The Summer is Gone

Well, I haven't posted on here in a while. I guess I have just been getting lazy. I had a pretty good summer of climbing this year. Climbed some hard routes and did more trad climbing than ever before.

I had a bad fall on Yamnuska doing the route Bottleneck 5.8. I grabbed a hold that decided it didn't want to be a hold anymore. I ended up with a slight concusion, injured tailbone, and a hyperextended tendon in my heel.

I recently had the time and interest to put together a video from footage that my friend Robin and I shot of us on Yamnuska. We climbed the route Grillmair Chimneys 5.6. Here is the video:



Yam Project from MikeG on Vimeo.


 I plan on taking it easy from climbing for the month of November. Then will start doing some training again in December to get ready for our annual trip to Red Rocks, Nevada. 

Climbing!!!!!

Wow, I have definitely been slipping when it comes to updating this blog. I've also been getting lazy when it comes to taking videos and pictures. I guess I've just been busy. Got a new job a little while ago. Also, that time off with my shoulder injury kind of made me forget about my drive for updating my blog etc.

Anyway, I've been trying to get outside and climb more! Yesterday,  my friend Claire and I were going to go out to Lake Louise to climb. We soon discovered that the further we drove west the worse the weather got. We ended up turning around and checking out a place that neither of us had been to before. We went and checked out Cougar Canyon. I thought it was quite a pleasant place! There are some fun routes and a good variety of climbs. Comparing the Crowbar Crag to Poolside or Cosmology.... it's hard to believe they were all at the same "crag". The weather was good, the routes were fun. I really enjoyed it.

I climbed a few routes - my favourites being at Cosmology crag. I onsighted Redshift 5.10b - a really cool long route with multiple cruxes that I highly recommend. I was also able to onsight Outer Limits 5.12a. That was a prett sweet onsight. I was extremely happy to top that one out first try. There were a couple of dicey spots but it all came together! The route has fairly descent handholds but the feet aren't always the best.

I wish I had pictures or video but alas - I don't.

Till next time.

Recovering From Injury

A few weeks ago I was route setting in the gym and messed up my left shoulder. I went to the doctor who believes that I tore my rhomboid (the muscle between the shoulder blade and spine). It's an injury I've never heard of a climber getting before but I suppose it doesn't seem to far fetched either. I've been icing it and "taking it easy" for the last 3 weeks or so.....

Workin the Proj and a Climbing Trip

I started working on a new project out at Barrier Mountain on saturday. It's called Kiwis Fly (5.12d). It's a pretty sweet route with a tough crux. I just worked it for the first time on Saturday and then returned on Monday for some more. On Monday I was able to get all the way to the crux in one go which felt pretty good. The new guide book Bow Valley Sport Climbs says to cut left at the roof (crux) but my beta goes straight over - cutting way to the left seems a bit off route to me. Here is a picture of my hand after getting owned at the crux.

My fingers were bleeding quite profusely but I just kept chalking 'em up and and kept climbing. It seemed to stop the bleeding after a while. I think I'll be able to do this route. It's just a matter of time. 

On a completely different topic. I am gonna be going to Skaha for 4 days. Should be a blast. I will mostly be focusing on onsighting, which is what I usually do when I go on a climbing trip. So, we'll see if I send anything awesome. 

I'm going with a bunch of people that I recently met at the climbing wall. I haven't done that very much (tagged along with people I don't know very well on a climbing trip) although I've had people tag along with me before. It should be an interesting time. 

A Short Post

This isn't about climbing so much, but I'm graduating from university! That's pretty exciting. I'm gonna have an engineering degree. I majored in civil engineering with a minor in structural engineering.

Hopefully I'll get a decent job in the near future.

I was just thinking tonight that after I get a job I would like to purchase one of these:

http://www.toolnut.com/Bosch_11536C_1_36_Volt_Lithium_Ion_Hammer_Drill_p/11536c-1.htm

Maybe contribute to the climbing community a little bit in the future. In the mean time I'm thinking this summer maybe I'll borrow a drill and start the learning process.  

That Guy

So, I was thinking today about my recent climbing adventure at White Buddha. I realize that I was dangerously close to being "that guy". I had just come down from doing my project (Yay!) and I was kinda just sitting there watching these other climbers trying to do a boulder problem that (I think) I had done before. I was tempted to go over there, strike up a brief conversation, and then give the problem a try - assuming of course that I would crush it and may even be helping them out by showing them some beta. Then I realized that that would be (pardon my french) a real dick move. So, I didn't do it. But realized that I was pretty close to being that guy.

It reminded me of this blog post from a couple of weeks ago. It is a pretty good blog post and I recommend reading it. It's good for a short laugh until you start seeing yourself in the various climber personalities that he talks about.

I remember when I started climbing - watching

Tick on the Cleaning List

Today I was able to clean up one of my leftover projects from last summer. That always feels good. It was a boulder problem that turns into a route at White Buddha. The boulder problem is a V5/6 called Trout Fishing in America that turns into a route called Brown Trout (5.12c). It was weird because I did the boulder problem like a year ago (no rope) and then was unable to do the route until now. The route adds like 2-3 moves that are a little tough (not nearly as hard as the previous boulder problem) and then it's pretty much smooth sailing from there. I honestly think that I just had bad luck in taking so long to do it. I had bad weather and injuries occuring at the wrong moments for it all to come together. I also had issues forgeting my beta for some reason which was pretty strange for me. I remember cruising the start one week and then coming back and barely being able to get my butt off the ground - the problem was where I was putting my feet.

Well, I got it now. No video and no pictures. I do have a video of my failing horribly on it somewhere... I probably won't post that. Well... maybe I'll include it as part of another video or something later.

If only I can now clean up the rest of my list from last year. That would be fun.

Injuries and 2012 Goals

I recently read this little blog post by Dave Macleod. He talks about how much you may or may not need to break from climbing due to tendon injuries. He has some interesting ideas that contradict the conventional wisdom on the subject. I recently injured my tendon pulley on my middle finger of my left hand... the article gave me a little bit of hope.

On a quite different subject, I would like to mention some of my goals and projects for 2012. I previous years I have made a list of 10 routes that I would like to do that year. I usually end up doing very few of them. I get to the crag and see other stuff I want to try or I don't even go the crag cause I'm wanting to climb a new project I found or I just don't have enough time! So, this year I'm gonna do things a little differently. I still have a few projects (or routes that I would like to do that I hope don't become projects) in mind though.

It Is Warm Enough to Climb

So far this year I've probably gone climbing outside around 5 times (in Canada). So far I've only been to White Buddha and the Big Rock though. For those in the area who are wanting to climb the early season, here are few places that CAN be good in the early parts of the year:

1) White Buddha - it gets sun all day and is just oddly warm... even when places nearby are not. This crag has both bouldering and some short sport climbs.

2) The Dust Bowl (Moose Mountain) - not far from and similar to White Buddha

3) The Big Rock - a bouldering location near Okotoks. This place can be really nice early in the season. Look it up in the guide book "Bouldering in the Canadian Rockies".

4) Barrier Mountain - This place gets sun in the afternoon. It will get nice a bit later in the season than White Buddha but early than some of the other popular areas like Heart Creek or Grassi Lakes.

5) Wasootch Slabs - not far from Barrier. This is a destination that is mostly geared towards the beginner.

6) Bataan - This place gets a lot of sun and can be very climbable early in the season. That being said, I must give the usual warning that it does have a bit of a hike to get to the climbing. Also, I think the easiest route at Bataan is 5.10a and there aren't very many 5.10s either. So be warned.

7) Big Choss - I've never bouldered here but I'm thinking it could be doable in the early season. Someone let me know if they've tried!

There are a few other places to go to as well. Frank Slide might be a doable bouldering place this time of year and there are a couple other places in the Bow Valley but they are smaller/obscure.

Happy hunting!

Vance's Blog and a little bit about recent climbing

Here's a link to a blog with an eerily familiar sounding name! http://thealaskanclimber.blogspot.com/ 
It is a link to Vance's new blog. He's a guy we met in Red Rocks in January (see Red Rocks 2012 video below).

On a completely different note... I can't believe how warm it has been here this winter. Last weekend I went out to the Big Rock near Okotoks and bouldered for a few hours. It was so warm it was ridiculous for February. I'm hoping to get out to do some sport climbing here in the near future. Hopefully the weather stays awesome. I do have a week off of school soon. Maybe we'll be able to get out to one of the early season crags in the area. White Buddha, Moose Mountain's Dust Bowl, or Bataan. Maybe even Barrier Mountain. We'll see. :)

Red Rocks Climbing Trip 2012

Well, I made it out to Red Rocks near Las Vegas again this winter break! It was awesome. I went with my friends Claire and Tim, and our friend Kami met up with us down there. Claire had her hardest onight yet - Back Gold 5.10b at the Black Corridor. Tim learned how to lead climb, his first lead was on Brief Encounter 5.8 at the Panty wall. And I onsighted another 5.12a which was pretty sweet. I was also able to onsight some pretty cool 5.11s. I decided that like my trip to Skaha I was not really going to try to redpoint anything. I decided to focus entirely on onsighting - that way I get more routes in, instead of tiring myself out on one route. I made a video to document some of the awesomeness of the trip. It's a little bit long (20 minutesish) but I think it's pretty good and gets a bunch of the highlights in there.

Claire was complaining about how she hates the font "Comic Sans" so I made all of the fonts Comic Sans (alhtough I think I forgot to make the credits Comic Sans). I hope you enjoy it Claire! And I hope everyone else who watches enjoys it too!

We met a guy named Vance on the trip. I told him to check out my blog in like a weeks time. I included his TR ascent of Rebel Without a Pause 5.11b. If you ever see the video Vance make sure to leave a comment!

Without further ado, here's the video:
PS: If you watch the video from Vimeo's website you can watch it in HD!!! :)

Red Rocks Climbing Trip 2012 from MikeG on Vimeo.

Another Sweet Send

It was a little chilly on Saturday October 8th but we decided to go out to Grassi Lakes anyway! We had a fun time with frozen appendages (fingers, hands, toes) and managed to climb some stuff too! My gf and my friend Claire and I went out and climbed. We warmed up on a 5.9 at the White Imperialist Right wall called Lawyers, Guns and Money. It was alright. Then Claire hopped on her new project Meathooks 5.11a. She looked good on it. I think it's only a matter of time before she gets that one. I continued my warmup by cleaning Meathooks for Claire. We then headed over to the Gardener's wall where Claire climbed another 5.9. After that it was still sunny up at White Imperialist Right again so we headed back there.

There is a 5.12a up there that is a direct start into a 5.11a. I figured that would be a good candidate for an onsight since the the 12 crux is at the bottom. I had never onsighted a 12 before but definitely felt like it was in the realm of my possibilities. After a long time studying the bottom boulder problem I some how slapped my way through it. The rest of the route was a slightly overhanging 5.11a pumpfest. I was pretty pumped by the time I was near the top but I was not about to let go. It's a few days later now and I'm still excited about having onsighted that route and happy with my current physical shape. I have definitely pumped off of stuff easier than that in the past so it felt good to affirm that I have been progressing! Cool stuff. Climbing is so much fun. I should get some pics from this excursion from my friend to post on here soon.

Update: Some pictures,

Keeping the fingers warm.

Claire on Meathooks 5.11a

Me at the top of A Bold New Plan Direct 5.12a

The thumbs up from the anchor.

A Send

I went out climbing on saturday to a place I don't usually go to during the warmer months of the year and I redpointed my project there! Yay! I was pretty excited about it. Actually during the send the second crux(top part) felt almost easy. It felt sweet. Anyway, I made a video of me climbing it a little while ago. You can see the edit in the video where I fell (I edited the fall out so it just looks like I climbed it). Anyway, I thought now that I actually did it I would share the video. There is also a part included at the end where I break a hold and fall (that was a surprise to me!). Without further adiu, here it is:

Dharmakaya 5.12b at White Buddha from MikeG on Vimeo.

Skaha Trip

Wow, so when I started this blog I planned on posting stuff on it way more often than I have. I guess I've been getting lazy about it. Anyway, I recently went on a stellar trip to Skaha (climbing near Penticton BC). I got a bunch of climbing footage and I have made a video. I didn't get video of the coolest routes that we did unfortunately. Some of the ones that we did that I wish we got video of are Dr. Megatrip (5.11d), Bladerunner (5.12a), Assholes of August (5.9 trad crack), and some 11s at the great white wall. I did get a few things in the video though. I didn't really send anything super hard but I wasn't really trying that hard to anyway. I was more interested in just hoping on as many routes as I could. It was a blast despite the height. Here's the video:

Skaha Climbing Trip 2011 from MikeG on Vimeo.

Summer Time

So last week I wrote this big huge post about all the climbing I've done receently and for some reason when I published it the only thing that was saved was the title. I'm too lazy to rewrite the whole thing. I have been doing a bunch of climbing in a lot of different places, mostly around Canmore. I've climbed at Bataan, Yamnuska, Hear Creek, Grassi Lakes, and I've been bouldering at the Big Rock near Okotoks. It's been a blast.


This week is supposed to have awesome weather but I'm gonna be inside like the whole time route setting at the wall I work at. Renovations just finished so we're re-setting the entire thing. Today was the first day and I'm really tired from setting. We'll see how well I last for the rest of the week.

Nice Weather?!?!

It's been a while since my last post! It looks like climbing season is starting to get into full swing in Alberta now. Yay! Yesterday I went to Bataan (near Canmore) with my Buddy Robin and his friend Sheena. It was awesome. We had a blast.

We warmed up on Near Miss (5.10a). It's a good "warm up" (that's in quotes because it's more of a cool down from the hike).

Sheena on Near Miss (Not a bum shot)

We then hopped on one of my new projects Solar Power (5.12b). Robin is also projecting the route and he went up first and put up the draws. I gave it a go. There were some important parts that I didn't remember from before. Hopefully it won't take me too long to send this one but we'll see. Some photos:

Robin Keeping it real on Solar Power

Robin's arm after a close encounter with the trees.

Me on Solar Power

More of the same.

Sheena rockin it on Solar Power

Sheena "placing"? a draw

After Solar Power we headed up to The Slab sector. Sheena and Robin hopped on a route called Exit Planet Dust Pt 1. (11b). It looked like an awesome route and I really wanted to give it a whirl but by the time Sheena finished the whole route was in the shade and the rock was cold - I have been freezing my fingers all trying to climb outside since March and decided I would try something else on a wall that was still in the sun. So we backtracked to The Sweet Hereafter wall. I decided to try my hand at a route called Fresco. I didn't think I was gonna make it while I was going through the crux but somehow I was able to pull an onsight out of my butt. Luckily there were some good rests higher up. After the crux it was pretty much a victory lap. :)

Overall it was an awesome fun day. The weather was really good and the three of us had a good time. It was good to refine my beta on my proj and it was a blast having a good fight for an onsight to cap off the day.

Mike

The Summer of Send and Onsight Climbing

Last year (and this year) I made a list of routes that I want to do. I think I ended up doing about half of the routes that I had on my list last year. I didn't get them all done for a few reasons:
1)Time constraints
2)I saw other routes that I wanted to climb instead
3) I changed my mind.

I'm sure this summer will still have those 3 things happening. That being said, I believe that this is going to be The Summer of Send. Not only do I think I'll do most (if not all) of the routes on my list, I'm planning on doing a whole lot more. I am changing my approach slightly from last year. Last year I would have some route in mind that I really wanted to do and that would be my main focus of the day. I would do like one warm up climb (usually a 5.10 or 5.9) and then hop on whatever the project was that I really wanted to do. After completing my project (if that was case) I would pretty much be done for the day - maybe I would do like one cool down climb and that was it.

During the summer of send I'm looking to do a lot more "easy" routes along with my projects. My plan is to do more like 3-6 warm up climbs. My plan is also to do all of my warm-ups onsight (if possible). I have noticed large gains in technique and mental prowess from trying things onsight. Not only am I going to try to onsight all of my warm-ups I'm also going to try to onsight all of my potential  projects as well (I say potential because after trying the route I may decide not to project it).

I've also been trying to expand my pool of potential belayers. How can you climb anything without your trustee belayer? (other than free soloing or practice climbing - ie: bouldering)

It's Warming UP!!

My last post I wrote about how I was going climbing outside and I was worried about how cold it was going to be. It ended up being a pretty fun day of bouldering. I went back to that same spot on the weekend (March 12th to be exact) and it was even awesomer. It was sunny and warm and most of the snow that was on the ground when we got there was gone by the time we left. I redpoointed an unfinished route from last year on my second go of the day (Sunyata 5.12a). It was a pretty cool route. I kind of wonder how other people do the last little part. I somehow doubt they do it the same way that I do it - I think I may have done it a little weird, oh well that's climbing!


It has been warming up and it has just been getting me more and more excited to go climbing outside. I have lost pretty much all desire to climb at the gym. I've had another taste of outdoor climbing and I LOVE IT. Indoor climbing will never compare to the fresh air, sunshine, and real rock. I am super psyched to get some more outdoor climbing done this year. This is supposed to be warm all week. I'm hoping it stays that way for the weekend. We'll see....

Chillin... hopefully not literally

There is a place. A place I discovered last year that can be warm when everywhere else is cold. The White Buddha. It's pretty close to Calgary and it's primarily a bouldering area. It does have a few sport climbs as well. I'm actually not much of a boulderer but I like to mix it up everyonce and a while. I think it's gonna be pretty cold tomorrow (Sat Feb26) but a buddy and I are gonna head up there and see what happens. I figure worst case scenario we'll have a hike and then hang out for a bit by a little band of rock and eat some food before hiking back. Best case scenario will have a bunch of fun screwing around with different boulder problems. I just can't wait till it warms up. I GOTTA CLIMB OUTSIDE!

The 2011 Hit List and a Link

Alright as promised here is my (current) list of routes to do for 2011:

Route                                                       Crag              Grade
1) The Mighty Expectation of Relief      Prairie Creek       5.12a
This is a route that I should have gotten last year. As soon as it's warm enough this jug haul is going down.

2)Sisyphus Summits                              Ha Ling Peak      5.10d
This route a super long multi-pitch... I think it's like 500m? I've just always wanted to do it. Hopefully this summer will be the time.

3)Outer Limits                                     Cougar Canyon    5.12a
This is a route at a crag that I have yet to get around to visiting. I was planning on checking it out last season but had other projects other places. I'll definitely make it there this summer. This is a route that looks good from what I've seen in the guide book and online. I may change my mind on it when I see it though.

4)Dutch Boy Magic                             Heart Creek         5.12d
This is a route that I would like to do to step up my game a little bit. I have yet to redpoint something this hard (although I was close on my trip to Red Rocks recently -see video in previous post). So, this will be one of those longer term projects I think.

5)The Convincer                                  Heart Creek            5.12a/b
This route is in a really cool looking spot up on the amphitheatre cliff. The guide says 12a but it seems that there are some who think it may be harder (see picture in link to follow the list).

6)This Week in Bible Prophecy            Prairie Creek           5.12b
The word on the street is that some holds may have broken on this route since it received its grade and it may be a little harder. A buddy of mine I has been working on it for quite some time. Looks like a good route.

7) Massive Attack                                Grassi Lakes              5.12c
This route looks pretty good although there are a bunch at Grassi that look good.

8) Altius                                                Acephale                  5.12c
This looks like a pretty classic route. I've never climbed at Acephale before because there isn't a lot there below 5.12 and most of my climbing buddies haven't been climbing that hard. However, I think this year is going to be a time of change and exploring. I look forward to it.

9) The Silver Rocket                             Prairie Creek            5.13a
I'm always trying to push myself with new goals and harder challenges and one of my goals for 2011 is to do a 13a. I think it's a realistic goal.

10) ????                                                 ?????                         ????
There always has to be room to try something that looks awesome or something that someone recommends or whatever!


On another note:

I recently found this page. It's a bunch of pictures from routes in my local area. Some of the routes shown are actually on my list! This page also seems to be announcing a new guidebook for the area. I'm curious how it will compare to the current Canadian Rockies sport climbing staple - Sport Climbing in the Canadian Rockies 6th ed. Updated bt John Martin and Jon Jones.