Well Laid Plans

April showers bring May flowers, of death!

I promised I would get out somewhere other than Leavenworth last week and I actually did! Nic and I made it out to our old stomping grounds Little si. It was soaking wet, even the problems that stay dry during a torrential down pour, and we were heart broken but Nic managed a very impressive warm up lead of Rainy Day Women and I floundered behind on top rope failing miserably at every crux. Oh well, we finished that trip off with a session at Stone Gardens where I got handled by a 12 year old who sent a V.6 that took every ounce of strength I had left in my body to send. It was a throw away day for me, but hey at least I didn’t cop out and go to Leavenworth.

Nic warms up on Cubicle Gangster(V.0) at the Sowrd.

This week I did cop out and go to Leavenworth but only because Nic wanted to go and that guy cracks me up. Plus, perfect weather, granite boulders, and Bavarian architecture never get old! We had a well laid plan that included Nic sending his first V.8 so we headed straight to The Sword boulders so Nic could get back on a proud boulder problem called Ressurrection. I wrote about it in my last blog, but for a quick run down it’s an old school compression problem that climbs a fat bulge to a slab and then up a shady dihedral topping out somewhere in the 25 foot region of space. A scary and tough problem, this rig is the best in Leavenworth and Nic dispatched it calmly, coolly, and collectively.

Nic gets spread out on slopers on Ressurrection(V.8)

Nic enjoys the slab before the top out. Nice one Nic!

Celebrating in the descent tree.

As Nic pulled over the lip we both gave a victory cry that alerted some nearby male stellar jays that subsequently flew over to where we were and tried mating with us. We weren't interested in there displays of spring fever though, and paid them no mind. Nic was stoked on his first ever V.8, and being that he got it on such a stellar and full value boulder problem made it even prouder. While he was down climbing the descent tree I thought it would be fun to check out another V.8 called The Tree Problem, so named because it is right behind the descent tree.

Me grabbing the 'side ways credit card' on The Tree Problem

We chalked holds and thought it looked way soft, two perfect crimps to a bad pinch with a good thumb catch, and then swing over to a huge jug. Climb up a little bit more to an insecure rail and then grab the tree and down climb. We both sent in a matter of minutes but the celebration was kept to a minimum since we both thought the problem could have easily been V.7 or even V.6, but who wants to argue with the guidebook? I have to admit, despite the sharmin softness of the problem it was a rather good one mover on really smooth granite crimps.

Nic on The Classic(V.2)

Nic was on a roll, as he dispatched the classic highball The Sword(V.3), The Classic(V.2) another highball, and The Hourglass(V.7) a one move jump problem that is really fun. I almost flashed The Sword but got to the top and decided to work on my down climbing skills instead of my scary roll over on a dirty slab top out skills. Good job on The Sword Nic, that is a super bad ass proud line, you get the highball top out award of the month.

Nic high above on the top out of The Sword(V.3)

After cleaning up at the Sword boulders we made a beeline for another super classic area, or rather singular boulder, called The Fridge. A place where men are forged from wimpering boys in the shadow of this large rectangular shaped lump of granite. This was the first stop I had made on my first ever trip to Leavenworth and I had sent some of the best V.4’s here, Fridge Center and Fridge Right(sand bag). Now I was returning to exhume my wrath on a mega classic V.8 with an overly original name, the Fridge Left. This fat arête is blank for the most part, except for a cool pore-like sloper and a high crimp near the lip. Basically you slap and hump your way up the arête using the sloper and heel hooks to pull and press yourself closer and closer to the crimp near the lip until you can reach, or lunge, towards the crimp and top out. Fun right? Hell yeah! Jimmy and I worked this problem a few weeks ago and while Jimmy managed the send I was left feeling used and abused. This time it was different.

The first move of The Fridge Left(V.8)

Dawning an old school Sonics jersey(Kemp of course!) I styled it on my fourth go! What a great boulder problem and a great boulder. Super psyched I gave Nic my beta and watched as he tackled the challenge.

Nic feeling victory slip through his fingers.

He came soooooo close to sending; by latching the victory crimp but not leaving enough room to match and pull up towards the lip he was spat off only to come close again on several attempts. He did however manage to flash the Fridge Center(V.4) and the Fridge Right(V.4/5), and I know when he comes back he'll finish off the entire boulder. Feeling a bit worked he decided to come back for this one and we packed up and had lunch.

The Winatchee on high tide.

Our well laid plans led us to Tumwater Canyon where I desperately wanted to try the Hueco Crimper low start. Unfortunately a heat wave had made its way across the Northwest the past few days melting all the snow that had been leftover from our unusually long Winter causing the Wenatchee to swell to an amazing height and girth.

Me trying to be artsy. You aint artsier than me!

My hopes for the Hueco Crimper were literally washed out. No worries, we turned around and headed for the beach parking lot where, unbeknownst to us, we were about to start on a journey that would forever change our very souls. Or, at least get our feet wet. What I mean is that the trail to the Beach Forest boulders was abruptly split in half by a fast moving stream of melted snow.

I think Nic's in this picture somewhere.

We had to hike up into the forest alongside the 'creek on steroids' for a good 5-10 minutes before finding a skinny, water soaked log to teeter across to get to the other side before continuing on our bouldering mission. Here’s a video:

You can tell by the video that it is was a harrowing adventure and we were finally glad to arrive at our destination. The Bech Forest boulders are a unique cluster of boulders that have a good concentration of V.0-V.3 problems as well as some tough V.9’s and a really sweet V.7 called the Terrible. When we arrived we checked out Aggressive Rejects(V.9) that has fingernail bending crimpers to start but an easy finish. Not feeling up to the challenge we headed back to the main boulder that has The Terrible and one of Leavenworths coolest V.9’s Goicochea, named after the author Johnny Goicochea himself. We found another boulderer already trying The Terrible and it turned out that Nic new him from Stone Gardens, a gym in Seattle. He was a really cool dude named Takeshi and we watched as he tried The Terrible.

Takeshi on The Terrible(V.7)

Nic and I both sent the problem in a couple of goes and then went straight to Goicochea to try our luck and our finger strength. The problem sits on top of the main boulder and is somewhat of a low ball, incredibly overhung, and climbs a crimpy seam with half pad crimpers. A bit cramped if your taller than 5’7’’ but ends on a big throw to the lip so if your tall the crux is just getting off the ground and into the seam. I managed to stick the first move on command but couldn’t get my heel to stay on that stupid rail and popped off every time. Nic couldn’t do the first move but almost stuck the last move so together we almost sent the whole problem! Unfortunately we couldn’t combine like voltron to turn into a problem killing machine with a cool theme song so we eventually gave up and headed back to the car. This time we just walked straight across the gushing stream like real men not afraid of getting our shoes wet. Take that stream! Hahaha!

Uhh Nic, do you want me to carry one of those?

When we arrived at the parking lot we tried a boulder problem on the obvious boulder right at the parking lot called Yeti(V.6). More of a lesson in mantling than anything else, Nic was successful but I got spanked not being able to press it out. Damn you Yeti! I’m thinking of projecting it in the future.

Damn you Yeti!

Our last stop was Swiftwater! Not really a great place to go, but is home to some classics like Sleeve Ace(V.3), Royal Flush(V.2), Big Booty Bitch Slap(V.10), Raging Bull(V.7), and the gem of the area Premium Coffee(V.7). Oh yeah, and the Footless Traverse(V.5). I guess it’s not too bad for a couple of trips. We didn’t even bother with the picnic area and the large grained granite of Hate Rock, and instead went straight to Premium Coffee, literally the first problem you come to when you cross the road. Sloper gropin’ is the name of the game on this beautiful problem, and while the temps weren’t exactly in our favor I still managed to come agonizingly close to sending it which was a victory in itself because the first time I tried this problem I couldn’t even pull off the ground!

look ma', no crimps!

Nic made huge progress as well but we were both sacked after an hour of attempts and we headed back to the other boulders where Nick sent Sleeve Ace and I watched. We let time get away from us on Premium Coffee and didn’t have enough to check out the rest of the problems but it had been a great day and we were more than happy to head back to Oly’.

While the temps were great for the day, in the upper 60’s, I fear this may be the last trip to Leavenworth for a while, seeing as how the temps can get up into the 100’s during the summer, but who knows. Memorial day weekend approaches and I feel it’s finally time to get back on a rope for good, or maybe check out Gold Bar since I have never had the pleasure. Plus gasoline is really getting ridiculous, $4.15/gallon!!!!!!! Either I need to start bringing five or six dudes out here with me or relocate to the rocky hillsides of Icicle canyon and become one of those crazy mountain gurus with no hair and a long white beard who scares children and talks to trees. I’ll let you know what I decide. In the meantime I guess I’ll focus on my upcoming finals and graduating, oh yeah, and getting a job. Aaaaaahhhhhh! Thanks again Nic for the conversation( I laughed so hard I almost drove us off the road) and the awesome bouldering, good times all around.

Nic after a day of bouldering in Leavenworth