Extra Shot: Lego My Ego

Unknown Random River Problem

Owen and I decided to try this problem that was chalked up just across from Flower. It turned out to be much more difficult than either of us were expecting and after about an hour I was able to sent. It starts under a roof and busts out onto a big sloper/pinch/jug followed by some intense core tension moves to a insecure finish.

Chutzpah

Owen and I put some effort into Chutzpah. I was able to top the boulder out today from the lip. I have not done all the moves but the first, which I find really difficult. Here are some shots of Owen.

Another day at the River Boulders

Despite scattered showers on the whole drive out, Owen and I decided to head to the River Boulders at Index today. I am glad we did because upon arriving we found all the boulders along the river to be dry.

Washington's Little Switzerland

Today I headed to the River Boulders at Index. It was pretty cool, around 60 degrees, but humidity hovered around 90% all day. I wanted to try a number of climbs, but mainly Chutzpah, Kid Hops, and Hagakure. I felt Dave Graham's words today concerning the necessity of good conditions with river blocs as I got shut down by the first move sloper compression move of Chutzpah. I was able to do the rest of the problem quickly and am excited to try it again. I also did two of the best slab problems to the right of Chutzpah. Kid Hops and Hagakure also turned me down.

Chutzpah comes out the 45 on the left. Up the middle seam is an amazing, easy slab climb and the far right holds a deceptively tricky moderate.

Amazing river polished scoops.

An amazing, and most likely undone zig zaging arete.

Kid Hops is a one move, slab, stand-up-and-grab-it problem starting on chalky sidepull-jug and going to the lightly chalked horizontal rail.

From the Archives: Castle Rocks

The photos are a bit fuzzy from a high ISO but here are pictures of the best roof I have been on.

From the Archives: Grand Teton National Park

On my way out to the Big Horn Basin, I stopped through Grand Teton National Park. Here are a few photos:

Sunset behind the Grand Teton

A fun v-easy warm up

Potential FA of cool line I cleaned up

Same line again, it heads out the belly above the pad on crimps into slopers up top

The view from the bouldering area

The biggest and also best boulder I found. It had clearly been climbed on and yielded at least four tall and independent lines and what look liked some links between lines. I did the four, including the coolest which went out the roof on the chalked holds above the pad.

Back from the Badlands

After a month in the badlands of Wyoming's Big Horn Basin, I am back in Seattle. I had an amazing time as a field assistant to Scott Wing doing Paleobotany. The Big Horn Basin is one of the best places in the world to look at terrestrial ecosystems for the Cretaceous through the Eocene. I took hundreds of pictures and will have to sort through them all but here are a few that caught my eye. My camera got a little dusty, so a few of the images have specs on them, my bad.