulder problem made it even prouder. While he was down climbing the descent tree I thought it would be fun to check out another V.8 called The Tree Problem, so named because it is right behind the descent tree.

Me grabbing the 'side ways credit card' on The Tree Problem

We chalked holds and thought it looked way soft, two perfect crimps to a bad pinch with a good thumb catch, and then swing over to a huge jug. Climb up a little bit more to an insecure rail and then grab the tree and down climb. We both sent in a matter of minutes but the celebration was kept to a minimum since we both thought the problem could have easily been V.7 or even V.6, but who wants to argue with the guidebook? I have to admit, despite the sharmin softness of the problem it was a rather good one mover on really smooth granite crimps.

Nic on The Classic(V.2)

Nic was on a roll, as he dispatched the classic highball The Sword(V.3), The Classic(V.2) another highball, and The Hourglass(V.7) a one move jump problem that is really fun. I almost flashed The Sword but got to the top and decided to work on my down climbing skills instead of my scary roll over on a dirty slab top out skills. Good job on The Sword Nic, that is a super bad ass proud line, you get the highball top out award of the month.

Nic high above on the top out of The Sword(V.3)

After cleaning up at the Sword boulders we made a beeline for another super classic area, or rather singular boulder, called The Fridge. A place where men are forged from wimpering boys in the shadow of this large rectangular shaped lump of granite. This was the first stop I had made on my first ever trip to Leavenworth and I had sent some of the best V.4’s here, Fridge Center and Fridge Right(sand bag). Now I was returning to exhume my wrath on a mega classic V.8 with an overly original name, the Fridge Left. This fat arête is blank for the most part, except for a cool pore-like sloper and a high crimp near the lip. Basically you slap and hump your way up the arête using the sloper and heel hooks to pull and press yourself closer and closer to the crimp near the lip until you can reach, or lunge, towards the crimp and top out. Fun right? Hell yeah! Jimmy and I worked this problem a few weeks ago and while Jimmy managed the send I was left feeling used and abused. This time it was different.

The first move of The Fridge Left(V.8)

Dawning an old school Sonics jersey(Kemp of course!) I styled it on my fourth go! What a great boulder problem and a great boulder. Super psyched I gave Nic my beta and watched as he tackled the challenge.

Nic feeling victory slip through his fingers.

He came soooooo close to sending; by latching the victory crimp but not leaving enough room to match and pull up towards the lip he was spat off only to come close again on several attempts. He did however manage to flash the Fridge Center(V.4) and the Fridge Right(V.4/5), and I know when he comes back he'll finish off the entire boulder. Feeling a bit worked he decided to come back for this one and we packed up and had lunch.

The Winatchee on high tide.

Our well laid plans led us to Tumwater Canyon where I desperately wanted to try the Hueco Crimper low start. Unfortunately a heat wave had made its way across the Northwest the past few days melting all the snow that had been leftover from our unusually long Winter causing the Wenatchee to swell to an amazing height and girth.

Me trying to be artsy. You aint artsier than me!

My hopes for the Hueco Crimper were literally washed out. No worries, we turned around and headed for the beach parking lot where, unbeknownst to us, we were about to start on a journey that would forever change our very souls. Or, at least get our feet wet. What I mean is that the trail to the Beach Forest boulders was abruptly split in half by a fast moving stream of melted snow.

I think Nic's in this picture somewhere.

We had to hike up into the forest alongside the 'creek on steroids' for a good 5-10 minutes before finding a skinny, water soaked log to teeter across to get to the other side before continuing on our bouldering mission. Here’s a video:

You can tell by the video that it is was a harrowing adventure and we were finally glad to arrive at our destination. The Bech Forest boulders are a unique cluster of boulders that have a good concentration of V.0-V.3 problems as well as some tough V.9’s and a really sweet V.7 called the Terrible. When we arrived we checked out Aggressive Rejects(V.9) that has fingernail bending crimpers to start but an easy finish. Not feeling up to the challenge we headed back to the main boulder that has The Terrible and one of Leavenworths coolest V.9’s Goicochea, named after the author Johnny Goicochea himself. We found another boulderer already trying The Terrible and it turned out that Nic new him from Stone Gardens, a gym in Seattle. He was a really cool dude named Takeshi and we watched as he tried The Terrible.

Takeshi on The Terrible(V.7)

Nic and I both sent the problem in a couple of goes and then went straight to Goicochea to try our luck and our finger strength. The problem sits on top of the main boulder and is somewhat of a low ball, incredibly overhung, and climbs a crimpy seam with half pad crimpers. A bit cramped if your taller than 5’7’’ but ends on a big throw to the lip so if your tall the crux is just getting off the ground and into the seam. I managed to stick the first move on command but couldn’t get my heel to stay on that stupid rail and popped off every time. Nic couldn’t do the first move but almost stuck the last move so together we almost sent the whole problem! Unfortunately we couldn’t combine like voltron to turn into a problem killing machine with a cool theme song so we eventually gave up and headed back to the car. This time we just walked straight across the gushing stream like real men not afraid of getting our shoes wet. Take that stream! Hahaha!

Uhh Nic, do you want me to carry one of those?

When we arrived at the parking lot we tried a boulder problem on the obvious boulder right at the parking lot called Yeti(V.6). More of a lesson in mantling than anything else, Nic was successful but I got spanked not being able to press it out. Damn you Yeti! I’m thinking of projecting it in the future.

Damn you Yeti!

Our last stop was Swiftwater! Not really a great place to go, but is home to some classics like Sleeve Ace(V.3), Royal Flush(V.2), Big Booty Bitch Slap(V.10), Raging Bull(V.7), and the gem of the area Premium Coffee(V.7). Oh yeah, and the Footless Traverse(V.5). I guess it’s not too bad for a couple of trips. We didn’t even bother with the picnic area and the large grained granite of Hate Rock, and instead went straight to Premium Coffee, literally the first problem you come to when you cross the road. Sloper gropin’ is the name of the game on this beautiful problem, and while the temps weren’t exactly in our favor I still managed to come agonizingly close to sending it which was a victory in itself because the first time I tried this problem I couldn’t even pull off the ground!

look ma', no crimps!

Nic made huge progress as well but we were both sacked after an hour of attempts and we headed back to the other boulders where Nick sent Sleeve Ace and I watched. We let time get away from us on Premium Coffee and didn’t have enough to check out the rest of the problems but it had been a great day and we were more than happy to head back to Oly’.

While the temps were great for the day, in the upper 60’s, I fear this may be the last trip to Leavenworth for a while, seeing as how the temps can get up into the 100’s during the summer, but who knows. Memorial day weekend approaches and I feel it’s finally time to get back on a rope for good, or maybe check out Gold Bar since I have never had the pleasure. Plus gasoline is really getting ridiculous, $4.15/gallon!!!!!!! Either I need to start bringing five or six dudes out here with me or relocate to the rocky hillsides of Icicle canyon and become one of those crazy mountain gurus with no hair and a long white beard who scares children and talks to trees. I’ll let you know what I decide. In the meantime I guess I’ll focus on my upcoming finals and graduating, oh yeah, and getting a job. Aaaaaahhhhhh! Thanks again Nic for the conversation( I laughed so hard I almost drove us off the road) and the awesome bouldering, good times all around.

Nic after a day of bouldering in Leavenworth