Climbing Nerd Alert : New Gear, Books and Films

DISCLAIMER:  If you aren't a climber or really interested in the sport please click the back button now.  This post is for climber nerds only!

let the geeking out begin

Climbing In Popularity

Much like my belly since starting my new job at the pie shop, climbing, is blowing up.  This is an exciting time not only for those folks with financial interests in the sport but also climbers like myself that entered the sport before it really took off.  Even though there are plenty of concerns with too many unprepared gym climbers and environmental impact in climbing areas, there are also positives.  Many gear manufactures are coming out with new camming devices for 2016.  Also, there are a number of really nice looking books and films on the horizon.  The shear increase in number of climbers is allowing companies and individuals to take things to the next level.  I decided to share a few of my recent discoveries in this post.

Iconic Cover

Alone on the Wall

The cover of Alex Honnold's new book is impressive.  In the photo he is free soloing hard, overhanging climbing thousands of feet off the Yosemite Valley floor,  The memoir is going to be released on November 9th.  I already pre-ordered my copy and I wouldn't be surprised if Alone on the Wall becomes a NY Times Bestseller and the most popular book of all time.  Honnold is already well known in mainstream media, is idolized by climbers young and old, and actually has interesting takes on life and climbing.  I can't wait to delve deep into Honnold's psyche, scope the amazing photography and just totally nerd out on this book.  I guess publishing a memoir at age 30 says something about your relative success in life.  \

The Center of the Universe

Meru Sundance Winning Film

Meru is an extreme mountaineering documentary which chronicles the first ascent of a peak named Meru by Renan Ozturk, Jimmy Chin and Conrad Anker.  The film won best US Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.  Despite being released in theaters for almost two months at this point I still haven't managed to check it out.  The DVD and Blue Ray drop in a couple weeks and I'll most likely order a digital copy at the very least.  Various trailers portray the struggle between completing the route and surviving in a freezing cold, high altitude environment.  The climbers themselves were able to capture amazing footage while climbing the peak and combined that with interviews from family, friends and fellow climbers.  This is not your average climbing flick.  Meru Trailer

Black Diamond Ultralight C4

Black Diamond Ultralight Cams

Yes, I know it seems like the X4s just came out.  Black Diamond is already planning the release of their new cam, the Ultralight C4.  Due out in early 2016, this revised design cuts 25% if the weight per rack (.4-4).  They look sharp and I suppose they are a great option for climbers looking to save a little bit of weight.  According to what I've read, even the smallest sizes are going to start at $90 each.  At this point I feel like the price  is just way too high for me to be interested.  I own primarily C4s and I take care of my gear and don't see myself needing to replace them any time soon.  I'm curious to see how these fair in the market place with the high price tag.  More Info on BD Ultralight Cams

Metolius Master Cam

Metolius Master Cams

Metolius has also revamped their Master Cam to be lighter.  They have added a couple bigger sizes and stiffened up the stem on those sizes.  I own a few smaller Master Cams and really enjoy their value, plus they feel bomb proof.  I'm excited to check out this improved design and may purchase a couple to round out my rack.  At $60 they are more affordable and you won't have to take out a second mortgage in order to climb on these.  More Info on Metolius Master Cams

Spring Loaded Nut Tool

Spring Loaded Nut Tool

When I came across this spring loaded nut tool on Kickstarter, I have to admit, I thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Most trad climbers have been faced with bashing out a nut that are partner either fell on or really wedge in a crack when they set it.  Often, we have to bash the nut tool frantically and in the process scrape our knuckles against the coarse rock.  Sometimes we find nuts left behind as booty, left by climbers who either didn't have their tool or couldn't use the one they had.  Supposedly, this new creation gets around all the potential problems associated with nut removal.  A spring cocks back and basically discharges against the stuck nut and pops it out.  This product is being designed by an Australian and last I checked they were close to getting funding through Kickstarter.  Maybe someday something like this tool will be the industry standard.  On the other hand, this little article may be the last you ever hear of it.

Climbing Nerds Only

Please comment with opinions of the products I discussed and/or let me know about cool new climbing gear and media you have found.

How Climbing Kept Me Out Of The Clink

Crane Summit

These dudes are going to jail for sure, I thought to myself, as 75% of the house staggered back inside.  Pie eyed and reeking of cigarettes, mixed with something smelling slightly more exotic, this group acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.  And for them, there wasn't.  It was the summer of 2011 and I was mandated to a halfway house for "recovering" addicts and alcoholics located in super rural Canton, NY.  All of us were participating in Drug Court programs, felony probation, parole or some combination of serious legal situations.  Most of us were looking at a lengthy stay in state prison if we didn't complete this program.  I had already spent time in jail, followed by a long term inpatient facility before being shipped to the boondocks for the final stage of my treatment.  Apparently, most of the dozen or so "clients" in the house weren't taking things as seriously as I was.  It was glaringly obvious to me that most of the house's eleven residents were sneaking out to smoke "spice", also known as K2 or synthetic marijuana every chance they could get, especially when the more lax staff was working on nights and weekends.  At the time this heinous product was fairly new to the scene and none of the legal entities were testing for it.  That was all about to change.

View from Crane

I had got into hiking a few years prior, in the early 2000s.  My family wasn't very outdoorsy growing up besides maybe a week camping once a year in the Adirondacks or Martha's Vineyard with family friends.  I stumbled into it out of boredom at the suggestion of one of my fishing buddies.  As I became hooked on bagging the high peaks of the ADK (I tend to have an addictive trait in my personality) I started to notice climbers scaling the cliffs around Chapel Pond as I drove up to the Loj for my hikes.  In 2007 I hired out a guide and roped up for the first time, climbing at the Beer Walls (no pun intended).  Immediately, I realized this was for me.  The movement and zen focus hooking me in, plus I just loved taking in the beauty of my home I never realized was there growing up.  I took a few more lessons and bought a bunch of gear, but had a tough time finding partners.  I was into it for sure but didn't make it my lifestyle.  As the late 2000s approached I made some poor choices and found myself with a pretty nasty drug habit.  I was headed down the tubes pretty fast and ended up getting arrested for possession and going to jail in 2009.  I sat in jail, withdrawing from all the stuff I was taking, sick as a dog, and it was the lowest point I have ever been at in every conceivable way.

Destroyed after following Jay on an FA

Back in Canton I remember having my harness and a few caribiners up in my room.  There was a climbing wall at Saint Lawrence University where I was lifting weights and running, but it was closed for the summer.  I walked by it everyday and started to make plans to get back into the sport once I got my freedom back.  I was not really into AA meetings and other substance abuse treatment mumbo jumbo, although I recognize its worth and the fact that it works for many.  I needed something to live for beyond that, and while I realized climbing wasn't the cure (there is no cure) it certainly wouldn't hurt my chances of staying clean once I got out.

Jay Climbing Broken Broom

Eventually, I returned home to Lake George, NY on New Years Day 2012.  Pretty soon I found the Edge Climbing gym down near Albany, a new modern gym, and a really nice one at that.  That spring I wandered out to Crane Mountain and met Jay Harrison, the mayor and principal developer of the area.  Jay is a really cool guy, always including everyone in climbing there no matter who they are or how hard they climb.  Pretty soon I was getting spanked following first ascents and grabbing a wire brush to clean my own lines.  Through Jay I met all kinds of cool people and picked up a lot of knowledge on this sport I love so much.  The cool thing is that anyone new to climbing just needs to wander up the trail at Crane and they will be welcomed into the community with open arms.  Jay is there pretty much everyday throughout the season guiding or putting up new routes.

At the top of my route at Crane, Sleepy Hollow

So things haven't been smooth sailing since this time, but they have been a hell of a lot better than they were before.  I always have climbing to fall back on when times get tough, and friends that have proven they will be there for me no matter what.  As far as the posh smokers from the beginning of the story, they all got caught.  Not only is that stuff horrible for your health, they figured out a way to test for it.  All those guys violated their programs and a few of them are probably still in jail, or worse.  I'm thankful I was taking my situation and life seriously, and that I had that harness and those caribiners up in my room so I could day dream about the climbs I was going to do once I got out.  Thanks for taking the time to read this post and please feel free to leave a comment.

Arizona Climbing Trip : Cochise Stronghold & Sedona

Meadows of Western Cochise

I'm Back in Action

Seems like I have just got over my case of selective blog amnesia.  I really enjoy writing and building these little posts once in a while, but it seems like other things come up and life happens and I simply forget I have this thing.  I guess it is rather cool that the internet cloud or whatever keeps all this stuff even if I don't stop in for a year or so.  Wow, so much has happened since I last posted.  I'm no longer an Adirondack Climber (sad face).  At least not in physical form.  I've been through a lot of changes in the last few months, including moving to California!  I'll save those details for another post a few years from now (hopefully joking).  For now I want to share my week long vaycay down to Arizona that went down in February of this year.

The prominent peak is the Rockfellow Pinnacle.  The shear amount of rock in this area was down right impressive.  We hardly scratched the surface in a week of climbing.

Zona Here We Come

I enlisted my friend slash ropegun slash gym monster Matt Nuaman for my partner on the trip.  He is chill and not annoying plus he can get up just about anything.  Most importantly, all he wants to do is climb.  Southwest flights are a great deal (ticket was $350) and they let you bring your bags for free.  Plus Matt works for UPS which means great deal on a rental car.  Not to mention last winter in the Northeast was super cold and heinous.  These conditions created the perfect storm for an Arizona climbing trip. 

Matt heading out on the runout start to What's My Line Direct.  The upper pitches are classic knob climbing with just slings for protection.  This first pitch is hard friction and thin face climbing through a rising traverse.  Even the follower will be on high alert on this pitch.  I think this was the 5.9 start to an otherwise 5.6 route.

Camping Beta

We got off the plane to blue skies and temps in the 70s.  We decided to camp on the east side and get the morning sun and hopefully less wind as the nights can get pretty chilly down in the desert.  The road into Cochise was in decent shape, although we did rally the rental car a little bit finding a free campsite.  The national forest land is set up well with unofficial campsites with unofficial fire pits.  There is a pay campground a couple miles in but all you get is a pit toilet and and a picnic table for twenty bucks a night.  No thanks, I'll gladly poop in the woods and keep my money.

A Giant Chicken Head.  My anchor way up on WML Direct.  These are all you get for protection on many pitches.  They are an amazing and unique feature of this area.  Bring lots of slings!  They are just massive jugs that make a dead vertical wall climb at 5.6.  So much fun.

Sedona Rock

At one point the weather took a turn at Cochise so we headed north a couple hours to Sedona, a little high class, but artsy tourist town surrounded by impressive sandstone towers.  Totally different from the rounded granite domes of Cochise.  We ended up doing a route called Sedona Scenic Cruise ( Click to view route on Mountain Project ).  Good times were had by all, making it down just before sunset.  Matt even sprung for a motel room for a night, where we enjoyed our only showers of the week and absolutely destroyed the continental breakfast.

Yes it appears to be a rather scenic cruise.  Tons of helicopter tours flew UNDERNEATH us as we climbed.  It was a trip.

Victory cig.  7 pitches of 5.10 on a route called Peacemaker.  BD pulled my sponsorship for this selfie but it was worth it.

Cochise Classics

Meanwhile, back down in Cochise (south of Tucson, somewhat near Mexico btw) we proceeded to kick ass and take names.  Memorable routes include Bee Line, Rheen's Arete (not hard but waaay runout), WML and The Wasteland.  Really great adventure climbing and a solid winter destination.  The whole entire trip came in at $600 including air fare, rental car, gas and food.  Being flexible with dates, camping for free and dining on Ramen easily saved me $400 for this trip.

Up there traversing on The Wasteland.  It is nice to remember how great the rock was and how beautiful the area was as a whole.  Someday I'll make it back and hopefully someone will read this and plan a trip themselves.  I'd imagine that eventually Cochise Stronghold will be as well known and mentioned in the same breath as Joshua Tree for world class winter climbing locales. 

Plastic Ponderings: Tall Guy Beta

So Ill Brain Hold

I have been spending a lot of time climbing inside on plastic lately, hanging with the pad sniffers.  I sold my ice tools after last season and realized that I'm just not that into it.  It just seems like so many variables have to line up just right for ice climbing to be fun.  I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I much prefer just going to the gym.  This winter my gym added a couple spin bikes and a little cafe so I can hang out even longer.  Climb.  Cardio.  Eat a taco.  It's great.

The other day I was doing laps on an auto belay while a couple was climbing nearby.  Things got a little awkward as they started to argue with each other and get into a fight while the husband was struggling up his climb.  The wife kept telling the husband it should be easy because he was so much taller than her.  He did not take well to this criticism.  I pretended not to be listening as their bickering escalated to embarrassing levels.  Since then I have been pondering height as it relates to climbing.  There seems to be this general feeling that tall people have a major advantage that makes climbing super easy for them.  When the gym is packed just walk around and listen to what people are saying, especially when they are failing on a climb.  "Maybe, if I was taller...."  I'm 6'4" with a +5 ape index.  After climbing for a few years I have come to the conclusion that being tall is, if anything, a disadvantage.  Sounds crazy, I know.

First of all, tall is sort of a relative term.  A dwarf might consider Lynn Hill, who stands at just over 5', to be tall.  Place Lynn Hill next to Dean Potter and she looks like the dwarf.  Secondly, if being tall was so advantageous wouldn't we see more 7'ers climbing?  The truth is that I am among the tallest climbers at my gym, or anywhere else for that matter.  I think there is a actually a "sweet spot" or an ideal height, illustrated by looking at the world's hardest climbers.  For men, it seems to be around 5'11".  Adam Ondra, Chris Sharma and Alex Honnold are all this height.  Tommy Caldwell is 5'10".  Daniel Woods is 5'6".  The average height of an American male is 5'10",  So in reality, it seems being average height is the ideal for climbing if you're a guy.  As for the females, both Sasha Digulian and Lynn Hill are 5'2" and have climbed ridiculously hard, up into 5.14s.  Lynn Hill is one of the most accomplished climbers of all time....first to free The Nose, etc, etc.  So being super short is really not a good excuse.  The only really tall climber I've heard of climbing hard is Dean Potter (6'5"), who I think used to climb 13s.

Since I am a tall climber, who is also a very mediocre climber, I have insight as to why being tall isn't the advantage that many people seem to think it is.  The first reason is really simple.  Tall people are also big people, and bigger means heavier.  I weigh 200 pounds, yet my coworkers often refer to me as being thin.  It is a lot of weight to drag up a steep wall.  We are also gawky, long limbs flying around everywhere are hard to control, especially when climbing becomes overhanging.  I will admit than when climbing is less than vertical having the extra reach can sometimes make things easier for the tall guy.  An example would be skipping a bad hold and going straight for a jug, or clipping a high bolt from a better stance.  However,  as soon as things get steep is where we run into problems.  High feet are key in the movement on steep climbing.  When a tall climber uses high feet their knee ends up in their face and they get really scrunched up.  This pushes the body's center of mass (butt) and weight away from the wall more than a shorter person and puts more of the strain on the arms.  From this scrunched position it is harder to extend for the next hold, and the move uses more energy.  Also, the distance is greater to lock off the arm on the current hold.  Its a lot like what tall, lanky folks experience in weight lifting.  The shorter, compact people can always lift more weight simply due to body mechanics.  Sounds like a shit load of excuses(because it kind of is!), i know, but this is what I have seen and experienced.

I think short people just came up with their "taller is better at climbing theory" because they have some weird inferiority complex programmed into them by society.  I think it is more realistic to say that every body type has its advantages and its disadvantages.  Except for being really fat, that is not going to help your climbing at all.

Adirondack Sport Climbing: Holy Shit! It Does Exist.

Earlier this year I finally had the chance to check out the summit cliff on Snowy Mountain.  After years of seeing that hot climber chick (local hard woman Emily Drinkwater) on the cover of the original Adirondack Rock every time I opened the guidebook, enough was enough.  I guess the only excuse for not going sooner was the approach.  This entails hiking 2000+ feet of elevation gain over almost 4 miles.  Matt and I made the trek in two hours flat, and we were booking it.  He had the rope, and I had the rack...which is just a bunch of quickdraws.  The hike really isn't that bad and would almost be worth it just to summit and enjoy the views from the fire tower.  Another cool feature of Snowy is that it is one of few Adirondack crags that offers only sport climbing.  I will say that you can't clip bolts in a more beautiful place.  The climbing is just below the 3899' summit with views of Indian Lake, miles of rolling hills and the high peaks off in the distant north.  It is a first class location.  There are a total of 8 pitches of climbing, 5 of these are pure sport, one requires one 4" piece and one has a short A0 bolt ladder leading to more free climbing above.  The last route is a long slab climb below the summit headwall.  On one hand, its a bummer that the cliff isn't more developed.  On the other hand it is the perfect amount of climbs to do in one day while still having time to do the hiking and explore the fire tower.

High Peaks from the fire tower

 To the far left are the warm ups.  There are three climbs all around 5.8 and around 50 feet long.  Immediately, I was like, "this is fun".  The rock up there is super featured by Adirondack standards.  Really positive, lippy crimps, pockets and huecos make for great holds.  I'd recommend anchoring packs and belayers at all times.  We used low bolts and and an old Bong piton we found.  The grassy ledge the climbs start on isn't that wide and its slippery and steep in spots.  Slipping would be a bad idea and potentially fatal.

Matt getting psyched

 I think it was mid to late may when we made this trip.  The black flies were out and about in lower elevations but we were totally bug free up there.  Later on, in August, I returned by myself and had to sprint off the summit before I was eaten alive.  The bugs can be truly heinous up there...I mean the worst ever, so plan accordingly.

Bong

Warm ups

The logical next step in our progression was to attempt freeing the aid ladder route.  This was pretty hilarious and also pathetic.  If you can dyno 6 feet to a micro crimper and do a one arm pull up off it there is a good chance you still won't do these moves.  Anyways, the aid is not a big deal and links up really cool climbing on a 120' route called Buckwheat.

Redneck on a Rope

Next it was time for the main event.  The area's classic line.  Redneck on a Rope is a 180' sport climb that goes at 10d.  The first 40' are this offwidth crack that leads to the top of a pillar.  Having a big cam is a good idea as the climbing is not super hard, but hard enough where most people would want some pro in.  From here is pretty sustained climbing up a steep face that seems to just go on forever.  It's a great climb, especially if you are into thin face climbing.  We both fell off once at the crux on our attempts.  Its one of those cruxes that is, in my opinion, just kind of dumb.  Basically, you run out of holds and have to pull a move off your fingernails.  Its just a blankish section in an otherwise well featured face.  Even if that one section actually detracts from the route, the rest is classic and reason enough for me to hump back up and try it again someday.

me

We ended the day by climbing Vertebrae, which ended up being my favorite route up on Snowy.  Its also a convient way to avoid the climber's path and top out right next to the fire tower.  This lets you link up the hiking trail to walk out.  Vertebrae is a two pitch slab climb.  Lower angle than the other climbs and with different features.  The first pitch is really cool and unusual slab moves through overlaps and between good holds.  Cerebral style climbing.  The second pitch is a bit steeper and has these spinal column features that I have never encountered elsewhere.  Sometimes they are pinches, or slopers or even jugs.

The interesting part about the climb was that it became progressively mossier the higher I climbed.  The line is a natural drainage of sorts for the mountain.  The top was super green, wet and furry.  Never a good combination.  There were just enough clean spots to climb through.  I think someone did a little in situ cleaning at some point recently.  In fact the second pitch could really use a little TLC from a wire brush, or better yet, a pressure washer.  On the other hand, digging a bolt hanger out of a moss patch adds to the adventure a little bit.  This is a link to a video I shot on my phone of Matt topping out.

Matt tops out and cracks me up

So this post is really just a short trip report to let people know about Snowy.  If you're up in the Adirondacks on a week long climb trip, I would say this cliff is worthy of one of those days. Maybe someone will get super motivated and look for some new lines up there?

The Loaf: The Middle of The Middle of Nowhere

The Cedar and Hudson Rivers join

The more I learn about climbing, the more I realize how far off the beaten path we are here in the Adirondacks.  There are a many factors that create this synergistic effect.  Geographically, we are close enough to major population areas, but other areas like the Gunks and New Hampshire are closer and absorb the brunt of climbing traffic.  We have a really short climbing season.  The weather is unpredictable, but predictably horrible and wet.  Black flies will carry your belayer away if they aren't anchored down in late spring.  Sport climbing is scarce (becoming less so now).  It is amazing to think that seeing two or three parties at a classic cliff like Poko Moonshine is what i consider a "crowded" day.  There are twice that amount of parties waiting at the base of High E at any given time.  It's the middle of December now, the snow is falling and I'm sitting around enjoying the memory of my last day on the rock, while simultaneously jonesing to be teleported to Joshua Tree right now.

November came in really harsh this year with a long brutally cold snap, spelling the end of rock climbing season here in the Daks.  In late October I had checked out a slide show put on by local climbing legend and owner of Rocksport, Tom Rosecrans.  Afterwards, we were chatting and he mentioned a new route he had just put up at Sugarloaf.  I was intrigued.  A couple years ago I did a little write up about the area after helping Mike Rawdon put a top pitch on his route Heroes.  The area has been climbed occasionally for years but has just recently become officially open to climbers.  Basically, it is this huge steep slab in the middle of nowhere.  Indian Lake is the closest town and if you blink while driving through you might just miss it.  There is a Stewart's gas station there however, so there is some redeeming value to the place.  The cliff itself is really impressive.  Over 500 vertical feet of rock, about a half mile long rises in stark contrast to surrounding greenery and the winding Cedar River below.  A beautiful place to be.

Original Pro.....cool history lesson here...has modern bolts now

This would be my second trip to the Loaf in 2014.  I had climbed Sole Fusion with Jay Harrison sometime in September.  A test piece of  hard friction climbing and a historical route that went ground up solo back in the day by Tad Welch.  I had a rough couple months over this past summer dealing with some personal demons in a not so healthy way.  Long story short, I had not put my hands on rock for three months when Jay and I hooked up to climb.  I'm blessed that I have a few good friends that care about me and wouldn't let me totally slip away.  But they will put me on a 5.10 multi-pitch friction climb after a long layoff.  Jay ended up doing the hard leading that day, which is awesome because 1: he got redpoint sends on all the hard pitches and 2: I would have had multiple heart attacks for sure.  Since that day, I've been climbing pretty steady again and life in general has become a lot better for me.  I'm really grateful Jay was there for me as a friend when things got dark.

Random shot of a brass nut that held my lead fall on a climb called Resistance in the Gunks

I got ahold of my regular climbing partner Matt Nauman and it turned out he was interested in climbing at Sugarloaf too.  It was early November and freezing.  I had to work in the afternoon so we met up at 6am to drive the hour up to Indian Lake.  It was even colder up here with a dusting of fresh snow, the first I had seen so far this fall.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the forecast called for temps in the upper thirties.  Between the right layers and the southern aspect of Sugarloaf I figured we would be fine once 10am came along.  We arrived at the base of Tom's route, Soul Confusion well before 9am.  We decided that I would lead the first 2 pitches and Matt would take the last 2.  This way we would each get a 5.10 pitch and Matt would lead the crux third pitch.  

Snow!

The first pitch turned out to be pretty intense for me.  It is mostly pure friction.  There was a large wet streak under the roof and the crack down low was coated in verglas.  So it starts up a slab to a horizontal with a bomber cam.  From the crack it instantly becomes 5.10 friction.  You have to make a couple really committing moves to clip the first bolt.  Well, I hesitated just a little bit and ended up blowing off right below the bolt.  I took a nice 15+' fall into a pile of leaves on a ramp just a few feet off the deck.  Rise and shine!  I was awake now.  After cursing the FAs a little I started back up from the ground.  I fully committed to standing on nothing and put full faith in my ability and shoe rubber.  After the second bolt i ended up climbing to the left of a big wet streak.  I got pretty run out and was looking at a huge fall.  In dry conditions I would have been able to place some pro in the vertical crack lower, but i couldn't reach it from the left until a certain point.  I leaned out as far as I could and managed to get a solid #1 camalot in there.  Thank God!  I had to bash out the ice so I could trust the placement.  Luckily, the ice was softening as it warmed up.  All of a sudden I was under a 4' roof in a small left facing corner with a bomber, but muddy, hand jam.  I was happy to have something to actually hold on to, but was faced with another tricky 5.10 move.  After some sussing out I decoded the move only to be right back into another 30' section of continuously hard friction.  Finally, I topped out.  It's hard to describe this experience, other than saying it was really intense.  I was just dialed into what I was doing the whole time.  This sort of climbing requires a lot of focus, a lot of really precise movement, and a real ability to stay calm.  Even in perfect conditions, climbing this pitch first thing in the day would be demanding.  Every move feels improbable.  There is no real crux, but at the same time there is no easy climbing at all.  Looking back, this was a rewarding and memorable pitch for me.  Meanwhile, Matt was becoming a human popsicle down on the ground.  It had taken me a long time to lead the pitch as every move I made had to be slow, well thought out and in control.  Next time I'll know to sandbag my partner into this lead.  We both agreed that even in perfect conditions this was the mental and physical crux of the whole route for us

Top of Pitch 2 has a cool horizontal crack traverse

After the first pitch everything mellowed out.  The sun was warm, the rock was dry and we had a blast.  The second pitch climbs a corner and then breaks dead left along a horizontal crack.  Now the views up north to the high peaks open up.  There are only a couple man made structures visible for miles and miles.  Its wonderful to live in such a wild  and beautiful place.

Looking up I noticed that the next pitch looked amazing.  It was.  It climbs increasingly difficult slab past four bolts to join a splitter vertical crack.  The crux comes just before reaching the security of the crack, perfect route design from mother nature.  You get these perfect hand jams in this crack that splits a totally blank face  Its at this point that you can appreciate the size of the cliff.  The rock here is just great too.  Really pretty pink granite for the most part.  Some sections are black from water flow and have this smoother but well featured character.  All of it is just solid.  Really high quality.

Matt on the money pitch

We ended up under these big roofs at the belay.  For a slab route, there are a ton of cool features to climb in addition to the pure friction.  The diversity is another reason I really enjoyed climbing this, to the point of actually writing about it.  The fourth pitch pulls immediately into a steep corner then around an arete to pass the overhangs.  Then follow some crack systems through another overhang and slab up to the anchors.  Just writing this makes me wish I didn't have to work that day.  We rapped and headed out with tons of daylight left!  We could have climbed Tier Pressure.  If anyone wants to get out and climb this in the future I posted some more details on mountain project.

Click Here For More Beta on Soul Confusion

You will also find info on a few of the other climbs up at Sugarloaf.  The newest edition of Adirondack Rock has some really good areal photos of the cliff, all the routes descriptions (except this one because it is so new) and historical facts and essays written by local climbers.  So if you are up in the Daks climbing off the beaten path I highly recommend going off the path even more and checking out Sugarloaf.

Last pitch

  

          

Road Trip 2013: Castle Valley, Utah

Castleton Tower: Classic Climbing?

From camp

Recently a climbing buddy and friend of mine got together and did a little catching up.  Lukasz and I had taken a month long climbing trip in April/May of 2013.  Our discussion brought to light many interesting facts for me.  The first is that every time we see each other I get reminded of this great experience we had together, which I enjoy remembering, and can never be taken from me.  The second is that as time passes the different climbs we did arrange themselves, and stand out in our memories, in different ways.  We both agreed that the Kor-Ingalls route on Castleton Tower in Utah was important, perhaps the most significant or memorable climb of the trip.  But why did both come to that conclusion?  And what is the definition of a "classic" climb anyways?

The Line

So what attracted us to this climb?  For me, it simply looked cool.  Castleton Tower is 400' tall mass of geometric sandstone.  The tower sits high on top of a 1000' dirt cone.  It is beautiful, odd, intimidating and amazing at the same time.  I felt like once I saw it, I had to climb it as a rite of passage.  Another attraction is the rich history of Castleton Tower.  The Kor-Ingalls route was first climbed in 1961 by Layton Kor and Huntley Ingalls.  Kor, especially, is regarded as a pioneer in American climbing, known for his first ascents, drive and impressive physical presence.  In climbing, as in life, I think it is important to follow in the footsteps of those who came before us as a sign of respect, admiration and to learn.  Their route generally follows a left facing corner system, a striking visual line from ground to summit.  An interesting obscure fact is that in 1964 Chevy dropped a car and a model atop the tower via helicopter and filmed a commercial.

Bizarre Chevy Commercial

All this attraction is interesting, inspiring and a wonderful to experience but there is also the experience of actually climbing the route.  Things are quite different when thought becomes action.  The guidebook, as is the case with many longer routes, very generally described Kor-Ingalls as a crack in corner system, with some chimney and OW sections.  If you don't want to know what this route is really like (or at least my perspective of what it is really like) by all means stop reading!  Go find out for yourself some day.  If you are interested in my experience and thoughts keep right on going.

After nearly going insane the day before, waiting for hours at the first belay, we decided on a 4 am start.  This route is popular.  We got stuck behind a few parties of three and four. and it was a fate worse than a total rain out.  Anyway, our plan worked and we were the first people on the tower the next morning.  Cooler temps on the approach and watching the sunrise more than make up for the horrible feeling of waking up way too early.  I am not a "morning person".

Beginning up the first pitch I was welcomed by a nice hand crack in solid sandstone.  Ahhhhh, climbing is wonderful!  These thoughts were short lived.  After about twenty or so feet this crack opens up and swallows me whole and I am welcomed to the nightmarish world of squeeze chimneys for the first time.

Lukasz and I come from the East Coast and we mostly climb in the Gunks and ADKs.  We are used to face climbs, pulling roofs, hand and finger cracks.....actual holds!  The squeeze chimneys on this route are dead vertical, devoid of holds and covered in calcite.  To my eyes, the calcite deposits resemble candle wax melted over the underlying sandstone.  Calcite has very slippery texture, something like soap.  It is creamy white in appearance.  While very interesting and eerily beautiful it makes the climbing more difficult, more thought provoking and much more of a pain in the ass.

 calcite

There was prolonged chimney work on three out of four pitches.  Upward progress was slow.  I found myself with my hands and knees on one wall and the bottoms of my feet and back on the other.  Slowly, working my way up.  This required tons of body tension, grunting, groaning and of course cursing.  A very physical, blue collar style of climbing.  By the last pitch I was having a full on conversation with the chimney I was in.  The contents of which I will leave to the reader's imagination.  This experience resembled torture more so than climbing.  At times it took all the effort I could summon just to move an inch.  I found it helpful at times to spin my body ninety degrees and just wedge my shoulders between the two walls so I could rest.  I felt like a giant turd clogging the toilet.  The core workout was so intense that I had extremely painful cramps, similar to those I've experienced in my quads after long hikes, in my abdominals when we got back to camp.  Dehydration didn't help with that.  More on that later.

Summit Cache

 



Every one of the four pitches was a challenge.  The third pitch is probably the mental and physical crux of the route.  I backed off and down climbed ten feet on my first attempt when a basketball sized chock stone I grabbed started to move around.  Lukasz and I stood at the belay and very seriously talked about bailing right then and there, halfway up the route.  We were both disgusted with the climb and I know I was legitimately shook.  But upon further inspection the gear was good, so I decided to give it another go.  This time the pitch went.  It took a while to lead due to the fact I literally got stuck in the squeeze chimney above the crux moves for probably half an hour.  Once I escaped I proceeded to sew the rest of the pitch up with small gear.  When I look back now this pitch is simultaneously one of the scariest and most rewarding sections of climbing I have experienced.  I had just over one year total climbing history when I led this pitch.  I feel like I got away with something I should not have.  Do we gain experience in order to push our limits on hard climbs or do we push our limits on hard climbs to gain experience?  Riddle me this.

I wonder why climbers love Utah?

So Lukasz led the last pitch and got us to the top.  I was so haggard and dehydrated I thought I saw one of those big water dispensers they have at the doctor's office sitting on the summit.  I wandered back and forth across the small summit swearing to Lukasz that it was there somewhere.  Eventually, I accepted the fact that I had imagined it.  Water is important on this route.  We brought a liter each on our harnesses and left three liters each in packs at the bottom.  With all the chimneys it made sense to be without packs.  Classic case of:  you're damned if you do and thirsty if you don't.

The view of the La Sal Mountains and the surrounding Castle Valley speaks for itself.  We took time to pay homage to our #5 Camalot, placed on every pitch.

Now let us journey back to my original line of questioning.  Is the Kor-Ingalls a classic climb?  I don't know if I am any closer to answering that question now, than I was before climbing the route.  I kind of feel like the term classic climb is thrown around so much within the climbing vernacular that its exact meaning is lost.  The tower itself is unique.  The setting is awe inspiring.  The line is natural and draws the eye from bottom to top.  The route is historically significant.  There is serious exposure and excitement in a couple spots.  But I am still left with the feeling that the majority of the climb is not fun.  For me the fun came when the climb was finally over.  I will never, ever climb this route again!  The Kor-Ingalls is memorable.  A classic suffer fest.  And when we suffer together we won't soon forget.