Frigid Inclinations

This last weekend was an absolute stunner!  If you weren’t climbing at Index, Gold Bar, or North Bend than you missed out on some beautiful and seemingly ‘rare’ January PNW weather.  I was psyched, as always, but also a little skeptical of just how good it would be based strictly on the ball-shrinkingly cold forecast.  In the end I will always favor getting outside in mediocre (too cold or too hot) conditions over the alternative: staying indoors playing D&D while sipping boons farm and watching re-runs of Scrubs. 

I was so stoked when a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in months showed some interest in getting out despite the frigid forecast.  It was blue bird and crisp as we drove out on I-90 and as soon as we rounded a small bend in the road Mt. Si popped out sporting a nice crop of thick white hair mostly located on the norther facing slopes and rocky crags of its imposing presence above the town of North Bend.  It’s pretty sweet to drive 25 minutes away from a major city like Seattle and be surrounded by snow-capped mountains and lush valleys on a gorgeous sunny day.  I forgot about how much suffering we might endure in the face of some ice cold Rhino rock and instead fell asleep in the shade of the nostalgia tree. 

I actually worked up a sweat on the approach to the crag and the ambient temps seemed to be quite good.  I hadn’t been to Little si in 3 months which is the longest break I’ve taken from my beloved crag since I moved back to Washington in the Spring of 2014.  It’s funny to think about how in just 4 months I will now have two years under my belt as a born again Washington resident and a Seattleite at that!.  It was also nice to catch up with my accompanying climbing partner Eleanor.  She had just returned from a three week stint in Bishop and was assuring me that her endurance had gone down the drain but I wasn’t buying it. 

As we marched up the trail I found myself being filled with delight at the old familiar sights and sounds of this all too familiar haunt; the gushing of a stream that cuts the trail midway and was almost dry at the height of the summer season; the lone bare alder that sticks out like a white spike splitting the lapis lazuli of the sky and marks the shallow valley that separates Little si from Mt. si as you round a bend in the trail.  Rays of light penetrate the canopy and create whimsical patterns of folly and contrast the dark niches of decaying nurse logs and bare patches of needle strewn dirt.  The complication of gnarled root systems lay bare and polished from the countless encounters with boot rubber and black soles creeping through dark rich soil and shattering the perfection of the manmade trail.  And finally the grey behemoth, the massive ships prow run aground, the seated giant rhino rear, the lonely white tower, the cream castle, the elevator of echoes, the arena of madness the wall of all worlds. 

We made it to the wall, half bathed in sun light and half bathed in the dry cold of shadows’ provided with ease by the looming firs and hemlocks immediately adjacent to the crag.  We decided to install the ‘two pitch’ rule, which is kind of crucial in colder times at the crag and allows you to do an easy pitch to get the blood flowing, lower down and then attempt a more serious pitch while you have something resembling sensation in your fingers.  Right off the bat we knew it was going to be a struggle.  The wind was howling so bad across the wall any kind of body heat you generated was whisked away immediately.  Eleanor did Abo, lowered down and in five minutes said her fingers were feeling better and then attempted Techno, but the wind was too unforgiving.  It was my turn and I did Abo and it was absolutely terrifying and miserable, terrifying because every hold I grabbed felt as if it either wasn’t there, OR that I was going to dry fire immediately upon putting any kind of weight on it.  Yikes.

I did Abo, came down and went through the screaming barfies routine, before booting up and amazingly making it up Softliner even though I was pumped from over gripping and colder than a snow leopards vacant vagina in the middle of a Tibetan snow storm.  However, after coming down and waiting about five minutes my hands were on fire and felt as toasty as ever.  The heat fled though as I waited for Eleanor to do her two pitches and when it came to be my turn a couple of frozen gumbies were questing up Abo.  In light of this new development I decided half-heartedly to get on Chronic.  My hands went so numb and my forearms were so tight that my right hand actually locked up into something resembling a claw.  I could barely open my hand as I yelled ‘TAKE!’ at the type writer.  I made it a few more clips before giving up entirely.  Eleanor gave Psychosoamtic some good burns but gave up as well and I ended the session by running up Techno which felt AMAZING and was easily the best pitch of the day (also a Bald Eagle was flying overhead as we climbed and the snow atop Mt. Si framed the back drop quite nicely), and as a finale I went for Chronic one more time coming off at the very last move due to a heinous pump I could not shake off. 

We ended the day in classic Little si style at the NBBG over pints.  Great way to spend a frosty yet beautiful day in January.

I hadn’t thought much about it at the time but this trip was the kick off to the 2016 season!!  And a chilly one at that.  It got me psyched!!  I’ve been doing a ton of snowboarding lately and just the day before this trip I slammed pretty hard and gave myself a small concussion.  It kind of reminded me why I am not more into snowboarding than I am and glad to have the climbing season just around the corner.  We are in for some interesting weather patterns here in the next couple of months, apparently there is a split weather pattern going on that will leave us with occasional bouts of dry sunny weather perfect for climbing.  While I’m not ready to retire the board just yet it is invigorating to get out on some real rock in the middle of Winter and get back in touch with what makes my soul sing.  I have a pretty fat laundry list for this season and I’m already five days in on my training cycle.  This month I’m going to focus on diet and power endurance.  Hopefully by late February there will be some dry rock to test out any newfound strength I gain over the next four weeks and we’ll see if any of my projects this season will be doable.  I’m refocusing on my long term goal of getting a little lighter and increasing my power and finger strength.  I’ve been talking to quite a few people lately in the gym who are intent on getting better at climbing and setting their goals high which in turn cranks my training wheel as well and gets me motivated to step up my intent and focus when I think about getting stronger. 

Staring out the window at this very second makes me pine for endless blue bird days and perfect sending temps.  Hope everyone out there reading this is moving forward in life, in love, and certainly in their climbing.