J-High FNA

This just in: Joel Campbell just did the first post-break ascent of the problem J-High on Gold Bar's Beach Boulder. A certain "shamwow" individual broke the (only) crimp off of this problem several weeks ago, and Joel's in the first known ascent since.

Joel Zerr cruxing on a pre-break J-High. Photo by Brian Sweeney.
(Note Cole Allen's pretty sundress)

Joel reports that the problem is more difficult, but not "crazy hard." However, the problem's movement is much different, requiring a Karma-mirror-image slap to the sloper from the jug and then a really tough hand-foot match. Just another example of the slow but steady evolution of our bouldering here in WA...

I should take this occasion to reiterate that the adjacent landowners do not want people walking through the woods to get directly to the boulder (i.e. do not follow the directions in Central Washington Bouldering). Instead, please enter the woods directly across the street from the parking area, and walk roughly 50 yards east along the riverside to access the Beach Boulder.

Get out there!

Tumwater Canyon Rockfall

Scott Mitchell just emailed me this photo of a huge boulder that tumbled down the slopes of Tumwater Canyon in Leavenworth this weekend, closing highway 2 for two days. Fortunately, it's not a boulder with established climbs; apparently it orginated about a mile from Leavenworth, several hundred yards North of the Labyrinth area. The Wenatchee World quotes a DOT employee as saying that, after dynamiting, the boulder required 10-12 dump trucks to be removed, putting it upwards of 500,000 pounds!


The boulder was removed, and highway 2 opened, by Sunday afternoon. Here are photos of the boulder's path and the removal efforts, taken from the Wenatchee World:

GB

Here are some pictures from a week ago in Gold Bar. We had a pretty good sized group, including the typical monkeys plus special guests Benjit and my good friend from back east James Joslin. We spent most of our day in the clearcut playing on climbs we had all climbed on before, but it was a blast. The rock was dry and we had the place all to ourselves... though it definitely adds to the approach, the walk up the hill is actually pretty mellow.

I'll keep this short and sweet - here are the pics!

Drew on the Big Boulder Monkey Warm-Up on the Green Boulder

Nice Scenery

Sponch Cortney on Magic Bus (or whatever it's called)
Cortney on Sinistricity
Fun Lichen
Drew Schick sending The Xenolith
Jeff Campusing on the Rubicks Cube

Winter Day In GB

Apologies for what might be the longest-ever delay between posts here on NW Granite - it's been a long month.

Here are some pictures from a fun weekend day two weeks ago in Gold Bar (after this day, I crammed for finals for two weeks and then traveled to the East coast). It was was a bit of a trek from Reiter Road up to the Clearcut, but well worth it. The woods were quiet and ORV-free, and the crisp, dry granite more than made up for the 45-minute hike. Though we can't yet benefit from it, the most encouraging part of the day was seeing that Manke Timber had re-graded the entire road; in the state we saw it, it now seems feasible to drive a Honda Civic all of the way to the top of the clearcut. As far as I know, it has been over ten years since the road was re-graded, and this is a wonderful silver lining to the DNR's winter closure. Much thanks to Manke Timber for putting money into the road and continuing to allow climbers to access and enjoy recreation on their land in the Reiter Foothills.

The Road At The (former) Spring 09 WashoutThe Road By The Scab Boulder Parking Below Fraggle RockJohnny Warming Up - Awesome Rock!

Our climbing day was relatively short, and quite cold, but the WA monkeys sill managed to send some good things. Johnny Goicoechea was able to (quickly) manage the first ascent of Positive Vibrations, a super-obvious two-move problem at the edge of the clearcut that is listed as a project in Central Washington Bouldering. Way to go Johnny! Drew Schick also sent Joel C's Funpuppet in an impressive last-ditch effort. Cortney made progress on the 5-star problem Unholy, and I... had fun playing on some nice easy climbs.

Kyle Attempting Doja DirectDrew Schick On Dave's ProblemCortney On UnholyDrew Playing Below Dave's Problem

After several months in the library, my skin was garbage, but I still had some fun climbing and got myself psyched by looking at all of the amazing lines that I have yet to do. At the top of my list is Volition, Joel Campbell's 5-star squeeze arete that has some of the most perfectly-sculpted holds in the forest. This one is on my bouldering "bucket list," and I can't wait to try it later this winter with more skin.

Volition - WOWIE!

It was a fun and encouraging day in the Clearcut for all of us, and I look forward to some more crisp Winter days in this magical area. Until then, so long Gold Bar...

A Beautiful Gold Bar Sunset

WCC + Access Fund Comment on DNR Gold Bar Plan

Sorry that I've been slow to post recently, I don't have much excuse besides the fact that I traveled to the flatlands for the Thanksgiving holiday and have been living in the library since then. However, with all the time I spent playing outside this Fall, I can hardly complain about having to crush some books for a few weeks.

I don't have any pictures to share, but thought that I would post the comment that Ryen Godwin, Jonah Harrison, and I wrote to submit to the DNR on behalf of the Washington Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund. You can find it here. It's short and sweet, but hopefully makes it known to the department that we are another responsible group of non-motorized recreationalists that use the Reiter Foothills. It seems like 90% of the comments they receive will be from ORV users, so it is important that we make our voice heard.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out to GB for a day this weekend - if so, pics will follow!

Last Leavenworth Day

Last Wednesday I decided to be irresponsible and head out to Leavenworth with Kyle for the day. It was a tad chilly, and mostly wet, but we still found plenty of things to climb on and had a wonderful day. We started in the warm sun at the Pretty Boulders, which was really all that I needed for an awesome day - clean, crisp granite, blue skies, and nobody else around.

Blue Skies Smilin' At Me

The day only got better... after the Prettys, Kyle and I headed up to the Bond Boulders to try our hand at Pierce Brosnan. While chalking the problem up, my toothbrush knocked a tiny piece of rock out of the crack next to the crux hold, and what was a terrible 1.5 finger divot became a terrible 2.5 finger divot. Needless to say, this tiny change was all that I needed, and I sent the problem in a few tries. Kyle sent in two tries, having only played on the climb on one prior day - good job Kyle! Though I wish I had been able to do the climb in its slightly harder original state, I think this "new" hold makes the problem flow better. It definitely makes it less tweaky... Either way, I had wanted to do this climb since first seeing the boulder three years ago, and it made a great last-minute send of the fall season.

Pretty GirlKyle Gettin' PsychedPierce Brosnan

After the Bond Boulders, Kyle and I headed back up canyon to the Cotton Pony Pointer, which Kyle did on his first try of the day. Nice job again Kyle! This is a short, powerful three-move climb leading to a surprisingly tenuous topout above a scary drop-off, and is another example of an obvious boulder that went unclimbed until Johnny decided to walk up to it and figure it out.

We finished our day back at the Pretty Boulders, where I sent Pretty Boy in a handful of tries. Pretty Boy is a height-dependent semi-dyno that had stymied me a few years ago, and I had never been back. This time, with Kyle's encouragement, I managed to stick the tiny crimp and complete the problem. For a short, simple one-mover, Pretty Boy sure is good. After that, we did a cool-down circuit at the Carnival Boulders, where Kyle quickly sent Joel Campbell's short and scary problem Mr. Joel's Wild Ride. Good job yet again Kyle! We finished the day at the Swiftwater Cave, where Kyle put in some 99%-close send goes on the center line, as well as logging a few funny falls. I had always bashed the black cave at Swiftwater for being musty and having a drilled hold, but it is SICK. The cave hosts four or five solid links, all of which are 20+ movers on a 60-degree wall. At some point I'll post a full write-up of all the lines in this cave - who knows, it may be this winter if it ever stops seeping...

Kyle At Swiftwater

Gold Bar Access Plan

The DNR has just made their recreation plan for the Reiter Foothills Area (encompassing the bulk of Gold Bar bouldering) available, and you can find it here. The plan is the last document referenced and covers some 61 pages. Interestingly, the only reference to climbing in the entire document is a tangential reference to climbing in Forks of the Sky State Park, home to the Index River Boulders and Hagakure.

I plan to write a short comment and submit it to the DNR by the public comment deadline on December 4, as well as attend the public meeting on November 18 in Monroe. At the very least, the DNR needs to be aware that climbers are using the area and are essentially "hikers" in terms of our environmental impact (we won't tell them about the mid-height platform rigged up to protect Johnny's 40-foot problem J-Boogie). I will post the comment on this site before I submit it, and I welcome comments. If other people want to submit comments, I think it would be more than appropriate... just keep in mind that you are representing our wily herd of kittens to a governmental agency - respect and restraint are key. I'll post further updates here as they are available.