Moving On

I have taken about a month off of climbing trying to let my tendons fully heal-up.  It had been too long since we had been out so, Rachel and I went down to Moe's Valley to get back on the rock.   The goal was to keep it mellow and shock my system back into climbing.  Well after a quick warm-up we headed up to the hill to my nemesis, Gription. This thing has to be one of the hardest V9's for Vertically challenged climbers.  I have been avoiding it since last February but thought I would give it one last effort since I feel a bit stronger than last year.  I quickly remembered the beta through the beginning and before I knew it I had stuck the crux sloper. I held it just long enough to think I had it before popping off. After a few more falls on the same spot it was time to wash my hands of this problem for now and move on.

We ran into Casey and Sheralee and did a few fun moderates before trying Casey's new problem- Scavanger Soup. Its pretty cool, very Moe's Valley- vertical roof climbing on less than optimal feet between strangely positive edges.  I unfortunately didn't send as the problem started aggravating my fingers.

Casey made some large strides on his project- Settlers of Catan-V11. He linked from one move into the top.    Although the problem doesn't appeal to me it is stout, props to Casey for getting close. It is only a matter of time until he sends.

Well this is the week we are moving to Vegas.  We are semi-packed but 100% ready to move.  I am really psyched on possibilities. Their are hundreds of problems that I have never seen.  I plan on spending our first 3 weeks down there climbing as much as possible.  We will also have a climbing gym close by for the first time in 5 years.  I should finally be able to push through to a new level.  I also plan to get back on a rope, it has been almost 5 months since I last sport climbed.  

The Lion's Den First Ascent

2 weeks ago the weather turned bad in Cedar City and  forced me to place any climbing efforts on hold.  When the weather finally started to cooperate the Lion's Den Project was still under an inch of snow.  In order to keep climbing I headed down south to Moe's Valley.  One thing I have always loved about Moe's Valley is that I have been climbing there every winter for the past 4 years and I always seems to find something I haven't done.  On this trip I was able to make a quick send of Ralph Polo Lauren V8 and I found an excellent little project tucked away right at the entrance.  I quickly figured out all the moves but a large flapper up an end to the day before I could send.

After a few more days the The Haven Dried out and conditions were perfect.  So Rachel, Cache and I headed back up the hill one more time.  While warming up I was able to put up a new line just north west of the lions den called 'Two Finger Show Down' V4.  We then headed down and after falling mid-crux the first go I was able to get back on and send the beast.  I am really psyched on finishing this off as it is the hardest problem I had done.  Also I am moving in a month and didn't want to leave it behind.  I can now leave Cedar.

Here is the video.

I was able to head back to Moe's a few days later and finished off The Project and dubbed it 'Sandman'.  I used dyno beta that felt V8 but Casey Webb was able to find some beta using the arete feature that felt more V7. If you are in Moes Check it out.  Also I did Shothole a classic V6 for the first time, if you are in Moe's this problem cannot be missed.

Also Casey has been putting up some excellent lines I am psyched on finishing up.  Cat Face V8 is 50 feet from the road and is pretty classic.  

The Bounty Hunter, FA

The Bounty Hunter is an incredible piece of rock and I am psyched to have gotten the FA.  The route is unique to the Swett Hills wash due to its texture and feature.  Using a lot of body tension and a razor sharp edge you work out a steep roof to a perfect blunt arete .  It went down the first go last Friday due to extra cold conditions. It checks in right around V10 for me.

Video of the FA of The Bounty Hunter and 50 Degrees of Perfection.

I named it the bounty hunter because it is located deeper in the wash than any other currently established problem in the wash.  Also when I hiked in I knew I had 10 goes or less due to the razor edge.  I have worked the problem in two previous sessions and the edge would cut my finger after a few goes and I would be unable to climb for 3 day while it healed up.  If your wondering if the problem is worth your time...YES it is, the movement it full value.  Note: If you are 5' 11" or taller you may be able to toss directly to the arete and avoid the edge. 

Next send will hopefully be the Lions Den Project! 

Catching up is harder than staying ahead

It has been a while since I last posted. Over the past few weeks my focus has turned towards school and starting a career upon graduation.  I have managed to get in a few hours of climbing every week, I have even managed to tick off a couple of projects and grab a few FA's

  This Sweet Hills Wash west of Cedar city is finally seeing a second wave of development. We have spent the last few years honing our skills by repeating almost all the old lines, the area was past due for some new lines.  T Ghost in the darkness (7B) is a great problem located right in the middle of the Sweet Hills Wash west of Cedar City. Casey Webb found this gem which climbs up small edges leading to a tricky crux over a slightly sketchy landing. I was lucky enough to grab the FA on my last try of the night.  Earlier that day I was lucky enough to find a great line on the Ragnarok boulder. This massive boulder was one of the first developed and I'm not sure how this variation hung out unclimbed for so long.  The lone starts on Ragnarok warm-up traverses through the start of the sloping continues traversing right through some really cool holds topping out after rounding the corner. The route was dubbed El Matador, Casey grabbed a quick repeat for the second ascent.

The season's change has brought a lot of change to the climbing around cedar city.  On Oct. 3 I got lucky and checked the weather report to find that a large storm was forecast to move in a dump the first snow up Cedar Canyon. Rach and I quickly decided to make one last ditch effort for the season and head up to The Meadows area of bunker creek. When we arrived the rain was just beginning to fall but only lasted a few minutes. We quickly hiked up to an amazing roof project that I had found the month before.  I had spent one session trying to figure out the beta, I had done all the moves but the first one.  I surprised myself and stuck the move first try but fell off the second move.  I managed the send the next go.  The line is truly amazing its very steep, always shaded and the rock is solid, so I dubbed the line "50 degrees of perfection".  We then ran up to a great but very seldom repeated line called the skipper. I managed fall off of the last move before the weather turned on us.  It was a bit frustrating walking away from a problem I knew I would probably never get to try again since we will be moving.  But that is what life is about I guess. If we always get what we want their would not be any triumphant feelings to accompany the moments when we do succeed.

The real luck in the situation wasn't realized until later. Cedar Canyon had a massive land slide due to the sudden change in weather and it will be closed for at least the next four weeks.  This will definitely rule out any alpine climbing for the rest of the season.
 

The change in access has pushed me to head out the the haven more often. After several hard sessions on the Lions Den Project trying to figure out each individual move I have finally been able to link the first half of the problem and found new beta to gain the lip of the cave. This new beta brought the problem from the realm of wishful thinking to possible. I am really psyched on my progress.

Rach and I have also bee doing some hiking around the area looking for some new lines.  We came across several great blocks in a new sector. This sector is only a 7 minute hike from the parking area.  The problems found look to range from V0-V7ish, on the blocks we found it looks like their are at least the potential for 15-20 new problems. This area is just waiting for development to happen. I think it could contain more problems then any of the established areas around Cedar City.

Pictures and some video coming soon.

Well that's a summary of the latest happenings.
Casey has been getting after it at the Virgin Cave, check out his blog.

The Beginning of the End

This week marks the beginning of the end of an era for me. I am entering the last semester of my Masters of Accountancy program. This December I complete my academic career at SUU. This means change is on the horizon.  Cedar City will be left behind for a new destination.  This means a lot of changes in lifestyle but hopefully living near a climbing gym will allow me to build my level of climbing with a smaller time commitment.  This change won't come a moment too soon, as I am running out of climbs to do in the cedar area. I love establishing a new route or boulder problem but it is nice to have an established route at your limit,  already knowing that it is possible helps when you are pushing your limits.
One thing this situation that this has forced me to do is climbing in less trafficked areas.  A rediscovery was made by my good friend Ryan a few weeks ago. A week ago I finally made the hike in and find two abandoned and neglected routes located on a giant boulder.  Both routes stand only about 35 feet tall but both are steeply overhung which is a bit of a novelty for Cedar Canyon.  Upon closer inspection I found that due to flooding their was about a half an inch of mud completely coating the entire bottom ten feet of both routes. Also all the hangers have been removed, the empty bolts and cold shuts at the top are the only indication that this piece of rock ever saw an ascent.
I contacted an former local and he said that back around 2001 it was bolted but only one of them was ever able to get to the top of the routes so they quickly took the hangers and put them up on a route that they deemed more worthy.
Rachel and I hiked in yesterday armed with brushes and brooms to try and clean the routes up. Immediately we found that the mud had dried rock hard and the brushes had a limited effect.  After many failed efforts at trying to ship it away with rocks and sticks we decided to try water. Unfortunately we only brought one Nalgene bottle. Luckily the river was only about 15 feet away, after a bit of effort it started  working and the mud started to quickly slide off revealing solid gray limestone hidden underneath.  After getting very muddy we were able to clear off the bottom of both routes.  A lot of the cleaning is out of reach so rather than hang from a rope hauling buckets were have plans to head back today with homemade "waterzookas" and finish cleaning it up.
I am excited to have a new sport climbing opportunity so close to home.  It is a great setting located only feet from a river and surrounded by tall cliffs.  The routes were never documented to my knowledge and probably haven't seen an ascent since 2001. They appear from the ground to be 12+ but only time will tell.
Here are some pics of the area and the clean up.