Smith Rockin' It

Our first stop on the trip and already way too much to talk about. We've been living in our little Jelly Bean at Smith Rock State Park with a whole slew of climbing bums. Clean water, flushing toilets, pic-nic benches and best of all... a very low rent. To tell the truth we haven't spent much on anything aside from beer and food; the essentials of life.

The park is a mecca of sport climbing with ample bouldering and traditional climbing. This area is known as the birthplace of American Sport Climbing and the routes and access are proof of this. The approach to the climbing area is a minute long bike ride and then a 10 minute walk. Needless to say we have stunning cliffs right at out doorstep.

The climbing has been stellar and we are both pumped about getting stronger. Sending my first 5.12's and leading my first 5.10 miltipitch trad route gives me a huge amount of confidence for the time to come. The only issue staring us in the face is our inability to wake up early in the morning. This does, however, mean that we've been living a pretty casual life... climbing when we please and being in the company of good peeps. Lots of them... from all over the world... and generaly with a good sense of humor.

We've been kickin' it with the locals and have reaped the benefits of being outgoing I'd say. Homecooked meals, hot tubs, and capable tour guides. It seems to me that the people make the place and in the case of Smith... the place kicks ass.

We've gotten to do some pretty nutty things here... and soon enough we will have the photos to back it up.

On the back side of the park is a 250 ft spire that is split off from the main cliff. This spire is known for its profile shot; which looks like a monkey's face. There are two caves on the spire, one is the mouth and the other would be in the back on the head. We managed to set up a slackline inbetween the mouth of the monkey and the main cliff which is a 35ft span with an exposed 200ft drop below you. Regardless of the fact that the person walking it is tethered in to the reduntant line the feeling of exposure is overwhelming. The first three steps put your heart in your throat and an intesity in your eyes that I've never felt before. I managed to walk the line back and forth on two occasions without falling and bruising myself to pieces like some others. The offshoot of having the line set up was that we had constant access to the top of the Monkey's face. Meaning that with a little work we could spend a night in the monkey's head. A large cave protected from the wind by large boulders. Boulders that happened to wind up being "trundled" over the edge.

The logistics of ascending fixed lines and repelling into the cave are fairly complicated... the logistics of doing this in complete darkness are therefore a little more un-nerving. Regardless, we managed to get five people, all of our gear and most importantly a case of beer. Which, due to circumstances unforseen by Charlie and I led to the two of us killing a vast majority of the case. In the end it was one of the most comfortable sleeps of the trip and one of the most uncomfortable mornings due to the lack of lavatory. Probably the coolest things I've done in my life.

The stories go on and on. We'll update you with some photos and maybe a a post with some more thought put into it.

So far I haven't been able to wipe the smile off of my face... for oh so many reasons.

-Thomas Sloss

August 9th, 2008. Booty Call

i just got home from the most epic day of climbing. thomas and i played hooky yesterday so we could go up to whistler and climb the showcase spire. we thought that the chairlifts on blackcomb would still be open, as they usually are all summer, it turns out blackcomb mountain closed to the public on july 27. for about 2 and half hours we tried to find a way up blackcomb, we decided hiking 5,500 vertical feet before a 5.11c alpine multipitch was out of the question. on our last effort to get up the mountain before we were going to head out to pemberton to sport climb we met a blackcomb snowmachine maintenance guy who took us about 4/5 of the way to the summit of blackcomb. we had to hike then for about an hour up through snow and summer glacier conditions to reach the showcase spire, our climb de' jour. luckily we found some cord and ski poles to aid our adventure.
the base of the spire is located about 70m from the edge of the cliff we hiked to so we rigged a 70m and 60m rope together and double rapped down to the base. i won the rock,paper,scissors so i got to rap and lead first. i got to the base, found a old petzl pulley (booty!) and got psyched to climb the 25m 5.11c first pitch. thomas built an anchor when he arrived at the belay ledge and put me on belay. the crux was, for me, the first 4 bolts with a pretty high first bolt with serious groundfall potential. i got a bomber .4 cam placement to protect before the high first bolt (it turned out the 2 cams from our rack we chose to bring were pieces that we had great placements for!) i pumped out at the 4th bolt, taked, rested and then climbed to the anchors on the next burn; almost onsight. i rigged an extremely slow, messy, and less than equalized anchor and thomas seconded. he got up to me and then went for the lead of pitch 2 (he left the station about 10 minutes after our turnaround time; the first of our logistical problems). we had the single sketchiest moment of our lives with me shorting thom on the first clip of the pitch, if he had fallen he would have taken a leader fall directly onto our anchors creating a factor 2 fall which is very bad - something you never want to happen because it could shock load the anchor and cause it to fail. he took after he stuck the clip but couldn't go on. at this point we are 25 minutes passed our turnaround time 1 pitch off the ground without our 70m rope to do a tyrolean traverse which he had planned on doing to escape the spire (because of logistical problems: our rope being to short we couldn't take it with us), we are low on blood sugar, stokage, and getting scared. we we're alone on the side of an alpine route on the summit of blackcomb. we used some good judgement, rather than succumbing to summit fever, and bailed there leaving one wiregate biner. not bad for bailing off an alpine route. we had to rig 2 30m raps to get off the spire down into a gulley which we could hike out on to get back to the top of the cliff to retrieve our other 2 ropes. after we got back to cliff we had a 3 hour +, 5,500 vertical feet over like 14km, hike down from the summit of blackcomb to the base where we were parked. we got back to our van and crashed!
that is the craziest adventure of my life, and we didnt even have to summit!

The Road to Getting on the Road

A 1984 Volkswagen Vanagolf Westfalia. That's what we got... and she's glorious! After a long search for a vehicle that is worthy of our trip we stumbled upon this cute genius of German engineering. She belonged to a friends family and had already completed a similar journey, with different intentions mind you, on many occasions. The circumstances were right and she joined the trip... now Charlie and I are both, quite literally, "on the bus". Still in need of some minor aesthetic tune-ups we almost have her at a point where we can leave at any moment. The only thing left to do seems like finding a fitting name for her. For me she's my Little Jelly Bean, for Charlie... a plain and simple shaggin' wagon.

Rugmunching Mrs. Negative

May 24th - Cheakamus Canyon, Squamish

"Sweet this truck will totally rock this hill," I say to Thomas. On nearly every occasion climbing at Chek canyon, the road (which appears more like a XC mountain bike trail than a road) that connects the highway to the crag proves to be a battle for our vehicles. Thomas's Dad's Ford Ranger chugs up the hill nearing the crest, which happens to have ruts and holes a foot plus deep. I stall the truck. Well the truck could handle the road, it turns out though, you have to be able to drive it. After another effort we make it up.

Chek is a wonderful, beautiful place. The plethora of cliffs, crags and climbers that comprise Chek are each unique and interesting in their own ways. As per usual Thom and I b-line straight to the Forgetten Wall to climb Low Impact, one of the most fun .10b's we've climbed. I climb it slow and with hesitation, but I find all the holds that I pulled off of last season, and cruise to the top. I ask Thomas if he wants to climb it;' he slips his excruciatingly small slippers over his excruciatingly swollen ankle and cruises the route on TR.

As per usual we proceed 15m up to scree slope to Rugmunchers - 5.11d. We remember how close we were to sending last season and how dialed we had the moves. Needless to say we came back with determination. On my third attempt rugmunching, I focused on the route, chose my beta, committed, and sent. The weight of the rope and the chatter in my mind, replaced by the sound of my breathing, and the smell of Quebecois smokers. For me, perfect sending conditions. Thomas, more determined than ever to send, gave the strongest burn I've ever seen him give: he committed for the moves impeccably but pumped out just below the last bolt. C'est la vie.

We hobble back to the truck and prepare a fantastic dinner meanwhile hacking the sack with some yankees. After dinner we make the decision to build on our foundation so we head over to the Foundation Wall and climb another 3 pitches: Polychronopolous 5.10d, Mystery 5.9, and the Flaming Arête 5.7. It got dark, I lowered Thomas over a ledge; we couldn't climb any more.

The Chek traditon: make a campfire, have a sing-along, and get drunk with the other climbers camping at Chek. Our friends Martin and Abby who are here with some friends of theirs - a group of young doctors - who joined us for the tradition. I feel safe; if anyone gets alcohol poisoning, poison ivy, sprains their ankle, etc. it will be just another day at the office for the docs. The doc's taught us some important lessons: don't get married to a person your not into, water makes scotch like more better, and there is no ethical dilemma about being born in an affluent nation. In true Thomas fashion, he pulls out his new git-ar and proceeds to shred some gnar. The new git-box gently weeps for the rest of the evening.

The worst sleep of his life. I sleep great. The bed of the Ranger is 6' even. Thomas stands 6' 3", now there is a real dilemma, a solution to the 3" dilemma will be requisite for Thomas to be able to sleep.

May 25.

I wake up sweaty and tired - the canopy on the truck is air tight and makes a pretty warm little oven. Thomas gets up, stiff and unhappy about having to contort himself for hours on end. We eat some breakfast, I find my balls, and then we head out to climb Charlotte's Web 5.9. This is Thomas and I's first multipitch adventure, though it's only 2 pitches it still is a decent adventure. I lead the first pitch, I slip a foot in the first half of the pitch and take a small fall. I pull it together, push hard, the rock pushs back, and I pull through. Thomas meets me at the belay station, stays long enough to give me a high-five and then climbs on up to the summit. The adventure begins. Thomas, on top of Charlottes Web, realizes he forgot his ATC, and cannot rappel down. I lower him to the ledge I’m standing on, trade gear, and then I summit. The view of Tantalus range is fantastic from the top of the slab. The places I'll go for a view! Thomas lowers me back down to his ledge, we pull the rope, and then he lowers me down to the deck and raps.

The day was off to a fine start. We had done a “multipitch” climb, the weather is great and we are about to get a lot of energy out of our thank-god-we’re-alive squirrely bread sandwiches. We leave the truck in the sun and hike into the shade of the short shady trees sheltering most of the approach to the majority of the crags. We have the intention to climb Kjijushi 5.10c. The guide book gives it 5 stars and describes it as 27.5m of fun, featured, pocketed, granite, with the bolts spreading out at the top, and directly under on of the most overhanging crags at Chek. How could we lose? To my not-so-surprise a group of climbers were on it and looked to be there for a while. Thomas recommends we go try Timberqueen 5.12c.

Thomas battles the Queen many times, but neither of are the King today. Many times his falls pull me off my not-so-bomber belay stance and lower him back to the ground just from his leverage. I strain just to get off the ground, where I then fall or back down.

30 minutes later; completely humbled by the Timberqueen we decide to find a route a little more near our abilities. However the feeling of being humbled just to leave the ground is a good one. I think it’s called learning.

The rock gods are with us because as we leave Timberqueen, Kirijushi is free. We high tail it to the base, play a few matches of rock paper scissors, then I tie into the sharp end of the rope. I cruise up to the 3^rd bolt and then get totally lost. I go up right, that isn’t the best way, so I climb back down, then a little more left, but that isn’t right. Each time I realize a particular sequence won’t work for me I climb back down to a good stance, shake out, and then try again. Finally I figure out I have to traverse left and then attack the route head on. I break through and climb up to the top. For me it is a battle to know whether what I am doing is right, but it has to be right for me because I onsight it. Thomas lowers me back down, giddy to get on Kijijushi, seeing as it took me only 15-20 minutes to get up it! He has my beta and cruises the route. Thomas knows it's time to get on a 5.12, I am tired. We head back toward the truck to a crag called the Negative Wall to climb Mrs. Negative 5.12a. It is short, bouldery, and already has draws hanging. Thomas won the rock paper scissors and takes the first lead. He pulls strong on the steep holds. Thom figures out some wicked beta near the top from a OK pocket to a jug. He makes it to the top on his onsite but what’s more is he made it look really fun. Regardless of being tired after a long weekend of climbing, day 10 on doing sports I have to get on it. I tie in, and get in the zone. I focus, rehearse Thomas’ beta in my mind and the commit. As per usual for today I lose focus at one point and get completely lost and take a fall. I focus in again and make it to the chains in another burn.

I am stoked! Then the pressure changed and we felt a few drops of rain. We call it a day and hit the dusty trail.

Back at the truck we finish the black bean and corn salsa (which is awesome!) and drink our end of the day beer and orchard peach cider. Great first weekend back climbing rocks!

First Things First

So as you may already know Charlie Long and I (Thomas Sloss) will be departing for a climbing trip at the end of this Summer. The trip will take us along the west coast of the United States, through the central US and then into Central America. The goal is to climb as much as possible while never turning down an opportunity for adventure. Along with our climbing efforts we will be taking part in humanitarian aid in various places along the way. However, first things first. We need to get the necessary items in order... first on that list is a van. We'll keep you posted as the lead up to the trip continues and we finally get on our way. Climbing rocks!