Jun 28
20130
commentsSan Juan Island Half
It’s been almost two weeks, so this is overdue.. On June 14-15 Katy and I headed up to San Juan Island to run the 11th annual San Juan Island Marathon (Katy) and Half Marathon (Me).
Castleton Tower – 5/17/2013
I know this is long, but to write a short trip report on such an excellent, mentally-and-physically challenging day wouldn’t do it justice.
TL; DR: This was my and Christian’s first desert tower and first true multi-pitch trad rock climb. It was wild.
Jun 03
20130
commentsSpring Climbing
The season has transitioned over to spring, and as we’re waiting for the summer trails to melt out, we’ve spent the first few weekends in April and May climbing.
Weekend 1:
On the 27th Katy and I headed to Vantage to kick off our climbing season.
Katy led and cleaned her first ever sport routes on the feathers—it was awesome! It was crowded, but we got on some excellent routes in the morning before we hiked over to Sunshine Wall.
Katy’s first lead!
Exhausted after lunch, I decided anyway to make a go of Duress/Under Duress, an awesome 5.8 column with a 5.9 second pitch to the top.
Duress/Under Duress follows the center face and crack, depending on how you choose your adventure.
I took a nice whip around the top but found whatever reserve I had left to get to the anchors and finish it up. It was awesome, airy, beautiful, and exactly what I needed to kick off the summer.
Weekend 2:
The next weekend a few of us headed up to Leavenworth to do some camping and climbing, plus Christian and I wanted to get some practice with trad leading and anchor setting.
Jun 01
20130
commentsWeekend Getaway
This is long overdue, but on Katy’s birthday I surprised her with a trip up to Canada. We stayed at an awesome B&B on the Sunshine Coast, right on the water on the Sechelt Inlet.
In short, it was amazing.
Jun 01
20130
comments
May 09
20130
commentsFood for thought from an old trip report…
From Kyle Dempster’s trip report:
“I’d like to say that our decision to leave Josh at the tent, while Hayden and I tried to blast to the summit, was a difficult one. At 7000 meters, life’s fragile existence can quickly become extinct. Maybe Josh’s condition would turn severe, maybe Hayden and I wouldn’t return from our summit push, thus leaving him stranded without ropes to get down, or maybe the mountain would take us all. It sounds dignified to say that the decision was tough, but while the three of us sat in the tent that morning suspended so high above the earth, there was very little discussion about the devastating possibilities. Josh would stay in the tent and go no higher; we left him with the stove, extra food, and an extra sleeping bag. Hayden and I racked up, tied in, and would blast the final 350 meters to the 7,285-meter summit of the Ogre, and get back to Josh as quickly as possible.
Maybe Hayden and I were blinded by the summit, maybe it was a dumb decision for Josh to say, “Go.” The three of us had cast aside the mantra of ‘stay together in the mountains,’ and surely our decision deserves some level of scrutiny. However, in the mountains and in every moment with the people that we choose to have adventures with in the mountains, we must constantly be aware of ourselves, our surroundings, and communicate these perceptions. If Josh had said that he needed to go down, Hayden and I would have done so. If either Hayden or I had felt a strong enough conviction that leaving Josh was not a good idea or that the terrain above was too dangerous then would have gone down. If any of us had felt differently about the circumstance, then we would not have made the decision that we did. Each moment in the mountains is different, every decision unique, and this one made collectively by the three of us felt appropriate.”
Filing under: things to think about in the mountains.
Liberty Bell, WA; The North Face
It started by winning a silent auction from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition:
“Hi Ely,
Just wanted to let you know that you won the John Roskelley climb… Congrats!”