Riverside Quarry, 05/19/2012

Another Saturday and another trip to the Riverside Quarry.  We didn't have much time for climbing since I had to pack for a trip to Germany the next morning (of course we wen't climbing in Germany, did you really have to ask), so we just did a couple of routes.

We started with Amy's Nemisis climb a 5.10c called "Shattered Dreams".  I went up and got the redpoint, but I wasn't climbing very well. Amy went up on TR and still had a lot of trouble with the crux, but she'll figure it out soon I'm sure.

After Shattered Dreams I decided to just finish with Cling Thing (5.10d).  I don't know why I was feeling so tired, but I had to take once on the route because I couldn't hold onto the huge jugs through the crux.  Again, Amy TR'd the route and we called it a day.

Sorry there aren't any photos, but I'm sure that there are plenty of photos of these two route on my blog already.

Riverside Quarry, 05/12/2012

Well, Another Saturday came where we just had to climb somewhere close by so we once again headed to the Riverside Quarry.

I decided that since Amy had lead .10a's the two previous weeks it was time for her to try a .10b.  Luckily for her, there is a great .10b called "Goody Two Shoes" that is all ike 5.8 climbing except for a single .10b slab move at the crux.  I ran up the route and hung the draws for her, then she headed up.  She made it to the crux without a problem, but then she just didn't want to commit to the crux move, she kept going to do it, then backing down several times before she finally commited and did the move.  Her first .10b ever and she redpointed it. I was so proud;)

 

Goody Two Shoes - 5.10b

 

Amy pulling the crux

After Goody Two Shoes we decided to do another .10b called "Mantlepiece".  The crux of Mantlepiece is pulling off of a slopy crimper, and it was a rather hot day, so I ended up blowing the redpoint when I greased off of the hold.  After that, Amy decided not to try leading it, but did TR it.

 

Mantlepiece - 5.10b

We decided to finish the day up with a .10d called "Cling Thing" since it stays in the shade longer than most of the other routes.  I ran up the route and got the redpoint, but when I got to the top of the route there was another climber at the anchors trying to clean them after doing another route.  It was kind of lucky that I was there since he didn't really know what he was doing and I was able to show him how to clean.  After I got down Danny wanted to swing, so I hauled him up and let him swing around a bit, but Emily was very tired and was being kind of crazy so Amy quickly TR'd the route then we packed up and headed home so the kids could take their nap. 

 

Cling Thing - 5.10d

 

 

Hanging out waiting for the anchors to open up

Danny just hanging around

Riverside Quarry, 05/05/2012

On Saturday May 5th we headed to riverside quarry to do a bit of climbing.  We got there and decided that Amy needed to lead Mantle Marathon.  She had lead her first 5.10 at red rocks the week before, so we figured that Mantle Marathon would be a good .10a for her to try.  I lead the route first so that I could clip a long draw to the crux bolt for her (the bolt is very badly placed and should be at least a foot lower).  After I got down Amy lead it easily.  She did fall off at the crux once, but she went right back up and finished the route.  It was awesome since this really was her first true 5.10 lead.

 

Mantle Marathon - 5.10a

 

After Mantle Marathon we decided to do something new, so we headed over to a 5.10c called "Lucky Lady".  This route ended up being really fun and also quite long which is nice.  I got the onsight, then Amy TR'd it.

 

Lucky Lady - 5.10c

 

 

 

After Lucky Lady I decided that I wanted to try a 5.12, so just left of Lucky Lady was a 5.12a/b called "Chaste but Tasty". I worked the route and made it to the sixth bolt, but at that point it turns to just crazy thin slab, and I couldn't figure it out so I bailed.  I'll have to try it again sometime and employ more cheater tactics (like stick-clipping the next bolt or something) so that I can figure it out.

Red Rock, 4/27/2012 - 4/28/2012

One of our favorite places to climb is Red Rock Canyon National Conservatory just outside of Las Vegas.  There are thousands of amazing routes ranging from single pitch sport routes to long trad routes over 20 pitches long.  We didn't make it to Red Rock very many times this past winter so we wanted to make one last trip out there before it got too hot.  We invited Gwyenn along and she told us that she'd think about it, but wasn't sure yet.  Well, a couple of days before we left, Gwyenn let us know that she would be joining us, and that she was bringing someone else along.  Bennett (Gwyenn's husband) was in Afghanastan as a fire fighter for a year, so we weren't sure who she was bringing along, but we figured it would be fine whoever it was.

 

Emily and Adeline

Well, Friday morning rolled around and we packed up the car and waited for Gwyenn to join us so that we could caravan together.  When she arived, I noticed that the person she brough was male, and I just figured that it was either one of her brothers or brothers-in-law who was coming but didn't think too much about it.  As they aproached the door, I finally got a good view of who was with Gwyenn and was quite shocked when I realized that it was Bennett. It turns out that he got a job offer with Cal-Fire just as he left for Afghanastan but hadn't told anyone about it, so he had returned from Afghanastan a couple days earlier and was the reason the Gwyenn wasn't sure if she would be coming or not. 

After catching up with Bennett for a few minutes we decided to hit the road so that we could get some clibing in that afternoon.

When we arived at Red Rock, we got a campsite, set up our tents, then decided to do some climbing on the calico side of the park rather than heading onto the 17 mile one way loop road.  Since it was Bennett and Gwyenns first time at Red Rock we figured that we better take them to Canibal Crag since it is close to the road and is a good introduction to Red Rock sport climbing.

Our Campsite

We started by climbing the typical warm-up, a 5.8+ called "A Man in Every Pot".  All four of us took turns leading it and everyone did it cleanly.  After that route we decided to try a suposed 5.10a called "Mac and Ronnie in Cheese".  Again we all lead it and all did it cleanly, but I'm going to have to say that it was the softest 5.10a that I've ever climbed and was actually easier than the 5.8+ that we had started with. 

 

Bennett climbing "A Man in Every Pot" - 5.8+

 

Gwyenn TRing "A Man in Every Pot"

 

Gwyenn doing her first 5.10a lead - "Mac and Ronnie in Cheese"

After those two routes I was wanting to do something harder, but the kids weren't having any of that, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the campground.

On Saturday we decided to start out with some more sport climbing at the first pullout.  We headed to Dog Wall, but when we got there, Bennett decided he wanted to do a trad line first, so he racked up and crushed the unknown 5.5 crack on the left side of the wall.  I followed him and cleaned the gear, then we hiked off. 

 

Bennett leading an unknown 5.5

Me Following the unknown 5.5

When we got back to the base of Dog Wall, I decided that I wanted to try something a bit harder, and I had climbed a 5.11c (allthough a bit soft for .11c) called "Here Kitty Kitty" a couple of times previously, but had never gotten the redpoint.  I roped up, and ended up cruising up the route with no problems at all getting the redpoint on what would be my third try over an 11 year period;)  After I finished, everyone else TR'd it and we moved on to our next route.

For our final route on Dog Wall we decided on a 5.10a called "Cat Walk".  I lead the route and got the redpoint, but just bearly.  At one point I went to make a little dynamic move to what looked like a good chalked hold, but turned out to be nothing.  Luckily I was able to hold on and didn't blow the redpoint, but it was kind of funny almost falling off of a .10a after easily redpointing an .11c.  Again everyone else TR'd the route after I got down.

 

Cat Walk - 5.10a

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After those routes, the kids were getting hungry so we headed back to the car to get them some lunch, then we decided to head to the other side of the canyon so that we could chase the shade.  We headed over to the Ragged Edges area since it is a good introduction to Red Rock single pitch trad clibing.

Bennett leading "Ok, Ok, Ok" - 5.6

At Ragged Edges we started out by climbing a 5.6 called "Ok, Ok, Ok"  which is a pretty fun route that folows a crack up a nice huecoed wall.  Bennett lead the route and got the onsight, then Amy and Gwyenn TR'd it, and I finished up and cleaned the anchor.  For our last route of the day we decided to do the namesake Ragged Edges which is an amazing 5.8 crack up the beautiful vertical huecoed wall.  I lead the route, then everyone else took turns TRing it. 

 

Amy TRing "Ragged Edges" - 5.8

 

After that it was time to head home since we had a 3 and a half hour drive back to good old SoCal.  As always though, we had a great time in Red Rock.

Holcomb Valley Pinicles - 04/21/2012

So, as you can tell by the date that we headed to HVP, I am way, way, way behind on my posting.  This is because of a bunch trips (both business and personal) that I have had lately, and trying to go through and edit all of the photos from them.  Because of this, I am going to keep the next few posts very short, but I don't want to miss anything, so I am still posting them. 

On the 21st of april we decided to try climbing at one of the Fawnskin crags by Big Bear Lake with Gwyenn.  We drove up to the town of Fawnskin only to find that the road heading up to the crags was blocked with a gate so we decided to head to Holcomb Valley instead.  We ended up taking the dirt roads from Fawnskin over to Holcomb Valley, and found them to be really good roads.  We arrived at the parking lot for Holcomb Valley Pinicles (after having to drive through several large lakes in the road from the snowstorm a week earlier) and hiked into the ampatheatre.  We started by on Thunderbird wall on what I thought was a 5.9 (granted I didn't look to closely at the book and assumed the 5.9 shown was bolted not trad).  The route ended up being a 5.10b called Fawnskin.  I got the onsight, Amy and Gwyenn TR'd it.

After Fawnskin, the kids were being crazy, and we didn't want to bug the rest of the people in the Ampatheatre, so we walked around to Pistol Whipped Wall (there was noone there for the kids to annoy).  We started by climbing a .10a called Ricochet.  The route was really good with fun moves throughout the whole thing.  I got the onsight, and again, Amy and Gwyenn TR'd it. 

Next I decided that a .10b called Shootin' Blanks looked fun so we jumped on that.  This route followed a crack through a roof and looked fun, but the crack ended up being super sharp and was incredibally painful as I jammed through it.  I still got the onsight, but the painful crack along with wierd bold placements made it a route that I probably wouldn't want to repeat.  Again, Amy and Gwyenn TR'd it.  Since the kids had continued being a bit crazy and it was nap time, we decided to call it a day and headed home.

Sorry, no photos for this post, maybe next time.

New Jack City - 04/07/2012

So, I'm way behind on my blog, so I am going to make this a quick post.

We headed to New jack City on Saturday the 7th of April.  Gwyenn had never been to NJC so we decided that she needed to check it out.  We drove out there and were thinking of climbing at Boy Scout wall so that the girls could get some leading in, but when we got there, the wall was covered in boy scouts of all things.  I had heard that Raven Rocks was a good area, and I've never climbed there, so we decided to check it out.

We started by climbing a .10a called "Holey Moley".  The route is almost a full 100 ft long and has a couple of distinct cruxes with really easy climbing in between.  I ran up the route and got the onsight, then the girls both TR'd it.

After "Holes Moley" there were some people who were climbing a route a couple over from us who recommended a .10c called "Espresso".  Espresso turned out to be a really fun route with a low crux at the first bolt, followed by steep but juggy climbing for a few more bolts to get to the anchors.  Once again I got the onsight, then the girls followed on TR.

While we were climbing "Espresso" there was a desert bighorn sheep that climbed up on top of some rocks not too far from us and just stood there for a while.  We didn't get any climbing photos while we were at NJC, but I did at least get a few of the desert bighorn.

 

Desert Bighorn Sheep

The kids were being a little bit crazy, and we needed to head out so that they could take a nap on the way home, bit I wanted to at least climb one more route before we left.  

Recently I read about this guy in Utah who is trying to redpoint 30 5.12s while he is 30 or something like that.  This got me thinking that it would be a cool goal to try and redpoint 20 5.12s in 2012.  It's been a long time since I redpointed a 5.12, but I onsight basically any 5.10 that you can throw at me, I redpointed a 5.11d in three tries a few weeks before, and I think that while this is a very lofty goal, it can be done.  I decided I'd give a 5.12a a go to see if I could at least hangdog my way up it.  

I chose a route called "Stop the Madness" as my first 5.12a attempt.  The first couple of bolts were pretty easy, but It took me a while to figure out the moves from the 2nd through the 4th bolt which ended up being the crux, and then finished with some more easy climbing.  I didn't come anywhere close to climbing the route cleanly, but I did all the moves and felt like I wouldn't have much trouble redpointing it with a couple of more tries.  I guess I'll have to go back sometime soon to try for my first 5.12 redpoint of 2012.

After my attempt at "Stop the Madness" we packed up and headed out so the kids could take their nap on the way home.

 

Frustration Creek - 04/07/2012

On Saturday the seventh of April, we only had a couple of free hours, but we still wanted to get a little bit of climbing in, so we decided to head to Frustration Creek since it is only about 10 minutes from where we live.  Asia's husband Drew was home which is very unusual for a Saturday, and he has been wanting to come climbing with us for a while now, so we invited them to come along, and we also invited Gwyenn.

Amy and I arrived first and decided to quickly set up an easy route for everyone to try, so I ran up a 5.7 called "Rumble in the Rubble", then Amy TR'd it.  About this time, Drew and Asia showed up, so Amy belayed Asia up the route while I went and installed a couple of TR anchors at the top of this 4th class slab that would be perfect for Danny to practice climbing on.

Asia Climbing "Rumble in the Rubble" - 5.7

After Asia finished climbing the route She belayed Drew up it while Amy and I went to climb a 5.11a called "Eco Challenge".  Eco Challenge is a pretty fun route that gets progressively harder the higher you get.  It starts out with a little .10a section followed by a rest, then there is a roof that feels like about .10c, followed by another rest, and finally an .11a roof.  After the final roof the route really should just end, but it continues up past a couple more bolts  through extremely easy terrain.   I easily got the redpoint of Eco Challange, then Gwyenn TR'd it, Drew tried TRing it, and Amy finished up the day of climbing with another TR of the route.

Gwyenn on Eco Challenge - 5.11a

Amy in the initial .10a section

Amy pulling the .10c moves

Amy just past the .11a crux

After that we cleaned up the gear and headed home.  It was a very short day of climbing, but we had a good time nonetheless.