Ahhh... winter.
While I realize that winter has not yet officially arrived on the coast, it certainly feels like it. Grey days of drizzle and cold dampness are here. I hope just for a few days, but I suspect it's here to stay until Spring. Luckily we did get the chance to do some climbing before the rain set in.
One of the highlights of the last month was Jordan Wright's ascent of my project in the boulders. Ordinarily, I get a little grumpy when I don't get the chance to get the first ascent of something I spent the time cleaning, but I felt honored to work the project with two of Squamish's strongest (and nicest) climbers - Jordan and Tyson. I actually did pretty well, I thought - I made it almost through the first cruxy bit - but it took stronger fingers than mine to make it to the top. And a fair bit of intestinal fortitude.
The project, you see, is almost 25 feet high. Even for Squamish, that's pretty tall. And when you throw in a pretty sketchy landing, it's a pretty bold line. And atypical for Squamish, in that it's almost all basalt crimps, lots of face climbing (not a single granite sloper on the entire problem). It's got some fairly dynamic moves on it, and some pretty committing sequences, so it demands 100% dedication to top out on. The moves are so great, though, I am psyched to get stronger this winter so I can put in a real effort next spring on it.
It doesn't have a name yet, or an official grade, but it's about V8. Or so I thought. maybe V9.
Anyways, I posted a picture of Selena on my new slab problem, tentatively named Sel de la Terre. Hope you enjoy it.
I need new slab-climbing shoes. Jack Fieldhouse embarassed me by climbing Superfly Slab in his running shoes, no hands. I can climb Superfly Slab, but I don't find it easy.
More later. Hopefully the rain will stop.
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