This and That

If I knew then ...

... what I know now ...

... I would have spent less time doing this ...

... and more time doing this ...

Winter's coming ... bring it on!!!!

Da Rules - Reboot

Two blonds, two rules??? (Nice shades mates!)

Awhile ago, I posted my thoughts on "The 2 Rules of Climbing" (or skiing or living, for that matter) and da rules were:

Rule #1. Get Strong

Rule #2. Don't Suck

I also added the "Zeroth Rule, which was:

Rule #0: Assess the situation and decide if it is safe (for you to continue).

To recap ...

Rule #1: Get Strong - Obviously, you are not going to all of a sudden become “stronger” just because you want to or need to or wish it to be so.  “Get strong” is you taking control over your body, pushing aside that feeling of getting pumped and about to fall, and finding that extra effort to “make the move on the rock” (while climbing) or to "hold that edge in a turn" (while skiing).  Just one more move and then maybe another and another as you finesse or power your way through the crux or slope.  (Maybe getting in shape ahead of time would be a good idea too!)

(One of these dudes is gettin' strong ... can you guess which one?)

Rule #2: Don’t Suck - Sometimes when we get out of our comfort zone or feel tired or lazy, we want the easy way out.  We feel that we’re “at our limit” and its time to quit.  You may think negative thoughts like “I can’t make the next moves through the crux so I’ll just sit on the gear, call ‘take’ or maybe have a little fall onto the last piece of pro” (climbing) or just skid your turn and come to a stop (skiing).  And you’ll never know if you could have made the move or turn because you gave up!  “Don’t suck” is you taking control over the situation, recognizing your negative thoughts and pushing them away while you commit to the move.

(Erin Mielzynski [Canada] getting 'er done on the Slalom World Cup in March 2012)

Really “Rule 1. Get Strong” and “Rule 2. Don’t Suck” is a mind/body state or experience that’s easy to say and not so easy to do.  "The 2 Rules of Climbing" seemed to apply to most situations, but maybe there was more than I originally thought?  What else was there to consider?

Well, it all became very clear to me this past summer when we tried "Alpine Climbing" out west in the Rockies.  "Get Strong" and "Don't Suck" will only get you so far in this venue.

What was abundantly needed, and what was repeated to me over and over again and again was:

Rule #3: Don't Fuck Up

This is a really useful rule when you're doing something "social" like "climbing together" and you're climbing (or skiing) along some sketchy snow / ice / rock / crevasse / avalanche slope terrain and there's about 1,000 feet of nothingness on both sides of your boots!

(Team "Fuzzy Peaches" heading towards the 11,155 ft peak on Lyell 4, Canadian Rockies)

How could I have missed Rule #3 all this time?  You know there are many situations out there when you need your "A Game" going and attention to detail is Sooooooooo important.  NOT falling or screwing up is an important skill to acquire.  Time to focus on the task at hand!!!

Many thanks to the ACC Toronto Section, Darcie and our sponsor Fuzzy Peaches for introducing me to Rule #3.  Summer 2012 was truly memorable.

(At the start of something?  ... We're not in Kansas anymore ...)

Little Wings

Sometimes the challenges of rock climbing can feel overwhelming.  You begin to struggle and waves of doubt and desperation start hammering your brain and sapping your strength.

Other times, you're in tune with the rock and just floating up the cliff.  It can even look like you've got wings!

Here's Tim climbing a tough finger crack at Smoke Bluffs in Squamish.

https://vimeo.com/51365516

Nice send!

Doing de Dacks

We tried something new this September and went climbing in the Adirondacks in upper New York state for the long weekend.  Nice place.  Interesting granite rock with some crack, lots of features, a little dirt and hundreds of single and multi-pitch "adventure climbing" routes to choose from.

Wilderness everywhere and no crowds!!!

We started in the Chapel Ponds region since it was near Lake Placid and because it has a high concentration of good climbing with short approaches like the "1 minute approach" to the slabs and other nearby cliffs.   Plus the crags had cool names like "The Beer Walls".

Pull off the road onto a small parking area and within minutes "you've arrived".

(By the way, I'm not so sure that I like these double ropes on these multi-pitch slab routes ... too much rope management and cluster F@#& at the belay stations!)

On hot sunny days, and we had plenty of heat during our stay in the Dacks, we would cool off and wash away the sunscreen, sweat and dirt from the day's adventures in the local pond at the bottom of the cliff.

I gotta admit the grades in the Dacks are stiff!  My visions of climbing some challenging 10's were quickly dashed as we "warmed up" on some 5.5's, 5.7's and 5.8's and got totally worked!  (Think 2 or more grades harder!)  Sure it takes some time to get used to a new climbing area but this place is nuts!!!

This is "5.7"?!?!?  (The Cave variation finish of the 5.5 Standard Route up the Chapel Pond Slab).

One day we hopped on Clutch and Cruise, a single pitch "5.8+" route (... yeah, right ...) with an overhanging hand crack and disappearing feet.  (Beta alert: bring two #3 BD cams for the crux, plenty of tape and be ready to fist jam).  It also had a telling description in the guide book as "the most sandbagged route in the Adirondacks.  I believe it!!!

A cool route with burly fun moves none the less.  Definitely worth doing.  (We only got the #3 cam stuck twice which made cleaning the overhanging route on rap fun, fun fun)!

But first things first.  Trad rack and helmut ... check!

Climbing partner, sunglasses and rope ... check!!

Cool granite 5.7 route with mandatory overhanging hand crack ... check!!!

Actually, this 5.7 two-pitch route, Labatt Ami, was more fun and "doable" than most of the routes we climbed in the Dacks.  The rock friction was great.  And the upper crux was easier than it looked from below.

Proof!

Most of the routes had walk off descents.  But one of the route descriptions indicated a rap off a pine tree ...

... hmmm ... we decided to pass on this little wee thing; maybe in 20 years we'll think about it.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Canada and say good bye to the Adirondacks and our little wilderness friend "Hooty", the Guardian of the Upper Beer Wall.

We'll definitely be back again!

Lyell 4 + 5

In August 2012, Team Fuzzy Peaches (myself, Stephan, Darcie and Alex) set off in the wee hours of the morning to climb Lyell Peak 4 and Lyell Peak 5 from the north ridge of the Lyell 3 / 4 col.

After an early protein breakfast and a few last minute check of clothes, head lamps, crampons, ice screws, ice aces, water, lunch and trail mix with Fuzzy Peaches to help "send our Project", we were ready to leave the warm confines of the Lyell hut at 5:00 am.  (Maybe not quite an "alpine start", but we got burned by the weather on our first attempt a few days earlier so WTF!!!)

We set off in the dark, across mostly firm snow bridges and solid crevasses to watch the sun rise on the Lyell Glacier.

Its about a 4 hour hike across the snowfields and glacier to get to the Lyell Peaks 1 to 5.  Along the way, we passed the odd snow slide and avalanche which reminded us that we weren't in Kansas anymore (or chillin' on the dock at Bon Echo for that matter!).

Lyell 4 (shown below) is an impressive hunk of rock with a beautify snow ridge on the north slope.

Fortunately, Darcie and I brought along Alex and Stephan to do all the snow, ice and loose rock leading!  I think Stephan dug through the snow and placed one ice screw along the steepening ridge.

And it was steep!  A very long drop on either side of the ridge.

Still, it was kind of cool being "way up there".

The next few pitches were rocky, starting with a 5.4 "crux" with some really loose and wet rock mixed with snow and ice.  Unbelievable (unless you've been to the Rockies)!!!

Darcie, Stephan and I hung out on a windy, icy belay while Alex negotiated his way up the frozen choss.  A few fist-sized rocks would come whistling by, but we were protected by a large rock outcrop.  Every hold, and I mean "every single one" needed to be tested before you could put your weight on it.  And forget about pulling out.  Most holds "moved" so pulling down was the preferred method.  We also had to be careful about our foot placements since things were moving while we moved as well.

Several pitches of rock were followed by more pitches of snow and ice.  The conditions were getting sketchy as we plunged deeper into the softening snow.  Fortunately Team Fuzzy Peaches knew what we were doing (?) and we had our nutritional stash to keep us going.

Alex built awesome snow anchors.

Stephan built rock anchors out of nothing!

And Darcie and I ... well we helped keep the spirits high!

Just a couple of DFU (don't fuck up) snow pitches to go ...

... and then we were at the summit of Lyell 4.  Breathtaking at 3,400 m (11,155 ft) ...
Alex ...

Darcie ...

Stephan ...

... Sean ... and just in time for the clouds to roll in ... damn!

We had little time to celebrate.  Some food, some water, some Fuzzy Peaches and it was time to move on to Lyell 5.  No way we were going to retreat back down Lyell 4.  There was just this long and tricky rock and snow ridge between Lyell 4 and Lyell 5 to climb.  It looked so simple when you could see ...

... not so simple when you can't see and its getting late in the afternoon and we've got a long, long way to go!

Time to suck it up and get on with the job!

I wasn't worried (much).  Although I wasn't too thrilled about the deteriorating conditions at 11,000 feet above God knows what!  We had food.  We had water.  We had Fuzzy Peaches and we had fresh tracks to follow if the visibility dropped to zero.  Time to move!

A few hours of climbing later and we were at the summit of Lyell 5 at 3,390 m (11,122 ft).  Hurray!!!

I can't see a freaking thing!!!  And it was time for dinner ... Darcie ... what's on the menu?

After a quick bite of whatever we had left in our packs, it was time to descend the Lyell 5 south snow ridge.  We plunged up to our hips down the steep snow slope, crossed the now familiar crevasse field, rapped down a steep snow gully to save time and then dragged our asses back to the Lyell Hut around 9:30 pm.  16 hours of fun in the mountains and 2 awesome 11,000 ft peaks in the Rockies!

Long day?  Ya ...

Worth it?  Just check out those smiles!!!!!

Thank you Alex, Stephan and Darcie.  Next time we'll get up EARLY!