Getting My Alpine FA On

So who remembers that 100+ day we had not so long ago. Hot is the word and I went out climbing. Lucky for me it was to a new area off the grid and way up high. Lets just say that 70 and shade with a nice breeze was the weather. Alpine flowers every wear and a nice quite day.

View from the car parking spot.

Paint Brush In Bloom

Wild Flowers Everywhere

My day started early at 6:30am and I picked up my friend at 7:30am. By mid morning we were at the crag and looking up in awh.

Crag in the distance.

A side crag about 80' high.

Was this it I asked? No keep going was the answer. I had to turn off the urge to get out and run up the hill and keep the car going forward. Suposibly what was just ahead was even better. The truth is it was.

The goal for the day.

I stopped the car and pushed my jaw back up! Wow. Boulders and cliff all in one! Quickly finding the parking spot I stopped and took a couple photo's.

The cliff from the car.

Once the hike up started it was 3 minutes to the base of the large wall. 180' in all. Hear is a size shot with my friend under the overhanging boulder for scale.

That boulder is all overhangs.

From the base I captured a few more shots of the area.

The car so far away.

The view

Looking the other way.

We did end up getting a route in but it will be some time before there is much to climb because of the work that it takes just to get one climb done. Also there are pockets of loose rock so the climbing at the moment is bold for sure. All in all the day was incredible and I got to go to a place I had never seen before. Also when I headed home I stopped at an ice cream shop in a town and it was 100 degrees out! So clad I missed that. Enjoy the photos and some day I will let the cat out of the bag when there is something to climb on for all.

Friend getting the 2nd accent.

A day with Joe and Boone

A few weeks back I got a chance to climb with Joe Kinder and Boone Speed at our local crag The Rat Cave. I have been climbing out there since 1998 and have always thought what it would be like for a pro to climb there. The cave climbs hard and is very beta intense and so there are not a lot of onsite's that take place out there so that's what has had me curious all these years.

Rat Cave

When I was back at the Red River George a few years ago I met Joe and so I was also looking forward to meeting him again. I feel he is a great ambasitor for the sport of rock climbing and can't say enough about all his work developing routes for the climbing community. Thanks for that. On this day the humidity was up as it always is this time of year but we cave climbers get used to it and love the workout that climbing at the cave brings. I think that Freak Show was the main draw for Joe and so after some warming up he got on it right away. I had the opertunity to belay him while he worked out the moves and the flow of the climb.

Joe on Freak Show 14a

He worked the moves out quite quickly. This struck me because I saw Ryan Palo send the FA and new just how hard this climb was. The next go was quite good and he one hung the route. The next video is go number 3 enjoy.

After that go he rested and made so small changes to his beta and sent the climb for its secound accent.

At the same time all of this was happening Boone Speed was working the climb as well and doing quite well. I can remember him from climbing videos that I used to watch. It was great to meet him and talk about climbing and photography.

Boone on Freak Show

Boone on Freak Show

Boone on Freak Show

Boone on Freak Show

Boone on Freak Show

Boone on Freak Show

As it turns out all were climbing well that day and that made for some great times for sure. Check out Joe's web site and video of  Freaky Deeky https://vimeo.com/46701686 He added a link from a harder start and a harder ending to give Portland it's first 14b. Thanks Joe for all your hard work and energy. Keep sending.

Back to the Ropes

Enola is one of my favorite places to climb. I think it is a combination of the great rock and the nice quite location that makes it so nice. Also for me there is the draw of so much new route potential for hard great climbs. The access to the top is very easy for cleaning and top down bolting. A few weeks back I got out there and bolted a line I was looking at last year. It was a banner blue day so conditions could not be better.

View from the top

I raped in and put in the ancor. Hoping for a nice line I bolted this arete and did the light cleaning that it need to be ready for a send.

The climb goes straight up the arete.

As it turns out I think that it is the second best line at Enola. Almost as good as Scorpion barbaque but not quite. The route starts with some nice moves up to a bench and then attacks the arete head on. It all gets harder and harder culminating in some incredible movement right at the end. Aunt Gimima 5.11c one incredible line. So many more to do I look forward to next time out.

Sending Jugalicious 10a

Sending SOTT 10c