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Rok orchestrated a big outing to Leavenworth: he, Molly and me in her truck; Elizabeth, Loretta and Nick (another one) in another car. We checked out a few areas and all the problems were super fun on grippy rock. Here are some photos.

Rok and i did some climbing before my wedding in lieu of a bachelor party. We started with two days at The Pond, near Ponderosa in the Jemez. This is the best bouldering in NM but the summer is not a good time to climb there: way too hot! Nevertheless we took naps and read under big overhangs and even sent a few fun V2's and V3's. On the drive back to Santa Fe we passed by Las Conchas a little ways West of Los Alamos and new we had to return. We spent a day climbing the bolted routes there the following week. The setting was idylic and the routes super fun. The shade and a couple extra hundred feet of elevation kept the temperature more reasonable. Here are a few photos.

Rok and i returned for more of the same. Warmed up on the BLM's (10a, 10c, 10d) then i worked on Megatherion, which felt much better than my previous thrashings almost exactly three years to the day. Should go in one or two more tries. Rok kindly cleaned up after me :-)

Wow! It's been over a year since my last foray on real rock. Ben picked up Rok and i and we headed to World Wall I in the hopes that we could find a free route despite two overflowing parking lots. Most of the cars must have been hikers because we found the uusual WWI warm up climbs empty. We did Reptiles, and two of the BLM's (10c and 10d). Felt good (if a little nerve-wracking) to clip bolts!

Rok and i borrowed Molly's truck and headed up to Exit 38 to check out the relatively new Neverland crags. A lot of the climbs were still damp from Saturday's rain but we found a relatively dry 10a to warm up on and then thrashed on the wetter 10b next to it. We then moved on to a mercifully dry two-pitch 5.9 friction slab which was pretty fun, despite the heart-wrenching screams of a woman climbing a three-pitcher off to our right. She and her partner made it down safely, if a bit frazzled.

Daryl and i rented a car and headed up to Exit 38 to climb at Interstate Park. We never found the crags we were looking for (inexplicably, seeing how we had both been there before) but we climbed fun short routes at Gritscone and some big mystery slab that we mistook for Gun Show. Daryl led her first 5.10 (a flash, no less), and i did my first long sport lead (ie: it required two raps to get down), so it was a great day overall.

Frank picked up Rok and i at 11 for a leisurely afternoon of climbing on the Great Northern Slab at Index. Frank played rope-gun all afternoon, which offered Rok and i a low-stress opportunity to practice crack climbing. We started on a 5.8 fist crack (The Lizard), which led to easy climbing to our second belay. From there we followed a 5.6 hand crack (Pisces) to an arrete up to a solid bolted anchor. We checked out some of the climbs higher up (they were wet) then rappeled down a pitch and set up a top-rope on a 5.10a thin-hand crack (Libra). It was dark by the time we'd all safely reached solid ground. I dragged my camera up the cliff to record the action.

Rok Daryl and i bailed on Vantage at the last minute and joined Brian, Obadiah, Evan and Frank in an exploratory trip to the Tieton River area near Yakima. While the western portion of the state got rained on, we enjoyed some easy trad climbing. Rok got to rough up his new trad gear, i led a couple 5.5 cracks and Daryl got to clean trad gear. A great mellow day of climbing with great folks! We enjoyed pizza in Roslyn on the way home. My few photos are here.

Matt, Daryl and i drove out to Exit 38 and climbed at Interstate Park.

Went to Exit 32 with Rok and Daryl for the first route climbing of the season. Climbed some old classics at Blackstone, and generaly enjoyed the weather in the company of hordes of other climbers.

Rok and i went to New Zealand for a conference but showed up a couple weeks early for some sight-seeing. We ended up spending the bulk of our time bouldering at Castle Hill, which didn't suck. We took photos.

It was that kind of day...

Rok and i headed up to Exit 38 hoping to climb lots of 5.10's at Amazonia. We found the good climbs wet and the bad climbs... well, bad. We decided to check out Bob's Area but walked too far up the path (most of the way up Mt Washington, in fact!). We evenutualy realized our mistake and retraced our steps, ended up climbing at Chainsaw Wall, first on a horribly awkward 5.8, then on an equally bad 10b. When Rok hung on a draw the gate broke, leading to some tense moments... I cleaned the route on rappel then we beat a hasty retreat to the Rogue Brewery.

Rok and i borrowed Daryl's car and drove out to Exit 38 to climb at Nevermind. Rok worked on the 12a, i on the 10d. Stumbled back to the car in the dark. It felt good to lead again after a 4-month break.

Gabe hooks his way up Baby Crackhead.

Rok on Classic V2.

Justin picked up Rok and i and we headed up to Gold Bar in his sweet Land Cruiser, despite the pouring rain. The drive up was muddy, but we were rewarded with some awesome bouldering in the woods, despite the damp conditions. We met Justin's friend Gabe, who cleaned and sent a new V4: Baby Crackhead.

Rok and i woke up stupid-early to climb at Exit 32. The weather and our climbing both improved throughout the day. I sent Aborigine, Rok sent Psycho Wussy, i then spent 45 minutes getting to the top of Megatherion, leaving Rok with insuficient time to give Bust the Move more than one burn. A very exhausting day.

Rok shakes out before tackling the crux of Bust the Move.

Mike clips on his way up Aborigine.

Mike, Ryland, Eric, Rok and i headed to World Wall I to climb some steep sport routes. I took a big whipper when i failed to clip the anchor on Aborigine. Rok and Mike worked on a Bust the Move. Ryland and Eric worked the 10's on the wall.

Cam, Rok and i zipped up to Little Si in Daryl's sexy little Saab. Warmed up on Reptiles and some 10d, then i worked on (and got worked by) Aborigine. Cam and Rok moved on to some other 11's. We had quite a full day of climbing and i, for one, slept 11+ hours that night.

Eric, Rich, Rok and i drove up to Exit 38 for to climb some "sick shit". While Rich and Eric enjoyed climbing in the sunshine, Rok an i chose to climb on the cold and damp Nevermind wall. We climbed some 10's and 11's, and were pretty tired by the end of the day. The four of us ended the day with some delicious lasagna at Daryl's place :-)

Stephanie, Amber, Rok and i headed out to Vantage to escape the rain. We got a bit of drizzle -just enough to scare off some of the other climbers- but otherwise great sunny weather. Amber did her first outdoor climbing, Stephanie took her first lead falls, while Rok and i realized that months of studying have not made us any stronger. Climbed some fun 10's, though.

Nate, Rich, Eric and i beared the chilly weather and blustery winds to get some climbs in at Exit 38. The cold rock was finger-numbingly good after so many months in the gym :-)

Eric reaches the anchors after his first ever lead. --photo by Kevin Halverson

Rok sticks the crux on Blue Light Special. --photo by Kevin Halverson

Eric, Joe, Kevin, Rok and i crammed ourselves and all of our gear into Eric's fabulous Subaru and headed down to Smith Rock for some late season sport climbing. Here's what Rok had to say about it:

"On saturday we did two routes on the gigantic jugs just left of Gumby - they are not in the guidebook. The leftmost is 5.8 (we didn't do that one but it looked jugtacular), the middle line is 5.9, which we did and it was really really fun, and the right line is 5.10a, which has a tricky upper section. Then we did a 10a on "the peanut" (leftmost end of the morning glory wall) which I didn't like at all - kind of short, slabby, not too interesting. Next was Chicken McNuggets, 5.10b up in Cocaine Gully which has an interesting approach... the climb was super fun, really makes you trust those spooky looking knobs sticking out of the wall. The 11b next to it, Vomit Launch, looks awesome, as does a 12a a little further left. Nick and I then headed to the Shipwreck wall and tried Blue Light Special 5.11a which is also really really good and has a pretty powerful crux at the beginning. There is another 11a on shipwreck that also looks really good.

Sunday we did Captain Xenolith 5.10a which left my fingers completely numb (it was probably around 40 degrees) and was not pleasant to warm up on at all. We also did Helium Woman 5.9 next to it. Then we went back to Shipwreck and did 5.10b Walking While Intoxicated which has an awesome crux and fun moves to the top. I got on Blue Light Special again and flailed. I wanted to have a try on toxic 11b, but it was getting late and really really cold so we called it a day and headed back. Not a huge number of routes, but we had a blast. We definitely needed more time, as we didn't even get a chance to check out the west side crags at all... or about 70% of the rest of Smith for that matter."

Rok and i took Eric out for his first climbing in two years. He did super well, sending a 5.9 as a warm up and getting to the top of a couple 10c's. I had some route-finding issues on a 10d...

Rich and Amy came out to Exit 32 for a change. They both climbed like super stars, and even humoured me as i grunted my way up a cruxy 10c.

Casey and i headed out to Exit 32 for some early morning sport climbing. The rock started out cold and a bit damp but warmed up as the sun inched over the mountains.

Amy ended her climbing hiatus by climbing outdoors for the very first time. I set up top ropes on a bunch of 5.9s and she sent one of them on her first try!

Nate and Casey came out to Exit 38 to try some local cragging. They climbed a bunch of 5.9's and joined me in flailling on that damn 11b...

Rich and i took Lucianne and Jill out to Exit 38 to show them what this climbing business is all about. Taking advantage of borrowed gear from Rok, Mark and Nate (thanks, B351), i led some routes for them to top-rope on. The women climbed super well, both eventually getting to the top of a 5.9. They even learnt to belay! Rich learned to belay top-rope and to belay with an ATC. I dicked around on a stupid-short 11b.

Rok, Rich and i did some sport climbing at Exit 38. Rok and i took a bunch of falls on a tricky and (given the recent rain) sometimes treacherous 10d. I redpointed an 11a (clipping the anchor while in free fall...), which Rok then flashed in his usual euro-style. Rich worked on a 5.9 and a pair of 10a's.

Went up to Exit 38 with Michele and Jonathan, who both had personal bests by onsighting a 5.9 and 10c, respectively. I worked on a pumpy 11a.

Rich and i drove up to Exit 38 to sport climb. Rich pushed his limits on some 5.9's and i flailed on a crimpy 11a. We even felt our way up a 5.7 in the dark!

Nate feels his way up Flaming Arete.

Rok clips in on American Heavy.

Nick grunts on Junkyard Patio.

Nate, Rok and i headed up to Squamish for some sport climbing. The trip had an ominous start as we got caught climbing a slab (Charlotte's Web) in the rain. We took shelter under the overhanging rock of the Forgotten Wall, where we did some more climbs. The weather steadily improved as we explored more of Cheakamus Canyon. We spent the night next to the roaring waters of the Cheakamus River and spent Sunday climbing at Rogue's Gallery before drving back down to Seattle.

Nate, Rok and i headed up to World Wall I at Exit 32 for some sport climbing. The crag was surprisingly crowded, so we mostly ended up climbing stuff we'd done before (except Nate, who was here for the first time). The sun set as i flailed on a steep 10c. The hike back down was interesting as none of us had brought headlamps. (We would like to learn from our mistakes but where's the fun in that?)

Nate, Rich, Rok and i headed up to Exit 38 for some sport climbing. Nate onsighted a rather long and exposed 5.8, Rich learnt to belay, Rok onsighted a soft 5.11, and i eased myself back into climbing after months of sitting on my ass :-P

Cam, Ben, Rok and i drove up to Exit 32 to climb sport routes at World Wall I. Ben got his first taste of cragging as we warmed up on Reptiles & Amphetamines and Devil's Advocate (both 5.9). I flashed a couple 5.10c's (Son of Jesus, BLM-5), while Rok and Cam climbed some really hard-looking shit. I took a few falls on -but finally finished- BLM-6 (5.10d) The weather was awesome, the mozzies where a bit of a nuisance and we were the last out to the parking lot. Sure beat sitting in a dark auditorium all afternoon!

Nate on top-rope in Boulder Canyon.

Back clipping in Boulder Canyon. --photo by Nate Kaib

Matt, Nate and i headed up Boulder canyon for some top-roping and lead-climbing. Nate got his first taste of real rock and i got hucked off a 5.12 with a deceptively easy start. We almost made it back to Denver in time to catch our respective planes.

After yet another late night of Galactic Structure homework, Rok and i convinced my roomate Casey to drop us off at Little Si on his way up to Snoqualmie. We had a very relaxing day, taking turns leading nice sport routes (Human Foot, 5.8; The Big Easy, 5.10a; Streetcleaner, 5.10a; Kinder, Gentler Carpet Bombing 5.9; Sweet and Sticky, 5.9). The weather was spectacular and apart from the odd mosquito we didn't have a care in the world.

Climbs were executed under the magnificent backdrop of the Coleman Glacier Icefall --photo by Justin Ashworth

SON OF ROCK, from Fiona Campbell

Twenty or so of us headed up to the Smoke Bluffs in Squamish on Saturday to enjoy the beautiful weather and learn (or teach) a thing or two about climbing those big natural climbing gyms they've got out there. From what I've heard everyone from outdoor-first-timers to seasoned veterans had a good day out climbing. Thanks to every one who brought food to share at the potluck - yummy chicken curry, deluxe sandwiches, and at least two kinds of cookies! (You might think that organizing an event in the smoke bluffs on the same day as a bike race would have been a problem but instead we ended up having a lot of the crags to ourselves.) Ending the day with a dip at Murrin park was just right and for those who stuck around - prizes! Notable among them are Ella and Juha who worked on trusting their feet and now have a new chalk ball to help them trust their hands, Loretta who constructed her first top-rope anchor and was rewarded with shiny new sling, and Boris whose nut placements were rumoured to be bomber enough that we had to give him one to practice with. An extra big thanks to all the instructors who volunteered to share their climbing time and knowledge with other VOCers!