The Climbing Life

It's been a while since I updated my blog. I apologize. I have been climbing a bit, despite work, so let me give you a brief update!

I went to a wedding near Nelson, and thought I would use the opportunity to do some bouldering near Hedley. Unfortunately, it was FAR too hot to climb (well over 30C), but Aya and I did check out the boulders there for a few hours. Aya loves to go look at 'the big rocks'. The potential there is greater than I remember - especially for the central cluster of large boulders near the middle of the slide. There could be 50 or so problems on those boulders, but lots would be highballs. All the better!

Luckily, the Hedley Boulders are near Bromley Rock. The deepwater soloing potential of this place is superb - the water is super-deep (30 feet! in places), clear, and warm. The rock is featured, solid, and steep. I tried the central overhanging arete, but got 1/3 of the way up, then downclimbed. I am chicken. I did watch kids jumping off the top of the cliff, though - 60+ feet up! Crazy.

A c0uple of weeks later, I went to Hope to go bouldering for a day. We went with Ronald and Jennifer, our UBC friends. We went to Hunter first - the rock there is so awesome, and the climbing superb! I did a bunch of fun warmups, then SHOCKED myself by repeating Snake Charmer in three tries. It was originally given V7, but now I'm not so sure. I also tried Green Lung, and made some progress. Such fun lines!

Then Ronald and I went to check out a few other areas. We looked at The Shire, and then we hiked up to the SM area - totally undeveloped - huge boulders! Steep! The area is pretty futuristic, though - it'll take a pretty strong crew to put up problems there. One area at SM I looked at I dubbed MonsterLand - huge boulders, all with caves! 20 foot tall double-digit problems everywhere. I'm planning a trip back this fall. Email me if you're curious...

The picture is of the Silver Wall - the source of all boulders for The Shire, Shinobi Gardens, and Leamers.

Peace!