Squamish Climbing - Labor Day 2008

"Blink" - its been another month since I've posted anything!! This blog just drives home how fast life moves. Before I know it, several more weeks have passed without any updates. Well, we've been climbing. Since the last post on Leavenworth, I've gotten out to Darrington, Index, Beacon and finally last weekend a long weekend at Squamish.

A couple of weeks ago, Pete, Drew and I planned a weekend in Washington. A trip to the mountains got changed at the last minute to a trip to the crags, but we still had a great time. Unfortunately, I left my camera on the top of my car at Drew's and couldn't take any pics the whole weekend. Luckily, someone actually rode by on their bike the next week, knocked on the door, and returned it!! My faith in humanity is restored - but I still didn't get any pics from the weekend. We spent one day sending cracks on the Lower Town Wall and then I snuck the Prius up the rode to 3 O'Clock Rock and we climbed Cool Runnings - good times.

This past weekend, Kristin and I headed out to Squamish. A mediocre weather forecast had us questioning the decision, but Kristin wanted to get in some crack mileage, and she had two previous Squish trips canceled earlier this summer. We decided to make a run for the border despite the iffy weather - jonesing for jams - gettin the shakes for granite - addicted to cracks. Expectations were high.

We pulled in on Saturday morning, and it was wet - real wet. Apparently it had been dumping rain for a few days, and everything was soaked. We set up the tent and decided to hike the chief to get in some cardio and check out the views.

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Day 2-4 saw us cycling through some of the best moderate crack pitches in Squish!

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Climb and Punishment, 5.10c

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Exasperator, 5.10c

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Crime of the Century, 5.11c
(I got royally spanked on this one)

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Kangaroo Corner, 5.11a
(Shorty but goody)

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Mosquito, 5.8

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Seasoned in the Sun, 5.10b

We also had some nice views of the Grand, bringing back some good memories from earlier in the summer.

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

We were really roughing it - dirtbagging at its finest. We decided to rough it one last night - in Vancouver - at Joe Fortes - for seafood. Man the things we sacrifice for our climbing bum lifestyle.

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

From Squamish - Labor Day '08

Feeding the crack addiction - seafood - Canada. Labor Day 2008!

Times are tough for climbers here in Portland. With trips like this, I really need a vacation. Luckily, we're headed to Montana!! Check back in a couple of weeks for the update.

Tibet Music Event

Ah, I just found this saved in the guts of my Blogger dashboard. I had started the post but never finished.

A few weeks ago, Kristin and I hosted a wonderful musical performance in our backyard by Jamyeng Yeshi. The Crag Law Center brought Jamyeng to perform at the Clinton Street Theater following a showing of the Unwinking Gaze - a new documentary on the Dalai Lama. We organized the event as an alternative to the opening night of the Olympics.

Jamyeng was born in the Amdo region of Tibet and escaped through Nepal to Dharamasala. For the past few years, he has lived in Canada and performs traditional Tibetan music, often with his friends and/or family members. The Tara Cafe Project helps to promote Tibetan music and culture and helped to set up the weekend. Here's a couple of pics:

From Tibet Music in the Backyard

Me getting happy with the beer situation.

From Tibet Music in the Backyard

Jamyeng

From Tibet Music in the Backyard

The crew that help set this up - Jeff Alzner, Karen McDiarmind (with the Tara Cafe Project), Jamyeng Yeshi, and Brook Kirklin

Jeff and Brook just completed a movie about Mike Bearzi - Via Bearzi

Jamyeng and some other musicians associated with the Tara Cafe Project contributed to the wonderful soundtrack for there movie, which got accepted to Telluride, Ester Park and many other mountain film festivals. Jeff and Brook put me in touch with Karen, and we set something up to help Jamyeng promote his music.

From Tibet Music in the Backyard

Jamyeng with the hosts.

From Tibet Music in the Backyard

Alzner with the hosts.

This is a bit delayed - but thanks to Jeff, Karen, Brook and everyone else that helped to pull this off!!

Climbing in Leavenworth!

With a planned trip to Squish scuttled by the construction-induced rockfall on Highway 99, we shifted focus and set sights on Leavenworth for a long weekend of cragging.

We started out with a little gear fondling.




Kristin Vanna Whiting the new car camping tent. Of course the tent pole would break less than two days after purchase - perfect. Note - the Columbia Bugaboo II should be avoided.



Obsessing over the rack.



Modeling the rack



Oh yeah Vanna White eat your heart out princess!

Eventually we did get on the rock.



Heart of Gold, 5.10-, 4 pitches.

Saturday offered the best weather, so we headed up slope for some slab climbing before the temps hit the roof.



Looking up the Heart of Gold Pitch - 5.10a. The pitch ends right before the roof. You pull the roof on the 4th and final pitch and find some more 5.8-9-ish slab moves to the final anchor. The route is a bit contrived, because you can bale into the gully at any point, but the climbing is really fun on solid rock with fun slab moves and good views of the Icicle.



Seeking shade.



The shirt fits the scene eh? Wrong forest though.



Kristin topping out.



Roto Wall later in the weekend with temps soaring.



Kristin racking up for Slippery Shoes - super slippery in 85 degree temps!



Blazing saddles! "98 degrees in the shade."



We finally wised up and sought out the shade of the Pearly Gates.



Kristin cleaning up the namesake route of the cliff - Pearly Gates, 5.10c - with a few visual effects.



Topping out on Cloud Nine, 5.9+, 2 pitches - super fun!!



Icicle Creek cooled off our overheated bodies.



Washing away the sweat and sterilizing the scrapes. Kristin needs a manicure!

On the last night, we put down a few cheap glasses of wine at Gustav's and sought out new routes at the Leavenworth Family Fun Center!



Kristin threatening the photographer - she wouldn't really would she?



Working the angles!



Oops!



Yeah that black ball belongs to the Stiller fan.



We finally found the gnarly new routes we were looking for after the third tee! I dubbed this the Windmill Arete, v7+



The exposure was terrifying!



Kristin reenacting the crux moves from the Pearly Gates.



Hmmmmmm .... ut oh. Kristin contemplating the next bold high ball effort.



Law breaker!! Run!! The 19th Spend the Night in the Hole, v12 (high risk landing)

On the last day, we headed into Seattle for some niece time on a hot summer day.



Nadia getting her bubbles on.



Their friend Marianna showing off her snow cone.



The nieces celebrating a perfect trip to Baskin and Robbins!!

Slabs, cracks, boulders, and new routes at the Family Fun Center!! Der Leavenworth comes through again.

Squamish - The Grand Wall

The full weight of life sometimes keeps you down, boxes you in, prevents you from roaring at the top of your lungs. Work, family, life and death - real stuff that gets in the way of the play. Every now and then I look up and realize I've been swimming in crap for weeks on end, working too hard and letting the finer things in life slip past the ends of my fingers, which have cramped from too many long nights of typing legal briefs. The I'll step outside and start running, sprinting to nowhere, pegging my pulse and jarring my heart into action. "ARRRGGGHHH!!!!"

Its been over a month since I've posted on this blog. I intended to spend more time outside, but it didn't work out that way. A death in the family, two nights in the emergency room, and many many long hours of work kept me down as I hopelessly watched the summer weeks pass me by.

So this past weekend, I stepped onto the rock and sprinted - and screamed - and bashed in my knuckles till they bled. And it felt great.

Day 1: 1st pitch of the Great Game to the Godforsaken Land. 5.10+ A0, 4 pitches
Jungle Warfare, 5.10-, 4 pitches

Nate and I had the Grand Wall on our mind but wanted a warm up, so we headed to the Squaw. Good times!



Looking over at Right Wing - looks like its been cleaned up and provides a sweet .10b option to access the top of the Squaw.



Looking back down at Right Wing from the belay station where the two routes merge before the last .10d pitch.

The final .10d pitch kicked my ass. I took a small fall on the overhanging finger and hand crack, dangling from the end of the rope 300 ft off the deck. Sometimes it feels good to get in over your head.

Jungle Warfare was a sweet cruise.



Day 2: The Grand Wall, 5.11- A0, 9-10 pitches

Ah yeah, that's the shizzle.







Ed and Bill made some fine company at the top of the Split Pillar. Bill did a great job on the pillar and I got to take a few pics from the top.

The Split Pillar is amazing!! Woot! The Sword may have been even better, but I was too whooped to take any real shots of it. Here's Nate at the top as I look back from the bolt ladder. Airy.



Day 3: Centerfold, 5.10b, 3 pitches
Magic Mushroom, 5.9
Penny Lane, 5.9

I'm slowing down, getting worn out, finally feeling relaxed and detached from life for a few minutes. My body aches. Fingers bleed. Feet are sore. Canadian kids kept me up till 2 am with techno music. My brain slowly shakes off the effects of oxycodone and beer. Now this feels like vacation.

On the way in the first day I noticed a nice new gravel ramp heading up towards the Papoose, but I thought it was closed. A quick trip to Valhalla Pure and some dumb ass confirms that yes, the Papoose is closed and isn't expected to open anytime soon. Now on the morning of day 3, we're driving out of the campground, and there is a party of 2 walking up the ramp headed towards the crag. wtf?! Ok, screw Valhalla Pure - let's try Climb On. Ah right - so now we find out they opened it earlier this spring. Glad we can get some accurate information somewhere in this town.

So anyway, up we go for the five minute approach. A party of 2 from Vancouver is starting the 2nd pitch, so we wait a few minutes and then I head up. I'm giddy from having a 3rd straight day on the rock, and I'm chit chatting and BSing my way up to the first ledge. I feel bad for the Vancouver couple for having to listen to my gibberish, but I'm having too much fun. The .10b slab moves in the low angle groove get my attention, and we're back in the vertical.



By the end of the day, my brain and body start to shut down. I can barely muster the motivation to walk into the Smoke Bluffs for a final pitch. I pass out in a camp chair at 6 pm. Then I'm up again listening to more techno music, then back asleep, then up again listening to reggae music, then asleep again. Finally, I wake up one more time and its morning, and I'm lying in a puddle of rain water inside my tent. We pack it up and start inhaling greasy bacon and coffee before hitting the road. The caffeine in my veins barely keeps me conscious as we drive south. Slowly I start to think towards next weekend - and the drive back to Squamish - and another 4 days of the same.

On Monday, I got the inevitable questions - "How was the weekend." All I can offer is a big smile - "It was good."

Here are some more photos at Nate's page.