Smith Rock, Jan. 22-23, 2005
On Friday evening Jan, Ryan, and I loaded up their VW Bus "Molly", and
started the trek south to Terrebonne, to escape rainy Seattle.
The weather forecast was abnormally warm for this time of year, so Ryan
and I were anxious to climb outside for the first time in a couple of
months, and Jen wanted to get some long sunny training rides in before
the cycling season commences. We rolled into the grasslands
around 1:00 am, and promptly popped the top and hit the sack. The
next morning dawned warm and bright, with a thin layer of clouds.
Ryan and I said goodbye to Jen and headed to the Morning Glory area to
pull down on some volcanic tuff. We warmed up on a 5.10c called Ten Gallon Buckets (I think that is
the name), a really long and fun route to the left of Churning
Buttress. We both felt pretty good, despite not being on real
rock in a while, and having (myself) taken a few weeks off climbing
after Christmas to let various injuries heal up. We then settled
into project mode, Ryan trying a classic 5.12d called Kings of Rap which he had been on a
few times previously, and myself trying the only "moderate" line on
Churning Buttress, a 5.12b/c called Dakine
Corner. Ryan had told me he thought Dakine Corner was one of the best
routes he had done at Smith, and from the ground it looked pretty
straightforward, so I thought it shouldn't be too bad. On my
first try it took me about 5 tries to get the crux, and I took a number
of tries for a few other sections, it was super hard. After I
lowered off I was so wasted I could barely walk, and Ryan casually
mentions, "Oh yeah, I was talking to Mike Doyle and he thought it was
the hardest route of that grade in the park". Great, thanks for
the sandbag, er, I mean, recommendation, Ryan! But it actually
was an awesome route, climbing an aesthetic corner on flawless
rock. It was really technical, and on each attempt I figured out
new little tricks and honed my sequence so that it felt better on each
attempt. We each had three attempts on our projects on Saturday,
with lots of lazing in the sun and relaxing in between. I got
mine down to one fall, which isn't saying too much since it is pretty
short, only 5 bolts. Ryan did well also, getting it down to three
hangs, his best on attempts in the fall when he had been in better
route climbing shape. The next day was even warmer than the
first, and we headed back to the same wall, warmed up, and got back on
our respective projects. On my first attempt I felt pretty
crappy, maybe not warmed up enough or in the wrong mindset, and I
didn't send. I then went and ate half of a cornish game hen
(leftover from dinner the night before), and on my next attempt managed
to send it with power to spare! I was super stoked, since I
wasn't really expecting to be climbing at that level after taking time
off and not being out in a while. Ryan did awesome also, coming
super close to sending Kings of Rap
on his third attempt, falling at the last bolt. He was pretty
tired at that point, so I think he will send it with ease on his next
trip. We headed out around 4:00 pm, and made it back to Seattle
in good time, with the obligatory DQ stop for some cool treats.
Below are some photos of the climbs:
This is me retrieving the stick clip from Dakine Corner, which fell
apart after Ryan stick clipped it for me. The route starts by
stepping off the large boulder and onto some bad holds, it would be
really scary without the stick clip. The guidebook comments
"Stick clip the first bolt unless you feel confidant free soloing the
crux." I definitely didn't, and was happy to use the stick clip.
This is me after the crux, having just clipped the second bolt, and
about to launch into the second difficult section (not the technical
crux, but for me it was the redpoint crux).
This is me making the next clip, after this there is a bit of a runout,
and I tested the fall (not intentionally) by failing to latch the
clipping jug for the next clip on one of my attempts. I bruised
the bottom of my foot when I swung into the wall, but other than that
it wasn't too bad.
This photo is a bit weird since the exposure was messed up and I tried
to fix it, but it is a really fun part on the upper section with
opposing moves up the arete.
This is Ryan launching into Kings of Rap, on some body tension
intensive moves up this shallow dihedral.
This is Ryan approaching the roof, which is a really impressive feature
on the roof, very blocky and angular.
This is Ryan pulling around the roof onto the upper face. The
route was really long, a real test of ensdurance after only bouldering
in the gym for a few months.
This is a cool shot of Ryan on the upper headwall, near the
anchors. Dakine Corner is on the right skyline of the central
formation in the picture, if you look closely you can see a rope
hanging from the first bolt.
So, it was an awesome trip, and I am looking forward to getting back
there, on the car ride home I made a comprehensive Smith Rock tick list
for myself. Also, since this was the first real (outdoor)
climbing of 2005, it is time to start a new pyramid, and I even managed
to send something to start it out with! Check back later and I
will have it up on my webpage.