Virgin Granite and the Brujita
Its rather hard to go on a climbing trip here. You can't really hop in the car and just drive down to Smith Rocks, or up to Squamish. You either have to be prepared to go on some multi-day backpacking trip, or own a boat. Fortunately I know someone with a boat AND he just happens to be extremely psyched on climbing lately. My good friend Ivan Grutter is not just a commercial fisherman and a ridiculously talented surfer; he also happens to be a kick ass long distance mountain runner, mountaineer, and super inspirational person. Infact, if it weren't for Ivan I would not be able to bolt climbs at our little crag here in Sitka.
Ivan 'the man' Grutter!
Anyway, Ivan and his girlfriend Tahsa suggested we check out a secret untouched crag on the westside of an island known as Kruzhoff (home to the famous volcanoe Mt. Edgecumbe). The weather has been horrible lately and we even got rained out of a climbing sesh on Friday, but the weather was supposedly going to be great on Saturday so we woke up early and twiddled our thumbs until the sun decided to show its face and we were off!
Tahsa's dog Buddy manning the bow.
Leaving Sitka on the 'Goofy Foot', Ivan's boat.
We were also joined by our good friend Jeremiah who has been riding the climbing psyche as well lately. The westside of Kruzhoff is kind of a long way away. It took us about an hour to get there on the boat, but we were entertained by the usual spectacl;es of wildlife that the Sitka sound has to offer; hump backs, seals, sea otters, and the occasional jumping silver.
Jeremiah Jeske.
Jeremiah and Steph and Neva (worlds greatest dog)
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I knew the area they were talking about and had seen the white monoliths of rock inhabiting the shore from a great distance whilst charter fishing but had no idea what the potential would be. We cruised around and checked out some basalt caves and enjoyed some sunshine.
Really sweet basalt caves off the coast of Kruzhoff. Not sure you could climb them though.
We hit a thick patch of fog before breaking through the grey soup and right into the promiseland!!
This impressive face was stunning. Check out the axe blade roof/arete!
We scanned the shore for climbable crags that would be suitable for dropping some top ropes. I couldn't believe the amount of trad climbing here. There were so many splitter cracks on perfect granite, flakes, liebacks, fractured faces etc etc. It was overwhelming and beautiful.
We eventually decided on a spot that looked dry and well protected from the ocean. We anchored and had an epic time fighting the swell in order to get ashore.
Ivan paddles for dear life.
After we all made it ahore in one piece and dry, I ran around like a rock monkey on crack. I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face. I hadn't touched really spectactular rock in over a year and the beach was infested with it. You walked on it, you crawled over it, you sat on it, you pee'd on it; it was literally EVERYwhere. While the rest of the crew made it over a large hump that divided us from the tweo massive walls we were soon to climb on for the rest of the day I dropped my bag and grabbed my climbing shoes and chalk bag. I didn't know where to start so I just walked up to the most obvious line and climbed it. Then I climbed it's neighbor, and then another neighboring problem. The granite was sticky, like sap; it was sticky like a fly strip; it wa sticky like the stickiest of ickies. And clean! No moss, no choss, no lichen. I had a very good time.
These boulders are scattered all along the beach at a staggering rate. I was only interested int he ones I could do comfortably without a crash pad but I have to say I did notice a few absolute gems that looked aesthetic and very hard. There were a couple of roofs and a sweet overhanging arete that could have easily been in the double digits. I think I need to look into making a homemade crahspad for next time.
Once I got the granite grips out of my system I was able to pack up and move on to where the crew had migrated for the day. We made a sketchy crossing of a large hump that dumped us out into an open ravine that was walled off by two perfect crags facing each other. One was a large fractured face that had several easier lines on polished dark granite, while the other was a sheer face that soared skyward and was painted with golden browns and oranges. We had an easy time setting up an anchor at the top of the fractured face but the other wall was a bit more of an epic. We let Tasha and Steph tackel that one while we had fun monkeying around on the easier lines.
Jeremiah tackles the first route, a really sweet 5.10a that has a huge flake int he middle. If this wasn't soaking wet in places it would have made for a great trad lead. Ivan ended up getting the FA on TR and we named the route 'The House That Ivan Built'. What's funny about the name is that Ivan really did build his house.
The girls finally found a way to get to the top of the other wall and set up an anchor. We were psyched!!
Steph rappels down the beautifully streaked golden wall.
Our rope just barely made it to the ground, which is not really surprising seeing as how the wall was mammoth in size, at least 90 feet to the anchors. I had the priviledge of getting the first go on what would become a great line that I named "switch stance" because of a hard move down low that required you to switch from a right facing sidepull into a left facing sidepull. It was a real treat to climb on such high quality granite that had every type of hold and body position. This would have also been a magnificent trad lead but it was wet and seeping in some places and I'm not the most confident person when it comes to my trad abilities.
The top part was probably around 5.9/10a while the bottom had some powerful and tricky moves on sweet crimps and sidepulls. I really loved this route, just wish it had been dry.
We played around on this wall for a while, and I did some more bouldering while everyone took a turn on 'Switch Stance'(5.10c).
Me on 'Standing Happy' a cool V.2/3 with great horizontal slots. There is sit start to this problem as well but it is pretty damn hard looking. The vertical rail feature to the right is a great V.1.
Me on 'the Chop Shop', a sweet juggy climb.
This is the one that got away. With no crash pad and some committing moves I felt like letting this one go.
We also did a super long but also super classic route to the right of Switch Stance that started on a tricky and crimpy face climb but mellowed out in the middle on huge rails and incut flakes. The top had extremely cool movement on dynamic incuts and underclings and sidepulls. I ended up climbing it all the way to the top and calling it 'Building Momentum' (5.10c). It was a monster pitch of climbing but it was punctuated with good rests.
The stone valley. On the left is the golden wall, the right is the fractured face.
Tahsa and Jeremiah enjoy 'the couch'.
This is a giant granite hand. I have no words to describe my amazement at seeing this.
Tasha on the crimpy and technical face climb at the start of 'Building Momentum'.
We climbed three long and spectacular routes on perfect granite. I did a more bouldering than I have done in the last year, and we made it back home by 9 with a our bellies full of road soda's and smoked salmon. It was a damn fine day.
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