Day By Day - Rock Climbing and Life: March 2012

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cascade Cleaning and Sending.

Just Starting a new Project.

Wow! What a day. The temps were great and the rock was dry. Motivation was very high as well. Last time out we left about 10 boulders waiting to dry off from the cleaning we had done. The thought on the day was to do some finish cleaning and then get some climbing in. It all started with a 25' traverse that I had cleaned about a month ago and was now dry. The traverse looks super good and quite hard. I though that I might start on a short straight up problem. It proved to be harder than it looked so it was on to other projects in the area. We cleaned of 6 more boulders and then it was time to try something that I had left over from a few trips back.

Warming up on Thorn in my side V4

After so warming up I got right to work remembering the moves on the new problem. It starts with a V4 traverse on super steep rock into the crux of Thorn in my Side V4 with no rest at all. 3 goes later and I had sent! Rasbeary Gnosh V5

Slap to a slopper

Match on slopper

Move heal hook

Through for pinch

Let the feet go to get left heal hook

Lock of right left hand to bad pinch.

Throw for the lip!

Heal had mach to finish it off!

What a great problem. Could be the best out there right now but who knows. After all at this point there are 58 problems up and 16 boulders cleaned and waiting for FA's. Next it was on to some problems that were clean before. I found this nice arete problem and it was dry so a quick run up for some fun.

Solar Reflector V0

After some more cleaning on one of the hardest looking lines I have ever seen we headed out to the scree and some sun shine. We cleaned off 6 more boulders and then hit lunch. Next I got the itch to finish a line on the cabbage boulder. I had almost done it last time out but ran out of skin.

Ring Worm V6 FA

The problem involves two tiny razor crimps and hideous smears for feat. The top hold is a bad slopper. On my second go I surprised myself buy almost sticking the slopper. Then two goes later the send.

Ring Worm V6 FA

The day was going so well I though to myself I wonder if I can get that project on the Power line boulder. I put up a video of me falling of it in the last post. What went down next was truthfully a surprise to me most of all. This time I will let the pictures tell the tale.

Lighting Strike V6 FA

What an incredible day of climbing. This boulder is 12' high with perfect stone. It has a VB, V6, V4, and V1 on it and is in the shade most of the day. Some info about this post: All photo's were take on my Sony A77 with a tamaron 18-270mm lense and Hoya pro 1 filter at 1600 iso. I love this camera and the results that come from it. Many thanks to my friend for holding the camera. As always feel free to email our post comments and if you want to hit the boulders just let me know.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

March Sun and Cleaning

Friday we got an early start off to the Cascade Boulders. The plan was to clean as much as we could and then do some sending when the cleaning was done. We were off to a new sector of the boulders to do the cleaning and then back to the Surge Protector boulder at the end of the day. The first stop was the Hidden Valley sector. There was a group of 3 blocks with 9 problems waiting under the moss.

14' High 9 problems VB to VHard

The arete on the far right look rely good as well as the face full of mono pockets. After about 2 hours work we moved on to the next boulder to clean witch has one nice 12' high arete. It is on incredible rock and only took 15 minutes to clean. When it is dry it will be a nice line. Just to the east of this boulder was one more boulder with 5 problems on it so we gave it a quick cleaning. At this point we took a break for lunch and headed out to the East side scree boulders to see what we could clean. I cleaned a roof and my friend cleaned a tall arete.

Fox Hole V4 FA

Fox hole starts upside down for 2 moves before finishing on a vertical face.

Fox Hole V4 FA

The arete was nice with 3 problems on it. On the right face I did Solar Flare V2.

Solar Flare V2 FA

I also did the arete witch had some nice balance moves thrown in there.

Solar Arete V1

Next we cleaned a rather large block about 18' high and I sent 1 of 3 potential lines. The name of the game is a balance start with jugs on steep rock to finish.

K9 V1

After some lunch I scrambled down to a 10' slab that I had found to see if the sun had dried it off. To my surprise it was ready to go. It all starts with a short overhang and the trick is to get your foot onto the slab so you can finish.

Slope on a Rope V3

Tired of cleaning new boulders for a while I though I would hit the boulder I cleaned last week and see if it was dry and ready for some sending. The rain had finished the cleaning job for me and it was ready to go. It turned out to have 3 nice problems with one that I will have to come back for.

Well next time out will be a climbing only trip. There are lots of clean boulders now to send. I hope it dries out by next weekend.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

One more success story for the Cascade Boulers

On Sunday last I managed to get away in the afternoon for a quick hit out to the Cascade Boulders. I was hoping to send one of my projects but there was a wet spot on it so no go. I decided to clean off some new boulders so that they would be ready next time it was dry. The first one I cleaned was the powerline boulder. It turned out to have ten problems on it from VB to V3. Two of them were super fun and the surprise was that it dried off so we could climb them all.

Lighting Bolt V2 Power line Boulder

As you can see the temps were great and there was sun all afternoon. After such a nice start to the day we headed next door to clean of a second boulder. This one turned out to be a quick clean and I could not believe what was under the moss. The Surge Protector Boulder. 12 feet high and perfect rock! A great looking arete on the right and a nice VB warm-up on the left with this incredible looking line up the middle. The question was would it go if I could get the rock dry?

Surge Protector Boulder the line up the middle is Power Surge V4

So what you are looking at is a sea of very small sloping holds that end 3 and 1/2 feet from the top with very small slooping feet. I started by putting chalk on to everything that might be a hold. After about 10 minutes I brushed it off and used my small brush with chalk in the brissels to get things totally dry. To my surprise about 15 minutes later the holds were ready to go. Now the thought was could I make them work. It all starts with a slooping left hand pinch and a low 1/2 pad crimp in the right. After a few goes I got on tto the rock and thought if I could just get my foot up it might go. The nest try I pulled on and through my foot left foot on high. My mind raced as I realized I had a chance. Now through! Through hard! I was shocked as my hand held on the bad slooper that is on the top. It was a little damp still but I would not let go and through my left hand on. Next thing I new it had gone down!! Wow was my thought. My friend was just as surprised. All said and done it was an incredible line and a great way to end the day. As always leave me a messages if you want to head out with me some time and check things out.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Winter Climbing at Cascade Boulders.

Well it has been a while since my last post but things have been busy around hear. I got out to the cascade boulders 3 times this winter so far. Once to explore for more boulders and two times to do some climbing. On the first trip out I found 25 new boulders with lots of potential for more problems. I think the area will have about 500 when it is all said and done. Some super cool lines that I cant wait to get on. On my second trip the weather had be wet so I went to clean things off and hoped for some sends if things got lucky witch the did. On the third trip I had good weather so I climbed all day and put of several new problems with the help of a friend. All and all a great winter so far and it is going to be a busy spring.

Cabbage Boulder North Side. 12' high

Black Rasbeary V4 FA Orchard Boulders

Working Perseverance Sit V7

Working the Blackbeary Traverse V?

This problem is a v4/5 traverse on slopers to Thorn in my side V5 for the top out. I have sent all the moves but ran out of steam for the send. Next time!

Working the Blackbeary Traverse V?

Lots of work to do out there but hear is a video to keep the motivation going. If anyone wants to get in on the action just drop me a comment or a email.

The music in this video is By the group Radical Face from there album Ghost. The song is welcome home. Look them up on the web our on iTunes.

Day By Day - Rock Climbing and Life