Welcome Back to the Grind

The wonderful thing that is summer vacation has now officially ended for me. Yesterday was the first day of class of my senior (wahoo!!!) year at the California Institute of Technology. I couldn’t be more excited for it to be my last year, even though I’m also a bit stressed out about doing everything right and hopefully getting into my grad school of choice.

Getting back into the climbing thing after almost a full month off has been a little rough. My endurance went down the drain, as did quite a bit of my newly earned confidence from all my sport climbing successes. Hopefully this coming weekend at the Owens River Gorge will help bring some of that back.

However, I’m trying hard to get back into shape (mentally and physically) because one of our major objectives for the fall/winter season is the crown jewel of J-Tree, my long lusted after objective, Equinox. This is very exciting.

In other news, Luke onsighted the Vampire at Tahquitz last weekend! (And I flailed up after him – holy crap the Bat Crack was kind of hard…) We should have a post about that soon, after I stop being too stressed out about school to actually get anything done…

Lizzy

Sweet Gear: Approach Shoe Reviews

For me, approach shoes are very important. The comfort and security I feel when I’m hiking and scrambling to the base of a climb can help set my mood for the day. If I’m uncomfortable while hiking or sliding around and nervous while scrambling, it’s no good. So I thought I’d share my approach shoe experiences for your benefit or to get some of your thoughts about shoes.

Five Ten W’s Mountain Master

I absolutely hated these shoes. They did not fit well, were not sticky, and had ridiculously stiff soles that killed my feet. Even with my superfeet insoles, they were no good. I was not at all impressed. This is probably why they don’t make these any more.

Five Ten W’s Access

These shoes aren’t really approach shoes, they’re trail running shoes. For trail running shoes, they’re quite nice. They fit well and are very comfortable. For just hiking, they are great. However, they aren’t made for scrambling and don’t really perform well there. They’ve been demoted to my “just hiking” shoes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still love them. Also on the downside, the construction of the shoes seems not to be the highest quality. A lot of little decorative things on the shoes (nothing functional) took about a week to fall off.

Montrail W’s CTC

These shoes are absolutely fantastic. They fit great, are comfortable for hiking, work great for scrambling (I lead Tenaya Peak wearing these instead of my rock shoes), and last forever (except for the laces, but these are fairly easily replaced). They are vented so that your feet don’t get too hot, although it also means your feet get wet if it’s raining/snowing/etc. But if you are dealing with a lot of those conditions, I’m pretty sure you need a different kind of shoe anyways. My sensitive feet love the CTCs and I can wear them for hours and hike long distances with no blisters. My first pair of CTCs have been going strong for three years (although they recently got “retired” to the brutal job of being my geology shoes). I now have a newer version of the shoes, which Montrail thankfully let remain essentially the same except for the color and the laces. Highly recommended!

Montrail D7

I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to use these because I got mine used and they are sized a little too small to be comfortable for hiking a lot. I know plenty of guides who swore by these a while ago, though, so they can’t be that bad.

La Sportiva Cirque Pro

I just got a pair of these last weekend at the REI used gear sale (wooo $8!!!) and I’m very excited. From just trying them on, they fit my feet perfectly (although I do seem to have La Sportiva feet) and feel very comfortable. I’m excited to try them out after I get them resoled.

What approach shoes work for you?

Lizzy

My Life as a Geologist

I have finally returned from my brief stint of being a geologist (and not a rock climber – I haven’t gotten to climb in three weeks!!!). I don’t get the impression that many people actually know what geologists actually do, other than look at rocks, I figured I’d write a post about it.

Most geologists agree that in order to be a real geologist you have to go into the field sometimes to look at or sample real rocks. Geology is not one of those things that you can do only in a lab. But once we’re out in the field, there are a lot of things we could spend our time doing. Different geologists will see different things in the same place, depending on whether they are focusing on small, medium, or large scale features.

My trip was mostly about looking at medium-scale features – beds and “structures” (which are generally faults and folds) that occur on several meter scales. It’s hard to really understand the big picture of what’s going on at this scale by just looking at it and writing some notes. That’s why we “map” what we see – we start with a topo map of the area and draw in “contacts” between different rock units (for example, the contact between a 100ft thick bed of limestone and a 150ft bed of shale) as we trace them around hills and through “structures” like folds and faults. We also pay attention to how the beds are oriented so that later we can understand what’s going on below the surface. I’ve included some examples below.

This is a geologic map of the state of California. We do something like this, but on a much smaller scale, where 1 inch = 500 ft.

This is a smaller scale geologic map of part of the Grand Canyon.

This is a sample of a “geologic cross section” that a geologist can make based on observations from the surface. It shows a hypothesis of what the units look like below the surface. This example is from a folded and faulted area in Tennessee and North Carolina.

So for 18 days, I was hiking around a field area (called Poleta Folds) in the Inyo Mountains (which is the range to the east above Bishop and Big Pine) just above Deep Springs Valley, looking at rocks (but not climbing them). Our field area was at about 6000ft, so it was relatively good exercise to be hiking around off trail with a pack on all day. For most of the trip, we camped at a nice forest service campsite at Cedar Flat, somewhere between 7000 and 8000ft. The days were pretty busy – we would wake up at 7am every morning, cook breakfast and pack lunch, drive to the field area by around 8:30, work until 5pm, head back to camp, cook dinner, “ink” our maps (copying over what you’ve drawn in pencil during the day with pen so it doesn’t smear), and go to bed exhausted around 9:30pm. I hardly had any time or energy to think about rock climbing, although there were no rocks worthy of climbing anyways.

Sweet geology that we unfortunately didn’t get to map. The white flat area in the background is on the valley floor of Deep Springs Valley.

Doing a “field camp” like this is basically a rite of passage for geologists. It’s important for someone studying rocks to know how to function in the field since fieldwork is generally involved with most geological studies. Some field camps are a lot longer than ours – 10 weeks instead of 3 – but I feel like I learned and accomplished a lot in my 3 weeks. Plus, with only 3 other students in the class, I’m not sure we could have spent another 7 weeks together…

One of many cute lizards in the field area.

One of the highlights of our trip was a regional field trip day, when we drove around and looked at stuff instead of mapping. We ended up at the Patriarch Grove in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest at around 12,000ft elevation. Although the day was a bit cloudy, making the view of the Inyos and Sierras a little less spectacular, it was still really beautiful up there. It even snowed on us, which was a big difference from being hot and miserable in the field area (I had to use 55 spf sunscreen because I was getting burned through several reapplication of my usual 30 spf).

Old trees and chilly weather at the Patriarch Grove.

But now it’s back to climbing and rushing to get things done for my senior year of college. WOO!

Lizzy

Summer Sends – News From All Over!

Lizzy and I had a lazy weekend in Pasadena. With not too much to report on the personal front I can only provide links to the top notch sending spree that has been going on the last couple months.

Sport Climbing, according to some, has a new hardest route! Chris Sharma sent the Clark Mountain Project and dubbed it Jumbo Love. While usually hesitant with grades it seems that this new climb gets a number. At 250 feet long Jumbo Love is rated 5.15b. It will be interesting to see if any of the strong Euro’s such as Adam Ondra or Patxi Usobiaga will come and try it.  After making progress last year it seems likely that Ethan Pringle will go back and work the route again if the weather works out.  Sharma, obviously in top form, also made a 2nd try one day ascent of Joe Kinder’s Golden Direct. While Kinder speculated that the route may be 9a (14d) it will take a few more repeats to be sure.

Rifle has seen a bunch of summer action. There was a big party for the Rifle Clean-Up with Pimpin and Crimping representing in addition to a large community turnout.  Adam Taylor and Jon Cardwell both  resent the Crew after a few holds broke. Joe Kinder dropped in and repeated the Crew and started work on the Bauhaus Project. Dave Graham came by and after some discussion with Andy Raether did the FA of Girl Talk, 14c. Kinder made the 2nd ascent and Daniel Woods, who seems to be climbing routes again, made the 3rd.

Ethan Pringle joined the crew in Rifle and after a full beta spray from Dave and Joe sent Girl Talk in 5 tries. His 8a scorecard has it listed as 8c and I’m sure it must have been easier knowing the beta for every move. Carlo Traversi, who has also been hitting the ropes, just did the 5th ascent of the now classic Girl Talk.  This send comes in fast progression after sending Simply Read, 8b (14a) , and Benign Intervention, 8c (14b), according to 8a.nu .

Dave, Daniel and Joe have also been spending some time at The Fortress in Colorado. Dave made the 4th ascent of Kryptonite and Joe and Daniel are close behind.  I believe Pringle will be joining them and some sending is sure to happen. I am curious about a bit more information on Flex Luthor, Tommy Caldwell’s 15a at the fortress. Kinder seems a bit unimpressed with the rock quality.  It is interesting that these routes are only seeing attention now five or more years after the FA.   (It seems, according to 8a.nu that Graham tried Kryptonite on a visit to the Fortress in 2000) 

Paul Robinson is off in Switzerland looking for new blocks, checking out hard climbs and talking about grades. Beyond the classic hard routes I am interested in what Paul thinks of Daniel Woods’ new problem, In Search of Time Lost. Check the video on MVM to see Daniel do some serious crimping.

Colorado Bouldering has also been hot this summer. Alex Johnson started it off with a quick send of Clear Blue Skies (V12).  Alex Puccio continued by crushing The Marble SDS (V11/12) and Angie Payne finished it off with a send of her 3 year project, European Human Being (V12). These sends complement the esablishment of two new hardlines in the park, Blood Money by Daniel Woods (V13) and Top Notch by Ty Landman (V12).

Here in California Issac Caldario established Chumscrubber, a possible V12, at Way Lake. This newer area is located near Mammoth Lakes, north of bishop. Due to cooler temps it has seen a bunch of action by the Bishop and  Bay Area crews. Once a bit more information comes out I would be excited to take a look. The rock seems a bit different than what is offered in Bishop and it could be a nice change of pace.

In the trad climbing world both Ethan Pringle and Matt Segal sent the Cobra Crack this summer for the 3rd and 4th ascents respectively. Matt had a bit of an epic with squamish weather that delayed his send until the last possible moment.

With the fall temps coming I wish everyone luck on their projects!! Once the J-Tree weather cools down a bit we will be working on Equinox. All of this sport climbing has given me hope that I will have enough endurance for this pumpy crack!

Cheers,

Luke

Mental Toughness and a Full Moon in Jtree.

Life continues to be busy and hectic but I was able to get a bit of climbing in this weekend. Conflicting schedules and a careful decision not to over train meant only one day at the climbing gym this past week. I got in a few nice bike rides to work and started running again. I even was able to push my 5k time down to 20:05. I am not a 5 minute mile runner or a marathoner but I love my 5k. Three miles seems to be a good distance and I can try to go fast the whole way. I am hoping to improve my cardio vascular fitness and finally run a sub 19 minute 5k. Having goals outside of climbing helps keep me motivated to train hard in the gym.

Stein and Leah below Control Freak. Photo by Andre Kiryanov

With a good week of rest and cross-training I was excited to go to the Riverside Quarry on Saturday. Stein and I were climbing by eight and I was happy to try a few new routes as warmups. Leah and her husband Andre were on Original Sin so we started on Exfoliator and worked our way to another 11c near by afterwards. I think it is called Afterburner and since it is a newer route it could use some more traffic to clean off the dirt and loose rock.  After warming up it was Stein’s turn to try hard and he put the draws up on Tattoo. It was his fifth day on the project and he was getting close. A few foot slips and some exciting falls later he made it to the top of the headwall. Confident that recovery would help give him back some power I got a turn.

Leah had just put draws on the first half of Control Freak and I was anxious to see how my fitness was. I hadn’t been to the quarry in a few weeks but I had been doing a bit of bouldering to help with my power. I fell in to mental weakness and grabbed the draw instead of committing to a foot switch. I just was not comfortable with the the move and it got into my head. I did the move a few times and moved on. I stuck the crux deadpoint first time and did the rest of the moves and lowered off. Leah got on the route again and Stein and I spent a bunch of time resting. After Leah took a long fall (see comment after post), the one I was afraid of, she figured out that we could use a double length draw and the clip before doing the first crux.

Luke on the final moves of Control Freak. Photo by Andre Kiryanov

With all the draws in place I set off for a redpoint. I had to reach pretty far to make the pre-crux clip but with the added confidence I committed to the foot switch. I made the cross over and was done with the mental part of the route. I did a few quick shakes and climbed up to the power crux. Clip, shake commit! I stuck the move with a yell. This was my longest link thus far and I needed to keep moving. Shake, crimp, hand foot match and balance up to a good hold. I had made it to the no hands rest! I was so excited but I needed to concentrate on my breathing and relax in order to get back a bit of energy.

Recharged, I climbed smoothly through the steep finale. Making the last jump and yelling again with joy as my feet cut. I mantled over the bulge and clipped the anchors! My first 13 was complete! I was so happy to have made it through and been able to focus and climb the route. Clipping early on the first crux eliminated my fear and I climbed deliberately through the hard moves. The September weather was perfect and everything had come together. Three days of climbing, 10 tries and I had done my hardest route yet!

Luke post-send! Photo by Andre Kiryanov

Inspired by my performance, Stein got back on Tattoo. He made the opening moves look easy and climbed very strong and executed the boulder problem perfectly!! He rested for a while and embarked on the headwall, the second crux. It seemed he must have spent too much time resting and his climbing lacked the flow and focus from lower on the route. He staidly made his way up to the final hard moves but came off. The feet on this section are precarious and you need mental toughness and solid crimp strength. He came down and I gave the route a go on TR.

I struggled just getting to the 3rd bolt with the odd underclings and bad feet. I made my way through boulder problem and onto the headwall. I was too spent for such technical climbing on small holds and gave up. We both tried a few more times and did not make much progress. Tired and happy we headed back to San Diego.

Taylor has come to love the smells of the Quarry and is at home scrambling around the base of the routes. Photo by Andre Kiryanov

Stein and I had met in Escondido and I had arranged to meet a friend, when I returned, to carpool out to Joshua Tree. We were going to the desert to celebrate the full moon and my friend Hartley’s birthday. Lacey, one of Hartley’s friends who I had met many years before at Smith Rocks, lived in Pacific Beach and needed a ride. We quickly made our way to J-Tree with a dinner stop at Crossroads Cafe. It had been months since I had been to Jtree and it was funny to going back with out any trad gear. I was told only to bring my bouldering pad and shoes.

That night after a bit of slacklining (which we found out is illegal in the  park) we wandered the desert by moonlight. It was fun to be scrambling around in the “dark” without needing a headlamp. The weather was cool but not cold and we had a good time. Joshua Tree looked beautful in the white glow of the moon and it was stress free to be there without any plans. No projects or obligations, no climbs that needed to be sent and no agenda for the next day.

In the morning we did a bit of bouldering with a stop at White Rastafarian. We had tried the problem the night before in the dark in sneakers with no success. With only one pad it didn’t seem reasonable to give serious effort to this tall problem. Hartley and I both got to the top of the initial flake without a problem. I was able to get my foot high and could visualize the reach to the top rail. Unfortunately it seemed like a dynamic move and the back breaking rock 10 feet below did not inspire me. We left and drove to Gunsmoke for something a bit closer to the ground. It had gotten quite warm and we were starting to suffer in the heat. I taped my fingers and did a lap on the route. It was quite tricky since I couldn’t feel the crimps and struggled to stuff my fingers in various slots. After Hartley worked various sections we bailed. He had done the route before and neither of us or Lacey were having fun.

Hartley treated us to lunch at crossroads and we headed home. We left Joshua Tree around 3:15 to head back to San Diego. We had left at the same time to come out the previous day so we had a mere 24 hours in the park. It was a blast and hopefully I can steal a bit of Hartley’s time from snowboarding this winter to come out to Jtree with Lizzy and I.

The weekend was a great success and I had even managed a good amount of sleep. To cap things off I went for a run when I got home. Trying to go fast was a bit of mistake since the glorious Grilled Coyote was still in my stomach (A grilled chicken burger with jack cheese, a portobello mushroom and bacon!). It was my last of three weekend away from Lizzy. I can wait to see her on Friday and we are going to an REI scratch and dent sale on Saturday morning.

I may update when I get some photos from Hartley, which would be a nice change from my wordy posts!

Update: Got some sweet photos from Andre! For more of his work check out his site AKtionPhoto.com

– Luke

Alone in Tuolumne.

This past Friday was my day off so I drove up to Bishop to see Lizzy. She was in town for a resupply and we were able to have lunch and chat before she had to return to her field work. It was great to see her and sad when she got back in the CalTech Geology truck and drove off. We crunched lots of talking and hugging into our 4 hours together which was not close to enough. It was defiantly worth the drive to see the smile on her face when I pulled up.

With Lizzy quickly back to work I had decided to take some alone time. A partner hadn’t worked out but I hadn’t really tried that hard. I was looking forward to some personal reflection and a bit more exploration of Bishop and Tuolumne. I had brought along my bouldering pad so I could do a bit of pebble wrestling when I tired of hiking and driving. The 90+ degree forecast (in bishop) was not ideal but I managed two night sessions at Rock Creek.

Rock Creek is located near Tom’s Place about 25 miles north of Bishop on the Sherwin Plateau. Rock Creek is appeal since it is more than a thousand feet higher in elevation than the Buttermilks and is surrounded by shady trees. The boulders are located in canyon cut by the water so they receive shade a bit earlier than else where.

Before heading to Rock Creek on Friday night I drove up to Owens River Gorge and hiked down to see the climbs. I had never been to the gorge before and had been curious about the volcanic rock and feel of the area. There is climbing on both sides of the gorge and there is a road down the middle that provides access to the various power plants in the gorge (Only service vehicles are allowed in). I had a good time running around and checking out the climbs and am anxious to get back with a partner and rope. The climbs are long and vertical and mostly bolt protected. Since the river goes down the middle of the gorge you sometimes have to cross mini bridges to get between areas.

As the light was fading I was making my way around Rock Creek. The guide book showed a few boulders and I was looking for something hard with a nice landing. After exploring the Campground boulder I made my way to the talus boulder. I warmed up on a V2 and started trying One Move Blunder V4. The granite was rough and had some funky knobs. After gaining the crimp rail, on this V4, you were supposed to launch for the top of a huge (3 feet wide by 2 feet tall) feature. This “knob” unfortunately did not stick out much and was directly over a bad rocky landing. I oped for the bail out left option since dynoing without a spotter would not be a good way to start my trip. The Blunder Bus V6 is the bail right option that I did next.  The guide book said move right immediately after reaching the crimp rail. This seemed a bit contrived so I matched the crimp rail, which made the move longer but allowed me to use my feet, and then went right.

Next up was Clearcut a fun looking V7 on the arete that had very directional holds and bad feet. The crux was a standup move into a sharp V-slot with your left hand using a bad right hand crimp. I slowly figured out the beta and was able to do all the moves. I fell many times trying to link from the start and my skin was toast. It was about 8pm and quite dark so I called it a night. Tired from my 6am departure I made my way to my bivy in Tuolumne and ate a bit of dinner before passing out.

The next morning i got up before sunrise so that I could get out to the rocks quickly. I packed up and drove into Yosemite National Park, via the 120, and parked near Tenaya Lake. I was the first car in the parking lot and that meant I would be the first up Tenaya peak. The approach was easy with my small pack of water and climbing shoes. Most importantly I was able to find my way up the assorted Deer Trails and didn’t lose time getting lost. I did get a little confused about where I was supposed to start since there is no base to the southwest face. There are slabs that you are hiking up and at some point you decided you should start “climbing”. Not wanting to find my self in the middle of a tricky slab in my approach shoes I put on my Muiras and got out my chalk bag.

As I steadily went up more 4th class terrain I was worried that I was off route since it was so easy. I wanted to climb, but instead my calves were burning and I was breathing heavy from the altitude. A large band of dikes across the face that matched my topo, I was on the right track! Even though I was excited I couldn’t really pick up the pace since my lungs were suffering, I am not used to being above 9000 feet. The climbing was constantly easy and did not really necessitate a rope. Lizzy had pitched out the climb in her approach shoes and I was happy to be moving quickly.

I took a break on a ledge about half way up and ate some food and took off my climbing shoes. The view was spectacular and I had the whole place to myself! I summited a little over two hours after I left my car. The climbing took a bit more than the approach but it was very mellow. The top section required a bit more attention since the rock got a bit steeper. I got pretty lost on the decent and was more gripped going down loose gullies than climbing the route. It was about 3.5 hours car to car so I still had a full day ahead of me.

I ate lunch and relaxed at Tenaya Lake and gave a ride to a hiker from Murrieta named Bruce who had been in the area for the last few days enjoying the trails with his family. I wandered around Tuolumne and hiked to Drug dome and checked out OZ. I met a nice guy named Dennis who had been out photographing a pair of British climbers on the route. OZ looks spectacular with difficult face climbing followed by a 100+ foot long corner. After watching the couple go up the route I made my way over to Lamb Dome. Lizzy and I are interesting in doing On the Lamb, which traverses the dome, and I wanted to get my bearings. After finding the trails I made my way to the base and found a spectacular wall of knobs.

I went back to the car and grabbed my shoes and returned for a bit of traversing. I figured it would be good training to get used to the Tuolumne crimps and knobs and a fun way to spend my afternoon. I hopped on the wall and made my way most of the way across but was stopped by a reachy crux in the middle. It seemed that climbing higher might be the solution but since I was still along I decided to wait for another day. Exhausting my supertopo book for new places to go I stopped by the store and bought the Falcon guide. Tired of hiking I grabbed a vanilla soft serve and got back on the road. I needed to leave early enough to stop by Bridgeport, about 30 mins north of Tioga Pass, before going back to Rock Creek.

While I was unable to contact the ranger station, since their phone line is bad (according to the main office), I thought it was worth the trip to try and receive my rope. I made good time and luckily the station was still open and they had my rope! Sadly there was a pretty nasty core shot just beyond the middle mark on the rope. It was great that the two guys from Colorado hiked it out and I can still use the pieces once I cut it up.

I arrived at Rock Creek on Saturday night to cooler temperatures than the night before. As well I ran into a Swedish couple at the talus boulder. They were trying an improbable sit start that was not in the guide book. I had looked at it the night before but the holds seemed too poor. After warming up I spent a few minutes brushing the holds on Clearcut. I had found a tooth brush in my car and was very happy to have cleaner holds, better friction! I breathed in, pulled on, and sent first try! I was able to relax in the crux and get my weight over my left foot which allowed me to go statically to the sharp slot. After sending I did a standing jump variation of a V9 to the right. With a bad foot and two bad crimps you lunge to the top. This move was hard from a standing position and I couldn’t figure out how to do it from the sit (for the full points).

To finish off the last bit of daylight I went over to the Boy Named Sue boulder and climbed the Groove Arete, V4. By the time I had worked out the moves it was dark and I was using my headlamp. After I topped out I realized I was very alone and in the dark with no down climb. The climbs, on this boulder, range from V4 to V10 and evidently there is a V2 on one of the aretes. I couldn’t see the moves of the V2 and it did not seem logical to downclimb from 15 feet on an unknown problem with no pad. I tested a few of the near by trees and grabbed the biggest one and shimmeyed down. I bear hugged that tree like no other, palming my way down the smooth bark wishing there were branches. That was by far the scariest part of my weekend, worse than 1000 feet of climbing, harder than V7, down climbing the tree, alone, in the dark pushed my limits.

With my weekend project sent I drove back to Bishop and camped near the Buttermilks and had dinner. I slept like a log with a full day of walking and a bit of climbing behind me. On my way back to Bishop I tried to find the Catacombs where I was planning a morning session. Instead of going over the Dam I took a wrong turn and went 1.3 on a different dirt road. It was pitch black and when I got to the correct distance there was a fork like I expected. Unfortunately the fork was complete overgrown and I did not feel like exploring anymore so I bailed.

The next morning came quickly since I slept quite well but my skin and muscles were pretty trashed. I packed up the tent and headed back to San Diego content with my exploration and bouldering. It was pretty strange to be alone all weekend and I did get a bit used to the solitude. I listened to my Ipod and thought about how much I missed Lizzy. It was a good time for sure but I wont be making a habit of it.

In more exciting news Alex Honnold just Free-Soloed the Regular Route on Half Dome. Via Supertopo The big question in a lot of peoples minds is a free solo of El Cap. In an old supertopo thread there is a bunch of discussion about how many difficult parts of FreeRider are insecure and dangerous. I am glad to see Alex pushing the limits but I want to see him around for many years to come. Hopefully he can put his energy into freeing a new route on El Cap instead of risking death by free soloing it.

Cheers,

Luke

Reel Rock Tour Update and MomentumVM goes free.

A bit of fun news in the climbing media world. MomentumVM has just gone free so check it out and sign up for access to all the videos.  

A few weeks ago the Sharp End Trailer was posted online on the Reel Rock Tour site. You can check it out on the films page.  Also on the films page you can see all of the entries for the Reel Rock Tour Contest. With the voting closed it will be interesting to see which amature films are chosen for the tour.  A trailer of all the main Reel Rock films can be found on the Big Up site. Via Andy Mann. 

Spencer Victory’s short film, “Rediness is All”, that was submitted to the tour, should not be missed. Spencer has made a few movies featuring climbing at the Red River Gorge such as “Red River Ruckus”. The video below of his features No Redemption, 13b, at the Bob Marley crag. What a beautiful line! 

Enjoy,

Luke

Sierra Suffering or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Altitude

After serious sport climbing for the past two weekends I needed a bit of break from small crimps and powerful moves. An early afternoon departure on Friday started the long trip to Tuolumne and the High Sierra. Three accidents coupled with Labor Day traffic delayed our arrival until 11:30 pm. Eight hours on the road was a bit more than we expected but we managed to find our bivy site without a problem and passed out.

Waking at 6am I saw a familiar face of Lukasz who was planning on climbing in Tuolumne that weekend with his friend Troy. After breakfast and packing up we split paths and headed to Tioga Lake. Our first object was to climb the 3rd Pillar of Dana. The trail skirted around Tigoa Lake and led up to the Dana Plateau

The scenery was pretty and it was a shame we did not have a camera. Steep switch backs led up an canyon alongside a gurgling stream. After passing through a few gorgeous alpine meadows we took a gully of orange rock up to the Dana plateau. We missed the trail and stayed on the right side of the gully following the occasional cairn. (We found the real trail on the opposite side of the gully when we descended) Once we gained the Dana Plateau we followed flat terrain for a while and then crossed a large field of small boulders.  The wind had steadily been increasing and I had become quite cold and had to stop to add another layer. I wondered what had happened to the SoCal summer heat? Being cold was quite the different feeling from our heat exhaustion at Echo the weekend before. The hike ends at the edge of the plateau and the top of the route. A steep decent is required before starting the technical rock climbing. We were worried about the wind since both Konstantin and I were wearing all our layers as we racked up. 

A series of steep 3rd and 4th class ledges that go along a ridge parallel to the 3rd Pillar allow passage to the base. The route was quite exposed and exciting and I was happy that there was no snow. It took another 45 minutes to get down to the base and luckily the wind had died down and we could take off a few layers. The first two lead were mine and passed smoothly. I was able to climb fairly quickly and dispatched the cruxy pitch two flared finger crack. Konstantin took over leading and we kept our fast pace and quickly made our way to the final pitch. With the altitude catching up with me I was happy to be close to the top. Seconding with the pack and two pairs of approach shoes was tiring and almost proved harder than leading.

The final pitch was full of variety and spice and we were back on top and in the wind again, 3 hours after leaving the base. Happy with our time and anxious to get out of the wind, which had picked up, we practically ran down the trail. I had a huge shit-eating grin on my face as I tried to keep up with the boyish strides of Konstantin. (I don’t really know what shit-eating grin is but I sure was smiling the whole way down) Our first climb together and my first time placing gear in almost a month was a great success. Little over an hour after summiting and a brief dip in Tioga lake, we were back in the car. Out of Tuolumne we sped, our legs tired, on the way to Bridgeport for our date with the Incredible Hulk.

Taking only 7.5 hours car to car we were ahead of schedule and went straight to the ranger station to secure a permit for the Hoover Wildness where the Hulk is located. When we arrived and inquired about a permit the ranger said “We closed the Hulk about an hour or two ago”. Closed… I thought… must be due to the winds.  So we inquired WHY?!? “Filled up for today” he responded. Few… “Can we get a permit for tomorrow?”  We asked much relieved.  A bit of paperwork later we were back in the car going towards Twin Lakes. 

With our plan compromised, we started talking about alternatives. Should we do the Red Dihedral car to car? Should we hike in some gear and stash it but camp at the campground? We discussed the various plans over lunch at the Burger Barn in Bridgeport. A root beer float was a nice reward for sore legs and a great morning of climbing. We got back on the road without a conclusion and made our way to the campground by the Twin Lakes at Mono Village. 

Based on a much longer approach (5 miles) and twice as many pitches (12 vs 5) we estimated that if we were to climb car to car we would take about 3.5 hours to approach, 7 hours to climb and then another 3.5 hours to come back. If we left at 3:30 am 14 hours of travel would put us back by 5:30 pm well before dark (7:30 pm). This seemed like a good option and allowed our legs some much needed rest. We ate an early dinner and passed out by 6pm. 

While 3:30 am might be standard for an alpine start I don’t really do early mornings. Waking up was easy and I felt well rested after almost 9 hours of sleep. With our gear already packed we ate and hit the trail with headlamps blazing. 2.5 miles of easy trail lead to a tricky stream crossing. If we could find a certain boulder we would be able to cross on a log bridge otherwise we would have to walk across a series of beaver dams. After spending about 15 minutes wandering in the dark we found a trail and crossed the stream. Our directions told us to head up stream to find a climbers trail that would lead up into the woods. Another 15 minutes of crashing through trees in the dark yielded no path. Looking at the map and checking with our compass we headed off up hill. We had to keep moving since it was still more than an hour before sunrise. 

Over an hour of bushwhacking in the wrong direction and we were on the west side of slide canyon far from the trail and our objective. With the help of the morning light we made our way to the east side of the canyon and found the correct trail. Another hour and half and we were at the windy base of the Hulk. 4 hours and 10minutes after we left was a bit slower than we expected but pretty good for how far off track we got. 

Despite the wicked cold we racked up and soloed 100 feet of easy 3rd and 4th class to belay below a 5.8 bulge that would be the start of the technical climbing. Konstantin lead the first 3 pitches in one block with our 70m rope to a hanging belay below the Red dihedral. As Konstantin lead the crux pitch I was being tossed around by the wind at the belay. The pitch was of high quality with sustained hand jams to a tricky bulge. Luckily there was a nice rest before the powerful 10b moves. With all the gear and bag and shoes following was even more strenuous than the day before and I was happy to take over the lead. I climbed pitches 5 -8 in 3 blocks stopping at the best ledges I could find. It was so nice when we moved around the corner into the sun. 

My pitches were fairly easy with one short section of 10a and a fun 5.9 finger crack. Despite eating a lot and trying to stay hydrated my arms were cramping and I was leading slowly. Since I could follow faster Konstantin took back the lead and led the rest of the pitches. The next 3 pitches, which gained the 3rd class traverse and lead to the final chimneys, were some of the easiest of the route. In hindsight we both agreed that simuling would have saved time.

The last two pitches were dirty and the final slot was more straightforward than we expected.  Even though the last two pitches were short it would be very tricky to link them due to horrible rope drag.  It had taken 8 hours to get to the windy summit due to the very cold conditions (for the end of August) and the constant wind. The wind was so strong you had to take extra care while leading not to get blown off. A series of 3rd class ledges allowed passage from the summit to the rappel station on the back of the Hulk. Down climbing was slow due to the constant gusts of wind and dizzying exposure. 

The rappel was straightforward and we were happy to have made it to the gully. Unfortunately when we tried to pull the rope it was very stuck. We did not have enough rope to lead back up to retrieve the rope and we had no guarantee if we could free the rope that it would not get stuck again.  We decided the best option was to leave the rope since all other options seemed quite dangerous.  

We descended the loose gully with lots of choss surfing and were back at the base in about an hour. It was nice to have lighter packs without the water or rope and we made good time down the trail. We met a couple of dudes from Colorado who may try to retrieve my rope and hopefully I can pick it up in Bridgeport next weekend. Following the climbers trail all the way back to the stream was much faster than the way we approached. However when got to the stream we could not find the log bridge and oped to cross on one of the beaver dams. This was not a great option since the stream had widened to 500 feet of marshes compared to the 15 feet of where we crossed. In addition to the greater expanse of wetness the marsh had sections of waist deep water. The water we had crossed in the dark was barely two feet deep. 

Wet up to the waist we made it back to the main hiker trail and continued on our way, wet and smelly from the marsh. A few hundred feet later we found the “boulder” in the middle of the meadow with a tall cairn on it that marked the dry crossing. The rock was much further back from the wilderness sign than noted on-line. I would expect it could be as far as 500-800 feet before the Hoover Wildness sign. The boulder is small and is quite far from the trail and would be tricky to locate in the dark. The best way to find it would be to look about 100 feet after a clean boulder on the left of the trail but a good ways before the wilderness sign. 

We made it back to camp in the fading light and celebrated with hot showers and food. Car to car was a good decision and while we were both tired, but far from wrecked. My legs hurt less than the day before and I was happy to be warm again after 8 hours in the cold and the wind on the climb. 

We slept in the next morning and made the 7.5 hour drive back to San Diego. Labor Day turned out to be the most relaxing of the weekend. Saturday and Sunday however were jam packed with over 15 miles of hiking and 17 pitches of climbing.  It was great to be in the Sierra’s and this trip makes me excited to do more long routes!

Cheers,

Luke