Foreword : As a followup to my previous TR, Summer Climbing in the California Sierra, I would like to share my random musings of weekend warrior climbing trips this past fall. Also, sorry for the crappy spelling. My spelling is embarrassingly bad, but there are so many in here I'm too lazy to fix it now.
Link : http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Summer-climbing-in-the-California-Sierra/t12845n.html


Lingering knee issues from the summer coupled by the forest fire and a friends wedding kept me on the sidelines for the better part off a month, but the temperatures dropping meant it was time to kick off cragging season in and around the state. Its kind of funny to think of winter as the best time to climb outdoors - Yosemite, JTree, Gold Wall, Bishop.... its funny to say, but it feels like spring is coming too quickly and there is so much I want to do before it gets too hot.

Kicking off the fall season, my wife and I headed out to attempt Voyager. It was probably beyond my pay grade but I really wanted the to try it this fall. Talking to my friend Gleb, it looked like he was headed out to Yosemite that fall too so we did 2 parties of 2 and had a great time. For my wife and I, we had epiced on Royal Arches 4 years previous that day, remembering the days we used to figure out how to place gear at Swan Slabs and Church Bowl so we kind of wanted to pick a special route for that weekend. We decided to swing leads, as the split of odds and evens split nicely for pushing our limits.


I kicked off the 1st pitch with the 5.11a corner that I thought was pretty hard (for me) but I was really happy to do it without it being a total disaster. It was a bit harder then some of similar corners pitchs like the first pitch of Polish Route at the Hulk, much harder then OZ, but easier then Catchy Corner. None of the moves felt like show stoppers for me, so I was feeling pretty confident. Asuka without too much trouble.


Asuka rocked cool looking 5.10c pitch which wasnt too hard but the gear could make it a bit intimidating if you are pushing the grade, so I was really proud of her lead. I personally really liked the more adventurous feel of the 2nd pitch, it feels more diverse and secluded then something like Serenity and Sons.
I took the 3rd pitch Incinerator crack and I got my ass kicked on it. It felt a little off size for me, and much harder then the Enduro corner for me. Good thing the pitch was short otherwise it would have turned out to be a total epic. I would love to give this route another whirl in the spring, I might just bring a big wall rack of 0.5 an 0.75 for this 30 feet pitch.
Asuka took the 4th pitch of 5.11 face, but it was nicely aid possible cause I thought it was extremely hard. I followed freeing the moves but it took a few tries. This put me at the base of the 5th pitch corner I think was 5.11a. The opening moves did not seem to take pro with my belayer just below me, but thankfully the moves were not too hard before I could get pro in. The pitch went quite smoothly so I was extremely happy, especially after being a total sloth on the Incinerator pitch. I thought the pitch felt pretty wild and fun, though I left my only #2 and #3 with the follower and didnt bring a #4 so that last 20 or 30 ft of no pro was quite exciting. While no #4 was needed, I definitely will not forget the #2 or #3 next time.

Asuka took the next 5.10 face pitch that started out with a worm like OW. She managed to swim through the OW ok, I couldnt get any traction with off width moves. In the end, I did some sort of gymnastics and heel hooks over my head while flopping around like a whale. The slab face moves were not that bad in the end. However, days were getting short and the sun was dropping quickly, but we only had 1 more pitch to finish the route and we were feeling really proud for each of our leads so we didnt want to finish 1 pitch from the finish. The only thing standing in the way from the finish line of glorious hand jams was 8 feet of steep 0.75. While not glamorous to say, with minutes from the sun setting over the horizon, I pulled through on a 0.75 to easier climbing and then rocked it to the finish. Asuka followed feeling the steep 0.75 to be really hard but the rest was great and we ecstatic to finish! We rapped as the sun set without any stuck rope, thankfully. It was an awesome day and an awesome route, potentially our new favorite route in Yosemite. It was great because historically one of us would lead all pitchs, so by splitting leads so each pitch was pushing our limit, it really felt like a team effort. The setting felt remote despite being a short hike and the climbing was beautifully varied.


The shorter and colder days kept us cragging, but I did get a chance to try the Enduro corner this fall. (Only boy, not yet a man.) As the crowds died away 90% as many put away their gear for the year, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try this gem without the crowds. The Awahnnee parking lot looked completely bare of climbers except a few boulderers, a rare occurrence (usually at least someone is trying Super Slide or Serenity and Sons, but not this weekend. Yosemite was covered with a thin sheet of snow, so good thing Washington Column is in the sun. While Asuka racked up for the first pitch, another party actually came up which we did not except, especially since it was close to noon, and they had the same objective so we let to pass. The first pitch was thankfully pretty easy face as Asuka soloed the irst pitch with no pro and took us to the base of the Boulder problem. The Boulder problem was extremely hard, so I took the other variation. Next time I will bring some micronuts and 000 cams to attempt it. So therewe were, at the base of the Enduro Corner over looking a snow capped Half Dome and the base full of snow, well... I cant believe we are here. The freaking Enduro Corner! I was armed with triples of thin hands to make things safe and off I went. Overall, Enduro corner went well, but for whatever reason I was fumblng with gear and choose the wrong size for every piece like a n00b. But, the moves didnt seem too hard for my sizes, and afterwords we decided to lap it on TR till dusk, and was happy to get it clean on TR. Pretty cool to be cragging across a snow capped Half Dome snow covered Valley, with only 1 other party on Washington Column. I am pretty sure during high season they probably need traffic lights for the traffic on Washington Column.


The rest of our season in Yosemite was cragging at Five and Dime, El Cap Base, Cookie and Arch. Asuka finally lead Moby Dick and rocked it first time on lead, even though the #4 size intimidates her. We also did Hardly Pinnacle on TR and I really liked it. The mix of lie backing corner and face moves made it really cool. Five and Dime exposed my weaknesses on my off sizes, I would love to go back to that. Waverly Wafer at Cookie was harder then expected and I thought it was a lot harder then itlooks. The Nabisco Wall looked really cool though, I would love to go back to it before the spring comes but probably by way of Beverly Tower. We went to Arch after a 1 year hiatus, for the first time since having a mini epic on Midterm with a stuck rope. We did Gripper and Supplication, and both of them were fantastic. Just as I was clipping the anchoring on Supplication, it started to snow so we high tailed it down back to the car. It actually feels like winter is too short with so much we want to climb at Arch and Cookie, not to mention the other winter crags. So much to do and so little time...




Speaking of great winter crags... probably the best part of winter, Gold Wall. Even more routes to do and so little time. I got to try Fourteen Carat, Claim Jumper, Deliverance, Anihilator, Check Engine Light and the 35m route to the right of it. All the routese were fantastic, I dont really have a favourite. I actually managed to OS some of them which was a huge surprise for me as I typically struggle at Gold Wall, but I was feeling a lot more confident on rock with another year of climbing experience under my belt. I typically also struggle working the beta and Gold Wall, but I think I am finally learning to read my routes better.


As I write up this post on my way to Spain, the last route I tried before the loosly defined fall season was Imaginary Voyage at JTree. The route had been on my radar for the past 2 years (for the record, everything looks like its been on my radar for the past 2 or 3 years since I kind of started trad climbing 4 years ago) so I finally got to try it. And holy crap what a radical route, a real mixed bag of tricks. The start was surpringly loose for a classic route, I didnt even know JTree rock could be chossy but a few holds did break on my early on. The liebacks totally kicked my ass, I think this was probably the first time I finally agreed that indeed, routes at JTree can be sandbagged. Though I guess nobody on MP upgraded it, I thought it was extremely hard for the grade and the wild roof and hand traverse rail was quite intimidating. I didnt really trust a horizontally placed cam which made it more intimidating for me, so I have I have since read up on how to place a cam in a horizontal crack (spoiler: outer lobes facing down). You would think I would have thought about it since I placed a horizontal cam below one of the cruxs on Monkey Paws at Donner, but oh well. After placing the horizontal cam, I swung around the arete to take a very long break and check out my route. Despite the bolt right after the crux, and the pictures of the route I had seen, there was no way this was the move. Thats like a 8 feet across to traverse across the roof, what the hell? I even thought about bailing out right and considered gear options for anchors for bailing. Eventually, after far too long of being a cowered, I went for it. And tried it again. And again. And again. Each time reversing track to avoid taking a whipper on a horizontally placed cam. But eventually after trying a few things, I finally found something that worked and got to clip that glorious shiny bolt. Thank god. The climbing afterwords would have gone a lot smoother if I would have extended my gear on the liebacks. A mix of shananigans to finish off the route included back cleaning and even simul climbing (i.e. my wife belaying herself up while I am wedged into a OW like a nut, as an anchor). What a circus. Trying to move through the easy OW was like a football player towing those weights in football practise. You could probably hear me grunt through the easy OW all throughout the area that some guy nearby offered to help and perform a rescue. How embarrassing. Never the less, the route was a total hoot and I am really glad I did it. I would definately go back, maybe a bit stronger and a bit wiser next time.


Overall, my goal this fall, winter and coming spring is to attempt as many different routes as possible before the days get long, temps get warm and I get to attempt some longer routes. The past 2 years, I was focusing on RP but this winter, I decided instead that I really want to get on as many different routes as possible. Be it thin hands, OW, slab, sport climbing on thin face or juggy overhangs... there is just so much to do and so little time.