Back To Basics

Although I've been enjoying sport climbing more and more, at heart I am still a boulderer. With some cool new areas to explore, I've been getting out on the blocs a little more lately. Here are some photos and a short video of some new stuff, with another video in the works. Sadly, none of it is well shot - mostly crappy attempts on a tripod, but I'm pretty psyched on the stuff I've been climbing, so I'm going to share anyways....

LIZARD BOULDERS

Sucka MCs

Futile Devices

Sweet Arete

The General

GANDALF'S GORGE

Deep Water Dreaming

A few hours into a 10 hour, cross-Atlantic flight to Croatia, my mild claustrophobia started kicking in. With a 25o plus pound man to my right, encroaching on my limited space, the man in front of me sleeping with is chair tilted all the way back in my lap, and both Kerry and the man to her left sleeping, I was trapped. My pulse quickened a bit, and I started taking shallow, desperate breaths. Anxious, and afraid I was going to freak out on the plane, I had to take control. I closed my eyes and took slow and deep breaths. Most importantly, I refocused, trying to ignore my pinned legs and inability to move, and imagining what was awaiting us at the end of the flight. I let my mind go, and it landed where it usually lands - at the base of a rock climb.

I pictured myself climbing out of the ocean, and starting up a gently overhanging wall of limestone. The idea of deep water soloing and everything it symbolizes for me - unencumbered movement, freedom, endless possibilities - seemed to be a perfect counterbalance for the my current situation, and my panicky state slowly subsided. Thoughts of perfect limestone, blue seas, and a new culture to absorb helped carry me through the rest of the flight (with a little help from some bad in-flight movies).

Deep water soloing has always been the form of climbing that has most captivated and amazed me. I grew upon the river of the Texas Hill Country, and spend a large chunk of my youth splashing, jumping and snorkeling in the Frio, Guadalupe and Medina Rivers. Being in the water is second nature to me, and I've always found being in a body of water liberating in much the same way I feel about climbing. So when - after having started climbing a couple years earlier - I first heard the term 'psicobloc', and saw video of Klem Loskot climbing 60 feet above the ocean in Mallorca, Spain, I was immediately floored. This was the purest, most exhilarating thing I could imagine. A whole new realm of possibilities opened, and I knew this was something I had to do.

And now, I was travelling across the globe to fulfill those fantasies. While the karstic coastline of Croatia offers almost limitless potential for DWS, there were two main spots I was hoping to check out. Sustipan - a smallish cliffband, but just a 10 minute walk from where we would be staying in the city of Split - and Cliffbase - a limestone paradise on the island of Hvar. Unfortunately we may have been a bit optimistic in our hopes for the weather, and planning this trip in November (the only time Kerry could get time off, though). The conditions weren't ideal this time of year, and we had a few days of rainy and windy weather severely limiting the amount of time we could climb, or even just swim in the stunning Adriatic Sea. Despite the chilly water, and cool temperatures, I was determined to get some climbing in. After our potential climbing days in Split were all rained out, my fingers were itchin' for some crimpin' by the time we took the ferry ride to Hvar Island.

Once on the island, we made a beeline for Cliffbase, which might be the most dream-like place I've ever visited. After a 15 minute hike in from the small village of Sveta Nedjelja, you arrive at a small house sitting below an endless band of limestone. This is the home of Miroslav, the owner of Cliffbase, and also a climbers hostel of sorts. Cliffbase is an ideal spot for adventurers of all kinds - there are over 100 sport routes here, fantastic snorkeling, slacklines can be rigged over the ocean, and maybe half a mile of DWS cliffs. It was time to have some fun.

We swam across the sheltered cove created by jumbled boulders rising from the ocean, and positioned ourselves on a nice large boulder near the base of some of the best looking limestone. Despite how the rock looks in pictures, it isn't sharp at all. It surprisingly had a slightly polished texture, but the abundant features, incuts and meaty slopers make up for the less than perfect friction (but with wet feet and hands, friction is never ideal while DWS). The climbing style was my absolute favorite, a style I tend to call 3-dimensional climbing: climbing big features, moving between different planes of undulating rock, using lots of push-pull opposition, heel hooks, knee bars and all varieties of interesting body positions and techniques.

Exhilarated to finally be here, living this dream, I started climbing. The thrill of new stone, intriguing movements, taking on the postcard-perfect scenery, gaining elevation above the calm, blue sea, reaching that one last jug and then....the splash. I climbed several outstanding lines, the easiest being about 5.10ish, the hardest being 11ish, but all would be good climbs regardless of their setting. I was psyched, and ready to climb until my fingers bled and my skin was pickled from the salt water, but I knew this day wouldn't last too long. Kerry was already sitting atop the boulder, shivering, and I could feel my body temperature quickly dropping. I tried to generate some body heat by doing long traverses at the base of the climb before climbing up, but that didn't seem to help. After squeezing in a about 12 climbs, I was violently trembling as if I had Parkinson's disease. We swam back to the land, dried off, bundled up and hiked out.

A few days later we took advantage of off-season rates and rented a tiny little boat and took it out for a cruise. We puttered along a few islands within sight of Hvar City, but then made our way to the coastline west of the city, where there were some obvious cliffs jutting out of the water.

The rock on these cliffs was a bit different, a few tufas and features, but in general a little sharper and crimpier. Unfortunately I hadn't brought my shoes, which would have helped a lot for these balancy face climbs. Still, I jumped off the boat and had some fun.

Our last day in Hvar I was determined to make it back to Cliffbase, but the weather didn't seem to want to cooperate. It was overcast and gusty, with an afternoon forecast for rain. As usual though, Kerry obliged my compulsions, and we drove to Sveta Nedjelja hoping for the best. Along the coast, we ate a picnic of fresh fruit, cheese and salami purchased from the farmers market, watching to see what the weather would do. It obviously wasn't going to get any better, but I was stubborn and desperate to squeeze in a few more climbs. We stepped out from our sheltered picnic spot and were greeted by powerful winds and ominous clouds rolling in from the south. A bad idea just got exponentially worse. I had to concede this one, and we packed up the car and drove off.

All told, I didn't to climb nearly as much as I had hope this trip, maybe 20-25 climbs in the two days I was able to climb. Each climb I did, though, was a true experience and something to keep me inspired for a long time. This trip will keep my imagination fired up, and keep alive that spark that drives us to chase after crazy ideas and seek out adventure. I've already got some ideas on how to make my next trip a little more successful, and even if I never do make it back here, I will never stop planning my return.

To see non-climbing pictures from Croatia, check out my pictures on facebook: Croatia pics.

A video of a few climbs from Cliffbase:

Summit Trip

Last week I remembered to bring my video camera up the mountain, and took some footage of the day. The photos I take and post of the summit never seem to do justice to the beauty of being up there, and I was hoping a movie would. There is a little bit of climbing action, but mostly the video is about the experience of a day on the summit of Mt. Lemmon. Enjoy, and if it isn't the default setting, make sure you check it out in a higher resolution.

Orifice Dispatch : Day 3

I'm trying to contain my enthusiasm for the start of Orifice season by not posting here after every trip out there, and not tweeting after every attempt on my project : "OMG!!! held the fred nicole crimp. 2 close 4 wurdz!" But last Friday was a great day out with Pete and Kerry, and we got some good pictures and video, so here's what's going on.

Pete and I have been working on Coup de'tat, probably the hardest and longest established line on the wall. Coup share about 2/3 of its climbing with Orifice Politics 12c (my big project and eventual send last year) before branching right. Once Coup splits from Politics, you are faced with a technical and crimpy boulder problem that clocks in at probably v5/6 by itself. Keep in mind that this hard boulder problem is preceded by about 70 feet of steeply overhung climbing, and followed by about 40 more feet of slightly overhanging climbing. Coup de'tat was first climbed last summer and given a grade of 13a/b. This will definitely be my hardest redpoint, but it is going to take lots of effort to build the requisite endurance to finish this climb.

Dropknee on the lower crux:

Starting the upper crux:

Three days on the route this summer, and it seem to be coming together. Pete and I have both pulled the crux, and are linking the bottom section of the climb all the way up to the crux. We both need to iron out our beta a little bit, and build up enough endurance to finish the marathon route. It will take some serious effort, but I think both of us should get the redpoint this summer.

Pete in the headjam rest (which, like the kneebar below, I cannot use....):

Business time:

The best part of last Friday was finally getting to take Kerry up to the summit and the Orifice. After driving up from Tucson, exploring the summit area is like a whole other world. You enter deep into a landscape very different from the Sonoran Desert below - pine stands, lush fern meadows, expansive views in all directions. From our airy perch on the Orifice Wall, we can watch falcons and swallows nimbly swooshing and diving. In the valley below we see discriminating monsoon storms dump sheets of rain on select patches of city. It is a beautiful setting for the inspiring climbing of the Orifice.

Orifice Wall behind my rope bag:

Using the cable to get to the wall:

We got Kerry on the bottom part of Coup de'tat, which is tricky, overhung 5.11 climbing. She did well on the first long move right off the ground, but kept falling at the second long move a little higher. With a large swing after each fall, it was getting harder and harder to get back to the wall. I lowered her to the ground, ready to give her the next big challenge for the day: The King Swing.

Kerry breathing deep, counting down:

And she's off:

Kerry warming up at Murray Wall:

Starting up Coup de'tat:

Pete and I finished the day by climbing on a couple of the shorter 12a's at the wall.

The road home, with the next trip already on my mind.....

The Elusive Catalina Butterfly

Another blistering hot Tucson Tuesday with only one route for escape - drive fast and high up Catalina Highway. Todays destination was the Butterfly Wall on Mount Bigelow, with a cool elevation of over 8000 feet and the ability to chase shade. Routes range from 9+ to 12+ on stellar rock that is pretty unusual by Lemmon standards.

Standard first disclaimer for people going to the Butterfly Wall - THE HIKE IS A MISERABLE, ULTRA-STEEP, THIGH BURNING, HEART EXPLODING SLOG.

Standard second disclaimer for people going to the Butterfly Wall - MAKE THE HIKE, YOU WON'T REGRET IT - THE CLIMBING IS THAT GOOD.

I first heard of the Butterfly Wall last summer from our local guidebook author/prolific FAist, who plainly stated that it might be the best wall on the mountain. High praise, indeed, so I was excited to finally get to check the place out this month.

Towers on top of Mt. Bigelow:

From the top of Mt. Bigelow, you descend the ridgeline following ever steepening switchbacks, trying to use the expansive views as a good distraction from the pain your thighs feel as you hike. While looking out at the summit of Mt. Lemmon to the east and distant ranges to the north, you pass through stands of pines that were ravaged by the 2002 forest fire.

Life is resilient, however, and wildflowers and wildlife are abundant.

Bear scat:

Besides the physical toll the approach takes on your body, there is another side effect of this hike. The trail is composed of very loose and fine grained soil which is easily kicked up into cloud of dark dust. Let's go ahead and call the end result the Butterfly Tanline:

After about 30 minutes of downhilling, you are rewarded with this sight:

The left arete is Firefly, 12c, and to the left is Iron Butterfly, 12a. You cannot tell from this picture how steep they are (especially the arete!), but they are certainly as tall as they seem. Even with a 70 m rope, it requires some trickery to reach the ground when lowering from these climbs. Both are about as good as sport climbing gets. The pinnacle poking over the trees in the bottom left of the picture is also home to some amazing and unique climbing.

The pocketed face of Trundle Pinnacle:

The leftmost line of pockets is 5.10 (and a solid contender for best 5.10 on Mt. Lemmon), a little left-of-center is 11-, in the middle is a 10+ trad route, and the pocketed face on the right is 11+. All are excellent climbs, especially considering they are the only routes with true pockets in the Catalina Mountains.

Looking up at Firefly:

This classic endurance climb starts off with some fun, tricky slab climbing up to a good rest. From there you have about 90 feet of hard climbing to clip the anchors, getting progressively harder and steeper all the way to the final bulge. This climb requires the full package of skills: power, technique, endurance, a cool head, and lots of will power to keep hanging on. If you are lacking in any of these on your attempts, you will be thwarted (this day I was lacking in most of those areas).

A peregrine falcon, who wasn't too excited about our presence:

After three 5.11's and on go on Firefly, I was beat and ready to go. I won't go on and on whining about the hike out the Butterfly. Sure, it's tough, but by then you are a solid believer in the second disclaimer - Hell yeah, the climbing is worth it!

P.S. - Big thanks to Chris P. and Brent S. for rediscovering this area and all their effort in establishing both the trail and the great climbs.

P.P.S. - Clayton - I have about 5 of your draws, and they've been used at some cool places the last week.

P.P.S. - It's Orifice season! Screw you falcons, let's go climb!

Down in the Basin

Friday found us enjoying a perfect January day at the boulders of Molino Basin. Dustin and I were joined by Pete (a strong sport climber trying to rebuild some strength after a few months off recovering from a broken foot) and Jonathan (an aspiring pro cyclist, here in Tucson for the winter for training). The weather was warm, 70 degrees, but absolutely perfect conditions in the shade of the canyon for gripping onto the water polished boulders of Molino.

It was nice having a few pads and spotters, as there a few problems here I've been wanting to get on, but have always put off climbing them without good protection. So after a few quick warmups, it was nice finally getting on Moonboard (v4, or v7ish from the low start) and Battle Tackle (v4). I had hoped to work a bit on Hammer of Hate (v8ish), but a headache slowly building up throughout the day cut my climbing a little short.

Molino is one of my favorite places on the mountain to boulder, with great rock, fun problems, and an idyllic setting. I only wish there were about 10 more good boulders down there. Here is a short video of some of the problems we did:

Ventana Canyon

Here is a video from last Friday's Ventana Canyon session.

More From Panther

We opened up two good new lines today, and temporarily lost a great one. We also started to clean and work a short overhanging wall that will have at least six good problems.

A problem we started to work on Tuesday, in the cave below the finish of Righteous Beast, was dispatched pretty quickly, and is now Nautilus (v3, FA Chris Prewitt).

Nautilus from Joe Kreidel on Vimeo.

We then walked 100 feet downhill to the Monkey Skull:

Curious George (v3, FA MAtt Fowls) climbs the bulge of the right side of his mouth, topping out through his right eye. The problem is steeper than it looks, with your body at one point being dead horizontal. Some great moves and fun heel hooks on this problem.

Getting o work on a short overhang on the back side of the Pyramid:

And on Righteous Beast, the fantastic long roof I sent on Tuesday, we made the decision to clean of a large and important jug cobble. The cobble at first seemed super solid, but after repeated attempts on the problem, and lots of weight being put on it, it slowly started to flex more and more. Rather than risk this rugby ball-sized cobble breaking off in some ones face, and knowing it would eventually come out anyways, we decided to pry it off. The line is now more difficult for sure, but is even better than it was before. Instead of 20 feet of roof jugs to two hard moves, you now have twenty feet of jugs into a series of hard moves that could be considered a quality boulder problem unto itself. We worked out the beta, but no one could manage a send. This will be a proud and hard line, for sure.

Matt working out the beta on the lower sections of Righteous Beast:

When cleaning lines at this place (or anywhere), it is a thin and difficult line to walk when decided what stays, what goes, how best to clean, what to do about landings and vegetation, etc. It was a bit heartbreaking to see the large cobble go on Righteous Beast, as this was my proudest FA to date. And while it is not something I really like to see, and something I had wanted to avoid at this area, I have to admit I was quite tempted to reinforce the cobble with glue. But there is plenty of that already on Tucson's boulders, and really should be a practice of the past. So while it was hard to do, I went ahead and broke the cobble loose. The result is another stellar, proud FA up for grabs.

New Wave

Harder climbs at Windy Point are definitely for the masochists among us. The granite there is crimptacular, and not just your run of the mill crimpers. These nasty guys have teeth - sharp and serrated rows of crystals that subsist on dermis and blood. We fed them well on Tuesday.

A large crew assembled at New Wave Wall, most of us with soft tips from a summer of climbing steep jug hauls high on the mountain. New Wave Wall is home to three classic climbs - Holey Moley (11d), Tsunami (12b) and New Wave (12c), as well as a few others. The wall is about 70 feet tall, slightly overhanging, and striped with white quartz bands all the way up. Feeling pretty good, I had sent Holey Moley and Tsunami on my first trip to New Wave the previous Thursday. My goal for this trip was to get on New Wave.

Holey Moley is one of the better 11+'s on the mountain, and a few people got on it today as a 'warmup'. Holey Moley starts with some sharp thin crimps up to a large hole, where you can get a real good rest. From the hole you move into the crux on - SURPRISE! - sharp little crimps. After you reach a horizontal break in the wall, you can get another shake, then follow easier but very good climbing to the top.

Holey Moley:

Tsunami saw a ton of action this day. Lots of people were working on it, and Ian managed to send first go after working the moves a previous trip. A fun and dynamic route, Tsunami is all business for the first 50 feet. Other than a jug to shake on right before the crux, none of the holds are too good, but none are too bad. You follow a series of crimps and sidepulls through technical and elegant sequences including a few deadpoints. After the one big jug and a slight rest, you are then faced with the biggest deadpoint of the climb, and using at least one hideously small and sharp crimp. For those that are familiar with Sentenced To Hang at Jailhouse, Tsunami climbs very similar to Sentenced, but Tsunami is maybe a touch harder and the rest isn't nearly as good (on the plus side, you aren't facing a 40 foot fall at the chains of Tsunami...).

Tsunami:

Unfortunately we got no pictures of New Wave, but continuing a strong week I managed to send on my third go. After trying hard on this three times, I had to come home and ask Kerry if her hospital does fingertip transplants. Unfortunately, they don't - better stock up in Climb On bar.

Here is a video of Dan, Christian and Ian climbing Tsunami:

Tsunami from Joe Kreidel on Vimeo.