Monday, October 31, 2005
Rodeo
We went to watch a Rodeo yesterday morning. It was brilliant. We had called in on the saturday to find out what was going on as there were loads of horses and we could see people watching something from the stands. It was called a high school Rodeo. It wasn't actually linked to any school but people between the ages of 14 and 18 come from all the 9 districts in California to compete. According to the nice lady we bombarded with a million questions they do splitting, the barrels, the poles, bare back riding, break-away, bull riding and much more all on the saturday and then they get to do it all again on the sunday. So we went to take a look. We saw the poles where horse and rider have to weave between poles as quick as they can (something we would do in gymkhana). Break-away which was where the girls have to lasoo a calf whilst on the run and then stop the horse as soon as possible so the lasoo breaks away. I think the boys have to get off and wrestle the calf showing how strong they are - a typical boy thing :) Then we saw the boys riding the bulls. Again, this was apparently not one for the girls. I have to say, we weren't sure how good it would be as the competitors are presumably considered quite young. But the bulls certainly looked frisky enough to me throwing their riders off and stamping on them if at all possible. It suddenly occured to me to consider where bull riding came from? The rest of what they were doing has obviously come from working on horse back. However, did a group of lads come home one night drunk and think hey, lets tie up the testicles of a bull to really pee him off and see just how long we can stay on board for. Certainly another way for boys to prove 'mine is bigger than yours' :) One day I would like to try some of what I saw.
Knuckle shuffle
After a day and a half of inactivity, the swelling in my hand appears to have abated, and all that remains is a dullish pain. Bruno's friend Steve finally appeared, rather late but not his fault. We put in half a day of boudering at the last remaining main bouldering area, The Sad Boulders yesterday. Not too enamoured with it to be honest, even if I did manage a V2 and a V3 which given the state or my hand I was happy with. Sarah managed a highball frightener rated V2. Steve and his travel companion Colin headed back towards Seattle as the rest of us cooked up the now traditional camp fire delights. The nights and mornings are getting colder, or 'baltic' as Jen phrased it. Days are still absoultely roasting in the sun, but the shade is cold. I've invested in a silk sleeping bag liner, both to keep me warm and to shelter me from any emerging biological threats that may have developed from it being in quite heavy use over the last few years, and not washed that frequently. Never, in fact. 'Minging' was Sarah's verdict - one of those northern words I don't quite know the meaning of, but it sounds bad.
We're slowly sorting out the travel plans ahead of us. It seems that you can race former America's Cup Yachts in Auckland, which sounds like a riot. We've managed to book accommodation, too, in College halls of residence, in the Mt Eden district.
We're slowly sorting out the travel plans ahead of us. It seems that you can race former America's Cup Yachts in Auckland, which sounds like a riot. We've managed to book accommodation, too, in College halls of residence, in the Mt Eden district.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Bust hand
Like a numpty, I bust my hand yesterday, coming off the slack line. The line (which isn't really that slack, more like a very tight crossbow string) caught the top of my left middle finger and when it snapped back, so did my finger. It hurt a lot initially, but I thought I'd got away with it. However, in the middle of the night it really started to throb and swell, and I had to pop a Codydramol for the pain. I don't think it's broken -- I've broken fingers before -- but rather it's the knuckle joint that was twisted. Anyway, no climbing for me for a while which is a real bummer. I'm now confined to town, instead of climbing with the others. At least I should be able to get on top of the blog..
Helicopter flying under the Golden Gate Bridge
The more financially flush choose a helicopter ride, but I'm sure the boat option is much more civilised.
Boat tour round the bay
We took a boat tour around S.F bay, under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz with an ex-commercial fisherman. Very nice day out.
A beer in a hot tub
All the hot springs in Bishop are officially tepid! We don't know why. We went to a hot spring last week and although we did go in it was the temperature your bath is when it's time to get out. We've tried again since and it's still luke warm. So, last night being Helen's last night with us we went further afield in search of a hot tub. We made our way to Mammouth and, yep, you've guessed it, the first one we found was tepid. The next one we tried was very hot....and full. This at least gave us hope that there is hot water to be found and third time lucky we found ourselves an empty hot tub in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Not sure we would find it again.. So, an ice cold beer in a very warm tub under a stary sky was eventually enjoyed by all.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Stef on top of the Grandpa Peabody boulder
Some boulders are high. Even if the technical difficulty of this one was modest, some soul searching was required to complete it
Thursday, October 27, 2005
A non-climbing post!!
Well, finally I thought I should post on here aswell. So, for everyone who has kindly been reading this blog and to who the technicalities of climbing mean nothing I thought I'd make this one a non-climbing post!! Although in answer to those of you who have asked if we have done anything other than climbing on this trip so far I'm afraid the answer is very little!! And I'm surpirsed you asked :)
We're having another rest day. My finger tips are sore, I have a small hole in the skin of one of them and my body is feeling battered. Brillliant!! So, I thought I'd write a few, perhaps random things about this trip so far. Starting from the beginning one of my favourite quotes was the hostess on the plane saying to the passenger in front, "It's nothing to worry about sir the captain is aware" as torrents of fuel are cascading from the tip of the wing with several fire engines approaching. Needless to say we are asked to disembark. This does nothing for my irrational fear that the plane could fall from the skies but fortunately the rest of the flight passes without incident and although I try to watch the same film three times I fail to watch it in its entirety due to lack of sleep the night before. We were up until 4am cleaning the house and packing.
After a brief stay in San Francisco, a place we all enjoyed (we managed to find the best truffle shop in northern america according to all the press cuttings in the window - $1 for a coffee and a truffle, saw golden gate bridge, ate clam chowder from a bread bowl) we moved on to Yosemite. I was completely awestruck by the place. No photos or words could do this justice. The towering cliffs of granite were just massive. Every morning I looked out of my tent at a cliff face that must have been at least 1000 feet high. It caught the first sun in the morning and was lit by the moonlight at night. The enourmity of the place was just staggering. I hear that "Jack Osbourne Adrenalin Junkie" is on back home and apparently he climbs El Cap so you can see some of the scenery we have experienced. Even though it's so warm over here they still seem to be going through the same seasonal changes. The autumnal colours of the leaves added to the beauty of the place. I have to mention the wildlife. I was disappointed not to see a bear however perhaps that is better than to be retelling some close encounter!! Instead we had a visit from a warden with a bear skull passing on the not so subtle message about what happens to these creatures if they are encouraged and become too aggresive. They have stopped giving them names and refer to them by number as they get to know their characters and find it too heart-breaking when they must be shot. They are very clever and although the warderns are constantly thinking of new ways to deter them they are only just managing to stay one step ahead. One bear has even worked out how to open the 'bear proof' lockers. The culprit was apprehended after lots of slobber was found on the handle!! We also saw a red-tailed hawk in an aerial pursuit with two ravens whilst we were climbing Commitment. The coyotes we saw were looking beautiful, apparently they were just starting to get their winter coats and looking fat from eating the over-fed squirrels. Incidently, the only person to be killed by an animal in the park was killed by a deer. A young boy was feeding a male deer when he dropped the bag of food. They both bent down at the same time causing an unfortunate collision between the boy's chest and the deer's antlers. Arriving in Bishop we even saw a juvenile golden eagle. Anyhow, enough twitching....
Bishop is more what I expected of a hick town out west. It is one long street with at least 16 churches and even more fast food outlets. Two tacos for 99 cents anyone? Now we've been here a while the town is surprisingly useful and I'm starting to really like the place. A pillow cost $2 from the thrift shop and has made the world of difference to sleeping at night. Once again the scenery is amazing. Beyond the town we are surrounded by snow capped mountains. Stef has put some photos on so you can see what I mean! In postcard fashion I have to mention the weather. It's been predomanently clear and sunny. People say you miss the rain after a while but I'm finding that hard to believe. Over the first few days the snow on the mountains noticeably diminished. Bishop has on average 5 inches of rain per year. I think we had most of that in one night as we experienced the mother of all thunder storms. I have never heard thunder like it as it seemed to echo amongst the mountains. In the morning the mountains were once again covered in snow and the Sonora and Tioga pass have been closed. Thank goodness we made it here before the storm otherwise our journey here would have been much longer.
I could easily become a cafe junky. On our rest days we sit in cafes, drinking coffee, reading books, chatting....pondering why you would ever by a large coffee when you can buy a small one and take advantage of the endless free refills. It's disturbing how quickly the scavenger mentality kicks in!! If we time it right we buy a bag of sweet goodies from Schatt's Bakery (the best bakery in northern america :) at the end of the day on offer for $3. 'Sweet' is one word I'll take from America. Everything edible is sweet. Usually corn syrup is one of the top three ingredients and it's proving quite hard to eat 'healthily'! Even the bread and cereal are sweet. Mind you, they know how to grow sweet corn and avacadoes! You can easily see how the nature of their diet leads to the second word I'll remember about America. 'Large'!! They manage to do everything on a bigger scale. It must be the only place where you can buy 4.48 lbs of steak for $7.48 and it's cheaper than the bread! It fed 5 of us for 2 dinners and lunch :) Most noticeably their cars and RVs are massive - some are the size of buses. The owners of some of these RVs on our campsite seem to have taken pity on these crazy foreigners who are actually camping in tents and keep bringing donations of firewood checking we 'survived' the storm :) Although we have a good source of free firewood from the local timber yard.
I'm currently getting more tanned on my back than my front and I have developed serious sandal marks. A consequence of facing the rock for most of the day!! A small price to pay for doing what we enjoy day in day out. I feel like we are busy every day. I wonder how we managed to fit a full time job in around our climbing at home (perhaps I didn't manage very successfully ;). Is that the right way round to think about it? I think so now!! I'm enjoying the evenings around the campfires. We are becoming connoisseurs of cooking on a fire and I enjoy the moments of just relaxing, drinking a beer, reading my book. Never has a beer tasted so good after a full day bouldering! This will be my only mention of climbing...the boulder fields are amazing and no surprise, we have nothing (that I know of) of this scale at home. Not all the boulders are high but some are! We arrived at the Buttermilks yesterday to see a group being taught how to climb using topropes on a boulder. Seemed wrong that they should be doing this on some classic 3 star problem. Perhaps they haven't got the pressures of numbers to make them think about this and preserve these boulders the best they can. But hey, here is not the place to debate the ethics of climbing!
On our rest days we are honing our techniques of the totally pointless pursuits of slacklining and hacky sacking. Slacklining is hard. It requires complete concentration and total relaxation at the same time, proving to be more Stef's forte than mine. Well, it's time to go for a coffee. Many of the cafes have free wireless internet access. We have already pondered the possibility of a job where it doesn't matter where your office is. I'm enjoying myself here!!
We're having another rest day. My finger tips are sore, I have a small hole in the skin of one of them and my body is feeling battered. Brillliant!! So, I thought I'd write a few, perhaps random things about this trip so far. Starting from the beginning one of my favourite quotes was the hostess on the plane saying to the passenger in front, "It's nothing to worry about sir the captain is aware" as torrents of fuel are cascading from the tip of the wing with several fire engines approaching. Needless to say we are asked to disembark. This does nothing for my irrational fear that the plane could fall from the skies but fortunately the rest of the flight passes without incident and although I try to watch the same film three times I fail to watch it in its entirety due to lack of sleep the night before. We were up until 4am cleaning the house and packing.
After a brief stay in San Francisco, a place we all enjoyed (we managed to find the best truffle shop in northern america according to all the press cuttings in the window - $1 for a coffee and a truffle, saw golden gate bridge, ate clam chowder from a bread bowl) we moved on to Yosemite. I was completely awestruck by the place. No photos or words could do this justice. The towering cliffs of granite were just massive. Every morning I looked out of my tent at a cliff face that must have been at least 1000 feet high. It caught the first sun in the morning and was lit by the moonlight at night. The enourmity of the place was just staggering. I hear that "Jack Osbourne Adrenalin Junkie" is on back home and apparently he climbs El Cap so you can see some of the scenery we have experienced. Even though it's so warm over here they still seem to be going through the same seasonal changes. The autumnal colours of the leaves added to the beauty of the place. I have to mention the wildlife. I was disappointed not to see a bear however perhaps that is better than to be retelling some close encounter!! Instead we had a visit from a warden with a bear skull passing on the not so subtle message about what happens to these creatures if they are encouraged and become too aggresive. They have stopped giving them names and refer to them by number as they get to know their characters and find it too heart-breaking when they must be shot. They are very clever and although the warderns are constantly thinking of new ways to deter them they are only just managing to stay one step ahead. One bear has even worked out how to open the 'bear proof' lockers. The culprit was apprehended after lots of slobber was found on the handle!! We also saw a red-tailed hawk in an aerial pursuit with two ravens whilst we were climbing Commitment. The coyotes we saw were looking beautiful, apparently they were just starting to get their winter coats and looking fat from eating the over-fed squirrels. Incidently, the only person to be killed by an animal in the park was killed by a deer. A young boy was feeding a male deer when he dropped the bag of food. They both bent down at the same time causing an unfortunate collision between the boy's chest and the deer's antlers. Arriving in Bishop we even saw a juvenile golden eagle. Anyhow, enough twitching....
Bishop is more what I expected of a hick town out west. It is one long street with at least 16 churches and even more fast food outlets. Two tacos for 99 cents anyone? Now we've been here a while the town is surprisingly useful and I'm starting to really like the place. A pillow cost $2 from the thrift shop and has made the world of difference to sleeping at night. Once again the scenery is amazing. Beyond the town we are surrounded by snow capped mountains. Stef has put some photos on so you can see what I mean! In postcard fashion I have to mention the weather. It's been predomanently clear and sunny. People say you miss the rain after a while but I'm finding that hard to believe. Over the first few days the snow on the mountains noticeably diminished. Bishop has on average 5 inches of rain per year. I think we had most of that in one night as we experienced the mother of all thunder storms. I have never heard thunder like it as it seemed to echo amongst the mountains. In the morning the mountains were once again covered in snow and the Sonora and Tioga pass have been closed. Thank goodness we made it here before the storm otherwise our journey here would have been much longer.
I could easily become a cafe junky. On our rest days we sit in cafes, drinking coffee, reading books, chatting....pondering why you would ever by a large coffee when you can buy a small one and take advantage of the endless free refills. It's disturbing how quickly the scavenger mentality kicks in!! If we time it right we buy a bag of sweet goodies from Schatt's Bakery (the best bakery in northern america :) at the end of the day on offer for $3. 'Sweet' is one word I'll take from America. Everything edible is sweet. Usually corn syrup is one of the top three ingredients and it's proving quite hard to eat 'healthily'! Even the bread and cereal are sweet. Mind you, they know how to grow sweet corn and avacadoes! You can easily see how the nature of their diet leads to the second word I'll remember about America. 'Large'!! They manage to do everything on a bigger scale. It must be the only place where you can buy 4.48 lbs of steak for $7.48 and it's cheaper than the bread! It fed 5 of us for 2 dinners and lunch :) Most noticeably their cars and RVs are massive - some are the size of buses. The owners of some of these RVs on our campsite seem to have taken pity on these crazy foreigners who are actually camping in tents and keep bringing donations of firewood checking we 'survived' the storm :) Although we have a good source of free firewood from the local timber yard.
I'm currently getting more tanned on my back than my front and I have developed serious sandal marks. A consequence of facing the rock for most of the day!! A small price to pay for doing what we enjoy day in day out. I feel like we are busy every day. I wonder how we managed to fit a full time job in around our climbing at home (perhaps I didn't manage very successfully ;). Is that the right way round to think about it? I think so now!! I'm enjoying the evenings around the campfires. We are becoming connoisseurs of cooking on a fire and I enjoy the moments of just relaxing, drinking a beer, reading my book. Never has a beer tasted so good after a full day bouldering! This will be my only mention of climbing...the boulder fields are amazing and no surprise, we have nothing (that I know of) of this scale at home. Not all the boulders are high but some are! We arrived at the Buttermilks yesterday to see a group being taught how to climb using topropes on a boulder. Seemed wrong that they should be doing this on some classic 3 star problem. Perhaps they haven't got the pressures of numbers to make them think about this and preserve these boulders the best they can. But hey, here is not the place to debate the ethics of climbing!
On our rest days we are honing our techniques of the totally pointless pursuits of slacklining and hacky sacking. Slacklining is hard. It requires complete concentration and total relaxation at the same time, proving to be more Stef's forte than mine. Well, it's time to go for a coffee. Many of the cafes have free wireless internet access. We have already pondered the possibility of a job where it doesn't matter where your office is. I'm enjoying myself here!!
Bashing Bishop
Getting into the Bishop habit. Nights are cold, days are absolutely roasting, so no real rush to get out of bed. Bouldering takes it out of you in a different way than route climbing -- much more intense, so days are shorter. The Happy boulders are this volcanic stuff that lends itself to gymnastic, arm-sapping moves on large, but sharp holds, whereas the Butermilks are huge, egg-shaped granite boulders that requires more skill, crimping on sharpened Barclaycards, and friction for feet. These 'boulder problems' sometimes finish 45' above the (thankfully flat) landing. This is probably getting on for twice the height of the Bristol wall. A real man-boy sorter, to quote our Ken. We're all doing well -- I've managed my trip goal of V4 -- twice, in fact -- already, and Sarah's got several V3-s under her belt, coming close on V4, too. The Happies are the place for grade pushing, but situated at lower altitude, they're not that pleasent to climb on in the sveltering mid day heat. We ventured a bit further into the hills yesterday to the Pollen Grains boulders, even higher, but due to their remoteness, a real sense of solitude with snow capped mountains all around us.
We're resting today. The Pollen Grains took it out of us all, both skin-wise and muscle-wise. We've set up a slack line in the camp site wich amused us no end this morning. You can see how this can get addictive -- a weird combination of absolute concentration and total relaxation required. We're thinking of heading to the hot springs in Mammoth later on, as we've han little luck with the ones here in Bishop. More like luke-warm springs at the moment, the times we've tried.
I've finally come up with a decent way of uploading photos, so hopefully there should be a few appearing in a blog post near you. Bishop library has the decency of allowing free internet use, albeit 30 mins at a time.
We're resting today. The Pollen Grains took it out of us all, both skin-wise and muscle-wise. We've set up a slack line in the camp site wich amused us no end this morning. You can see how this can get addictive -- a weird combination of absolute concentration and total relaxation required. We're thinking of heading to the hot springs in Mammoth later on, as we've han little luck with the ones here in Bishop. More like luke-warm springs at the moment, the times we've tried.
I've finally come up with a decent way of uploading photos, so hopefully there should be a few appearing in a blog post near you. Bishop library has the decency of allowing free internet use, albeit 30 mins at a time.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Happy Boulders
First day bouldering at the Happies. The rock architecture is rather improbable. This place could be the moon. The rock's very fractured with both steep overhangs and more slabby faces. Both Sarah and I manage problems rated V3. Jen took a nasty drop off a V2 highball and due to some sloppy spotting fell badly - shaken but not hurt. By the time we stop the rain clouds are rolling in producing a gentle but steady drizzle. We take refuge in 'Schatts Dutch Bakkery' (sic) and then for another burrito instead of cooking in the rain.
Bishop (Oct 17)
Welcome to Bishop, Ca, population 3045, Smallville US of A. Pretty impressive drive through Toulumne Meadows and the Tioga Pass, 9945 ft elevation. Bishop is in the desert of the Sierra Nevada foot hills which are all beautifully snow-capped around us at the moment. This is how I imagined the US - one wide main streed lined with shops and fast food joints, and not much else. We drive around for ages sizing up all possible camping options, before settling for Brown's Town Camping, just south of Bishop town itself. The free climbers' campsites are still closed for the season. This is a full service camp site, mostly frequented by your typical massive RV - basically mobile appartment blocks. But it's quiet, and cheap - $4 per person per night, cheaper than Camp 4 in fact, although it lacks the vibe. We head out for a few beers and a massive burrito before turning in.
Committment (Oct 16)
All of us head for Five Open Books crag with the intent of bagging a quick team ascent of 'Committment' (5.9) before heading out to Cookie Cliff for some more taxing fayre.The plan's partly scuppered by finding two teams already in-situ. We decide to sit it out. Jen takes the first two pitches in style - after some running commentary that doesn't exactly settle Sarah's nerves. The first pitch is a fine splitter hand crack that goes at 5.8. Sarah eventually decides to take it on, and sends it in confident style. After an uneventful second pitch that Sarah also led, I lead through the top crux pitch. Laybacking and somewhat awkwardly swinging a couple of corners leads to a sandy exit where I accidently manage to dislodge some rocks the length of the route like a numpty. Bruno and Jen have already waited some half hour for us, so they ask if they can head off. Not that much for us mere mortals at the Cookie anyway so Sarah and I head back to Camp 4 for some beers and more slack line practice. I manage to walk the length of the tape and feel enormously pleased with myself.
Bruno and Jenny arrives back as darkness falls. Bruno has managed to classic hard cracks and is happy with his effort. We're leaving the valley tomorrow, which feels a bit sad. Camp 4 has been a pleasant experience. One last slap-up extravaganza on the camp fire, and tomorrow we'll be in Bishop.
Bruno and Jenny arrives back as darkness falls. Bruno has managed to classic hard cracks and is happy with his effort. We're leaving the valley tomorrow, which feels a bit sad. Camp 4 has been a pleasant experience. One last slap-up extravaganza on the camp fire, and tomorrow we'll be in Bishop.
Five & Dime (Oct 15)
Rain! Shock Horror.. we've had clear blue skies every day until now, but this morning was overcast and a gentle drizzle. Feels almost like home. Finally managed to get hold of my mum on the phone, and everything's OK. She's promised me to alert Interpol if she doesn't hear from me at least once a forthnight. As the weather's looking iffy, we'll probably try some shorter, bolted stuff at the Five & Dime cliff. Weather's set to improve, apparently. We did a 5.8 and a 5.10b on bolts, and Sarah led an excellent 5.8 on gear. Bruno got annihilated by the hardest 5.10d crack in the valley, 'Five & Dime'.
Munginella (Oct 13)
Sarah and I headed to Five Open Books to do 'Munginella' (5.6), a very nice outing, and Sarah led most of it, bar a fraction of a pitch as changing over was cumbersome. The sun was seriously hot, and we decided to wander back and have a shower. Bruno and Jenny had gone off early to do 'East Buttress of Middle Cathedral', an 11 pitch monster. To our surprise, they arrived back at the camp site not long after us, having made good time as the first team on the route. We went and purchased some good ol' American beef for the camp fire BBQ, and a crate of the stellar Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Serenity Crack/ Sons of Yesterday (Oct 12)
Alpine start, breakfast in the 6am darkness. We have 8 hard, long pitches ahead of us, so we'll have to shift. Neither me, nor Bruno slept much, partly adrenaline, partly the Japs' leaving party. We park up at the Ahwanee hotel and scramble up to the start of the route at the base of the Royal Arches. To our dismay, we've been beaten to it by 5 minutes by another team, two lads from Glasgow. We resign ourselves to a long wait. No teams behind us yet, so we give them plenty of room. The route looks amazing - the foreshortening effect hides its true extent, but a soaring peg-scarred crack juts up as far as the eyes can see.
The two scots are moving fast and efficiently, and once the second is setting off on the second pitch, Bruno gets to work. This is climbing at my limit, so Bruno may have to lead every pitch. There are some easier pitches up top, but I don't expect to have much left in the tank by then. First gear is an old 7mm aid bolt some 35ft up. Bruno soon dispatches the pitch, and it's my go. I soon get into the flow of things - every move pretty much identical, torking both fingers and toes into the old peg scars and stepping up. Actually, it doesn't feel too hard, not disimilar to Millstone's Embankment routes, maybe E1 or E2. I join Bruno at the bolted stance, and we sort out the gear and rope. The next pitch is more of the same, just tending more towards the vertical. It feels harder. Third and last pitch starts with some amenable laybacking and then the 10d crux section: spaced finger locks in shallow peg scars, and friction only for feet. Bruno hangs around for ages, measuring the sequence, placing gear. He will have to sprint it. Once he commits he surprises himself with a smooth flowing effort. I only stay on by the skin of my teeth. This is the end of Serenity Crack itself.
We have a breather, some food and water and enjoy the views before we scramble up to the start of the next route, 'Sons of Yesterday' (5.10b) - five pitches of hand jamming brutality. Although rated easier, we're not exactly fully Yosemite crack honed yet, so expect to find this more taxing. The guide suggests that the starting pitch may feel the hardest of the whole linkup for those unaccustomed to 'flared, awkward thin hands'. The sun is now hitting us full on, as Bruno is creeping his way up. When it's my turn, I find every single inch of progress a struggle to stay on. A couple of easier pitches follow that normally I wouldn't have had any troubles leading, but I am spent. The top two pitches will rank as the best I've ever climbed - a perfect hands splitter, 70 ft long and the last one more hands followed by a diagonally rising 'toe ramp' that you simply walk up with nothing for your hands and an offwidth/layback to the top. Rarely have I been so tired after climbing, and I'm glad I taped up for this adventure.We sit down and wait for the Aussie guys following us, as they're right in the ab line. All that's left is now 10 abseils to the deck. Sarah and Jen had spotted us coming down in their binoculars as they'd finished their route about the same time, so they met us at the base. I felt more tired than after the Bristol half marathon.
The two scots are moving fast and efficiently, and once the second is setting off on the second pitch, Bruno gets to work. This is climbing at my limit, so Bruno may have to lead every pitch. There are some easier pitches up top, but I don't expect to have much left in the tank by then. First gear is an old 7mm aid bolt some 35ft up. Bruno soon dispatches the pitch, and it's my go. I soon get into the flow of things - every move pretty much identical, torking both fingers and toes into the old peg scars and stepping up. Actually, it doesn't feel too hard, not disimilar to Millstone's Embankment routes, maybe E1 or E2. I join Bruno at the bolted stance, and we sort out the gear and rope. The next pitch is more of the same, just tending more towards the vertical. It feels harder. Third and last pitch starts with some amenable laybacking and then the 10d crux section: spaced finger locks in shallow peg scars, and friction only for feet. Bruno hangs around for ages, measuring the sequence, placing gear. He will have to sprint it. Once he commits he surprises himself with a smooth flowing effort. I only stay on by the skin of my teeth. This is the end of Serenity Crack itself.
We have a breather, some food and water and enjoy the views before we scramble up to the start of the next route, 'Sons of Yesterday' (5.10b) - five pitches of hand jamming brutality. Although rated easier, we're not exactly fully Yosemite crack honed yet, so expect to find this more taxing. The guide suggests that the starting pitch may feel the hardest of the whole linkup for those unaccustomed to 'flared, awkward thin hands'. The sun is now hitting us full on, as Bruno is creeping his way up. When it's my turn, I find every single inch of progress a struggle to stay on. A couple of easier pitches follow that normally I wouldn't have had any troubles leading, but I am spent. The top two pitches will rank as the best I've ever climbed - a perfect hands splitter, 70 ft long and the last one more hands followed by a diagonally rising 'toe ramp' that you simply walk up with nothing for your hands and an offwidth/layback to the top. Rarely have I been so tired after climbing, and I'm glad I taped up for this adventure.We sit down and wait for the Aussie guys following us, as they're right in the ab line. All that's left is now 10 abseils to the deck. Sarah and Jen had spotted us coming down in their binoculars as they'd finished their route about the same time, so they met us at the base. I felt more tired than after the Bristol half marathon.
Rest day
Rest day. Bruno and Matt the German got back really late last night after a bit of an epic involving not actually finding the right crag. Base camp were starting to get a bit worried, but everything was OK. Today Bruno tried to teach me some hacky sack, but I have zero footy skills. We all went for a run in some spectacular scenery around Mirror Lake, for about an hour - first post-marathon run. We then awarded ourselves a shower and did our first trip laundry. Bruno has talked me into trying the Serenity Crack/Sons of Yesterday linkup tomorrow, which will be my hardest climb anywhere by some margin. We've racked up and prepared for an alpine start - 9 pitches of continuous crack. Sarah and Jen are doing 'the best 5.6 in the valley' complete with splitters on the glacial apron, 'The Grack'
Nutcracker
Bruno and Matt the German headed off to their crag, and Sarah, me, Jen and Dave the Kiwi headed towards Manure Pile. Sarah and I had our sights set for the ultraclassic 5.8 'Nutcracker'. Bruno and Jen had done it the other day, declaring it 'straightforward' (as any E5/F8a climber should, when climbing 12 grades below their top). Paul had told me that he'd had a go as a warm-up a few years ago finding it challenging for the grade. First pitch was a 60m sketchy layback, and it certainly stretched me - I was very happy to swing the corner to easy ground. Sarah came up slightly disappointed having had to take some tension to remove a stuck piece. She led through the 5.4 pich above. Third pitch started with an airy step right and then a 5.7 thin hands crack with some laybacking thrown in. Nice. Fourth pitch felt like the crux, with two roofs and some exposed friction padding. The length of the pitch forced a hanging belay where it was not intended, as I only had 12 draws and I'd spent most of my cams. Sarah came up and led through the remaining 5.4 and reestablished the belay in its correct position. Last pitch is supposedly the crux, an 'exposed' mantle with 'bad fall potential'. We both found it rather straight-forward. Not really much of a mantle, and OK gear and not very exposed. The rest of the route was glorious, run-out friction and chicken heads to the top. Yet another route of spectacular quality, hard enough to be interesting, but never desperate, probably UK HVS 5b or so.
Yosemite 3
Sunday 9th
Had a great day at the Chruch Bowl crag. I did 'Bishops Terrace' (5.8), a full 60m pitch of glorious crack-work. I lack superlatives to describe the quality of this route. Perfect climbing, Yosemite style. If you've done Millstone's Bond Street, imagine three of them stacked on top of eachother. We then moved on to do 'Church Bowl Lie Back' (5.8), claimed to be the choice route of the crag. Sarah backed off the initial slick, bold layback, and I took over the sharp end. This pitch was 35 metres and managed to feel way harder than 5.8. We rarely get a chance at pure laybacks in the UK, at least not for 35 metres continuously. Back to camp via the shop. Had a long chat with various Camp 4 inhabitants over food, beer and a roaring camp fire courtesy of the Jap contingent. Spoke to Dave the Kiwi who upon hearing we're from Bristol were wondering if we're familiar with the route King Kong at Wintour's Leap. Bizarre being in the states, chatting about the Crag of Dreams with a Kiwi. Tomorrow Bruno is off to do something ridiculous with Matt the German, and the rest of us are heading back to Manure Pile Buttress to do Nutcracker.
Had a great day at the Chruch Bowl crag. I did 'Bishops Terrace' (5.8), a full 60m pitch of glorious crack-work. I lack superlatives to describe the quality of this route. Perfect climbing, Yosemite style. If you've done Millstone's Bond Street, imagine three of them stacked on top of eachother. We then moved on to do 'Church Bowl Lie Back' (5.8), claimed to be the choice route of the crag. Sarah backed off the initial slick, bold layback, and I took over the sharp end. This pitch was 35 metres and managed to feel way harder than 5.8. We rarely get a chance at pure laybacks in the UK, at least not for 35 metres continuously. Back to camp via the shop. Had a long chat with various Camp 4 inhabitants over food, beer and a roaring camp fire courtesy of the Jap contingent. Spoke to Dave the Kiwi who upon hearing we're from Bristol were wondering if we're familiar with the route King Kong at Wintour's Leap. Bizarre being in the states, chatting about the Crag of Dreams with a Kiwi. Tomorrow Bruno is off to do something ridiculous with Matt the German, and the rest of us are heading back to Manure Pile Buttress to do Nutcracker.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Yosemite 2
Oct 8 - Early start at Manure Pile Buttress was scuppered by my haviing lost my belay device and then getting seriously lost on the one-way ring road back from the shop.Sarah and I did 'After Six' (5.7), five pitches on flawless granite, which was our first real taste of Yosemite climbing. We summitted to spectacular views of the whole valley, El Cap to the left and Half Dome to the right. Bruno and Jenny came up just after, having done the ultra classic 'Nutcracker'.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Yosemite
Oct 6 - Camp 4 is full, so we're forced to spend the night in a camp site outside the valley floor. The scenery is just staggering. Easy slow drive from S.F. Americans do the whole motorway thing in a much more civilised pace than in Europe. As we drove into the valley at dusk, we could see El Cap lit up with pin pricks from head torches - the tell-tale sign that climbers on multi-day ascents were still at work.
The first thing you have to get used to is bear awareness. ll food or scented items, such as tooth paste, sun creametc must be stored in bear proof lockers. There are significant numbers of blackbears in he woods, but also raccoons and squirrels have a go if anything is left out. Bears 'open' a car with effortless ease.
Oct 7 - queued up for a Camp 4 space at 7am, and were assigned to site #7, just to the side of the Midnight Lightning boulder. After heading back to the first camp site to have brekkie and pack up we finally got ourselves installed and settled in. Camp 4 is the epi-centre of valley climbing, or probably world climbing. 220 people from all over the world, united in climbing. We're sharing with a bunch of Japansese and German. I lack the vocabulary to describe the views. Soaring, 1500m high granite walls, waterfalls, huge redwood trees, and wall to wall sunshine and blue skies. Haven't seen a cloud since we landed, in fact.
Some easy routes to get used to the stuff in the afternoon. Sarah led a 5.6 jam crack. My elbow is ok-ish.
The first thing you have to get used to is bear awareness. ll food or scented items, such as tooth paste, sun creametc must be stored in bear proof lockers. There are significant numbers of blackbears in he woods, but also raccoons and squirrels have a go if anything is left out. Bears 'open' a car with effortless ease.
Oct 7 - queued up for a Camp 4 space at 7am, and were assigned to site #7, just to the side of the Midnight Lightning boulder. After heading back to the first camp site to have brekkie and pack up we finally got ourselves installed and settled in. Camp 4 is the epi-centre of valley climbing, or probably world climbing. 220 people from all over the world, united in climbing. We're sharing with a bunch of Japansese and German. I lack the vocabulary to describe the views. Soaring, 1500m high granite walls, waterfalls, huge redwood trees, and wall to wall sunshine and blue skies. Haven't seen a cloud since we landed, in fact.
Some easy routes to get used to the stuff in the afternoon. Sarah led a 5.6 jam crack. My elbow is ok-ish.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
San Francisco
I could live here.
Getting packed and moved out was traumatic. Finally crawled into bed at 4am, with the alarm set for 6. Very tired, we drove towards Heathrow. We had to disembark our plane after a school leaver on work experience placement had overfilled the tanks, leading to a waterfall of jet fuel gushing through the wing. Quite spectacular, but also quite unnerving when the pilot says that they just need to mop up the mess before we can head off again. Three hours of thumb twiddling (Su Doku in Sarah's case - a big hand to her former lab mates for the foresight) later, we're back on board and safely off.
Bruno and Jen is there to meet and greet, and we head off to the car hire place. Bruno has already realised that our combined packing is unlikely to fit in a 'compact' car, especially with two boulder pads. We upgrade to a 'mid-size', and just about manage to squeeze in. We drive off towards town and get lost a few times. The hostel is squished in between titty-bars and strip joints, but seem friendly and lively. They've lost our booking, but manage to sort it out. We head off for a Chinese - 'first time here? One chicken, one beef one fish one shrimp' the sturdy lady says and heads off before we can object. Very effective, and very nice too.
The next day (Wed) we wander down to Fisherman's Wharf. S.F is a really nice place, very quiet and nice for pedestrians. We take a boat trip with a former commercial fisherman who's now plying the tourist trade. We cruise under the famous bridge, and around Alcatraz. Some clam chowder later and we're wandering back through down town (new SD card and battery for my camera) and arrive back at the hostel for dinner. Jet lag still has the best of us, and we turn in.
Today we're driving to Yosemite.
Getting packed and moved out was traumatic. Finally crawled into bed at 4am, with the alarm set for 6. Very tired, we drove towards Heathrow. We had to disembark our plane after a school leaver on work experience placement had overfilled the tanks, leading to a waterfall of jet fuel gushing through the wing. Quite spectacular, but also quite unnerving when the pilot says that they just need to mop up the mess before we can head off again. Three hours of thumb twiddling (Su Doku in Sarah's case - a big hand to her former lab mates for the foresight) later, we're back on board and safely off.
Bruno and Jen is there to meet and greet, and we head off to the car hire place. Bruno has already realised that our combined packing is unlikely to fit in a 'compact' car, especially with two boulder pads. We upgrade to a 'mid-size', and just about manage to squeeze in. We drive off towards town and get lost a few times. The hostel is squished in between titty-bars and strip joints, but seem friendly and lively. They've lost our booking, but manage to sort it out. We head off for a Chinese - 'first time here? One chicken, one beef one fish one shrimp' the sturdy lady says and heads off before we can object. Very effective, and very nice too.
The next day (Wed) we wander down to Fisherman's Wharf. S.F is a really nice place, very quiet and nice for pedestrians. We take a boat trip with a former commercial fisherman who's now plying the tourist trade. We cruise under the famous bridge, and around Alcatraz. Some clam chowder later and we're wandering back through down town (new SD card and battery for my camera) and arrive back at the hostel for dinner. Jet lag still has the best of us, and we turn in.
Today we're driving to Yosemite.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
13.1 miles of pain
Race day. Sarah had decided not to run, and while the rest of us were tucking into our porridge, she had a bacon buttie cooked for her. Just as she was about to take her first bite, watching the rest of us slipping into lycra and trainers, she changed her mind.
"Make me porridge!"
She had her battle face on already. I realised that at least I had the two hours of running to contemplate my excuses why she beat me.
The start area was slightly chaotic, and true to form we were quite late, and the lines for the toilets were long. As the gun went, it took us nearly 20 minutes to cross the starting line. I tried to usher Sarah ahead such that I could run my own race instead of chasing her, but she insisted that she would run with me. I don't know who she think she was kidding. She disappeared before the 3-mile mark.
I like the solitude of running. Even as there are 10,000 other people running beside you, the race is still in your head. I knew I wasn't nearly fit enough for this. My longest training run was less than half the race distance, but I was sure that with the extra adrenaline boost of the race situation, I'd be able to force myself the last half.
The course spins around a few turns in the city centre before following the portway under the suspension bridge for 4 miles or so, turning back on itself, and then back into town. I was feeling remarkably fresh up to the turning point, briefly seeing Sarah heading down the other way. 9 miles came and went, and the legs were starting to feel heavier. The course is incredibly demoralising as it comes within a whisker of the finishing line several times, before weaving another loop away. I was forced to walk briefly between 11 and 12 miles up the Broadmead hill which felt more like a mountain rather than the molehill it really is. Every step was now a struggle. Suddenly, we're at the start of Corn Street, and can clearly see the people ahead crossing the finishing line. The mental pain of having to do another 500 metre loop nearly has me in tears. I see Georgie and Mike, giving me some encouraging words, and suddenly, it's all over. I stop my timer - 2:06. I had hoped to be under, but given the circumstances, not too shabby.
I limped over to the 'Runners Village' to see if I could catch up with the others. Sarah was all smiles; she'd done it in 1:52 - same time as last year. Allie had come in on 1:58. Chris had finished on an unfeasible 1:27, with Nick taking the biscuit on 1:25.
I had to lay down on the grass after wrapping up in my down jacket. We moved along to The Pitcher and Piano, and rarely has a pint tasted so good, against all available medical and sports science advice. We met up with Angus (1:42) and his parents who'd come over from France for support.
SteveH had promised that he'd stop smoking if I finished in the top-10. He's unlikely to die a fundless man if he places bets like that.
So now, the day after, I'm left with every fibre of my body aching, and still having to pack and tidy and this, that and the other.
Next post will come from the other side of the world.
"Make me porridge!"
She had her battle face on already. I realised that at least I had the two hours of running to contemplate my excuses why she beat me.
The start area was slightly chaotic, and true to form we were quite late, and the lines for the toilets were long. As the gun went, it took us nearly 20 minutes to cross the starting line. I tried to usher Sarah ahead such that I could run my own race instead of chasing her, but she insisted that she would run with me. I don't know who she think she was kidding. She disappeared before the 3-mile mark.
I like the solitude of running. Even as there are 10,000 other people running beside you, the race is still in your head. I knew I wasn't nearly fit enough for this. My longest training run was less than half the race distance, but I was sure that with the extra adrenaline boost of the race situation, I'd be able to force myself the last half.
The course spins around a few turns in the city centre before following the portway under the suspension bridge for 4 miles or so, turning back on itself, and then back into town. I was feeling remarkably fresh up to the turning point, briefly seeing Sarah heading down the other way. 9 miles came and went, and the legs were starting to feel heavier. The course is incredibly demoralising as it comes within a whisker of the finishing line several times, before weaving another loop away. I was forced to walk briefly between 11 and 12 miles up the Broadmead hill which felt more like a mountain rather than the molehill it really is. Every step was now a struggle. Suddenly, we're at the start of Corn Street, and can clearly see the people ahead crossing the finishing line. The mental pain of having to do another 500 metre loop nearly has me in tears. I see Georgie and Mike, giving me some encouraging words, and suddenly, it's all over. I stop my timer - 2:06. I had hoped to be under, but given the circumstances, not too shabby.
I limped over to the 'Runners Village' to see if I could catch up with the others. Sarah was all smiles; she'd done it in 1:52 - same time as last year. Allie had come in on 1:58. Chris had finished on an unfeasible 1:27, with Nick taking the biscuit on 1:25.
I had to lay down on the grass after wrapping up in my down jacket. We moved along to The Pitcher and Piano, and rarely has a pint tasted so good, against all available medical and sports science advice. We met up with Angus (1:42) and his parents who'd come over from France for support.
SteveH had promised that he'd stop smoking if I finished in the top-10. He's unlikely to die a fundless man if he places bets like that.
So now, the day after, I'm left with every fibre of my body aching, and still having to pack and tidy and this, that and the other.
Next post will come from the other side of the world.
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