I know it's been a while since I've updated, but life has gotten busy and not a lot has happened in regards to outdoor climbing. I did, however, hit the gym hard and made some significant gains in strength and power.
I should be able to update much more frequently now that school obligations have eased. I'm on my way back to Portland from Bishop now, and finally have a minute to write up a trip report on my iPhone.
It's only a week into the new year, and I am totally psyched for what's to come in my climbing and non-climbing life. I feel like I have snapped a slump in my climbing performance and am finally starting to send again. After a summer of only sport climbing, I felt a bit weak. I was fit, but was continuously being shut down by difficult crux sequences. A couple months of gym bouldering and finger boarding later and I felt ready for a bouldering trip to Bishop.
Now, on the drive home, I can honestly say the trip could not have gone better. We had a great group, great conditions, and loads of great sends. With unseasonably warm weather in Bishop, the high altitude and cool breezes of Buttermilk country proved to be a fantastic spot to drop pads and throw down. The tall and proud boulder problems of the 'milks provide as much a challenge for the mind as they do the finger tips. We did, however, spend our first and last days in Bishop at the volcanic tablelands climbing the gymnastic and powerful tuff-sculpted lines of the happy and sad boulder fields. The volcanic tuff of the Happys and Sads is reminiscent of the welded tuff of Smith rock and it was easy to feel at home pulling on the deep pockets and sharp edges of the tableland boulders. The relatively smooth stone of the tablelands provided a great first day warmup and last day reprieve for our raw and screaming tips worn thin by the coarse quartz monzonite of the 'milks.
Team Bishop 2012 consisted of myself, my fellow Smith Rock summertime crushers-Jon Rhoderick and Nic Sabo, my housemates Michael and Greg, and a late showing by Jon's schoolmate Brett Bessen. This distantly connected group would prove to be a dream-team as we shared many laughs, adventures, and inspiring sends.
The first couple days were spent shaking the cobwebs off of my outdoor bouldering skills and shrugging off the jitters inherent to highball bouldering.
Day 1- Sad Boulders
I managed a quick repeat of the beautiful Strength In Numbers V5 in my first half hour at the sad boulders. Nic repeated it as well and we moved on to the classic V5, Molly. After a brief flurry of attempts and a quick beta spraydown from a generous passerby, I stuck the crux toss to the lip and pulled over. Nic sent as well. The rest of the crew came close, but no other sends were logged. We then moved onto a fun and slightly sketchy V1 called The Black Stuff. My friend Curtis from last year's Bishop trip happened to be in the Sads on the same day. Nic, Curtis, and I quickly sent the lowball but fun, Anti-hero V5. Nic impressively sent the notoriously tricky Rio's Crack V6 in a couple quick goes. We stopped at the supposedly classic highball, Professional Widow V4 and Nic and I pulled the last move-crux on our way to a couple quick sends. A great re-intro to the Bishop climbing scene!
Day 2- Buttermilk Country
Warmed-up on the easy and juggy routes on the backside of the 60 foot tall grandma Peabody boulder. Finished up with a fun V0 to the top of the boulder and had some fun reversing it to the ground. I then headed to the classic V7 High Plains Drifter. Within 3 goes I had fallen from the last crux move, but ended up splitting open the backside of my right index finger from intense crimping pressures. This would prove to be a theme on this problem throughout the rest of the week. Nic impressively sent HPD in good style 2nd go. The rest of the day was spent climbing easier problems and getting used to climbing with a bit of altitude under our feet. Some highlights of these easy problems were the techy King Tut and Funky Tut and Greg's send of the sandbagged V1- Buttermilk Stem
Day 3- Rest Day at the Happies
I was feeling a bit beat, so I decided to take a rest day. I headed to the Happies with the crew and climbed a bunch of easy problems while everyone worked on the ultra-classic V6 The Hulk. No one had any luck, except Nic- who repeated it smoothly- Did I mention he was taking a rest day too? The rest of the day was spent watching failed attempts on Serengeti V5 and watching Nic crush the tall V8, Highbrow.
Day 4- Buttermilk Country
We started with the normal warm up routine on Grandma Peabody. I managed a quick send of Go Granny Go, V5 and headed over to High Plains Drifter. Two more attempts, and my finger was split again. I decided it would be best to move on, so we
headed to an outlying area of the 'milks called the Pollen Grains. I hopped on an ultra-classic V5 called Suspended in Silence. It's a beautiful highball whose opening sequence completely shut me down on my last trip. One can either choose to pull hard on a small crimper or dyno to a large jug. You must then hold it together through the thrilling upper section of the 50 foot boulder. I crimped. Nic dynoed. We both sent. Suspended in Silence is one of my favorite problems I have ever climbed and is probably one of the best climbing experiences I have ever had. We then moved onto Jedi Mind Tricks V4 I quickly repeated it while the rest of the crew sent it for the first time. A great day of Buttermilking!
Day 5- Buttermilks- Dale's Camp
We went to another outlying area of the Buttermilks called Dale's camp and climbed some great problems on day 5. Highlights were Green Hornet V4 highball and Nic's attempts on Xavier's Roof. Brett and Jon had a serious session on Green Hornet and both managed to send after an afternoon of work.
Day 6- Buttermilks
Started the day with a standard warm up and more goes on HPD. No success, much more blood. We took the middle part of the day off and returned to the 'milks feeling rested. I managed to send Saigon V6 in a few goes. It felt really good to send as it revolves around a crux dyno to jug. Large dynos are a weakness of mine and it was fun to put one down for once! The temps were perfect with the absence of the sun and I managed a quick send of the beatiful and techy Leary/Bard arête- V5. Balancing up the holdless upper section was a great experience and quite exciting! With failing daylight, Michael and I ran a few laps on the amazing V0, Hero Roof and Michael got painfully close to sending Iron Man V4. Another fantastic day!
Day 7- Buttermilks
A restful morning was in order, so we took it easy and spent the morning hiking around Dale's camp and mid day at the "Looney Bean" coffee shop in town. The evening brought more great temps and fun Buttermilking. Jon, Nic and I managed to flash the aesthetic V5, Bowling Pin and Nic and I managed to send the sit start extension, V6 first go. Shouldn't have done the stand first! The night ended with a flashlight session on Iron man.
Day 8- Happies
Morning of day 8 brought about a fierce wind and fairly cold temps. We decided to take refuge in the sheltered canyon of the Happy boulders. I was a bit bummed as I knew this would
mean I wouldn't get another shot at the Drifter, but I knew the tablelands would have much better conditions. Michael and I managed to send a hard V4, Solarium (Repeat for me, first for him). Nic got me psyched to try The Hulk (totally my anti-style), so I decided to give it a go or two. It is incredibly physical and quite fun. I surprised myself and sent it in 5 quick goes and we moved on to Serengeti. Jon and Michael each sent it quickly. Michael seemed to finally be getting his outdoor legs back under him and was climbing quite strong. I wanted to try a V6 called Action Figure, so I carried the pads over and threw on the trusty solutions. Two hard cranks, a drop knee, and a mono pull later and another V6 was down. A solid end to the trip!
All in all, it was a fantastic trip - lots of fun times, a bit of sending, and a whole lot of adventure. I'm already looking forward to my next Bishop trip this coming spring and can't wait to see what I can do with a few months more training!
-Stay tuned for a video of all the sending action!
Eric
A few months ago while surfing Mountain Project, I noticed a route on the north wall of Broughton called Dark Tower. It was estimated that it went at low to mid 5.13 but had not yet been sent. I thought it would be dirty, abandoned and basically unclimbable. Unbeknownst to me, it had been cleaned and prepared (including the addition of a new bolt) by a recent acquaintance, Phillip. In the passing months, I began climbing with Phillip and we made it out for a day on Dark Tower. Phillip had figured out great sequences through the entire route, except one large move lunging over a roof to a full pad edge that had not yet gone. My lankiness and a creative foot placement allowed me to quickly figure out the roof move. With my new beta for the roof, Phillip made quick work of the move and looked close to sending. Even with a full beta spray, the rest of the route felt unlikely for me. The sequences on the upper headwall are intricate, bouldery, and difficult. Exactly what I was looking for! Poor conditions and the busyness of life got in way of making it back out to Dark Tower for quite sometime. I almost forgot about it. . . until today.
