2010 in Retrospect

2010 was a good year for me and my climbing. I was able to climb outside a lot more than I did in 2009. I had some good projects that I enjoyed working. While I did enjoy working projects I must say sometimes projects can be really annoying! Annoying because all I think about during the week are the moves and clipping positions on my project and then when I'm all psyched up for the weekend - it rains :(. For a while I just had one project at one crag. I think that was a bad idea because I think some of my climbing partners may have gotten sick of that crag and they may have had projects at other crags and then the beginning of the day is all about who gets to go work on their project. With a little thought on my part that didn't last too long. I started finding projects at different crags so no matter where we went there was something that I was working on. I plan to continue this into 2011 except I'm hoping to expand on it a little more. My plan is to have around 2 projects at all of the crags that we go to. I am a little worried that I'll have a bunch of projects on the go and that I won't send any of them but I think with some planning things will go well.

At the beginning of last year I posted a list of routes that I wanted to climb for the year. I climbed a bunch of them and some of them I didn't even come close to attempting for various reasons. Following is the list and then the play-by-play of what happend with them in 2010.



    Route           Grade          Crag

1. Gravity Boy 5.11d White Buddha

2. Dharmakaya 5.12b White Buddha

3. Wicked Gravity 5.11a Lake Louise

4. Masterbretter 5.11b Heart Creek

5. Beat Farmer 5.12a Heart Creek

6. Paint it Black 5.11a Heart Creek

7. Heart of Darkness 5.11b Heart Creek

8. Hecubus 5.13a Heart Creek

9. Sisyphus Summits 5.10d Ha Ling Peak

10. Blank of the map 5.11a Barrier Mountain

11. Pull Fat Boy Pull 5.11c Barrier Mountain


1)Gravity Boy - I think this was the first on the list that I did. I personally think that it is the best route at White Buddha. At the time this was the hardest route that I had done outdoors. The odd thing was that I didn't try anything else at this grade for quite some time.
2)Dharmakaya- I never got around to attempting this one. Probably because I decided I wanted to do every 5.12 at White Buddha and so this one got pushed aside for other ones.
3)Wicked Gravity - I never even went to Lake Louise in 2010 :(
4)Masterbretter - There were other lines nearby that called my name and I answered. I'll probably do this one at some point in 2011 but it won't make it back onto the list.
5)Beat Farmer - I fell from the top of this route like 30 times probably. Mostly because I couldn't find the hold to clip the chains from. So, I probably put more work into this route than I probably would have needed to if I had known where that hold was. Good route though. Short.
6)Paint it Black - I did this one earlier in the year. Loved it. I think the way this route felt to me will stay with me for a long time I will/have been using this route to compare what 5.11a should feel like.
7)Heart of Darkness - I onsighted this one and it felt good. I really liked the crux move that I did. I recommend this one.
8)Hecubus - I was gonna do this one as my big hard 5.13a project but everytime I was there I just wasn't feeling it so I never did it and I will probably take it off the list for 2011
9)Sisyphus Summits - This is one of those "ultimate" routes. It's like 21 pitches(?) or something. It's on a cliff overlooking the town of Canmore. I never got around to it in 2010. But this is definitely gonna stay on the list for 2011.
10)Blank on the Map - Did this one second go. It's a one move wonder and I didn't really think it was anything special.
11)Pull Fat Boy Pull - This one took me way longer to send than it should have. Rain, tiredness, and figuring out the crux made this route take quite a while for me. Once I figured it out though it was great to complete.

In making a list for the year of routes that I would like to do sometimes I choose routes based on what I've heard from friends. Sometimes I decide because I really like the look of the line and I think it looks like it will be really cool. I occasionally pick routes based on what the guidebook says although that is usually how I do it if I'm going to a crag that I've never been to - and then I reserve the right to change my mind once I get there and see it. I often climb routes that are not on my list as well. I don't think it's a good idea to restrict yourself like that. You can miss out on some pretty awesome opportunities that way.