A mild case of burnout

After our adventures on Leaning Tower and a subsequent trip up Middle Cathedral's East Buttress, I seemed to have contracted a case of burnout. We think that the main cause was spending too much time aid climbing and not doing enough free climbing. A week off seems to have done the trick, as I am excited to get back on the wall.

I have spent some time wandering around Yosemite and have got to enjoy the park from the viewpoint of a standard tourist. Anyway I hope you enjoy the photos.

Vernal Falls- Mist Trail

Half Dome

Upper Yosemite Falls

We Made It!!!

Cam and I have completed our second Grade V wall. The West Face of Leaning Tower consist of about 400 ft of 3rd and 4th class scrambling, 10 pitches of overhanging aid, and a final 4th class pitch to the summit.

This is the most aid intensive climb that both Cam and I ever plan on climbing. It was a very good experience, but we are really psyched on doing some free climbing again. Check out the video of the climb and look forward to some more free climbing footage.

We failed to catch it on film, but I got to take my first aid whipper on this climb. There is a trick section on the first pitch between two of the bolt ladders. Typically this sections has fixed gear (copper heads) that make it fairly straight forward. Unfortunately, they were not in place, so I had to make 2 body weight placement in a row. The second piece I places was somewhat blind and after committing to it, POP-POP...both pieces went!

It was a very clean fall due to the overhanging nature of the rock and the solid bolt below me, but exciting none the less. I estimate with the two pieces popping and the slack in the system, I fell about 20+ ft. Gotta love aid climbing.

Note: At one point in the video, I'm not wearing a helmet. This was because the camera was attached to it. Ironically during this 2 minute window in which I took my helmet off was the only time Cam dropped or knocked something off from above. It made for good footage, but talk about bad timing.

Big Wall #2

West Face of Leaning Tower (stolen from mountainproject.com)

Both Cam and I have been bitten with the big wall bug. Our time on Washington Column has got us psyched. We were planning on doing a long free climb this week, before climbing another big wall, but the way the weather is looking, it looks like the time is now.

Tomorrow morning, we are going to lug the haul bag up to the base of the Leaning Tower and attempt to climb the West Face Route (5.7 C2F). Something that makes the West Face super exciting is that nearly the entire route is overhanging. This makes the climbing a little more strenuous. But, this also will make the hauling a little easier, due to the fact that the haul bag will be free hanging in space and not dragging up the wall.

Our current plan is to climb 6 pitches our first day and then rappel back down to a very large belay ledge at the top of pitch 4, for a good nights rest. Then we will wake up the next morning and finished the remaining 5 pitches before descending off of the back side of the wall.

Yosemite Valley

While many mountaineering traditions began in the Alps, American rock climbing traces its roots to Yosemite Valley. Initially hesitant that this cradle of our sport would be either too difficult or overly hyped, Matt and I soon found that the Valley is peerless as a destination.

We got our feet wet by spending a week dodging the weather and enjoying the rock. Some of our favorite climbs so far are Reed's Direct and the Serenity Crack to Sons of Yesterday linkup. After enjoying ourselves for a week we headed back to Texas to visit our respected families.

Now back in the Valley, we have set our sights on bigger and better goals. The first big task on our to-do list is Washington Column's South Face, a quality entry level big wall climb. Incorporating hauling a bag, sleeping on the wall, aid climbing, and free climbing, the South Face proved an amazing all-around experience.

Now we have retreated to a local town to refuel and fix a broken brakelight.

A couple of the video clips feature large amounts of wind, so you might have to periodically crank up your speakers to hear what is going on.

Exodus Ending

Our time wandering in the desert is coming to an end. Since Jan. 6, Cam and I have been chasing the sun in hopes of warmer weather. Our next destination marks a few changes. One, we are headed to cooler weather for the first time. Two, we are in search of longer climbs. With the exception of Cochise Stronghold, Cam and I have been focusing on harder, single pitch climbs (or boulder problems). It is now time to take all those gains in strength and technique and apply them to the big stone. Yosemite National Park, the birthplace of big wall climbing and the single most influential climbing area on the climbing culture of North America, if not the world. Needless to say, my psyche is at an all-time high. In many ways, the entire trip leading up to now has really only been training for what is to come.

Our final hoo-rahh in the desert was an amazing ascent of the North Face of Castleton. The North Face has to be the best climb I have ever done. The aesthetics, exposure, sustained difficulty, and location are beyond description. To top it off, we ran into an awesome couple on the summit. Mike, a fellow Mines alum, and his wife Jen completed the mega-classic and incredibly sand-bagged Kor-Ingles route on the south side of Castleton. Our two groups paired up for the raps in order to speed things up and decrease the cluster. Noob-0saur me, dropped his belay device on the final rappel of the descent. Mike and Jen graciously gifted me a belay device to use for the final rap as well as the remainder of our trip. Not only that, but they shared "victory beers" with us back in the parking lot. I am super thankful for their generosity and look forward to putting my new belay device to good use in the Valley.

Well, enough with all the text, you guys want and video. So here you have it. And Yosemite here we come.

Feeling Creeky

We've been here in the Creek for almost 2 weeks now and rigors of crack climbing is starting to takes it toll on our bodies. Fortunately and unfortunately, it looks like we are about to have 2-3 days of rain and snow, forcing us to take a few days off from climbing. I just keep telling myself that once the rain passes, I will be climbing even stronger after the rest.

For those who live for the spray (read Mike and Sean) here is a recap of the climbing we have done here thus far. And for those who live for the photos, just skip past the text and enjoy.

Day 1: Original Meat Wall

The Sickle (OS)

Ladies First (OS)

Wee Doggie (OS)

Day 2: Way Rambo

Way Nutter (OS)

Blue Sun (OS)

Unnamed 5.10+ (1 Hang)

Rochambeau (OS)

Day 4: Supercrack Buttress

Incredible Hand Crack (RP)

3 AM Crack (OS)

Supercrack of the Desert (RP)

Keyhole Flakes (1 Hang)

Day 5: Scarface

Wavy Gravy (OS)

Scarface (3 hang)

Black Uhuru (OS)

Day 6: Blue Gramma

Petrelli Motors (OS)

Blue Gramma (HD)

Mexican Unicorn (RP)

Unnamed left of Mexican Unicorn (RP)

Day 8: Way Rambo

Desire (1 Hang)

Serrator Crack (3 hang)

The Monk (1 hang)

Slice and Dice (TR w/ hangs)

Day 9: Donnely/Battle of the Bulge

Generic Crack (RP)

Ruins Crack (2 hang)

Day 10: Second Meat Wall

Evening Ecstasy (OS)

Two Timer (OS)

Two Timer II (TR w/ hangs)

Tube Steaks Tomorrow (1 hang)

Day 12: Battle of the Bulge

3 Strikes Your Out (2 hang)

Swedin Ringle (TR w/ hangs)

Cave Route (TR clean)

Digital Readout (TR w/ hangs)

Our Piece of Real Estate (TR 2 hang)

Day 13: Scarface Wall

Big Guy (HD)

Unnamed or Pop Quiz (TR 2 hang)

Big Guy (TR w/ hangs)

The Sicillian (TR w/ hangs)

Day 14: Supercrack Buttress

Supercrack of the Desert (1 hang at start)

Fingers in a Lightsocket (TR clean?)

Coyne Crack (TR w/ hangs)

Something I have learned here in the Creek is that it is hard to increase your onsite level, by climbing at your onsite level. This is mainly due to the fact that many of the climbs in the creek are 1 sized. And to jump from a 5.10+ onsite to a 5.11- onsite, requires learning a whole new size of crack. This revelation has cause me to set aside my pride and start top-roping climbs instead of leading everything. Sure I can monkey my way up a 5.12, but I'm really not learning how to ring-lock by doing 2 ring-locks in a row and then hanging on a piece.

In this respect, it has been really cool to climb with people who are stronger climbers than myself, and have the possibility to climb some harder stuff (hence the many TR toward the end of the last 2 weeks). I am super thankful for the community of the Creek which is always very helpful and willing to share a top-rope...but I can let myself become a Top Rope Tough Guy!

Serrator eating me alive

Hanging out at the crag

Cam back on the sharp end

Buddy onsiting Scarface (he really likes thin hands)

Sarah working Slice and Dice (such a rad line)

What would it be like to pee off that...oh wait Cam did

Welcome to the Creek!

After spending three nights and two quality days in Indian Creek, we find ourselves evicted by some snow and the increasingly evident need for showers. While still recovering from messing up my wrist, I have been on full blown belay duty for the past couple of days.

Matt is quickly flying through the easier routes here (keep in mind that no climb at the Creek is easy). Spending a day at the Original Meat Wall and the Way Rambo Wall has produced six onsights and one effort that ended four feet short of another. Basically, the climbing is going very well.

Although I would like to sit around eating all day, the prospect of climbing in Yosemite has spurred a strong training stint. Our goal is to be in peak shape before we head back to California -so we can climbing some of the coolest routes in the world.

Below are some pictures of Indian Creek.

The Creek will wear you out

The very important Bridger Jack toilet

p.s. Thanks for reading everyone!