DARK TOWER

The last two days have had somewhat of a crossroads feeling to me. Leaving the beautiful climber's paradise of Bishop for the cold and damp air of Portland has left me somewhat sad. Aside from the odd day mission to Smith, inhabiting Portland in the winter means lots of time spent pulling plastic in the gym and dead hanging from my hockey-stick hangboard . If i'm lucky, I spend a few days a month freezing my fingers off at the Rat Cave or Bat Wall at Broughton. Although I love training indoors, I also enjoy having a long term outdoor project on which I can gauge my growth as a climber. Plus, it adds to my training psych if I have a solid goal to work towards. The conditions in Portland guarantee I won't skip TOO many days of training projecting my life away. Anyway, I'd gladly give up a day of training for a day spent outdoors on real rock with my friends. I also feel like picking the right project can work perfectly with a training cycle.  I'll elaborate. . .

As I begin the project, many moves will be difficult to complete and I spend much time breaking the route into boulder problem-length chunks. Essentially, I am increasing my level of strength and power until I can pull each sequence.At the same time, I am refining my outdoor technique and having fun in the process! This phase of projecting coincides with my strength and power training period. As I polish the moves on the project, I begin to link larger and larger chunks. Usually failures at this point come from being pumped. This phase works perfectly with my aenerobic endurance training cycle. All the while, I remain psyched as attempts get closer and closer to success.

This all works great. . . In theory

Everything revolves around finding that perfect project. Last year, I had Bloodline out at Broughton. It was my first harder 5.12, felt extremely unlikely at first, and slowly came together. My first burn on Bloodline was in October, and I finally sent it in February after much work and many goes. It ushered in a new level in my climbing, and I haven't looked back since.

Crux Roof of
Bloodline

This year, project-wise, I had . . . nothing.
Dorkboat at the RC is awesome, but the bitter-cold of the east wind, lack of sun, and seepage issues mean it will have to wait until spring. I felt basically done with Broughton as I had already sent all the hard routes  I was interested in . . . or had I?

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.

Phillip and I headed out to The Bluff today to check the condition of the route. I didn't expect much, as I thought the north facing wall would be soaked and seeping. Surprise! It was perfectly climbable (if a bit slimy). Another go on the route, and I am confident it will be a great project! I will be psyched to belay Phillip on the second ascent (the FA happened this summer), and psyched to send it myself! I can't wait to dive into the process: get frustrated. . . get strong. . . send.