Category Archives: Rock Climbing

After the meeting at UCLA, Bruce drove up from San Diego and picked me up on the campus Thursday evening. We did grocery shopping for the long weekend, which was a bit of an experience for Bruce as we were going to be camping without a cooler. Bruce had not looked so hard at food in cans in a long time! After a nice dinner in Westwood Village, we headed out to the airport to pick up Mark, and then hit the highway and drove out to Joshua Tree. We made it to the campsite at about 1am, put up our tents and hit the sack, all excited about what our first day of climbing would hold.

I’ve got photos from the weekend up in the gallery.

We camped in the Indian Cove campground for the weekend, which is one of the lower altitude campgrounds in the national park, and we hoped a little warmer for it. To keep everything simple the first day, we took our time getting up, making our breakfast and packing up for climbing. We then wandered past about 5 campsites or 100ft east to Short Wall and started our climbing day.

Double Crack (5.3) – Mark started out the day with a great lead of this nice little route. Bruce and I followed and had a lot of fun. The anchor at the top used our three biggest pieces we brought, two #3s, and the #3.5.

Tight Shoes (5.7R) – I moved the TR to the left after my climb up the previous route, and then we all took a ride on this little slab climb. It was tricky, and I lost my footing a couple of times, but once we all got used to the friction on the slab, the route was pretty straight forward.

Linda’s Crack (5.2/4) – Mark moved the TR to the left once again so we could take a ride on the fat crack on the wall. Linda’s Crack turned out to be a bit wide for an OW, with some nice face features that kept it from getting too hard. I wouldn’t want to lead it, but we all had a great time climbing it.

SOB (5.6) – As the sun hovered just above the horizon, we decided to head up one more crack. Mark lead up this one with no problem at all, and Bruce and I followed him happily. It was nice way to finish the day, by standing on top of rock and watching the sunset.

We cleaned the climb and hurried down because the temperature dropped rapidly after we lost our sun. We packed up and headed back to camp, where we had a great dinner of canned food, played with some long camera exposures and then tucked in to bed at about 7p. Well, what else are you going to do at night, in the cold, cold desert?

Similar to last year, I decided to put together a video photo collage of all of the climbing photos from the past year. Unlike 2006, this year was a REALLY good climbing year, and we managed to spend almost every weekend (besides the ones we were traveling on) climbing in lots of fun places around the western US. In fact, I had so many pictures this year, that I had to throw out a lot to make the movies.

Yes, movies, plural. In response to Doug and Liz’s Cake-themed Christmas Card, I made a smaller video with one of my favorite Cake songs as the sound track – “Short Skirt Long Jacket” – with a subset of the bigger video photos. I think it’s fun.

The real video is a little less than ten minutes long. It was a really great year, and I feel proud and accomplished looking back on all of the great climbing we did. I’m hoping next year is even better… and Mark and I already have plans for some great adventures next year!!

In which, Kate tries to put as many pictures in one blog post as she possibly can.

I decided I needed a short break from working on my thesis, so Sunday found Mark, Dylan and I at the Palace in the Poudre Canyon. Most of the photos from the day are up in the gallery.

The river was low, and Liv’s foot was looking healed, so we decided to bring the doggie along. She did just great the entire day, rock hopped across the river with the rest of us, hiked all the way up the hill, and then promptly fell asleep in the bushes. I was proud for being able to make it all the way rock-hopping across the river that morning without getting my socks wet at all. Yes, the river is getting very low.

Cheerleaders Gone Hippie (5.9+) – Dylan lead up this one as the warm-up and it was interesting and nice to see and feel all of the differences from last year. Dylan red-pointed the climb with little worry, though did end up backwards in the crux, trying to clip behind his head. Mark climbed for the pink easily, and then I TR’d it without any problems. I think this route would be a lot of fun for me to lead some day.

So I wandered off to look for some pictures as the sky clouded over, and Mark and Dylan discussed the next climb. By the time I got back, Mark was getting on the 5.11b direct start to the climb just to our left.

Check Your Six (5.11b) – The route looked hard, and Mark was warning that falls were imminent from the minute he left the ground. Sure enough, you think about falling and it’s bound to happen. Slightly above the second bolt he took a short lead fall with the main consequence being an increase in anxiety and the waste of energy required to get back to where he was. By the time he was trying to find a stance to clip the fourth bolt, his strength and endurance were tapped, and he took a nice big whipper.

Despite the blood and bruises, Mark was fine, but done for the day. It’s really hard to climb when one of your strongest fingers is oozing blood all over the rock. Dylan pulled the rope, and decided to climb the slightly easier non-direct start to the route in order to get his gear back.

Check Your Head (5.10b/c) – Dylan seemed nervous and a little shaky after Mark’s dramatic falls. I tried to make him feel better by building a little trad anchor for me to belay off of (in case he were to fall), but it ended up being unnecessary as he slowly and methodically put up a brilliant redpoint on this very long route.

Afterwards, it was my job to clean it, and I was a little nervous. Again, the last time I climbed this route, I didn’t make it to the top. Didn’t put it in the blog post either, did I? The diagonal nature of the route had really scared me the last time I climbed it. This time I sucked it up and worked my butt off to climb the whole thing. I can’t say I didn’t over grip. And at one point I was about to fall and I instinctually grabbed a quickdraw. I may have cheated and hang-dogged a bit, but I made it all the way up, cleaned the route, and came down feeling proud of my accomplishment.

Before leaving, Dylan hopped on Check Your Six while the rope was still through the anchor. He climbed it cleanly, showing us all how 11b is done. By the time he came down, it was late, and time to head home. Mark was no longer limping, but instead was calling for Boulder Chips. We packed up and headed home in the gathering darkness.

In which Kate discovers that some toproped climbs are even more exciting than leading. There’s some pretty pictures in the gallery!

The river was low and the fall sun was shining on the bizarre sport climbs in the Palace, in the Poudre Canyon. It was a chilly morning on Sunday when we picked up Dylan as he hiked out of his campground and drove the 20 miles up the canyon to our little local sport crag. Crossing the river was an epic in itself, there were patches of ice in the low water pools, on some rocks, and covering the logs we usually hike across. This was my third time rock-hopping across the river this season, and I still slid into the cold water once or twice.

Back on dry land, I laid out my socks and shoes to dry while Mark and Dylan racked up for the “warm up” climb of the day.

Churchill Rejects (5.9+) – As this is one of maybe three climbs in the whole area that is rated less than 5.10, it makes a pretty classic warm up route. On Sunday, the climb was still in the shade, and after a night of heavy frost the rock was bitterly cold to the touch. Mark and Dylan complained of numb fingers on the way up. When I climbed it, the rock was still cold. It hurt like climbing a block of ice wth your bare hands. I slid off a tiny hold once, but otherwise had no problem with the route.

The Scepter (5.10a) – Ann and Sean showed up while I was cleaning the first climb. Dylan decided to go give moral support to their lead for the morning, and Mark and I decided to hike up the hill and climb this imposing monolith. Mark started the lead, and had some problems moving off the third bolt. He figured it out eventually, and then flashed the rest of the climb. On top, there were anchors, and Mark went static to those while I fixed the lead line to go take some shots of this awesome climb.

While I was racking up for the climb, putting on shoes and chalkbags and such, a little butter fly came over and landed right on my belay/rappel device! He hung out there for a few minutes while Mark took pictures, and then crawled onto my hand to let me take some up close shots of him. I’m guessing the little guy was cold from the night, and his lowered metabolism allowed him to put up with the crap I put him through. But he made me intensely happy.

Even in my happy frame of mind, my climb up the Scepter was intensely challenging. It wasn’t just physical strength (which was consistently required) but also a mental fortitude to keep climbing up this ever narrowing, ever more overhanging, tiny finger of rock. It is what the climbers call Exposure, where you are constantly bombarded with amount of air and space around and below you. It can be unnerving, alarming, even terrifying. I focused on my deep breathing, on my hands and feet and all aspects of my body position, and worked my way up the climb. At the very top, I hit that overhanging summit cap and finally fell. Screaming and cussing I got back on the rock and finished up the last 4 feet in a fit of rage. As I anchored in to clean the climb I calmed down, and on rappel I realized what a beautiful and special place the Palace truely is.

Strictly Business (5.10c) – Mark and I had hoped to get on Monstrosity next, but there was already a group on it. Dylan ambled over and decided to lead up the 10c two climbs to the right. The bottom was overhanging, small, weird holds, and he took a couple falls around the second bolt. One or two were so big they lifted Mark off the ground, which he enjoyed immensely. After Dylan, I gave it a shot on toperope, and slowly worked my way up. The bottom was hard, but not outside of my capabilities. It was good remembering to use my feet not just to stand on, but also to pull myself into the overhanging wall. The top was, as Dylan put it “made for Kate!” With thin slab and beautiful delicate moves. Mark claimed loudly he was going to flash the route when it was his turn, so we pulled the rope and let him have a go at it. There were a few tenuous moments, but in the end, he pulled through and climbed the route cleanly.

That climb tuckered Mark and I out, so we hung out for a few minutes cheering Ann and Sean on their leads of Churchill Rejects, and somebody called “Big Red” kept dyno-ing over and over to the big lip on Armor Plated (5.11c). Eventually we packed up and hiked out. This time, I made it back across the rocks without slipping into the river once.

There’s a few nice shots from the day in the gallery.

After the snowy hike to Vedauwoo, it seemed the Wyoming trad climbing season is now officially over. But on Saturday, we had a nice sunny, warm day, so Mark and I decided to head up the Poudre canyon for some sport climbing. We haven’t climbed in this area in almost a year, but we were both excited about the lightweight packs (no rack) and the simplicity of a quick trip out to climb.

Our original goal for the day was the Crystal Wall, where we’ve never been before. Good directions from Doug helped us find the fixed rope for the walk up. But we were standing in the road, looking up at the shade-covered imposing face of the Crystal wall, or the sunny familiar climbs at the Palace and we decided to change plans for the day.

I’ve been working on my leading, so the first climb of the day was the easiest one we knew of at the Palace.

Escalera (5.8) – Unfortunately, my lead here did not go as well as planned. I got three bolts up and completely stuck. It was a different situation for me. Usually, I get into these spots and panic until Mark lets me lower, but this time I climbed up and down about 15 times and just couldn’t figure out how to get to that 4th bolt. Finally, I think Mark got frustrated enough to let me come down, and he finished the climb with plenty of nice comments about how that middle section was really tough. I climbed and cleaned it on toprope, and fell a few times. I guess the trick is to climb above that bolt to the left, and then hand traverse across a positive ledge with icky feet to the bolt, and then continue the traverse to the chimney on the right. I think I’d like to go back someday soon and pink point this one with an extended sling to protect this hard part.

After my two strong attempts at the 5.8, my fingers were sore and I was feeling like sport climbing was a different beast than we were used to. Mark agreed to lead up a climb I’ve been wanting to do since we first set foot in the Palace for our second route of the day.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel (5.10) – This climb was really fun. It was very well protected, and I think if we go back, I’d have a much better chance at leading this one all of the way through than Escalera. There were great big holds at the bottom, beautiful thin face climbing in the middle, and a tricky overhanging crack at the top. What more could you ask for? We both had a great time with this one.

By 2p, we were feeling pumped and ready to head home. Besides, Mark wanted to play tennis at 4p, so we needed to get packed up. Clouds were moving in rapidly, and what had been a blustery warm wind all morning was turning into a strong chilly breeze.

On the walk back across the river, Mark lost his balance and nearly did a full face-plant into the water. I made a similar mistep after giving up and wading. I tripped over an underwater rock and went full front body into the river. We both came out looking like we’d been swimming, but at least the water wasn’t too cold… yet.

The weather has cooled off enough for me to grudgingly pull my big down coat out of the closet for my pre-dawn dog walks this week. On the first morning, I tried to forestall the depression of the loss of another beautiful summer by exploring the pockets of the coat as if they were a favorite climbing destination that I hadn’t visited in years. “Hey! I remember that!” It’s fun to find stuff that you haven’t seen in months.

This year my pockets contained: gloves (of course), nail clippers (necessary for all of those winter trips to the rock gym), a sticker from the Fort Collins Windpower Program (I suppose that was supposed to go on the car), and the coup-de-grace: a camping permit from the Colorado National Monument.

Ah, it must have been the last time I wore the coat. We spent a spring weekend camping and climbing at the monument. Good Memories. We should go back this fall.

More pictures from they day are up in the gallery!

Well, my forecast for the weekend officially bombed. While Mark and I were kind of looking forward to a quiet, cold, wet, fall day at home, Dylan and Ann called us from Vedauwoo on Saturday morning with the news that the weather in Wyoming was perfect for climbing. I checked the updated models and saw a good chance that we wouldn’t see rain until that night, so we threw the already packed packs in the car and took off to the north.

We got there and Dylan and Ann were already starting up a sunny day climb of Ed’s Crack. Ann has been working so hard on her trad leading, and this climb was the culmination of a long, hard, fun summer for her. It was a beautiful lead up a beautiful climb. Dylan seemed really happy to be the belay slave on a pretty day like that also.

After cheering Ann up the first pitch of their climb, Mark and I wandered over to Fall Wall, a sunny slab that we’ve barely ever climbed on, despite it’s perfect rock and popular moderate climbs. There were a couple of other climbers there when we arrived and Val, Star, Jen and Sarah helped us with our packs and spent the afternoon climbing on the sunny rock with us.

Mark hopped first on a lead of Drop Zone which our book called a 5.9, but MP.com calls 5.10a. Mark spent a lot of time trying to convince me to lead this climb, but I wouldn’t hear it. Mark’s lead was very nice, but full of a fair bit of whining, complaining, and, in the end, admission that it was a tough technical lead that I would not have enjoyed right now. I did enjoy following on TR, though, and the thin slabby moves were loads of fun. And dancing across the delicate and airy traverse was a beautiful little bit of climbing. Afterwards, we both ran up and down Cold Finger (5.7) on TR from the same anchor.

The third climb of the day was my lead of EO Lieback (5.5). This a trad climb I’ve been wanting to lead for years, and I finally got my redpoint on a solid lead that day. It was a bit over protected, however. I hit the vertical section of the climb and didn’t like the stoppers I kept plugging in, and ended up with about 4 extra pieces of gear in that section. Oh well. After finishing the climb, I went back and lead it on my own gear (pink point) just to spend a little more time on the sharp end. Mark followed and cleaned the gear, assuring me that all of the pieces were actually pretty good.

After that, we decided to run up and down EO Friction (5.5) because it was quick and easy on this top rope. As I was climbing, Dylan and Ann showed up happy from their climb, and exhilarated with Ann’s lead. I was also proud of my little leads, so we were happy all around as we packed up and headed home for the day.

The rest of the photos from the weekend are up in the gallery.

I’m going to start re-dating some of these posts to help them make as much sense as I can. It seems to be a common method amongst bloggers that might not get around to writing about an even until a few days (or weeks later).

Well, Sunday morning we woke up nice and early to a howling chinook wind screaming down the mountains in Estes Park. Even better climbing weather than the day before! (ok, so that was sarcasm). We puttered around a bit, getting coffee and talking to the guys at one of the local climbing shops about bouldering. Then we drove to the new parking lot for Lumpy Ridge, put on every piece of clothing we owned, and headed out on our hike.

As we wandered down the trail, the wind calmed down, and the sunny morning began to warm up. We hit the end of our trail near one of the random thousands of rock formations in Lumpy and immediately knew that we were going to have trouble finding our climb for the day. An hour and a half of scrambling later, and we arrived at the bottom of something that, regardless of whether or not it was our climb, looked climbable.

Our goal for the day had been Rock One Route (5.4), which we had a nice detailed topo of from my new guidebook Serious Play: An Annotated Guide to Traditional Front Range Classics 5.2-5.9. While I have definitely enjoyed reading this book, I think it was one of the two major sources of trouble for us that day. The first and most obvious source was that we don’t climb in Lumpy much and just don’t know the area well, which is a problem for a place as vertical and remote as that. The second was that the book gave no information as to what the bottom of the climb looked like, how far to hike past the trail junction, and once we were on the climb, the topo generally did not match up with what we had climbed. We were both pretty sure we were not on the right climb the whole time we were up there.

I lead up what was probably the approach as a long pitch, and then stopped and finished the last gully as a second pitch to help with rope drag. From the little Christmas Tree described as being near the beginning of the start of the first pitch, the rock looked creepy, vertical, and definitely exposed. I lead out the rest of the ledge, and then picked a crack that went up and seemed to offer decent pro for a while. I got in one good piece on the ledge, and from the stance about 10ft above that realized that what looked like a good crack was just a little bottoming groove in the rock. I wasn’t sure what to do, so eventually I wiggled in half of a red nut and then just started climbing. Leading on a slab with no gear, with a whistling wind and so much air around me is something I have never done before. I kept telling myself “Don’t Panic, Don’t Panic” and then when I realized this was making me want to panic, switched to a more positive mantra like “I can do this, I can do this…”

A few eternally long seconds later and I reached a good crack. I immediately set an (actually bomber) belay, and then brought up Mark. I suppose I was supposed to keep climbing from here, but I was in no shape. The wind was biting and I was shivering uncontrollably either from cold or adrenaline. Mark came up with the pack, anchored in, and I got my fleece out. Then I broke down and laughed and cried wildly at the same time for about 5 minutes. It was a big moment for me, and Mark hugged me understandably and said “Welcome to trad leading, Kate.”

I lead up one more short, fun pitch of diagonal crack climbing, then set a belay over a big grassy gully. We scrambled down into the gully, collectively decided we were either entirely off route or on the wrong climb, and judging by the number of rappel anchors we found in the area, thought that other people made similar decisions here too. We found one short rappel that got us back to the gully west of the rock, and then hiked out. From the road, it looked like we were on the right rock, near the right route, but only made it about half way up. I suppose I could go back and finish the climb, but I’m not sure why this climb was listed among the classics at Lumpy, as the rest of the climb looked filled with brushy gullies and cracks, and not a lot of fun. I could go back and lead the rest of the way to the top, but I think I got the fun pitches done, and learned what I needed to that day. That I am capable of these things, and should not be afraid to take the risks and have fun!