Spring? Summer? Frank!

The season is starting to heat up here on the east slope of the Rockies!  The days are getting longer and warmer, and we are well into the beautiful climbing weather of early summer.  Some days it is a bit too warm for climbing hard problems at midday, but the mornings and evenings are fantastic.  Early summer is one of my favorite seasons at Frank Slide, and this year has been no exception.  I've been able to get out to the Slide nearly every weekend, and while I haven't climbed anything particularly hard, the season is shaping up nicely.

I've been plagued with injuries this spring, however.  A few weeks ago, I hurt my wrist moving boulders in my garden (Shelley and I are re-building our back yard; it is going to look fantastic, I hope), and climbing on the wrist is somewhat painful unless I am very careful to keep it in a neutral position.  I also have a slightly tweaked ankle; I sprained it setting for Boulderfest in the early spring, and this past weekend I fell and landed a little weirdly, and hurt it again.  I don't think the injuries will slow me down too much, but I'm being careful.

One of the reasons I am trying to avoid injury is my upcoming trip to the Boulderfields at the end of June.  The climbing community of Kelowna hosts a bouldering festival / competition every year (Rock the Blocs; check out Andy White's blog with all the info HERE), and this year I've decided to make the trek west to check it out.  Should be a lot of fun; the climbers of Kelowna (especially Andy White) have put a lot of work into Rock the Blocs, and I'm excited to climb at the Boulderfields for the first time!

The toothy frowning start hold of Flexion (V5).  A jug lies hidden inside...

Over the last two weekends at The Slide I've managed to do many fun lines; several new problems, and several old problems that were new to me.  The weekend before last Kyle and I spent much of the day in the west end of the City of Giants, trying some fun new lines with Josh Bylsma.  By the time Kyle and I arrived at the Slide, Josh had already put in a solid session on some hard new lines, and he waited patiently while Kyle and I warmed up on some easy lines near El Sendero Tortuoso (V6 or so, Josh did it while he was waiting for us to warm up).  We then turned our attention to a long, angled, overhanging arete.  Starting on a huge hold hidden inside a crack, the line battled up through a long reach to a gaston, then followed a series of good edges to a fun mantle onto a huge scooped ledge.  After several attempts, Kyle and I managed to put it together; it is likely an old Evan Erickson / Kyle Marco problem, but it needed a name so I dubbed it Flexion (V5+).  Josh added a line that added several moves onto both the start AND the end, and called it Extension Extension (V6).

Past the crux of Flexion (V5ish).  Note the heavily taped right wrist...

We then moved uphill a bit to try a new arete that I had spied a few weeks ago, and Mark D. had flattened the landing for.  Unusual for Frank in that it starts on a good jug, the arete would prove to be a lot harder than it looked.  Josh fired it off in just a few tries, but Kyle and I couldn't quite manage the first two powerful moves.  I insisted that Josh call it Welcome to Turpinchistan (it DOES have a pinch in it!), a name I thought was quite funny.  It is tricky and hard, somewhere in the V6+ range.  I added a much easier crimpy line that headed up and right from the start, calling it Crimpistan (V3ish).  

One of the strange, puckered, apple-sized pockets of Monorail Slab.

This past weekend, Kyle, Mark G, Mark D, and I headed back to Frank Slide, with the intent of heading into the Spiderweb Sector.  Spiderweb isn't a fantastic area, but it does have some really classic lines.  Mark D wanted to try an old slab line called Monorail, so we packed up and marched deep into the west end of the Spiderweb.

Mark sticking the lip on Flying Circus. It's an interesting problem; I managed to do it statically when I was able to use a small foothold on the slab.  If you can't make that foothold stick, though, you are committed to either the dyno or a very hard crimp-to-finger-jam sequence...  After many tries, Mark D managed the dyno way, and Mark G managed the finger-jam beta.  Both look hard.

The area proved to be a lot fun.  We started by doing a handful of fun moderate problems (V2-V3ish) on a boulder right beside the Monorail Slab.  Warmed up, we then moved on to climb essentially all of the lines on the Monorail Boulder.  We all managed to do the unusual but very fun Flying Circus (V4ish to V6ish, depending on whether you climb the slab statically or dynamically), and the very cool slab/edge problem Monorail (V2ish), a tallish slab that follows a small incut rail and - you guessed it - a mono.  We did another line between the two, Pucker (V2ish), that features a very cool puckered pocket and a big move to the lip.  To the far right side we did a very fun but somewhat contrived slab that uses two pockets to move upward, and Mark G tried a steep and blank-looking slab, managing to make the impossible-looking line somewhat plausible.

Mark G on his new *hard* slab project...

Packing up, we hiked over to the other side of Spiderweb, where Kyle and I wanted to try the Telekinesis project, a hardish line on edges near The Wind and the Wizard (V5ish).  After my failure a few weeks ago, I wanted to try TWatW again to see if it felt easier, but all I managed to do was almost send the problem... again.  Mark G and Mark D both tried TWatW, with Mark G sending it after only a handful of tries.  Kyle and I managed to make some progress on Telekinesis; Kyle deciphered the first cruxy dyno, and also unlocked the tricky match move in the middle of the line (he's now done all the moves!), and I finally figured out how to do the second crux jump, and also found a smoother way to do the tiny hand-shuffle crux in the middle of the problem.  Its strange how even after two decades of bouldering, I am still finding new ways to become more efficient at aspects of the movement of climbing.  Now that Kyle and I have figured out all the moves for the project, it's just a matter of linking them together... I hope.

Kyle nearing the end of the Telekinesis project.  Fun!

Kyle and the Marks headed back to Lethbridge, and I spent some time with Josh B. trying a hard (!) new problem left of the Telekinesis project.  After he, too, left the Slide I headed over for an end-of-the-day session on The Renaissance (V9ish).  I had made some progress on my last session on it, but couldn't figure out the first move.  This time I focused entirely on the first move, and made absolutely zero (!) progress.  I still have never managed to do the opening lunge, but I recognize that The Renaissance is my anti-style (namely, very small slippery feet, at least for the first move), so it is going to be a battle for me.

After a long day of climbing, I packed up my mats, shoes, and chalk, and headed back to the van.  Stopping first for a muffin and coffee, I turned my back to the setting sun and headed east to Lethbridge.  I'm looking forward to a great summer of bouldering in the Pass and beyond!

Until next time!

Projects in the Spring!

The May Long Weekend!  That precariously balanced three-day period that sits atop the divide between spring and summer!  Some years, it tips decidedly back into springtime weather, with cold rain, clouds, or snow.  Other years - seemingly in the minority - the May Long Weekend leaps forward into the sun and heat of summer.  This year, the ides of May leaned back into spring, and the weather was rainy (Saturday and part of Sunday), and coldly sunny on Monday.

"Aha!"  you say to yourself.  "But aren't cool and sunny days perfect for bouldering?"

They are.

As such, Monday morning saw Kyle and I heading west on the Crowsnest Highway, sun at our backs on the way to Frank Slide.  The number of problems at Frank Slide has grown steadily in the last few years, and now there are at least 650 problems (as logged on Sendage.com; likely there are as many as 750, possibly more).  Arriving at the Slide, Kyle and I decided to head into the Spiderweb sector.  Spiderweb doesn't have that many problems - large blocks are relatively sparsely distributed there - but it does hold some of Frank's classic hard lines, including the hard one-move line The Dyno That Made Baby Jesus Cry aka the Baby Jesus Dyno (V8), and Josh B.'s new steep bulge problem The Renaissance (V8/9). 

We headed into Spiderweb Right, where we warmed up on a short slab problem, and then tried a new-ish Kyle M. problem, The Wind and The Wizard (V5?).  It starts on a good edge in an overhang, then reaches up to a good sloper at the base of the hanging slab above.  From there, the difficulties start; tiny edges above aren't really quite enough to stand up on the sloper.  After many tries I did the problem from the second hold (urgh!), but decided that I had had enough crimping hard on tiny holds and moved on, leaving an ascent of the full problem for another day.

We moved around to the other side of the boulder, where I wanted to work on a new line that I had tried - and failed on - during my previous trip to the Spiderweb sector.  It starts at the lip of a large (but unfortunately blank) cave, with a good incut sidepull at the lip for the right hand, and a good flat edge for the left.  The difficulty in the problem lies in using a tenuous left heel hook, with absolutely nothing for the right foot to press against.  After 45 minutes or so, we had worked out the best way to do the problem; a very cool sequence which in its use heel hooks and slopers seemed much more like a problem from Squamish than from Frank Slide.  I think I am going to call it either Collateral Damage (my wrist, which has been injured for several days now, was pretty tweaked by the end) or Windigo (keeping with the magical / wind theme of the boulder).  Funky and powerful (V6ish?), I think the line is fantastic, a great addition to the Spiderweb.

Kyle sticking the first, fourth, and sixth moves of Windigo (V6). Or is it Collateral Damage (V6)?

We also tried a new project that looked improbable at first, a fairly involved line following an intricate series of long traversing moves on small edges above a lip. By the end of a long session on the line, we had worked out a feasible sequence of moves, but without managing to link the problem.  To make the problem as user-friendly as possible, Kyle and I put some effort into prepping the landing, so hopefully some of the strong lads who climb at the Slide will give us a few weeks to work the line; I'm always motivated a bit more, and try a bit harder, if a problem hasn't been climbed yet.  The mystery - the riddle - of climbing is important to me; a potential problem or route is always more interesting if I'm not quite sure how - or if - it can be done.

On the way back to the van, we stopped and climbed one more problem, an angled arete on a very cubical boulder very close to the parking lot.  Kyle flashed the problem with ease, while I had to bear down and try hard to send it.  Given the proximity of the problem to the highway, I think I will call it White Noise (V3?). I know what you're thinking... and you're correct.  Kyle DID do it first.  But I'm sure he won't mind.

Fully thrashed by this time, we went to the A&W for hamburgers, and settled back into the van for the long drive back to Lethbridge.  Even after almost three years of climbing in the Slide, there is STILL so much to do!

Until next time!

Family Day in Frank!

In Southern Alberta, springtime has been fantastic!  Flowers are everywhere, and the weather for climbing is almost perfect.  Rowan (who is now 7) has been itching to get out to Frank Slide for some bouldering, so on Saturday we packed everyone up and headed to the Slide for a day of springtime adventure.  Aya isn't really that keen on climbing these days, but she still likes to get out to the Pass for a little hiking and to spend some time by a campfire.

On the drive out to the Pass (which is always too long for Aya and Rowan), I decided that we would go to the Spiderweb area, for two reasons.  First, and most importantly, it has a number of smallish boulders close to the parking lot, which means easy access to kid-sized boulder problems.  Second, the Spiderweb area has a handful of projects I am working.  We arrived at the area, packed up, and strolled down the maze of grassy paths that give the Spiderweb area its name.  We stopped at a smallish boulder beside the path, and I cleaned and climbed three short-ish problems that were all surprisingly good; a short cave problem on the front of the boulder (Orange Crush (V2), a very fun line named for our new provincial government), a left-to-right lip traverse on that same face (V3 or V4), and a short cave problem on the back of that same boulder (V2ish).

I found a fun juggy face for Rowan and Aya to climb, and they had a blast doing a first ascent!  Rowan did it first, and called it The Titan's Head (V0-), as he's on a Greco-Roman mythology kick these days.  Rowan managed to climb a half-dozen other problems in the area, mostly slabs, and had a great day of sending!  After three hours of climbing, we agreed that it was time for pastries and headed to one of the best cafe-bakeries in Alberta - the Cinnamon Bear!

Aya and Rowan, in the mountains!

After we finished our coffee and pastries (amazing, as always!), Shelley, Aya, and Rowan headed over to the river to enjoy a fire and hot dogs, and I headed back into the Spiderweb area to session on Josh B.'s new problem, The Renaissance (V8 or V9).  It is a stout line; essentially seven continuously hard moves that lead to a juggy slab high on the boulder.  I find all seven moves to be quite hard - the problem is obviously close to my limit - but I find the first move (a hard pull to a sloping shelf) to be especially grim. 

Rowan sending the FA of The Titan's Head (V0-)!  He looks like a miniature Nalle H., it's hilarious!

The difficulty of The Renaissance lies, primarily, in a noticeable lack of footholds.  The problem starts matched in a sloping dish under the belly of the boulder, but without any holds to engage your feet, I find it very hard just to pull onto the start holds.  To engage my feet (one pasted on a little nub, and the other smeared hard against the blank face of the roof) I have to really try hard to generate ANY momentum.  As I get older, the "try hard" part of climbing is definitely something that takes more focus than it used to!

Couple photos of me trying (mostly posing on) The Renaissance (V8 or V9).  I think I can mayyyybe do it if I can make the first move happen. Somehow.

Regardless, after some work I managed to slap at the second hold a few times.  Satisfied with even that much progress, I then set to work on the rest of the problem.  The Renaissance is odd for Frank Slide in that almost every hold is sloping (not an edge), and it requires a lot of body tension throughout.  I know that to do the problem I will have to discover the most efficient sequence, and so I spent a half-hour just trying individual moves, learning how the individual moves fit together.  I'm pretty satisfied with the progress I made (I linked moves 2-7 in a few blocks), and left the problem with the feeling that more training is needed to punch through the first move.

I spent a little more time trying a few more projects in the Spiderweb sector, but then packed it in and headed over to the river for hot dogs and some 'adventure time' with Aya and Rowan.  All things considered, a good day in the mountains!

Me on the end of the short cave problem Orange Crush (V2ish).  A harder lip traverse thing comes in from the left.  Also fun.

Spring in Frank

The second of the three mantles on The Sickening (V3 or 4ish).  The problem starts in the small cave at the base of the face.  A fall from here would be spooky.  An easy move, thankfully!

 

After bouldering in relatively warm and sunny conditions all winter long, the weather last weekend felt ironic; unseasonally cold and snowy as a storm blew in on Saturday.  Nevertheless, the weather forecast for Good Friday promised a day of dry weather before the snowstorm arrived, and so a handful of Lethbian boulderers headed out to the Slide to get in a day of springtime bouldering.  

 

After a stop for coffee and a typically uneventful drive, Kyle, Jonas, Mark, and I arrived at Slide, and since it felt a bit cold we hiked around the Spiderweb area looking for new problems.  Walking though the blocks, I ran into Josh, who had just sent his new steep sloper problem The Renaissance (V9).  He was nice enough to do it again so I could see how the line went.  It's very unusual for Frank Slide in that it is (a) quite overhanging and (b) almost all the holds are slopers.  Maybe I'll get around to trying it this summer!

 

We then drove over to the Healing Sector, where Dave T. and a handful of other climbers from Lethbridge were climbing on the Healing Boulder itself.  Mark and I climbed a handful of the highball slabs on the backside of the boulder (Mark also did a lap on Sage (V5) and Jahealey (V3)), and I took a look at the classic Healing Arete (V4) which I STILL haven't done.  Instead of trying Healing Arete, I dragged a mat around the corner and climbed a line I had tried last year; it starts by traversing up and left out of the small cave on the SW corner of the boulder, and then climbs the easy (but very tall) arete above.  It is a fun and sequential line, though cramped where the line traverses left out of the cave.  It may have been done before (though I'm not aware of any ascents), but such a fun line deserves a name so I called it The Sickening (V4ish).

Chatting with my spotters on the last move of The Sickening.  The problem starts in the small cave (just visible between the spotters), traverses left, then climbs the face and arete up to the obvious ledge, where I mantled on to the ledge and climbed the short slab to the top.  Lots of moves, mostly very easy, though.

Josh and Mark wanted to try something a little harder, so we packed up and headed over to Tomb Raider (V6), which is the steepest problem at the Slide (probably a 7-foot horizontal lip/roof problem).  Mark and Josh both did it quite quickly; I found the beginning fun and not too hard, but couldn't manage to get a heel-hook on the roof to stick and as a result I kept falling off.  Mark added a direct mantle finish to the start, calling it Cradle of Life (V4 or maybe V3), and I cleaned up a short roof problem just downhill that we did and called The Shiv (V3).  

 

Since it was getting a bit late in the day, we packed up and went for pastries at The Cinnamon Bear (delicious!), then headed back to the slide for more bouldering.  My tips were thrashed, so I didn't actually climb anything, but Mark and Josh tried the Triangle Pinch Project (Vhard) while Kyle and Jonas did some moderate problems on the Super Heroes Circuit. 

 

I climbed a lot more than I usually do, which was nice, and we headed back to Lethbridge with throbbing fingers.  After a year of teaching at the University, I'm not in very good climbing shape, but hopefully with the warming weather I'll get my fitness back up and get some climbing in this summer.

 The start of Tomb Raider (V6), before disappearing under the huge roof.

 

I've been thinking a lot of projects, lately; readers of this blog will already know that I tend to be a lot more motivated when I'm working something new and exciting.  I've been thinking of goals for the summer, and after some rumination on the subject, here is my 2015 Summer Project List (as of now, anyways).  I've limited it to 10 problems, to keep it within the realm of possibility...

 

1) The Prism (V9), on the Aftermath Boulder.  This line is a bit contrived, but has both exciting movement and great holds.  Last year, I did all the moves but one (which has never been done by anyone under 6 feet tall), but I think with some dedicated effort it will go.

2) The Communist (V7), also on the Aftermath Boulder.  Tall and aesthetic, The Communist is a great problem.

3) Paleofit (V7), on the Giant.  I almost did this problem a couple of times, but never went back with any dedication to finish it off.  Its a rising lip traverse on absolutely perfect rock, and a fun line to work.

4) Evan's Seven (V7), City of Giants.  Great movement, but on flat edges with bad feet, which isn't really my strength.  It'll be good for me!

5) Rising Tithes (V8).  One of the most sought-after hard lines in the Slide, Rising Tithes is across the river, and a little hard to get to.

6) The Rum-Runner Project (V6?). Will be fun to finally get to this thing!

7) The Smoke Ridge Project (V5?).  Not sure how hard this line will be, somewhere between V2 and V6. Looks fun, though!

8) The Hang 'Em High Project (V8?).  This looks long and hard.  It will be a miracle if I do it!

9) Mark of the Beast (V6?).  Another project!  Not so hard, but tall!  And with a terrible landing zone... I'd better get fit to stay safe.

10) Tomb Raider (V6).  My anti-style, but a great steep line.  I'd like to include Nintendo 69 (V9) on this list, but I find that problem brutally hard!

There it is! Ten problems for Summer 2015!

Spring at Frank Slide!

Rainy Day in the Pass

In Lethbridge, Saturday morning dawned warm and sunny.  The forecast was for cloudy but warm weather, and Aya and Rowan were excited to get out to the mountains, so we loaded everyone up and headed out to the Crowsnest Pass.  Our plan was to do a little bouldering and a little hiking, so we were a little disappointed when it started to rain on the drive out.  It wasn't raining very hard, though, so we continued out to the Pass for a day of adventure.

When we arrived at the Pass, it was raining very lightly, but not enough to stop us from climbing - luckily! We hiked around the boulders for a bit, then I suggested that we go check out a boulder in the trees that I had seen the previous year; it had a slightly overhanging and nicely featured face, but unfortunately someone (decades ago) had used it as a place to dump rubbish, so there were many rusty metal scraps buried beneath leaves at the base of the boulder.

New project I found in the slide the other week.  Spent quite a long time cleaning the lip and shuffling rocks for a landing.  Need to move that one more block leaning against the face, though.

We walked into the boulder (just a few meters from the road), and I spent a half-hour dragging rusty metal and deadfall away from the boulder.  What was left, though, looked fantastic - a nice steep boulder with a perfect landing, out of the wind.  I cleaned and climbed the two most obvious lines in the middle of the face, both starting on a low R-hand block and a good L-hand sidepull.  The first climbed up and then sharply left to finish on a nice arete/compression feature, and the other climbed up and right to finish on nice edges.  Both are in the V2 or V3 range, and both are very good!

Somewhat warmed up, I tackled a harder-looking line to the right, which started low on a good incut edge (R) and a good incut gaston edge (L) near the right edge of the boulder.  It looked like it would climb leftward and up on good - but very angled - edges.  The sequence ended up being quite cryptic, but focusing on my footwork I managed to squeak though for the send.  I think I will call it Not Me (V5 or V6).  Since the boulder isn't too far from the old Lime Kilns, I'll likely name the other two problems something to do with those ruins.

There is one more independent line remaining on the boulder, but it's a hard lurch-and-squeeze problem - not really my style - on the left side of the face.  After spending an hour or so at the boulder, the drizzling rain was getting everything wet, so we packed up our mats and headed to the Cinnamon Bear for some of their excellent (!) cinnamon buns.

After pastries, we drove a few minutes to check out the new crag I'm thinking of developing.  It's not amazing, but it is (a) steep, (b) large enough for about 20 routes, (c) VERY close to a parking lot, and (d) nice and tall (about 25-30 m at the tallest point).  It is a bit loose, though, so it would take a bit of work to develop it (i.e. lots of cleaning).  Something to consider for this summer, though!  I took some pictures so people could take a look.

It was getting late, so we started the long drive back to Lethbridge. When we arrived back in the city, we found that it had been warm and sunny all day in L/A.  Hopefully the next day of bouldering will be drier!

Take Care!

Photos of the "new" potential sport crag in the Crowsnest Pass.  Some of it looks amazing, some fairly chossy.  If it cleaned up, though, it would hold about 20 routes from 10+ to 13-.

New Year, New Problems!

The ridiculously warm bout of winter weather continues here in Southern Alberta.  In the past couple of weeks a handful of climbers made the commute to Frank Slide to take advantage of the weather.  I've managed to get out twice in the last couple of weeks, though if I had more time I could have climbed a lot more!

 

The iterant Josh Bylsma made it down several times from central Alberta, once with a handful of Calgarians in tow (including Josh M., Mark, and Zak).  He's been spending a lot of time in the House/Railway area, getting increasing close to sending Frank Slide's hardest problem, Chain Gang (V11).  This week he finally linked all the moves, and sent the second ascent of the problem!  Congrats to him, it's been a long time since the first ascent!

 

He then promptly went on a tear through the Railway Area, sending the first ascents of Once Upon a Time in the West (V9), and Into the Sunset (V10+).  What's next for Josh B.? 

 

In my last two trips to Frank Slide I dedicated a few hours to hunting for new lines in the City of Giants.  I brought a rope along, and found and cleaned two highballs in the CoG, a tough-looking V10ish line right beside a fun V1.  Other than these two problems, I unearthed a few more great lines and a few more projects as well.  In my last trip I sent a handful of moderate lines, including the tallish (and spooky) steep slab Casper (V2), the technical The Opposite of Walking (V3), and the punchy Crankin' Time (V3).  There's not a huge amount of potential in the west part of the City of Giants, but I managed to find a few cool lines nonetheless.

 

Jonas G. has also been fairly active at the Slide, and added a fun new warmup high in the City of Giants called Laps on Laps (V0+).  He also sent The Opposite of Walking (V3), which is a nice send given that it is a slightly heady problem and he has only been bouldering for four months or so.

 

The other usual suspects at the Slide are either injured or recovering from injuries; Kyle is recovering from an injured wrist, Morgan is almost recovered from his leg injury, and Mark has acquired a tweaked finger (not before he sent Nintendo 69 (V9) and The Approved Beta (V8) though, congrats to him on the huge back-to-back sends!).

 

We have been enjoying trip to the Cinnamon Bear in Crowsnest while on climbing trips to Frank Slide; they bake one of the best cinnamon buns I have ever had, and that's saying a lot!  If you have a chance, stop in and enjoy their great hospitality and cinnamon buns, and make sure you tell them you are climbing in the area!

 

On a final note, I have finally compiled a descriptive guide to all 26 sectors of problems at Frank Slide!  It's long overdue, so I finally took an evening, sat down at my computer, and worked through all the individual areas.  I have delineated each of the original sectors based on Kyle's original descriptions, and have delineated the new sectors that have arisen.  So if you are reporting your first ascents on various online websites or social media, try to use the correct nomenclature so we can find your new problems and climb them!  It is hoped that this new guide will cut down on the confusion when it comes to finding boulders in the vast sprawl of Frank Slide.  You can see the new Sector Guide HERE.

 

Take care, and happy climbing!

 

PS> Sorry for the lack of photos, I forgot my camera...