Here's a better version of the Springblade (V3ish) clip. Hope this one works for everyone!
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Springblade!
Here's a better version of the Springblade (V3ish) clip. Hope this one works for everyone!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Projects, and a Video!
This morning, whilst having coffee, I decided to satisfy my curiosity by making a list. I know that some people think I take list-making a little too far, especially when it comes to making lists of my current projects. This list, however, had a different purpose.
I have long thought that the grade distribution of the problems at Frank Slide is a little odd. While there are many problems in the V0 to V6 range, there are notably fewer problems in the V7 to V10 range. In fact, the number of problems in each grade drops off steeply above V6, rather than declining gradually as in other large bouldering areas.
So, this morning, I made a list of all the potential hard problems I had seen about The Slide, including an 'eyeball grade estimate' (i.e. a guess as to how hard it might be, based on my not inconsequential climbing experience). To my complete surprise, I listed 32 potential problems mostly in the (likely) V8 - V10 range!
As such, I think I have solved the riddle of the missing hard problems. I haven't done them (nor has anyone elso), but they are there, waiting. Granted, some of these problems are very tall (like the House Cave Project, which is probably nearly 25 feet tall and in the V9-10 range), but many are perfectly reasonable in height, and likely represent some of the best problems that Frank Slide has to offer. Should be a busy summer!
On a related note, here is a short film I made of Kyle Marco climbing his new extremely fun moderate problem, Springblade (V3 or V4). Blogger has done something strange to the video quality, but as long as you don't view it at full-screen size it looks ok. My first real effort, and it shows that I have lots of room for improvement. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Spring! Frank Slide! New Problems!
"In the spring / a young man's fancy / lightly turns to thoughts of bouldering..."
I know what you're thinking. "Trent," you say to yourself, "you are scarcely what I would call a 'young man', though quoting Tennyson is laudable."
At any rate, spring has finally arrived (I hope!) in southern Alberta. It was 8C on the weekend, and temperatures as high as 20C have been forecast for the upcoming week. After weeks of unseasonably cold weather 8C seemed positively balmy, and with most people seemingly occupied in Lethbridge Kyle and I headed off to Frank Slide for a day of bouldering. Though there was still some snow in the Slide, it was melting quickly in the warm weather, and hopefully it will be largely gone by next weekend.
I was keen to check out a few potential lines I had seen during my last trip to Frank, and since Kyle didn`t have particular destination in mind, we agreed to do a little hunting for problems in the jumble of boulders on the ridge above the Triangle Pinch Boulder. Though short, the walk in to the Triangle Pinch Boulder seems awkward to me, with relatively unstable footing. Arriving on the ridge, we went for a bit of a walk to scout for likely problems, and then opened our mats to warm up on a smallish boulder with an unusual open-book feature.
I spent a few minutes cleaning the holds, and then Kyle sent the problem easily on his first try. I pulled on my moccasyms and repeated the problem to warm up, but it certainly felt harder to me than Kyle had made it look! We both did the problem again (V1ish), and then added a sit-start to the line which felt a bit harder (V2ish). Starting on a small right-hand pinch on the arete and a thin left-hand crimp, the problem pulls to a very cool dish-shaped hold, then traverses across a sloping lip to an interesting topout on yellow-speckled rock. I think Sun Trap would be a great name for the problem, as it faces directly into the winter sun and is well-protected from the wind! We then added a right exit to the problem, and a right-traverse exit as well. To wrap up the boulder we did another really easy (V0-) problem on the left side of the face as well. A great cold-weather warm-up boulder!
Kyle warming up on the fun V2 on the Sun Trap boulder, in the spring sunshine! A short problem (six moves), it nonetheless has some interesting movement and some great holds.
Warmed up, we looked around for another boulder to climb in the immediate area. Just a few steps to the north we found a hanging boulder - a fat blade of rock perched upon two other boulders. Kyle thought the hanging arete on the east face of the boulder looked fun, and he was right! We swept the holds, fixed the landing a bit, then pulled over the mats; Kyle sent the problem quickly; from a sit-start on two incut edges, using a toe-hook allowed movement up a series of large flat edges along the arete to a very cool rock-over topout. Probably in the V3 range, and one of the best V3s in Frank Slide. Good vision on Kyle's part to spy the line!
Sitting around after sending the problem, I started to look more carefully at the long block that was holding up the left side of the 'fat blade' boulder. It was certainly large enough to have problems on it, and it was composed of the strange shelly-sandstone sometimes found at Frank Slide. Usually that type of rock is not compact enough for bouldering (often the boulders are too small, or the rock too friable), but when solid enough and the boulders big enough, it can hold fantastic problems! This block was no exception, and we opened a handful of problems from V0- to V2ish, including (from left to right) Sandbox (VB), The Sandstone Traverse (V0ish), Trent's Dyno (V1, a Kyle FA due to the fact that I can't dyno...), and Crafty (V2). All the problems on this boulder have fantastic sandstone holds - mostly rounded rails - and are great moderate lines though somewhat marred by rough landings.
There appeared to be another, much harder line that traversed right-ward around the boulder, starting on the positive rail of Trent's Dyno. Thinking that the problem looked too hard for a spring day, I contented myself with cleaning the holds and imaging the moves. Becoming more and more intrigued, I decided to put on my shoes and try a few moves. Then I thought I needed better heel-hooking shoes, then I worked a few sequences... Soon enough I had pieced together all the moves, and I decided to try the entire problem. After a couple of tries I managed to send the whole problem (13+ moves!) quite nicely, calling it The Orange Traverse (V4/5) after it's substantial resemblance to The Green Traverse (V6) in Squamish (and the speckles of orange lichen, of course!).
The Sandstone Boulder! Five fun problems on this face, including the very fun Sandstone Traverse (V0ish, starts on lower left corner of the block, then climbs up and across the sloping lip to finish just right of the peak on fantastic juggy holds), and The Orange Traverse (V4/5ish) that starts on a rail just above my chalk bag, and traverses right and around the corner.
To wrap up the day, we decided to walk a short distance further and try a short rail problem I had spied a few weeks ago. The boulder, although short, featured a sharp rail that angled up and across an overhanging face. I swept the holds, and then Kyle and I both sent the problem easily. I was a little disappointed by the line; perhaps I simply wished it had a few more moves. Calling the problem Moss Rail (V2ish), we packed the mats and picked our way back to the van through the field of snow-covered boulders.
A fun - albeit short - day of bouldering in the Crowsnest Pass! Weather is getting warmer, days are getting longer; soon we'll be fully immersed in the Spring Bouldering Season, one of the nicest times of the year in Frank Slide. I've got lots of projects to send this year, and I'm looking forward to working through my 'to-do' list!
Until next time, take care!
I know what you're thinking. "Trent," you say to yourself, "you are scarcely what I would call a 'young man', though quoting Tennyson is laudable."
At any rate, spring has finally arrived (I hope!) in southern Alberta. It was 8C on the weekend, and temperatures as high as 20C have been forecast for the upcoming week. After weeks of unseasonably cold weather 8C seemed positively balmy, and with most people seemingly occupied in Lethbridge Kyle and I headed off to Frank Slide for a day of bouldering. Though there was still some snow in the Slide, it was melting quickly in the warm weather, and hopefully it will be largely gone by next weekend.
I was keen to check out a few potential lines I had seen during my last trip to Frank, and since Kyle didn`t have particular destination in mind, we agreed to do a little hunting for problems in the jumble of boulders on the ridge above the Triangle Pinch Boulder. Though short, the walk in to the Triangle Pinch Boulder seems awkward to me, with relatively unstable footing. Arriving on the ridge, we went for a bit of a walk to scout for likely problems, and then opened our mats to warm up on a smallish boulder with an unusual open-book feature.
I spent a few minutes cleaning the holds, and then Kyle sent the problem easily on his first try. I pulled on my moccasyms and repeated the problem to warm up, but it certainly felt harder to me than Kyle had made it look! We both did the problem again (V1ish), and then added a sit-start to the line which felt a bit harder (V2ish). Starting on a small right-hand pinch on the arete and a thin left-hand crimp, the problem pulls to a very cool dish-shaped hold, then traverses across a sloping lip to an interesting topout on yellow-speckled rock. I think Sun Trap would be a great name for the problem, as it faces directly into the winter sun and is well-protected from the wind! We then added a right exit to the problem, and a right-traverse exit as well. To wrap up the boulder we did another really easy (V0-) problem on the left side of the face as well. A great cold-weather warm-up boulder!
Warmed up, we looked around for another boulder to climb in the immediate area. Just a few steps to the north we found a hanging boulder - a fat blade of rock perched upon two other boulders. Kyle thought the hanging arete on the east face of the boulder looked fun, and he was right! We swept the holds, fixed the landing a bit, then pulled over the mats; Kyle sent the problem quickly; from a sit-start on two incut edges, using a toe-hook allowed movement up a series of large flat edges along the arete to a very cool rock-over topout. Probably in the V3 range, and one of the best V3s in Frank Slide. Good vision on Kyle's part to spy the line!
Kyle on the middle and end of his new V3ish / V4ish problem on a fat blade-shaped boulder below the Mushroom Boulder. It sit-starts underneath the bottom of the blade on two opposing edges. Very fun!
There appeared to be another, much harder line that traversed right-ward around the boulder, starting on the positive rail of Trent's Dyno. Thinking that the problem looked too hard for a spring day, I contented myself with cleaning the holds and imaging the moves. Becoming more and more intrigued, I decided to put on my shoes and try a few moves. Then I thought I needed better heel-hooking shoes, then I worked a few sequences... Soon enough I had pieced together all the moves, and I decided to try the entire problem. After a couple of tries I managed to send the whole problem (13+ moves!) quite nicely, calling it The Orange Traverse (V4/5) after it's substantial resemblance to The Green Traverse (V6) in Squamish (and the speckles of orange lichen, of course!).
To wrap up the day, we decided to walk a short distance further and try a short rail problem I had spied a few weeks ago. The boulder, although short, featured a sharp rail that angled up and across an overhanging face. I swept the holds, and then Kyle and I both sent the problem easily. I was a little disappointed by the line; perhaps I simply wished it had a few more moves. Calling the problem Moss Rail (V2ish), we packed the mats and picked our way back to the van through the field of snow-covered boulders.
A fun - albeit short - day of bouldering in the Crowsnest Pass! Weather is getting warmer, days are getting longer; soon we'll be fully immersed in the Spring Bouldering Season, one of the nicest times of the year in Frank Slide. I've got lots of projects to send this year, and I'm looking forward to working through my 'to-do' list!
Until next time, take care!
Boulderfest 2014!
Last weekend (March 29th) the climbing gym was packed for Lethbridge's big annual bouldering competition... Boulderfest! Boulderfest is one of the longest-running bouldering competitions in Alberta (the first Boulderfest was in 2002), and it is always a lot of fun to see all the climbers in the region come together for a single event. Everyone who worked at Boulderfest did a fantastic and professional job (with special acknowledgements going to Alyssa and Ashley), and as a result the event went off very smoothly, with all the competitors having a great time climbing and socialising!
Everything ready, waiting for the doors to open. Seven of the 60 problems were on the 75-degree wall.
In climbing competitions, virtually all of the hard work is finished before the doors open on the day of the comp. Between midnight on Thursday and 4:00 am Friday night Kyle and I (with some help from Morgan and Mike) set 60 boulder problems that ranged in difficulty from V0- to about V8. Boulderfest is a somewhat tricky competition to set for, as it maintains a tradition of being accessible to climbers of all levels of experience and age (really, it is as much a festival as a competition). As such, we needed to create problems that ranged from juggy fun problems with short reaches to hard, steep, powerful lines that would challenge the strongest climbers. Luckily, Kyle and I have about 30 years of setting experience between us, so we managed a very fun set of problems for everyone.
Stacks of wax! Lots of holds to work with, which is nice. Most of the problems were set at this point.
While it was hard work setting that many problems that quickly (we'll definitely have to add another setter next year!), the positive tradeoff in having only two setters doing the bulk of the setting is that it allowed us to have tighter control over quality. A few problems didn't go off quite as planned (especially number 60, which had one too many holds and thus was climbed using a much easier sequence than I had intended), but this was more of a fore-running problem due to time constraints (the last dozen problems were fore-run late at night, which is always a bad idea) than a setting problem. All-in-all, a pretty successful effort!
Steep problems on the 75-degree wall!
Problems ranged from easy child-oriented problems (numbers 1-5), to balancy slabs, to steep hard crimpy lines, to hard pinch problems. Everyone in both time slots (1:00 - 3:00, and 3:00 - 5:00) had a blast trying all the problems; no one managed to climb the hardest problem (which ended up being number 59), with all other problems seeing ascents. As a setter, this is virtually a perfect result; too many sends of the hardest lines means either that you under-set, or that you misjudged who would be showing up to the competition.
When the chalk dust finally settled, the top three winners of each category of the 2014 Boulderfest were:
Women
Alexis Demecha (3036)*
Ashlee Matkin (2422)
Christine Wallace (1761)
Men
Mark Derksen (3920)*
Dave Trudel (3838)
Taylor Hudson (3766)
Youth
Will Kwan (2120)*
Lauren Kwan (2096)
Kieran Meadows (1916)
*2014 Winner's Jersey Holder
For the full list of scores and competitors, go HERE.
Alexis Demecha, women's overall winner!
Powerful problems on the 45-degree wall! We had lots of volumes this year, which made for fun problems. It also makes setting a little easier...
Lots of prizes for the 2014 Boulderfest! Every competitor got something, which is great.
A few additional notes on the nuts and bolts of the 2014 Boulderfest...
This year, the organization of Boulderfest was divided between two groups, an Organizational Committee (Alyssa and Ashley) which was primarily responsible for scheduling and sponsorships, and a Climbing Committee (Kyle and I) which was responsible for route-setting and climbing-related tasks on the day of the competition. It seemed to work brillliantly (huge props to Alyssa and Ashley for all their hard work!), and it seems likely that Boulderfest 2015 will adopt this same organizational structure.
Another small change in this year's Boulderfest was how prizes were doled out at the end of the competition. Alyssa and Ashley did a great job of approaching sponsors, and there were ample prizes from Flashed, Delire Climbing Holds, Awesome Adventures, and several more companies. This year, all prizes were handed out as draw prizes, while the climber with the highest score in each of the mens, womens, and youth categories were awarded 'winners jerseys' with a specially-designed "BoulderFest" graphic and logo. A great compromise, I think!
So, what's next? I'm looking forward to the 2015 Boulderfest, certainly! Also, and more proximally, the 2014 Tour de Frank (the outdoor bouldering 'competition' / checklist / fun participatory event) at Frank Slide will get underway soon as well, although I sometimes feel that it would be fun if we adopted a one-day format (similar to the Hueco Rock Rodeo) instead of the summer-long format used last year (free and for everyone, in either case!).
The spring climbing season is virtually upon us, and the great bouldering of Frank Slide awaits! It would be nice to see more of the climbers from Lethbridge actually climbing outdoors this year; with Frank Slide being so close and so fun (over 600 problems (!) from V0- to V11, and more being added all the time, and landings improving...), I am sure we'll see more people taking advantage of the rock-climbing opportunities that Southern Alberta offers!
Until next time, have a good time climbing!
NOTE: All photos are courtesy of Alyssa, though I think Ashley make have taken some of them. Huge thanks!
Everything ready, waiting for the doors to open. Seven of the 60 problems were on the 75-degree wall.
In climbing competitions, virtually all of the hard work is finished before the doors open on the day of the comp. Between midnight on Thursday and 4:00 am Friday night Kyle and I (with some help from Morgan and Mike) set 60 boulder problems that ranged in difficulty from V0- to about V8. Boulderfest is a somewhat tricky competition to set for, as it maintains a tradition of being accessible to climbers of all levels of experience and age (really, it is as much a festival as a competition). As such, we needed to create problems that ranged from juggy fun problems with short reaches to hard, steep, powerful lines that would challenge the strongest climbers. Luckily, Kyle and I have about 30 years of setting experience between us, so we managed a very fun set of problems for everyone.
Stacks of wax! Lots of holds to work with, which is nice. Most of the problems were set at this point.
While it was hard work setting that many problems that quickly (we'll definitely have to add another setter next year!), the positive tradeoff in having only two setters doing the bulk of the setting is that it allowed us to have tighter control over quality. A few problems didn't go off quite as planned (especially number 60, which had one too many holds and thus was climbed using a much easier sequence than I had intended), but this was more of a fore-running problem due to time constraints (the last dozen problems were fore-run late at night, which is always a bad idea) than a setting problem. All-in-all, a pretty successful effort!
Problems ranged from easy child-oriented problems (numbers 1-5), to balancy slabs, to steep hard crimpy lines, to hard pinch problems. Everyone in both time slots (1:00 - 3:00, and 3:00 - 5:00) had a blast trying all the problems; no one managed to climb the hardest problem (which ended up being number 59), with all other problems seeing ascents. As a setter, this is virtually a perfect result; too many sends of the hardest lines means either that you under-set, or that you misjudged who would be showing up to the competition.
When the chalk dust finally settled, the top three winners of each category of the 2014 Boulderfest were:
Women
Alexis Demecha (3036)*
Ashlee Matkin (2422)
Christine Wallace (1761)
Men
Mark Derksen (3920)*
Dave Trudel (3838)
Taylor Hudson (3766)
Youth
Will Kwan (2120)*
Lauren Kwan (2096)
Kieran Meadows (1916)
*2014 Winner's Jersey Holder
For the full list of scores and competitors, go HERE.
Lots of prizes for the 2014 Boulderfest! Every competitor got something, which is great.
A few additional notes on the nuts and bolts of the 2014 Boulderfest...
This year, the organization of Boulderfest was divided between two groups, an Organizational Committee (Alyssa and Ashley) which was primarily responsible for scheduling and sponsorships, and a Climbing Committee (Kyle and I) which was responsible for route-setting and climbing-related tasks on the day of the competition. It seemed to work brillliantly (huge props to Alyssa and Ashley for all their hard work!), and it seems likely that Boulderfest 2015 will adopt this same organizational structure.
Another small change in this year's Boulderfest was how prizes were doled out at the end of the competition. Alyssa and Ashley did a great job of approaching sponsors, and there were ample prizes from Flashed, Delire Climbing Holds, Awesome Adventures, and several more companies. This year, all prizes were handed out as draw prizes, while the climber with the highest score in each of the mens, womens, and youth categories were awarded 'winners jerseys' with a specially-designed "BoulderFest" graphic and logo. A great compromise, I think!
So, what's next? I'm looking forward to the 2015 Boulderfest, certainly! Also, and more proximally, the 2014 Tour de Frank (the outdoor bouldering 'competition' / checklist / fun participatory event) at Frank Slide will get underway soon as well, although I sometimes feel that it would be fun if we adopted a one-day format (similar to the Hueco Rock Rodeo) instead of the summer-long format used last year (free and for everyone, in either case!).
The spring climbing season is virtually upon us, and the great bouldering of Frank Slide awaits! It would be nice to see more of the climbers from Lethbridge actually climbing outdoors this year; with Frank Slide being so close and so fun (over 600 problems (!) from V0- to V11, and more being added all the time, and landings improving...), I am sure we'll see more people taking advantage of the rock-climbing opportunities that Southern Alberta offers!
Until next time, have a good time climbing!
NOTE: All photos are courtesy of Alyssa, though I think Ashley make have taken some of them. Huge thanks!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Finally, Back to Frank!
Finally! After a cold and snowy February, the weather has become substantially more spring-like, and after consulting the weather oracle (the internet) to assure myself that it was going to be reasonably warm, I caught a ride with Kyle to the biggest bouldering area in Alberta's Rockies, namely Frank Slide!
On the drive out to Frank, Kyle and I discussed what area we might visit. I have projects in several areas, so I didn't particularly care which area I ended up at. However, when we arrived at the Slide it seemed windy, so we decided to head to the Aftermath Boulder, which is one of the few boulders to be completely in the trees and thus somewhat protected from the wind. Not long after we arrived in the parking lot, we were met by Evan, who had come down from Calgary to boulder in Frank Slide for the day. Evan is responsible for several of Frank Slide's hardest problems, including Nintendo 69 (V9).
We packed up and headed in to the Aftermath Boulder, postholing through the occasional late-season snowdrift. Luckily, the ground around the boulder itself was bare, and we dropped our mats. Evan and Kyle started to warm up on some of the boulder's easier problems, but I still felt somewhat cold so I went for a short walk through the slide, taking the opportunity to look for new problems. I saw a handful of great-looking short problems, most of which looked like they had to see an ascent. Feeling warm, I headed back to see what Kyle and Evan were up to.
Kyle and Evan were discussing Aftermath (V5), a great problem on the east face of the boulder. This was one of the first problems on the boulder, and follows a series of edges up to a interesting topout on an arete-pinch and a blocky horn. Shuffling the mats, Evan promptly flashed the problem without too much difficulty. I climbed up and down the first half of the tall arete Evil Eye (V2/3ish) to warm up a bit, then climbed Aftermath as well. Kyle tried the problem a few times, but then became interested in trying The Communist (V7) with Evan.
The Communist is one of the very best hard problems in Frank Slide. Tall, delicate, with a very well-defined sequence, The Communist was first climbed by Kyle late last year. After arranging the mats below the problem, Evan flashed through the first half of the problem only to fall on the delicate match on a long sidepull at mid-height. After refining his beta (and breaking off part of one of the pockets on Evil Eye with his foot), he send the problem for its second ascent after only a half-dozen attempts. Very impressive! Kyle came close to repeating the problem quickly as well, while I floundered for the better part of an hour on the first move. Though I have managed the other hard moves on the problem, I have never managed to do the first move (which I consider to be the hardest, of course!). I was coming close, though, so hopefully I'll climb it sometime soon.
Then, Evan, Kyle, and I all climbed Evil Eye, the tall, overhanging, and uncharacteristically juggy (for Frank) arete to the left of The Communist. Evan and Kyle then turned their attention to a potential right exit to The Communist, which would replace the last two moves of that problem with four fairly serious compression moves out right. After an half-hour of work, Evan managed to send that as well, calling it The Socialist (V7/8).
Sticking the first move on Invincible (V6), the crux awaits in the next two moves...
After a bit of a lunch break, I moved the mats leftward around the arete to try Invincible (V6ish), a highball I had established last fall on the south face of the boulder. Though it took us a bit of work, we all managed to send this problem as well, with Kyle and Evan opting to do a long deadpoint past the crimp I use to do a much more static move. Perhaps it's not as hard as I had originally thought, especially if the easier beta uses a long dynamic move! [Note: I am truly terrible at dynamic moves.]
Two ways to skin a cat. Kyle (top) deadpointing the crux move of Invincible while I, strangely enough, crimp my way through it (bottom). [Note: look at that weird open-hand crimp I've got going on. After 20 years of bouldering my fingers are so inflexible that taking a crimp open-handed makes it look like I'm using a pocket. Yikes.]
I also climbed the large 'question-mark' shaped line of holds on the face (essentially following the start of Ghost Rider and finishing on the top moves of Invincible), calling it The Riddler (V3?). It really just has one hard move, but features a lot of very cool movement. I also tried to repeat Ghost Rider (V4), but was so pumped at the top of the problem I had to downclimb a move then drop down to the mat. Scary! Evan almost climbed Ghost Rider on his second try, but like me was too pumped and had to drop off from high on the face.
Evan on The Riddler (V3ish). Fun climbing on good holds, except for the one crimp that is, obviously, the crux of the problem.
Feeling thrashed from a five-hour session on the Aftermath Boulder, we packed up and headed to Tim Hortons for doughnuts. As always, a tasty way to end a day of Frank Slide bouldering!
[Tim Hortons should provide me with promotional consideration for all the free advertising they get!]
Until next time!
On the drive out to Frank, Kyle and I discussed what area we might visit. I have projects in several areas, so I didn't particularly care which area I ended up at. However, when we arrived at the Slide it seemed windy, so we decided to head to the Aftermath Boulder, which is one of the few boulders to be completely in the trees and thus somewhat protected from the wind. Not long after we arrived in the parking lot, we were met by Evan, who had come down from Calgary to boulder in Frank Slide for the day. Evan is responsible for several of Frank Slide's hardest problems, including Nintendo 69 (V9).
We packed up and headed in to the Aftermath Boulder, postholing through the occasional late-season snowdrift. Luckily, the ground around the boulder itself was bare, and we dropped our mats. Evan and Kyle started to warm up on some of the boulder's easier problems, but I still felt somewhat cold so I went for a short walk through the slide, taking the opportunity to look for new problems. I saw a handful of great-looking short problems, most of which looked like they had to see an ascent. Feeling warm, I headed back to see what Kyle and Evan were up to.
Kyle and Evan were discussing Aftermath (V5), a great problem on the east face of the boulder. This was one of the first problems on the boulder, and follows a series of edges up to a interesting topout on an arete-pinch and a blocky horn. Shuffling the mats, Evan promptly flashed the problem without too much difficulty. I climbed up and down the first half of the tall arete Evil Eye (V2/3ish) to warm up a bit, then climbed Aftermath as well. Kyle tried the problem a few times, but then became interested in trying The Communist (V7) with Evan.
Evan sending The Communist (V7), an absolutely brilliant problem that is, fortunately both protected from the west wind and in the full sun; a perfect winter project.
Then, Evan, Kyle, and I all climbed Evil Eye, the tall, overhanging, and uncharacteristically juggy (for Frank) arete to the left of The Communist. Evan and Kyle then turned their attention to a potential right exit to The Communist, which would replace the last two moves of that problem with four fairly serious compression moves out right. After an half-hour of work, Evan managed to send that as well, calling it The Socialist (V7/8).
After a bit of a lunch break, I moved the mats leftward around the arete to try Invincible (V6ish), a highball I had established last fall on the south face of the boulder. Though it took us a bit of work, we all managed to send this problem as well, with Kyle and Evan opting to do a long deadpoint past the crimp I use to do a much more static move. Perhaps it's not as hard as I had originally thought, especially if the easier beta uses a long dynamic move! [Note: I am truly terrible at dynamic moves.]
I also climbed the large 'question-mark' shaped line of holds on the face (essentially following the start of Ghost Rider and finishing on the top moves of Invincible), calling it The Riddler (V3?). It really just has one hard move, but features a lot of very cool movement. I also tried to repeat Ghost Rider (V4), but was so pumped at the top of the problem I had to downclimb a move then drop down to the mat. Scary! Evan almost climbed Ghost Rider on his second try, but like me was too pumped and had to drop off from high on the face.
Feeling thrashed from a five-hour session on the Aftermath Boulder, we packed up and headed to Tim Hortons for doughnuts. As always, a tasty way to end a day of Frank Slide bouldering!
[Tim Hortons should provide me with promotional consideration for all the free advertising they get!]
Until next time!
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Frank and the Big Bad Wolf!
Each week, I patiently watch two smartphone apps and a website, waiting for the forecast to tell me, with some certainty, that the daytime temperatures in the Crowsnest Pass will creep above the freezing mark. When a weekend forecast of +5C appeared, there was no decision to be made; a day of bouldering was approaching. The weather didn't disappoint me, and Kyle, Mark D and I headed off to Frank Slide!
Though it wasn't windy in Lethbridge, it was definitely breezy at the Slide when we arrived. We headed into the City of Giants (again), looking forward to finding and sending some new problems. Like last weekend, I hauled a cleaning rope into the boulders, hoping to find and prep some new highballs.
Arriving in The City, I rappelled and cleaned three high problems on two separate boulders. The first was a tallish (15 or 17 feet) boulder near the Shield Boulder, and the other was the downhill side of the Shield boulder itself (probably 17 to 19 feet high, higher in the middle of the boulder). After spending some time on the rope, I peeled off my harness and went to find Mark and Kyle. I was keen to try try some of the problems I had prepped last weekend, including a couple lines on a very unique wedge-shaped feature on a boulder near the Split Boulder.
Mid-afternoon sunset in the City of Giants! When the sun drops behind Turtle Mountain, it is very dramatic to watch the sunny border retreat across the boulder field.
When I found Mark, he was making solid progress on the hard project on the backside of the Split Boulder. Kyle was hiking around scoping out new projects, and when he returned I convinced them to shuffle the mats over to the boulder with the wedge-shaped feature. First up was a short problem that started on a good undercling. Kyle and I sent it straightaway, though the starting hold flexed a tiny bit (always a nerve-wracking thing in Frank Slide).
We then turned to the problem that climbed up and right through the strange wedge-shaped feature. It took us a fair bit of work, but we finally sent The Rule of Two (V5ish?), a very cool line that climbs up a blade-like feature, through a difficult match, and right through a good sloper to a good topout on very solid rock. Kyle and I then did the final project on the boulder, a very funky and fun problem that starts on the same hold as The Rule of Two but heads directly up on positive edges and a steep arete. I think I may call it Helping Hands (V1+); the face moves were easier than they looked, while the topout was trickier than it appeared at first glance. A fun problem!
Kyle making quick work of Helping Hands (V1+). Very fun sequence, easy if you climb it smoothly and technically, but could be hard if you botch the sequence. Like I did my first try. The Rule of Two shares the same first move, but continues right around the arete for seven more stout moves before topping out.
After wrapping up those problems, I convinced Mark and Kyle that we should move over to the first problem I had cleaned. It looked to be a committing compression problem, following a series of sloping sidepulls up a slightly overhanging face. Arranging the mats carefully (we only had three mats, and the landing was far less than ideal), I started up the face. Intricate and technical climbing led to a high-ish crux - a tricky move to a undercling followed by a balancy move to an incut sidepull. I climbed up to the crux three or four times, but that was as much as I managed. I'll wait until its a bit warmer and I have another mat, I think! I'm calling it the 'Bad Wolf' project, partially because I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately (and partially because the problem is big and hairy...).
Me, squeeeezing on the Bad Wolf Project. High feet, subtle movement, transitional heel hooks; felt a lot like Squamish, specifically like a taller version of Slap Happy (V4) under the Grand Wall.
I did another two moderate problems to the left (both quite fun lines on positive edges), and Mark managed to send a short hard line on the next boulder (The Elitist (V7ish)). Good fun, and a nice send by Mark!
With the wind picking up, we bouldered a bit more (Mark went back to the hard project, and I did another easy problem), then we packed it in and headed for coffee.
What hard problems look like. Mark D on the thin and crimpy start holds of The Elitist (V7).
We went to The Cinnamon Bear (it is open until 5:30 on Saturdays!), where I ate two excellent cinnamon buns (their signature pastry) and downed a coffee. A trip to the Cinnamon Bear always makes a trip to the Crowsnest a bit better; its always a treat to find such a friendly little cafe. Properly coffeed up, we started the long drive back to Lethbridge...
I've been making a real effort to find and clean moderate lines in the City of Giants, and today went fairly well; we put up three or four easy lines that will hopefully make the area a lot more accessible to moderate climbers.
Until next time!
Though it wasn't windy in Lethbridge, it was definitely breezy at the Slide when we arrived. We headed into the City of Giants (again), looking forward to finding and sending some new problems. Like last weekend, I hauled a cleaning rope into the boulders, hoping to find and prep some new highballs.
Arriving in The City, I rappelled and cleaned three high problems on two separate boulders. The first was a tallish (15 or 17 feet) boulder near the Shield Boulder, and the other was the downhill side of the Shield boulder itself (probably 17 to 19 feet high, higher in the middle of the boulder). After spending some time on the rope, I peeled off my harness and went to find Mark and Kyle. I was keen to try try some of the problems I had prepped last weekend, including a couple lines on a very unique wedge-shaped feature on a boulder near the Split Boulder.
When I found Mark, he was making solid progress on the hard project on the backside of the Split Boulder. Kyle was hiking around scoping out new projects, and when he returned I convinced them to shuffle the mats over to the boulder with the wedge-shaped feature. First up was a short problem that started on a good undercling. Kyle and I sent it straightaway, though the starting hold flexed a tiny bit (always a nerve-wracking thing in Frank Slide).
We then turned to the problem that climbed up and right through the strange wedge-shaped feature. It took us a fair bit of work, but we finally sent The Rule of Two (V5ish?), a very cool line that climbs up a blade-like feature, through a difficult match, and right through a good sloper to a good topout on very solid rock. Kyle and I then did the final project on the boulder, a very funky and fun problem that starts on the same hold as The Rule of Two but heads directly up on positive edges and a steep arete. I think I may call it Helping Hands (V1+); the face moves were easier than they looked, while the topout was trickier than it appeared at first glance. A fun problem!
After wrapping up those problems, I convinced Mark and Kyle that we should move over to the first problem I had cleaned. It looked to be a committing compression problem, following a series of sloping sidepulls up a slightly overhanging face. Arranging the mats carefully (we only had three mats, and the landing was far less than ideal), I started up the face. Intricate and technical climbing led to a high-ish crux - a tricky move to a undercling followed by a balancy move to an incut sidepull. I climbed up to the crux three or four times, but that was as much as I managed. I'll wait until its a bit warmer and I have another mat, I think! I'm calling it the 'Bad Wolf' project, partially because I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately (and partially because the problem is big and hairy...).
I did another two moderate problems to the left (both quite fun lines on positive edges), and Mark managed to send a short hard line on the next boulder (The Elitist (V7ish)). Good fun, and a nice send by Mark!
With the wind picking up, we bouldered a bit more (Mark went back to the hard project, and I did another easy problem), then we packed it in and headed for coffee.
We went to The Cinnamon Bear (it is open until 5:30 on Saturdays!), where I ate two excellent cinnamon buns (their signature pastry) and downed a coffee. A trip to the Cinnamon Bear always makes a trip to the Crowsnest a bit better; its always a treat to find such a friendly little cafe. Properly coffeed up, we started the long drive back to Lethbridge...
I've been making a real effort to find and clean moderate lines in the City of Giants, and today went fairly well; we put up three or four easy lines that will hopefully make the area a lot more accessible to moderate climbers.
Until next time!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
The 2014 Bouldering Season Begins!
Last week, the weather forecast for the upcoming Saturday indicated unseasonably warm (+10C) weather in southern Alberta. This, of course, had the boulderers of Lethbridge eagerly anticipating a day of bouldering at Frank Slide! When Saturday arrived, the weather wasn't quite as warm as forecast (probably only about +4C), but in January you take what you can get, and a handful of Lethbian climbers headed out to Frank Slide for a sunny, mid-winter day of bouldering!
Arriving at Frank Slide, Kyle, Calvin, Ryan, Amanda, Ashley, and I were joined by Evan from Calgary. I really wanted to head in to the City of Giants, in part because I wanted to clean some new problems on the Shield Boulder. Several boulders in the City of Giants and Karst Valley sectors are much too tall to clean properly from the ground, so I brought a sling, harness, and short rope along to make the process easier and safer. Chatting in the parking lot, we agreed that The City would both offer some protection from the wind and be a lot of fun, so we packed up and headed off into the talus.
Arriving in The City, I set up a rope on the tall half of the Split Boulder. The Split Boulder has a handful of problems from V0 to V3, but has potential for several more lines. One face of the Split boulder is tall, covered with flat edges, and is slightly overhanging; this would make for beautiful climbing if it wasn't for the fact that the landing is largely dominated by a huge boulder at the base. Despite this I cleaned three lines on this tall face; two of these these lines are about 16 - 18 feet tall, while the third is a bit shorter. I was psyched to try them, all three are beautiful moderate lines on a perfect grey limestone face.
Ashley, Kyle, Evan, Calvin, and Amanda hunting the sun the City of Giants. Evan and Kyle are looking down into the Feed The Need cave; is Ryan down there? Possibly, he did work Bananarama (V4ish) for a bit...
I then went and grabbed my shoes and joined the rest of the group who were warming up on a boulder nearby. I had a fun time working a short rail problem in the sun with Amanda, Calvin, and Ashley.
Evan on Feed the Need (V6ish). LOTS of great holds and great movement on this problem, lots of funky body positioning.
Me on Feed the Need; its a longish problem (especially for me), probably 12 moves long. Looking forward to sending it once my arm feels better!
Evan and Kyle wanted to try the Feed The Need Project, a very cool long(ish) line with an amazing kneebar that makes the moves up a blunt prow at the end of the problem feel easy. The first move on the project is the hardest; a tricky heel-toe lock in a prominent notch allows a long move to a good crimp. This hard move is followed by an easy traverse, then a well-planted kneebar is followed by some tricky moves up a steep prow. Kyle made short work of the problem, perhaps taking only 6 - 10 tries to send the line for its first ascent. His ascent was immediately followed by one by Evan. Kyle agreed to officially name the problem Feed the Need (V6ish), which made me happy. A half-hour later, Evan added a direct start to the end of the problem, which he decided to call Need for Speed (V7ish?).
I cleaned up a problem around the arete to the left, and gave it a few tries before giving up and whining about my injured left bicep/forearm. Evan started working it, and sent it after spending a little time figuring out the beta. Evan had made it look very cool, so after warming up my toes I jumped back on it and sent it quickly. Bananarama (hard V4ish) has very cool moves through edges above a small roof, and involves some very technical and tricky footwork. Kyle sent it soon thereafter, and Ryan also jumped on the line and gave it a few solid tries. A great addition to the sector!
Kyle about to deadpoint the second move on Bananarama (hard V4ish). The sequence on this problem looks obvious, but the lower body movement is tricky, tricky, tricky! There are probably 4 moves to the lip, then about 4 more lip moves before you mantle. Bananarama and Feed the Need are two of the best problems in the sector, for sure.
Several people had also tried the two established problems to the right of Feed the Need, namely Peachy Pinch and Mark Derksen's Mango Tango. I had originally graded Peachy Pinch V1, but everyone seemed to think that was a bit of a sandbag, and that V3 seemed more reasonable for the line. Ryan and Ashley spent some time working Peachy Pinch; Ryan sent it with a solid effort, and Ashely fell off the VERY last move, and was denied the send. Next time! I tried Cherry Pit (V4) to the right of Mango Tango for a bit, but my arm was bothering me so I had to stop, though Evan sent it after only a handful of tries.
The sun slipped behing Turtle Mountain, so people started packing up to head back to the parking lot. I was still really keen to try one of the tall problems I had cleaned on toprope, so I nagged the posse enough that they stopped for a bit at the Split Boulder on the way out. I put down three mats and put on my moccasyms; a minute later I was topping out on a very cool, very tall V0ish arete. Evan and Ashley both wanted to try it as well. After Evan climbed the arete, Ashley tried it twice, but bailed left around to the arete both times, balking at a committing lie-back move half way up the arete. She'll be back for it, I'm sure! It's a fun highball, and because the final six feet (and the topout) are fairly easy it is a great problem for the aspiring highballer (though the landing is pretty rough, would be nice to have at least six pads to smooth things out).
I love this photo! Evan high on a V0 arete (no name yet, might call it Strength in Numbers) in the City of Giants. Great line, had a fun time climbing it with good people! (all the credit for this photo goes to Amanda and her amazing phone camera).
Ashley highballing in the City of Giants!
We wrapped up the day with a quick visit to Tim Hortons for coffee and doughnuts. It was still sunny when we headed east towards Lethbridge, and we were treated to an amazing sunset as we coasted into the city. A great way to end a great day!
Until next time, happy climbing!
[Note: avid followers of the southern alberta bouldering scene will note that Mark Derksen was not mentioned in this posting. Mark was unfortunately injured in a domestic accident that involved a pile of tools and a trip to the hospital. Get better soon, Mark! Shuffling piles of rocks around wasn't the same without you.]
Arriving at Frank Slide, Kyle, Calvin, Ryan, Amanda, Ashley, and I were joined by Evan from Calgary. I really wanted to head in to the City of Giants, in part because I wanted to clean some new problems on the Shield Boulder. Several boulders in the City of Giants and Karst Valley sectors are much too tall to clean properly from the ground, so I brought a sling, harness, and short rope along to make the process easier and safer. Chatting in the parking lot, we agreed that The City would both offer some protection from the wind and be a lot of fun, so we packed up and headed off into the talus.
Arriving in The City, I set up a rope on the tall half of the Split Boulder. The Split Boulder has a handful of problems from V0 to V3, but has potential for several more lines. One face of the Split boulder is tall, covered with flat edges, and is slightly overhanging; this would make for beautiful climbing if it wasn't for the fact that the landing is largely dominated by a huge boulder at the base. Despite this I cleaned three lines on this tall face; two of these these lines are about 16 - 18 feet tall, while the third is a bit shorter. I was psyched to try them, all three are beautiful moderate lines on a perfect grey limestone face.
I then went and grabbed my shoes and joined the rest of the group who were warming up on a boulder nearby. I had a fun time working a short rail problem in the sun with Amanda, Calvin, and Ashley.
Evan and Kyle wanted to try the Feed The Need Project, a very cool long(ish) line with an amazing kneebar that makes the moves up a blunt prow at the end of the problem feel easy. The first move on the project is the hardest; a tricky heel-toe lock in a prominent notch allows a long move to a good crimp. This hard move is followed by an easy traverse, then a well-planted kneebar is followed by some tricky moves up a steep prow. Kyle made short work of the problem, perhaps taking only 6 - 10 tries to send the line for its first ascent. His ascent was immediately followed by one by Evan. Kyle agreed to officially name the problem Feed the Need (V6ish), which made me happy. A half-hour later, Evan added a direct start to the end of the problem, which he decided to call Need for Speed (V7ish?).
I cleaned up a problem around the arete to the left, and gave it a few tries before giving up and whining about my injured left bicep/forearm. Evan started working it, and sent it after spending a little time figuring out the beta. Evan had made it look very cool, so after warming up my toes I jumped back on it and sent it quickly. Bananarama (hard V4ish) has very cool moves through edges above a small roof, and involves some very technical and tricky footwork. Kyle sent it soon thereafter, and Ryan also jumped on the line and gave it a few solid tries. A great addition to the sector!
Several people had also tried the two established problems to the right of Feed the Need, namely Peachy Pinch and Mark Derksen's Mango Tango. I had originally graded Peachy Pinch V1, but everyone seemed to think that was a bit of a sandbag, and that V3 seemed more reasonable for the line. Ryan and Ashley spent some time working Peachy Pinch; Ryan sent it with a solid effort, and Ashely fell off the VERY last move, and was denied the send. Next time! I tried Cherry Pit (V4) to the right of Mango Tango for a bit, but my arm was bothering me so I had to stop, though Evan sent it after only a handful of tries.
The sun slipped behing Turtle Mountain, so people started packing up to head back to the parking lot. I was still really keen to try one of the tall problems I had cleaned on toprope, so I nagged the posse enough that they stopped for a bit at the Split Boulder on the way out. I put down three mats and put on my moccasyms; a minute later I was topping out on a very cool, very tall V0ish arete. Evan and Ashley both wanted to try it as well. After Evan climbed the arete, Ashley tried it twice, but bailed left around to the arete both times, balking at a committing lie-back move half way up the arete. She'll be back for it, I'm sure! It's a fun highball, and because the final six feet (and the topout) are fairly easy it is a great problem for the aspiring highballer (though the landing is pretty rough, would be nice to have at least six pads to smooth things out).
We wrapped up the day with a quick visit to Tim Hortons for coffee and doughnuts. It was still sunny when we headed east towards Lethbridge, and we were treated to an amazing sunset as we coasted into the city. A great way to end a great day!
Until next time, happy climbing!
[Note: avid followers of the southern alberta bouldering scene will note that Mark Derksen was not mentioned in this posting. Mark was unfortunately injured in a domestic accident that involved a pile of tools and a trip to the hospital. Get better soon, Mark! Shuffling piles of rocks around wasn't the same without you.]
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