Squamish - Smoke Bluffs 5.31 - 6.1.14

It was time for ICC to head up to Squamish for a week of rock climbing. Aaron was the organizer for this outing so he was planning on going. Assuming the weather looked decent, I planned to head up as well and climb with him for a day. Unfortunately on Wednesday I woke up at about 3:30am with the stomach flu and stayed home for two days. I wasn't very strong nor energetic going into the weekend, but I couldn't pass up an 80 degree, sunny weekend in Squamish. I rode up with Sara after work on Friday and we met the guys at the brew pub before heading to camp at the Chief. I didn't think I could handle any multi-pitch for the day so we went to Smoke Bluffs on Saturday. I got to explore several new areas again during this trip as we started at Alexis Crack just below Burger and Fries. There are two 5.7s there depending on if you head up the right or left crack. I happened to be standing in front of the left so I led that first, while Sara led the right. The left crack was pretty good, with an interesting little bulge to pull over at the top. It made me stop and think a second before pulling it. Once Aaron cleaned the route, I got on the right crack as well and led that. I ran it out a bit but enjoyed the relatively short pitch. It was a great crag to warm up at. We tried heading back up jto a 5.7 that was at the end of Burger and Fries but there was a group there, so instead, we headed down to Island in the Sky.

[Left] Aaron following Alexis Left Crack (5.7). [Right] Sara leading Alexis Right Crack (5.7)

Aaron had climbed in the area once before so he recommended The Kip (5.7). Fissureman's Friend (5.8) was also there, so I decided to give it a go after noting all of the nice rest stops. Sara headed up to lead The Kip (5.7) with Matt so we could swap ropes and climbs afterward. The most intimidating part of Fissureman's Friend (5.8) was right off the deck with a steep crack and no rests. Aaron offered to put a piece in high for me, but I decided to give it a go without that. He spotted me as I jammed my way up. Just below the top I found a really solid hand jam and placed a #2, direct clipping it. Another couple of moves got me within reach of the stump and I hauled myself up onto the ledge, happy to be past the tough start. I continued up the corner, placing gear and noting all of the spider webs. It was a long route with easier sections interspersed with small challenges. Just below the last section to the top is a nice big ledge. It has a bomber hand hold on it that I hung off of to shake out my arms a bit and relax, before mantling up onto the ledge. Once on top, I took another quick break as I scoped out the thin crack to the top. I figured out where I wanted to go, managed to wiggle in a couple of small pieces, and made it to the anchor. It felt good to get another 5.8 under the belt since I'm not very confident on them yet. Aaron cleaned the route and as he lowered, put a redirect above another nearby route, Gang of Foreplay (5.10b). It was a short corner finger crack that looked fun. There was a group that showed up to get on the routes so we tried to hurry. Aaron climbed Gang of Foreplay (5.10b) first, making it up clean. I climbed it next and rather enjoyed it. There were great finger pockets and some decent feet. We quickly swapped ropes with Sara and Matt. Aaron climbed The Kip (5.7), a hand crack that is somewhat traversing, then he got on Mossy Tongue (5.8), a face climb with thin little ledges. I climbed the two after him and cleaned the anchor.

[Left] At the bottom of Fissureman's Friend (5.8). [Right] Aaron climbing Gang of Foreplay (5.10b)

We packed up and continued heading down towards the road to The Zip, a 5.10a finger crack Aaron wanted to lead. It was a sustained 5.10a with little to no feet at times. Aaron finished the lead and we all enjoyed getting to top rope it after. It was definitely challenging but a fun climb, pretty well sized for me too. We continued down the road to the parking lot, took a little break, and walked back into Smoke Bluffs. Matt noticed Old Age (5.9) in the Zombie Roof area was open so he checked it out. He decided to lead it, which seemed fitting considering it was his birthday weekend. He took his time going up, figuring out the challenges along the way. The favorite section from us observers on the ground was when he chimneyed out of the corner on the big block, before transitioning back to the rock face to finish up to the anchor. I was fortunate to get the experience of watching both Matt lead it and Sara clean it so I had some good beta heading up. I decided to stay left of the initial tree in the crack, finding a good little finger lip on the backside to swing myself around. I made it up to the world's best jug before pulling up onto the first ledge, and soon found myself in the corner and chimneying out on the block as well. I made the transition back to the rock face, then made the final moves up the less protectable slab section to the anchor. We had several people from class show up and climb the route as well at the end of the day, it was a lot of fun.

[Left] Aaron leading the Zip (5.10a). [Right] Matt leading Old Age (5.9)

On Sunday, I got to climb with Sara as Aaron and Matt instructed. We had talked about doing Calculus and even sat in the parking lot at the Apron for a while. After hearing some horror stories of how long groups were stuck on the Apron the day before, and not knowing if I could fully trust my stomach yet for long periods of time, I finally decided it wasn't a good day for a multi-pitch. We drove to the Smoke Bluffs instead and headed to Krack Rock, another new area, to check out some of the climbs. The cracks were still a bit damp from the rain a few days before. Once we finally got our bearings and figured out what crack was which route, Sara picked Fairy Ring (5.6) to get warmed up on. The rock was very rough, almost a little too rough, but at least we stuck to it well. The route was a great warm-up. Desipte some seepage in the crack at the start of the route, I still decided to lead Turkey Dinner (5.7) next. I personally enjoyed that route more than the first, but maybe it's because I was warmed up. There are twin cracks for much of the route, providing fun options for climbing and gear placement. The bulge from the little ledge part way up wasn't too terrible to pull over, and I ended at the same anchor as the first route. Sara cleaned the anchor just as two groups showed up at the rock.

[Left] Sara leading Fairy Ring (5.6). [Right] Sara climbing Turkey Dinner (5.7)

Next we decided to head to Upper Zombie Roof and see if the classic climb, Laughing Crack (5.7) was open. We found our way up there, climbed the corner via the rope hand line, and found a group of three starting up. I incorrectly assumed they were more experienced climbers and would be done soon, so we plopped down to wait. Turns out the two climbers on the ground were newer, so an hour later, we finally got on the route. Sara led the great finger crack, rated a top 100 climb at Squamish. It's a nice, long route that gets you some great views of Howe Sound near the top.

[Left] Rope ladder to get to the ledge with Laughing Crack. [Right] Sara's lead of Laughing Crack (5.7)

We packed up, lowered ourselves back down the rope ladder, and headed towards Flying Circus (5.10a) at Neat and Cool. I've never climbed it and it's on my list of things to do. Unfortunately, as usual, it was busy and had quite the line so we decided to head back down towards Burgers and Fries instead to see if we could get on the unnammed 5.7 at the end. We got there and couldn't quite figure out which one is the 5.7 route. Since it was my lead next, I opted to pass to avoid accidentally get on the 5.9 in the area and we headed off to yet another new area for us, Ferret's Folly. We found the trail down and made it to an empty crag. I geared up and climbed Earth Trip (5.5), a corner crack. I'm not so sure it felt like a 5.5 with a tricky face move where the crack petered out. Or at least the first half felt more like a 5.7. After a bomber hand chock below the ledge, the top half is very blocky and easy to run up. While we had the rope up, we also top roped Ferret's Folly (5.7), a thin face climb. I didn't know it at the time, but I was getting some good practice for what awaited us next at Jug Slab.

[Left] Sara climbing Earth Trip (5.5). [Right] Sara climbing Ferret's Folly (5.7)

We continued down towards Channel Road and found our way up to Jug Slab, a slabby face with four bolted routes. I got the privilege of leading first so I picked out Stepladder (5.7). I didn't find any jugs on the way up but rather lots of tiny little ledges for my feet. It was very thin at times and I didn't feel super comfortable. The terrain looked easier to my right but Sara reminded me that it was a five star climb so I should stick to the route - I didn't complain the rest of the route. I made it up to the top and rigged up both anchors so we could top rope the rest of the routes. Sara went up David's (5.6) on the far left next, excited to find a small crack part way up for a couple of moves. Next she got on Stepladder (5.7) before handing the rope back to me. I climbed David's (5.6) as well, then went up the second climb from the right, Moominland (5.8). I think being my third route on the rock, I had gotten used to and comfortable with the tiny ledges finally and felt like I had an easier time than Stepladder (5.7) - although I was on top rope too. I dropped the rope and walked down to the base, before we headed back to the parking lot to meet up with everyone. Despite getting over an illness and being self relegated to single pitch stuff, I had a great weekend. I got a bunch of climbs in, several leads, and I got to check out more areas at Smoke Bluffs. A great weekend of cragging heading into the road trip.

[Left] Leading Stepladder (5.7) [Right] Sara climbing David's (5.6)