Anyway it has been good. Did a quick on-sight of a 5.10b route called Space Jam which had a couple of sketchy hand jams in the end. But a good fun route.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
The Last Month
Well ever since I have finished climbing in the Palisades State Park I have been climbing in The University of South Dakota's gym. It has been fun. I set another boulder problem and created a fun easy route called Mario on Safari. This little 5.9- is harder for those shorter people or for many of the women who try it; I may have to change out some holds.
Anyway it has been good. Did a quick on-sight of a 5.10b route called Space Jam which had a couple of sketchy hand jams in the end. But a good fun route.
Anyway it has been good. Did a quick on-sight of a 5.10b route called Space Jam which had a couple of sketchy hand jams in the end. But a good fun route.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Palisades State Park
Got in last night and set up camp in about five minutes. Breakfast of champions this morning consists of: oatmeal, half a banana, and cornbread. There is a boulder not far from where we are camped that has a great looking overhung route. Can't wait to start the day's adventure.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Mt Rushmore Fun
Well I am in the middle of the week long travel back to school and it has been fun. My mother and I have driven my car 1,700 miles and gone through some amazing places on the 70 and through Rapid City, SD.
To start off I wanted to express that driving through the Rocky Mountains is something that everyone should do at least once in their life. There is such a beauty there in the mountain side and rock formations that really humble your spirit. While driving through this amazing landscape it was hard not to look for new lines that could be established on the side of the Interstate. If only I owned the trad equipment to actually send the lines I saw. But I couldn't stop and the fear of potential fines also was on my mind.
Going up through Denver, CO, on the I-25 was awesome. The destination; Mt. Rushmore and the South Seas. We took a multitude of back roads in order to get to the place we were camping for the night which we set up camp just before the first storm cell came through.
After a less than restful night we were off to Mt. Rushmore. When we arrived the mountain was
covered by fog and the day seemed to be taking a turn for the worst with the spraying rain. After falling for the tourist trap of the bookstores and gift shops we got outside and the fog had moved enough that the faces were visible. Still there wasn't much hope of getting to climb that day.
Well we went and walked the trail that brings you closest to the faces. When we got back to the top of the trail the sun had finally started to come out and there was no more bad weather to come; for now. So we set off to find a couple of climbing areas.
Originally I wanted to send a 100+ ft. route in the Magna Carta climbing area. But finding the actual turnout to get to this area was nearly impossible. After about 10 minutes of confusion and heated arguments we decided to just pull into, the marked, Wrinkled Rock Climbers Campground.
This place is without a doubt the easiest and best developed place to camp and go climb the South Seas area if you are planning a trip. Also it is a free camping area which makes everything better when you can sleep at the crag.
For the climbing adventure of the day I decided to just walk the trail to the South Seas area and climb the first sport route I find. I ended up at bull rock which was about 150 yards from where I parked. I climbed the route Dirty Ernie a 45', 5.8 sport route which turned out to be a perfect climb to just have some fun climbing in this historic area.
After climbing I went and established some boulder routes that I still need to put out on Mountainproject.com. But I still need to think of names for the four I found. Being right off the trail these routes are V2's but at Wrinkled Rock there was a great V4 sloper problem that I had fun sending. There was a great heel hook on it to get the right hand bump right before the top.
Well I am having fun on this adventure back to school. Next stop is the palisades and some more great climbing.
To start off I wanted to express that driving through the Rocky Mountains is something that everyone should do at least once in their life. There is such a beauty there in the mountain side and rock formations that really humble your spirit. While driving through this amazing landscape it was hard not to look for new lines that could be established on the side of the Interstate. If only I owned the trad equipment to actually send the lines I saw. But I couldn't stop and the fear of potential fines also was on my mind.
Going up through Denver, CO, on the I-25 was awesome. The destination; Mt. Rushmore and the South Seas. We took a multitude of back roads in order to get to the place we were camping for the night which we set up camp just before the first storm cell came through.
After a less than restful night we were off to Mt. Rushmore. When we arrived the mountain was
 |
| Dirty Ernie, can't see it but the tops about 1' wide |
covered by fog and the day seemed to be taking a turn for the worst with the spraying rain. After falling for the tourist trap of the bookstores and gift shops we got outside and the fog had moved enough that the faces were visible. Still there wasn't much hope of getting to climb that day.
Well we went and walked the trail that brings you closest to the faces. When we got back to the top of the trail the sun had finally started to come out and there was no more bad weather to come; for now. So we set off to find a couple of climbing areas.
Originally I wanted to send a 100+ ft. route in the Magna Carta climbing area. But finding the actual turnout to get to this area was nearly impossible. After about 10 minutes of confusion and heated arguments we decided to just pull into, the marked, Wrinkled Rock Climbers Campground.
 |
| Unnamed boulder problem rock |
For the climbing adventure of the day I decided to just walk the trail to the South Seas area and climb the first sport route I find. I ended up at bull rock which was about 150 yards from where I parked. I climbed the route Dirty Ernie a 45', 5.8 sport route which turned out to be a perfect climb to just have some fun climbing in this historic area.
After climbing I went and established some boulder routes that I still need to put out on Mountainproject.com. But I still need to think of names for the four I found. Being right off the trail these routes are V2's but at Wrinkled Rock there was a great V4 sloper problem that I had fun sending. There was a great heel hook on it to get the right hand bump right before the top.
Well I am having fun on this adventure back to school. Next stop is the palisades and some more great climbing.
The Adventure at Tenaja Falls
Well I must say that I am happy that I got to establish another great climbing area near my hometown. But now it is time to go back to South Dakota for another year of college. Luckily I will be able to create more routes and climb in some great locations. I am planning a big summer trip for when I drive back to Murrieta, CA for the 2014 summer.
Did a first ascent of the route Stop 'n' Go and routed five others: Triplets of Terror, El Vaquero, and Corte La Mano. There is still more that could be done at the falls but the venture of getting to the bottom and setting up top rope anchors is very time consuming.
Great rock features exist at this secret spot from finger cracks that quickly leads into crimps and jugs to face climbing and sketchy moves that have you on edge. I think I would of had more fun on the one day that I was able to spend on the routes if I had stuck to my original plan of repelling down the rope I had set.
But when your climbing partner ends up being your mom who is later in her years and a novice climber repelling down an unknown face is scary. So the trek started down the slick down climb of the opposite side of the falls. Originally I was set to start my repel when my mother yelled for help.
My mother had started down the slick face of the waterfall area, a big mistake when wearing running shoes. She was sliding slowly down the 70 foot falls clinging for dear life to the rocks. I dropped what I was doing and ran over to help her. Grabbing her and getting her on her feet was the only thing that I could think of doing while I had slid slightly on the water worn rocks. The only real option for me was to help her all the way down to the bottom of the route that I had set up.
After an hour and a half of negotiating tough down climbs on 5.6 type rocks we reached the base of the climbing face. Only a cactus stood in our way which we decided to climb around and get to the base of the climb. A quick break and re-fuel to start our climb when it occurred that my harness and some of the important gear was left at the top when I quickly went to help my mother.
This next part of the adventure turned into an aid climb and free solo boulder problem at 70ft. In order to climb a little safer up the face I used a prussic knot and my mothers harness to provide an anchor while I climbed to the top. The part was swing out away from the wall on the rope in order to get onto a ledge which took a couple tries. This seemed equivalent to the swing on El Cap. and provided some fun on a stressful situation. When I got to the last 12 feet of the climb I found myself stuck.
I originally had tried to climb the last section tied into the rope but the position of the anchor was pulling me off the face. After 10 minutes of trying to climb while being tied in I came to the realization that I would need to detach myself to get to an easier spot to climb. My choice not tell my mom what I was doing was for the best. I still actually wanted to climb these routes that I had set up and this probably would prompt her to stop the whole thing.
Finally I negotiated the last section and could get my gear. I quickly repelled down and took a break before I started the first ascent; although it could be called the second ascent after what I had to do.
 |
| Anchor at the top of Stop 'n' Go |
Great rock features exist at this secret spot from finger cracks that quickly leads into crimps and jugs to face climbing and sketchy moves that have you on edge. I think I would of had more fun on the one day that I was able to spend on the routes if I had stuck to my original plan of repelling down the rope I had set.
But when your climbing partner ends up being your mom who is later in her years and a novice climber repelling down an unknown face is scary. So the trek started down the slick down climb of the opposite side of the falls. Originally I was set to start my repel when my mother yelled for help.
My mother had started down the slick face of the waterfall area, a big mistake when wearing running shoes. She was sliding slowly down the 70 foot falls clinging for dear life to the rocks. I dropped what I was doing and ran over to help her. Grabbing her and getting her on her feet was the only thing that I could think of doing while I had slid slightly on the water worn rocks. The only real option for me was to help her all the way down to the bottom of the route that I had set up.
After an hour and a half of negotiating tough down climbs on 5.6 type rocks we reached the base of the climbing face. Only a cactus stood in our way which we decided to climb around and get to the base of the climb. A quick break and re-fuel to start our climb when it occurred that my harness and some of the important gear was left at the top when I quickly went to help my mother.
This next part of the adventure turned into an aid climb and free solo boulder problem at 70ft. In order to climb a little safer up the face I used a prussic knot and my mothers harness to provide an anchor while I climbed to the top. The part was swing out away from the wall on the rope in order to get onto a ledge which took a couple tries. This seemed equivalent to the swing on El Cap. and provided some fun on a stressful situation. When I got to the last 12 feet of the climb I found myself stuck.
I originally had tried to climb the last section tied into the rope but the position of the anchor was pulling me off the face. After 10 minutes of trying to climb while being tied in I came to the realization that I would need to detach myself to get to an easier spot to climb. My choice not tell my mom what I was doing was for the best. I still actually wanted to climb these routes that I had set up and this probably would prompt her to stop the whole thing.
Finally I negotiated the last section and could get my gear. I quickly repelled down and took a break before I started the first ascent; although it could be called the second ascent after what I had to do.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Tenaja Falls Project
Getting ready to go out and establish some routes at the Tenaja Falls on the Ortega in Cleveland National Forest. My climbing partner Sean Goldman and I, Peter Chapman, will hopefully establish some classical crack climbs, boulder problems and 5.10-5.12+ routes. I have been obsessing over this area for a while since I found that there were no routes named on Mountainproject.com.
Here are some routes that I have been looking at:
Here are some routes that I have been looking at:
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