Chossy, Ticks, crap rock, these are only some of the rumors surrounding the Thurston County climbing area. I went for my first time this Sunday and it was, well fun! The rumors are true but not to an extreme extent. After meeting up with Duke in Tenino, we drove on out and made the cool bike ride(ok, the first part of the ride isn't too bad but then it gets steep, really steep) When we reached the top we chained up the bikes and warmed up on a 5.10b. It was balancy and took awhile to get used to. After onsighting this we moved over and tried P.O.T. a balancy 5.11b. I managed to stem and reach my way out of the crux and it was an ok climb. Wes arrived and gave it a burn and did quite well. He's climbing stronger than I remember from last year.
Then we moved over to the area classic Battle of the Bulge 5.11a. I managed another onsight and the day was feeling like it was gonna be a good one. This climb was completely solid except for one or two flakes.
Next up was Sketch Master 5.12a. I went for the onsight and got stuck 3/4 way up and took a hang. Then I clipped the chains and dispatched 2nd go. It is a very Smithy(Smith Rocks) climb with a balancy(nightmare) middle section up to a decent rest. After this there is one more balancy move and then campusing on jugs! It was a good route but the finish was a little scary cause of a bunch of decent sized rocks looking poised to go at any moment.
Then a Jared and Bryan showed up and we moved back to the main area and they did some easier stuff . I also tried New Age Technician a manufactured route trying not to use the bolted on holds. It would go probably at 5.13- but there are also drilled pockets. Oh well...
Then a Local Jim(not Yoder) showed up and started climbing. He bashed the WRG so in an attempt to flash his project I fell and sent Second Go. (Damn!) (He still is an OK guy he just has his Gyms mixed up, ;)
Over all Chosil Rock isn't that bad. A couple guidelines: 1) Bring Tick spray and use it! 2) Spread out your weight, don't dyno to a knob. 3) Stay on the chalk and it is pretty much solid. Don't stray too far and you will always knock off small stuff with your feet but most of the hands are Really Solid. There is also some bouldering potential i will explore in the upcoming months depending on school/climbing schedule! So I suggest that If you are a solid leader go and check it out. Almost guaranteed to have the place to your self on a week day too...
3 comments:
Battle of the Bulge is excellent- the best .11 or any graded route at Fossil! Err CHossil" lol....nice job on the onsight!...it took me two trips to do that one (the first time it was too damn cold).
Yeah, Sketch Master was my 1st .12a onsight (Monica belayed me on that one)...good times, I'm glad you finally made it there. So the access restrictions are cool now I take it?
Just got two pairs of slippers for the summer:
1 new pair of the Mad Rock "moccasym" for 39 bucks!
+
Ebay'd pair of Five Ten Zlipper
34 bucks!
Jimmy nice job at Fossil, sounds like you got on all of the good stuff, or at least the stuff that looked good.
Fossil was the first place I ever climbed at in Washington but I didn't have a bike, instead I walked, brutal! I remember Battle of the Bulge had some cool moves, it would be cool to get back there someday and clean that up and check out Sketchmaster. Talk to you soon.
Yes Micah, it's def worth a trip to complete "Battle of the Bulge" (I'll go so far as to call it a Washington classic for the grade), however "Sketchmaster" isn't all thAt...if I hadn't onsighted it I wouldn't have tried it again. The bike makes the trip quicker that's fo sure!
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