More Boulders

Wow, Yelm is turning out to be a hot spot for a bunch of so so boulders. Today, I wanted to go back down to last place off of the paved road, but the gate was open so it was a no go. There was one other access gate owned by Warehouser closer to the main highway. so after riding around on different trails for an hour, I found two pretty cool/solid boulders with a dozen or so easy problems. It probably has about a 25min. bike approach on flat gravel and maybe a 30min(probally less) walk on ATV trails. Brush will come this winter once huntin' season is over. The rock isn't conglomerate which is nice. just a quick update... -jimmy

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More Climbing in Olympia!

Since all my rides for a Leavenworth trip fell apart, I decided to stay local and check out a hunch I had 'bout some local climbing. Boy, was I rewarded. Awhile back I checked goolge Earth for some steep looking walls and found some near Yelm, on Vail Loop Road. I tried to check this place out earlier, but the road online is actually a gated Warehouser road. The second time the road was closed due to high fire danger. This time, all was good. I saw two potential crags(Rock quality unknown) but what I was huntin' fer were BOULDERS. The first one I found was a weird basketball shaped boulder, which is conglomerate similar to the near by Fossil Rock. A little father away there were 6 or so more in a little valley. The quality is iffy but it IS climbable. I'll be back with some pictures and a brush. The approach is a short 20min. bike ride on a PAVED road! There is rock near Oly, but consider it adventure bouldering... -jimmy

Click the link for a view from google earth of the boulder

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RAIN! In Leavenworth

30% chance my but! What was going to be a multi day trip with a couple car loads ended up being a fun day trip and one car. I went with some realitively new climbers who happen to be going to SPSCC too. Ryan, his sister Amanda, and Jimmy and I headed over the pass in rain and rolled into a cloud/Leavenworth. This has never happened to me before. We optimistaclly set up camp and headed over to the Swifterwater cave where a group from the Circuit Bouldering gym in Portland were huddle. We joined them for a bit and Ben was there(I met him in Squamish). I felt pretty strong in the cave, flashing the right route and getteing the middle left line in a couple goes(No top outs, it was raining). After debating what to do, we ventured into the tourist trap and walked around. We stopped in a cheese store and had some really good sweet/nutty cheese, so we bought a 1/4 pound and some pastries and headed to camp for dinner. After dinner in the rain we headed across the road to The Lefty(V7). The thing was hard and trick, but dry(though drips seemed to hunt down Jimmy). We made up a couple of lines. After messing around we called it quits, packed up and headed home. It was a harsh intro to outdoor climbing for Amanda, but next time it will be dryer, I promise!
On Sunday, Lisa, Eric Givins and I sped on up to Stone Gardens to test our nettle inside of the storm. I surprised myself flashing most V6's but getting shut down cold on V7's and up. It was good training to get on non-Jimmy routes, and not know the sequence. Hopefully next weekend is dry, so I can get on some nice granite. On side a note, I aquired the Mamzama Guide book and the place looks really fun, future trips next year... -jimmy

Bouldering in the Olympics

Oops, looks like I was on the sleeper boulder.

Olympics Bouldering

The Imperial Cruiser Boulder

An undone arete, Viper anyone?

Viper like arete, with project to the right.

No spotters=3 pads

I recently purchased the Olympic Mountain Rescue guidebook to the Olympics for information about Elhwa Wall, (a cool sandstone sport crag I'm checking out on Thur.), thumbing through the book I stumbled across a page called Jefferson Lake Boulders. I was surprised to see bouldering in a book like this since very little if any mountaineers boulder. So, I decided to go and check it out. Friday I left around 10ish with three pads an my mom to film, (filming over spotting, bring lots of pads). It took only around 1.5 hours to get there. I looked around first and saw 11 or so good boulders with at least 50 or so lines possible, most need a good scrubin' though. The best part is, if you want to camp the boulders surround a free campsite!

I grabbed my pads and headed off to the Yoda boulder, it had the most chalk on it, and was pretty steep. I flashed the line and then started cleaning the left side of the wall. I found a cool dyno and sent it with only a little hesitation before the big throw. Next, I had my eye on a cool arete on the Imperial Cruiser boulder. The start went at about V5ish but the top out was dirty. There was a slopey line to the right which had one or two hints of chalk. I gave this line a couple burns and figured its around V9/10 range. I'm really psyched to come back and work it some more.

After calling it a day for bouldering, it was time to explore(I probably like exploring more than boulering). We went over to the lake and first thing that catches my eye is this block with a 45 angle and a decent slab top out. I meandered my way over and was glad to find a line on this sick face. It would start on a juggy rail and go to two juggy pockets, a crimp then the lip! Next time this sick line is going down! Bad landing so some spotters would be nice.

It was a good day out, and I am definitely coming back. These blocks are certainly worth the time and effort... -JC

32 Trad

On Sunday, Eric, Andrew, Jessica and I headed over to 32 so Andrew could try out his new trad rack plus I could try some hard sport. The trad was fun and nothing got lost! I led three pure trad leads and one mixed route. I'm definitely leaning towards buying more cams because they're easier to place than nuts, but with nuts it's obvious whether if it's bomber or not(Dession time). I tried Californicator again and got to the same place and fell. I felt pretty good going into the crux, but couldn't decide what to do. I solved this problem with a heel hook(after I fell). Dom now has a pretty good lead on 8a and I don't expect him to slowdown anytime soon. It's hard to stay focused when after each Little Si session I feel a slight urge to go to Leavenworth. But, I'm in the best sport shape of my life now, and to stop would just be a waste. So Dom, keep looking over your shoulder, I'm still comin' after ya! -JC

Ozone Onsight

Dom showing his amazing onsight skills at Ozone