climbing "sharma's arrete"


today mike and i climbed the 5.12 pitch of "daily planet". we took the wrong approach trail three different times on our way to the cliff band where the climb is located called "the sheriff's badge". after over 2 hours of approach we finally climbed the two pitches leading to the base of the route, which proved to be awkward slab climbing up arretes. the 5.12 pitch was easily freed but we were not expecting such an epic on the approach and so with no food and getting hungry we rapped back down. this is another climb i will need to go back for.

the second photo is mike on "golden boy".

the third photo is me leading the 5.12 pitch on "daily planet".




yesterday was awesome friction, with winds blowing through the forest and cool temperatures. i quickly did all the moves on "the egg" including the difficult start move three seperate times. a great day.

yesterday we did some bouldering in the morning. i tried the egg and a few other things but my skin felt thin and the bouldering hurt.

later in the day i went back to the "inn on the water" and officially got the job. they will schedule me according to my climbing. i get free internet, laundry and a bed, pretty nice.

yesterday, late afternoon, mike and i hiked back to "alaska highway". this time i freed the 5.11d pitch with no falls. i wanted to keep climbing the entire route but after bouldering all morning, we decided to rap off the top of the second pitch. the last three photos are of mike following the 5.11d pitch and me, psyched to be at the anchor. the climb includes awkward hand jams, three large roofs and two difficult chimneys.


the top picture is me trying "defender of the faith".

a friend of a friend, Mike Hopp and i climbed "the grand wall" today. it was my second time up the route and his first. we did the climb quickly and were back in camp by 2 pm before an afternoon shower started. i told mike to lead the first pitch and started him off on the wrong climb, a 5.11d slab instead of the correct 5.9 first pitch of the grand wall. i was scared that we would never complete the eight pitches when Mike struggled to get to the second bolt. only after trying the pitch myself did it click that we were not on the first pitch of the grand and i had sandbagged mike by putting him on an impossible squamish slab. he forgave me and now i owe him a beer.


the second picture is mike on the split pillar. the third picture is looking down at mike on "the sword" pitch. the last picture is me walking off on the thin and exposed "belly good ledge".

the first two days in squamish rich and i bouldered with some of his friends from vancouver. we did many classics in the grand wall and north wall boulders. i love squamish.


this picture is Jamie on a new problem in the north walls. the first picture is me trying "lucky sharms". the second and third pictures are Rich on a really hard warm up

in anticipation of climbing "alaska highway" this morning, i opted not to go to a late night beach party with Rich and some of his co-workers. instead, i looked for a free spot to camp. i initially decided to camp near the beach up a provincial park road. i found a flat, out of the way spot at 11pm near the entrance to some kind of mine. i started setting up my tent when something huge in the mine collapsed. it was dark and it scared to hell out of me, my reaction was to get in the car and speed away to another free campground called "the spit". i slept fine at the spit despite a few strange noises that i ignored. i noticed bear paw prints on my car trunk (where some of my food is) this morning. this means that there was a bear less than six feet from me scoping me out while i slept.

well, i am in squamish BC. the drive from minnesota was pleasantly uneventful, no flats, speeding tickets or accidents. today i tried unsuccessfully to climb "alaska highway" with a guy i met at the pub last night. his name is Connie and he is actually an internationally certified mountain guide. i am kicking myself for not bringing my camera on this ridiculously steep and exposed climb. the 5.11d pitch had awkward stemming and offwidth dihedral moves that i could not on-site. we are planning on going back to redpoint the route. the picture shows part of the second pitch that follows the double cracks out the massive roof.