Projects, Projects

Hi there. As y'all may have guessed, I was back in Leavenworth last weekend! Oh don't act so surprised! Where do you think I went? Rocklands? Patagonia? Fontainbleau? No sillies those are all on different continents! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to spend a few months in each place but I guess I'll just have to settle for some of the best bouldering in the PNW in Leavenworth, WA. I really love that place. Especially because I was climbing with someone who has witnessed my climbing highs and lows earlier this year. Yup, you guessed it. Blair is in Washington with his buddy Camden! It's really good to see him again!

Blair on the Peephole (V10)

So last week Thursday, Blair and Camden rolled into Seattle and they crashed at our place. We didn't hang out with them (bad hosts!) because Amazon turned 20 and had Macklemore come to CenturyLink Field and give us a private concert!! **I was always told that dating a smart man was the way to go - I would advise a computer geek. They are smart, probably look good in glasses, get good jobs that throw cool concerts, and are slightly socially awkward.** Anyways, it was a good concert but we didn't stay for the whole thing because I was tired from opening and had to open the next day and we wanted to beat traffic out. It was a really fun time! Then on Friday, Blair and Camden left to meet up with their friend, Ben, in Leavenworth.

Aaron working out the upper moves on Peephole.

Saturday, Aaron and I were going to go to the Amazon picnic. Well, we didn't know there was going to be a Mariner's game (Safeco Field is right next to Century Link) and we got stuck in traffic for quite some time. So... we decided not to go and drive over to Leavenworth. Except, we didn't make it there as fast as we originally hoped. We were in Bellevue getting groceries for the weekend when we checked one of the tires' pressure because the warning light was on. Guess what we found!! There was a bolt in the front driver's side tire and was slowly leaking air. Aaron called a few places and we drove to Issaquah to an automotive repair shop to get his tire patched. About an hour or so later, we were back on the rode, caffeinated, and on our way to our third home (second being The Tacoma). 

Camden on Pimpsqueak (V9)

So, I'm going to start with my big exciting news first. Saturday we met up with Blair and Camden and went to Mad Meadows to work on Peephole and Drugstore Cowboy. Well, after we were warmed up, I started giving my project all I had. Then somewhere along the line, Blair did Drugstore Cowboy and did this beautiful kneebar and made the top out look incredibly less awkward than other people (you know who you are). So I tried the knee bar. It was the most secure knee bar ever. Anyways, I was still struggling a bit to get over the lip and I dropped. I took a rest and let the boys start working on Peephole. Then came the send go. It all started with the beautiful heelhook, an arm-stretcher to the jug undercling, another heel hook to gain the overhanging jugs, walk the feet up to get in a better position, a high heel to rock up on to get the bomber knee bar, a mantel, and a pushup to complete the topout. Yeah, that's right, I sent my proj.

Ben on Pimpsqueak!

After that, Aaron and Blair worked on the Peephole and made some good progress with working out the beta. I have some great photos of them - some funny, some intense ones. Then we went to Pimpsqueak (V9) for the guys to climb. I'll cut to the chase - Blair was so close to a send but didn't quite hit the 'thank god' hold. Pimpsqueak is a problem that climbs an arete on a roof. I know there are a lot of heelhooks involved, slopey holds for the right hand, and a pretty decent sidepull for the left hand while under the roof. Then you come out onto slopers and have to make a move to the 'thank god' hold, do some interesting footwork, and then top it out. I took so many photos, I could probably string them together to make a beta video. I like to document climbs. Plus, they look pretty awesome. Anyways, I got a bunch of photos of Aaron sending Pimpsqueak. Here are a few of the better ones so you can see what the climb was like.

Aaron on his way to a send of Pimpsqueak!!

Sunday, Blair, Camden, and Ben went to go do Hyper Space on the Snow Creek Wall. Since Aaron was on call, we had to stay in service and close to the truck so we could zip into Leavenworth if he got paged. Thankfully he didn't so we were able to spend most of the day climbing again. In the morning, we had a bouldering session for me. I mean, I needed to find a new project. We went to Forestland and I indeed found a project! I warmed up and then started trying to take down The Real Thing (V4) which is this beautiful crimpy problem. It has a great lefthand crimpy sidepull and a small pinch for startholds. The holds are good the whole way up and I worked the crux over and over and finally worked out some beta that may work for the next time I get on it. Then Aaron and I went over to the alphabet wall so he could work on his crack climbing skills. He climbed a few 5.10 cracks and absolutely crushed them! So that was our weekend in Leavenworth :)

Here I am working on The Real Thing (V4)