BRC at Leavenworth - Icicle Creek 6.21 - 6.22.14

It was the first outing for BRC in Leavenworth where the first day is spent going over basic skills to baseline everyone - knots, tying off a fallen climber, z-pulley, multi-pitch demo, and lead belaying. The second day students get to climb. Aaron thought it'd be fun to end our roadtrip by surprising Chris and Ben and helping out with BRC for the weekend - or if they had enough instructors, we could climb ourselves or head home. We got to the Tumwater Campground by 7pm Friday night to no other cars in the parking lot. After we set up camp, Aaron started cooking dinner and people rolled in. After some discussion, it was decided that we would climb with Jamie and Jason on Saturday while the rest of the class worked on the basic skills at Mountaineers Dome. We'd do an overview of how BRC teaches things so Jamie and Jason would know what to expect as first year instructors.

Coming off of the road trip, I did not want to wake up early so on Saturday, we woke up at 7:30a and made pancakes. Then we headed up to Surf City and started at Blunt Instruments (5.6). Jamie led it first, with Aaron following. They headed up to Paydirt (5.7) next as Jason led Blunt Instruments (5.6) and I followed. Next he led Paydirt (5.7) and I followed. After getting a couple of leads in, we decided to head to Roto Wall to talk about anchors. We played around on the unnamed triple cracks at Roto Wall, before doing a mini multi-pitch up the routes with a hanging belay. We also reviewed how to use the guide mode on the ATC. We had planned to head to Tree Route next but trying to listen to doctor's orders, Jamie decided to skip the afternoon of climbing to rest her ankle and instead we joined the class at Mountaineers Dome.

Aaron following Blunt Instruments (5.6) after Jamie's lead

We hiked up just in time for Jason and I to be voluntold to do the multi-pitch demo. Jason led up the Right Crack (5-) and built an anchor at the first horizontal break, not far from the ground. This let us do a demo for the students and talk through the steps we were taking in anchoring in, transferring gear, and breaking down the anchor. Jason finished the route and I followed. The rest of the afternoon the students practiced lead belaying and got to climb a little before we called it a day and went back to the campground for our potluck. Seriously lacking cheese over the past couple of weeks, we stopped by the grocery store to pick some up so we could make grilled cheese to share. Everyone had a good time Saturday night chatting and participating/observing the BRC shenanigans.

Sunday I was assigned to Clamshell Cave with Chris, Jason, and Jamie, along with students Josh, Stephen, and Kerstin. We had only brought one rack for the road trip so Aaron and I split it into two small ones so we each had some gear. We also didn't have the Leavenworth book so I requested Clamshell Cave since I knew it so well that I didn't need the book. We started on the right side on the easier climbs. Jamie led Noisy Oyster (5.7) and Jason led Shrimp Salad (5.6). Jamie actually set her rope up on the middle anchor for Keep Clam (5.8), which worked out well because Chris then led Noisy Oyster (5.7) as well so that all of the students would get an opportunity to lead belay and clean gear.

[Left] Josh belaying Jamie up Noisy Oyster (5.7). [Right] Kerstin climbing Shrimp Salad (5.6)

Stephen top roping Keep Clam (5.8)

I got to top rope all three climbs, then I moved a rope to the left and dropped it on Fourty-Four Fifty (5.9). Chris led Clamshell Crack (5.7), as the students took turns on the routes. It was sunny and very warm there so we didn't linger long. I headed down early and set a rope up on The Cube, with a little assistance from Stephen on helping control my slide back down (downclimbing) after setting the rope. I struggled on the start on the crack again, but enjoyed watching everyone else's approach. Some did a straight up crack jam and got up, while others had to resort to a lie back like me.

[Left] Chris leading Clamshell Crack (5.7). [Right] Jason top roping Forty-Four Fifty (5.9).

Josh climbing the crack on The Cube (5.8)

After we finished up at Clamshell Cave we walked down the trail and stopped at Hammerhead Rock by the road. Another group was there but they had just finished up so I dropped a rope on the 5.9 crack, while we used their ropes to do a mock lead on the 5.6 dihedral. We had less than an hour there before having to pack up and head to the Snow Creek parking lot to meet up with the rest of class to debrief. After waiting a while for the Pearly Gates crew to return, the students talked about what they got to climb and then we headed into town to get some dinner at Munchen Haus, my favorite. It seemed like a great start to BRC this year, with a lot of great students eager to get on the rock and learn.