Tree Time

I've been spending a bit more time in the tree now that I'm feeling well, and it has been great. Joel and I moved the anchor a little bit higher, so now it's almost half of a 60 meter ropelength to the top hammock. I'd still rather be climbing, but it sure beats sitting in the library...

Joel Climbing Joel Psyched The View West to the Olympic Mountains

Leavenworth Yet Again...

I was back out in Leavenworth this past weekend, doing a bit more climbing as well as plenty of watching. The weather was gorgeous both days, and it was great to be out there once again. The main highlight of the weekend, for me at least, was cleaning and climbing what is probably a new problem at the Egg Rock area (AKA Jerry Garcia Boulders). Actually, the real highlight of the weekend was when Jeff got my Subaru un-stuck from the mud using a dog leash, but that's another story.

The 'new' climb is on the boulder directly adjacent to the Jerry Garcia boulder, facing up-canyon. There was a pre-existing problem climbing the easyish crack on the left side of the face, but as far as I know, the line climbing the center of the face from an incut block hold was undone. I spent a while cleaning it, and then climbed it in a half hour or so... nothing especially amazing, but great fun nonetheless. Until someone tells me it's already been done, I'm calling it Dark Star to stick with the Grateful Dead theme (it's also sort of a knock-off version of the Jerry Garcia problem, like the tribute band Dark Star Orchestra). Cortney took a short video of the climb, which I'll post below the pics. Without further ado...

Joel Campbell attempting a low start to Alfalfa or Spanky

Cortney on the Fridge

Drew Schick on The Terrible

Kyle and Kona

Drew on a fun lump behind the Goicoechea Boulder at the Beach

Johnny G on a Project

Cortney on Twisted Tree

FA? of Dark Star, Egg Rock

Leavenworth Pics

Here are some pics from Leavenworth this weekend... they're mostly of Johnny's new problem Thunderdome in the Mad Max cave at the JY Boulders. Good times.

I think I'll be heading either out to Leavenworth or up into the forest of Gold Bar this weekend, for a fun day of exploring and cleaning some projects we found this winter. School is still keeping me busy, but I'm starting to feel a lot better and should be climbing soon, so it's easy to stay psyched.

Also, I'd just like to take a moment to note Adam Classens' blog, Koan Bouldering. Adam is a really nice guy, and he's been crushing recently... I recommend checking out his blog for cool pictures and videos of Adam and friends bouldering in the northwest. Keep up the good work Adam!

Without further ado, here are the pics:

Joel on Thunderdome

Cole Allen on Thunderdome

A Toilet in the Snow

Camping Monkeys

The One, The Only... Max Hasson

Thunderdome FA

I was back out in Leavenworth this weekend, climbing with an even larger group of people. I think there were 20 people around the fire on Saturday night... The weather was good on Friday and Saturday, and we all had a blast. I'll upload some pictures in a day or two, but for now here's a raw video of Johnny climbing a new problem, yet another one listed as a project in Central Washington Bouldering to go down.

The climb is a right variation to Mad Max at the JY Boulders, adding several hard moves in the steeps to a long, pumpy topout. Johnny flashed the stand start, which I can personally attest is an inspiring feat - I couldn't even do several moves when I worked on it in the past. After another half-hour, he climbed the full line, starting as for Mad Max and moving right after the first two moves. Johnny kicked around a few names, including "Mad Joel," but I think he settled on Thunderdome or Return to Thunderdome. Yet another example of a five-star problem just popping up in Leavenworth...

Johnny G on the FA on Thunderdome

Leavenworth Weekend!

Cortney and I finally made it out to Leavenworth this past weekend for some sweet climbing adventures. We drove out on Friday evening and spent the night at the Peshastin House. It was great to see Max, Ryan, and their honorary housemate Drew Schick. Even Kyle O was there! On Saturday, we climbed around for a while before we met up with our Canadian Friends Jamie, Rich, and Ryan, among others. Saturday night we camped in the Icicle, and spent Sunday climbing with the posse.

While I didn't really climb (save one or two mini-boulders), it was awesome to be outside in one of my favorite places in the world, Icicle Canyon. This weekend's real highlights were Cortney's sends of The Pony Ride on the Cotton Pony boulder and Busted at Fuzz Wall. It was awesome to watch her send The Pony Ride in three tries, after spending five or six days on it last summer! It will be exciting to see what Cortney will climb this summer! I'm going to leave it at that... here are the pictures:

The view from the Peshastin porch

Max attempting Right Angles

Kyle working The Cotton Pony

Cortney on Twisted Tree

Carlin on Twister

Cortney on Haunted Shack

Cortney on Busted (at Fuzz Wall)

Look at me go!

Evening Sky in the Icicle

Drew working the top of Span Man

Ryan O on a project

Johnny on the project

Little Time-Out For Kelly...

I have been slacking recently on posting because, sadly, I haven't been out climbing in a while... I'm on a forced break from climbing (first school, then moving, then health reasons) and I'm already starting to go a little crazy. I'm going to make more of an effort to update this blog, to help keep me sane, as browsing the dozens of other interesting climbing blogs out there makes me wonder "why am I not there, doing that?"

Joel Campbell's "Yawning Rock"

Cortney and I recently moved into a small house in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle. The house is great, with plenty of room (for us) and nice amenities - it even has a fireplace. However, the best part of the house so far has been the huge pine tree in the front yard.

Joel and I used a ladder and fun passive-pro lead climbing to rig a fixed line about 60 feet up. Since then, we've installed two hammocks about 50 feet up. It's really nice to get out of school and literally just "go climb a tree." Tree climbing shares many characteristics of rock climbing: It is climbing (of some sort), it is an interaction with nature, it involves playing with roped-climbing gear, it gives me a slight fear of heights, and the view is better on top - from the hammocks, you can get a view of the Olympics, the Cascades, and even the skyscrapers downtown. Good times.

Camp Serene + Beach Boulder

I made it outside this past weekend with Cortney, Drew Schick, and some of his friends from Ellensburg. We started at the Camp Serene boulder, warming up and playing on the tall, clean lines on the back. Cortney was really close on the center line, coming within inches from snagging the lip several times, and taking some big falls in the process.

At the Beach Boulder later in the day, we enjoyed the scenery and played on J-High, with Drew sending the problem for the first time, and me being unable to repeat it. Go figure. It was fun to play around in the rocks at the river's edge, and to just be outside on a sunny, not-too-cold March day. Later in the afternoon, the rest of the guys went off to the Five Star Boulder, and Cortney and I explored and looked at some projects. While we didn't find anything special, it was very refreshing to trudge around in the woods on a rock-hunting mission. Hopefully we'll be able to climb again before too long - I've got a lot coming up in the next couple weeks. Here are the pics:

Eric on the Camp Serene Boulder The Beach Boulder Drew below J-High Kyakers passing the Beach Boulder Kyle O'Meara's problem Built To Last, across the Skykomish from the Beach Boulder Hamburgler and another problem Mt. Index