Exit 38 May 27

I headed out to Exit 38 with Ashley to meet Chris D. and Dave after work. We got there a little earlier than them, so we headed to Gritstone to do a couple routes while we waited. I led (and Ashley followed) the 7,9 and 10a on the right side of Gritstone while we waited.

Since the time was ticking away, we figured we must have missed them and headed up to Interstate. We missed the trial and ended up going all the way around the top and down the tallus field. We finally met up with Chris and Dave who were climbing the hole near the Block of Doom. We decided to do the 2 pitch (6/8)climb just down the gully from there. It was a nice climb and fun top-out with the sun setting on the valley. We rapped down and met Chris and Dave for the walkout. It was a great half day and I got in 5 leads... nice!

Exit 38 May 25

I headed out to Exit 38 [Farside] to climb with Chris D. It was so nice to have a Monday off work and have it be perfect weather. We got on a bunch of climbs and had a great time. I got in a few leads and Chris did as well. Most of the climbing we did was pretty easy, with Chris leading a couple harder 10a pitches and me following. All in all it was a great weekday climbing.

Leavenworth May 23

I drove out to Leavenworth for a day trip with Velvet. Mostly all I can say about it was it was HOT! I mean really hot, especially in the afternoon. Not much to mention about the climbing accept I did another Trad lead. I'm getting better at placing gear all the time. We ended up doing only a few climbs, then decided to head home.

Index - Lower Town Wall May 22

I love climbing at Index. I can't lead there yet, as I'm just starting out with Trad Leading, but the climbing is hard and fun. I climbed with a great partner I met on cc.com, John Shields (Lithophiliac). He was a great climber and fun partner, I hope to climb with him again soon.

We started the day with Princely Ambitions, a two pitch route(5.8 and 5.9). The first time I climbed at Index, this was the first route tried and realized that I couldn't climb 5.8 at Index. It was a tough blow to deal with, but I came to the realization that Index is hard. I'm happy to say that I did much better on it this time, although I still need many laps on this before I could even think about leading it (not to mention more experience placing gear).

Next we moved over to Godzilla, a supposed 5.9 but I think it may have been re-rated in the new guide to 10a. I ended up needing to rest on the rope near the top, but was very happy with my improved performance from the first time I climbed it. From there we kept going up, following P2 of City Park (rating?). It was also fun, and hard, although I can't seem to remember many details about this pitch. After that we kept going up and did Sloe Children (10d). It was thin fingers for most of the climb, with a very tough section to start off. I got a huge belay, but was able to make it up... somewhat to my surprise. I still need to figure out how to forget about the numbers and just get up shit!

Now three pitches up we have to repel down... usually no big deal, but on the last rap we passed the legendary Fred Becky climbing Godzilla with Todd (from the climbing gym in Tacoma). It was quite inspiring to see him still climbing hard after all these years. Here's to you Fred.

Once back down, our time was running short (as John had to leave at 4pm) so he decided to TR City Park (13c I think). It looked insanely hard on super thin fingers. He worked it hard and with a strong belay was able to make it up. Bravo!

It was time to say goodbye to John, but another friend (Dave) was meeting me for an afternoon session at 4pm or so. He showed up and I followed him up Godzilla and struggled quite a bit. I was torched! I spent the next couple hours belaying Dave, so he could get some work in. As usual, he tore it up.

Leavenworth May 15-17

I went to Leavenworth this weekend with Gian and Jeremy (a new friend). It was Jeremy's first time climbing and he did great! He was climbing 5.8 on his first full day on the rock. I'm sure he will be tearing it up in no time.

We got to Icicle Creek at about 5:30 and searched out a camping spot. Of course all th good sites at Bridge Creek had already been taken by then, so it was 8 Mile CG for us. Once we had a spot secured, we headed out for a little climbing before dark. We did a couple routes at Roto wall; a couple of the 5.4 and 5.5 cracks on the left side that are always being used to practice trad leading. The climbing was fun and easy, and we were back at camp enjoying beers by the fire at dark.

Saturday brought sunny skies and great climbing. We did a route on Bruces's Boulder and the to cracks at Barney's Rubble before moving on. Next, we decided on going to Playground Point to do Birthday Boy and a few other routes up there. We did run into a little route finding issue, when we took the wrong trail and ended up bushwacking for 15 minutes before deciding to go back to the road and try again. Once we found the right trail, we were in good spirits and make the fun hike up the hill. I lead Birthday Boy, and we did two other routes to the left of BB before moving to the area above to do one more route. It wasn't in the book, so we TR'd it. I should have nutted up and lead it, as it turned out to be no harder than 5.8 and pretty easy at that. After 7 routes and sun all day, we decided a snack and a beer were in order and drove into town for Subway and beers, whcih we enjoyed at the campsite. After a couple beers and a little rest, we ventured up the hill from 8 Mile CG to the JY boulders. We all did the V0 problem German Acres, just downhill from Nosebleed. It wasn't too tough, but I guess that is what you would expect from a V0. We then went up to Nosebleed, where we all tried Gradisfaction V2. It was a tough undercling start that moved up and left with an awkward topout. It was damn hard just stepping up holding the undercling; it probably took me 4 or 5 tries just to get on the first move. Once on the undercling, you had to move your left foot and make a far reach with your left hand to another undercling. This was the crux of the problem. Neither Jian nor Jeremy could make this move. I was able to make it, and then moving up and left became easier. On the last move, you have a small sloping area for your right hand, then step out on the face proper and finish. I got to the finish 4 times before making it. I was going to throw in the towel on it for the day, when the other guys offered up their pad for me to use if I wanted to try again. I figured why not, and was able to finish the next try. Having the security of the pad made all the difference. I have not done much bouldering outside, so it felt amazing to finish a problem that an hour before I couldn't even get on the first move! We all went back to camp and had a couple more beers, before Jian and Jeremy had to head back home. I stayed, as I had arranged to meet Velvet on Sunday and climb. I had a quiet evening by the fire drinking beers and listening to The Wall (Pink Floyd in case you didn't know).

Sunday came and I met Velvet who had her girls with her, Madison 9 and Alesha 12. We had to go back to Playground Point to retrieve a cordalette that Jian left the day before. There we climbed Baby Steps (I think, or the route just left of it), it was runout but so easy it didn't really matter. Velvet got 1/2 way up in a couple minutes, then realized she was higher than she had ever been before. She had a little difficulty with the exposure and lowered down. (She wished she would have kept going afterwards.) Alesha did a great job and made it to the top. Madison didn't have climbing shoes, so the route proved to be too much for her badly worn tennis shoes. After this, we returned to the car and went down to the river to relax in the shade and eat lunch on the topout of Flying Lady (V2). It was so nice to feel the breeze and spray coming up from the river. After relaxing for a while, we all took a walk up to the JY Boulders and played around for a bit before calling it a day.

Once again, a great weekend climbing in Leavenworth.

Woodinville Boulder - May 14

I decided to go check out a little bouldering rock next to the skatepark in Woodinville. It turned out to be a lot larger than I had thought, as I had only seen it from the freeway passing by. It was full of easy bouldering and turned out to be a lot of fun. There were some harder lines, but even thoes tended to have bomber holds and no shortage at that. There were a couple lines that I didn't want to pull over the top without a proper spotter and pad... I'll save thoes for next time. As it turned out, traversing around the boulder was a lot of fun and a good workout. Seeing as this rock is 15 minutes from my house and I drive by it quite a bit, I think I'll have to start hitting it up for a quick session more often.

Velvet, who is still hard charging to learn how to climb really made some great progress working on this feature. I think a few more times on it and she will be sending 5.7 routes, no problem. Here are a few pics of her figuring out some moves.

I haven't done much Bouldering other than in the gym, more Sport and Trad, but I really enjoyed the freedom that Bouldering affords. I am sure I will be doing more in the future. I think I'm sending at about V2 right now, so it would be nice to get that up to something respectable. I'm heading to Leavenworth this weekned, so I'm seeing a bouldering session or two in my near future.

Shoe Dammage

While out climbing last, I noticed my shoe wasn't doing so well. I have only been using this pair or shoes (Defy - Evolv) for 3 months and the toe was losing the sole already. I felt like this was unreasonable wear, so I returned them to REI for a replacment pair. As usual, REI came through with a new pair.

Dammaged shoes

Perfect Day to climb at Index...

And here I sit at work. This sucks. It's sunny and 70 degrees out... perfect weather to climb and I'm sitting at work. I could get to Index and be ready to climb in less that an hour . I put out a quick e-mail to a couple folks... we'll see if the climbing gods will shine their glory on me today!