Desert Windstorm Climbing

Hi. So last weekend we thought we beat the rain and go to Vantage, WA for some desert trad climbing. Sounds great in theory. Alex, Aaron and I were in for some other kind of weather. WIND.

Friday, we met up at REI, grabbed some last minute supplies, and zipped on out of the city for some trad climbing at Vantage. We got there too late to climb but too early to go to bed so we built a fire and had a few beers. Saturday morning came and we packed our bags full with cams, nuts, hexes, slings, biners, shoes, helmets, harnesses, and chalk bags and went to the Sunshine Wall. We got a few raindrops on us during the hike to the wall. The weather was super good for the first climb - Crossing the Threshold (5.8). Aaron and Alex lead it and I did a mock lead - I decided about 3/4 of the way through that I would be too chicken to actually lead it. Then the weather turned. And by turned I mean, a windstorm/dust-storm started. Aaron put up Pony Keg (5.9) and I was following and cleaning (most importantly, getting high 5's from Alex when he was leading Air Guitar) when the wind started picking up. It wasn't bad at first. Then when Xing and John were climbing Pony Keg, the wind was so strong it would whip your chalk bag around. Okay, so you lose some chalk big deal. Then when I was on Air Guitar (5.10a) that Aaron lead - Alex was leading Pony Keg - the was so strong it started pushing you around a bit. I lost essentially all of my chalk and Alex did too. We kept on climbing and sent our lines. Then we all quick ran up Whipsaw (5.9). I would like to add that while I was running up the line, the wind got so strong that it could push me around pretty good. Like enough to make leading be more scary than usual. 

Vantage is kind of pretty in that strange desert sort of way.

 After a quick lunch break, we went over to Sinsemilla (5.10c). Aaron lead the climb and then it was my turn to take down the beast. Remember in one of my posts how excited I was about this climb? Well, this time I showed Sinsemilla who was boss <-- ME. This route is the perfect size for me to stem. I got bomber finger and hand jams, a few foot jams when I couldn't stem, and even got a compression boulder problem in the middle! I got to the first crux and used my glutes like there was no tomorrow to stem like a pro as I reached for the most beautiful hand jam I have ever done. The second crux was a compression boulder problem for me. I couldn't quite make the reach around the bulge into the crack for jams so instead I used every fiber in my shoulders and back and hug the bulge and pull a few moves to get into jam city again. And then I cruised on up to the top. I was super psyched that I didn't take or fall on the climb. I know that for most people, it isn't that big of a deal to them to take down a 5.10c trad route. But for me - someone who has been tradding it up and learned to crack climb on the fly for about roughly 6 months - that is huge! I went from an "I'm scared on a 5.7 crack" to "Let's get on a bunch of 5.10 cracks today" in 6 months. Yes, I'm advertising myself on the off chance that I may gain another climbing partner.

Pillars to climb climb climb

We had an afternoon beer, I made au gratin potatoes, and met the men at The Feathers. I decided that wine and potatoes was going to be more fun than climbing. They climbed a few routes and then we hung out and made actual dinner (Xing and John came with a feast). Sunday, I was the belay servant and belayed them on Sex Party (5.10a) and Theresa's Lingerie (5.9). We grabbed some Subway and were on our way back to Seattle. Although I didn't climb very much, I had a lot of fun getting out of the city (as usual). See y'all later!

Alex on Sinsemilla (5.10c)