Photos and Adopt-A-Crag

Here's some photos from Saturday on Colter's camera.



Colter on All Knuckes and Elbows.




Jarrod trying Smooth Sailing.



Me on Smooth Sailing.

Remember the Access Fund Adopt-A-Crag at the Lake is coming up soon. Its going to be a blast. Check out the original post: http://abileneclimbers.blogspot.com/2010/01/march-adopt-cragits-gonna-be-huge.html

Days we live for

Today was one of those climbing days we wait the whole season for. The weather was perfect, the group was great, three first ascents went down. And I don't even think i got any poison ivy. Could it get any better?



Colter and I drove to Brownwood this morning and met up with Ben and Mary, and their son Zachary. Shortly after, Jarrod and John showed up from Abilene as well (we should have car-pooled). We climbed The Mangler--the crack that we added top-rope anchors to a few weeks ago. I think we've come to a concensus that move-for-move, its the best climb at the lake. Not the hardest thing out there, but not a give-me. Its a great climb.

We then climbed on a new route Ben and Jarrod put up a few weeks ago, that i believe they names A Painful Day. Its in the same corridor where The Mangler is located. We were able to add a direct start to A Painful Day that was....well, painful.



Almost a year ago, I lowered down into a gap between two of the bluffs and found a 15 degree overhanging face with small crimps (see the Original Post) I cleaned the holds and knew it would be brilliant climbing then, but the rock behind you is so close that it was hard to imagine climbing it without hitting the wall behind you. So I never actually tried it, and the climb drifted out of my mind.

Well today Colter was pumped to try it out, and after several burns he put up All Knuckles and Elbows. Its definitely a tough bit of climbing, on some small slopey crimps. Well done Colter. Of the two possible lines on the wall, All Knuckles and Elbows is the one on the right. The left remains a project.



After watching Mary come heart-breakingly close to a send of The Mangler (she is falling off the very last move!!), Colter and Jarrod put in some effort on Burlfest. Burlfest has still seen only two ascents, though it is one of the most sought after climbs at the lake. Colter is looking prime for the third ascent here soon, and Jarrod made some impressive links on his first day of effort.

While they worked Burlfest, I rigged up a top rope on another climb that i cleaned almost a year and a half ago. Again, this is one that i never got around to climbing on, but not for lack of aesthetics or quality. The climb is on the Jagged Edge boulder, and heads left on some devious slopers before a risky top-out over the worst landing at the lake. The landing has been the deterrent.



But I figured out a way to rig a top-rope that protects the top-out, set it up and we started to give it some burns. The rope doesn't do anything for you until you are actually going for the top-out. A fall before that is guaranteed to hit the rocks below anyways. So we left the rope slack until the climber actually went for the top, and were essentially bouldering the lower moves.

We all gave it a few efforts but were getting shut down until Colter had a beta breakthrough. Not long after, I was able to pull it together for the first top-rope ascent. Now, it needs to be bouldered. I think, with enough pads, we could make it relatively safe...at least i hope. I believe I'm going to call it Smooth Sailing. Its a great new problem for the lake.

Finally, we went and checked in on Ben who had spent his time prepping a tall new overhanging face near The Mangler. After cleaning some rotten rock he was able to put up a great new climb and settled on the name 37 Stitches.

So three new climbs went up today. Who says the Lake is climbed out?

Pictures: (in order) Colter on Ben's new climb 37 Stitches, Colter working Burlfest, The face hosting All Knuckes and Elbows, and Jarrod on the opening moves of Smooth Sailing.

Vertical Plains 2010

If I'm not careful, I'm going to build a reputation for being "the guy with the majorly delayed blog entries." But I have hope for the future, I plan on joining Procrastinators Anonymous...tomorrow.

A month ago, February 13th and 14th to be exact, a group of students traveled to the Vertical Plains Climbing Festival at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Seven of us headed out on Friday afternoon with plans to see the Telluride Mountain Film Festival showing that night. i wasn't as impressed with the films this year compared to last year, but overall it was very entertaining and a good pump-up precursor to the climbing events of the next day. Check out all the films shown this year in Telluride:
http://www.mountainfilm.org/festival/2009/weekend/films.asp

They're not nearly as prestigious as an Oscar but here's a list of Colter Awards I give to some of the ones shown at Tech: "The Red Helmet" (Best Action Sequences), "Samsara" (Best Climbing & Best Overall), "Look to the Ground" (Most Inspirational), "The Hidden Life of the Burrowing Owl" (Most Comical), and "The Great White Shark Song" (Most Likely-to-Get-Stuck-in-Your-Head-for-the-Next-Month).

After sleeping at the home of a mutual friend (thank you very much Holts!), we found our way into the climbing area the next morning ready pull on some plastic. The whole day was a blast! A competitive atmosphere is both relaxing and stressful at the same time, but everyone is always really friendly and helpful. Scores were given for each pre-established climb and judges would give you credit if the climb was completed successfully from the bottom to the top. Bonus points were added for a "Flash," climbing the route on the first attempt. Included within the climbing competition was a rope climb and a dyno competition. I don't think any of us climbed the rope but Jarrod, Asa, and I qualified for entrance into the dyno comp which was held later that evening. I failed to hit the first problem, but Jarrod held strong and represented ACU well by impressively making it past the first two.
Then the awards ceremony rounded out the evening. Much to our disappointment, none of the ACU group won any door prizes! Oh well, it was fun cheering for everyone else (I have to confess I may have coveted my neighbor that night...). Then Jarrod surprised us all by winning his category! Well done, sir, display that trophy cup with pride.

With tight forearms, slack shoulders, but full hearts we left the campus for a hole in the wall Thai restaurant, then headed home rocking to the sound of the Shins.

This is guest post-er Colter Lane, signing off.

San Angelo Shreddin'

Guest blog by abilene climber and all around good guy, Jarrod:

This is an account on the adventure to San Angelo, Texas. Alex, Asa, John, and I set out for Angelo at 9 on Saturday morning, for some good ole limestone bouldering. The weather was amazing and the vibe was great!

We started out on a V2 traverse. The consists of around 25 moves and you're completely parallel with the ground the entire time. Asa quickly nagged the first ascent and proudly named it "Asa Spades." Alex, John, and I gave it our all, but the rock proved to be to much for us. We then moved to a nice little dyno that Alex and I quickly tagged, but not without a loss of some prescious skin. By this time we'd all got a top out, so the mood was bumpin. We all tacked on a few V0's and took a rest for some lunch.

After lunch we worked on a slopey climb that I got the first ascent on. With the help of John, we named it "Under and Over." We rated it at a V2. It consisted of 4 moves but they were very awkward. Alex gave his all on this one, but was slipped on the last hold. Next time it's yours Alex! The rest of the time we dedicated to establishing new climbs and jumping on anything that looked climbable. There's at least 12 climbs that we set up, but there's a lot more to be had. Eric, this is your job.

My blogging skills are bad, so I'll leave the adventure to that. Good climbing everyone!

The Intrigue of the Wichitas

This is Colter Lane logging on with a guest post...

For trad climbing enthusiasts living in Abilene, travel is inevitable. Enchanted Rock holds certain appeal with its relatively easy approach to all climbs and walking access to the summit of most for walk-offs and setting up top rope anchors. As such I have made the drive to Fredricksburg several times. However, it is also very popular with Boy Scout troops, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts in addition to us climbers. Being so open, sound seems to carry all the way across the park, so now matter where you are screams of small children and the tromp of hiking boots fills your ears.

Now I don’t want to set myself up for being an I-want-the-whole-area-to-myself elitist. There are just times when you want to be able to escape all that and climb in solitude: just you, your partner, and the rock. Thus every time I’ve heard rumors of a wilderness-type climbing area called the Wichitas, my ears perk up. And finally, after many plan-B’s and rescheduling, this Martin Luther King, Jr. extended weekend allowed me to finally experience Oklahoma climbing at its finest.

Alex Wann and I rolled out of A-town around 3:30 on Friday (January 15^th) after classes and drove the 4 hours to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. Conditions were wet and rainy at first but then we punched through the storm to dry roads and smooth sailing. Whoops and whollers greeting the sign marking the border of Oklahoma, punctuating solid conversation: a necessity of any road trip. Our final destination of the evening was to be the City of Lawton Campground on Lake Lawtonka, but we wanted to make a pit stop at the Meers Restaurant. Internet searches for “climbing in the Wichitas” suggested the place as a must-visit for anyone and I would heartily second any such statement. From the old western general store front to the homemade food, the atmosphere was one that would be difficult to copy. We split a famous Seismic Burger: a 7 inch diameter fresh longhorn-beef burger topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, red onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato, sweet relish, and bacon cut into 4 sections for easier consumption. Needless to say I was extremely satisfied and ready for bed. We slept well in the back of my pickup with dreams of crack climbs dancing in our heads.

We awoke to a chilly morning amidst a damp fog that covered everything in a sort of soggy blanket. Visibility was poor and the view we expected to see of Mt. Scott across the lake was obscured. It’s kind of tough to get the body going in the morning on a day like today but after a hot breakfast of brown sugar/raisin oatmeal we were ready to take on the world.

First stop was the visitor center where we geeked out about all kinds of things: from the history of the refuge to the flora and fauna, from rocks to prescribed burns. Pretty cool stuff! Then it was on to the Narrows for an area of climbing that was dense in moderate to easy trad climbing. We had a tough time finding the way at first but eventually crossed Cache Creek the correct amount of times, ran into Curt Howell and the Texas Tech Crew on their climbing trip leader training, and stumbled over to the Leaning Tower. On the menu for the day were No Name (5.6), Tightrope (5.6), and Arrowsmith (5.7). The final climb was a super classic 60-70 foot climb that we broke into 2 pitches. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it weren’t for the anxiety of trying to getting done and out by dark. We sent off on the route, cutting it a little close to dark and we ended up booking it out to avoid a fine for being behind a gate after sunset! Thankfully we made it and no fine was assessed.

Then it was back to Medicine Park and our home away from home camping spot. We cooked Spaghetti-O’s and meatballs with brats, reflected on the day, and made plans for the next. We decided to drive to the summit of Mt. Scott.

Sunday morning, after waking to the now expected noise of geese on the lake and another good breakfast in the fog, we set our sights on the moderate route dense area of “Upper Mt. Scott Wall.” Arriving around 8:30, we found ourselves alone at the summit parking area with a view of the surrounding area that one might expect to see in Scotland or Wales: lakes surrounded by misty mountains which were themselves peppered by small clusters of houses.

We first tried to find (and eventually succeeded) the Dream Boat Annie Wall (DBA) with a classic 5.10c of the same name, another 5.8 and a 5.6. The Texas Tech crew arrived as we were leaving the parking lot and headed to the Upper Wall, well establishing themselves before we arrived. They left us a couple of good climbs: Atomic Knee Drop (5.6), which Alex and I both led in turn, and Pile Driver (5.6), a wide flake that should have been led with a #4 cam, but that I led without…pretty scary. I think the dampness of the rock and rustiness from not climbing for a while added up to be a rough morning for me. Alex was climbing really well and was pumped about leading some more around the corner. Unfortunately, the Tech Crew was having class and we decided to head back to DBA for some top roping to end the day.

We got lots of practice setting anchors on top of the climbs and both mock led the 5.8, Red Wine, which turned out to be a stellar vertical splitter that got both of our juices flowing with thought of Yosemite and Indian Creek! Then we topped the classic 5.10: again, amazing! I really started to get the feel for intense lie-back finger cracks by the end of the session. Neither one of us climbed it clean, but definitely see potential for getting better on steeper and more technical crack climbs. Alex top roped the nasty-wet off-width 5.6 and we clambered back to the truck amidst glorious views of the Wichitas at sunset. Then it was back to home base on the lake for more good food, hot showers (we were really roughing it, let me tell you…), and plentiful Z’s.

We felt like we wanted another piece of the Narrows Monday morning and trekked in to see the condition of Crazy Alice (5.8) and The Dihedral (5.6). Both looked pretty wet still and we decided against pursuing them. However, just around the corner, dry and in the sun, we spotted the 5.7 Yellow Corner. Alex graciously allowed me to lead what proved to be the awesome exclamation point of an already great trip. The 100 footer took us way above the canyon floor as it moved through a jumbled corner of rock. We were about 300+ feet above the creek and looking down on hikers that had no idea that anyone was above them.

We headed back to the truck and drove the 220 odd miles back to Abilene reflecting on how blessed we were to be able to experience something like this together that weekend. I don’t want to ever forget the bison, longhorns, and rock of the Witchita Mountains. Luckily, I don’t think they will let me.

Camp Eagle Weekend

I went down to Camp Eagle this weekend for the annual Climbing Palooza there. Ben and Mary came in from Brownwood as well, not ones to miss a climbing get-together. I didn't make it in until 3:30 in the afternoon, hung around with Ben and Mary while they worked on a route Ben bolted last time. I was jonesing to bolt a route, but I didn't head to the top of the cliff until almost 5:30.

I got lucky and bailed off right above the route I hoped to bolt, but was worried that I would run out of daylight. I lowered down, cleaned the route, and marked bolt placements with the last of the light, and hiked to the top of the cliff at dusk. I thought about bailing, but grabbed the headlamp and went ahead and bolted it.

The route is at the very end of the Sherpa Trek, on a short, mildly overhanging wall. The route takes a series of small crimps and pockets through the first 3 bolts, a rest at the fourth, and a tough deadpoint to a bulge encounter at the fifth.

Scott and I climbed on it. He got the first ascent (well done good sir--great climbing), and I fell at the last bolt on my redpoint go. It'll be there next time. We settled on End of the Line, and it probably goes somewhere around 5.12-. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures.

Later in the afternoon, Ben snagged the first ascent of the route he bolted on his last trip. I believe he decided on Scooby Snacks and thinks its 5.9. The route looks great. Well done Ben. Doesn't seem to me that "I'm getting to old for this" is proving true for you, since your still out there snagging all these first ascents!

Sorry for lack of pics. Adios

Tyler's Trip to "La Barrosa" in Balcarce, Argentina

Hey all, it's Tyler again with an update from my first climbing experience in South America. Currently, I am living in Montevideo, Uruguay studying abroad with Abilene Christian University over the course of 4 months. This past week our entire group took a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina where we hung out in a hotel, took bus tours, and went to a million museums. On Monday we had the chance to deviate from original plans and have ourselves a free day in Buenos Aires. Three friends and I decided to head to the province of Balcarce to visit the famous La Barossa climbing area about 250 miles outside of Buenos Aires. The account of our journey is as follows...

At 12:05 Monday morning we loaded onto a double decker PLUSMAR autobus, made our way to our seats, and settled in for a 5 hour bus ride to Balcarce. We arrived in Balcarce around 5 AM, where we then unloaded our gear (remember that our packs are full of a weeks worth of luggage for the entire Buenos Aires trip, plus our climbing gear), and hopped into a taxi that would take us to the corner of 55th and 40th street, the base of La Barrosa. Here is a picture of the Sierra,

Throwing the packs over our backs we made our way up a dirt road to the top of a hill where the true expedition began. In my usual over paranoid state I made sure that we checked to be sure we had all gear, maps, and rations for the day. Our climbing friends back in Montevideo let us borrow belay devices, 16 quickdraws, a dynamic rope, and a brand new bouldering pad. Gear, check. Maps of the different areas, not accounted for. Water and food, not accounted for. Oh NO! I left all the maps of the area in the hotel in Buenos Aires, which is not good when your planning to climb in a place that highly recommends a guide. We forgot to pick up water and food at a convenience store, a mistake that would come back and punish us later. A picture of our only water supply for the next 6 hours can be seen below. We decided what the heck and began our ascent of La Barossa, I mean I was confident I remembered what the maps looked like.

I knew there were bouldering areas on the front left portion of the sierra, but my first goal was to get on some sport climbs that morning. I felt that it would be best to hike to the top and make our way to the back left side where I was remembering the sport climbs to be. It took us about an hour to reach the top, the climb being much harder than we expected, and already one of our group members was throwing up. The sun was coming up fast, we had no water, and things would only get worse. We hiked another 45 minutes on top of the sierra before finally deciding to have a little fun on a cool looking boulder. We devised a cool route that was probably a V2/3 and worked it for about 30 minutes. Here is a picture of me making the crux moves.

After a short time here, Colin and I scouted ahead and recognized some trees that looked similar to the ones I had seen in some of the sport climbing pictures over the internet. They were a good ways off and about halfway down the sierra. I convinced everyone to follow me and we loaded up our things and headed out. Making our way down was extremely tough and we were having to take our packs off every couple steps to shimmy down rocks and avoid rolling down the side of this thing. If that wasn't hard enough, we were getting chest deep in bull nettle that was slicing and dicing all parts of our bodies. After about an hour we reached the group of trees to find that it as only nothing. Here is a picture of the group trekking the side of the hill, the bull nettle is hard to see, but it's everywhere. It seemed liked the closer we made it to the bottom, the thicker, deeper, and higher the bull nettle and thorns got.

Realizing that we didn't quite have the strength to get back up the hill, and that we had been out of water for a good while now, we noticed a small ranch house where we hoped we could fill up on water and get the heck off this sierra that was killing us. From the picture above, the ranch house is to the left on the other side of the big groups of trees. After we returned from the trip I took a look at the maps I had forgotten and realized that we were miles from the sport routes I thought were so close. We spent the next 3 and a half to 4 hours making our way to this house, having to back track multiple times because we kept running into massive amounts of chest high thorns. Everyone took a few good falls, Colin busted his knee real bad, Jacob nearly broke his ankle, and I took about a 20 foot tumble straight down the hill before my head stopped my fall on a boulder. By the time we reached the little ranch house we were all badly bloody, extremely scratched up, covered in poison ivy, sore, dehydrated, and crashpadless because the trek was so bad we eventually gave up carrying it and left it in a bed of thorns. I also forgot to mention that Colin and I thought we would make a little shortcut at one point, only to walk straight into giant ant beds and chest high thorns. We both have ant bites as high as our shoulders. A picture of my shoulder shows only a small piece of what our entire bodies looked like after we made our way out of the sierra, you can only imagine what our legs looked like,

A man at this small ranch house gave us water, pointed us on a 2 mile hike back into town, and wished us the best. We spent from 2 PM that afternoon until 1 AM the following morning, sleeping In Tim Bratten's front yard (the only American in town I knew), getting doctored up by elderly ladies in Tim's neighborhood, sitting at a bar, and eventually getting a hotel room for 4 hours before getting a taxi back to the bus station to make our 5 hour bus ride back to Buenos Aires. Our legendary climbing trip turned out to be a wild goose chase through the hell that lingers on the backside of La Barossa because I forgot our maps and we had no water. My apologies to everyone I dragged into this trip.