Jess and I decided we needed an escape from winter, so we took three day weekend and headed down to Lander, Wyoming for a little pocket pulling in the sun. We headed down on Thursday night and camped in good ol' Lander City Park. Don't get me wrong, I love camping in the park, but nowhere makes me feel more guilty than when the police cruise though and shine their spotlight into the car in the middle of the night.
We woke up Friday morning to sunny skies and headed up to Sinks Canyon. We warmed up on Firecracker Kid and Elmo's Fish, two really fun 10s. Then it was on to Blue Moon. I can usually get through this thing, but it is never easy. It's kind of a slick, hard boulder problem about mid-way though the route that always feels heinous. Jess gave it a couple goes and then we both tried Searching for Jose Cuervo once. After that, I put in one poor try on Busload of Faith. I tried this last year and felt pretty good on it. It didn't go all that well this time, but I did figure out the first move, which I hadn't done before. I ended the day with two tries on Confessions of a Mask, a 12d right on par with Kundun in its sandbag nature. The route has big pulls between good pockets, not something I'm typically good at. It was a lot of fun to try it though.
Saturday turned out to be 35 degrees and snowy/windy rather than the forecasted 50 and sunny. We walked around a while, got snowed on and then decided to bail. We headed into town and waffled about returning to Bozeman. As a last ditch effort, we went back up the canyon to see if things had improved. It was slightly better so we decided to give climbing one more go rather than leaving. We ended up climbing a few 10s on the Stud Alert wall. I was also able to onsight Backup Binkie, a fun 12a with a boulder problem at the beginning. Jess sent it 3rd try.
Amazingly, the sun came back out on Sunday morning and we had great climbing temps. We warmed up on Corner Drug and then went to Purple Galaxy an amazing 100' 12a with cool two finger pockets and monos. Jess tried the route a few times while I gave a few goes on Confessions. The first go went really well, but I got incredibly pumped and fell at the crux. The second go brought me through the crux, only to fall in a dumb place. With Jess done trying Purple Galaxy, I had one more try on Confessions before we had to leave. Luckily, I managed to pull off the send of this great route. The winch start leaves a little to be desired, but the good climbing above more than makes up for the 10 feet of choss you have to pull though.
It was an awesome weekend and it felt great to get out and climb at Sinks again. Ever since my parents let me pack up the car when I was 16 and head off on my own to Lander for a week, the place has felt special to me. I've climbed in a lot of really cool places, but going to Lander always has a nostalgic feeling that can't be beat. Can't wait to get back and put in more work on Busload!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Spring is here.....for now!
With beautiful weather arriving in Bozeman this weekend, we decided to hang up the skis and get out and climb! It feels so wonderful to get out and climb in the sun after a winter of shivering on the chairlift.
Jess and I headed out to Natural Bridge on Saturday in hopes of good temperatures. The sun was out, however it didn't hit the walls for very long making for chilly climbing. That combined with getting on a couple of 12s that we thought were 10s on the Porcelain Wall didn't make for the best warmups. We then headed down to the shipwreck wall, which was a little warmer. I managed to pull off The Black Pearl second try, which was pretty good. It's a pretty short, bouldery route, which is not my forte. Maybe all that time bouldering in the gym this winter worked! I was then able to do The Kraken, which always gives me problems. Jess gave The Kraken a few good burns and then we headed out.
Sunday was even more beautiful than Saturday and we decided to head down to the cave at Squaw Creek. We warmed up on Bonehead and the 11d to the left, which were pretty fun. Jess has been trying Subzero for a while now, so I climbed that one to put up a rope. The goal for today was to try to repeat Kundun, possibly the hardest 12d I've ever done. The thing is slick and very foot-beta intensive. Every time I get on the thing, it's like being on it for the first time. I managed to send it in two tries, which felt really good. The day was young and I've always thought about potentially trying to climb all four routes on the right side of the cave in a day - Subzero, Kundun, Weapons and Hantavirus, so I decided to go for it.
The first go on Hanta went pretty well. I fell off one of the lower moves and then climbed it to the top. After Jess took a burn on Subzero, I got back on and sent! That only left Weapons to finish off the wall. Luckily, I've done that one a bunch, so it went down pretty easily. I'm pretty psyched with taking this goal down early in the season and now think it would be cool to try and add Of Mice and Men and The Raven to the circuit!
While I was climbing all of these routes, Jess was busy trying Subzero. This thing is Jess' nemesis. She tried it a bunch last year and finally moved on. Now she's back and doing better on it. The route has two very difficult sequences separated by a good rest. I think she'll be able to send it this year as long as she is patient enough to keep trying it.
All in all, it was a great weekend of climbing, especially for Montana in March. Jess and I are jealous of everyone who's on the spring break exodus from Bozeman this week, but we're planning on heading down to Lander next weekend and we've got a trip to Indian Creek coming up in a month. Climbing season is upon us and I for one am psyched! We'll still have a few more powder days, and I'm down for that too, but bring on the sunshine!
Jess and I headed out to Natural Bridge on Saturday in hopes of good temperatures. The sun was out, however it didn't hit the walls for very long making for chilly climbing. That combined with getting on a couple of 12s that we thought were 10s on the Porcelain Wall didn't make for the best warmups. We then headed down to the shipwreck wall, which was a little warmer. I managed to pull off The Black Pearl second try, which was pretty good. It's a pretty short, bouldery route, which is not my forte. Maybe all that time bouldering in the gym this winter worked! I was then able to do The Kraken, which always gives me problems. Jess gave The Kraken a few good burns and then we headed out.
 |
| Jess on The Kraken |
Sunday was even more beautiful than Saturday and we decided to head down to the cave at Squaw Creek. We warmed up on Bonehead and the 11d to the left, which were pretty fun. Jess has been trying Subzero for a while now, so I climbed that one to put up a rope. The goal for today was to try to repeat Kundun, possibly the hardest 12d I've ever done. The thing is slick and very foot-beta intensive. Every time I get on the thing, it's like being on it for the first time. I managed to send it in two tries, which felt really good. The day was young and I've always thought about potentially trying to climb all four routes on the right side of the cave in a day - Subzero, Kundun, Weapons and Hantavirus, so I decided to go for it.
The first go on Hanta went pretty well. I fell off one of the lower moves and then climbed it to the top. After Jess took a burn on Subzero, I got back on and sent! That only left Weapons to finish off the wall. Luckily, I've done that one a bunch, so it went down pretty easily. I'm pretty psyched with taking this goal down early in the season and now think it would be cool to try and add Of Mice and Men and The Raven to the circuit!
 |
| Jess rocking a tanktop in March! |
While I was climbing all of these routes, Jess was busy trying Subzero. This thing is Jess' nemesis. She tried it a bunch last year and finally moved on. Now she's back and doing better on it. The route has two very difficult sequences separated by a good rest. I think she'll be able to send it this year as long as she is patient enough to keep trying it.
All in all, it was a great weekend of climbing, especially for Montana in March. Jess and I are jealous of everyone who's on the spring break exodus from Bozeman this week, but we're planning on heading down to Lander next weekend and we've got a trip to Indian Creek coming up in a month. Climbing season is upon us and I for one am psyched! We'll still have a few more powder days, and I'm down for that too, but bring on the sunshine!
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