Some Bishop Photos.

Meshkat picking me up to head down to Bishop

Topping out some warm-up in the Buttermilks.

Last Problem I sent before the rains came. Hard to believe when you see the beautiful blue skies in the background.

Georg Jost dwarfing the giant boulders of Bishop.

Meshkat showing off the guns.

The legend!

And that's it! What a trip! I did about 15 problems in two days. But hey weather looks good for the weekend. I'm off to climb in the gym. Time to get some strength.

I'm Out!

Bust!

Well Bishop sucked.

Haha.

Or at least the weather did. So I got two days of climbing in before Vancouver weather showed up and ruined the climbing trip. I did take some photos. Unfortunately my trip partner (Meshkat) Stole my camera and won't return it.

It took us two days to drive down and two days to drive back. On our first day climbing we decided to go to the Happy's to get the kinks out from the long drive down. Meshkat and myself mostly just warmed up and tried a few of the classics. The next day psyched to go to the Buttermilks we headed up and ran into some good friends from back home. A good warmup in the milks we got talked into checking out Dales camp where a couple awesome problems I'd never seen before were. So we head over to try "Zen Flute". First thing I learned about Dales Camp is it's way colder over there then the Milks. The boulders only get morning sun. So after trying the problem a bunch and getting shut down by small crimps my body begin freeze.

So at that point the day was over for me. I was ice cold and couldn't get back my mojo.

We headed out with sore tips and ready for a rest day.

Little did we know that the next potential climbing day would be sometime in the new year.

After some tough decisions we decided that waiting out the rain wasn't worth it. And checking all the close areas we decided just to drive back rather then lose anymore money on rest day boredom.

The only area within driving distance was Hueco Tanks a 17 hour drive. Unfortunately we had a dog with us so going there wouldn't have been fair on poor Maui.

So now I'm back and dreaming about where to go next.

Peace.

Bishop Tomorrow

Updates to come!!!

Peace!

Reel Rock tour!

Last night was the "Reel Rock Tour", I'll let the video speak for it's self.

I'm psyched to go climbing, I just don't know about all this white stuff on the ground outside.

Blogged down.

Sorry for the lack of updates.

Been a brutal last two months.

First my motivation went down hill.

Then my condo was filled with poisonous gas.

Then I moved.

Then a death in the family.

The loss of my brother has been hard to handle.

But I'll solider on, because I think he wouldn't want me moping around.

Squamish has been awesome the last week.

It's been cold. Today I spent the day up there with my good friend, Meshkat. It was -8 Celsius;

that's 18 f for you yanks.

I'm trying to whip myself into shape. I'm planning to go down to Bishop at Christmas and want to send a couple problems. I made a promise to a friend in Australia that i'd send his project for him...

Tomorrow is the Reel Rock tour in Vancouver. So I'm going to inject some motivation.

Maybe another bouldering day outside too.

I'll try and remember to bring my camera for some pics for you guys.

Peace!

Hardest Unrepeated Boulder Problems.

Basically I've decided to steal an idea from Climbingnarc.

What are the hardest unrepeated boulder problems in Squamish?

• Singularity V14 (Tim Clifford)

• North Ridge V14 (Georg Jost)

• Zazen V14 (Harry Robertson)

• The Reckoning V14 (TD)

• Big Dragon V13 (TD)

• Everything Roses V13? (TD)

• The Pool V13 (TD) It's known in the book as "The Deep End" but the full name is "The Pool".

At the moment I can't think of any other problems that are considered super hard and unrepeated. I could be wrong. I'd be happy to update this list if it's otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of these have been repeated but as far as I know these stand unrepeated.

It would also be rad if I had videos of all of these... Or even pictures.



UPDATE: Found this picture of Singularity, pretty hot.

Anyways later!

Canadian Fit Homeless... Err ish.

Sorry for the lack of updates it's been a crazy month. As we speak I'm writing this from the lobby of the Sandman Hotel in downtown Vancouver. My condo for the last week has been filled with poisonous gas. Yikes I know.

So I've been staying in hotel waiting... Hydrogen Cyanide sounds like some nasty business.

Ok quick update. Got married in Kauai (awesome place, lousy climbing, though potential saw a huge cave), Drank my weight in fruity blender drinks, Returned home climbed in Paradise(Got super psyched on two problems there, got shut down on the hardest 8 in the Squamish), Threw a party (Got drunk on wine and beer), Got home to find out my condo was evacuated, Went climbing yesterday (had one of the best days of the season so far, awesome conditions).

So as we speak I've been wearing the same pair of clothes for the past week. Now I know that's no big deal for some of you smelly folks. But for me that's a bit of change. Anyways I'll post some photos for you all to enjoy.

Peace!

Well summer is over!

Or at least the climbing part of it is for me.

Today was my last day in the forest till September. I'm leaving for Hawaii on Wednesday morning and tomorrow I'm going to spend the day completing the finishing touches on my to-do-list.

Well this years summer wasn't exactly as productive as last years. Sure I sent a few things. But I never really pounded off something awesome. My big three projects are still that. My big three. But Sendtember is just around the corner and hey who knows maybe I won't pack on 20 pounds of fat laying on the beaches doing nothing but drinking and eating, and I'll come back when the temps are a bit better and crush my projects Ondra style (Sorry Sharma, there's a new kid on the block)!

So how would I rate this years summer? I had a ton of laughs and tried hard on most things. I felt like this year was especially hard on the forest. People where off trail like crazy and leaving their trash all over the place.

I wish people could see this place like I do. I love Squamish it's my favorite place to climb on earth. I know! Even more then Font. I just want people to treat it a bit better. But all in all a pretty amazing summer.

I'm off to get married so I'll be on vacation from the forest. I want all of you to watch over the place for me. Give people a hard time if there off trail and hassle them if you see them leave garbage on the ground. Oh and tape from your fingers that needs to be picked up as well. Return the pads you borrow and if it's late at night and you see pads left out pull them under a boulder so they don't get wet in case it rains.

I'm going to take my shoes with me to Kauai rumor has it there is some climbing... But I'm not optimistic.

Well have fun. I'll see you all on the flip side.



The future Mrs!

Sending got me thinking.

Today I sent a project.

Hurray for me and all that jazz!

It was something just about everyone finds easy and I struggled on for over four days. I did all the moves on the first day. And just couldn't put it together.

Then today while no one was around I went up and sent it first try.

It got me wondering if I climb better alone or if I can't handle the pressure of having large groups watch me climb.

I've been in the middle of a climb only to be shouted off a problem by unruly crowd.

In their defense I believe they thought they were helping by shouting beta and giving encouragement.

But maybe I prefer quiet? I don't know. It was interesting today because my project had a scary top-out. But I'd done the top-out before so I was confident that I would send. I told myself to calm down and I walked across the top with little drama.

One of my favorite things about climbing is the social aspect, but maybe when I start feeling like I'm having a mental block on a problem the solution is to get busy on the problem alone.

I tried to send two projects today only to show up and find the pads hidden under the problem gone. I mean I'm willing to try sending alone but I think some problems need protection. Just like some climbers...

Anyways I'm going to try and send as much as possible in the next 7 days. Because after that I'm off to Hawaii to get married. And as everyone knows the minute you get married you start packing on the pounds. I'm already one of the largest boulderers around. God help the holds when I get back from two weeks of eating drinking and chilling on the beach.

I don't have any photos to post lately because my friend Mike Chapman has stopped taking photos of me. The only people he shoots anymore are famous rock climbers. I think getting all those photos in the new Squamish bouldering guide book has gone to his head.

Oh and the rumor that there is a photo of me in the guide is just that a rumor. I think it might be my twin brother Matthæus, but it certainly isn't me that guy isn't sending and I'd only be photographed crushing.

Peace.

Photo Project

Here's a photo I took off the top of the Black Dyke. I'm pretty happy with it. It's five images stitched together. It's my first attempts at photo shop. I actually had to build a weird mount for my tripod to accomplish this shot. Wrapping my head around the concept of nodal point took some figuring out.

Anyways I'm heading up again tomorrow to Squamish. So say hi if you see me!

A day in the Northwalls.

My skin sucks!

But as a founding member of "Team Weak", I'm used to failure. Anyways my good friend Reagan made a video from the other day enjoy.

North Walls Bouldering in Squamish from Reagan Daly on Vimeo.

Drew crushing and the big guy greasing the place up.

Second Story

, originally uploaded by squamishphoto.

I'm posting this so you can all see my sweaty mitts. Just look at my thumb!

Anyways Peace Out Homies!

Well my climbing season is over!

Easy there kids, no need to send get well cards and fruit baskets.

The weather here in Squamish has turn a few degrees hotter then hell.

The name of this blog says it all. Yukoner (down under). I'm a cold weather kid.

It's been over thirty degree's (That's over 90 for you imperialists) here for the past week and none of my projects will get done with this heat.

Today I spent the day working a couple new problems but the heat was shutting my skin down royally. Imagine climbing with a wet plastic bag over your hands then times that by a thousand and your somewhere near how my skin feels.

That said I'm heading up again tomorrow... I know crazy.

So as of now I'm in float mode. I'm over worrying about sending and just climbing for the pure enjoyment of losing skin.

Oh check out the new Squamish guide book. If you look carefully you might even catch a glimpse of yours truly making funny faces and climbing.



Photo I took with my new Rebel. Marek crushing Houdini.

Here's a video of Bubbles and Reagan climbing in Squamish.

Paradise Boulders in Squamish from Reagan Daly on Vimeo.

I think I might check this place out on Wednesday.

Peace.

So Sorry!

So sorry Campbell River boulder. I apologize for saying you were a huge pile of crap. Your looks aren't so hot, but the problems on you are awesome. I'm actually psyched to go back and climb more of the problems around your massive girth.

TD, Bubbles and myself slipped away from Reagan and Aimee's wedding this past weekend to climb on the Campbell River boulder. We had exactly one hour to get from the wedding ceremony to the main reception with a bit of bouldering in between. I say get from one event to another, but in reality they were the same venue and we just sprinted away for two hours to climb. Half hour there and half hour back, Both Bubbles and I had left our girlfriends, so we knew if we were late coming back it could make for a long evening.

But man oh man some really rad problems. We quickly ran out of time and family commitments prevented me from going back the next day. I'm jonesing to go back send this problem with a rad sloper.

Peace!

The Black Council

The Black Council, originally uploaded by jellie05.

Another angle of The Black Council. I took this photo with Mikes Camera. As you can see my skill with camera far out weighs Mikes camera.

I against I

I against I, originally uploaded by Teacozy Design & Photography.

Just some random photo I found online. Thought I'd post it.

A small back story!

Well I got up to Squamish yesterday and it was surprisingly dry. Came super close to sending one of my long term projects only to have the crimp I was pulling on to crumble off while I was slapping the lip. Hopefully I'll get it next time.

I was thinking about projects and I thought I'd talk about a boulder problem I established over 8 years ago. Desire.

Sadly Desire was the only boulder problem to be destroyed with the expansion of the new highway. It was also one of the tallest coolest slabs around at just over 10 meters in height it reached the point where falling going for the lip would have dire consequences.

After spending two months slabbing it up in Fontainebleau the granite crystals seemed like jugs compared to the "poffed" glass foot holds in Fonts' forest. My good friend Brent and Mike went to work cleaning the slab on top-rope. At the time of the cleaning we were all convinced that though we believed the slab would go we also believed it to be quite hard and dangerous.

As luck would have it, turns out it wasn't that hard and with my new found skills I managed to climb it first go. I first named it "Street Car Named Desire" due to the height and the close approximation to the road. But with most things the name shortened into "Desire". That summer Desire enjoyed a slight stint in the lime light. Most enjoyably when I took my good friend TD to the problem and had him yell at me the whole time he climbed it claiming I hadn't climbed it and I was sending him head long into his death.

Now anyone can have a piece of Desire if they want. Just walk past the "Cutting edge" and grab a chunk. I was thinking about making a coffee table out of some of whats left.

Projects!

Here we are again... Summer.

Or at least that's what my computer calender tells me. Looks like freaking December with all this rain we've been having. I had a funny phone call today where a friend of mine talked about how he thought we could climb this coming Sunday because the forecast called for only 3mm of rain. Then in the next breath also reminded me of the thousand or so millimeters called for before Sunday.

So instead I'm stuck daydreaming and contemplating climbing in the gym this week.

As many of you know I love new problems. To the point where I get a little excited and desperately try and do the first ascent. Whether it's a link up through six old problems. I love new stuff and I like doing first ascents so I can give them clever or interesting names.

Since we last spoke I finally got up the go to try this project I've been blabbing about for the last four years.

Tyson, Chappy and myself went and checked it out. I gave it a bit of a brush and we got to work trying it. Right away I learned one thing. Its hard but has good holds. I got next to no where with Tyson putting the first move together but hitting a stopper move. We all left the first day disappointed but psyched to come back and keep working on it. A couple days later I rounded up some pads and went to work on it again by myself. I was hoping some magic beta would appear and I would unlock this puzzle. Sadly I got spanked again. I saw Tyson again and told him all my new failures and convinced him that though they didn't work for me they would certainly work for him...

I think all my new beta did was wear him out instead of helping him succeed. We both left again defeated. The next day up there my friend TD showed up and I told him all about the project and he seemed interested. We gathered the up pads and also picked up Tim Clifford.

I now knew that my dreams of putting up an amazing new problem were over. Two monsters were going to session this project into submission while I stood around and suggested beta that no one wanted to try.

TD quickly fired the crux only to be stopped on the next move by a huge dyno with frightening consequences. He tried a few more times and put the problem to bed for the night. Conditions were bad and no one wants to jump to a sloppy hold with wet skin.

The next day I met up with TD and we gathered up ten pads and made the safest landing we could.He showed up and I told him that no matter what I was going to catch him if he missed the dyno. He got on and fired the first four moves then loaded up for the dyno while I shouted that I had him and it was all good.

He fired while I realized in a split second that if he missed the dyno he was going to fly over my head even though I jumped in a volleyball style block. Not to toot my own horn but I can dunk a basketball from standing under the rim and he was well over my hands.

But he stuck and quickly climbed to the top. He was psyched as was I, though probably for different reasons. I was convinced he was going to sail over my head and hit a huge boulder behind me and I think he was happy that he stuck the dyno and fired a new amazing problem.

TD said he didn't care what it was named and said I could come up with a name. Well I just said the first thing out of my mouth as I always do. Which was "The Black Council" it was reference from a book I just read and was stuck in my head. Though I like the sound of it.

Mike took some photos of the problem, though if you guys don't know Mike broke his arm the next day while walking a slack line on his birthday. So he's been nursing his arm rather then photoshopping me out of the photos. I took a couple of photos as well but I'm still rocking a film camera and well I can't find a way to stick my camera roll into this computer without making a mess.

So photos of The Black Council will have to be put up on a later date.

My goal this summer is to climb my new big three as well and scope out a new project I might get before all you monsters find it first.



Update! After I posted Chappy dragged himself to his computer and uploaded this to flicker with his teeth.

The Black Council

Peace!

Hey Gang.

Long time no see... Well for you anyways. I've been seeing all of you a lot. This blog connects to your webcams and well some of you do some weird things while reading this blog.


Been climbing a lot lately. My buddy Mike hasn't been taking too many photos. Lazy sod!

But a couple of my friends from Victoria went on a three week trip to Font. Here's there video.

three weeks in font from Reagan Daly on Vimeo.

This video gets me so psyched! I've been harassing Janelle about going on a three month trip there. I want to rent apartment and really get busy on all there amazing problems.


Oh here's a photo Mike took there other day of the living legend Austrian Rock master.



For any of you who haven't tried picking this rock up with a pinch lets just say it ain't easy.

Now imagine tossing it in the air and catching it in the other hand. Feel free to try it. The rock is usually sitting beside the Superfly boulder.

Peace.

Where my heads at!

Sorry, sorry I know.

You've been pressing the refresh button for the last 3 weeks straight.

Here's the news. Lots of projects on the go and sadly most of them have been none climbing related. That and the weather here has been terrible. Lots of rain, and even more rain.

I had a big long weekend planned to drive down to Leavenworth and see what all the fuss was about. Just about every weather site I checked told of the coming apocalypse. So no joy. Instead I spent the Easter weekend eating and eating and eating and sitting on the couch watching movie after movie. So not only was I missing out on climbing fun, I was sabotaging my future climbing days with Mac and Cheese pizza.



This last weekend the weather finally broke. I sent out a dove and it returned with dry rock. Got out to Squamish this weekend and just climbed around and put out some feelers of potential spring projects. There were a lot of volunteers but I haven't found the something to really catch my eye and have me devout the next two months to.

So I'll leave you all with some hot photos from my good buddy Mike Chapman. He's the guy I steal 90% of all my photos from. Mike's been talking about putting out a Squamish Climbing coffee table book. I think it could be a real hit with large glossy photos. And the book could also act as a coffee table if you attach legs to it.



More to come!

Some cool videos.

This video doesn't do this problem justice. Don't believe me go stand under it. I tried the line to the left last Friday. Which is basically 18 feet of V1 then god knows what else for another 10 feet. I jumped down before I had to figure the rest out. Too scary and everyone kept running away when I asked for a spot.






Another video that could be filmed better! Stand back people, get the whole problem in the shot. Maybe a couple cameras, a crane, lights, dancing girls...

Top ten list!

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Squamish.

And as any good climbing day goes, debate raged.

Today's topic of conversation was the "Top Ten Best Boulder Problems in Squamish".

Well, after hearing various problems bandied about, I'll drop my "Top Ten".

10. Viper V5 - Classic movement, comfortable holds, and a safe flat landing. This problem does get over looked for the simple problem of being in the main area and simply taken for granted because everyone and their dog has done it. I also felt this should be included for its interesting history. From classic snake in the beginning with Chris H. cleaning it and Peter slipping behind his back and scoring the first ascent.

9. This Monkey's Gone to Heaven V7 - Absolutely beautiful, tall, proud, and solid for the grade. I believe for a problem to be a classic it needs more than nice movement and comfortable holds.
There needs to be a purity of the line. This monkey has all those things and more.

8. Sling Shot V2 - Maybe the best moderate in Squamish. It flows and has comfortable holds. It is the perfect next step for new climbers. Sometimes the low grades get over looked when people go about making top ten lists but this is an excellent climb and can't be left out.



7. Kung-Fu Fighter V4 - This might be number one on a lot of lists. I couldn't give it that coveted top spot for the sheer fear factor it induces in me. Every time I climb this boulder problem I'm terrified... And psyched when I'm finally on top! Classic line with even better style.

6. Singularity V14 - Most likely the hardest problem in Squamish. Also the most beautiful and would be the top of the list if the sit start wasn't still up for grabs. I plan on climbing this, this year... Only if the HGH really does make a huge difference.



5. Broom V10 - Probably the hardest, proudest slab in Squamish. Three ascents by two very talented rock climbers. This problem stands out in my mind mostly due to nightmares I've experienced dreaming about the consequences of a slip of a foot or miss of a hand hold sending the climber left or right. Never before have I been spotting someone and felt a bit of horror inside my stomach watching someone attempt this amazing climb.



4. Drowning Grip V12 - Can a blank wall be considered top ten? Watching someone climb this is mind boggling. It's over 20 feet tall and goes in four and five moves.



3. Velcro V9 - Just stop and take a look at this problem next time you're in the forest. Beautiful, pure and an absolute Squamish style classic. Improbable crimp slopers to a huge move, crimp. Want mad props from your friends? Send this in August.



2. No Troublems V9/10 - This fell short solely because it's a two boulder problem. The best looking roof in Squamish. Climbs perfect and looks even better.

1. Resurrection V8 - Number one! All you have to do is take one look and there is no doubt. Tall proud and with a flat landing. This problem would get twice the press and twice the hype if it wasn't hidden in the North Walls. Born through the destruction of another problem rumor has it prying off a two hundred pound hold perfected this problem. Sure we all miss "Canadian Stud Bull" but what came of it was twice as good.



Look for my "Top Ten World list".

Update and What not.

Since we last spoke I said some things, you said some things we talked, but did we really communicate?

I'm now in Las Vegas, the weirdest place in the states. You can drink in the streets, smoke indoors, gamble and get prostitutes all legally.

The trip started off a bit rocky. We were supposed to leave Friday after work and drive as far as possible. However my good friend TD called up around 2 in the afternoon and wanted to know if I wanted to come to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics? Well of course I said yes. I'll most likely never see anything like that live and a free ticket was impossible to turn down. This of course put a monkey wrench in our take off plans. We however decided to leave the next morning after the show.

I'll say this about the Olympics. They don't go cheap with theatrics. That and 6 hours is a long ass time to sit in one chair. I had a really good time and am glad I went. I know I've been critical of the Olympics and I still feel rightly so, but it's hard to fault athletes and locals for enjoying themselves. I cheered along with everyone else when the thousands of athletes marched through the stadium. Anyone who dedicates themselves to thousands of hours of training to compete for the love of sport falls into the same thinking as climbing.

After a night of fun we woke up early and hit the road. Driving for 8 hours we arrived in Pendleton, Oregon a little tired but no worse for wear. We grabbed a cheap hotel and crashed out for the night. I've noticed that my Dean Moriarty gun-hoe is all but finished. I used to drive non-stop to where ever my final destination was. Now I'm done after 8 hours.

The next day disaster struck and our car lost power while passing a 18 wheeler. Janelle managed to pull the car off to the side of road without getting us killed. I switched and crawled the car another mile down the road to a pull off before the car completely died.

Stuck in the middle of nowhere Idaho. A very kind man pulled over and offered to call us a tow truck. In no time a flat bed truck was loading us up and driving us back to Mountain Home to spend the night then to be towed even further back to Boise the next day. Driving an Audi has it's perks... unless you break down then it's a money pit. Small lesson learned: Purchase AAA or BCAA otherwise you'll get a 339 dollar tow bill. Also one computer chip costs over 600 dollars to install and takes 7.5 hours. So after two wasted days we were back on the road and headed to Las Vegas. That night we stayed in Twin Falls, grabbed a hot-tub and hit the road early racing the rest of the way to Vegas.

Getting in quite late we decided we'd stay in another hotel. And if you're going to stay in Vegas might as well stay on the strip. The cheapest being the Excalibur... for good reason. Ghetto! But we played some slots lost across the board and ate grease pizza. The next day we headed out to Red Rocks and set up our tent and went to check out the bouldering.

Cool rock, small area, lots of crimps and pockets. Not my forte. But we've decided to spend at least 5 days here climbing and hanging out.

The weather has been a bit warm for my liking. 25 degrees Celsius is hot. But Janelle's enjoying the weather and catching a bit of a tan.

Right now it's raining so we're trying to decide weather to drive to Bishop or head to LA to check out Hollywood.

I guess I'll post photos later where I can find better internet. Sorry I know reading this is easier when you can skip most of it to check out pics.

Peace from bat country.

Oh Hi to my faithful readers in Oman! You guys rock!

Peace Out!

Okay maybe I don't have the Olympic spirit. And while the rest of Vancouver swells with Canadian pride I'll be crimping on rocks, but I do have to say this So long and thanks for all the fish!



I'm heading down to Las Vegas to check out Red Rocks and while down there I might check out Flagstaff or head to Bishop.

As always I'll post pics and witty remarks.

So long!

Ethics

I've been thinking about climbing ethics a lot lately. So I thought I'd throw down a list of some of my main issues and some other ethics that others have mentioned as well.

1. The Dab. (To come in contact with the ground or an object outside of the climb itself whether it be a person or tree)

Okay with all ethics there seems like there could be some grey area. For me if I'm climbing a problem I haven't done before no dab is allowed. Now if I've climbed the problem before cleanly the dab becomes a bit less strict. Feet touch the ground... Red Card. Eject. Sorry, but you have to treat the ground like its acid. You can keep going if you don't use the part that touched the ground... even when topping out (That's right, drag your body over the top... most likely you'll still be called out). Now if you're trying a problem which requires a super close spot, on red-point, if you swing out and touch the spotter. Sorry Red Card. Please step off the problem and begin again. This sucks I know. Sometimes its no ones fault. You probably could have held the swing but the spotter fearing for your life attempted to prevent you from dying. Still...

2. Spray down. (To inform someone of beta while their climbing)

This is a tough one because 9 times out of 10 the persons goal is to help you succeed while climbing. However every now and then it's a sandbag. Some people do it intentionally, others unfortunately not. Here is an example. You hit the crimp for the first time and someone screams right foot by your left hip. You hike it up there and then damn, you're screwed (The guy yelling is either more flexible or shorter, stronger, more talented or just good on crimps). What ends up happening is you fall off. Only to stare up in disbelief at the foot hold that you should have used making the move do-able. Now this is a two way street because sometimes you're in a desperate situation and without a little spray you might fall.

"Jug on your left."

This is fine. Unless their trying to on-sight the problem. Then you've stolen the on-sight from them... Tricky.

3. Power Spot. (To take weight off a climber to enable them to do a move or climb to a high point.)

I'm not so concerned about this. But people I know are against this. Some see a difference between a power spot and stacking the pads to reach higher holds. To me they are one and the same, but to others there is a difference. The power spot is fine by me as far as working a boulder problem. However you can't say you've done the problem with a power spot no matter how little weight was taken. This falls in to the issue in number 1 The dab.

4. Tick Mark. (To draw a line or dot above or below a hold. To allow the climber to know exactly where and how to grab the hold.)

Seems like a none issue right? Wrong! Travel to France and you will see a road map drawn on every boulder guiding you to holds that may or may not be of any use. Some people see tick marks as an eye sore. I don't mind them. However if they are longer than 3 inches they look brutal. I like to think in Squamish it isn't a huge issue (What with the amount of rain we receive each year). However, my ethics tell me that all tick marks should be removed after each session on a boulder or route for that matter. Keep them short and only place them when absolutely necessary. That means try the problem first. I know some people who are against them altogether. They enjoy learning the problem without the visual aids. The trick I use sometimes is to just simply chalk the holds in advance. This makes the problem move visible...

5. Cheering/Encouraging. (To shout positive words to inspire the climber to succeed.)

Seems like a no brainer, right? Hearing "Come on!" ten thousand times in a four move problem can be a bit distracting. I'm not against this per say... I am just against distracting a climber through cheering. Screaming "YES!" after every move, or husky whispering from my spotter can cause me to forget my main objective and think about other things. Also please! Please! If I'm warming up without a pad don't shout "Come on!" "You can do it!" Most likely I've done this problem before... It kills my ego... Sorry. I find it very distracting... To the point where I might fall off. Things that bother other people I know are yelling "Breathe!". This kind of makes sense. They've been doing it their whole lives and they haven't needed a reminder before. Some people don't like the different language encouraging. For me no funny voices or half-assed efforts made facing the wrong way not watching the action. "Come on man..." In a lazy voice. What's the point of that? Better to be silent.

6. Spray. (To brag about your climbing accomplishments or your friends ascents.)

Hey I get it. You almost sent the problem in your running shoes! But guess what princess, I don't care! That's right. I know your name is John and you're working the "Mandala", but I already know ten people who have done it. Hell one of the guys I know flashed it.

Spray; we all do it... Well most of us anyways. You're psyched you sent your project and you want everyone to feel as good as you do at that moment (I call it my inner ball of happiness.). There are ways of expressing this right and wrong. Right: Tell your friends who you've been forcing to spot you for the last 6 months. They'll be happy... (that and they don't have to go back there with you anymore.) Wrong: Telling a random stranger/Strong guy.

"Hey do you know so-in-so?"

Other guy. "Ya."

You. "I did Techo!"

Wrong, wrong, wrong. What the hell is the person supposed to say after that? This actually happened to a friend of mine. I thought he should of been like:

"You did?" "That's soooooooo AWESOME!!!!!"

Then screamed for everyone to come touch this god like person.

7. Lying (Do I really have to explain this?)

We all lie! When you do it about climbing it's weak! It's your ego talking. You want people to be impressed. It sucks big time when you get caught. I heard a funny story about a guy at the local brew pub who was bragging to some girls about sending some long route.

"Ya we crushed it." Shrugging modestly.

However his friend overheard this conversation.

"No you didn't! You fell all over the place on that."

Guy "Well you didn't send it either!"

Friend "Ya well I didn't say I did."

My ethics on this are simple. Don't lie unless you want to be busted. Also I don't accuse people of lying about climbing. It's more fun to speculate behind their back.

"How the hell did he climb that when it was raining all day?"

7. Top Rope Rehearsal. (To climb a boulder problem on top rope then later climb it without rope.)

Now I have nothing against people who do this. I've come close to this kind of thing myself. When I climbed "Desire" back in the day I cleaned it with a rope then climbed it with a rope a few feet away with the thought in mind if things got too hairy I could grab the rope. I never ended up touching the rope but in someways I always felt it tainted the ascent.

Now back to rope rehearsal. I think it's fine, however I just don't think you can say you bouldered the problem after you've climbed it with a rope. It's now "Head-Pointing" or "Soloing". I think there is a large difference between bouldering and Head-Pointing. One with bouldering you're climbing into the unknown and you're forced to figure out moves for the first time. I believe it's a little like onsighting as compared to flashing a problem. You have less of an idea. Now Head-Pointing does make sense; you're making sure that every hold will take your weight and you're figuring out the beta without endangering yourself. Making the problem as safe as possible. I think for my "Ethics" I don't care either way or how you climb something... Just don't say you bouldered it when you didn't!!!!

Just kidding...

Anyways I'm sure there a many other points I can bring up but I'll think of them later and maybe do a follow up post.

Peace.

What happened to the winter?

Man it was 15 degrees today! Awesome for climbing in a t-shirt not so good for the winter Olympics. Squamish is a gong show at the moment. With the impending doom that is the 2010 Winter Olympics a little over two weeks away, there are Vanoc security helicopters buzzing the boulders all day long. It's a little bit of nightmare in the making. But with that said I did manage to get my day of January bouldering in.

I could say I wish it was a bit drier but hey beggars can't be choosers. A day climbing is a day climbing.

Here's a photo Mike Chapman took of today's climbing.



Hopefully this weather holds for one more day and I can get up there again tomorrow.

Peace from the warmest place on earth that's hosted a Winter Olympics.

Last of the Hueco Photos

Photo's that Vince sent from our trip south of the border.


"Come on!" "Sooo Strong!"
Inside Joke I know but you had to be there to get it.


White out.


Crimp that!





Ghetto!


Just three guys, who are having a good time. Having a good time.


Now I'm a crack climber!


Good conditions!


"Hey do you want to do a new problem?"
"Sure."
"You have seven minutes to do it." "And there will be 6 other people trying it at the same time"
".... sweet..."


"The German's"


Lucas going for it.





Rich in the middle of a journey.





Rich in need of some roughage in his diet.


"Smooth Move"


"Wonder hole"





Awesome warm ups.





Highballing!


The other German.








Is that Fred's forearm?








Maybe next trip....

Peace!