Whew!

Whew! Went to West Van again yesterday on Sunday, and actually climbed a fair bit ! We (Owen, Bill, and I) did a couple of new problems up on the Cypress Hill wall that Owen and others had cleaned, and they were really fun! I repeated Owen's lieback problem (no name yet) - it's probably V2ish, but REALLY fun. Also did another fun problem up there - it starts on opposing gaston holds then heads up and left onto some very cool sloping holds. V3ish, I may call it TV. Then we tried the Cheshire Cat project - very tricky to hold onto it, did the first two moves, but the last three moves look desperate...

Then went down the hill and tried to repeat Jenga - and got my license to climb handed back to me. Ugh. Couldn't do the punch move to the pinch, and fell again and again... Maybe it's harder than V3. V4? Also, One Inch Punch has been done an easier way, and it's now likely V1 or so.

Also spent some time cleaning a few projects at the higher, new area - did a short easy (and somewhat sketchy) problem called Firecracker, and cleaned a short hard project (let's call it the Blasted Project, SD start in the V9ish range, stand-up start in the V7ish range)) and a longish (6 moves at least) very hard arete/roof that looks fantastic. Let's call that one the Roof Project, for lack of a better name).

So new stuff to do at WV...

TV (V3+) Start on the opposing gaston holds at the far end of the Cypress Hill wall, traverse up and left through slots to finish on good juggy hold on mantle. Fun and a little pumpy.

TV Madness (Project). Start as for TV, head straight up. For the strong and flexible.

Owen's Fin (V1+) Climb the obvious fin / crack to a juggy topout. Very cool!

Cheshire Cat (Project, maybe V7?) Start on sidepull arete (L) and undercling (R), then climb up using the slippery smile hold. Fun, but hard...

Blasted (Project, V7ish) start on two obvious crimps at chest height, stuff foot in pocket and head up. (Blasted Low starts with one hand on edge, other in the low pocket)

Roof Project (V9ish) Start on lowest jug. Climb arete.

and like I said, Jenga is now tentatively V4ish, while One Inch Punch is probably V1.

West Van Represent!

I went back to West Van (Cypress Mountain) on the weekend. Mostly I hiked around, but I did scrub a few problems, and worked on trails a bit. I did climb one of the new problems, but it's a bit short and lame.

I am starting to name problems before things get out of hand. So, in the last two weeks, some of the problems I've done include...

In the warmup boulders -

One Inch Punch (V4) SD. Climbs right-hand arete of the Fighter Boulder. Start with a hand on the low jug, and other on good hold on arete.
Ground and Pound (V0) SD. Start very low on sloping shelf on left side of the face. Climb straight up.
Ground Punch (V0) SD. Start as for GAP, but head right along seam after first move to finish on OIP.

On the lower side of the road...

Jenga (V3/4) Starts in an undercling in the little cave. Traverses the lip of the cave, then up right-hand arete. Classic.
Snakes and Ladders (V0) Climb up face left of the cave.
Tic Tac Toe (V1) Climb up the left side of the face using thin slots. Nice.

Also in the area is...

Walk Hard (V0). The tall slab with the slots. Fun!

Bashful (V1). Very short problem on the boulder (uphill R corner of boulder) beneath the cliff. SD start, R on arete L on sidepull.

and on the mountain bike slabs...

Rockhopper (V1). The furthest slab, middle of the trail. Tricky slab with a jug at the lip.

New Problems in West Van

Hello! I spent a couple of days this week in the new area in West Van, finally climbing some of the stuff we've cleaned. On Tuesday afternoon, Ronald and I went there, and climbed a couple of new slabs and a handful of other problems. Both of the slabs were fun, but not hard - both probably V0 or V1. Most of the other problems we climbed were decent, as well - mostly easy vertical problems in the V0 - V1+ range.

Went back on Friday with Lupin for a half day of hiking and climbing. Found some new boulders near the road (including a cool steep arete in the V9 - V10 range). Finished cleaning my little boulder in the warmup area. Sent three problems on it - two V0s, and a V4 arete. No names yet... but there will be soon. The short arete was actually pretty cool, with a interesting heel hook (five tricky moves up a leaning arete/lip).

Went across the road and sent the project I had cleaned earlier this winter with Bill. Really amazing problem, with a cool heel-toe lock that allows for some otherwise hard moves to be done fairly easily. With the beta I figured out, its probably only V3 or V4. But fun!

So how many problems in WestVan now? Hmmm...

17 I think, with a few more projects. Hopefully we'll scrape together a topo soon.

The South of France!

Over the last ten days or so I attended the Annual Meeting of the the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, in Nice, France. Nice is right on the Mediterranean Sea, and is truly beautiful! Beyond that - and more importantly - Nice is incredibly interesting. I suppose it's likely that and semi-medieval city set on the sea would be as interesting, but since I've only been to one - Nice - it is my yardstick.

The conference was very good, the city amazing, the food was great, and the weather generally was very sunny and warm. The only downside was that I had travelled to France without Shel (my better 60% - to call her my better half would be an underestimate).

This photo is of the street near my hotel - the St. Gothard. I was staying in less-than-ideal part of town, but since everything was so different than Canada, I took pictures of everything. There are little cafes, bakeries, bars,and sandwich shops everywhere, at least one of each on every block. It makes perfect sense to me - why can't we have that in Canada?

A visit to West Vancouver

On Saturday, despite the fog, I went to West Van to clean some boulders and maybe work on the trails at Area G a bit. I hooked up with couple of boulderers from UBC who are also keen to see more problems developed in the area.

We stripped moss off the top of several of the small boulders at the base of the slope - the problems there won't be very hard, but will be good warmups for the harder, taller problems up the hill. Due to all the snow, everything was still pretty wet, but it was good to get out and start getting problems ready for when it's a but drier.

We looked at some of the mini-bluffs further up the slope, and Ronald and I found an area with a nice concentration of problems. Probably a dozen lines, about half of them really nice-looking, all in a cluster. We started prepping some of those - they'll probably get cleaned up (and sent) first.

At the end of the day, we wandered down to the roadside boulder. It was finally dry enough to try the two problems that boulder holds. Ronald and I sent the harder lip traverse / arete problem fairly quickly (probably about V4), and Bill sent the easier, straight up line (probably V0).

So, Area G now has...
Problems = 2
Fully cleaned projects = 1
Partially cleaned projects = approx. 20

"New" Cypress Falls Problems

Ahem. It has occurred to me today, while sitting at my desk, that I have failed to report some new problems I opened this year at Cypress Falls in West Vancouver. Ordinarily, I might not worry about it, but because I think these are three of the best problems at the area, I am making a special point of describing them.

All three are on the Darwinian Boulder, near the parking lot. This boulder also has the hardest problem (I think it's called Double Decker) at Cypress Falls. Double Decker is supposedly rated V10. I have tried it on three separate occasions, and it is very stiff, indeed.

All the problems on the Darwinian Boulder share the same start - a low start on a long positive edge below the slot in the middle of the boulder. My three problems are (from left to right)...

1) Darwin's Riddle (V3). Start, then traverse left to the arete using all kinds of trickery. Climb the arete to the fun topout above using a small chicken-head. If it feels hard, you haven't solved the riddle correctly...

2) Survival of the Fit (V5 or V6). Looks impossible, but isn't. From the start, move a meter or so right, then climb directly up the blank-looking face on tiny knobs by underclinging the slot. High, tricky, cerebral, technical. An amazing problem, one of the best at Cypress falls.

3) Natural Selection (V1). From the start, traverse right using the giant foothold; using a hold on the arete and an edge on the face, climb up to the fun topout. A more challenging variation (Unnatural Selection, V3/4) stays left of the arete, and uses only the holds on the face to top out directly above. Another great problem.

Enjoy!

Area G

Despite all the (unfortunately) snowy weather here in Vancouver, I thought I should post of photo of one of the walls at my new Vancouver bouldering area. This wall is one of many - it's between 2 and 7 meters tall (approximately), with lots of interesting features. It overhangs slightly along it's entire length, and will likely have 20 problems or so on it. You can see my German Sheperd friend Lupin standing at the base, so you can get a sense of how tall it is. Some of the problems (well, most of them at this wall) will be well into the highball category. A real 'climber's bouldering area', not for the faint of heart.

When all this snow melts, and we get a few nice days, I'll start posting the problems I've done. Yes, this "Area G" is going to be interesting, I think.