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.

-Chris climbing "Palace Aid" (note the run out between his first bad piece and the bolt).



Yesterday Chris Hirsch and I climbed on the North Shore. Chris climbed the test piece "Palace Aid" a climb that had been previously climbed by only one other person Dave Groth. The mixed route has tricky gear placements and a red point crux in the last 20 feet. Chris has just started traditional climbing and has proved to have an exceptional head for danger. His first piece of protection was the worst, "I put the cam in the pocket for a false sense of security" said Chris before easily sending the route.
The gear does improve toward the top, however consists only of micro cams and a small nut. Chris was able to memorize every gear placement after rehearsing the route while placeing gear one time on top rope. Very impressive. I happily followed the route but did not send. This was my first experience climbing on the North Shore and I am planning to go back soon.

-Chris relaxing before the send












































-Me top roping like a wuss

Erin climbed many classic boulder problems in the forest as well as many great routes on the Chief and in the Smoke Bluffs with me. She was never too tired to try a new boulder or climb another route. Here she is climbing "Tim's Slopers" V5.

Erin and I climbed the Grand Wall 5.11a while in Squamish. It went well except after the Sword Pitch (where the following film was made). I read the guidebook description wrong and linked three pitches rather then two as I had planned. I ran out of rope with twenty feet to the belay anchor and Erin was forced to simul climb. The good thing is that Erin was bold enough to climb onwards despite not being able to see or hear me to know if she was on belay. The other thing that contributed to our safety was
that one of the pitches that I had linked was an aid pitch, so there was a dozen or more bolts clipped between us. Next time I will read the guidebook more carefully.

We are now back from Squamish and the trip was wonderful. I have posted some videos and more pictures. Nursing school started last week and soon we will be climbing in northern Minnesota at Sawmill Creek Dome. The fall is the best time to climb!