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!