Saturday, October 26, 2013

Rocktober!

Just got done with a 6 day trip to Moab/Indian Creek. Jonas came over from Sweden for some time in the sun before the winter darkness comes to Stockholm.

Day 1:
We started out at Wallstreet climbing a combination of cracks and slab. On our way down to Indian Creek to set up camp we stopped off and climbed 'King Arthur's Seat'.
The Bridger Jacks 

Day 2:
Climbed at Donnelly Canyon.
Jonas on 'Generic Crack' at Donnelly Canyon, Indian Creek.

Day 3:
Climbed at Battle of the Bulge, and then checked out some Native American ruins in the evening.


Day 4:
Climbed at Supercrack Buttress in the morning then headed back up to Moab in the afternoon.

Day 5:
We climbed the 'North Chimney' on Castleton in the morning and then headed over to the Fishers to climb 'Ancient Art' in the afternoon.
Jonas following pitch 2 on Castleton.

Jonas on top of Ancient Art.

'The Cobra'

Day 6:
We finished off the trip at Wallstreet. Then parted ways.

Great trip Jonas!  I hope to see you this winter on the ice.



Monday, October 14, 2013

East Animas Trail Day


Yesterday we had a trail day at Durango's great local climbing area East Animas.  The trail was in lousy shape when we started planning the trail day in the beginning of September; and then we got the rain which caused all the flooding.  It needed some work to say the least.  Trails 2000 helped us with organization and leadership. Bread Bakery donated some fuel for the volunteers in the form of coffee, cookies, and muffins. Backcountry Experience offered some coupons for discounts as an incentive to show up at 9am on a Sunday morning.  We worked mostly on improving the trails drainage, but also were able to create two small reroutes to bad sections of trail.  We wrapped up around 1pm and grilled hot dogs in the parking lot.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning!  Hopefully this will be the first of many climbing area trail days.  All photos are from the highly talented Bill Grasse!

Coffee's out, banner's up, now we sit back and wait for folks to show up.


Grady from Trails 2000 giving a tool talk.

Getting it done.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Climbing Therapy

I was at my wits end.  Maybe I'm just spoiled or weak but once in a while I need a break from all the little shit associated with everyday life.  It wasn't really the best timing and was very spur of the moment but a short climbing trip was about the only thing that could keep me from exploding.  Luckily I think Matt was feeling something similar and we were able to get out.  The first couple hours in the car didn't have the the usual banter I associate with long car trips with the boys.  However as we got further from Durango all the shit and stress started to fall away and the plans, schemes, and smack talking started to flow.
First stop was a climb that has been on the list for over a decade.  'Wind, Sand and Stars' is as one guidebook put it, "legendary".  It doesn't get as much traffic as some multi-pitch free routes in Zion but in terms of quality of climbing, location, and history, it is inferior to few.  Pitch after pitch was more fun, cleaner, more solid, less scary, better protected, and all around higher quality than I expected.  Top free climb of my year without a doubt.  The only downer on the day was having a locker unlock and a #4 camalot unclip on the descent.


The day after 'Wind, Sand and Stars' we woke in Red Rock to start a sport climbing "rest day".  After only a handful of pitches my skin was done and we headed to the movie theater.  We entered at 2:30pm and exited 2.5 movies later at 8:30pm.  We might not have started the rest day very well but we sure ended it well! 
'Sergeant Slaughter' was a little bit of an unknown.  There was a little blurb in a guide book and it had a great name so we decided to give it a go. Unfortunately it called for a #6 camalot, a #5, and two #4's. We had forgotten the #6 in Durango and our other #4 was somewhere on the descent of W.S.S.  How bad could it be? Luckily we didn't miss either cam and the route turned out to be a gem.  The guidebook said the upper pitches were loose and runout we found neither to be true. To descend we rappelled the Original Route On the Rainbow Wall which we had climbed a few years before.  It was great to get another look at at those incredible pitches.  So much good climbing all on one piece of rock!
We climbed 'Sergeant Slaughter' of course on October 1st which was the first day of the government shut down.  Meaning that we had to hike an additional half our in and out since the road was closed into Red Rock.  While on the route I watched a helicopter fly over the park with a loud speaker saying over and over, "THE PARK IS CLOSED!"
The next morning we woke up in the Chuckwalla parking lot outside of St. George.  After climbing a bunch of pitches with 'vacation grades' we decided to head home.  But instead of leaving at noon we spent 5 hours in St. George waiting for my water pump, timing belt, thermostat, and a fan belt to get replaced before finishing the drive home.  
It's hard to beat climbing on sandstone in the fall!