Return to Smith Rock

Picture: Deer grazing in a field on the way to the Smith Rock.

This post is about my return to Smith Rock. This will be my fourth trip to this climbing location but the first trip of significance in five years.

Tim and I left directly from work on the Friday and had tons of border time and stopped out first night north of Portland. Slept in the van at a 24 hours restaurant. Got up the next day at 8:30 and drove through a the Hood Mt pass with a bit of snow storm. After a minor epic putting on and taking off the chains, we headed straight to Smith Rock to open the climbing up. I was feeling pretty sore so didn't do much that was harder than Overboard which I got my first fall on.

We went to my friend Greg place and are now staying there instead of camping. The hospitality is very nice, since the nights a very cold and the WiFi is appreciated.

Greg was out for a night in the nearby town of Bend on the first night. Funny enough he was also hosting a couple other friends of his that night. We had run into them at the Zion area earlier in the day and helped then with the high first bolts so it was pretty funny to knock on the door and find them in Greg's place.

Picture: Tim and Naomi roping up to climb Wedding Day (10b) in the snow.

The second day was much colder than the first with snow showers and wind. We struggled to warm up on morning glory wall. Tim put up a few routes and I repeated my old nemesis route Cool Ranch Flavour but in the style I had always wanted to do it in. Then we moved over to the Dihedrals and I put in a couple burns on Heinous Cling. First go was a two rests, the second time I took too falls before pulling the draws.

Tim's hand was sore and I was feeling like taking it easy so we packed it in. We are basically doing half days and will plan to do four days in a row with no break so that our climbing days would be in synch with Rich and Tony.

The evening we spent handing out with Greg and his girlfriend Jenny as well as his roommate Jesse. They are good people and we spent the while night save going to dinner with some other climbers with them chatting and talking about life.


Today we plan to make another slow start and meet up with Rich and Tony at the crag sometime around noon. I hope it warms up because its super cold the last few days. Tony and Rich were brewing coffee in the parking lot at Smith when we pulled in.

We made out way up to warm ups and then headed over to Aggro Gully where Tim go on his project for the trip, a climbed called the Quickening, 12c. The first session was a good exploration. Tony and Rich showed up and promptly hopped on Toxic.

Picture: Rich Wheater on Toxic, 11b.

I got on a climb just up from Toxic called Up for Grabs, 11d. I climbed through the crux sequence of crimps, under-clings, and pockets to pulled up onto the upper face. I was pretty excited as this was my onsight attempt. I struggled with clipping the last bolt which seemed to break my focus. My technique started to break down as the pump in my forearms started building while getting the clip. My hands started to open so I rushed to get moving and hiked my right foot up too high and couldn't place it back into the pocket where it was formerly resting. Within seconds I found myself dangling at the end of the rope, so much for the onsight.

I hauled back up and found the sequence was pretty easy, I just missed a foot placement that would get me a bit higher so I could reach the next crimp. A series of 10 moves saw me reach the anchor.

The second time on, I was able to pull through the crux and move to the anchors for the ascent. This would be the hardest climb I've been able to do at Smith so far. Now I will have to work on the Quickening with Tim as there is nothing easier than 12c in Aggro gully that I haven't done.

Tim took another burn on the Quickening making good progress on the upper wall but missed the crux pocket pull because his fingers got stuck in the pocket. I won't be surprised if the he doesn't get it in the next couple attempts.

We finished the day down at morning glory wall with Rich and Tony. Rich and I did a climb called Tammy Baker's Face, 10c, to close out the day while the sun dropped. The finish to a good day on the rock.

Climbing highlights Descartes' Error.

I finally found a climb that suites my style, bits of slab to gentle overhanging with technical climbing with great rests and lost of technique; a rarity in the Red. After falling off of both warm up climbs yesterday I got on Swahili Slang at the Motherlode, a 5.12b/c. Pete onsited it with some difficulty.

Since I've been struggling with my confidence of late and wasn't sure if I could pull all the moves (I've only lead one 12c in my life), I decided to clean the route on top rope. I headed up with some difficulty falling off at ever second bolt.

Picture: Pete L taking a rest before the ramp on Swahili Slang, 12b/c.

Picture: Pete L climbing the ramp on Swahili Slang, 12b/c.

* Warning Skip the next two paragraphs if you aren't a climber...*

The moves were amazing, a boulder start, you hand jam side pull a big pocket, to make a long move to a crimp at the first bolt maybe 3' above. Then you high step left foot, adjust you right to get under you and then did a stretching move to a good pocket, some jug hauling for the next 10 ft leads to another big pull off an undercling to a rail where you get the 3rd bolt. A couple more moves onto slopers and you mantel up onto a slab ramp and a rest. You then climb the ramp for 3 moves and then clip around the arete to clip on the face below the ramp. You then fall out of the ramp back onto the over hanging face for another 4 moves and a wicked rock on to the ramp once more to make a long move to a ledge where you get to rest before having to pull the first of two mantel moves to establish on the left.

You get a shake on some crimps and then move left on side pulls and crimps to get to the next ledge which sets you up for the crux moves; a mantel into an undercling that you catch with you thumb. Though the crux move is done, its not over, you need to shuffle your feet left on the small ledge to set you left foot up at the edge. So you can reach up to a right hand gaston, go again to a pocket another foot to the left. If you are tall you can work you right foot to a sloping hold down and right of the hold, this is a really stretchy move and probably won't work for people under 5'9". You can come into the gaston with you right hand then make a coupe more moves right on a sloping rail then move you left foot to a high step and make another big move to a ledge. If you latch you have just one more long move to make the anchors.

* End of climber beta spray section *

Picture: Pete L back out on the face on Swahili Slang, 12b/c.

Needless to say, I fell all over it while cleaning. I didn't feel like any of the moves were show stoppers, I think I could do all of them in groups. As I walked over to the undertow wall I couldn't get the route out of my mind, the moves really suited me, and I know that the style suited me. I could get rests and get my heart rate down on the rests since it wasn't steep but was really intimidated by the grade and feeling fragile ego. I don't know if I could take committing to trying to do the route and having to deal with failure if I didn't get it. I recognized that I wasn't really committing to any route and because of this I wasn't having any success. My fear of failure was holding me back, it was giving me an excuse when I failed - I didn't really want to do the route, I wasn't committed to it.

Picture: Pete L giving a flex after onsiting Swahili Slang, 12b/c.

I walked back to the route to find two guys working on it so I changed my plan for the day. Instead of doing fitness on the steep 12a of the Undertow wall I would commit to doing Swahili Slang.

My first go showed I could makes the movies since I one hanged it after falling at the 3rd bolt trying to get into the ramp.

My second attempt is when I realized just how distracted I was climbing. I was focused on "getting the tick" and how "good" about myself I would feel if I did. The symbol of success instead of just enjoying the process. This pressure to succeed that i was putting on myself culminated in failure when I climbed to the top and then fell off the last hard move at getting to the last bolt. I wasn't tremendously tired. I hit the jug ledge I was going to with my left hand and could have latched the hold but I was so distracted by what it would mean if I did the climb, I didn't allow myself to latch the hold.

Tired and keenly aware of how the chatter in my head was causing my failure I walked over to belay James on his second attempt on Skin Boat which he did without too much apparent trouble. On the walk back I talked with Pete about how distracted I have been climbing. He mentioned that he could almost see me thinking about ticking my 8a score card while I was climbing. He was right, I knew it but I didn't realize how apparent it was in my climbing.

It seems that this lesson of not being focused on the goal but on the process is a lesson I'm going to have to learn over and over again since I remember the same process last year. Maybe that is a complement to climbing in the Red, it forces you to deal with grade chasing since the grades are all over the map. In the end the joy of climbing here should come from the routes not the glory of getting a route done or the grade associated with it.

So I practice a bit of meditation before starting up on the route and this my forth attempt of the day, third on lead I was very aware of my self talk and more importantly how catching myself when I started to focus on thoughts of completing the route or thinking about how my pump would affect me for the moves 4-5 moves ahead instead of the one I was trying to make. Sure enough, this time I made the ascent without difficulty. Seems that as with Burlier's Bane, I need to get in a meditative state in order to climb well. I can't be distracted with other thoughts. Its an example of just how powerful the mind and emotions are in the process of doing anything. I think in climbing its very easy to see the affects of the mind on performance.

It seems that I can take comfort in something I already knew; I can climb 12 when its to my strength by I need to find way to accept that the Red, in general, is not to my strength and I need to let go of getting ascents as my measure of success.

Ups and downs; still trying to get some red endurance.

Just a little over a week in the Red and I though it was a worthy time to talk about how the trip is progressing and the emotional and physical ups and downs.

I've done my first 5.12a at the Undertow wall, Burlier's Bane. I should be happy since this matches my hardest climb ticked last year. I took little joy in it, feeling a bit guilty for having used a hueco rest on the right of the climb. It's a few moves off the primary line and it does setup well for continuing the route on exit but many people are not using it. Ethics are always open to debate but for me personally its more of a struggle with myself. I always find endurance a hard thing in climbing and I'm not performing the way I would like to in this area. I want to be able to climb these amazing routes and enjoy them more and so far, I haven't found a way to enjoy them fully when my forearms are pumping battery acid and my hand are opening.

In many ways this stance is just being negative towards myself. I, for whatever reason, have decided to be self deprecating instead of taking joy in my success. I minimize it, I find myself downplaying my success and making it feel illegitimate - self talk like "I took the rest on the right of Burlier's Bane so it doesn't sych with my idea of what the climbing ethic of the area is". I think this all is an underlying impatience with myself, I just wanted to climb some of these amazing routes here and I want to improve. I but a lot of time and energy into this effort leading into this trip and the expectations I built while doing this have caught up to me. Easy enough to understand, quite a bit harder to change.

Picture: Me on Magnum Opus

The last session out was a single day event where Evan and I went to the Solarium. We warmed up and then got hosed by a line up for Banshee and Abiyoyo. Instead of these we got on Magnum Opus, a fun and well suited 12a for my style of climb. After two burns on it, I moved over to Abiyoyo a good 12b with a boulder problem crux. Evan worked it out first and put up the draws. I made an attempted but got hosed by the crux which I found quite hard. My fingers couldn't quite keep me in on the small holds. I became frustrated and had to lower off without pulling the crux, a bruise to my ego.

Picture: Me on Magnum Opus

After that attempted I decided it was better to take a double rest day. Pete was also doing it and it would be a first double rest day cycle of the trip.

I'm writing this on rest day cycle two. I'm feeling better and despite a sore right knee, optimistic that the next day on will having me feeling a bit better. I'm also wondering how much of my emotional frustrations might be linked to the change. Once of my friends Paul and others have mentioned that I don't deal well with change. I'm wondering if maybe some of my feelings of disconnection aren't related to this. There is a lot of change and adapting that goes on when moving into a house for a climbing trip with 4 of your friends.

To extend this line of thinking, as we age we deal less well with change. Maybe the last couple years where I have been struggling is a result of not relaxing into the changes in my life and struggling to control what's coming at me. Seems a good explanation as any for my somewhat disconnected and/or ambivalence to life and where I'm going. If I think back to the most exciting and happiest moments of my life are when I was taking things as they came and choosing in the moment. Having to some degree a faith in the best outcome, now I seem to be projecting into the future that I can see from the behaviour of people around me and humanities activities at large. Once again, I take on too much, I can't be responsible for humanity only myself. Its easy to say, hard not to project or force it on others.

I look forward to being more in the moment. The fresh air of this second rest day creeping in from the open deck door is already reminding me to be here and now. The rest is yet to come.

The return to the Red.

The return to the red after a year away has so far been eventful. This year I didn't have swine flu and wasn't traveling for the three weeks prior to arriving so I should be in much better shape for being able to do well. With that comes the extra baggage of expectations. As much as I've tried to avoid creating them they have found their way into the side door. I hope i can manage them appropriately, since i know this place is one of the hardest climbing destinations to prepare for.

There have been a few hiccups so far. We got a crazy taxi driver from Jordan who pulled a classic move of "making a wrong turn then playing stupid to make sure our fare about another 10% more. It was a bit annoying and I hate to profile but I have seen these tricks before in my travels.

So we picked up the car then went over to the airport on Sunday to pick up Pete's bag which arrived at 11 AM. We then change and repacks some bags for climbing at the airport and met Luke, MF and James at Miguel's. I saw the horse race track in the trip and thought of you.

Picture: Leo and I keeping each other warm at the Undertow wall.

We met up then headed to the Drive-By crag with a cool cat named Matt from Portland whom I had met last year at Chek while working on Face the Music. Once at the crag, I found that I had forgotten my harness .... in my other pack and so it wasn't at the crag. So Evan, James and I spent the day trading off harnesses so that i could climb. I warmed up repeating a 10d, then an 11a and an 11c from last year. I finished up the day attempting a 12a called Prima Noctum. I'm feeling much stronger than last year but still realized that the steep climbs intimidate me. I was also pretty tired from the traveling so didn't push too hard. Evan managed to do the same routes I did but attempted the first 12a that I did then tried another one called Check Your Grip which I want to do.

Picture: Luke Zimmerman on Kaleidoscope

James made an attempt on Beer Belly, 13a and made good progress so it looks like we'll be going back there again soon.

Picture: James on Beer Belly, 13a.

Picture: Pete, Luke and James at Drive-By Crag.

I slept light, waking up to the sound of the showers several time and my weekday wake up call. The jet lag was a bit of pain as we are 3 hours ahead. I woke up feeling fairly good at 9 AM.

We all at and headed out to the Motherlode in two separate cars; James, Evan and I in one, MF and Pete in the other. On the drive I noticed that the air pressure low light was on so I checked the car when we arrived. The front left tire was a bit low. So I made a mental note to fill it up when we left. After warming up on a couple 11a and 11b's we went over to the Madness to cave to show Evan but decided that the holds were too humid and moist to climb there so we headed out the go to where MF and Pete had decided to go after coming to the same conclusion.

When we hiked back out we jump into the car and I drove over. After arriving at the parking lot for the new crag I rechecked the tire and found we could hear the air leaking from it and it was super low. I sent Evan and James on their way and drove out to deal with the tire. I filled it at a nearby gas station then drove back to the dirt road that goes into the the climbing area's. Finding a puddle i rolled the tire through the puddle and checked for bubble to find the leak. It seems we had driven over a screw. The leak didn't seem too fast so I drove back into and joined the guys at the new crag.

Evan and James had only managed one 12b in my absences so I was able to join back in with the circuit. I started with the STEEPEST 10d I have ever been on; the name, Girls Gone Wild, Wooo! I nearly pumped out a couple times but managed to pull through from shear stubbornness and some good technique to recover after I made a hard move or two. It was nice to get through an onsite this year which I'm sure I would have fallen off of last year.

I followed up with the steepest 11c I have ever been on. It was a lot of fun but I elected not to attempt to red point it and instead try another 11c in the area. After top roping the second 11c, I was done for the day. Evan was getting beaten up on pretty bad, having to hang dog his way up the 11c that I top roped. He finish the day by doing the 10d I put up initially. He was pretty bagged and so had to go bolt to bolt at the top.

At this crag we met a guy you and I saw in Red Rocks at xmas two years ago; Don Walsh. He is a fairly prominent climbing in his time. He put a famous 13c called Sissy Traverse at the Gallery in Red Rocks. It was fun to chat with him, he was a very humble fellow and offered some great advice.

We packed up and headed home. The car tire only a little bit less full than when I had returned. So we are leaving it over night and will fill it with air tomorrow an get it fixed.

Frustrations and the Steep (Solarium, Midnight Surf, Military Wall and Left Flank)

As a change of pace we headed to the Muir Valley to check out the Solarium and Midnight surf. The day was looking a little colder so the morning in the Solarium enjoying the sun would be a great place to warm up.

The hike in was wonderful. A thanks is in order to Liz and Rick Weber who own the property on which Muir Valley sites. They generously provide access to this valley as a climbing spot and hiking area. I want to thank them for access and the facilities they put in place for the public. They have provided washrooms and a parking lot on the property for everyone to access.

The valley itself if beautiful you start by hiking down a gravel road for about 15-20 minutes at which point you arrive at the valley floor and cross a small river. The valley floor is grassy and we walk across it for a few minutes then start up a earthen path that tracks the valley floor for another 5 minutes before turning left up a path that wound its way up to a steeply overhanging cliff: The Solarium.

James and I warmed up on the five star 5.11a, I went first hoping to onsight. The first moves were nearly vertical. As I climbed higher the route progressively got steeper as you move up a series of horizontal breaks to a final roof that pulls out to a small ledge on a head wall above the roof. It was just below this edge that I finally pumped out trying to get over the final and fell off.

I finished the route then lowered and went up again to get the tick. Even the second time up I still pumped out at the last ramp and I had wrap both my arms over the final ledge to catch some rest so that I could de-pump. It work but I was till pretty gunned. I wait for my heart rate to drop before moving up to clip the anchor and clean it.

After I getting down I felt heavy and that I might have gotten a bit of flash pump so after James onsighted Banshee, an awesome five star overhanging 5.11c at the end of the crag. The belay position was a bit tricky as it was at the top of a ledge maybe 4 meters up. The belay was excellent as you had a pair of belay bolts and and directional bolt for belaying.

The route starts up a right trending diagonal arete to a break then up and right on jugs to a hueco in which you can climb into for a no hands rest. The next series moves out onto the face for about 4-5 meters of jug to a pair of huecos the first of which is small but the second is large enough to comfortably get into and sit down. I think someone put up a chalk drawing waiting around inside before moving through the final face climb moves to at he anchor. The journey takes you a full 35 meters of climbing.

On my attempt I fell of moving to the second big hueco because I misread the route going up instead of traversing across. I was frustrated because it was the second time that day that I felt I should have on-sighted but ended up coming off. I went down rested up for a while clearing my pump and tried to find a way to deal with my frustration. Luke suggested I throw a wobbler and just let it out. I didn't feel involving others in my frustrations that I have inside me with the world so I opted for trying to break down my expectations and detach from the out come. The change was significant though I would start experiencing it till a day later.

I got back on Banshee, climbing through the first crux, resting in the small hueco before setting out to the next hueco and the red point crux to pulling through the lower hueco which doesn't have the best holds up into the big hueco you can climb inside by pulling on a nice finger lock. I felt calm and collected and just enjoying the climbing instead of worrying about the out come. After resting I climbed on the most amazing hand jugs in breaks in the rock that would appear every 6 feet till you reach the anchors. I was happy with the it on the second go. Feling a bit physically drained I decide to not climb the rest of the day and save my energy for climbing at Military Wall and Left Flank. I would want to make a few good attempts at Wild Yet Tasty, the 12a I decided to project at the previous visit to this crag.

James, Luke and Pete continued climbing at Midnight surf. This crag was amazing and different, the wall starts vertical for the first 6-9 meters at which point it kicks back sharply getting progressively steeper as you move higher on the wall. The wall reaches an angle somewhere around 30-40 degrees till if backs off to near vertical at around 28-30 meters off the ground.

Pete dispatched Shiva, 13b. While Luke nailed Tapeworm, 12d. Both James and Luke started working the outrageously steep Cell Block Six, a five star 12c denied by the long, powerful reaches between jugs.

The day completed with everyone's fun card punched we make the hike up the steep gravel road to return to the car and home.

The sun was shining for our day at Military Wall and Left Flank. We started at Military to enjoy the morning sun as it was colder than previous days. James and I warmed up on the openning 10's. The only one of note was the so rated 5 star 10c called In The Light. The climb was short and stout with fairly hard moves off the ground and continuing on right ot the end. There is a ledge part way up that provides a bit of reprieve from the pump but only for a few moments. The real sting comes at the top where the clipping position is quite challenging and pumpy, the style seems to be come here. In either event, I missed the clip on the anchors first time then pumped out and grabbed the chains and clipped.

Thankfully, I was focused on trying to enjoy the climbing so mach as collect another climb and having to get the ascent. As a result, I didn't beat myself up for the rest of the day and as my next climb flashed the classic 11b (11d?), Fuzzy Undercling. The crux is right on you off the ground (read stick clip suggested) and through the move following the first bolt. They route the steers up and right up underclings and jug on a good position at the arete. I caught a knee bar (thank you James for the beta) and then finished up on the good jugs to pull over the last bulge to clip the anchors. Thanks to the beta and encouragement of Pete, Luke and James while on route I'm sure I wouldn't have made the onsight.

In short order we headed over to Left Flank, shortly after arriving we were joined by my friend Bryant. Bryant and I met in South Africa on my previous trip climbing trip but now lives in Cincinnati doing graduate studies in Environmental Engineering.

I spent the rest of the day throwing myself at Wild, Yet Tasty. Figuring out what techniques I could use on a cruxy long move after the last bolt on the route. I also found a few suggestions for how to clip the crux bolt and change how I would do the crux throw to a three finger pocket. I was enjoying he process and by end of day I had the climb down to a single hang and was able to climb from the crux move to the chains. I have my fingers crossed that I will get another chance but I'm okay with leaving this as an open project for the next time I get to come to the Red.

James and Luke both onsited the five star 12b, Sex Farm. Pete managed to pick up a project in Stunning the Hog, 12d. Bryant got on Wild, Yet Tasty and on possibly the best 12b in the Red, Mercy, the Huff.

Everyone seemed to be happy with the day and we retired while it was still light.

I'm going to publish this now but check back in a few days and I will have some pictures embedded as well.

Zimmerman is here bringing the Psych!

Our double rest day was mostly uneventful, trips into Stanton for food a little jogging. It did at times feel like we were waiting around for Luke to Show up. Friday night we drove into Lexington in the early evening to catch the Canucks game at one of the local sport bars. I would feel like I didn't really get to see Kentucky without a bit of mingling with the locals.

The sports bar we researched as the place to watch the game didn't have it but they made some phone calls for us to track down a bar that did. Soon we found ourselves at a sports bar that definitely looked like the local college hang out. Brightly lite, lots of LCD and TV screens, bar and lots of younger looking people milling around, horrendously greasy menu with items replete with meat. I usually make it a rule to avoid seafood in land-locked states and provinces but I made the exception as the alternative didn't look too good at this pub.

By the time the game was done we headed over to the Airport picked up Luke and headed back to our cabin at Lil' Abner's in Slade.

We used the same introduction technique as we had been given to the Red for look. First day was Drive-By crag. Pete and Luke warmed up together while James and I once again teamed up.

James and I warmed up repeating Make A Wish and Breakfast Burrito. Follows closely by on-sighting Yadda Yadda Yadda, a three and a half star 11b. This climb was awesome, fun moves up an arete to a fun barn door tension move to a great pocket then continued good holds on steep terrain on the arete to a finish. My only complaint about the route was that it was so much fun it was over too quick.

I decided to red point Spirit Fingers, 5.11c, which I had started working on the second day we climb at Drive-By. The previous attempts had me stumped on how to clip the second to last draw. I moved up through the on the nice plates and side-pull jugs. I felt much more comfortable on the steep terrain, almost like a climbing. This time I made it to my intended clipping positions but while I had ample strength available I was only able to get the clip into the bolt. I climbed up to the next set of holds hoping to get a better position to clip from but it was to no avail, I pumped out grabbed the draw and dumped the rope in.

While sitting on the rope I worked out that my stance I had for the first time attempt on the route was the correct place to clip. With this new beta I climbed to the crux clip, made it and moved quickly up through the rest of the crimpy crux to the romp up jugs at the top. An amazing route and my first 11c at the red. I was happy with the ascent as the style is definitely not my strong point.

I rounded the the day retrieving the draws from Hakuna Matata, 12a which James had ticked earlier that day.

Draws down we packed up and headed back to the cabin.

For Luke's second day out a the Red we introduced him to the Motherlode. We got up and out the door at our regular time getting us to the Warm Up wall at the Lode at around 9:30 AM.

Injured Reserve, the 5.11a warm up, had a group on it so Pete graciously offered to climb the adjacent 5.11c with the camera to take pictures of us climb from the top on this sunny morning. I still hadn't red pointed Injured Reserve, so I headed up first to hang the draws. I climbed up the crux feeling really heavy. I force myself not to think of the lactic acid building up in my forearms causing my hands to get weaker with each move. I kicked my right foot up high, weighted it, release my right hand and move to side pull pinch. Latching it but my strength failing I rocked my hips up and over my right foot and rolled my shoulder up underneath to the get my left hand on the jugs above. After several shakes and more jugs I clipped the anchor with only a minor flash pump.

A day at Left Flank and the Gallery

Our next outing on the rock was for a bit of new material. We headed over to Left Flank for a day of fun climbing with some different rock. It was MF's last day at the Red and she really only had a half day as she was flying out of Lexington in the afternoon.

We arrive at the base of the cliff around 9:45 AM. James and I split off and warmed up on a reachy 10a called To Defy the Laws of Tradition. While MF and Pete did Maypop, a three star 5.11a with a bouldery start to some vertical crimping and these really amazing tubes of what appears to be iron ore mixed in with the sandstone. James and I both did Maypop as our second warm up then headed over the the end of the crag where Pete was trying Table of Colors, 13a.

I was still feeling like I wanted to do some more on-sight climbing so I move to a nearby 11b four star slab climbed called Hen-ry. I managed the on-sight after a few attempts at different sequences at the crux. James followed making quick work of it.

I stopped for lunch and watched Pete and MF climb a little while longer working out the moves on Table of Colors. I was eyeing up Mercy, the Huff, but still didn't feel up to a Red 12b. I instead decided to do the four star 12a on the far right called Wild, Yet Tasty. I was glad as this proved to be the most fun 12a I had been on so far at the Red.

The crux was so fun, the opening sequence goes up a corner crack to a stem rest (though you don't need it too much) then you move out right on good holds to where the wall kicks back to a 20 degree overhand and you start up on good pockets to a side pull pinch in a Hueco. I set my feet up high then go high right to a crimp above the hueco, match my left then move out to a good pocket for the right hand, clip off a heal hook in the hueco. The crux sequence moves your left hand into a iron ore tube that eats your whole hand. Step on to a bulge, move to a reasonable crimp for your right. Reset the feet on the crimps rock up onto my left foot, look off my right hand and then make a HUGE reach to a good ledge. A few more big moves and the rest of the climb was hauling on jugs.

I tried this route three time that day but just didn't have the energy and on an earlier attempt manage to tear up my finger throwing to a pocked and falling short. James seemed to be having a harder time than me, he was climbing The Dinosaur a 12c with a really small crimp down low for the crux. He seem to have a frustrating time as he was able to pull through the crux sequence on his first go but couldn't repeat the move after.

The story for the day was Pete who pulled it together for a his fourth go of the day he made an ascent of Table of Colors, 13a. A truly inspiring experience.

Our next day we headed to a new climbing area called The Gallery, near the Sore Heal parking area. We started the day off with a route that was not in the guide book. After we all climbed it we figured a grade of 5.10a. It was a fun route with a few long moves and some fun pulls (see pictures below)

Picture: Chris Singer on first section of Unknown, 5.10a.
























Picture: Chris Singer on first section of Unknown, 5.10a.

We followed up with a five star 11b called Random Precision. The route was worth ever star. It started with a technical problem with a few balancey moves to the first bolt. A few moves up to a ledge then a bigger move to a hueco. Edges and pockets get you to a great position on the arete to finish up with a great position. So much fun.

Picture: Belayer, Pete Lindgren; Climber, Chris Singer; on Random Precision, 5.11b

James then proceeded onsight Goldrush, a four star overhanging jug haul at 5.11d. James showed outstanding endurance ( though he denies it) working out the crux to finish up clipping the chain.

I followed up with an attempt on this amazing route but after the opening moves I was going to pump out fast, clearly I was still not on the Red endurance program. I managed to dog my way to the top. What an amazing route, pull out through a roof on great holds then out onto a steep face where you make move after move on huge holds. The crux comes at the top where the route kicks back at a major break in the rock then a couple crimps, high-step, rock up and lock off to the next ledge. I think the start is the only reason this doesn't get five stars. Great route that I'm definitely going to enjoy working on.
























Picture: James Fillman on first section of Goldrush, 5.11d.

After the beating I took on Goldrush, I realized that I was running on empty. I caught myself spacing out on a rock a few times while James and Pete worked on Calm Like a Bomb, 13b and Break In The Scene, 12b. I decided to take a nap which didn't take too long to make happen despite the slightly lower temperatures for the day. I woke up a bit more refreshed but thankful that we were going into a rest day.

James got his ascent of Break In The Scene, on this third attempt. Pete provided comedy relief on his ascent of Calm Like a Bomb, writing in chalk "WEAK" at the no hands rest just before the final sequence. It was nice to see both of them get good ascents on the day. Tomorrow is our first double rest day which we are taking so that our climbing days align with the arrival of our last trip member: Luke Zimmerman.

First two days at the Motherlode!

The next couple on days we decided the Motherlode was the place to be to get in better shape. Good call one would think since is wicked steep with (mostly) bigger holds. We started off at the so called Warm Up wall which has an 11a, 11b, and 11c all clustered together. My friend Evan taught me about a concept called "closest grade complement" which basically means that if you are at a wall where there is a couple 5.11s and everything else is 5.12 or harder chances are that the 5.11s are going to be HARD.

The warm up wall was no surprise that they had some nice tough cruxes. I wouldn't saw the grades were unfair but they are hard for the grade. Since the 11a was busy we worked on the 11b, Trust In Jesus. It took me 3 goes to get the ascent and the third attempt was touch and go as the crux is making a tough left hand Gaston to move up to a crimp then back onto good holds again. The route was not considered steep, a paltry 10 degrees overhanging. After the guys patiently let me work this route we all headed to the Undertow wall.

James set about working a 12c call Resurrection, while I headed around the corner to work on a vertical 11a called Snapper. Two goes later and I had done this. The guys ribbed me for picking to do a vertical climb when there was some of the best overhanging lines in the world just around the corner but I figure at this point I should play into my strength and work back into it instead of climbing at my limit in a style that is my weakness. Though I did make one attempt (bolt to bolt) on a 12a called Kick Me In The Jimmie. The holds were huge but the climb felt impossible especially for the last climb of the day.

Pete had a good day, getting the ascent on Pushing Up Daisies, 13b. While James worked out the beta on Resurrection.

The second day we return to the Warm Up wall. This time we got their earlier and the wall was free. We hopped on Injured Reserve, 11a. James made the first attempt on this tricky climb. He made it to the crux and tried working it out for a while eventually building up a good pump and taking the fall. I was up next and wanting to try to onsight it I climbed to the crux as well and couldn't figure it out falling off. Pete offered up the critical beta to move through, a high left hand crimp to a high step then a big move to a jug.

As we took our turns warming up on the Injured Reserve some locals showed up. One a character I had met on the first day. I believe his name is Jeff but I've heard him more often called "Ash Tray" than his real name. He was a professor at one of the colleges here in computer engineering. So needless to say we had a lot to talk about. He was climbing with Chris Snyder, whom I was later to learn, was the person who found the Motherlode. All in all my encounters with the locals have been very interesting, they don't fit the stereotype of the over-all wearing red necks. Though the beer swilling did come out from time to time.
Since we had been monopolizing the warm up routes, when Chris asked to warm up, I pass on my turn to let them climb through.

My second attempt wasn't much better than the first as I missed the throw to the good hold after the high step. I didn't want to hold up the team as I had done yesterday trying to red point an 11a that I was sure we would be back on in the future. We packed up and move on to the Undertow Wall.

James worked Resurrection, again, getting pretty close with only one fall. Just a matter of time before he ticks this fine route.

Pete and MF went to GMC wall to work 8 Ball, 12d and Snooker, 13a. By the end of the day Pete had ticked 8 Ball.

I spent the day working on Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 12a, top roping the route twice and leading it once (well maybe I should say aiding it since i was grabbing draws left right and center). Tired we packed up and headed in to a rest day.

I had time to reflect on my rest day as to the nature of the climbs here and the ethics the people making route here have. Seems the ethics here are to make sure all the lines a really good, well spaced and of high quality (at least where we have been).

There seems to be a nearly endless supply of amazing crags that haven't been bolted. Rock that would be gridded up in a year if it were in Squamish but they either haven't gotten to or don't feel its deserving of attention (yet). Also I have never been to a place with so much variety, from good cracks, to off-widths (for my friend Paul Campbell), to technical face climbs, to overhanging jug hauls that don't end.

The routes are long and pretty heady with the spaced out bolts at the top on the overhanging climbing. I've routinely seen 40 ft whippers in the Motherlode, but in their defense they only occur up high and only on the overhanging routes. Since I haven't been climbing routes and am wildly out of shape this has resulted in grabbing quick draws to clip on more than one occasion so I could work a hard section.

Enjoying the rest day and look forward to some new crags when we return to climbing. Next crags up are Left Flank and The Gallery; does every climbing spot have crag with this name?

First days in the Red

It been over a year since I've logged anything to the travel blog but hey, times have been busy and I haven't been on any climbing trips that have been long enough or had internet access to blog. That has changed with my arrival in Kentucky for my first trip to the Red River Gorge or as most climbers call it, the Red.

The time leading up to this trip was pretty intense and put me in a position for being the weakest in my climbing ever. The month of October leading up to the trip saw me go to California for work spending a little over a week down there and working (including travel time) over 75 hours. It was a successful work trip but not a lot of climbing.

I return to Vancouver hoping to squeak in some last minute training in the gym but that was all for naught as I came down with Swine Flu on the Monday was a bed ridden for the entire week with a fever, lack of appetite, shallow breathing etc... I haven't been that sick in 15 years. It was a challenge to get well enough to make the trip to Kentucky on the Saturday morning. Thanks to the support and care of my girlfriend Angela and my roommates Hazel and Mike I was able to bounce back in time to make the trip.

I took the advice of my Boss who suggested I take it easy for the first couple days and so I enjoyed watching Pete and James climbing for the first day out at the motherload. I am amazed at how the rock has formed in this place. It is so steep the Undertow wall is 35 degrees overhanging and it only gets steeper as you move to climbers left to probably closer to a sustained 50 degree overhang. Rodellar was steep but in a far different way than this sandstone. The holds and the feet are much different causing you to hang on more on your arms. In Rodellar Spain for some reason (at least the routes I climbed) you could get your feet underneath you in such a way that you could take the weight off you arms by twisting to get your hips up to the wall. Here the feet force you to climb more head on as the feet are not nearly as wide in stance and as a result you hang on you hands and arms a lot more.

I had been warned that the Red would be a whole new experience and I should control my expectations on what I could climb. After watching James struggle with climbs as easy as 11- I knew I was in for it. I also had to manage my expectations as I was still weak and even experiencing dizzy spells.

For my first day on the rock Pete, James and I went to Drive-by crag. This was just past the Motherload down a gas and logging service road. The weather had turned a bit cold and we showed up slightly later to let me catch a bit of sleep in time.

The crag was busy with lots of people climbing on the easier "warm-up" climbs all day. I did my first climb at the Red onsight. It was an amazingly fun 10a called Make A Wish. The climb moved up through the rough overhanging sandstone to a mid-height ledge where I caught a rest before finishing off the pumpy upper half of the climb.

For my second climb I did what I will now call my favorite 10c climb: Breakfast Burrito. This amazing climb is slightly overhanging moving through long reaches between good holds to a no hands rest. I recovered fully then moved up and left out of a huge alcove onto an overhanging arete to finish off. The position on this climb is amazing as you pull out onto the overhanging arete you have nothing but air beneath you and the clips are well spaced to give you a sense adventure. I haven't seen a position like this on any other climb at this grade. Amazing! I'll admit, the blood rushed through my forearms on this climb and I worked hard to hang on to the finish.

My next climb of the day was a 10d called Fire and Brimstone. This climb earned its name as I struggled up the steep arete. Even catching a no-hands rest by wrapping my leg around a flake and putting in a heal-toe cam. The route spit me off at a difficult clip in the crux which I was almost too pumped out to clip. This was just before a sit down rest which lead to technical climbing up a crack to finish.

I rounded out the day with an epic battle on Slick and the 9mm at 10b. The route moved up through some fun crack to a roof crux in which I got trapped hunting for a clipping hold. Feeling the lactic acid building in my forearms I knew I couldn't hold on long. Hunting around wildly as my hands began opening I found a good in-cut crimp for my left hand. I was able to clip and move up and establish myself on the vertical section above the roof.

After this I tapped out feeling tired from my first day of pumping climbing at the Red.

The next day was a rest day so we all packed up and headed in to Lexington for stocking the house for food and alcohol.

Tuesday we were back at it again, back to Drive-By crag to resolve some unfinished projects. I warmed up on Make A Wish and then followed up by doing Fire and Brimstone with relative ease. For the third climb of the day I on-sited possibly one of the best 11a's I've ever climbed: Whip Stocking. This climb moves up through a series of steep jugs and flakes. I was clearly not in shape for the climb but managed to pull through by finding 4 knee bars and one no hands rest just before the final roof before the anchors.

Pete offered to hang the draws on the four star 11c, Spirit Fingers. I was feeling good and eager to get on some harder routes. Harder it was, the crux moves up through a steep overhanging section to a hard clip and then two more hard moves off smaller crimps while you are tired to get back onto huge holds and a run-out to the anchor. I made two attempts on this route grabbing the draws in a few occasions (my head was not prepared for the big run-out at the tops of most of the steep routes in the Red).

James continued to work on a 12a called Primus Noctum, which he did. The tick of the day went to Pete who did Dirty Smelly Hippie, a proud 13b that climbs out of a massive 40 degree roof for a full 28 meters. Since we were all a little roughed up from the physical aspects of the climbs and Pete had split his finger we decided to take the following day off to recover.

Our next days on would be at the Motherlode, and we would need ever ounce of skin and strength for the 35-50 degree overhangs that go for 20-35 meters.

Siurana - 9 Days of Climbing with James and Evan

Reunited with Evan and James after a big of baggage drama. The carrier from Paris to Barcelona lost Evan's bag. So we spent a day enjoying some Gaudi architecture and the Rambla.
By the afternoon we had received a phone call from the airline and Evan's bag was found.

We picked it up the following morning and set out from Barcelona destined for Siurana. The trip was not too long only about 4 hours but we did have to make a few pit stops along the way to pick up a map as the direction we got from Google maps were a bit confusing.

We got into Siurana with enough time to climb so I bought the guide book and ask Antonio which was the best crag to hit up for the grades we were looking for. After a bit of discussion we settled on of the crags that was nearby. It was only a little over a 1km but we decided to drive.

It wasn't long before we discovered that the trail marking and the maps in the guidebook were woefully inadequate. The scale was off, trail are not marked. After an hour or so of wondering we ended up finding a new sector but no the place we wanted.

Instead of carrying on trying to find the place we headed back to town to resupply and get a fresh start on the next day.

The following day headed to the opposite side of Siurana. Again we stumbled around looking for trails looking for sectors. We were looking for specific sectors that were out of the sun and had the grade range we wanted to climb. Eventually we gave up on the idea of finding a shady sector and braved the sun at sector Espero Primavera (36).

After warming up on a couple 6bs we were joined by Sarah who had a bit of disagreement with her partner on areas to climb so they had gone separate ways for the day. We now had even numbers of people. We all packed up and headed over to sector Siuranella North (34) which was now in the shade. Evan and James continued to climb strong while I Sarah and I teamed up to tick a few more 6cs.

Well alas, its been a little over a year since I start this post and so the memories have faded.

Of our time in Siurana I can say the best party was going to an out door party in the bush with Sarah where they had a DJ setup and the DJ let me bring my hard disk and play till 6 AM. The experience was amazing, and I got to enjoy playing some music for the first time on the trip.

Other memorable moments was my second 12a right next to the tower.

All in all a great trip. After Siurana we headed south for the DWS festival in Benidorm.

Ceuse - Best Crag in the world

The train ride to Apt, the closest town to Ceuse was uneventful. I had a two hour stop over in Grenoble so I was able to have a look at the area where Scheinder electric. I found myself in the Apt train station at 5:00 PM.

I decided to look for a grocery store to buy food and an internet café to get direction for Les Guerins where he camping was. I wondered up and down the main street in Apt with my two packs on, one in the front and one on the back, as well as carrying a bit of food and my laptop bag. The total weight for all my gear would easily tip the scales at 40kg. So when I step into a break in the sidewalk because I couldn’t see it over my backpack I went down hard.

This was a rather humorous moment for me. I think this was the first time I had fallen on my face in my adult life. Quite an experience having feeling of wounded pride; I could only laugh as I felt the warm trickle of blood start to run down my leg. I gather myself up and move on walking past a French girl waiting at a bus stop laughing at me. It must have be a comical scene watching me tumble to the ground.

Alas I gave up on the idea of finding internet access and feeling hungry and a bit beat up I decided to get a taxi to the camp ground. After a brief negotiation I got the drive down from 50 euro to 35 and we headed to the campground. I was taken aback by how beautiful this place was. The campground was relaxed and the cliff face seems like a warm guarding presence looking down on us in the campground below.

Picture: Panorama of Ceuse from the campground. That cliff band is as high as 100m.

I setup my camp and had something to eat.

The next morning while I was cleaning up in the bathroom I ran into Audrey. Apparently both her and Adrian were staying there for the next couple of days. Audrey and I decided to climb together up at Cascade sector and Adrian went out to take pictures for the Guidebook.

The infamous hike to the top of Ceuse was at hand. Audrey set the pace and lead the way up since she had done it a few times. A gentle breeze kept the hike from being unbearably hot as we hiked through the heat of the day. By 1:30 we had arrived at Cascade the hike not being nearly as bad as advertised. The hike up was made easier by chatting with Audrey and being distracted by the gliders that would routinely buzz the cliff face overhead. The glider really are a surreal experience because they make the same sound that the Cyclone Raiders do in Battle Star Galactica.

Picture: Cascade Sector profile as seen from Medecine Douce.

We accidentally warmed up on a 6c that was a bit of the shock to the system since we both thought it was the 6b. The climbing was slow going and steep in the blistering heat. I think it was around 31 degrees. That night I stashed the rope at the top and left my draws in Medicine Douce a 6c+ that I was projecting while Audrey left her draws in Hyper Mickey 7c.

That night I spent hanging out with the Germans that I had met the night before when I had arrived. We just hung out around some candles they had brought and drank wine. Now here is something that left me longing for home: the lack of camp fires at the campground. That is definitely one of those treats we have in North America and specifically Canada – the luxury of having a camp fire; small things that mean a lot.

The next days Audrey and I headed back up while Adrian set out again to get photos for the guide. After a couple 6b and 6c warm ups to the wall left of Cascade I took a burn on Medicine Douce. It was a good burning making it all the way to the crux before pumping out and falling. Audrey had picked off Hyper Mickey and so we took a break in the shade to hide from the sun.

Picture: Me just before the crux of Medicine Douce, 6c+ at Cascade Sector.

I took one more burn on Medicine Douce later that day falling at the first crux and decided to take out my quick draws in favour of using my last couple days for climbing at other sectors. Adrian had rejoined us so we went over to some other sectors to climb the classics at other walls.

Audrey put up Zegreb, the classic 6c. I took a spin on it despite feeling tired to start. I fell off below the crux, catching my left foot on the fall on a hold re-sprained my ankle. The sprain wasn’t nearly as bad as last time, more of tweak this time but it hurt none the less so I called it day. I took a nice hike up the wall towards the Demi Lune sector passing under Biography wall where Realization is. I looked the route but to be honest it wasn’t as inspiring as I would have though it because of the way the cliff falls away below it you don’t get to appreciate the steepness or difficulty of the 5.15a climb.

Picture: Panorama of Biography sector, Ceuse.

Later on down the wall I stopped to sit under a beautiful overhang where hundreds of sparrows were swooping towards the cliff roof trying to find a place to rest for the night. They would fly right up to a pocket and then hover right at the edge, sometimes they would land, sometimes they would fall away if the pocket was already filled with sparrows. Sometimes they would spook and several would take off and the group would fly a few meters from the cliff only to turn and come back to find a place to sleep. It was a wonderful experience to just appreciate their dance for a moment and see the beauty in their existence.

When I returned to where we were climbing earlier that day I found Audrey and Adrian had already packed up and headed down the hill. I got my pack and walked down. Had dinner with Audrey and Adrian during the last night there then caught a ride into Apt with them the following day to catch up on emailing and coordinating plans with Evan and James.

I have to say hitch hiking in France is pretty nice, I had no trouble. Of the 20km trip to the campsite I only had to walk for 200m and wait no longer than 10 minutes. Definitely feel appreciative to the generosity of my French.

The following day I climbed with one of the Australian guys from New Leyland. He had been sick for the past couple of days and wasn’t looking to climb hard. My ankle was still sore and I was looking to test is gently to see how it was doing. We headed up to Demi Lune and the first 6b we got on was technical but I was able to hold on and get the onsight but I felt very uncertain of my ankle as rocking over on it was causing some pain. Still not warm I followed up with a 6b slab climb thinking it was a 6a. I made it all the way up to the top and found myself at a tenuous crux where I had to rock over my left food on a flow stone scoop. This move proved to be very painful for my ankle not to mention scary as I didn’t want to fall off and land on the slab below and possibly aggravating my already injured ankle. I pulled through after falling off once but resolved to avoid slabby climbs because I couldn’t compensate for my injured ankle with my arms and was more likely to further injure it if I fell of.

To round out the day I headed up Chant De Cristal at 6b+ which I onsighted easily – I hit the crux sequence properly which makes it feel easy and them moved on to the 6c extension that pulls the steep roof above on large holds. I feel off after the first bolt and then dog my way to the last bold on a huge 4 meter run out. I called it a day after this since I my nerves were fried for the day. Since my ankle was bothering me so much I decided to pack up my things and head out for Pierre Longue and visiting Christian and Gabriel my friends whom I had met there earlier in the trip.

Christian picked me up from the train station in Orange and we headed immediately to close family friends of his up in Beauvoisine for a BBQ with his brother’s family and family friends. It was a great night catching up with Gabriel and Christian and eating some fresh BBQ lamb from their farm as well as sausage, cheese and vegetables. It was really unique to experience another family meal in another country of the world.

The following day we spent lounging around at the river and in the kiddy pool with Gabriel, Christian and their children Salomi and Camie. Gabriel and I made inukshuk at from the rock in the river.


The next day Christian and I hiked up to the top of the mountain between Pierre Longue and Mount Ventoux to get some exercise as our last day together. We had tons of fun and I enjoyed the view from the top looking down at the places where I had climbed and lived for 3 months at the start of the year.

The following day Christian and Gabriel dropped me off at the train station in Orange and spent traveling to Barcelona on the train.

Switzerland - I love the mountains.

Picture: View from Chalet Martin where I stayed in Gryon

My first day in the Swiss alps necessitated some very important things. the first of which was the needed to get some Swiss Francs. It seems that I am a bit naive and figured that Switzerland had adopted the the Euro like many of the EU countries. The second was getting food as I was without.

Since I had now Swiss money as of yet I couldn't take the tram/train up the hill to the village of Villar. Instead, I hiked in the 5km with my laptop to add surfing the next to my list of things I wanted to do.

Picture: Swiss Village of Villar.

The hike was long and uneventful. I got on the net and bought food for the week. I took the tram ride back and spent the rest of the day gorging myself on the food. The next day it rained so I spent most of the day sleeping in and relaxing with the people at the hostel. It was a terrible shame since this was the only day that Matt had available to go climbing. Matt did tell me about some boulder fields up near Solalex, a 5 km hike up the hill.

The next day the sun had returned so I grabbed Matts crash pad and my shoes and head up to Solalex. The hike was mostly off the road. I arrived at Solalex after about 1.5 hours. The hike brought me in front of the Mirroir D’Argent – a 500m high sport climbing wall. The routes up this wall were many and varied from 16 pitch 5.10a to 5.11d. The boulder fields were made from the rock that was shed from mountain top.

Picture: Miroir D'Argent - 500m of limestone!

The bouldering was fun despite the stinging nettles that were growing around the base of the boulders. The problems were conveniently developed with little white arrows painted at their base to indicate the start. It took several goes to work out the problems. I ticked off most of the problem in the area with the exception of a dyno problem that pulled off a sit start and two pockets to in-cut flake nearly full arm span away. After 3 hours of bouldering I was spent and the light was slipping away so I headed back down the road.

Picture: Boulder Field at the base of the Miroir D'Argent near Solalex.

The night had fallen when I wander back into the Chalet Martin to find Matt and everyone at the hostel drinking Mojitos. Matt said we could catch a half day of climbing the following morning as he didn’t have any contracting. I put back a few Mojitos before returning for the night just a touch wobbly.



The next morning I was up and ready to go by 9 AM when Matt returned from his bike ride. We pilled into his Van and headed to a crag on the other side of the valley called Sex Du Corbeau. We warmed up on some easier routes before turning up the challenge on a slightly wet 6c and then a really nice 7a. I fell off both but had a good time. We started packing up to leave when four English climber showed up and offered to let me join them and give me a ride back to the train station in Bex so I could get back.

Their names were Jon, Jon, Bruce and Susan. Two of them were climbers from Geneve who worked for CERN so we instantly had the nerd connection. We talked a bit about the particle accelerator they have there and how there is legal action currently against the installation to prevent them from completing the high energy particle accelerator as there is fear it might open a black hole that could swallow the planet. I told them about my trip and how I was debating if I should go to Ceuse or Magic Wood for bouldering next. Bruce said he had just dropped off a single climber from the US who was climbing the same grades I was roughly. So I decided that I would go to Ceuse after visiting Kevin Baumer in Lausanne.

After pulling down several more fun 6b’s I got on a beautiful overhanging 6c+ that exhausted me for the day. With the light failing we packed up and headed down to car. Because I had forgotten my wallet back in my pack at home they gave me a ride all the way back to Chalet Martin even though it was far out of the way.

That night I packed up so that I could check out and head down to Lausanne to meet up with Kevin. I hadn’t had internet access for the last couple of days so I wasn’t able to warn Kevin of the exact time of my arrival. So when I rolled into Lausanne at noon on Friday morning he wasn’t aware that I would be there. I found a internet café and spent the day there. I got a message through to Kevin and he met me at the café after work.

We went out drinking and caught up on old times. It was really fun, we did a lot of people watching that night as we moves from pub to pub. The Swiss definitely tend to keep to themselves and after a certain age doesn’t seem at all interested in forming new social bonds. I gathered this from observing them and how Kevin relayed his experience with them.

Picture: Kevin on the streets of Lausanne.

The next day we were a bit hung over so we moved very very slowly. We went out to go shopping and then walking around Lausanne in the afternoon. Kevin showed me his work and I bought camp stove fuel for when I got to Ceuse.

Kevin and I talked about books we had read recently. Mostly Kevin who has been into interesting books and he passed on 1984 and Girls of Riyadh to me for my time in Ceuse. I had no book for him with the exception of sharing what I had read so far of Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception.

The following day I was to leave for Apt France and had to be up early. I said good bye to Kevin that night. He was a generous host and it was good to catch up with my old friend.

Next stop, arguably the best climbing crag in the world.

A few days in The Neatherlands

The time in the Netherlands was fun but intense. The train ride from Berlin to Amsterdam was relatively uneventful. I had a nice Dutch couple and a mother and pair of kids from Chicago sharing my car. During the trip I was able to finish the Book on Genghis Khan that Jon has passed on to me in Portland.

Tiemen and Jochem met me at the train station in Amsterdam and we set out for Jochem’s flat where I would be staying while I was there. The walk was short and made easier by the two of them taking a backpack each (thank guys). We wound our way through the narrow streets, crossing canals as we went. Thankfully Amsterdam is a very dense city and so the walk was only about 15 minutes.

We dropped off the packs and immediately set out for a place to have dinner. We stopped at the local pub around the corner from Jochem’s to have a few Heineken first to decide what we wanted to it. We decided on a Thai restaurant across town so we had a walk ahead of us. They saw to it that we passed through the red light district and down a narrow alley of which the name I didn’t recall. I have to comments about this: it was weird to see these women in the windows and though the sex trade is no less overt on Nelson it was really strange to see it indorsed by the institutions. Then we headed through the main square apparently where the prince proposed to the queen at one time.

Picture: Tiemen and his 4-month old son Diede

The next day I woke up at noon and had to quickly get under way to meet up with Tiemen at Leiseplein square where we agreed to meet for lunch at 1. The walk was fun and the place was easy to find. Tiemen was waiting there with his 4 month old sun Diede whom I had been looking forward to meeting. Tiemen was telling me he was the Zen baby and I could see why. In the crowded square of tourists he was just laying there sleeping.

We went to Vondel Park which was close by for lunch. Vondel Park is a big park in the center of Amsterdam where much like Stanley park or Central park but perhaps a bit smaller. There is lot of grass for people to picnic on and enjoy the sun. We had a quick brunch and then went back to Tiemen’s house as he had friends coming over to meet Diede.

I got a chance to spend some time with Diede, holding him and feeding him though Tiemen took over the honours of burping him. We spent the afternoon hanging out but I had to make my way back to Jochem’s because I had his keys. The way back to Jochem’s proved to be a little more tricky than I first anticipated. I manage to get myself lost on the way. It seems that, like Victoria, Amsterdam likes to make roads that are perfect straight change names at intersections so I walked by the turn off to get to Jochem’s house since it didn’t have the same name as the road I had turned on earlier that day.

Picture: Traffic Jam on the cannels of Amsterdam.

After realizing that I had over shot the turn off I double backed and decided to take a random turn off in hopes that I might intersect the road I was looking for farther down. The gamble paid off and I found Karthusier street at the exactly the spot where the name changed. I returned to Jochem’s place to find him waiting outside with slightly warm beer. I guess I should have started out from Tiemen’s a little earlier but c’est la vie.

That night Jochem and I spent the night in playing computer games, eating pizza and watching entourage. I know it never that good reliving the past but it was just like old times when they would come to Vancouver and visit during the summers. Good times. The following morning I was supposed to get picked up by friend from Vancouver who was visiting as we were going to go out to a party near Utrecht that night but the rides were synching up so we planned to meet at Utrecht at 9:00 PM. I coordinated meeting up with another friend from home who was living in The Hague for dinner in Utrecht at 7:30 so that we would be fed before meeting Jaap at 9:00.

Jochem and I decided we would go out people watching for the day, on our excursion we though it was rather amusing to get the some tourist sunglasses that were fully chauchie so that we would be a little less flagrant. The glasses were perfect, it was great because they were so bad it was amusing to see who noticed these horrible glasses, who pretended not to, and who was in their own space and didn’t notice at all. We made our way to Vonder Park again and sat on the grass there for some more people watching.

Picture: Jochem and I with our voyeur/people watching sunglasses.

The hours slipped by quickly and before I knew it I had to rush back to Jochem’s to pick up my packs to make the train to Utrecht. A hasty goodbye and then jumped on the train. It was a really good time reconnecting with my cousins in Amsterdam. Its been far too long and next time it won’t be 4 years before I spend time with them again.

Seeing Tomas was really great. We headed out for a quick bite after wondering around downtown Utrecht and then met up with Jaap. We went over to an industrial site where friends of his had an art studio. They were having a BBQ out front and we had a chance to meet all these friends who were going to the party that night. A friend of Jaap’s whom I had met in Vancouver name Roderick was there also. They were the most generous hosts, no sooner had we arrived than we had Heineken’s in our hand and were being introduced to everyone.

Once we had arrived at the party we got our first taste of the small underground parties that happen in Holland. The place was a small clearing near a boat lunch about 45 minutes out of Utrecht. We had arrived a bit early and setup for the second stage was still underway. We found a place to park and had a walk around to see what was around.

Picture: Roderick at the party outside of Utrecht.

The music was heavy and hard: welcome to Tekno – that’s Techno with a K. The sound was something of Gabber with more techno sounds and a slight melody to it. Not my cup of tea but it was interesting to listen to something new and see what I could make of it. Unforetunately, I had left my earplugs in my other bag which was being stored at Roderick’s house so I had to do without.

The overall sense of the party was aggressive and edgy energy about it. I would say it was a reflection of the music being played or perhaps the fact that there were far more men than women there (a pattern I had noticed in Greece when I saw Dave Seamen a few years back). I don’t know if correlation is causality but it was pretty apparent. There was also a darkness about the music and what people were wearing. It was almost a punk and also some Goth look about them, that having been said they were friendly enough. I was approached by a woman named Chantelle who introduced me to many of her friends and the party organizers. She invited me to come visit Rotterdam though refused the offer as I was pretty keen to get back to climbing. Not being a huge fan of the music and not being able to dance I spent the majority of my time in Roderick’s camper van hanging out and talking with his friends whom were really awesome.

Picture: Tomas and I at the party in Utrecht. Its colder than you think there in the summer.

I can also say they go really hard as the party continued till 10 AM at which point I had long since thrown in the towel. Jaap was generous enough to give me a ride up to The Hague and drop me off at Tomas’ place. I had a shower cleaned up and unloaded my gear.

Tomas, Jen and I spent the day wondering around The Hague picking up my train Ticket reservation to Switzerland for the next day and a few bike parts. The train ticket proved to be a bit more of a challenge then I wanted since I wanted to go to Lausanne and then on to Gryon where a friend Matt whom I had met climbing in Kalymnos had a hostel but the operator said all the trains were full. So instead I book a ticket to Basel where there was climbing as well but I had no connections.

After walking around looking for a while in the overcast day we settled on an Indian Restaurant right across from Tomas and Jen’s place. No sooner had we sat down then it started raining. We ate dinner then they went home while I walked up the street to do some research on place to stay in Basel so that I wouldn’t be completely lost when I arrived there. Then we went back to watch the Astronaut Farmer, said our goodbyes before heading to be early.

The train went shockingly early leaving at 7:06 AM so I would have to be up at 6:10 AM to make the walk over with all my bags. On the train to out of Utrecht I was joined in my cabin by a Dutch man who worked for the railroad service and he explained that reservations were not necessary on many trains and also explained that even if a section is full you can always stand if necessary on the train.

I decided to go to Gryon knowing it was only a few hours that I would be standing at works to make my way there. It was really an amazing journey, I didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes at any station along the trip. As soon as I got off I would check the train board and was able to find a train heading to where I wanted to go on my route. The only mistake I made was getting on a train that indicate it stopped at Bex (my transfer point to Gryon) and then went past that stop and the following two before I was able to get off and double back on the next train. This is yet another advantage to of hanging a Eurorail pass since I would have had to pay for the train to double back to Bex if I didn’t have it.

I found my way up to Chalet Martin and met Matt at around 8:00 PM and got myself setup in the place. The sun had been shining and I had left the rains of the morning behind. The mountains were beautiful and I felt at home once more, I never realized how much I feel a part of the mountains. Now hopefully the weather will hold despite what the tram conductor told me on my journey up here.