Perfect Pitch

The coach of my crew team in high school had a big impact on my life as an athlete and as a person. Whenever I can't summon up the motivation for an alpine start or trip to the gym, I remember Bill and become re-inspired. One of his (numerous) wise sayings, is that "The perfect stroke has never been taken." In a 2-kilometer race, we'd take over 200 strokes, so knowing that each one of these could be improved was something that stuck in the mind of an impressionable 16-year-old.

And I think the principal applies to much of our lives. Has the 'Perfect Pitch' ever been climbed?

Dave Evans on the first (and likely one of the few) ascents of the Breathing Stone - Western Spaces Wall

I'm off this evening for an 11-day trip to Red Rock National Conservation Area. On the "to-do" list is a freeclimb of the well-known Rainbow Wall, and an additional dozen routes that we're hoping most climbers haven't done, or haven't even heard of.

The Breathing Stone, Line of Addiction, Enterprise, and Ancient Futures... these are just a few of the long, difficult(for me), and potentially excellent routes that lie hidden on the park's lesser-visited walls. But with a long list of climbs, mostly following a 1-3hr approaches, this will be a good test of my fitness and ability to climb hard day-after-day. With the RPs, offset nuts, screamers, and lots of extra tat packed away, I'm ready to have an adventure! And to have the energy and psyche to punch it through that runout on day 9 and pitch 100, I just need to work on climbing some perfect pitches. Starting tomorrow...

Mountain Climbing

I was recently asked by someone I'd just met "What kind of climbing do you like to do?"

I didn't have a very good answer. Or rather, I didn't have a very good way of saying my answer. I responded that I mostly enjoyed "mountain climbing" and left it at that, probably a pretty vague and unsatisfactory answer to what seemed a straightforward question. But I came across a quote from John Muir today that would have been a more apt description of why I most enjoy heading for an adventure in the alpine.

Thousands of nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home, that wilderness is a necessity, and that wilderness parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.

Of course, if I'd answered with all of that, I'd really have gotten an odd look.

Sunset bivy from the highest point in the North Cascades National Park, after 2 days of mountain climbing with my friend Sol Wertkin. We were "living the dream" before the 20-something mile return to the road the next day.

Neat Old Junk

Climbing a route, any route, allows the modern-day alpinist to compare his or her ascent to the prior ascents of a given peak. And for a history nerd such as myself, it's compelling to think about the same climb being done with the different technologies and techniques of past years or past generations.

Through an inability to stay on route, and the intentional desire to wander off the beaten path, I've come across an interesting array of climbing relics. Some of these I picked up in the North Cascades (old pitons in the Gunsight Range, probably from Fred Beckey's 1940 or 1967 trip) and others from Patagonia, New Zealand, or the desert Southwest.

Here are a few of the random little trinkets I've held on to:

Carabiner with no strength rating, UIAA certification, or any of that modern mumbo-jumbo. This was probably the precursor to the European brand Simond.

"Claudius Simond Chamonix"

Pitons from one of three trips to the Gunsight Range in the North Cascades. Dan Hilden and I thought our packs were heavy when we had to contend with hundreds of blown-down fir trees on the trail portion of the approach. I can't imagine doing the same trip with canvas rucksacks full of iron pitons.

Fred's AAJ entry from this second expedition to the range is so good, I have to include part of it here:

Four of us lost almost a day in just getting across the south fork of Agnes Creek, finally climbing a slippery log in a thundering canyon with the aid of about six
pitons. We then set up a tyrolean traverse from trees at a different location
for hauling packs and for the return trip out. In between these
exasperating episodes I was chased by a black bear. TO make matters
even more hectic,...

A Chouinard Hex. Moss has grown over the knot, but the part of the cord that was not exposed to sun still seems pretty strong. This came from an ascent of "The Passenger" last summer, on South Early Winter Spire.


Original flat-sided Chouinard #4 "Stopper"



And the most recent addition, a #6 "Titon" which was something invented by Kris Walker and Bill Forest. Perhaps the little tree with a "W" stands for "Forrest/Walker"? This was found on the route Jupiter II in Red Rock, along with a straight-sided stopper, stamped with the initials VB (likely for prolific Red Rock climber Paul VanBetten).

This Titon says PH on it, but I've got no clue who that is. I'm glad we're not all pounding our initials into our gear these days...

Tired Soles

I can locate the holes in my shoes by the presence of desert-red dust stains on my formerly-white socks. Slipping them off for my umpteenth time, I wonder how many more days I can coax from them. The structure is more Seam Grip than original rubber, and the foam along my heels has long since worn to nothing or been warped by the heat of too-close campfires. They’re starting to fit just perfectly.

It’s funny how we develop these emotional attachments to inanimate objects. One friend refuses to rock climb without his particular Orange Alien cam, a specimen so worn down and fallen-on, that it fits spaces too small for its original dimensions. So is it the cam he likes, or the memory of hundreds of past adventures? And am I reluctant to trash my foul-smelling shoes because I really want to wrangle one more alpine trip out them? Or am I just afraid to divorce myself from all that they’ve carried me through?

I bought the shoes from La Sportiva’s clearance rack, 20 months ago when I lived in Bellingham, worked for McNett, and still thought those people with blogs were nothing but hopeless narcissists. (Hey, some things don’t change). I’ve paid about $1.20 per month-of-use. And they haven’t exactly been sitting in my closet. The cost per pitch would likely be measured in fractions of pennies. I’m not sure if they were marketed as Running shoes, Hiking shoes, Approach Shoes, or just the good old around-town variety that everyone keeps handy. They’ve served these purposes and more.

They’ve waded Zion streams with Kurt, and tackled Rocky Mountain linkups with Kelly, they’ve tramped up to Cerro Torre with Jon, and pounded the streets of Alaska with Jason. And their soggy and icy forms held my numb toes during an unforgettable night with Sol and Jens.

But they’ve also been there to play volleyball at one wedding (my own) and to run 15 miles into Stehekin for the wedding of my friends Chelsea and JB. They remind me of how much change I’ve witnessed since their purchase, both in my life, and in the lives of those close to me. And the thought of getting rid of them makes me miss the times before these changes.

So I’ll dig the tube of Seam Grip out of or freezer and go to work, hoping to keep the shoes alive for just a little bit longer. I’m just not sure exactly what it is I’m preserving…

Red Rock Renaissance

Las Vegas sucks...

Take all the worst stereotypes of modern America, the homogenous suburbia, waste of non-existent resources, and glorification of consumption, and you paint an accurate picture of the city's foundation. Luckily for the climbers and adventurers out there, 20 minutes from the strip you can trade in poker chips and neon lights for varnished sandstone and deep canyon sunsets.

I spent the last week in Red Rock National Conservation area, including getting to climb for a day and a half in between teaching classes and doing some photography rigging. It was my third trip to Red Rock, and I was more inspired than ever to head up some of the seldom-trod climbs on hidden walls. Both personal days featured perfect rock, and good friends (Kurt and Alasdair, AAI guides from Washington state). And during Red Rock's peak season, the height of Spring Break and the Red Rock Rendezvous, we didn't encounter a single other climber. I don't mean on our routes either. I mean not a single other climber at the entire walls on which we climbed.



Bellingham-ster Garrett Grove and I are returning to Red Rock in late April to climb, photograph, and research some of the area's best obscure routes. Look for an eventual article in Rock & Ice.

A Week's Worth of Work

Learning to climb in Stehekin and Bellingham, I never had a "local" crag. And I still don't have a local crag, now I have hundreds! Last week was a climbing smorgasbord, with 6-consecutive days out, doing everything from bouldering to ice climbing, and long trad pitches mixed with short sport routes.

Here are a few shots from Le Void in Eldorado Canyon State Park. Every time I climb there, I appreciate the place more and more. Not for the high-quality stone or striking lines (gotta go elsewhere for these) but instead because the walls are so enjoyably climbable! Small seams, flakes, knobs, and edges cover all the walls, creating far more (excellent) routes than immediately meet the eye. Le Void follows a long corner crack as the moves turn from 5.9 to 5.10 to 5.11-. After a rest stance, one launches up an overhung flake, arms spanning to both sides, until you've got to commit to a few tenuous 5.11+ moves up over the flake and to another stance. From here, the rock changes from perfect to downright Cascades-esque, and Josh removed a "fixed" piton by hand while AOing through the 5.12 roof to finish off the 160' pitch. I followed and still couldn't figure out the roof sequence, but nervousness about using 1/2 of the available holds may have played a part.








To reach Le Void, we'd done Guenese through the lower roof. Here's my friend Scott hiding his eyes in shame after pulling the roof.

And more of Josh leading Le Void...

The beautiful colors of the lichen really shine in the evening light. However, evening's the time I'm cutting lemons and slicing focaccia bread at my restaurant job these days, so some early-afternoon washed-out shots will have to do.

Another day was spent ice climbing at Hidden Falls, which is just inside Rocky Mountain National Park, and reached by hiking* for a couple miles from a trailhead between Lyons, and Estes Park.

The waterfall gets climbed so much, that one doesn't even need to swing ice tool, but just place them into the many holes that other climbers have already created. It felt like climbing 5.7 rock with giant holds. But I can't really complain about too many climbers, since I was one! I was with a friend named Camilo Lopez who does expedition-style climbs around the world. This movie was created by Camilo's friend Luke, who had his first day of ice climbing at Hidden Falls that day. I think Camilo intends to use the clip for his guiding business.



At 1:53 you can see my patent-pending gear modification, in the form of a pastel-pink chunk of microfiber towel, Seam-Gripped onto my glove. My nose always runs in the cold and now I've got the fix. The trick is finding a spot that wont get torn off when you've got to bust out the gloved hand jam or other snowy grovelling.


The dry El Nino winter has been good for climbers, and bad for glaciers. It's kept approaches fairly manageable and skies fairly blue in the northwest. Local alpine heroes Wayne Wallace and Tom Sjolseth have both had really successful winter seasons in the notoriously difficult Cascades. For some beautiful photos and inspiring climbing, check out Tom's pictures from Chair Peak or his First Ascent of Assassin Spire, and Wayne's new routes on Pyramid Peak & Mt. Hood.

And my fellow Western Washington University Alumni Nate Farr has had a pretty good winter season as well, including a recent probable new route on Illumination Rock. Even better, Nathan and I were just awarded the American Alpine Club McNeill-Nott grant, for a trip this summer.

*according to Demetri Martin, hiking is just walking where it's ok to pee. I like this definition.

Stoked for the Season

With exactly one month of winter remaining, it's not too early (is it ever?) to get excited about long rock climbs in the mountains. Alpine rock routes, for me, are the most enjoyable climbs. And are even more-so when you get to mix in some logistical challenges, difficult, gymnastic movement, snow or glacial considerations, and an unclimbed wall. Having perfect stone doesn't hurt either.

In the 'spirit of the stoke' here's a video I scrapped together with footage and photos taken on such a climb last summer, a route my friend named "Fire on the Mountain" - Sloan Peak, North Cascades.


Double Click for Full Screen

I would like the experience at some point this year of launching up a wall and into the unknown...

The above was written by my friend Rad Roberts last spring, acutely distilling an alpinist's desire for exploration into one line of email. But desire is a foe ill-suited to stormy Northwest weather. So after a summer of missed chances, a forecasted few days of sun was all we needed to put plans into action.

We left Seattle at 5AM, en route to Sloan Peak (7,800'). The Southwest face was 1,500' of solid-looking stone in an accessible location. It had never been climbed...

Rad so strongly wanted to launch into the unknown, so I let him take the first pitch, a mossy chimney to who-knows-where. From atop the chimney progress slows, but movement is interjected with whoops of joys and grunts of desperation. I prepare to get sandbagged. Instead of the vegetated corner, Rad's following a line of previously-unseen --and overhanging-- splitter cracks. Forty more feet and he's off belay, 15 meters of slack pulled up, and I'm on.

I reacquaint myself with backpack-clad squirming, lean a right shoulder into the wall and pray the rubber on my comically blown-out shoes will adhere for a few more moves. The climbing is phenomenal, and well-protected. I trundle some blocks and barely hang on between desperate finger locks.

We trace a line up thin cracks and delicately-featured rock. Dodging left around a huge roof, Rad dances up a right-facing dihedral, belaying along a major ledge system 400' up.

We survey our situation: time, water, location... and I'm off. With another steep unknown wall looming, it's time for some speed.

The rock here is even cleaner. My pitch flows without hesitation. This is why we climb. Reach up for the jam, stem out to the knob, 3 more moves to a stance and gear...
At 50 meters I ease onto a pedestal, and I'm staring at a rusty Lost Arrow Piton! We suspect someone had come across the long ledge which splits the face and also belayed atop the pillar.*

Rad's lead starts out with what we'd expected to be 30' of unprotected overhanging face climbing. It was actually 31 feet. But instead of no protection, he found a hidden cam placement, and was able to sling a protruding granite knob. The rock is unlike any I've seen in the Cascades. Huge fins, dikes, and scoops facilitate steep face climbing... and set up Rad for the sting in the tail, tight fingers in an overhanging corner.

Two more long pitches, and the angle relents. It's 7pm, we've been out of water for hours and have one micro headlamp. But I've never summited Sloan, and if we don't summit, is it a complete route? We eschew the most circuitous parts of the corkscrew scramble and solo directly to the top.

Forest fire smoke surrounds us, holding a place in the sky for gathering darkness. We begin downclimbing to the East. And soon we're rappeling into a glacial moat framed by moonlit rock and snow.

The final crux: 2 people, one ice tool, 0 crampons, and an icy late-season glacier. Some minor bollard shenanigans and creative nut-tool usage land us at rocks below the snow, where the sound of flowing water has drawn us. We split our last chocolate bar, drink a liter each, and smile. We're no longer racing the dark. And suddenly we're not benighted on a strange descent without the proper equipment. Now we're two friends at the the end of a long day, awed by the stars and thrilled with the climb. As simple sugar and satisfaction course through our veins we breath deeply and head off the snow, across the rock, and down into the night.

Mt. Sloan's SW Face "Fire on the Mountain" 1,500' 5.10++

Ground-up, boltless, onsight, and Seattle-to-Seattle in 23 hours.

* We learned the pitons were used as aid pieces by a pair of climbers who had attempted this face after traversing in from a ledge 400' up. They'd been stormed off from near pitch 6. Our routes share 1-2 pitches.

Training Time

Winter is a time that many folks take stock of the past year - mountains they've climbed, rivers they've run - and maybe spend some time going over their outdoors 'to-do' lists for the upcoming season. Whether we're talking geometry, racquetball, or rock-climbing, it's been proven that we're more likely to improve if we set specific, measurable, short-term goals for performance. I was reading SuperFreakonomics and came across a passage that related:

K. Anders Ericsson is the ringleader of a merry band of relative-age scholars scattered across the globe. He is now a professor at Florida State University, where he uses empirical research to learn what share of talent is 'natural' and how the rest of it is acquired. His conclusion: the trait we commonly call 'raw talent' is vastly overrated. 'A lot of people believe there are some inherent limits they were born with,' he says. 'But there is surprisingly little hard evidence that anyone could attain any kind of exceptional performance without spending a lot of time perfecting it.' Or, put another way, expert performers - whether in soccer or piano playing, surgery or computer programming - are nearly always made, not born.

So how do we 'make' ourselves into what we want to be good at? Be a better friend to someone by working at improving your listening or attentiveness. Be a better chef by trying new techniques and focusing on learning something new every time you cook a meal. And make yourself better able to climb mountains, literal or otherwise, by breaking the herculean task into its parts and practicing each one.

With a work schedule that leaves most mornings free, I have no excuses for not getting my daily dose of training in for some upcoming mountain adventures. Apart from regular lifting and cycling, I've been reveling in local rock cragging, which is really accessible even in the heart of winter. For example, my friend Scott Bennet climbed outdoor rock 16 days in January, without leaving the Denver/Boulder area!

In the spirit of month-late New Years Resolutions, and improving my own climbing, I've set some personal goals:

Short Term

1. Redpoint "Bone Crusher" - 5.12b/c crack route of overhanging ringlocks
2. Link up Wunsch's Dihedral, Mississippi Half-Step, and The Regular Route in the South Platte with Scott Bennett
   
3. Lead "The Astroman of Eldorado Canyon" Suparete->Doub-Griffith-> Mellow Yellow
   

Jesse and the Coors Brewery

Long Term

1. Freeclimb the Rainbow Wall in Red Rocks while working at the Red Rock Rendezvous
   
2. Link up The Warrior on Cactus Flower Tower with Woman of Mountain Dreams on Mt. Wilson.
3. Climb the North Ridge of Mt. Ambition as part of an expedition-style trip this summer.

Mt. Ambition

Yesterday morning concluded with a fun ski tour led by friends Pete and Jason (and canine companions Echo & Prusik). I still can't believe how much sun they get around here...




After running up the Flatiron one day, Jesse Huey and I went out to investigate a wall of brilliant crack climbs on the sunny slopes above the Coors brewery in Golden, CO.

For anyone who sees the mountains on a can of Coors Beer, or gets "Tap the Rockies" stuck in their head after watching a TV commercial, Golden might disappoint. It's home to the American Alpine Club office and American Mountaineering Museum, but the town is basically a desolate suburb, smooshed between Denver and the foothills.

NPR told me the air temperature was 20 degrees as I left home, but the cactus-clad slopes of Table Mountain absorb solar radiation regardless of air temperatures. Jesse and I both want to head back to try and get the redpoint lead of "The Bone Crusher" - a solid 5.12 crack climb with an overhanging crux section of particularly insecure jams.

Jesse in a T-shirt, with snow on the ground and air temps in the 20s...

Two of my longer-term goals involve climbs in Red Rock, Nevada. Red Rock is an awesome Fall/Winter/Spring destination because it is located just 15 minutes from Las Vegas (Cheap or Free flights!) and has everything from steep sport crags to 20-pitch ridge climbs. I'll be there for a week in March, teaching a couple basic climbing clinics as part of the Red Rock Rendezvous event.

Outdoor Research, a Seattle company that has been awesome about providing gear on my recent trips, is an event sponsor. Most of the classes are geared toward basics, but this year there are interesting topics like "better camp cooking" and expedition planning. Last year, the author of the mental training book "Rock Warrior's Way" was teaching classes, and I'd love to listen to his class this time around. For anyone who'd like a partner or guide to get up some of Red Rock's long classics, my friends Alasdair Turner and Kurt Hicks will both be working in the area this spring, guiding for Bellingham's own American Alpine Institute and teaching at the event as well.

Washington - Taken for Granted

The American Alpine Club gives out several different grants each year, and has just announced the winners of the Mugs Stump Award - one of its highest-paying (and most selective) grants.

Five of the six recipient teams include at least one climber from Washington!

Not too shabby for a backwater state with chossy rock and too much moss...

I better be careful with this shirt... I might get sued!

The Spraydown...

I enjoy making lists, whether they be of my favorite climbs, to-do climbs, or do-not-repeat climbs. Somewhere in the process of listing the 10 best 5.10 routes in the Cascades, I started compiling a list of my own personal "bests". And for whatever reason, the following routes or days stand out as milestones in my time as a climber. Of course none of these routes were done alone, which makes them more team accomplishments than anything else.

Climber on Uptown Toodeloo (.12-) with Cynical Pinnacle at left - photo by Garrett Grove

Linkups / Speedy Ascents:

• 5 Spires in 15 hours: The Foil, The Sabre, The Petit Gripon, Sharkstooth, and Zowie ~22 guidebook pitches, 10 miles, and 5 summits in Rocky Mountain National Park
• Eldo Tour (24 pitches, mostly 5.10 and 5.11): Le Toit, Rosy Crucifixion, The Naked Edge, The Doub-Griffith, Vertigo, and Yellow Spur, Car to car in under 8 hours. All free, except Vertigo, which I lead at the end of the day and did not onsight.
•  The Naked Edge (all 5 pitches, plus the 5.8 cave pitch were belayed) car-to-car in 73 minutes
• The Scenic Cruise (14 pitches 5.10+, second time on route) 4hours55 minutes
• 3 Chief Day - Angel's Crest, High Plains Drifter, Ultimate Everything, and Squamish Buttress. Nearly 50 guidebook pitches in 14 hours. Squamish, B.C.

Long Free Traditional Routes:

• Astro Dog - Black Canyon's South Rim - V 5.11+ Onsight
• Levitation 29 - Red Rock Canyon - IV 5.11c (soft in both respects) - Onsight
• Jupiter II - Red Rock Canyon III 5.11+ - Redpoint

Alpine Routes

• Gorillas in the Mist - Mt. Stuart, Cascades- IV/V 5.11- Onsight and FA
• The Iron Curtain - Mendenall Towers, Alaska - IV 5.12- Onsight and FA
• Megalodon Ridge - Mt. Goode, Cascades - IV+ 5.10 Onsight and FA
• Complete NW Ridge - Aguja Guillamet - Patagonia - IV 5.11 Onsight
• Flight of the Kiwi - Chiefshead Peak, Colorado Rockies - IV 5.10+ Onsight and FA

'The Cleaner' - Grove Photo

Trad Pitches

• Bone Crusher - Table Mountain, Colorado 5.12b/c Redpoint
• The Cleaner - Indian Creek 5.12- Onsight
• Fingers in a Light Socket - Indian Creek 5.11+ Onsight
• Uptown Toodeloo - South Platte, Colorado 5.12- Onsight
• Japanese Gardens - Index, Washington 5.11+ Redpoint
• The Spoils - Boulder Canyon, Colorado 5.12b Redpoint

Sport Pitches

• Slammer - Clear Creek, Colorado 5.12b Onsight
• Sucking My Will to Live - Clear Creek, Colorado 5.12+ Redpoint
• Freeform - Shelf Road, Colorado 5.12a Onsight
•  Ten Digit Dialing - Clear Creek, Colorado 5.12c Redpoint
•  Pearl Jam - Tonsai, Thailand 5.12b Onsight