"Newer leaders should bring doubles from .3 to 3" said the beta on Mountain Project. I took the advice and racked up along with a set of nuts and tricams. I doubled checked my gear to be safe. It's been a long time since I had this much stuff on my harness, and with about 10 pitches of trad leads (and very little crack climbing experience) under my belt, I still consider myself somewhat of a gumby.
​
I looked up at the roof and worked my way down to figure out how to start out the climb, leading me into this large crack that went deep into the wall. I gave Mihail the fist bump and ventured off, slowly working my way up the awkward chimney. I was about 20 feet up and started to get nervous, it was a pretty uncomfortable position to not have any pieces in yet. I shimmied a couple more feet and found the first lip which marked the base of the main dihedral. I stared at the crack in the lip, trying to remember how to gauge sizes from a glance. Out came the 0.75, fitting pretty nicely in a section of the crack, though on hindsight, a #1 would have fit better further back in the lip. I yanked hard on the cam to test it; if the 0.75 popped while I was on the main face, I would be looking at a 35 foot deck. That's something I could afford to do without. I clipped in and headed out into the open air.

​Man it literally hurts just typing this cause I have a blood blister on my index finger but who cares cause my stoke tank from HCR is still full and I am excited to write about this amazing place that I have fallen in love with so buckle up kids it’s time for another trip report. Also I'm still as long winded as ever so there's a TL:DR section below. 

Some basics and admin stuff about HCR first

• A privately owned ranch in Arkansas (~8 hour drive from Champaign).
• As the name implies, this small canyon is shaped like a horseshoe, with over 400 routes of primarily sport, but also some good trad and bouldering
• Climbing here is on sandstone which may feel similar to Jackson, but I believe it is ‘hard’ as opposed to ‘soft’ so the rock can be more jagged and sharp
• Usage of this private property is not free; $5 for camping overnight, $10 for day climbing per pax
• Camping is kind of free for all, first come first serve. Each site comes with a fire pit and a bench table.
• Facilities at the ranch include
  • Toilets with running water and usually toilet paper
  • Showers for $3/token which is ~15 mins of hot water I believe
  • A trading post that is where you pay for camping, climbing, shower tokens and also serves as a general store (open 8am-4pm) which sells food, coffee, firewood ($5/bundle) and climbing stuff too
• Since it’s a ranch there are horses, goats, cows etc roaming around even at the campsites if they so please. Herding dogs are also present and may herd climbers occasionally
• There is poop everywhere (photographic evidence available later in trip report)
• This is also where the famous 24 Hour Horseshoe Hell event is held. 

Now that that’s out of the way it’s time for me to unnecessarily recount everything that happened in those four days chronologically in great detail. 

Sketchy van left campus around 4pm on Friday and since we’d reach HCR pretty late we figured we’d save the $25 on camping and just sleep at a Walmart in Branson. The weather was oddly warm but pretty welcomed at this time of the year. None of us really slept all that well for those few hours but this is what we get of being cheap.  

At the crack of dawn we left Walmart and took the windy road into HCR. Take note that the road in isn’t all that bad but there are some sections which are quite steep and if it was muddy the drive may not be all that pleasant (I think sketchy van may have had troubles getting out if it was raining). As with Jackson there are potholes in certain areas and you may want to keep your eyes on the road if you don’t have a decent amount of clearance.

A little after sunrise we met up with the rest of the gang at the West Campground just up the hill from the Trading Post and bought our climbing passes to get ready for some climbing. We had quite a group (~20 of us) which I don’t know how it came to be but I just added a lot of people who said “I’m interested” and here we are. We were generally split in 3 groups; the big kids (Eric, Dylan, Mina and Logan) who were getting on some hard stuff, the crack boys (Peter and Mihail) who were getting crusty the whole trip and the rest who were a mix of regular and newbie climbers. I was trying to push myself and so I tried to stick with the big kids and I’m glad I did cause I pushed my limits trying to keep up with them.

Boy I could feel my fingers throbbing but there was climbing to be done so I sucked it up and powered through. After some tasty pancakes in the morning the main group headed towards The Far East which had a good number of routes too. Eric and I started off on Gracie’s Eight (5.8) which had a huge bivvy ledge. We then got on a classic and my favorite climb of the day – Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (5.11a), which had a nice crux section down low and pretty cool moves. Eric then proceeded to fight it out on what was allegedly the best 5.12 in the canyon, Super Soul Sure Shot (5.12c), which featured a crimpy start and a crazy gaston crux in the middle. Eric crushed it and I made a mistake of thinking I could possibly do it too but simply ended up ripping the skin on my fingers and not even being able to do it (I TR assisted the starting crimp section and couldn’t even do the crux by French Freeing). 

After a terrible defeat I proceeded to repair my ego by climbing Orange Crush (5.9) which was the tallest climb on the furthest part of the canyon, and it is famous for having the best view of the canyon which I agree. It is quite a view to take in and you should definitely bring a camera when going up. This route is also over protected so you can bring 14 draws or just skip a few close ones to get up. 

To end off the day we headed to Roman Wall, which featured vertical faced routes up to ~40 feet up, followed by a pretty crazy roof past the ledge for a few climbs. We were all eyeing Maximus (5.12a), a 30 foot roof overhang up to a roof for the finish. You can get to Maximus via a classic arete problem Commodus (5.10a) to the belay ledge. Dylan, Logan and Mina went first so Eric and I got on Boronocus (5.11c) which was a less intense overhang but still loads of fun on a rather long route. 

Eventually I went up Maximus but my skin was absolutely bare and chalk literally would not stick on my fingertips (plus I was still feeling terrible from Super Soul Sure Shot) so I couldn't stick the crux and it was quite a bad way to end the day, but well I think I was just happy to have tried. Eric subsequently went ahead to cruise through the crux and finish up the climb.

Jared's car had to leave early so after dinner they left for Champaign, while the rest of us cuddled by the campfire cause it was getting real cold. The major highlight of the night was Logan showing us that he could totally do Danger Can in one hit and said "It's cause you guys don't commit enough" and then proceeded to smash the can on his head and not break open the can. It was probably the best thing we saw all trip. Mihail and Logan proceeded to go late night bouldering while we all got an early night. 

After a day of defeat I decided to slow it down with pushing myself on the hard stuff. We warmed up at Roman Wall again where I did Sybarite (5.9) and then lead Commodus since I top roped it the day before. Mina was feeling strong and so she led and almost onsighted Boronocus which was awesome. We headed over to Middle East area where I go on Nipple Stimulation (5.10a) simply because of the name.

We then headed to Titanic Boulder on the other side of the canyon and got herded by the dog and also saw a whole bunch of goats (including one with obscenely big testicles). 

While passing by campsite we saw a bunch of trash and realized that the last group to leave did not clear up and left some food stuff and a load of garbage out. Not cool. Especially since the goats were so near our campsites they could have easily raided it and attracted other animals too. Plus it's a huge no-go for simply have bad camping etiquette so we cleaned it up and gave the group a lil trash talk that night. 

Now for the highlight of the trip. Eric, Dylan and Logan got on Cradle of the Deep (5.13a) which was this crazy problem up this fin on the side of the free-standing  Titanic Boulder. If you're wondering why it's called that, the next picture should do a good job explaining.

Watching the big boys get on Cradle of the Deep was pretty intense. It looked like it was way out of my reach but I'd be up to try it sometime in the future once I get stronger. If you're intending to do it, bring a stick clip because the belay ledge has a 15 foot drop off and it's not gonna be fun to fall off on lead. Logan and I managed to rodeo backclip the first bolt so we gave up. Also listening to Logan climb and get angry/excited on a climb is hilarious and I highly recommend everyone to climb with him just to listen to it. 

In the mean time, Mina and I also got on two easier climbs, Ship of Fools (5.10a) and Portside (5.10d). Ship of Fools was a straightforward climb with a bouldery start, while Portside was probably the coolest climb I did the entire trip. 

To end off the day, we went to Prophecy Wall which is where the only 5.14a of the canyon is found (The Prophet, FA by Chris Sharma in 2005). I jumped on Taliban Soup (5.11b) and managed to bump my hardest onsight grade which really made my day. Eric did Egyptian Airbus (5.12c). Both climbs were slabby up to the roof and had some pretty big moves, but nothing too difficult. Apparently Egyptian Airbus had a huge dyno move which Eric clearly didn't do so it was rather disappointing. Mina and Dylan also got on Learning to Fly (5.10c) which was a sustained slight overhung route and we finished that climb which was a great way to end the day. 

​We got back to campsite for dinner, and after some convincing from Logan about the best boulder problem he ever did in his life, a bunch of us decided to join him for late night bouldering at Idaho Boulders. Logan brought us to this problem called Make You Cuss (V2) that features super cool layback smearing which is great on a high friction day like ours. He then began to describe this incredible process of sending the problem after many attempts and how it will forever be his favorite route, making a bold statement that if someone flashes it he will start walking home.

Eric then flashed the problem.

Okay so Logan stayed but still it was one of the funniest things we ever saw (the title of this trip report also came from a conversation that night). I never got up Make You Cuss cause I suck at smearing but I think I'd like to try it if my fingers are in better shape. We also tried a couple of V0s around before moving on to another area, stopping by some classics along the way such as Grand Dragon (V7) and other boulder problems that are pretty much impossible. ​

Towards the end we were all pretty pooped from just climbing so much, but we all tried The Crescent (V3) which was a cool slabby problem with a huge crescent sidepull thing on the right. Eric made quick work of it and the rest of us struggled quite a bit. Logan eventually sent it but that involved saying "One Last Time" like 15 times and every attempt at a different beta was actually the same beta we were telling him. But it was still great that he finally got the send. Also throughout this Mihail was just sleeping on a root and didn't even care that he became a crash pad.

The last day was a slow one cause of the bouldering plus we had to pack up the site and that we had an 8 hour drive back. We packed up and left for Mullet Buttress near the north side of the crag where Eric and I got on Business in the Front (5.10b) for warming up and I hopped on Mixed Max (5.11c) which is pretty cool and I'd recommend Mixed Max if you're hitting up the area.

But the real highlight for the last day was Goat Cave, an area of overhung routes that due to low popularity, has been overrun by goats and since there are no plants on the ground in the cave, the sea of goat shit has been there forever. FYI this extends to free standing boulders being covered in poop it was horrible. But to make up for this, Goat Cave had some pretty amazing climbs. Huge plus points that they're all permadraws for convenience. 

Mina got the ball rolling with Anal Sac Expression (5.10c) which is the easiest climb in the cave. This one starts on top of the boulder and you'd want to stick clip it to prevent some serious falls if you miss the first clip. Eric did some crazy stuff on Austrian Ass Attack (5.12a) which starts off with some serious hand jamming and leads up to a big roof, which Dylan also finished afterwards. I did Mexican Sac Pull (5.11b) that was rather straightforward overhang stuff too. 

Eric's car had to run off afterwards so I belayed Dylan on what I believe was Man Junk (5.12b) and it involved a lot of climber-belayer love entanglement. The crux was definitely down low and it seemed like an intense start. ​Dylan then convinced me to do Ride the Short Bus (5.11d). This climb starts on the tip of a sharp boulder so stick clipping the first bolt is a yes. It was kind of frustrating because at the edge on my tip toes I barely reached the crimps before I have to campus to a jug and I was not able to do it, so I instead had to dyno for the jug, whereas Dylan kinda just reached for it. But once I got the first jug, it was pretty smooth sailing from there getting through the low crux and eventually the sweetest roof I've done so far into a nice juggy finish. Dylan hopped on after to send the route and it was dope. 

With the climbing done we got some final pictures of HCR and set sail back to Champaign. Sketchy van stopped by El Sombrero in Lebanon, Missouri which I'd dare say had as good salsa and food as El Tequila in Vienna, and at almost a dollar or two cheaper. If Mexican food sounds good after 4 days of climbing, this is the place. 

And that concluded my virgin trip to HCR! It was definitely an eye opening experience and I am grateful to have had great weather on some quality climbs with fantastic company. Kind of crazy looking back at my first trip report last year in the Red and realizing how much I've improved. I'm nowhere near being the strongest climber in my community (however I define that) but it's amazing to know that I have improved both physically and mentally. Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible and I can't wait to see what the next trip has in store for us.

- Shao

TL:DR:

• HCR is really far away from Champaign but for sport climbers it packs some quality single pitch climbs with a good variety of difficulty (less so if you're a 5.13 climber)
• Bouldering and trad is supposedly pretty good but not in significant quantities
• HCR is privately owned and more pricey than other destinations ($5/night camping, $10/day climbing, $5/bundle firewood, $3/shower) but the facilities are good and areas are well maintained (e.g. trash bins, potable water, toilets with running water)
• Relatively beginner friendly areas (5.8/9) include North Forty, The Far East, Cliffs of Insanity, Roman Wall and Mullet Buttress
• Circus Wall (part of North Forty), Roman Wall, Titanic Boulder, Prophecy Wall and Goat Cave have some great climbs within the 5.10-5.12 range
• Personal favorite climbs: Portside, Taliban Soup, Sonny Jim, Big Top, Lavender Eye, Boronocus, Commodus/Maximus, Mixed Max, Mexican Sac Pull, Ride the Short Bus
• Weather around Thanksgiving is sometimes good ~60 degrees but can occasionally drop to 30 so pack sufficient layers
• Watch out for ranch poop everywhere  
• 10/10 would recommend going to HCR - hit me up if you do

https://www.mountainproject.com/v/pere-marquette-state-park/112240918

​Callout weekend got rescheduled due to rain, so I (Marshal Herrmann), Shao, Ansel, and Melanie checked out Illinois’ newest crag on Sunday, April 23. Summarized into quick facts, the good, the bad, the (driving) beta, the verdict, and an outline of our day.

Quick facts about the park
​

• On the Missouri/Illinois border along the Mississippi River; about 3 hours from Champaign and 1 hour from St. Louis
• Opened November 2016
• Limestone rock
• Titanium anchors
• We agreed routes were generally one to two letter grades softer than Jackson
• Climbing development was encouraged by the Park to increase visitors (it is a very touristy area). Hopefully it’s a sign of future public-private partnerships which benefit climbers and local communities :) 

The good

• Short approach (less than 5 minutes)
• All walls are along same trail and close together
• Well bolted (no stick clip needed), but not excessive
• Very beginner friendly (excellent place to learn to lead/clean, lot of easier routes with great clipping positions)
• Some routes have a trail that runs above them, so can create a top rope without leading (the park doesn’t allow trees for an anchor, but some chains are accessible from trail).
• Ample parking (and the entire drive is on pavement!)
• New fixed gear (obviously since its newly developed)
• Dries quickly (we went day after consecutive rainfall and everything was dry)
• LTE signal at the wall (maybe a bad thing?)
• Some killer views

The bad

• Even highly starred climbs were full of cobwebs and dirt
• Very few routes and may be crowded if other crags are wet (it does not have enough capacity to accommodate many “displaced” climbers who would otherwise be at the Red or Jackson); most people we met had other weekend plans that got canceled, and went to PM last minute – just like us. It’s probably not a first-choice or repeat-visit crag
• Average climb is like 40 feet
• Limestone can be very polished, not much grip
• Bugs were annoying in the morning (bring bug spray!

The (driving) beta

Google Maps gave me 3 pretty different routes with virtually the same driving time. Taking I 72 past Springfield would definitely be the fastest way – you could go 90 mph if you wanted (pretty empty country roads). I57 and I70 is much more scenic however (follows Mississippi River, see something other than cows and cornfields); pictures below. This route also passes through Alton, IL which is a bigger tourist town on the river just past the park. Alton has a variety of restaurants and other accommodations. We took the quicker way in and the scenic way out, which is my recommendation. 

The climbing lot actually shows up on Google Maps - click here for link. It is unmarked in person. If you look at satellite mode, you’ll notice there’s a much larger parking lot just down the road (it has a sign saying “Day Use Parking” – probably an extra minute hike). 

We stopped at O Jans Fish Stand, a sketchy fish stand along the river with big portions for cheap! If you like greasy food and no frills, come here. Otherwise, drive into Alton for more restaurant options (fast food, ethnic, diners, burger stands, nicer places, etc). 

The verdict 

You could do 75% of the park in a day with a 10c leader, a 35m rope, and 6 quickdraws. Maybe 95% if you bring a trad rack. It’s probably best for bringing newbs or single day trips. I would not recommend spending more than a day here, but it’s worth checking out if you can only climb for 1 day. The routes are fun and have some variety – it’s certainly a change of pace from Jackson.

Our day

I picked everyone up at 5am, and off we went! We arrived at the crag around 8am with just 1 other group already there. I had a GoPro I rented from the library to play with, and will probably add the video as an addendum to this later. We first walked into the Meadow Slab wall and warmed up on a 5.6 and 5.7+. I was feeling adventurous and along with Ansel, free soloed a 5.2. We found a solo climber with 2 dogs; coincidentally, also a UIUC student. We climbed with him for the majority of the day. 

After this area, we kept following the trail and kept finding bolts. So we kept climbing! I didn’t keep good track of what we climbed, or what we liked, because well we climbed almost everything the place had. Shao estimates he climbed 14 routes (and we left with 2 hours of daylight left!). I can’t provide any recommendations on routes, just do all of them. 
​​
We were getting a bit confused about which route was what since there is no guidebook (but not a huge deal since everything sans a few routes are 10s or lower). The routes are well depicted and logged on Mountain Project though; any confusion was definitely user error. Case in point: Shao led a 5.11d, The Father's Gift, without knowing the grade until afterwards. Other people did tell us it was the best route in the park. I followed it on top rope like a true champ, so there’s my recommendation afterall: climb this route. 

The last wall we visited was pretty crowded, but because of the short routes, it cleared out pretty quick (routes have high turnover). This area also has a nice picnic area. 

We left fairly early since we experienced most of what the park offers (5pm or so, my guess). While the crag was very clean, the highway is full of litter: we packed out half a trash bag of cans and bottles on the way to the parking lot. 

We voted on fish for dinner, and headed to the aforementioned O Jans Fish Stand (5 minutes from the crag). This place epitomizes no frills. I asked the lady at the counter what she recommended. She laughed at me, quipping that she eats everything. It didn’t help narrow down the menu options, but gave me a laugh. The lady was very obese and I can see why: the fish stand serves up huge portions of greasy fish for cheap! It would be dangerous living near here, and especially working here. To keep a balanced climber’s diet, you can round out the fat and protein from the fried fish with some carbs from their huge variety of pies. Somehow I managed to avoid that sugary goodness temptation. You better climb hard to earn dinner at this place.

​Afterwards we were on the road again. We took a 3 minute detour (calculated by Google at the time) and followed the Mississippi River for a bit eastward instead of heading straight north. Pretty nice views, breaks up the traditional Illinois interstate monotony. We were home by 10pm.

Be sure to check out Melanie’s quality photo album (featuring high res pics and not stills from a GoPro, like my report). My GoPro video montage to be released at a later date (gotta make it gnarly!)

Marshal Hermann - April 2017

​This weekend was the Badass Bitches Climber Crew climbing trip.  We went out to Jackson Falls for the weekend with a crew of nearly a dozen women.  We stayed up at the campsite near the dog walk which was a first for me.  We arrived Friday night and just passed out.

Saturday we went down the dog walk to Snakes Roof where several of the ladies stayed to climb.  My friends Lena, Natalie, and I went over to Spleef Peak to get on some different climbs.  We started out on the 5.8 Blue Spark which was an okay climb.  Followed up an okay crack in the wall but didn’t have much in regards to feet.

Next we did Through the Smoke (5.9).  This was a tough one to the left of Blue Spark.  I got two bolts up and was going for the third when I fell.  I unfortunately swung and caught my leg on the side of the rope and got a bad rope burn on my leg.

​Beautiful right? But I got back up and finished the route with no other issues.  The top part was more pleasant than the bottom part.  There is a frequent occurence in Jackson that the bottom part of the routes are tougher than the rest of the climb.  (Not always though.)

Next we tackled the 10a to the right of Blue Spark.  This route was probably my favorite of the three we did on Spleef Peak.  It had a lot of interesting foot holds and the hand holds were clear to see.  The moves were challenging enough for it to be enjoyable though.  It was also my first on-sight 10 outside.  So I was pretty excited.  You can also see that there is a pleasant little sitting area at the top to enjoy the views of Jackson.

Paige Mundy on top of The Garden Route.  Photo by Katie Konocel

​Paige Mundy on top of The Garden Route.  Photo by Katie Konocel

​(Only photos of me during the trip.  Enjoyed the view at the top though.)

After that Lena and I went to meet up with my friend Peggy who was crushing it on Feed the Rat.  Our friend James Fran made the FA of this huge off-width that required Cams the size of your head and a lot of courage.

Peggy Flavin climbing Feeding the Rat.

​At this point my leg was not in the mood to do anything else for the day.  I had intentions of trying Wild at Heart (5.11a) which was opposite wall of Feeding the Rat.  I had TR it the fall before but I just wasn’t feeling 100% for it.  So I chilled for the rest of the day in hopes that I’d feel better.

We went back to camp and went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant about 30 min from our campsite.  After stuffing ourselves full of delicious food we went back to meet up with some other friends who happened to be at Jackson that weekend.  When we got there we saw glowing Easter eggs around the campsite and people wearing bunny ears around the campfire.   I got to meet some UIUC alumni that are currently living in Chattanooga.  There were great stories and company.  Probably one of my happiest nights around a campfire I’ve ever had.

That night I tried my new blow up mattress and slept in my car.  It was so much better than the dinky sleeping pad I had been using.

The next day we got up and went to go watch Peggy climb Off-Width Exam.  Our buddy Alex crashed our girls weekend and joined us.  Peggy has the energy of a goddess.  It took her about an hour but after several dozen tough moves, two pigeons flying out of the crack at her, and some serious bad ass persistence she topped out of the climb.

Alex Bragg climbing Off-Width Exam.

Peggy Flavin on Off-Width Exam

​After that three of the girls wanted to head home but I decided to stay.  So I followed them to the falls where they climbed out on a 5.8 called Lovin’ Lizards after one last foot dip to the falls.  Then I headed back to Exam Wall area to meet back up with Alex, Peggy and some of the people from the campfire the night before.  Alex was trying to finish a route called Eminent Domain (5.12D) that had a bail beaner left behind.  After several valiant attempts he switched out with Peggy who also gave it a go.

After that we could tell it was going to start raining soon so I wanted to get in one more climb really quick before we had to head back.  So I did The Dagger (5.8) a few routes over and my leg was throbbing from the rope burn so I wasn’t on the top of my mental game.  I managed to finish and get to the top where I found a tiny painting about 2″ x 3.5″ on a tiny easle.  It was a nice scene of a forest, lake, and a little sun.  I have seen several of these around Jackson now.  They are apparently left behind by the cancer society.  It’s super inspiring.  I’d love to figure out the stories of those who put them there.  Anyway…I finished the route and then Alex decided he wanted to give it a go too.  I gave him a belay where he practically ran up the face of the wal, then we decided to head out due to the growing thunder.

We headed out of the canyon and went to clean the anchor for Off-Width Exam.  It was then that the rain started to pour.  The others told me to go on ahead to get out of the rain.  So I literally RAN all the way back to the parking lot and threw my stuff in the car.  First off…I haven’t ran in the rain in years.  It made me feel so refreshed and like a kid.  (Plus it kind of washed off the grims and sweat of the last two days of climbing.) It felt so amazing.  Alex and Peggy came shortly after and after briefly saying we were going for food.  We headed out of Jackson and stopped at Tequillas in Marion where we had well deserved Margaritas and food.

One of the best trips I’ve ever been on.

- Trip report by Paige Mundy, April 2017

It’s time for a well overdue trip report that all of us were too lazy to write about!
​
During the last week of winter break, a good number of us went out west in search of good climbing, less than freezing rocks, lots of good food, and maybe a chance to get lucky. 

So now it’s time for some fun facts:

1. The sandstone formations at Red Rocks are, well, red (Cause of iron oxidization. Fuck yea geology)
2. Red Rocks gets on average 4 days of rain a month
3. The sandstone in Red Rocks are fragile and are easily damaged when wet, and remain unclimbable for 2-3 days
4. Apparently the 4 days of rain a month all happened during the week of our trip.

So when our car was finally ready to go, we found out that we would not be able to climb at Red Rocks for the next few days. With the rain derailing our plans, our trip took a detour down South towards Joshua Tree National Park (JTree). We needed a place to camp out, and the group ahead of us found a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campsite, which was free. 

The catch? It’s in the middle of a dried up lake.

There are quite literally no roads there, so driving in at near 2am and shining our headlights in hopes of finding our group was a huge pain in the ass. After half an hour of aimless wandering at other groups of parked cars, watching the GPS jump around, and leaving tire tracks over half the damn lake, we found our group and finally caught some sleep.

With the sun setting in Arizona, we headed back to Vegas and caught our flights out of Sin City, marking the end of our climbing trip. Our grand plans for the week in Vegas never happened (I never got to eat my ramen), but I’m kind of glad we ended up straying so far from our original plans. The highlight for me was definitely New Jack City, which I would never have found had we not detoured all the way down to Southern California.
​
Special shoutout to Kyle for coordinating and taking charge of things with our car, always looking out for us, to Noah and Kirsten for being awesome car buddies, and Eric and Amanda for helping me get sketchy van back home from Oklahoma City. It was a fantastic trip, and I can’t wait to get back outdoors for more climbing. 

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen an all-encompassing climbing trip report so I wanted to create one for my past month and a half climbing around China. The first section is just an all around guide for anyone who wants to go to China in terms of general know-how (what I’ve gathered from my stint here) while the next couple pages are my personal climbing report. Read what you want or not fools! (You can view the original document in this link)

China General Know-how

1. China is the center of the universe...when you’re in China. Few things are in english unless you’re in a big city where signs (mainly for tourists) can be in Chinese characters and english words. 
2. The Great Chinese Firewall- You will NEED a VPN client if you’re going to do anything on the net in China. Most/all (.com) sites are blocked including Google, Facebook, etc. The only english search engine I found that works is Yahoo. Download a VPN before you enter China (pay for one...it’s worth it) on both your phone and laptop so you aren’t stranded in the airport asking everyone if they speak english so you can get where you need to go.
3. Don’t count on finding currency exchanges. Exchange money into the local RMB (local slang is pronounced “yuan” or “kwai”...they mean the same thing) before leaving the States or take money out of an ATM. Most banks have ATM’s like in the States, however the only ATM that worked for me was the national bank: The Bank of China. After visiting seven other banks my first two days trying to get local currency from my card, I finally got this saving grace piece of info. 
4. Memorize and plan everything to the last detail when it comes to travel. Because everything is in chinese characters, you can’t BS your planning. For example, if you get to the train station and have to get to a city, you can’t read the signs and figure out which ticket to buy from noticing the word “Yangshuo.” It’ll instead look like this
5. Download translation apps like Pleco or Google Translate. Paying for the apps is worth it to get all the features so you don’t get screwed if you need to use a feature in a pinch that isn’t included in the free version. 
6. You won’t have access to service with an american SIM card. Plan accordingly. WiFi is available in many places (hostels, restaurants, bars, etc...especially western-geared ones) but in other places (airports, government institutions, etc.) you might need a chinese phone number to get online because your american sim won’t work there.
7. “WeChat” is the nation-wide application for everything under the sun in China from anything social like Facebook-ing, to paying people, to ordering meals the day before at a restaurant. It’s crazy. For communication with other people while in China, use it. Instant Messaging is great for organizing trips, meeting up with friends, and finding places to stay, even if only applicable when you have WiFi.
8. Buy a scooter if you’re going to be in one area for a while. Scooters can cost anywhere from $80-$200+ for keeps. Totally worth the price for getting around without a taxi, walking all the time, bus, etc. Sell the scooter to a friend or back to the mechanic for a bit less at the end of your stay. Having the freedom to get around whenever you want is priceless. Other options are renting pedal bikes. 
9. Learn basic words. Numbers up to 10, food items (eggs, meat, buns, etc.), and things like “I don’t want” “Do you have?” “too expensive” and the like. Because Mandarin is a tonal language, certain words can have many meanings so practice beforehand or learn a bit online before heading out.
10. Don’t plan on bargaining too much with locals. Chinese will often charge westerners more than Chinese. Can’t really get around it too much except to accept it or go buy elsewhere. They may even charge you more one day than another or vice versa. It’s because we have money and the difference in a few RMB for us isn’t much and they know that. Especially in tourist spots. 
11. Flights, train, bullet-train, and taxi are the main forms of transport in China. With those you can get pretty much anywhere you want. Buses are a bit confusing
12. Traveling is an adventure! Go for it and have fun!

Geography and Geology: Yangshuo is a city within the Guangxi region of China. This region lies on the southern border of China’s mainland with the ocean. The place is off the walls with scenery. Giant formations called “Karsts” are everywhere. This type of landscape runs for hundreds of kilometres. Impressive to say the least. And yes, you climb them...a lot.

Travel: Fly into Guilin or Guangzhou. From Guilin...take a DiDi (Chinese Uber), taxi, or bus to Yangshuo proper. From Guangzhou, take the subway to the Guangzhou South Train Station, then a bullet train to Yangshuo Train Station, then two buses to the city proper. China has really nice high-speed railways. Take advantage of them if it’s cheaper.

Where to Stay: 

1. Stay at the Climbers Inn if staying in Yangshuo for a short time. The owner’s name is Lilly and she’s a sweetheart and speaks English. She can help you out with everything under the sun from renting a bike/scooter, advising you on places to climb in sun/shade, and arranging taxi’s to and from the climbing areas. This is also the gathering spot for climbers in the morning (circa 10am) to organize where to go with whom. Although kind of located in an alley, it’s a fairly inexpensive spot to stay where you can make a ton of connections.
   
2. For longer stays, check out “yangshuocrashpad.com” for an apartment. After staying a few days and getting settled in Yangshuo at the Climber’s Inn, I moved out to an apartment building owned by a woman named Julie. She is also a sweetheart and even helped navigate through the chinese web when booking train and flight tickets to another area of China. Apartments cost between $100-$150 per month depending on which room you get (they all have different dimensions, bathroom styles, etc.) See what she has available and decide on it. You pay for a week, two weeks, three weeks, or a month at a time. For extended stays longer than a month, you can get deals as well. 

Staying in an apartment was ideal when living in Yangshuo. Not only did it save me cash, but it let me spread out, do laundry, have my own bathroom, have my own heater/AC, and put me on the same floor as some people who became my climbing crew for the next month and a half. 

Scooter-ing Details: Ask around for where the gas station is. You can walk from anywhere you stay in town and if you continue past the gas station on the main road you’ll see a ton of scooter shops...some new and some used which are mechanic shops most likely. In my first week I went with a friend and a piece of paper that said “I want a scooter for $800 (in RMB ~ $120 USD)” on it in Mandarin and went around to shops that looked like mechanic shops with lots of dinky scooters in front until one of them agreed and sold me a bike. #Moto4Life This thing lasted me the entire time I was in Yangshuo and despite a wreck, the only thing I had to fix was a new battery ($20 USD) and a fixed gas line ($2 USD). At the end of my trip I sold the moto for the same I bought it for to a girl I found on the local’s WeChat group. All in all, buying a scooter probably saved me $100 USD between the costs I saved from taxis and other transport. 

Food: Food was pretty great by my standards. Breakfast consisted of WonTon soup at a place near the Climbers Inn or oatmeal I bought at the supermarket and bananas/passionfruit I got at one of the hundreds of fruit stands around town. It was all super fresh and tasted awesome. Lunch turned into either steamed pork buns….or steamed pork buns. When they cost 30 cents each you can’t really beat them. Dinner was almost always stir fry. Lots of places let you pick your own veggies and you get rice when it’s all stirfried together...all for like $3 max. Needless to say, I ate a ton while I was there because I fucking love food and this stuff was prime. 

If you go, make sure you get the scoop on 10 RMB stir fry from Lilly. If you go with a bunch of people you pick a bunch of dishes and have family-style dinner. I can proudly say I went there too often. 

Water: Yea, don’t drink the tap water. I never got sick because I bought bottled water and there was a kettle in my room where I boiled the tap water and let it cool to refill my bottles. Other options are to get a huge drum of water with a spout to refill bottles each day. It wasn’t bad and boiling the tap water in Yangshuo was fine. 

Hang out Spots: There were pretty much four different climber/westerner bars to go to after climbing for the day. Most of them have foosball tables and a couple have other things (bouldering wall, pool table, darts, etc.) Rock Abond bar is owned by one of the strongest sport climbers in China and has the bouldering wall in it. They’ve got cheap beer, a great scene, and a super nice owner although whenever I went there I was with some more white people. The usual hang outs for me was the white climber bar “Rusty Bolt”, and the westerner bars “Bad Panda” and “Mojos.” The last two can sell you some green but it’s expensive even by American standards. 

Not too much of the booze is strong and certainly not any of the Chinese stuff. Tsingtao is the local cheap beer around. I drank my fair share but I preferred some of the foreign beers like Beerlao. On nights when you want to get weird, ask for the Bijou. Still don’t know what kind of alcohol it is, but put it in a jar and infuse it with random shit. Anything from snakes, scorpions, birds, roots, and more can be sitting in the jar with the alcohol. Don’t think about it though, just drink up!

THE CLIMBING

Yangshuo is home to a stupid amount of climbing at any of the thousands of karsts sitting around. The guide uses the French System for grading so get used to things labeled “7a” as 11d. Also the entirety of the area is bolted so no need for the cams or other trad gear. Bring your draws, rope, and try hard. Areas like White Mountain (home to China’s hardest sport route at 5.14d), Moon Hill, Lei Pi Shan, Dragon City, and Riverside are where you can find a lot of the harder climbs that are in the area. Also because they’ve got tons in the 5.11-5.12 range, they’re where I spent much of my time when it wasn’t raining. An english guidebook for the area exists but isn’t very good. By the time anyone else goes Yangshuo, a new guidebook will be out by a friend a met there who’s been developing there for around 10 years. It’ll hopefully have better topos, directions for crags, and descriptions than the last book. 

Altogether, I stayed in Yangshuo exactly one month and for the first time in my life spent it projecting routes trying to get really strong. I kind of regret it because I couldn’t experience the total variety of Yangshuo’s climbing scene, but I accomplished some pretty awesome goals of mine and climbed at what many say are the best crags (which I listed above.) During my stay, I was able to send my very 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th climb rated 7b (5.12b) and got my first send at 7b+ (5.12c). Moonhill and Lei Pi Shan are hands down the best sport crags in the entire area in my opinion for climbs in the 7a-7c range (5.12 range). Moonhill not only for the climbing but also for the aesthetic beauty of it. A huge arch on top of a hill with stalactites and 3D overhung climbing isn’t something that you get everyday! Although I was there for so long, it did rain about ½ the time. Sure you can climb in the rain at the overhung crags, but getting there would be a slog and then you’d freeze. That said, most rain days were spent training on a bouldering wall next to my apartment building, drinking, watching movies, drinking, and sleeping. Oh and drinking. 

One of the super cool things I got to do while in Yangshuo was meet Killian Fischhuber, one of the most recognized world class competition climbers of all time. He was there with a crew of Austrians and they were absolutely crushing. I not only got to see him work Spicy Noodle (5.14c), but got to hang out with him and Abond (owner of the bar and badass climber) as they bolted some insane looking routes at a new area my friend Andrew brought us to. These lines were heinous looking and expected to go somewhere in the 5.13+ or 5.14 range. It was impressive and inspiring  to see them piece together sequences on walls with no holds on them.
  
Routes to get on: 

• Over the Moon, Moonhill (7b) - Pumpfest on stalactites across the arch of Moon Hill. Amazing
  
• Red Dragon, Moonhill (8a+) - A Todd Skinner route. The hardest climb in China for nearly 20 years. Can be done to the top of pitch 1 at 7b and inspiring as fuck. 
  
• Yangshuo Hotel, White Mountain (7b) - Another pumpfest with many distinct cruxes. 35m of overhanging fun!
  
• Grandfathered In, Tuo Bei Shan (6b) - I never did this route but I heard it’s one of the best multi pitches in the area with 6 pitches. Goes through a sick prow and tops out on a karst formation.
  
• Tunnel Vision, Treasure Cave (6c+) - Sweet 3D climbing on stalactites through a huge cave.
  
• Waiting for Sophy, Lei Pi Shan (7a) - Possibly my favorite climb in Yangshuo. Follows an angling crack with crazy lay-backing and cruxes that make you think!
  
• Singularity, Lei Pi Shan (7b) - Stellar slightly overhung technical climbing through pinches to huge tufas. Complete with knee bars, no hands rests, and even finger locks at the top!
  
• Thunder, Lei Pi Shan (7b+) - This thing is long, sustained, and amazing. Hard, thin crux in the middle that takes a minute to figure out and then sustained crimping to a heart-breaking finish.

Yangshuo has all kinds of routes of all kinds of grades. From 4 (5.7) to 9a+ (5.14d), single-pitch to multi-pitch, technical to jug hauls, overhanging to vertical, this to that, but altogether great to great. I can’t wait to get back there now and experience more of the rock for a longer period of time. I’d like to return for at least two months next time I visit and try to experience more variety than I got while I was there this time projecting. For climbers of any strength or experience, Yangshuo is the place to go. And like me, if you go there partner-less there are no shortages of people to hook up with.

Geography & Geology: Li Ming is located in the Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar in Southwestern China. The park lies in a valley with giant sandstone formations littering the top. While not exactly cliffs or monoliths, they still extend upwards of 300m bottom to top and contain a ridiculous amount of climbing. Bring your tape gloves though...you’ll need them to jam your way up these desert-like cracks. At a higher elevation the weather is usually cooler so be sure to bring your warm clothes, hats, and gloves.

Travel: Get yourself to Lijiang somehow, the city with the nearest domestic/international airport to Li Ming. You can fly here internationally or domestically. Check out the option of flying into Kunming first, then Lijiang if it’s cheaper. Next take a shared taxi, bus, or other wheels to the town of Li Ming. Once in town, there’s one road that goes through and all the hostels, shops, and restaurants are along this road. Getting back to Lijiang on your return is a bit trickier because you’ll have to take a bus that leaves at 7:30am, or overpay for something else, and then walk to the airport shuttle. Travel tip: If your flight leaves the following morning, you’ll have to get an airport hotel. Don’t get kicked out of the Lijiang airport for trying to sleep overnight like I did. This particular airport doesn’t allow for it.

Where to Stay: 

1. The Faraway Hostel. This hostel is located on the main road and very distinguishing from the painted doorway. The bossman of the hostel is awesome, speaks a bit of english, and has decked the place out in handmade items and widgets. Two dogs live here: Jerry and Dingdong. Jerry is the biggest dog in town and has to stay on the leash because he once killed someone’s goat. Other than that he’s super needy and always needs to be petted. At the end of a week you’ll want to throw burning logs at him to make him shut up. I like dogs but he was a giant pain in the ass. Dingdong is a little white dog who’ll follow the first one out of the hostel in the morning to the crag. Feel free to take Jerry out with as well. Don’t have to ask the bossman, he doesn’t really care. Rooms range from $3-20 per night. You can pick from an assortment of double rooms with attached bathrooms, dorm-style, or luxury rooms if you’ve got money to spend.
2. The Youth Hostel. This place is within the tourism building and has similar amenities to Faraway. Although not centered around the climbing scene nearly as much, it does have similar amenities and gets sun earlier in the morning which is a HUGE DEAL. Difference in sun means a difference in below freezing temps and hanging out with a T-shirt on. You don’t get the nice wood burning stove/furnace to hang out around like at Faraway as well. 

I never stayed here and opted for the Faraway hostel instead. I enjoyed the atmosphere and dirtbag-feel of it and also had a nice rooftop to hang out on when it was sunny and I was on a rest day. Moreover, there were a few times when we got pretty rowdy at night and got the bossman to pour us some homemade bijou. He even helped me arrange return travel and didn’t mind when we switched rooms to cheaper options when they became available. There’s also a “new route” book there that has a ton of info on routes not in the current guide-book.

Food: There’s a few places to eat in town but we really only went to two of them. The Wagon Wheel is owned by a super sweet little chinese lady and she cooks amazing soup, called “tong.” Go with a small group after a day of climbing and for 20 RMB you get an absolutely massive pot of soup with tons of veggies, and a bowl of white rice (costs 10 RMB if you don’t get meat). Anyone who knows my appetite can attest that I eat a lot and even I had trouble finishing this meal some days. The Yak Shack is located next to the school and paired with a mini-market. This is the place for noodle soup and fried rice. Also the Yak has the better breakfast in town making their own buns (monto). Pair the buns with a fried egg and you’ve got yourself a McMuffin-rural chinese style. Take something with you from the restaurants for lunch or get some preserved eggs for easy and cheap protein (1 RMB ea.) from a convenient store. 

Water: Purchase water at the store or boil it yourself at the hostels with kettles. At Faraway, the bossman has big thermos’ of hot water he boils all day long so feel free to use those as well. Refilling my plastic bottles was still the best way I found to store water and stay hydrated.

Hang Out Spots: Hah. good luck finding those. Come 10:00pm, the town shuts down and the cold eats everyone’s souls away. Go to the Faraway if you want anyone to hang out with around the fire. Dali beers cost 2 RMB each at the stores…but they’re 2.5% abv. Otherwise get some Jin Jao for something harder at 36 RMB per bottle. I never drank too much cuz I was low on funds but it didn’t seem like I missed out a lot. Li Ming is for dirtbags and dirtbags only. When you aren’t climbing and only 2% beers are available...chances are you’ll just go to bed and say screw it.

THE CLIMBING
    Li MIng is a flashback to my past experiences climbing in the Utah desert. Take bits and pieces from Indian Creek, Moab, other desert towers...mash them together and out pops Li Ming’s sandstone cracks. This is the spot for your trad gear...and bring tons. And for god’s sake somebody bring a #5 and #6. Lots of the routes here need big gear although you’ll rarely have to do too much offwidth technique (but there are definitely some you’ll grovel up). There’s no gear store in the area so bring lots of tape or jammies for your hands. If you need gear, there’s always the option to buy gear from someone who’s leaving the area and doesn’t want to travel with it anymore. Multi-pitch routes are almost as plentiful as single-pitch routes and range from 2-9 pitches in length at all difficulties. You can buy a paper copy of the guidebook from the bossman at the Faraway hostel, or you can purchase an online and consistently updated copy as a PDF from the author. You’ll need some sort of book to get around for sure however because you can’t count on people always telling you where stuffs at...there just isn’t that many. Li Ming is surprisingly new as well with the first ascents going up in the last 10 years. However over 1,300 routes make up this trad climbing mecca which spans countless areas. In short...trad climbing in china = Li Ming. Period. Oh! And they use the YDS grades so you don’t need to worry about converting French grades to understand anymore. And the grading is really soft so don’t be afraid to push yourself!

I traveled here and climbed for two weeks with my buds I met while in Yangshuo. Luckily, they all had racks so my lack thereof was no biggie. I’d say that’s the strategy: go with people who have the gear so you don’t have to bring your own. I can safely say as well that two weeks in Li Ming was nowhere near long enough to even get a taste for the areas. Out of my nine or so actual climbing days, seven of them were spent at the same area climbing different routes each day. Part of the reason for this was the ease of access and quantity of stellar routes. These areas were the Pillars and Primitive areas which are accessible by foot from the hostels. You’ve just gotta be willing to hike up the 646 stairs to the base of the cliffs. Personally, I’d take steps over the dirty and steep trails to many other crags but that’s just me. For farther away areas, the bossman has a passenger van and can drop you off wherever you’d like for a small cost. Areas like the Guardian and Dinner wall host a multitude of climbs of all difficulties. 

During my time here, I was able to send my first 12a on gear and flailed on a variety of other difficult routes. Furthermore, we met a group of guys who had been living in Li Ming for the past two months and establishing new cracks. When we got to Li Ming they had just completed a perfect 70’ dihedral seam at the Primitive area and I was able to nab the 2nd free ascent of it. Going at 10d, this thing was stupid cool, and utilized tons of stemming because much of the seam was too small to use. The absolute best climb I attempted while in Li Ming by far. Named “Lajiao” for spicy red pepper. The final climb I did while in China was one of the best multi-pitches in Li Ming and called “Back to the Primitive” and goes at 11d. Although it was the softest 11+ I’ve ever attempted, the climb reached the top of the Primitive area formation and had tons of variety throughout. From delicate fingery sections to easy offwidth to smeary slab at the top the route had it all. It was definitely worth the time for a nice, chill day at height.

Routes to get on: 

• Faraway Corner, Pillars Area (5.10b) - A fingers lieback corner for 50’. Smeary and burly but there’s tons of great locks for ya!
  
• Clamdigger, Pillars Area (5.11b) - Grovel up this acute corner with a crack in the back. Chimney and knee scum to the top 25m up!
  
• Funky Dan, Pillars Area (5.12a) - Super thin fingers dihedral that leaves you super pumped at the easy top portion! Bring seven #.3s
  
• Back to the Primitive, Primitive Area (8 pitch 5.11b) - Amazing multi that gets you high, and has tons of variety. A must do before leaving.
  
• The Raven, Primitive Area (5.11a) - Terrific hands crack going through a short roof
  
• Scarface, Primitive Area (5.10b) - Beautiful arching hands to wide hands crack for 70’
  
• The Lorax, Primitive Area (5.11d) - A wildly overhung fingers and hands dihedral crack 5 pitches up. Climbs a 5.10c super fun multi to reach the crack. This thing was amazing!
  
• Lajiao, Primitive Area (5.10d) - The best gear climb in all of Li Ming. 
  
• Ding Dong’s Crack, Dinner Wall (5.12a) - Slowly widening crack into off-width before it pinches down to fingers and off fingers at the top. Short but so pumpy!
  
• Nosferatu, Uncensored Wall (5.11d) - One hell of a climb. 30m of fun with some run outs, a big layback roof, heinous start making good use of knee jams, and a techy sport-style finish.

​While Yangshuo is the sport climbing mecca of China, Li Ming is for sure the gear climbing mecca. Climbers of all backgrounds and skill levels will be able to climb here for any amount of time. I don’t think an entire year would be enough to even reach all the different areas in Li Ming let alone climb as much as you’d want to. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit this place again when I’m stronger and try more things in more areas. Two weeks just wasn’t enough....and I can’t wait to go back and eat some more Tong. Holy crap that stuff was delicious.

Keketouhai - This place is big granite trad climbing. “The Yosemite of China,” I’d love to go here and experience what it’s all about. What I’ve heard is that it’s amazing and has potential all over the place for FA’s. Check it out.
https://www.mountainproject.com/v/keketuohai/108223977

Zhangjiajie - I don’t know too much about this place except my friend (Ting, featured in the video on the link) is from a nearby town and its rock formations are what those floating rock pillars from Avatar are based on. That alone makes me want to see it next trip. It looks sick!!!!
http://www.behindmagazine.com/mag/rock-climbing-zhangjiajie/

Ok, I know that a ton of club gear went out this weekend, so bring on the Labor Day trip reports! I'll get things started. Marshall, Elise, Shannon and I drove out to the Linville Gorge in North Carolina and met up with Kevin and his friend Ryan to get high doing easy multi-pitch trad climbing. We had great weather and climbed every route we wanted. 

Shannon and I climbed with Marshall and Elise with Marshall and I leading. On Saturday we went to Table Rock, and managed to find the east face after misreading the guide book and bushwacking through rhododendrons and thorny vines for an hour or so (what do you expect, it's North Carolina). We started on My Route (5.6), which is five pitches from the base of the east face to the summit of Table Rock. The first two pitches are shared with Cave Route and are an easy way to get off the ground but not particularly memorable. These take you to Lunch Ledge where My Route continues in three more pitches to the summit. These pitches are steep and exposed and fantastic for the grade (a theme for the weekend). From the ledge you climb up a steep featured slab with lots of horizontals that becomes a face that you traverse right on around an exposed arete and then up into a comfy belaying a corner. From this belay you make an awkward move up onto a shelf in a corner and then make an exposed step back left around a corner/roof system and then head up another slab to a natural belay. The final pitch is easy,but tons of fun.  Make a few lie back type moves up a low angle slab/corner till you pull over an exposed roof on jugs then head up easy ground to the summit.

We hiked down from the summit and then did the North Ridge (5.5). This line is far more exposed and windy and had the most mountaineering-like feel of any route I have done in the Southeast. Shady and windy. The first pitch is intimidating for 5.5 and involves a steep crack through a roof and corner system, but with enough jugs to keep it at 5.5. At the top of this pitch there is a fixed pin belay (the only fixed gear on the route). The final pitches to the summit are great for their exposed position, but the climbing was so-so. I would probably rap from the p1 anchor rather than hike off the summit twice in the same day again.

On Sunday we hiked into the Amphitheater in the Gorge proper and climbed the Mummy (5.5). This route deserves its classic status and is worth your time no matter how hard you climb. After the prerequisite getting lost on the approach, we located the line. Marshall went first today. He linked the first two pitches with a 70m rope from the club an made good time from there, Shannon and I didn't catch up 'till the summit. The first pitch is a slab that leads into a steep crack. The pro is good, but the steepness and exposure make this an exciting line. I misjudged how far I could go with my shorter rope and stopped at a hanging belay right above the steepest section of the crack. Turns out there was a comfy ledge out of sight about 20ft higher, oh well. After the steep crack there is a super mellow 5.3 slab section to a good ledge. From the ledge I moved out right over easy slab around an arete from the shady amphitheater side of the buttress to the exposed sunny gorge side. Super easy, but ton's of exposure and fun movement.

We drove home on Monday, stopping at the Mellow Mushroom in Knoxville for pizza on the way back.

Hi everyone,

Doug and I had a very successful trip to CO last week where we climbed the Wham Ridge on Vestal Peak (our goal) and the Northeast face of Arrow Peak (bonus!).

The short version is that we had awesome weather, climbed two amazing mountains, and got back very tired. Long winded trip report follows. 

Thanks,
Matt

This is the third summer that Doug and I have gotten together to head west and climb a mountain (due to the distinct shortage here in IL). This year neither of us had really trained and we thought something easier would be a good idea. Doug found some awesome pictures of the Wham Ridge on Vestal Peak online and given its mellow grade (only 5.4) and apparently easy
approach (only 8 miles) we had a destination for this year and were feeling confident in spite of our less than copious amounts of training.

We arrived in Durango on Sunday afternoon (after getting pulled over twice on the drive out, watch out if you leave the interstate in KS or CO) and picked up a few last minute necessities. One of the store fronts had a t-shirt with a climber that read: "Confidence: the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation." Funny because its true.

We drove up to Little Molas Lake and spent the night at the trailhead at a little over 10,000 ft. It turns out that this is a lot higher than where we have spent our first nights in the past. We began the approach the next day hauling backpacking supplies for four days of camping and technical climbing gear which makes for heavy loads (fortunately no crampons or ice axes this
year). While the approach is only 8 miles and we would be camping at an elevation only slightly higher at just over 11,000ft, it turned out to be aburly hike. The hardest we have done. You have to hike steeply down from Molas Pass to cross the Animas River and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad before climbing back up the Colorado Trail along Elk Creek.
 The Colorado Trail is well maintained, but instead of just following along the creek it climbs up and down the side hill above the creek. After four miles along the creek you have to leave the trail to follow an unmaintained climbers "trail" and climb 1500ft or so into Vestal Basin. This is where the fun begins. Very steep, and lots of trees; not the nice wander through the woods trees (well there were lots of those too) but fallen on the trail trees. Stepping over and ducking under fallen trees with 65lbs gets old fast. And did I mention it was steep?

Anyway, after over 8 hours of hiking we made it into Vestal Basin Monday evening and found a great place to camp with great views of the mountains.  We originally planned to do Vestal first to take advantage of the good weather, and beat any altitude issues. But, the combination of lack of training, the high first night, and strenuous terrain left us wiped out. So we declared Tuesday a "rest" day and decided to climb northeast face of Arrow Peak, a classic 3rd class scramble. Turns out the route is tons of fun and highly recommended. We intended to go "fast and light" but settled for "light" and carried only water and a few essentials. The route follows
a gigantic quartzite ramp that is solid rock, but low enough angle to be 3rd class for most of the way. It then becomes blocky easy climbing up to the summit with great views of the Wham Ridge and Vestal and back into the rest of the San Juan Mountains. No problems, just fun.

The next day we wanted to get an early start and tackle the Wham Ridge.  Well, it rained that night and everything was wet. When the alarm went off we both grumbled and decided that an extra hour of sleep couldn't hurt, especially if we couldn't climb. We finally got up at first light, and things weren't too wet and the sky was clear. Late start, but we decided to go for it. We scrambled up the scree from our camp to the talus below the route in about an hour. We then headed up a series of grassy ledges to where the climbing starts. This is one of the most spectacular alpine settings I have ever experienced. Very remote and great rocky peaks with alpine lakes and grassy tundra with blooming wildflowers. Doug and I chose a line and started up the easy climbing. Doug got the first lead this year. The route is so low angle that he ran out the rope 100 feet or so before finding some pro and going another 75 feet to a tricky anchor. I took the next pitch and it was also fun and easy and long. Doug took the 3rd pitch,
but by now the clouds were building and we were starting to feel some urgency to get to the summit (and get off). We intended to shoot for a 5.7 variation well left of the ridge, but the anchoring options looked better towards the right side (easier) of the face. I took the next pitch and climbed a shallow dihedral and then a great hand crack on the face. As the terrain became blocky we each did a couple more pitches, and the route finding became tricky. Eventually we had to decide to go left or right around a large block that blocked our view of the upper mountain and we decided to go right. Wrong way. I led up some 4th class to a slightly overhanging bulge with a hand crack, the crack took a couple of good cams so I pulled over it and up into a little saddle where I set up a belay straddling a knife edge ridge. From there we could see that we still had a long way to go and the actual route was down and left from where we were. The weather was looking questionable. We were on the lee side of the mountain and couldn't see what was coming but clouds were building and many of the other peaks were getting rained on. After some debate we decided that rather than go up into uncertain terrain we should down climb to the left to get back on the 4th class route. Doug led the downclimb and then after a couple hundred feet of solid 4th class we made the summit at around 3pm. Much later than we wanted, fortunately from the summit we could see that the weather was going to be fine. We hung around for a while and then started the hike off the back side. This was a lot of loose 3rd class down climbing to the southeast followed by a westward traverse to the saddle between Arrow and Vestal. To get off the saddle we descended a scree slope called the "dues collector". I maintain that scree is named for the noise
you make as you fall down it. This one is a classic (I mean that in the worst way possible). About 1000ft, super loose, and so steep you can hardly stand up. Afterwards, there was plenty of boulder hopping on the talus back to camp to wrap up a tiring but successful day. 

We originally talked about climbing a traverse of the Trinity peaks further east in the range, but after three hard days we decided that we didn't have it in us and made a late start on the hike out. Turns out that the hike out is harder to follow than the hike in and we ended up off route
on steep slopes over cliffs. We eventually climbed back up to find the route and scramble back down over and under the trees to Elk Creek and the Colorado Trail. We hiked down and up and down to the Animas River and decided that we couldn't go any further if we wanted to, so we spent the night there in the grass by the river. The next morning we trudged up the switchbacks back to Molas Pass and made it back to the car in a couple of hours on our fifth consecutive day of hard hiking. I'm not sure how many thousands of vertical feet we hiked and climbed this trip.

Since we were out early on Friday, we showered at the campground and headed for Durango for Mexican food. We then drove up to Montrose on the "million dollar highway" and over to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This deep gash in the high Colorado Desert has to be seen to be believed. It's amazing to think about people climbing there, hard core. We spent the night along a random National Forest road near Colorado Springs and then had a long, but uneventful drive home. 

Kevin and I just got back from the west. Here is the trip report for our Colorado climbing experience. We learned a ton and I hope others can learn from our experiences. Pictures are available on my Facebook page. Search for me as Marshall Kuypers.

This trip is best described as a learning experience. This was Kevin and my first real attempt at multipitch climbing, as well as any climb with a reasonable (more than a mile) approach. We studied extensively before the trip, consulting reading material and other climbers in the club. We brushed up and practiced rescues, anchor building, and both read Freedom of the Hills cover to cover for new topics such as mountain weather. We set out with high hopes.

We hoped to climb in Estes Park for a warm up on the weekend, then hike in 5 miles to the 5.8 8 pitch South face of Petit Grepon. We would hike in the day before and hit the climb early. The next day, we would hike the 5 miles to the 6 pitch 5.8 Stettner's Ledges by Longs Peak. After reaching Broadway's ledge, we would traverse to Keiners route and finish to the summit. We would then descend on the cable route and finish up with a few rappels. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) our plans changed.

We arrived in Estes Park on the 17th. We set out for Lumpy Ridge to practice some small multipitch before heading on to our bigger projects. Our problems started at the trailhead. We were afraid of running out of gear, and so we brought everything under the sun. We had doubles of cams and nuts, as well as plenty of lockers, some hex, and tricams. We were considering bringing quickdraws and decided why not? There seemed to be no reason to leave them at the car. We also had neglected to check out the skinny ropes from the club, and so we were off with 130m of 10.5 mm deadweight. We set off with too much water, gear, and not enough conditioning. We totally underestimated the effect the altitude would have on us.

We arrived at the base of the 4 pitch 5.7 Osiris. The first pitch was a beautiful climb up a chimney, with thick vertical granite ribs on the outside. Kevin geared up and had a beautiful lead, although the gear sling he was using impeded his progress, and the surplus of gear began to slow us down. He arrived on a ledge and belayed me up. There were many times I thought I was going to suffocate. The bulky pack prevented me from climbing the chimney well, and whenever I got a high foot, the heavy pack prevented me from standing up. I burnt out my arms in the first 50 feet of the 140 foot climb. I got to the ledge and we realized our predicament. I figured Kevin could lead the rest and I could follow, albeit slowly.

A half pitch later, it was too clear that we simply had too much gear with us. We decided to bail, but first, we managed to get a rope stuck on the throw down. I rappelled down, unjammed it, and jugged back up. We were then able to situate the rope safely and exit the climb. On the way down, we clipped some rap rings in order to top rope the next climb over (5.9 George's Tree), which turned out to be my favorite climb of the trip. It was a flared finger and hand crack, which slanted rightward. It took intense concentration and repetitiveness, but was well worth it.

We retreated back to town and called up a few experts to discuss our options. We decided we needed smaller ropes or a pull line, and we needed to ditch the gear sling in favor of racking the harness and keeping slings around the chest. After much more thinking, we decided we didn't want to do our next climb with only one rope, so we would brave the extra weight.

The next day, after nearly hitting a black bear on the drive in, we arrived at the Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked in the 5 miles to Sky Pond and bivyed under two boulders that formed a small cave. There were more mosquitoes than I have ever seen in my life. The hike up was steep and tiring, but beautiful.

We got up at 4:30 the next morning to blue skies, and lots of wind. We geared up and started the 8 pitch 5.8 South face of Petit Grepon. We opted to scramble up a steep gully and traverse over on a ledge to skip the first pitch in the interest of time. I led the second pitch, which was pretty easy climbing,and brought Kevin up. Kevin began the third pitch, but 30 feet up, we noticed the clouds rolling in. At 8 AM, the sky was already thick with rain clouds. They came right over the mountain and we knew it would be foolish tocontinue. Despite feeling great about the climbing, Kevin backed off and we rappelled down. Just as we hit the talus field, the skies opened up and rain started coming down. We had a wet hike out of the park, but we were 100% confident we had made the right decision. The previous day, some climbers had narrowly missed a lightening storm near the top of the climb. The rain made it treacherous to scramble over the talus field, and we were glad we weren't on the rock.
 
We had a relaxing hike out and reevaluated our options back in town. Kevin wasn't anywhere near 100% with a terrible cough and a healing sprained ankle. We had planned to climb Stettner's Ledges, a 5.8, 6 pitch climb on Longs peak. The weather looked terrible and we were beginning to grow tired of our lessons. We needed more conditioning, less gear, and different gear (thin ropes). We decided to try and get some good climbing in, instead of hiking the 5 miles into Longs.
 
We finished by climbing some granite spires North of Estes in an area called the crags. Kevin had some great leads on sharp granite crystals. As we were climbing, we watched a storm envelope Longs peak and were glad to be dry. Lightening started coming down on our ridge just as we were getting to the car.

After coming back from the trip, we learned a few unpleasant facts. A hiker fell 200 feet to his death while trying to descend from Longs peak shortly before we arrived in Colorado. It seems as though he got off route, and possibly was suffering from high altitude sickness. Over the weekend, a climber was on Stettner's Ledges (the route we were going to climb), when he slipped on wet rock and fell 20 feet, badly injuring both ankles. He was eventually helicopter out. Furthermore, Tuesday night, a climber was rappelling off of the diamond on Longs peak. She got off route and was unable to ascend to the next rappel station. She built an anchor and braved a storm until she could be aided by 4 park rangers. She reached relative safely around 3 AM on Wednesday. Had Kevin and I gone up to Longs, we would have arrived just as she became stuck. We would have joined the several other climbers preparing to assist in an evacuation at the base of Longs. People who were there reported 39 degrees, wind, and rain throughout the night. It would have been an interesting night. A few days ago, 16 climbers were rescued in the Grand Tetons when a storm hit. Several sustained injuries from lightening. One climber died. These were all reminders that climbing is dangerous and solidified the fact that Kevin and I made reasonable choices. We backed off when things looked imperfect, and avoided the storms that pummeled others. Accidents happen, and we knew our limits. I'm not saying that any of those people involved in the numerous incidents didn't know when to back off or that they made bad decisions. I just know Kevin and I had our level of acceptable risk, and knew our limits. If we had gone through with Longs, we would have been climbing in conditions that were worse than the climber that fell experienced. Even if you do everything right, mistakes still happen. We were not blinded by lust, and accepted that although we drove quite a long way to get there, that the conditions did not merit the risk.

We didn't summit the climbs we wanted, but this trip was still invaluable. We learned lessons the hard way, and will be incredibly prepared for our next trip. We both stayed safe and had a great time. We learned to condition more for our next trip, take less gear, get the optimal gear, and to back off when we needed to. We also learned that a 35 foot 5.8 in the gym is much easier than a 140 foot 5.8 at 11,000 feet, with a pack on. Lots of things are different on bigger walls, and now we know how to best prepare for them. The trip was great and we had some awesome experiences. I'd encourage anyone who gets the chance to pursue Colorado climbing. It's a whole new beast.

Let Kevin or me know if you have any questions. Thanks to the club for the material support and encouragement.

Marshall

Hi!

I just send you this Email to share some pictures of our Yosemite trip. I spent the first 2 weeks of June in the Valley with Laurent and Xavier, 2 friends of mine from France.

During the first week, we climbed the Nose on El Capitan. We spent 4 days and 3 nights on the wall. It was a first real experience of big wall for both of us, and a great adventure! The route is superb, especially the upper part! While we slowly made our way on the wall, we were passed by some aliens like Alex Honnold and Ueli Steck trying to break the speed record on the Nose, or some others guys who did the route twice in a day......

Then Laurent had to go, and I stayed one more week in the Valley with Xavier to climb some moderate classics. We climbed:

- Royal Arches route, a 15 pitches not too hard route with a lot of scrambling and ledges (not my favorite route of the trip)...
- East Buttress on Middle Cathedral Rock, a really beautiful route on orange and grey granite, easy to protect: we loved it!
- Regular route on Higher Cathedral Spire: an adventurous short route (5 pitches) with route finding and some hard 5.9(!?!?!) variations!
- Freeblast, the first 10 pitches of Salathe Wall on El Cap, the best free route of the trip!
- Central Pillar of Frenzy on Middle Cathedral Rock, a short but really good route, with tons of cracks from finger to off-fist size!

During the last day, before driving back to Reno via Tioga Pass, we also gave some ridiculous burns on Midnight Lightning (the famous boulder problem in Camp IV) and Generator Crack (a classical offwidth/chimney along the road...).

In addition, I'd like to say that two things made this trip possible for me:

- The Club owns gears for this kind of vertical journey and easily lent them... It's a chance we have, and that it's not like that in every climbing club...
- Without the 2 cracks at the ARC, it probably would have been impossible for me to climb these routes full of cracks!... So yes, this wall is short, but they are some really good opportunities to get basic jamming skills on it. Don't miss them, climb a crack! :o)

Enjoy!

Julien