Let's face it, we are all getting old!

Let's face it, we are all getting old!

Yeah big whips, pulled gear, new belayers...where was Tiff?

oh hell, I've been getting old for years now.

Enjoyed a lovely day at the Gunks. I think it made it to a high of 55 degrees. I had to strip off layers, I was so hot. Alas, once the sun started to sink in the sky, it started to get windy and chilly.

We spent most of the day on the Mental Block. Lydia was trying to teach me proper crack tecnhique. All of the climbs on the Mental Block are right leaning, overhung, crack climbs. We started on an unnamed 5.9 (we ran it twice) on the far right side of the block. I really struggled with my crack technique and found that I used way too much energy as I ascended. We continued by moving left to another unnamed 10. And so the day went...I have to say, when you do crack right, it feels exactly right. WHen you don't, it's totally insecure. We flailed our way up Stupid Crack, a 5.12 and called it a day on the Mental Block. It was worth doing, but, I am not sure I would run back to do it again any time soon. I supposed I need to do it soon, so I can practice.

It was starting to get cold so we quickly set up a TR on Red Cabbage Right. I managed to get in two quick laps; Red Cabbage RIght and Red Cabbage.

Met Jake today, it was great to put a name to a face.

Doubt we will climb tomorrow, the high is going to be 41. That's too cold for my fingers. I really don't like climbing on cold rock.

Gunks Nov 19-21

Fri: Kate and I got down to New paltz for a half day at the Nears did Grease Gun Groove to warm up then decided to get on Roseland after seeing pics of it last week on MProj. Greg if you want a .9 you need to be solid on.. there ya go. exact opposite of Mtimes.. looks easy.. climbs hard. Messed up and didn't extend the pins at the crux and had awful rope drag the last bit to the anchors. Kate tried to clean it but was having trouble getting smears to stick. Luckily a couple climbing next to us agreed to clean the rest for her and I didn't have to TR it again.

Sat: BRRR cold start but after a relaxed breakfast we got out and got started. Did P1 of Strictly's to the tree. super fun route. bit before the top sure makes you think. Kate did really well though there then got a bit bugged out with the exposure at the top. (she's used to shorter routes in CT and rumney)
Moved on to something a bit less heady and did P1 of Bloody Bush. super fun with some thoughtful movement. Have heard P2 is tricky and another party was on our ass so we headed down to find Gail to say hello.
Found them on Red Cabbage Right with a TR set up so I gave that a quick TR. Found that easier to climb than Roseland! I'm sure it would have been a bit harder while placing gear.

Sun: Cold and tight from climbing cold we kept today easy. P1 of Easy O. Watched a guy doing the top of Son of Easy O and that is definitely on the list for the spring. decided against the 15' of P2 since it was not worth the effort.
Went down to do Triple bulges.. casual p1 shared with Twin oaks. brought the book up and still couldn't quite figure out where P2 was supposed to go so i decided to "play it by gear" (har har sorry....) and aim for the anchor tree the way gear and holds led me. Was totally fine but kept things deliberate in case i had to back down and change direction. brought kate up and we couldnt tell if the last bit had a top anchor or not so i led up the left overhang for a look and then down led it after not finding much. cool little roof i got to climb up and down :) Bailed off. Led Fingerlocks or Cedar box. Kate had had enough so i just downcleaned and we headed for home.

Want any choice of route? head to the gunks when the forecast calls for mid 40's :) I'm pretty happy with how my gear placing has come along the last year so I have some fun ideas for spring.

was nice to meet Gail, mitch and lydia on saturday.

Hawthorne Nov 20-2010

Some friends & I went for a winter ascent of a local short & steep Mountain on sat. 3" of snow fell this weekend so no climbing for a while here in the Okanagan.

We started at about 10:30 in Ok Falls stopping across the valley, we picked out our line from the car deciding on the line with the least amount of cliffs. We then made our way over to the base of the Mtn to start our adventure.

After packing bags with water, extra gloves & layers we hiked past a few houses, over a barbed wire fence & into the meat of the hike. The start of the hike was ridiculously steep, I figure close to 50deg or steeper. We picked our way up a grass covered scree slope trying to traverse on barely visible game trails. We followed a number of these over to a ridge & then decided to hike up the ridge line keeping the scree slope to our right as an easy out in case we got cliffed out. Up & up we hiked... We came to several rock spires that came thru the sandy ridge & stopped for some photos of us standing on top of them. At about 2/3's of the way up we got to a broken band of snowy cliffs & decided to try climbing over them as apposed to hiking around. 10 min & some freezing hands later were at the top of the 3-4 meter 5.7ish climb looking up at more cliffs that we could our way up, climbing between them as they were broken by the ridge. After some traversing & more climbing we had reached the top of our climbing & needed to traverse back right to the scree slope for a safer way up & around more larger cliffs. After some steep hiking & clawing we came to a nice game trail or as Bryan was calling them "Natures Highways" we tried to stay on the game trails for the rest of the hike. From that point to the top the hiking was much gentler; we were moving thru some beautiful meadows & tight patches of trees some of the best hiking of the day. We soon crested the top looking down into the valley & behind the mountain to the back country. After some discussion we decided to continue south to the true summit & get a proper view from the top looking north, south & down into the valley bottoms on ether side. Fun was had by all & we soon made our way back down the way we had came to our cars & there heaters.

You can see a video of the day here.
http://www.vimeo.com/17179415

that was good video. thanks for sharing. I really liked the footage you took with the camera on the pole. that was kind of cool. not sure if southern man was a good choice for a climb in canada (yeah, I know, he's canadian), but I appreciated the music all around in general.

I've heard Roseland is slick...and that intimidates me a bit. Nines at the 'gunks are weird: ants line and P1 of Bonnie's really challenge me while stuff like Grand Central I find to be pretty easy. Just weird

P2 of Son of Easy O is easy, definitely not an eight like the guidebook says. You should do it all in one pitch.

Thanks, I'm working on more ways to shoot with the pole, using it like a boom, dolly, & also like a POV over the shoulder mount.

I kinda agree with the southern man comment as the lyrics don't really fit. I chose it more because I am from southern Canada & I do love me some good ol Neil Young, in fact I tend to hum or sing it while hiking or climbing alot.

I'm going on another hike/show shoe this weekend & might have some different shots & another video.

Hey Bill, I may be up at the gunks for a full week or so. My friend Bett shattered her hip on Monday (not climbing) and I am going to go up and take care of her for a week. They just moved her into the rehab center, so I am not sure when I am going up.

I am game to climb in the high 40's if you are. Basically, you only get 4 hours of "warm" climbing.

see, ants line and Bonnies were like 8+ for me..and never felt uncomfortable. never done grand central so i dunno about that.

P2 S of O definitely looked easy.. looked a lot like the end of Strictly's but more of it. Doing it in one definitely looks like the easiest way. no point in stopping for a 15' pitch