Squamish

Last week Cortney and I headed up to Squamish for a little vacation from Washington. I first climbed in Squamish five years ago, when I spent the last two months of an extended road trip there. I was instantly taken with the beautifully-shaped boulders and the peaceful forest setting. After a few years climbing almost exclusively in Washington, I was back in Squamish during the summer of '07, when I made about nine weekend trips there to fulfill my compulsive need to climb an eight-foot-tall rock. Since then I haven't felt too much of a need to drive up, wait in line at the border, and join the hoardes of boulderers.

Squamish has also changed dramatically in the last few years: the parking has doubled, new gravel trails have replaced much of the old knotty footpaths through the forest, and a newer, younger generation of campground rats have made the forest their home. I've climbed so much there that most of the things left to climb feel too hard for me to ever do. Furthermore, the boulders seem like they keep shrinking - I estimated this trip that 75% of the problems in the forest are under 12 feet tall. After climbing so much in Washington, with its abundance of high, clean lines and steady stream of new problems, I've gotten spoiled. My goals heading to Squamish were to relax and enjoy the nice setting, to support Cortney bouldering, and to try and climb a couple of the truly classic lines in Squamish. Cortney had only climbed in Squamish once during a trip two years ago, when she was just starting out.

Squamish Scenery Cortney Warming Up

We spent the week camping in the North Walls, and bouldering throughout the Grand Wall Boulders and the North Walls. Cortney tried several projects and climbed a ton of the fun must-dos throughout the forest. I was really glad to climb Resurrection in the North Walls, which I had worked on for a day a couple of years ago. Resurreciton climbs a 20-foot-tall blunt arete up the middle of a huge overhanging face, and is in my opinion one of the best problems in Squamish. The landing is nice and flat, and the area is gorgeous and never crowded... it's essentially Squamish's version of one of the Camp Serene Boulder problems.

Resurrection Cortney on Largonian Bulge

Kung Fu Fighter - The Hardest Piece of Rock Climbing in North America?

I Think Yes. Forest Mushrooms Cortney on Titanic

Another problem I was really psyched to climb was Loose Change. I had climbed this problem up to the lip several times before, but could never press out the cruxy mantle high above the boulders. I definitely still had to to battle with it this trip, and it made for a memorable send - Loose Change is also near the top of the list of classic Squamish problems. As the trip wound down, we got to climb with my good friend Brian Sweeney and his girlfriend Allie, who were up from Reno for a two-week trip. We climbed together on our last full day and finished with a nice dinner at the Brewpub. On the last morning, we only had an hour or so to climb, but Cortney managed to finish up Easy in an Easy Chair for her best send of the trip. Good times.

Loose Change The Sweenis Sweeney on The Weasel Cortney on Easy Chair

Now we're back in Washington, getting into some sport climbing and developing some new stuff in Gold Bar. Check back later for some videos...

Roof Crack Pics

I'm stuck in the library on this beautiful day, so I figured I would share some photos of Joel Campbell and Drew Schick climbing a new roof crack in the North Cascades earlier this spring.

Not much else to report, except that I'll be heading to Squamish with Cortney on Saturday for a week. I'm really looking forward to climbing up there for the first time of the season, and there are many things I want to try... But for now, here are a couple photos.

Joel Nicole

Drew Schick

NH Video

Just for kicks, and because I haven't done any actual climbing of my own to write about, here's a short video by Bobby Hardage of some hidden blocks in NH. Bobby is probably the most unique climber I've ever met, and his boulder problems are a mixture of the inspiring, the absurd, and occasionally, the mundane. Most of the climbs in this movie are quality easy climbs, but the third one shown is actually exceptionally difficult. Stay tuned until the end to see Bobby attempt it in the rain... Enjoy!

Lowball Video

Here's a video of me climbing a tiny problem with fun moves in Entiat. Enjoy!

Two Silly Videos

Here are two silly videos of Joel Campbell climbing in Entiat. The first is him doing a huge dyno while smoking one of his trademark Basic cigarettes, and the second is him climbing a jump-start fin with a required 360 to avoid the dab. Enjoy!

Entiat

Last weekend, all of the west-side monkeys made the trip out to Entiat, a short drive north of Wenatchee, to check out the boulders reputedly found in an Icicle-style canyon. I had heard about Entiat from many different people, most of whom shrugged it off, some of whom indicated there was some potential, and one misguided fool who declared he had just discovered "Leavenworth two." I can't pretend to know anything about Entiat's climbing history, but climbers have been visiting the canyon for many years on their way into the Glacier Peak Wilderness, and the area is even written up in Tim Toula's treatise Rock and Road as having some fun top-ropes on large boulders.

Cortney on a Classic Overhang

Me on a Fun Slab - Taller than the Sword?

Joel Crushing

While the analogy to Leavenworth is sorely lacking, the canyon is gorgeous and it was really fun to climb on problems that were all new to us. Cortney and I spent most of Saturday climbing lots of clean but chalkless moderate highballs in the "main area," before Joel, Jeff, Johnny, Dimitry, Cole, Cassie, and Tucker showed up.

Camping Time

Where are the Boulders Cole?

On Sunday morning, we checked out some new boulders above the road and everyone set to work brushing. Later in the day, Garrett Grove, Art Lim, and two of their buddies showed up and joined in the fun. Garrett is a photographer writing an article about Washington bouldering and had wanted to take photos of us cleaning and putting up new problems. I'm glad we didn't disappoint him. We spent the rest of Sunday climbing at this area and put up several fun climbs.

Joel, Garrett, and Art (trusting Garrett immensely)

Me on a New Problem

Cortney on a New Problem and a Project

Our group was a little smaller on Monday, and we went back to the main area to climb some more and work on some dirty/undone lines we had spied. All in all, I was really excited to check out yet another nice area on the fringe of Washington's Cascades, and I think everyone had a blast. The rock and setting in Entiat is similar to some North Cascade areas, but the drive is only 45 minutes further than Leavenworth. While we didn't see a huge abundance of rock, all of the climbs we did were new to us, an experience we don't get that often in Leavenworth or Gold Bar these days. It was quite the refreshing experience to have on the last weekend before my exam "crunch time" begins. I'm looking forward to soon finishing my first year of law school, and to all of the climbing adventures to be had this summer...

Jeff on a New Slab

Joel on a New Climb

Art Flying Off The New Climb

Cortney and Joel on a Fun Overhang

More Gold Bar Info

It has just come to my attention that the gate at Gold Bar can be easily circumvented via a small dirt road just before the turn... I'm not sure if it is permissible to use this entrance, but the abundance of ORVs and other vehicles using the road seems to indicate that it is probably all right for now.

Also, I have learned recently that the Access Fund, fresh off of a victory in securing access to the Index Lower Town Wall, has discussed the option of working with the DNR to secure the Reiter Foothills area for non-motorized use only. This seems to be a real possibility, which is exceptionally encouraging. I'll update this site with any more concrete information that I receive.

I hope everyone's been enjoying this beautiful weather...