LT11 Forest Lands Video

I just came across this video from the Louder Than 11 guys and a strong group of climbers from Brooklyn who took a late summer trip to Leavenworth, Gold Bar, and Squamish.  The video includes high-quality footage of a good number of Washington's best problems, and is remarkably accurate with problem names and grades (save for the one Mount Baker reference).  Some of the dialogue is a little unfortunate, but it's nice to see a group of out-of-state climbers speak so highly of our home areas.  If only spring would come a little sooner...

Enjoy!

Forest Lands from Brooklyn Boulders on Vimeo.

Leavenworth Bouldering Guide Update

It's been a while since I've updated this blog, mostly due to the fact that the weather in the Northwest hasn't been especially good for climbing during the past few months.  However, it's also due to my spending most of my little free time working on the Leavenworth Bouldering guide...

Not Washington

I recently received word from Fred Knapp that Sharp End has fewer copies of the Central Washington Bouldering guide than he thought, and the book will likely be out of print by next summer.  I have stepped my efforts up accordingly, and my "sometime in 2014" schedule has changed to a "summer of 2013" schedule.  It's been exciting working on the book, adding color to maps from Central Washington Bouldering, creating maps for new areas, writing problem descriptions, and going through thousands of old photos to find shots worthy of being put in print.  It's very motivating!  The book will have loads of new problems, including:

Entirely New Problems

 (Joel Campbell on Aint' Nothin' But A Hueco Thing)

 (New Areas at Mountain Home)

 New Problems at Existing Areas

(Dyno at Swiftwater)

(Egg Rock)

... And Problems that were Projects in CWB

 (I Heart Jerry Garcia)

  I'll continue to post updates here as the project progresses.

Washington Pass

Here are some pictures, and a short video, from Washington Pass this August/September.  I hope everyone has been getting out and enjoying the cool, dry weather!

Here's a short video showing two of the best problems we climbed on.  Enjoy!

Mercedes FA

Here's a video of Kyle O'Mera climbing the likely first ascent of 'Mercedes' on the Five Star Boulder, the tall line between Ross Bongo, AKA Trigger Point, and the Five Star Arete.  The line has been tried by many strong climbers on and off with no success that I'm aware of, and people had come to think of it as the Five Star's last great project.

I write that Kyle climbed the "likely" first ascent of the line because I don't want to incite the type of "redevelopment" debates that sweep across Colorado like wildfires every summer, and in Washington, you never know.  The real kudos for this climb go to Bob Buckley, whose recent cleaning efforts on the boulder have given it quite the hi-pro glow...

Nice job Kyle!

Alpental Pt. 2

Cortney, Joel, and I headed back up to Alpental the other weekend to see how the boulders looked at this point in the season.  Much of the snow had melted, and the snow that was left did little to smooth out the rocky landings.  We did a few new climbs, and explored a bit more, but the big flat face that really drew us to the area would require 10+ pads to protect.  The good news is that the approach is a lot easier without snow, but I walked away with the conclusion that the area is really only viable during a short period in July or August depending on the year's snowpack.  I'll probably make one or two more trips up there this fall, but the area's real gems will have to wait until next year... 

Nice Scenery...

Cortney on a New Line

Joel on a Hard Project

A Rare Safe Landing - the Danger Here Comes from Above!

LW Photos

More photos from earlier this summer...

Drewdledee and Drewdledum on Indigenous

Cortney and Keri on Shaniqua

 Yeah!

 V12 Lawyer Jordan Talge Attempting to Climb VB

Me and Drew Attempting Sorrow Bird

(note that Drew is much closer to sticking the hold despite having to fully leap to it...) 

One of these Things is Not Like the Others...

(punctum: goober in corner of mouth)