The Land of Gnar-Nhia

The land of Leavenworth.

Monday was a great day for sport climbing. My friend Nic and I both made it out to World Wall One where Nic was eager to wrap up his project Viagrophobia(5.12d). A great line that climbs up two bulges and is a good 30 meters long. He got on it first thing and a few minutes later, and a good amount of effort, he clipped the chains bagging his second .12d. I was pretty amazed that he was able to ‘warm up’ on and send his project all in the same swoop, but Nic was not done yet. We moved over to Techno and Psychosomatic and he repeated both first go, not to mention making good progress on his new project Californicator and warming down on Deluge. It was quite the day for him and very impressive to witness 5 hard pitches being climbed in a single session. I just had a lot of fun monkeying around on some of the classics and was just glad to get out and up some great climbs.

The next day we decided to head out to Leavenworth. The weather was pretty sleepy around North Bend but Leavenworth, which is usually hot enough to melt your skin to the rock at this time of the year, was actually boasting highs of 72 degrees. I leapt at the chance to get out to one of my favorite bouldering spots and Nic was happy to come along. The last time we climbed at Leavenworth was supposed to be the last time for the summer, and the last time for Nic period since he is leaving for D.C. in a few weeks, but what the hell, cool temps in late July don’t come around very often. Our friend Jimmy was unable to make it which bummed us out, but he had just returned from a trip to Leavenworth so no harm done. We threw all of my pads in the car and kicked rocks. 2 hours and 40 minutes later we pulled into the pull out for the Fridge boulder and took a deep breath of the fine air Leavenworth has to offer. We were at this particular boulder so Nic could clean up what was left in the fridge, The Fridge Left(V.8). A super, mega, timeless, all around classic problem that involves some serious thug hugging up a fat granite prow. One of my personal favorites in Leavenworth, or anywhere for that matter. We went through the motions of warming up on the other problems on the boulder which are stellar in their own right and were greeted by a local named Dale who joined us in a little early morning session. Nic soon got to work on his project as I lay on top of the boulder trying to get some footage. Here is a video of Nic coming so close to latching the ever elusive victory crimp.

Nic gave it a good effort but eventually had to let this one get away. His forearm was getting pretty chewed up from the constant slapping and groveling on the grainy texture of the prow. I managed to repeat it, with a nice lack of style, and was psyched to start the day on a good note, although breathing quite heavily. We were both pretty warm after spending some time in the Fridge and moved on to our arch nemesis The Millennium Traverse. Last time we were here we both got worked on this problem and came agonizingly close multiple times to sending it. The boulder that the problem is located on is a beauty, and can be found in a sparsely populated forest that eventually leads to the shores of Icicle Creek. The setting is awesome and there are a lot of good problems on the boulder that are worth doing.

Millennium Traverse revisited.

I was feeling a little intimidated by the problem after our experiences with it last time but I managed to send it after only a few tries. The last move of the problem that had shut me down last time felt a lot easier and I was glad to have this in the bag early. The texture of the rock can really eat up your skin dollars. Nic was psyched for me and we both felt a little sense of revenge as I jumped down from the top. Nic was climbing the beginning of the problem really well but had some trouble with the cruxy campus moves in the middle. He started to get a little frustrated so we went around the corner to a sweet V.4 called 2001 to release a little sending angst.

2001(V.4)

After doing 2001 Nic assessed what kind of day he was having and decided to just go with it. We were both just happy to be outside in this beautiful place one last time before he left. We packed up our things and headed across the road to a truly awesome boulder called the Lonely Fish. This boulder is home to a few V.9’s, a V.10, and super hard project. It stands about 20-25 feet tall and is HUGE and overhung. There are some really sweet features on this boulder and all the problems on it are stout and worthy of anyone’s time. We had tried the Lonely Fish last time and had some good progress but I was staring down a problem called Dirty Dude that I had seen a video of and was interested in doing. It starts on a low sharp crimp and high gaston crimp. It’s overhung and powerful. You pull on with one foot hold and make a savage lock off and lunge to a high crimp rail above. Part of the crux is just pulling on to the starting holds and then the real crux is the lunge. I wanted to try it so we spread our pads out and gave it a whirl. At first I couldn’t even pull up off the ground. A bit discouraging for sure, but we kept at it. Nic and I both started to begin to understand the kind of body tension required for the first pull off the ground and we got thus far. I finally pulled off and held it together, relaxed and shot up towards the rail slapping just beneath it. That was all the encouragement I needed to keep going. I got closer and closer and more excited. I started to pace back and forth underneath the problem mumbling to myself and looking like a complete loon, but I was simply trying to convince myself to commit. Finally, I pulled on and hit the rail! It wasn’t over yet, I had to get both hands on the rail which required some sketchy foot maneuvering, but once I did I hit a good jug on the corner and shakily slapped up the arête until I was able to stand up and scramble on to the top of the boulder.

Pulling on to Dirty Dude(V.10).

Going for the lunge.

Well, to say I was pleased would be an understatement. I think I remember screeching like a girl but you’ll have to ask Nic. I can’t imagine what the nearby tradsters thought of my victory display(‘Goddamn pebble wrestlers!’). I eventually came down from the boulder, and my sending high enough to complete a full sentence. Nic was proud and we both declared it the send of the day. After that we made our way to a problem that I had never seen before called the Cotton Pony. I was really impressed by the quality of the line and the moves were savage. Two big lunges, the first to a pinch and the second to a notch in the lip, very powerful. Nic managed to latch the pinch from the start while I just flung myself at the ending dyno not really getting anywhere. It’s BIG!

Nick latches the 'star trek' pinch on the Cotton Pony(V.11)

This little guy would not budge, and he was right on a hold we needed.

We both did a great problem right next to it called the Pony Ride and then Nic cleaned up on another problem around the corner called Tampax Arete. If you see Nic in the near future ask him about the mystery substance on the jug.

After gawking some more at the Cotton Pony and low start to it, we walked a little ways down the road and found WAS. A large and looming boulder that has a huge hueco in the center of it’s face that either leads you out right to crimps or up the center of the face pinching an arête to the lip. Nic chose to do IS the problem that goes out right on crimps and involves making a shouldery lunge to a good crimp rail. I watched and had some lunch and after a little while he sent. Nice job Nic!

Nick sending IS(V.7)

I finally put my shoes on and we both started to work WAS. A killer problem that starts by leaping to the huge hueco in the center of the face and then reaching way out left to the arête and then up to the lip. After only a few goes I latched a sloper just beneath the juggy lip but dropped off!! Aaaahhhhh! I guess I’m a little more intimidated by the problem than I thought. I didn’t manage to get back to that spot again but I am really looking forward to coming back this Fall to work it.

From there we walked back up the road to make a quick stop at another crazy good problem called Batman. I managed to snap a couple of cool photos of Nic doing the first move.

Batman(V.8)

It was getting late and we were only here for the day so as a last ditch effort we drove to the Sword boulders to try a couple of problems we thought would go quickly. While it was good to be surrounded by the friendly giants of the Sword the two problems we came to do, Zorro and the Tree Problem, decided to stomp our good intentions into the crash pads. We fiddled about on a few other problems and then hit the road, but not before stopping at the Hiedleburger for a victory milkshake and a damn good cheeseburger. Thanks for getting out here with me one last time Nic, can’t wait for next summer. Gnar-Nhia!!!!!