Deep Forested Bouldering: Brothers and Boulders

Over my 20 years as a climber I have come to enjoy the social aspect of climbing and meeting mew climbers at the crags around the world. This is a big part of the climbing experience I think. Because of this the last 5 years have been full of solitude as I spend most of my time developing new boulders and routes. I love the process of developing something new but it comes at the cost of social interaction as there are not a large amount of climbers looking forward to lots of hard work all day for few our no accents until later. This makes it even better for me when I get the chance to bring friends our family out with me climbing and introduce them to some new climbs.

Summer in the woods.

My brother has been climbing for years a little hear and a little there so he is not new to the sport. He has not done any taller bouldering though so this was going to be a new experience for him in some ways.

My brother on Tower Of Babel V0

Our day started on some shorter problems as warm ups.

Slopers are the norm on these boulders.

My brother getting into the flow.

Soper pinch grip.

Setting up for the topout.

After the warm ups we hit the tall ones and I started to clean a new line.

Finalizing some cleaning on the base of the boulder.

Heading up Tower of Babel for some fun.

Tower of Babel

My brother setting up for the topout. He did get a little tense for a moment.

But he committed and sent.

A relaxing moment on the top looking at haw far he had climbed.

Then it was time for some zen moments.

Take of the shoes first.

Achieve the pose

It was now time for me to finish some final cleaning and go for the send on the new problem.

Brushing moss is part of the deep forest experience.

Setting of on the FA flash of Seventh Wonder V1

Seventh Wonder V1 FA

Seventh Wonder V1 FA

Seventh Wonder V1 FA

Seventh Wonder V1 FA  the cool crux move. So awesome.

Seventh Wonder V1 FA

Seventh Wonder V1 FA

So happy at the quality of the line I sent it 3 more times for the fun of it.

After his success on the tall line he wanted to try a classic around the corner. He did not send but had a lot of fun and wants to come back for the send.

Supper fun V1 I took a lap to show my bro the problem.

My brother styling the corner

Sticking the first part of the crux.

All that was left for him was to move his left foot out wide and stand up to a jug. Then it is jugs to the anchor. This line is a 5 star for sure.

Beautiful tall firs of the Pacific Northwest.

As a finish to the day we went to a different boulder so my brother could try something short and a little harder just to see what its like.

My brother on LP V2

Eye on the prize but wishing for better holds.

Hear is how great those holds are.

LP is a friction and balance problem so for all real porpoises there are no holds.

Setting up for the crux.

Giving it his all.

He did not make it this day but will next time for sure. I think he was too tired from all the rest of the days bouldering but he sure did give it all he had.

I hoped on and gave it a send.

Showing the proper way and driving everything into the high smear.

When all was said and done we had a great day out. I sent 2 new FA's and my brother did some high balls and came one move from doing a personal best. So glad I got some social time at the boulders on this trip but part of my mind was on finding and cleaning the next new adventure. Thanks for ready this post and keep sending.

Alpenglow Bouldering.

Alpenglow bouldering; I first laid eye's on the area while driving back from a different area. As it turns out in 2000 you could see the boulders from the main gravel road but only while travailing south on the road and only in a very small spot.

The dot is the view point and the boulders are in the center of the image.  

On that particular day we drove back home but I marked the spot in my head for the future. My next trip out I was bashing through the woods looking for what is now the Superhero boulders and found a little boulder instead.

X Boulder

As it turns out the view from these boulders over to the Alpenglow Boulders was great and at the end of the day I had to get up there and check them out. What I found with my friend on that first trip was awesome! Incredible rock and nice size boulders. There was not a lot of them but they were great and the view of the sun setting on Mt Hood was incredible.

Dave starting up what would become a V4 and me on a future V7

The first few trips we just bashed through the woods up the steep slope but then we trimmed the dead branches off the underbrush and created a trail which was improved upon with the help of three other people over a few years.

The trail from the forest service road to the boulders as recorded by GPS.

This trail starts with some natural stairs up on tree roots and then makes its way through the under canopy of fir trees all the way to the boulders. It is very obvious because of the missing dead branches trimmed years ago by me and my friends. At the boulders you will notice that it is not a large area but the boulders are good size and the rock is supper solid.

Boulders highlighted are the main ones.

At this site cleaning has not been necessary for sending. Because of this the only tools we use are a tooth brush and crash pads. The ground in the spring and summer has lots of wild flowers and the views of the gorge are spectacular so we also chose to keep it as pristine as possible to enjoy the alpine style environment. No landings we groomed because they did not need to be. Some are not smooth but spotters and pads can fix them.

View looking east.

View looking south.

Some of the pictures in this post are scans of slides from about 15 years ago and some are digital taken all during that time. Enjoy the pics.

Start of an overhung V6 traverse.

Heading into the crux finish.

Climbing a tall unnamed V1

Five start V0 called Alpenglow

Supper hard arete. Lots of power on this one.

My friend climbing a great arete.

Working the Sharks Fin V5

Sending the awesome V6 traverse about 6 years ago.

Alpenglow V0

Working a great V4 sent by a friend of mine in 2000

The Sharks Fin is a classic and hear are some pictures of the FA done years ago by one of my good friends.

Sticking the side pull for the FA

My Send soon after.

Lots of dead points on this one.

Throw for the finish.

The Sharks Fin with Mt Hood in the background.

In the last two seasons there has been others that have made there way up to this area after I mentioned were it was when at an area nearby. These fine folks have done some new problems and repeated a lot of what I and my friends did a few years back. I am very glad to see others climbing hear! That is the point of developing boulders. Writing this post is about giving some history to the area on how things started. I will end this one for now with a map to the area. In the future as I have the time I will post more detailed information on problems and grades. I recommend checking it out and enjoying it for what it is.

The road starts at beacon rock. When the pavement ends just keep straight.

Click on the maps to make them bigger. Keep climbing and enjoy the Alpenglow Boulders.