Sinks Canyon

We visited Sinks Canyon yesterday afternoon. It has been hot in Lander lately, so we had to visit the Sinks in the afternoon after the cliff went into the shade. We climbed in the Killer Cave, which hosts a big collection of hard routes. I climbed on a route called The Urchin, a burly power route. I was able to figure out the sequence, but I was too drained from the heat to try for a redpoint. I feel like I've lost some power on this trip. We have 2 weeks of sport climbing left before it is time to start bouldering in Colorado.

Wild Iris/ Rant

I fell on the last move of Cow Reggae yesterday with some new beta. Some Mother Fucker put glue in a pocket to force a more difficult sequence on the route. I removed the glue and started using the new(and easier) sequence. The only reason I can think of for the glue would be if the pocket was drilled. I've climbed on drilled pockets before, particularly at the Burn, but also at the Pit, and the chances that this pocket was drilled are very small. If it is drilled the person is a dumbass, didn't know what they were doing, and deserves to be decked in the face. If it's not drilled then the person who glued the pocket deserves to be decked in the face. Hopefully Cow Reggae will go down soon, so that we can visit Sinks Canyon. I also hope that all these dumbasses from Colorado leave so that Wild Iris is quiet again. There were 20 cars in the Wild Iris parking lot this morning. Shit like this makes me want to drive back to Flagstaff immediately.

Lander

We arrived in Wyoming a few days ago. The weather in Canada turned to shit so we went back to the states. The climbing around Canmore is sick limestone, but the lack of camping takes away from it. We ended up sleeping in random parking lots during our stay, before the rain started. Lander is a small town of 7,000 people. Everyone here is friendly, which is a great change from the U-tards in Maple. The town is also climber-friendly. You can pitch your tent in the city park, and there is free water.

The Limestone at Wild Iris is sick. Wild Iris sits at 9,000 feet elevation. Todd Skinner declared that Wild Iris is the crag that he searched the world for. After checking out the climbing this is a well-justified claim. The routes at Wild Iris are steep, short, and bouldery. Most routes are only 5-6 bolts long. I haven't climbed on routes this powerful anywhere. The limestone is solid, and there is little choss here. We also found a sick boulder. The boulder is a long limestone roof starting in the back of a cave and climbing out on small pockets. There are 3 potential exits for this climb. The recent snow melt and rain have left the boulder seeping, so we haven't been able to climb on it. Hopefully it dries soon so that we can try it. I've climbed a few classic routes since arriving here. Bobcat Logic is a great route with long pulls between big holds. All the climbs on the Rodeo Wave wall ares just as good as anywhere. Wind and Rattlesnakes is another classic that requires good footwork. I've been working on Cow Reggae. I figured out all the moves, hopefully the next climb day I can link them.

Limestone Road Trip

Eric and I are going on the road for the next month. Eric is going to skip his flight home from Calgary so we can climb for a few more weeks. We decided to check out as many limestone sport climbing areas as possible in the next month. We are going to visit Lake Louise before leaving Canada. We'll be heading to Lander, Wyoming to check out the pocketed limestone of Sinks Canyon and Wild Iris. Then we're going to visit Logan Canyon and American Fork Canyon located in Northern Utah. We'll stop by Maple Canyon on the way to Goblin Valley. Then we'll head to Rifle and the Golf Wall both in Colorado.

Canada

I arrived in Canada a few days ago to check out the Flashed shop and the climbing in the Bow Valley. Flashed is located in Calgary, Alberta in the back of the Calgary Climbing Center. Flashed is experimenting with some new designs for some of their gear including a re-designed chalk bucket and even more durable pads. There have been a couple changes to the ninja pads including new placement for the small gear pocket and a slightly modified closing system. Check out their website at www.flashed.com/

The climbing in the BowValley near Canmore is amazing. Canmore is a small moutain town located an hour west of Calgary. We climbed at Acephale on Wednesday. The hike to Acephale is reminiscent of the hike to Chaos Canyon in the sense that it is long and steep. The Upper Wall hosts a great concentration of difficult lines with bouldery moves on slightly overhanging limestone. Yesterday we went to Grassi Lakes which is close to town. The drive and hike combined only takes 15 minutes. The climbing at Grassi is on steep overhanging limestone with huge buckets. The area is very scenic with several clear blue lakes near the climbing. We did a line called Meathooks which is 40 feet tall and overhangs 20 feet at a 40 degree angle. None of the moves are difficult and the holds are just amazingly big, definitely a good pump factor.

We're going to check out Lake Louise on Saturday, which hosts Quartzite cliffs in another Canadian Rockies Setting. Depending on the weather, we're going back to Grassi Lakes the day after before heading to Wyoming. The climbing in the Bow Valley is unlimited, the only constraints are how far people are willing to hike to bolt new lines.

Maple Canyon

My trip to Maple Canyon is finished. I have been hanging out in Salt Lake City for the past 2 days. I am heading up to Calgary in a matter of hours for a few weeks of sport climbing at Acephale if the weather is good. Eric and I may do a limestone road trip starting in Canada and finishing in Utah with a stop in Wyoming along the way.

I feel like this past month in Utah has taught me how to sport climb. Sport Climbing is a much different game than bouldering. Sport Climbing puts much more emphasis on the science part of climbing. Footwork and Technique play a bigger role in sport climbing in comparison with bouldering. Resting and Recovery are especially important for longer routes such as the cave routes in the Pipe Dream.

I was able to knock off a few projects before leaving Maple including Sluggo in Box Canyon, and The Diggler and La Confianza in the Pipe Dream Cave. La Confianza is the hardest route that I've ever done, but I'm aware now that my sport climbing potential is much more than I originally realized.